From Green Right Now Reports

Calling themselves “Clean Energy Patriots,” dozens of environmental leaders today asked the U.S. Senate to quit serving the interests of “Big Oil” and take action on behalf of Americans who want clean energy and climate solutions.

The leaders from nearly 50 environmental and social responsibility groups signed a declaration at the U.S. Capitol. It demands that the Senate quit stalling on climate action, and kicks off a 40-day countdown until Earth Day, which celebrates its 40th anniversary on April 22.

They urged citizens to join in what they are calling the Earth Day Revolution.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Call it the Texas two-step.

Just after Texas Governor Rick Perry filed a lawsuit against the EPA on Tuesday, questioning the federal agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases, Texas environmental groups parried back.

Texas’ Public Citizen and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club announced they were issuing Perry a citizen citation to “cease and desist endangering the health of breathers, the economy and the climate in Texas by continuing to permit coal plants and other large sources of CO2.”

The groups explained in a joint news release from Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office, and Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Sierra Chapter:

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

This weekend, while fans get ready for the Saints face off against the Colts at Sun Life Stadium for Super Bowl XLIV, the NFL will be running some of its own green plays.

All leftover food from Super Bowl events will be donated to local agencies under the leadership of Daily Bread Food Bank. Over 65,000 pounds of leftover prepared food was donated after last year’s Super Bowl.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

When President Barack Obama was sworn into office just one year ago, he promised hope to a country in the midst of economic, environmental, and political turmoil. Environmentally, however, the Obama administration that promised “change” has fallen a few cents short, according to one key environmental group, The Center for Biological Diversity.

The administration’s actions (and inaction) are speaking louder than its words, in the view of the center’s Obama Administration First-Year Report Card. Obama’s overall grade: a “C” in protecting (and failing to protect) the environment.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Real estate developer and author Frank McKinney has built opulent mansions, including a $24 million oceanfront estate called Acqua Liana in Palm Beach that he promotes as the biggest green certified manse in the world .

But the Florida real estate entrepreneur also has been building sustainable housing for the poor for many years, including in Haiti. (Which is why we’re skipping the discussion today about whether ginormous homes like that Palm Beach manse are truly green, and will accept that this house, certified by the U.S. Green Building Council and Energy Star, occupies a special rarified category.)

Caring Village residents in Haiti, before the earthquake

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From Green Right Now Reports

The images from Haiti are grim, and Americans already have rushed forward with millions of dollars in donations to help the residents of the earthquake-ravaged nation.

Cell phone users can contribute $10 by texting “Haiti” to 90999; the donation will be charged to their accounts with their service providers.

Most charitable organizations have discouraged donations of clothing, contending that money is the best way to make a difference. This leaves citizens to figure out which avenues will be the best to assure that their dollars make a difference.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The National Audubon Society is kicking off the second year of its Pennies for the Planet campaign, which is supported by TogetherGreen. With a slogan of “Because the planet needs some change,” schools, clubs, groups, and families are encouraged to help threatened ecosystems and wildlife by simply collecting pennies (and nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars, too).

This year’s pennies will help protect three endangered U.S. coastlines:

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Collected here are some of the responses to Obama’s announcement this evening of an agreement between certain key nations at Copenhagen. They speak for themselves. We’ll add more as they arise.

Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam International:

“This agreement barely papers over the huge differences between countries which have plagued these talks for two years.

“The deal is a triumph of spin over substance. It recognizes the need to keep warming below 2 degrees but does not commit to do so. It kicks back the big decisions on emissions cuts and fudges the issue of climate cash.

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Propelled to action by student protesters who’d been sleeping out in Boston Common for several weeks, Massachusetts state officials introduced a bill this week to study making the state run entirely on green energy.

It wasn’t exactly what the protesters had demanded — a bill promising to put the state on 100 percent clean energy by 2020 — but it was a good compromise, student leaders said.

“We’re happy…This is a step in the right direction and it seems very practical and rational to get this task force going first,” said Dan Abrams, who handled communications for the campaign. “This task force is charged with proposing ways to get 100% clean electricity by 2020. We’ve given them the goal and asked them to figure out how to get us there. We know it can happen and we know it needs to happen. We have our own policy recommendations that we’ve come up with from our own research and experts and we would like to see what experts on this task force will propose.”

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By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now

Unlike other retail gift suitors seeking your holiday dollars, Heifer International is on a mission.

It wants to “pass on the gift” of a donation to a family in need in the developing world, giving them not short-term relief but a way to help themselves — a source of food, animals to raise, a hold on a small business.

Started in 1944 by Midwestern farmer Dan West, Heifer’s unique concept literally began with a heifer, a young female cow. Not only does the cow provide milk for one family, its offspring can then be given to other families to do the same. In this way, Heifer International has assisted 8.5 million people in more than 125 countries since its inception.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

Hollywood’s feature films are greening up their productions thanks to the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Green Committee. Founded in 2008, the committee is reaching out to productions worldwide, reducing their carbon footprint and leading the industry in the fight against climate change. They are replanting trees, keeping Styrofoam out of their catering services, and recycling costumes, paints, props and fabrics.

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By Harriet Blake

Fact: America has an abundance of food.
Question: So why does anyone go hungry in this country?

A potato gleaning in Virginia (Photo: Society of St. Andrew)

Armed with this simple thought, the Society of St. Andrew (SOSA) took up the cause of feeding the hungry in 1979 with the idea of gleaning fields for salvageable produce.

“We do this in two says,” says Carol Breitinger, communications director. “We use volunteers in the field for hands-on gleaning, or we send out trucks to pick up surplus crops that farmers can’t use and would just end up in the landfill.”

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