Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | By The Wilderness Society |
No CommentsJust 48 hours before Earth Day, President Obama designated Fort Ord, California, a national monument. This did not come as a surprise to the citizens of California’s central coast, and those who supported preserving the former military base's rich history and lush nature. For months, local and national war veterans, local business owners, hikers, mountain bikers and elected officials were calling for the Fort Ord's protection.
Why do people love this former Army base?
Fort Ord is actually much more than a military base. The former Army base near Monterey California, served as a training facility for roughly 1.5 million service men and women between World War I and its closure in 1996. But the area also boasts nearly 15,000 acres of coastal oak woodlands, marine chaparral, scenic grasslands and ephemeral pools. The lush and diverse scenery of Fort Ord's land provides a home for 35 rare animal and plant species. Recreationists who visit this new national monument will find 86 miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding trails. This thriving crossroads between history, heritage and nature is what made Fort Ord a popular candidate for national monument status.
Using the Antiquities Act to protect Fort Ord
With the stroke of a pen on April 20, President Obama protected Fort Ord by using the Antiquities Act for the second time since taking office. The Antiquities Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Since then, it has been used by nearly every president (16 to be exact – both Republican and Democratic) to protect places of cultural, historical or natural value. Every president that has used the Antiquities Act has had future generations in mind, and the importance of passing down America’s rich legacy. Now thanks to this law, Fort Ord joins the likes of the Statue of Liberty as well as Joshua Tree and the Grand Canyon, both of which were first designated as a national monuments.
Moving forward to save more of America's heritage
The designation of Fort Ord is an example of President Obama’s willingness to respond to citizens working together to protect America’s heritage. Similar grassroots efforts are underway elsewhere, where communities have grown frustrated with Congress’ inability to pass even non-controversial legislation.
Thankfully, the president has the authority, and now a track record of protecting the very places that define us as a nation. We appreciate President Obama’s leadership at Fort Ord, and look forward to his continued commitment to work with communities to protect America’s great outdoors.
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | By Kyle O Brien |
No CommentsGet up from your desk and on your feet for a walk at lunch on April 25, 2012 for National Walk @ Lunch Day.
National Walk @ Lunch Day is designed to complement—not compete with—your busy lifestyle.
Participation is fun and easy! On Wednesday, April 25, thousands of companies across the nation affiliated with Blue Cross and Blue Shield will participate in the National Walk @ Lunch Day.
Simply getting 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, such as a brisk walk, at least five times a week has significant health benefits, lowering the risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease, hypertension or type 2 diabetes, and improving the health of muscles, bones and joints.
Monday, April 23, 2012 | By Kyle O Brien |
No CommentsThe folks over at AdRants alerted us to this video that utilizes natural foods, trees and bees to make music. It’s a tribute to Earth Day from the makers of Burt’s Bees products. Some interesting sounds from some very common objects. Enjoy.
Monday, April 23, 2012 | By The Wilderness Society |
No CommentsEarth Day was celebrated in unique ways in the small towns across western Colorado. In Montrose I joined a small group to honor the gifts of the natural world at a pre-dawn ceremony near the Ute Indian Museum. We gathered around Montrose’s Peace Pole with a chorus of songbirds as our backdrop, near the flowing Uncompahgre River.
As the morning warmed I headed to Roubideau Canyon, a Wilderness Study Area, also known as Camelback, about ten miles southwest of the town of Delta. Roubideau Corridors is a complex of picturesque desert streams, canyons and mesas. The ecological significance of this area has been recognized by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program. These canyons harbor uncommon riparian plant communities and sensitive species like northern leopard frog, Grand Junction milkvetch and desert bighorn sheep.
Roubideau Creek was flowing hard and brown with spring runoff after many warm days in western Colorado. Fresh leaves sprouting on the cottonwoods were so intensely green they looked luminescent. Along the trail, sage filled the air with its rich and heady aroma. Ravens soared high above as my dog, Galahad, and I padded down the sandy canyon bottom.
Just upstream lay the confluence of Potter and Roubideau Creeks. Out of sight was Monitor Creek, as well. I’ve heard that traditional cultures lend great significance to places where streams come together. Certainly this beautiful setting where three streams converge near each other holds a sense of something special.
We are extremely fortunate to have outstanding natural settings like Roubideau Canyons near local communities in western Colorado. Roubideau Canyons is one of many treasures of public lands managed by the Uncompahgre Field Office (UFO) of the Bureau of Land Management. The UFO is currently revising its Resource Management Plan, and considering special management designations to preserve the sweet solitude and high ecological value here. 2013 will bring opportunities for the public to comment on the RMP, and how we can best preserve wild and natural areas.
My Earth Day adventure reminded me of how important the management of our lands is. As I left Roubideau, a pair of great blue herons flew up from the stream. In this world of daily stress, places like Roubideau Canyons offer a haven to remember every day like Earth Day.
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Monday, April 23, 2012 | By Great Energy Challenge |
No CommentsCan jobs be more than a talking point in the debate over energy?
It’s not just a rhetorical question. It’s not a surprise that jobs and the economy consistently show up as the number-one issue for voters this election year. It’s also no surprise that the both sides of the energy debate use estimates of how energy policy affects jobs to make their larger points.
The Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University looked at some of these job estimates in a recent report and concluded they varied widely depending on the economic model and data used. In addition, the institute said the limitations of these estimates are “inconsistently reported and too often ignored.” The differences are huge, ranging from losing more than a million jobs to gaining nearly that many.
“In an advocacy context, job impact analyses can tell very different stories, often depending on the narrator,” the report said. The institute said there are estimates predicting everything from a 1.3 million job loss to a 723,000 job gain from the imposition of renewable energy standards, depending on the model. On EPA power plant regulations, sci-fi fans can choose from two different “mirror universes”: the rules would create or destroy 1.4 million jobs, depending on whether you believe the industry group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity or the Political Economy Research Institute.
Different models are going to produce different results, and different advocacy groups and candidates are going to cherrypick the results to make their points. That’s just what happens in the real world, and why it’s important to provide some context and balance.
But there are other things that will happen in the real world that we can’t ignore when it comes to jobs and energy policy.
The energy business is changing. We’re undergoing a historic shift in how we get and deliver energy. The combination of rapidly rising global demand and the threat of irreversible climate change are combining to force change in our fossil-fuel based world. Even the staid International Energy Agency says the world’s energy system is “unsustainable” as it exists today.
Work in general, and energy work in particular, is going to change. Massively. The world of work is also shifting under our feet. The Great Recession destroyed more than 8 million American jobs, and getting them back would be challenge enough. But at the same time, technology and globalization are enabling more jobs to be done elsewhere, or maybe to not be done by humans at all. These trends will affect energy jobs just like they affect jobs in other fields That means some of those lost jobs aren’t coming back, and new ones need to be found.
The economy itself is never static. There’s always “churn” as we create and destroy jobs all the time. If the economy is working well, you’re always creating more jobs than you destroy. But the bigger the social change that’s going on, the bigger the churn – and the more disruption there’s going to be. A massive shift in energy will produce job shifts. There’s no way around it.
The fundamental question is how we help people cope with change. If you look at the broad economic statistics over time, it’s easy to take comfort in the fact that jobs lost in one field are usually made up somewhere else. If you’ve lost your job or trying to hang onto the one you have, that’s another story.
For example, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the federal government’s official best estimate of job prospects, projects employment in utilities will fall 11 percent by 2018 and by 14 percent in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction – in both cases at least partly because of greater automation. By contrast, employment in professional, scientific and technical services is supposed to grow by 34 percent, with 2.7 million new jobs. But how many people in mining or utilities are ready to move over to manage computer networks?
Sure, most people adapt and find new jobs, eventually. But people who lose a job often take years to regain lost economic ground. And the longer people are unemployed, the harder it is to get back into the workforce.
Americans don’t want to hear that “it’ll all work out.” They want to know how it will work out, and they want to know that the country’s leaders in government and business are thinking about how to manage the transition and avoid its most painful aspects.
Unless people understand how the new energy future will affect them and their communities and unless they are confident that their concerns and fears are taken seriously, they’re not going to buy into it. What’s more, manipulating their hopes and fears for short-term political advantage will just feed the cynicism and gridlock that keeps us from doing what needs to be done.
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Friday, April 20, 2012 | By The Wilderness Society |
No Comments
The Wilderness Society applauds the president for preserving this cultural and natural treasure by using the Antiquities Act
The Wilderness Society today applauded President Obama on designating Fort Ord National Monument. The designation of the Fort was trumpeted as a top issue by local and national veterans, local business owners, elected officials, conservationists and recreation enthusiasts. The California delegation — consisting of Congressman Sam Farr (CA-17) and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer — all urged the protection of Fort Ord.
“The Wilderness Society applauds President Obama for listening to the people who want to protect Fort Ord for the enjoyment of future generations,” said William H. Meadows president of The Wilderness Society. "Fort Ord draws people from all walks of life to its cultural, historical and natural wonders, and thanks to the leadership from people near and afar, this place will be forever protected.”
Fort Ord, a former Army base near Monterey California, served as a training facility for roughly 1.5 million Americans. The area has nearly 15,000 acres of coastal oak woodlands, marine chaparral, scenic grasslands and ephemeral pools. These coastal public lands house 35 rare animal and plant species and 86 miles of trails open to hiking, biking and horseback riding. All of this makes Fort Ord is a strong contributor to the tourism sector of the county, which employs 24,000 people and attracts eight million visitors annually who spend roughly $2 billion there.
“Many of the soldiers who went through Basic and Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Ord lost their lives in service to our country. In memory of the soldiers who did not return home to their family and friends, I would like to thank President Obama for honoring them for answering our Nation’s call and for recognizing their contributions and sacrifices in war,” said Gordon Smith, Vietnam Veteran and past commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 5888, Santa Cruz.
The designation will protect the Fort as an important part of our national history, and marks the President Obama’s second use of the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act has been used to designate and protect national monuments by 16 presidents — both Republican and Democratic — since it was enacted by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. All of the presidents who used the Antiquities Act have had the foresight to employ this bipartisan tool to protect some of our nation’s most treasured natural and cultural wonders, like the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree.
A large step toward critical conservation in the U.S., The Wilderness Society is excited that the designation of Fort Ord as a national monument is another step in President Obama’s efforts to work with people on the ground to continue the tradition of preserving America’s most valued natural and historical places. The designation of Fort Ord as a national monument ensures that this important and living part of American history will be upheld for future generations.
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Friday, April 20, 2012 | By EarthShare |
No CommentsTwo Years After Deepwater Horizon
Although it’s been two years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the people and wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico are still feeling the impacts of the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Many of EarthShare’s member charities have been working in the Gulf since the disaster, including scientists, doctors, policymakers and economists who are documenting the long-term effects of the spill. Here’s what they’re finding:
Deformed aquatic life: “Louisiana fishers have pulled up entire nets of eyeless shrimp… Fish and shrimp have tumors and lesions. Such deformities happened even before the spill, but the high number of diseased and deformed animals being found after the spill shock both fishers and scientists. In some areas after the spill, a startling 50% of fish have these lesions.” – Oceana
Sick dolphins: “Dolphins in the northern Gulf of Mexico are dying in unprecedented numbers. This month marks a record-shattering 26 consecutive months of above-average dolphin strandings. Only 5 percent of the stranded dolphins were recovered alive and their prognosis was usually poor.” – Restore the Mississippi River Delta
Health impacts on humans: “Fishermen, cleanup workers, and kids report strange rashes, coughing, breathing difficulty, eye irritation, and a host of other unexplained health problems that have persisted in the years since the disaster.” – Natural Resources Defense Council
Damaged coral reefs: “After months of laboratory work, scientists say they can definitively finger oil from BP’s blown-out well as the culprit for the slow death of a once brightly colored deep-sea coral community in the Gulf of Mexico that is now brown and dull.” – Associated Press
Declined fisheries: “Crabbers are harvesting 75 percent fewer crabs than in years before the spill, and the crabs they do catch are often dead, discolored, and riddled with holes or missing sections of their shells.” – Defenders of Wildlife
Contaminated zooplankton: “Contaminated zooplankton were actually chemically fingerprinted with certainty back to origins from the Deepwater Horizon blowout. And since zooplankton serve as food for baby fish and shrimp, they help move oil contamination and pollutants up the food chain.” – Defenders of Wildlife
Stagnant economy: “Seasonally-adjusted unemployment numbers for nineteen metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) adjacent to or on the Gulf of Mexico show that while some metro areas reported declines in unemployment between May 2010 and May 2011, most did not.” – Environmental Defense Fund
What can you do to help? Consider making an Earth Day gift to support the organizations committed to ongoing restoration in the Gulf, visit Restore the Mississippi River Delta, a collaborative effort from several of our member charities, and read these reports from our members on the lasting effects of the spill:
A Degraded Gulf Of Mexico: Wildlife and Wetlands Two Years into the Gulf Oil Disaster – National Wildlife Federation
Offshore Drilling Reform Report Card – Oceana
The Chaos Of Clean-Up – Earthjustice
In Deep Water: Weak Governance and the Gulf Oil Spill, a 30-Year Timeline – World Resources Institute
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Friday, April 20, 2012 | By Great Energy Challenge |
No CommentsBy Brendan Schoenman, 2012 Human Impacts Institute Environmental Leadership Intern, and Tara DePorte, Founder and Executive Director, Human Impacts Institute
As United Nations’ Rio+20 conference on sustainable development approaches, youth around the world have the opportunity to speak with a unified and influential voice on the issues that will be discussed in June. The United Nations has set up a campaign to invite public input called The Future We Want. Beyond submitting ideas there, here are ways that young activists can take part before, during and after the conference, courtesy of the Human Impacts Institute.
Before Rio
- iMatter Earth Day March: On Earth Day, which is Sunday, April 22, iMatter will march for the Future We Want in Washington, DC. Can’t make it to D.C.? iMatter is welcoming people from all over the world to march for climate awareness. 45 countries and 200 cities were represented last year, and this year the need to mobilize is only becoming more important.
- Rio Mas Vos Project (Rio+You): This global youth organization invites the young and young-at-heart to take collective action this Earth Day for Rio+20. With events all over the world, you can join one or easily create your own march, concert, party, festival, or whatever to bring Rio and sustainability to your community.
- Win a Date With History: Inspired by Severn Suzuki’s speech at 1992s Summit, this global competition is using the power of the youth’s voice to inspire today’s leaders in order to ensure that the necessary steps are being taken towards global sustainable development. Until April 30, anyone who is between the ages of 13 and 30 can submit a 2-to-3-minute video describing the “Future I Want.” Videos will be shown in Rio throughout the conference, and one winner will receive a trip to the conference in June and the opportunity to share their vision as a speaker at Rio+20.
Before Rio and Beyond
- Throw Your Own House Party: Use the Human Impacts Institute’s guide for putting on a Rio+20 house party. The guide has ideas for how to start a conversation on healthy communities and environments with friends, neighbors and colleagues. Your party might include petition-writing, creating videos and PSAs for national campaigns, or simply discussing the state of today’s sustainability movement.
- Join Mobilize US!: MobilizeUS! is a national coalition founded and coordinated by the Human Impacts Institute to engage Americans in supporting healthy communities, good governance, strong economies, and the environment through grassroots action, advocacy, and coalition building. The 2012 Rio+20 Earth Summit is an opportunity for us to redefine our relationship to development and the environment. Individuals can join MobilizeUS! by joining the MobilizeUS! discussion group and participating in MobilizeUS! actions for Rio+20.
- Road to Rio+20 Coalition: This coalition is aggregating, amplifying, giving visibility and support to the initiatives that various youth and youth-led communities, groups and organizations are taking on issues of sustainable development, with a link to Rio+20. Check out their website for ways to participate.
- MyCity+20: This initiative invites high school and university students to fully immerse themselves in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development negotiation process by creating their own simulation of the upcoming conference. Simulations may seem dry to some people, but there are few other ways to truly understand the work that goes into the production of such conferences, as well as the work that it has/does/will take to create binding sustainable policy. You’ll find more information about simulations in cities around the world, including how to participate, at this website. The New York+20 event, for example, takes place April 27.
Before, During and After Rio
- Major Groups of Children and Youth (MGCY): MGCY works to ensure that the interests of children and youth are taken into account in the planning and decision making processes, and that youth in particular participate meaningfully in the UNCSD-processes. Joining the MGCY allows for youth all over the world the ability to access resources, collaborate with similarly minded young people, and to help develop policy for Rio+20 and other Commission on Sustainable Development meetings. While the MGCY is a great resource, it’s also a resource for those mostly interested in high-level policy development and networking with youth from around the world. In order to remain accessible for as many young people as possible, they have also created a series of Rio+20 webinars that are great resources when first exploring the world of global sustainable development, as well as a Part 1 and Part 2 “how to” guide for youth action for sustainable development.
- Youth in Rio for Rio+20: Youth Blast: From June 7-12, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro, the Major Groups of Children and Youth is hosting the Youth Blast Conference of Youth for Rio +20, the official Rio+20 event of the Major Group for Children and Youth Major Group. With so many youth mobilizing around the world, the MGCY saw the need for a space in which youth, who have been working together from across the planet, can assemble and create a unified youth vision for the future of sustainable development and inclusive policy.
This post was adapted from the Human Impacts Institute Blog with permission.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012 | By EarthShare |
No CommentsEarthShare Staff Go Renewable
Aurora Oliva, Project Coordinator at EarthShare Oregon installed solar panels on her roof in 2010
“We’re buying some of the sun!” That was the proud proclamation Max Woodfin’s then 7-year-old son made when their family started purchasing solar power 20 years ago. Woodfin, Director of EarthShare Texas, lives in Austin and has been helping his utility, Austin Energy, integrate solar power into their local grid by paying an extra fee on his energy bill each month (in an arrangement known as green pricing).
Max Woodfin
Woodfin is only one of the many EarthShare staff members around the country who’ve made the switch to renewable energy. Their stories illustrate how easy it is to support the greening of the American grid and how diverse the options for clean energy purchasing are becoming.
Austin as a whole has been upping its commitment to renewable energy each year – Houston, TX is the only city in the country that purchases more green power. By this year, every Austin municipal building will run on 100% renewable energy. By 2030, at least 35% of the city’s energy must be generated by renewable sources.
The growing interest in renewables is reflected on the individual level too: Woodfin has noticed an uptick in the number of people taking part in Austin’s green energy programs and in conversations about the topic on community listservs. Although it costs a bit more to support renewable energy in his region, Woodfin says it’s worth it. “You’re putting your faith and your pocketbook in future generations,” he says.
Max Woodfin of EarthShare Texas buys solar power through his utility for his home in Austin
William Borden, Director of EarthShare Washington agrees. “You’ve got to believe that for people who know about climate change, especially if you have grandkids, renewables make sense.” Borden’s household participates in Seattle City Light’s Green Up program which, like Austin Energy, charges consumers a monthly fee to integrate more renewables into the grid.
“Seattle is a city that prides itself on being sustainable,” Borden says, pointing to a recent mayoral race in which the two leading candidates tried to “out-green” each other for votes.
William Borden
Nearby Portland, OR is also renowned for its commitment to sustainability and EarthShare Oregon is no exception. Everyone at their office either purchases renewable energy or generates their own electricity from solar panels, with tax incentives and zero or low interest loans from the local utility, Portland General Electric.
“I think most of the west-coast utility companies push efficiency and renewables pretty hard, so it’s easy to be “green” out here,” says EarthShare Oregon Director Jan Wilson. “Oregon has only one coal-fired power plant (which will be shut down in a couple years), no off-shore or on-land oil drilling, and our hydro-power dams are at capacity. So it’s either wind and solar, or we have to pipe in more natural gas, and nobody’s up for that.”
EarthShare President and CEO Kalman Stein considered putting solar panels on his Maryland home last year, but he decided to purchase wind power from local renewable energy supplier Clean Currents instead when he discovered optimal sunlight would require cutting some of his trees down.
Jan Wilson
Stein learned about Clean Currents when he had an energy audit conducted on his home. In addition to suggesting weatherization work, the audit recommended he switch to Clean Currents’ wind power program.
Maryland’s electricity market is deregulated, so residential rate-payers can choose the company that supplies their home’s power. Now Stein’s home is supplied with wind power through Clean Currents. His electric bill still comes through the regional utility provider so there’s no extra paperwork to fill out. Several other EarthShare national staff, both in Maryland and DC, also purchase wind power from Clean Currents.
When customers in Washington DC and Maryland switch to wind power from companies like Clean Currents, they often find that their electricity bills are lower than or at least equal to what a regular utility might charge. In other words, renewable energy is competitive with sources like coal and nuclear, leaving no reason for people not to make the switch. A handful of other states have deregulated energy markets that make renewables not only the more environmentally-friendly option, but the more cost-effective one as well.
Kal Stein
The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), which administers Green-e, the country’s leading certification system for renewable energy markets in the U.S., says that there is much more consumers could be doing to support green power. “When utilities offer these programs to their customers, the average subscription rate is 2%. That’s abysmal,” says Jeff Swenerton, Communications Director at CRS. Buying green power is easy and inexpensive and “it makes a difference,” he says.
EarthShare staff recognize that renewables are only one aspect of addressing energy and climate change concerns. Renewable energy, which tackles the supply side, won’t help the problems we face unless we drastically scale back demand for energy too in the form of more efficient buildings and cities. That’s why people like Woodfin, Wilson and Stein link their clean energy purchases to building retrofits and weatherization or point to efficiency measures enacted by local governments.
Ready to make the switch to clean energy yourself? Read our tips on buying renewable power to get started – you’ll be surprised at how easy it is. Then tell us about the status of renewables in your own region in the comments section!
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Thursday, April 19, 2012 | By Great Energy Challenge |
No CommentsThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday approved the first large-scale liquefied natural gas export terminal in the lower 48 states despite record falling gas prices. Shipping from the $10 billion Louisiana plant is projected to begin as early as 2015. The Cheniere plant is the third liquefied natural gas plant in the works in Louisiana. Others are planned elsewhere in the country.
The plants aren’t without criticism. Some say plants like Cheniere’s could raise natural gas prices in the country and have adverse environmental effects—due in part to the rise in the use of a controversial natural gas drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. As of March, 24 states in the U.S. have enacted or have pending legislature regulating drilling for natural gas by way of hydraulic fracturing.
While the government of Nova Scotia is delaying hydraulic fracturing pending further review, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the first-ever rules to control pollution from “fracked” natural gas wells Wednesday. The agency indicated it would delay enforcing the rule until 2015, more than two years later than its initial proposal of July.
Fuel Fix
Oil prices fell following Iran nuclear talks and amid announcements oil supplies grew by more than 3.4 million barrels last week. Meanwhile, President Obama proposed tougher measures to fight the manipulation of oil markets. The move comes in response to claims investors—not supply and demand—are driving up oil prices.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner made the first biofuel-powered flight over the Pacific Ocean this week, while others in Canada and Australia made similar flights using the alternative energy source. In the lab, NASA is exploring ways to use algae to make biofuel, while a new corn-based biofuel could be pack more energy than ethanol.
Though the thin-film solar market is declining, Bloomberg reports these panels may actuall outperform crystalline products in warmer climates. The Los Angeles Times says solar panels are—along with hot sauce, self tanning products and 3D printers—the fastest-growing industries in the U.S.
The French company Total ramped up efforts this week to stem a nearly month-long leak of oil at its Elgin platform in the North Sea. Meanwhile, researchers are making strides in technology aimed at cleaning up future spills, including using sonar to test the effectiveness of deep-sea oil dispersants.
Melting Arctic Brings Threat of New Cold War
Militaries of the world are preparing for a new type of Cold War in divvying up the melting Arctic, which may hold 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of the planet’s untapped natural gas. As the Arctic ice recedes, some rogue glaciers in the Himalayas actually are growing, defying predictions that the planet’s “third pole,” as the region is known, would be completely melted by 2035.
Many Americans attribute recent warming and some extreme weather events to climate change, according to a new poll. In fact, 69 percent polled agree global warming is affecting weather in the U.S., despite a new study that finds climate coverage is declining on some broadcast networks.
As California prepares to implement a cap on carbon emissions, its southern neighbor is following suit with a clean climate law. Mexico’s new climate law would lower emissions 30 percent by 2020 and cut them in half by 2050. The move comes as the EPA reports that greenhouse gas emissions, stalled by the recession, are on the rise with the U.S. recovery. Similarly, in the U.K. officials reported emissions rose 3.1 percent as the economy recovered.
As major U.S. newspapers continue to bleed off environmental reporters, the RAND Corporation says canceling the newspaper can save energy. A single print subscription emits 208 pounds of global warming gases per year, whereas the online version only emits 54 pounds per year. But cloud computing can be a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, NPR reports.
The Climate Post offers a rundown of the week in climate and energy news. It is produced each Thursday for National Geographic’s News Watch by Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
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