As if the dire predictions about the sad state of the planet aren’t enough, we’re now being treated to gloomy forecasts about whether our leaders have the will to do anything about it.
At the Climate Summit at the United Nations in NYC observers had hoped for a breakthrough pledge or statement from either US President Barack Obama or China’s President Hu Jintao. But the event was long on rhetoric, short on serious commitment and left many advocates muttering their disappointment, mainly because the leaders of the two most polluting nations are still playing chess.
Not convinced that climate change matters? The Union of Concerned Scientists has concluded that if Americans adopt that stance, they’ll be gambling not just with their lungs, but with their pocketbooks.
It found that rising sea levels, intense hurricanes, flooding, impaired public health and strained energy and water resources would all add up to one monumental price tag.
Once, long ago, a winemaker promised to sell no wine before its time. Now, a different company is promising to sell no wine (at least one label of wine anyway) without helping humans atone for past crimes.
The rhyme may not be as good, but the thought is more altruistic.
Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby knew their documentary about ocean acidification would have to pass a high test to avoid overwhelming a public already challenged to understand many technical facets of climate change.
To sound the alarm about yet another looming global warming catastrophe, the potential destruction of all marine life, their film would have to be engaging, accessible, down-to-earth.
Happily, A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish succeeds on all those levels. Humanizing this critical issue like no previous film or book, it follows the soft-spoken Huseby on an odyssey of discovery as he meets with scientists and activists in Alaska, Seattle, California and Norway trying to understand the phenomenon of ocean acidification.
By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
At a time when most 15-year-olds are thinking about sports, learning to drive and dating, Alec Loorz is trying to stop global warming.
The Ventura, California teen is the creator of Kids vs. Global Warming, a non-profit group dedicated to getting youth involved in the fight against global warming. “As young [...]
You gotta love it when people show they care. Greenpeace activists made their passion for the environment manifest in yet another creative way today, posting a sign urging Obama to show strong leadership on global warming.
On Mount Rushmore.
Next to Lincoln, our president’s favorite president.
They were arrested, which for Greenpeacers is not a negative. Though the group noted in the news release that the sign posters were all trained rock climbers, so no lives were endangered. The “heads” were unharmed and the activists took care to use established climbing anchors used for routine cleanings.
The Obama Administration, via the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), issued a wake-up call today, a massive report on climate change called Global Climate Change Impacts in the U.S..
It concludes that the effects of climate change are here, they’re worsening and they must be dealt with soon if future generations are to enjoy ample food, water and comfortable living conditions
Quite simply, it’s a message about impending disaster. Average temperatures are getting hotter and could rise as much as 10 degrees by the end of the century. Our use of fossil fuels is mainly to blame. If we don’t stop polluting the air with heat-trapping gases, the ensuing climate changes will lead to drought, flooding, severe storms, stressed agriculture, thinning glaciers, earlier snow melts, rising sea levels, declining ecosystems and deteriorating air quality.
Who is Christopher Swain and why is he swimming through 1,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean muck?
Freestyling around the net looking for answers, we found the YouTube video, “Dirty for Swain” about how Swain supporters are bathing in sewage…moisturizing with crude oil…and drinking curdled milk (not makin’ it up) to support this eco-activist’s latest aquatic statement, which is taking him from Marblehead, Mass., to Washington D.C.
It might seem like a lot of toxic exposure just to make a point…except that Swain is leading a new wave of interest in cleaner water. With the oceans acidifying under global warming and fisheries collapsing due to excessive commercial fishing, there’s no time to waste, excuse the pun.
America’s urban centers are becoming ever greener, with the National League of Cities holding its first ever Green Cities Conference last month. While many cities have recently taken up environmental causes, some have been carrying the banner for years.
Seattle, home to such earlier innovations as the 60s Space Needle, Microsoft, and grunge rock, is one such green leader.
In 2008, Seattle was anointed the nation’s leader in LEED-certified buildings by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), culminating an eight-year-old sustainable building policy calling for city-funded projects to be LEED-qualified at the silver level.
Seattle also can boast about its:
Impressive bike trails system with about 30 trails and 20 bike lanes, making bike commuting commonplace in Seattle, home to the Cascade Bicycle Club, which claims to be the nation’s largest bicycle club
Community-based home energy efficiency program, called SWITCH, that started last year and has sent neighbors door-to-door with thousands of CFL light bulbs.
Americans are ready for action on clean energy jobs, energy independence and reducing carbon pollution, according to two Pew Environment Group-commissioned polls, one by the Mellman Group and another by Public Opinion Strategies.
The national survey of Americans contacted in late March by the Mellman Group, found that:
77% of voters favor action to reduce global warming emissions
50% of voters say they would view their Member of Congress more favorably if they support a comprehensive plan to create clean energy jobs and fight global warming, only 22% say they would view their Member of Congress less favorably.
Prince Charles launched a new Internet initiative The Prince’s Rainforest Project Campaign at the National Geographic’s store in London on Tuesday. The Prince also released a webcast drawing attention to deforestation.
The Prince attended a showing of a 90 second public awareness film. Celebrities such as Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, and the Dalai Lama joined Prince Charles and his sons Princes William and Harry to raise awareness of the organization and the loss of tropical rainforests.
The first full day of hearings on that proposed law known as Waxman-Markey, which would promote clean energy, foster green jobs and set up a system to curb greenhouse gas emissions, began today, fittingly, on Earth Day.
But how do we make sense of this sweeping piece of legislation that affects everything from the air you breathe to the refrigerator you use? You could watch the hearings on C-Span over the next few weeks. (If you are unemployed, have all day long to plop in front of the tube and can remain alert for extended periods while people discuss abstractions like “carbon allowances” and “international offsets” this might be for you!)
