Mark the date and time on your calendars: Saturday, March 27th at 8:30
pm local time. Join the movement to demand immediate action on climate change and turn off your lights for one hour. Declare your commitment on the Earth Hour website, and add your name to the growing list of people who are pledging their support.
The National Coalition of Organizations has declared February 1-5,
2010 to be Clean Energy Week, as organizations from across the U.S.
hold a variety of events to encourage and support the passage of clean
energy and climate policies now pending in Congress. The objective is
to engage the Administration and Congress in taking action on the top
environmental and economic priorities of the American people:
Climate
solutions
Renewable energy
Energy efficiency.
Check out the wide range of activities taking place on Capitol Hill and across Washington,
DC to bring attention to the policies needed for a clean energy economy.[Read More]
It's easy to get involved in the fight against climate change. You can
start by measuring your climate impact and then managing your
environmental footprint. Brighter Planet
allows you to watch your carbon footprint with an online tool
assessment that prompts you to answer questions, and a sophisticated
emissions model tells you what your footprint is. You can watch it
change over time as you learn to live a more carbon-free life. The site
also offers energy conservation tips and emission-reducing strategies
and lets visitors share their ideas and experiences. [Read More]
Annie Leonard, who brought us The Story of Stuff, just released her latest animated online video, The Story of Cap and Trade.
It only takes 10 minutes to watch this fast-paced, fact-filled look at
the leading climate change solution on the table in Copenhagen and in
the halls of Congress. You'll learn how cap and trade works, who
benefits, what the major concepts are, and how to get involved.
Considering this is one of the most important sustainability issues of
our day, it's worth your time. Don't forget to share it with friends
and colleagues![Read More]
Canada is lagging behind other nations when it comes to addressing climate change. Our country produces less than 1% of its energy from renewable
sources like wind and solar power and only employs a few thousand people. The U.S. is now investing 6x more person to build a clean-energy economy and 'green' jobs. And we emit 2 to 3 times more global warming pollution per person than most European countries.
Canadians can help stop climate change by speaking up. Call Prime Minister Stephen Harper at (613) 992-4211and leave him a voicemail message telling him you want Canada to be a leader at the UN Climate Summit this month. Take a video of yourself, post it on the David Suzuki Foundation site and you could win a $400 gift certificate from Mountain Equipment Coop. Enter yourself in their contest by filling out the online form here.
Recently, I have been focusing more and more of my attention on
global warming and, in turn, on understanding my own reactions and responses to
what’s happening. The results so far have been both fascinating and
challenging. One aspect of the global warming conversation involves the role
of the media in reporting scientific evidence and projections regarding the
effects of carbon dioxide in heating the planet. In particular, I have learned
about
I
was sent this extraordinary video produced by the AARP communicating in
a simple and straightforward way that if we don’t change the direction
we’re going, we’re apt to end up there. It is one of a number of dire
predictions about our common future. Yesterday, Al Gore declared
climate change irreversible and challenged all of us to transcend
short-term concerns and agendas and unite with the world in dealing
with this looming calamity. There is so much bad news about the
‘economic crisis’ that it is easy to become depressed or at the very
least to become numb to the waves of negativity we’re encountering on a
daily basis.
A year ago, we were focused on Bali as 184 nations gathered to discuss the Kyoto Protocol. From
December 1st to 12th this year, we are now looking to the gathering of
over 10,000 delegates and staff from 190 countries in Poznan, Poland at
the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change
Convention (COP 14). This event, held in conjunction with the 4th
Conference
of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto
Protocol (CMP 4), continues the international conversation about
climate change. This conversation began over a decade ago with the
signing of the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an
international treaty focused on considering what can be done to reduce
global warming and the inevitable consequences of increasing
temperatures.
The financial crisis will definitely impact the discussion at
Poznan regarding whether 'green' projects will help or hinder the
short-term economic
health of countries. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC,
spoke of the financial crisis as the main threat to the climate
protection agenda, in that investors will miss the "opportunity for
green growth" and focus on building cheaper and dirtier power sources
instead.[Read More]
With the recent bankruptcy filings of six airlines (ATA, Oasis Hong
Kong, Aloha, Skybus, Frontier and Champion) in the past two weeks, the
issues of climate change and peak oil dominate media reporting. Local
journalists are calling transportation planners and policy-makers to task,
suggesting that their focus should not be committing more resources to
infrastructure developments that support the airline industry as it
exists today. Air travel has been subsidized by government, but
environmental
realities can no longer be ignored.[Read More]
Nope, the name of this post is not a misspelling. I mean warning! I
wonder…when does a ignoring a dire warning become denial? When does
someone hearing, “You are drinking too much” become an alcoholic? As
someone who has had my fair share of after work drinking and after
dinner toasts, I can tell you that you never know you are in denial
when you are in denial. If enough people suggest there may be a
problem, then the only way to know if there is a problem is to assume
they are right. If they are, then there is still time to recover. If
they aren’t, then a little abstinence never hurt anyone. At the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali last week, Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper took a stance along the lines of “We will if
they will” that is tantamount to an immature parent saying “I won’t
lose my temper if you’ll stop crying.”[Read More]