Unofficial Climate Awareness Day

That's right. I'm making up my own environmental holidays now. Unofficial ones, of course. So today is my Unofficial Climate Awareness Day, because I just so happen to have a couple of climate change issues to share with you.

Earlier today I made a comment on the Environmental Defense Fund's Facebook posting of THIS great satirical look at a future after the effects of global warming.

I then checked my email and signed a petition for Defenders of Wildlife to urge congress to protect animals threatened by global warming, such as polar bears, pika, and Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep.

Next I went to the Sierra Club website where I can log a public comment concerning global warming and the coal and oil industries.

Now I eagerly await the slew of identical form letters from Roscoe Bartlette telling me he can't help me because he's an idiot - I mean because I'm not in his district. But I am. Idiot.

Lazy update! The blogger is ill and incapable of cognizant thought. What do I blame for my poor health? Cigarette smoke! I never used to get sick until I was living full time with a smoker! Now go back to the article on Clean Coal (not) and think about it some more! In the meantime, here's a hopeful little snippet from my latest SierraClub e-newsletter.

As Carl Pope wrote in a recent blog entry: "What a four weeks!" Congress and the Obama administration continue to deliver a steady stream of environmental milestones.

The best environmental good news came in response to economic bad news: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains approximately $80 billion in funding for promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and higher-mileage cars.

Specifically, that means:

• $25 billion for energy efficiency
• $20 billion for renewable energy incentives
• $11 billion in grants and $6 billion in loans to modernize the electric grid and increase its capacity to deliver power generated by renewable sources, and
• $17.7 billion for mass transit, Amtrak, and high-speed rail.

The significance of this funding for putting America on the path to a clean-energy economy can't be overstated.

The Obama administration also checked off another item from the list of "Clean Slate" actions that the Sierra Club suggested before the inauguration, when EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson indicated that the agency will likely change course and begin regulating as pollutants the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. (Reconsidering an EPA clean-car waiver to California and other states was the first. See below.)

Then, just this week, a years-long stalemate on mercury emissions appears to have broken after the White House Council on Environmental Quality issued a statement saying, "The United States will play a leading role in working with other nations to craft a global, legally binding agreement that will prevent the spread of mercury into the environment."

Let's hope the good news keeps coming from Washington, D.C.

Yes, lets hope, fingers, toes, and eyes crossed! Just don't try to drive like that.

No such thing as 'clean coal'

A billion gallons. That's a lot. That's how much waste was spilled in the recent Tennessee coal ash disaster. That's worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. How is that clean?
Now take into account the tons of coal slag that gets dumped into creeks and valleys every year, the tons of carbon emitted by coal burning plants and factories. Even if you clean up coal, it's still not remotely clean. That's like saying "Oh, this is clean chalk, though. It doesn't leave white smears on your black slacks, and you never have to cough and choke on chalk dust when you beat the erasers." It just doesn't happen. So do you know what people started doing instead of getting chalk dust everywhere? They switched to white boards and dry erase markers. Ah, progress.
Nowadays most markers are nontoxic, and their components can even be recycled. Why can we do this with markers and not with energy? Simply because people aren't making the effort and the commitment needed. Tell them they need to make a commitment.
Sign the Petition.

Leaders for Energy Independence

“The prices of fossil fuels have fallen significantly over the last six months, but now is not the time to become complacent and fall back into wasteful habits,” Rendell said. “Demand for energy will rebound, but the rate of new discoveries of easily obtained, high-quality oil will not be able to match it. Prices will increase again, so we must make ourselves ready.”
So said PA Gov. Edward G. Rendell today. “Since taking office, I’ve set out to make Pennsylvania a leader in the development and deployment of alternative and renewable energy technologies, because we cannot continue to depend on foreign oil and we need to be better stewards of our environment,” said the governor. “We’ve also stressed the importance of conserving energy and using it more efficiently because the cheapest, cleanest energy is that which we do not use."

Think about it. Gas has been creeping back up again. By no means must we imagine that the tough times are over. But let us also consider this concept of 'rebounding.' Do we really have to? Think about it. You've survived the economic and energy crisis so far by driving less, carpooling, eating in, turning the lights off when you leave the room, dialing the heater back just a couple of degrees. Just because costs have dropped for a time, do you suddenly feel compelled to go wasting electricity and gas willy nilly? You're comfortable with the temperature set at 68 instead of 72. Stick with that. Is it REALLY necessary to drive halfway across town to pick up pizza from that place you like? Or would you maybe be just as happy slapping together one of those 'do it yourself' pizzas at home with the kids? hmm.

We, as consumers, can't really control the cost of services like water and electricity on our own. But we can learn to conserve out own resources. Not all of us can afford to install solar panels, or a wind generator. But all of us can turn off the lights when we leave, turn down the heat, maybe take shorter showers which saves water and electricity by not using as much water from your water heater. Some of us can maybe afford to get water conserving faucets and shower heads and toilets. The point is, do what you CAN, and you CAN make a difference. Even if the difference is only to you.

"Cape Wind" project

Grist.org is a great environmental news site I discovered through another agri-enviro blogger recently. Today browsing the 'most popular articles' list I discovered this old article and had to look into it:
RFK Jr. and other prominent enviros face off over Cape Cod wind farm.

Large scale clean energy projects like this one are the ones that really scare people. I've said before that I'm more of a proponent for personalized energy than large scale commercial energy projects. But the plain fact is we're going to need at least some of these large arrays in order to meet the energy quotas necessary to keep our homes and businesses running. So in this case the question comes down to whether or not historic Cape Cod is really off limits.

I have to argue with myself over this one. I've never actually been to Cape Cod, so I can't say exactly what the impact to the historic lighthouse views would be. Some concern has been expressed about light pollution due to the flashing lights necessary to warn away aircraft from the wind turbines...I hate light pollution. Still, to me 130 scattered wind turbines away-out-there in Nantucket Sound seems preferable to me than those ugly inland windfarms like I saw out near Palm Springs, California. California has about 13,000 or so wind turbines.
So we'll put the view aside for now, since I can't make an informed decision on that. Next of course is economic impact...will building a wind farm off the coast really put hundreds of fishermen out of work? I doubt it. Some, sure, but wind farming isn't going to stop fishing in the Sound. Already some folks such as this man in Iowa who lost other factory jobs are making a living building new green economy products such as turbine blades and solar panels.
I consider recreational boating impact to be of least concern, so I'm not even going to talk about sailing.
Now we come to the environmental impact. Even the big name enviro funds are split on this issue. The Massachusetts Audubon Society and The Humane Society are concerned about seabirds and ocean life, while World Wildlife Fund and GreenPeace have given the project their blessing. Certainly any place that is a good place to build a wind farm is going to be a place where eagles, hawks, seabirds and other avians like to circulate, and the impact on those populations needs to be weighed. Also the impact on ocean life due to the drilling and digging that will need to be done to the seabed to anchor the turbines and bury the electric cables. You can check out the Cape Wind Project FAQ for more details on these subjects.
So, in closing, this Cape Wind project sounds to me like a well planned, well thought out, and ultimately necessary step toward energy independence...pending of course the final Environmental Impact Statement.
I leave you to make your own decision.

Surviving the Recession. Ending an addiction.

Well, plummeting stock markets and the like have done us one favor in the past month. They helped make the price of gas almost attainable again. Here in my area its around 2.65, with some places higher and some lower. In California I don't think it has dropped below 3 dollars yet, but there has definitely been a decline in cost. Crude is down from 117 a barrel to about 66 dollars. Despite the fact that fuel cost is down, a recent poll says that demand for gas is still down as much as 6% from where it was previously at higher prices. Our economic crisis has finally done what all the begging, pleading, preaching, and cajoling of conservationists could not: Cut the demand for fossil fuels.
Here is my message to you: Don't let politicians and capitalists convince you that the only way to save our economy is to drive more and shop more. All you are doing by taking such action is helping to continue to build our national economy on a culture of waste. You're throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
We've been given a chance. Our first big break in ending our addiction to oil, and our wasteful habits concerning water and energy conservation. We need to take this break and run with it. Build momentum, don't fall back into the same old routine! Life's tough for everyone right now, but if you've been able to get by on ten dollars less in gas a week, then please, I urge you to continue to do so. Gasoline isn't something you can buy when it is on sale and stockpile like Ramen Noodles and Cola from Costco. You buy it, you burn it up, and its gone. Money down the drain, followed by acid rain. Now is the time to make an investment in yourself, your family, our economy, our country, and our world. And you don't have to do a thing. And that thing is to give in to the pressure of politicians and lobbyists who would have you believe that buying into our oil addiction is the only way to support our country.
Cutting our demand for fossil fuels is the only way to get the message across to our energy companies and government that we need new sources of clean, renewable energy. Not just energy we can live with. Energy we can live by.
I have no links, no alerts, no petitions for you to sign today. Just food for thought. Eat up.

A question for the presidential debate

Today I got an Email from the folks at the WE campaign (WeCanSolveIt.org) inviting me to submit a question for the next presidential debate using the MySpace official debate page. Well. Me and Myspace, we don't get along. So I decided to go ahead and phrase my question and post it here on my blog.
So here it is.
My question is, why in a time when the government seems so hell-bent on privatizing everything from banking, to health care, to social security (all of which I think are BAD ideas) has no one spoken about privatizing Green energy? Why are you not encouraging people to take their fate in their own hands and go Green for themselves, rather than waiting for the government to pile on the bandwagon and organize everything for them?
The answer is probably simply the fact that the government wishes to maintain control of the energy industry through the use of companies going Green large scale. Think Solar fields and Wind farms. But folks, why are you letting the government control you, and how you spend your money? Because believe me, you're still going to be spending money. Wind and sunshine are free. But the technology used to harness them isn't. If you have to pay for it, why pay someone else? It sort of like leasing a car for five years and then returning it to the dealership. You've spent just as much money as if you'd bought the car, but now that you're done spending, the car is gone. If you have to pay for it, why not just keep it? Just like buying a new vehicle, making your home a Green Energy home is an investment.
I'm not saying it's going to be a cheap investment. According to the nifty calculator I found a while back...and I will post a link to when I find it again, because I could swear I already did...Anyway, only taking into account a very loose estimate of how often the lights, tv, and such are on, and the energy consumed by only our major appliances, my nifty calculating friend has informed me that it would cost about nine thousand dollars to install a solar system to support our house. My mother's house, which is considerably larger, clocks in at around 20-25 thousand. Yes, it's a considerable investment, when remodeling. It's much easier and less expensive to incorporate solar and wind power into your home when you are building a new home. But consider the benefits:
If your system is big enough, you may have little to NO electric bills.
If you live in a state which allows it, you may even receive payment from the electric company for any surplus energy you make.
Have you ever looked at your electric bill closely? For some people almost half their average cost of electricity is eaten up by the transfer. There are taxes and fees for transformers, for lines, for exchanges...plus some of the electricity that is made at the plant is lost in transmission. Just because that electricity fizzled off into the ozone layer doesn't mean you didn't have to pay for it. And here is the kicker for me: You can live completely off the electric grid if you want to. Ever wanted to just escape? Go for it! Build your mountain cabin and never worry about a snow storm knocking out the power lines. Even better, never even have to LOOK at powerlines! I hate seeing powerlines.
So basically, here are my thoughts on the subject: I don't believe that the green energy initiative is the government's responsibility. I believe that it does and should begin with the individual.
I believe that this 'privitized' form of energy will save energy, and money.
I believe that our leaders should be encouraging us to strike out on our own, energy wise.
I believe that grants and loans specifically for green energy projects should be more visible and more easily accessible to the common consumer.
I believe in energy independance, not just for our country, but for INDIVIDUALS.

I believe a lot of other things, but I also believe that I've worn out my wounded mouse arm with all this typing, and I need to take a break. Surely, I will touch on the subject again in the future.

2 Birds, 1 Stone

Want to help the environment AND the economy? Well, here's your chance...on top of spending your economic stimulus check on new solar panels, which I know you're all doing, you can sign a petition and help the Clean Energy movement maintain it's momentum, instead of stalling out while congress hems and haws.
Clean Energy has the potential to become one of the largest industries in the future, supporting jobs for everyone from computer programmers and engineers, to welders and farmers. Save the planet, and save cash by using renewable energy in your home and automobiles. Sounds like a dream, huh? Let's see if we can make it a reality.
Go to WeCanSolveIt.org and sign the petition!