From the Editor's Desk

Save Our Climate Act introduced in U.S. Congress

The Editor — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:27:44 +0000

Guest blogger: Christine from 350 or Bust with the view from our neighbor to the north

It’s been an interesting few weeks on the climate front in North America. With the backdrop of the “Occupy” movement, there were some small changes introduced that hopefully signal the start of an all-out campaign by our elected officials to tackle this issue head-on. First we had the formation of an all-party Climate Caucus in Ottawa, closely followed by the introduction of a bill in the U.S Congress that would place a fee on carbon. Here’s the response of Citizens Climate Lobby, a group dedicated to creating the political will for a sustainable climate, to the latest news out of Washington:

Citizens Climate Lobby Welcomes The Introduction of U.S. Save Our Climate Act

Peter Stark (D-CA)

CORONADO, CALIF. — As the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions grows more evident each week, Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) welcomed the introduction of Rep. Pete Stark’s (D-CA) Save Our Climate Act as a critical step in efforts to stop the worst effects of climate change.

“We’re running out of time to wean our nation off the fossil fuels that are heating up the planet,” said CCL’s Executive Director Mark Reynolds. “We need to put a price on carbon that shifts energy usage to clean sources, and that’s what Congressman Stark’s bill does.”

The Save Our Climate Act, H.R. 3242, would tax coal, oil and gas based on the amount of carbon dioxide these fuels would emit when burned. Starting at $10 per ton of CO2, the tax would increase by $10 each year until CO2 emissions fall to 20 percent of 1990 levels. Most of the revenue from the Save Our Climate Act – an estimated $2.6 trillion in the first 10 years – would be returned to U.S. citizens as an annual rebate to offset higher energy costs. A portion of that revenue — $490 billion – would go toward deficit reduction.

“This is a revenue-neutral approach that Republicans should be able to embrace, as it will not increase the size of government,” said Reynolds. “What it WILL do is move massive amounts of investment money toward clean energy, expanding a sector of the economy that shows the most promise for producing the jobs Americans need.”

News of Stark’s legislation was warmly received in Canada. “We applaud Congressman Stark’s leadership on putting a price on carbon to transition the U.S. to a clean energy economy,” says Cathy Orlando, Project Manager for Citizens Climate Lobby Canada. “If successful they will join Australia and British Columbia on taking effective action on climate change and economic development. It’s time that Canada’s federal government also take similar action.”

The controversy surrounding the bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra has eroded U.S. support for government programs that subsidize clean energy. The Citizens Climate Lobby believes that a clear, predictable price signal on carbon will send private investors to wind, solar and other alternative technologies, reducing the need for government funding for emerging companies.

“When it comes to clean energy, we don’t want to kill the goose that’s laying the golden eggs in our economy. But perhaps somebody besides the federal government can feed the goose, and that’s what we’ll accomplish with a price on carbon,” said Reynolds.

The Death & Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival

The Editor — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:25:55 +0000

With all the bad news beating us over the head about the dreadful condition of the Earth, it’s good to be reminded that the planet is amazingly resilient and even after years of neglect ecosystems can come roaring back to health given a little tender loving care. The “Death & Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival” is just the book you need to pick up if you’re feeling like nothing can be done. The book is written by Stephen R. Palumbi, Director of the Hopkins Marine Station and professor of Marine Science at Stanford University, and Carolyn Soyka, who manages science and policy outreach activities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Oceans and Human Health Initiative. I had a chance to talk with one of the authors to find how this book came into being. For more about “The Death & Life of Monterey Bay” read Adventures reviewby Caitlin Yoshiko Kandil.

Listen to my conversation with Stephen Palumbi.

Transcript

Lori: I read the book. I thought it was really good because it’s different from your typical environmental book. I’m a real history person so it was great to have all that history thrown in and to really put everything into context. That was wonderful.

Stephen: Actually the book really started more as an ecology book and as a book about the way the Monterey Bay kelp forest ecosystem works and so one of the pivotal features of that is the presence of otters and the impact they have on all the organisms around and as the story spread out a little bit to, for example, the marine protected area the marine refuge area right in front of the Hopkins Marine Station we began to look into how that came about and when it came about and the circumstances under which that happened because it really was an amazing thing. It was put in place in 1931, which is a long time ago, and people weren’t really thinking about protecting the oceans back then.

We began looking into that then this character, Julia Platt, appeared and she became such an amazing character and we researched and discovered all this stuff that we could talk about for her and so the book really became something that was focused upon characters and what people did rather than, you know, some disembodied ecosystem and what it did. And to be honest, we had written this stuff about Julia and realized, wow, this whole section is about this character – the whole book should be about characters and can we find characters that can drive the story along in a way that then lets people see what’s going on and that’s where a lot of the history came from – researching all that — and so the otter became a character and they’re such an important character that they got two chapters instead of just one and because they played such an important role.

Lori: Yeah, if you could talk about what happened to the otter.

Stephen: At first what happened to the otter was just bad luck. They have the most amazingly soft wonderful fur. It was a huge market success in China so they were hunted to near extinction along the California coast. Their furs were taken by the Spanish, by the Native Americans and by Yankee traders and sent to China where they were incorporated into robes and hats and things. And as a consequence 100,000 or maybe 200,000 otters were taken out of Central and Southern California over a period of about 40 years. It got to the point where in just a few decades there were very few otters left and fact, they were thought by some to be extinct. The southern sea otter was thought to be extinct by the middle 1800s or the early 1900s.

Lori: And because the populations were decimated so much what happened to other things? How did that chain reaction happen?

Stephen: So then because the otter was gone a whole set of ecosystem shifts occurred and one of the reasons is that otters eat a huge amount. They have such a high metabolic rate to keep warm that they eat about a quarter of their body weight a day in food. So a 60 pound otter is eating 15 pounds of fresh seafood a day and what they love most are sea urchins because they’re big and full of stuff; abalone because they’re big too. They’ll eat almost anything, but the main two things are sea urchins and abalone. Well, sea urchins and abalone in turn are herbivores and sea urchins, in particular, eat kelp. With the otters around the sea urchin population is kept very low and because of that the kelp forests can thrive. Now if it weren’t for the sea otters then the urchin population would boom, they eat all the kelp and the kelp forest essentially disappears. And that’s what happened when the otters were hunted out of the West Coast of California — the otter numbers went down, the sea urchin populations boomed and the kelp forest that we have come to expect along the coast got thinner and thinner and thinner.

Lori: Yeah, I was sort of fascinated by the kelp forest because I’ve never really seen one. Could you sort of explain what they look like and what their importance is in the ecosystem?

Stephen: Yeah, so if you were flying over a tropical rainforest or any kind of forest it would be like you could see the kelp forest from land. You just see the tops of everything and it would go on and on and on and it would be an unbroken canopy you couldn’t really see through and you just knew that down under that was a huge, thriving, churning mass of stuff – animals and plants – and that’s exactly the same it is with the kelp forest. If you see it from the surface, from up above, all you see is the tops of the plants, but those plants are attached to the bottom, maybe 10 feet down or maybe 60 or 80 feet down, and they come up to the surface in a big, thin line and they bloom out as their blades lay off on either side and the whole stipe, it’s call, the rope hits the surface and continues to grow. So from beneath the kelp forest looks like a whole set of cathedral vines that rise from the bottom and they head to the surface and they create on top of the surface this living green cloud of kelp blades that moves in the waves and churns back and forth. So it creates this enormous structure in the water column that wouldn’t otherwise be there and it’s full of fish — baby fish in among the kelp blades and adult fish in among the stipes and seals coming in and out eating fish and lots of invertebrates living in among the bottoms of the kelp stipes, lots of things attached to anemones, things that move around, crabs and snails and abalone and sea urchins. And so the entire place is hugely productive, full of life.

Lori: So now it’s a functioning ecosystem and it sounds absolutely amazing, but it wasn’t always like that and it seemed to me while I was reading the book that it was just – the poor bay – sort of became this place where people came just to take as much as they could from it and the theme that sort of ran through it that we think that these resources are going to last forever and they don’t.

Stephen: That is exactly how Monterey Bay was treated. That’s exactly how the entire set of oceans in the world were treated for the last couple hundred years. Now, the last rush of the thinks like that – we talk in the book about the first Gold Rush being otters in Monterey, but the last rush was actually a Silver Rush and that was the sardines in Monterey — the iconic fishery that Cannery Row was built for. And here something new happened, because not only was there a huge fishery, because there were lots sardines, but there was also an enormous industrial base that was built around it and that was the industrial base of canning and that brought with it a lot of pollution — the air was bad, the water was filthy. Every other industry was pushed aside – tourism was gone. Nobody would come to visit the beaches here because they were so foul and everything smelt so bad. But ironically what that did is it really pushed people to the edge and it made people start to push back and it made people begin to realize that even though the canneries were a good business and people had work and that was fine, it was actually taking a lot of value from people and that individuals had a right to be able to use Monterey Bay in a clean and a healthy state and that was being denied to them by this big, enormous industry.

Lori: Yeah, I guess that’s where Julia Pratt comes in. She’s an interesting person that sort of came on the scene.

Stephen: Julia Platt was a tremendously interesting person. She grew up in the late 1800s in a time where women were not really allowed to have the educational opportunities that men did, and she threw herself against that tradition everywhere she could and got a bachelor’s degree and tried to do graduate work in marine biology at Harvard and at marine biology labs and they just didn’t take women students so she went to Germany and got her Ph.D. in zoology, came back to North America and settled in Pacific Grove here where the marine station is because the marine station was new and she thought maybe she could get a position at the Hopkins Marine Lab Stafford had just opened. That didn’t work – Stanford didn’t hire female faculty members back then. So she settled here and became a civic activist.She was always very outspoken. She always knew exactly what she wanted. She always basically went for the heart of things to try to get done what she wanted to get done and because she was a very good marine biologist she knew that there was something really wrong with the bay with it being so polluted and she tried to fix that problem by suing the canneries and trying to get them to stop the pollution and she one ever single court battle, but the courts never had the power to make the canneries actually stop what they were doing. So she conceived this totally different strategy of protecting part of the bay, setting aside an area, which would still be thriving even after the pollution came and went. That in the end she’d end up creating a positive legacy and that’s what she did by creating not only the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge which is a totally no take area in front of the marine station set aside for scientific study, but she also created something called the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens which is the entire coastline of Pacific Grove. It was just set aside like a garden or a park so that people didn’t trammel it and pummel it and left it in as much of a natural state as possible.

Lori: I was touched by her because she was so forward thinking in the sense that she was preserving these areas for the future. I mean, we’re always talking even now — we’re saying, we’ve got to preserve the earth, do all these things for our grandchildren and things, but she actually did it – she actually did it and now we’re reaping the rewards of that.

Stephen: She actually did it. Exactly. And that, of course, started this whole thing because we were looking back and the marine life refuge was in fact established in 1931 — that’s 80 years. Nobody was thinking that – 80 years ago – we’re thinking it now. We’re thinking it all up and down the coast of both the east and west coast. We’re thinking it on every island archipelago and coastline in the world, but Julia was thinking that 80 years ago and that’s what really attracted me to her as a character because I’ve done a lot of work on what are now called marine protected areas or marine reserves. I’ve published lots of papers on the subject and here was this woman, mayor, civic advocate in the town I moved to that 80 years ago had it all figured out. I think it’s amazing.

Lori: I was also fascinated by the other big character Ed Ricketts. He was fascinating. He did so much in his life and a lot of people don’t know about him, which is surprising.

Stephen: I actually thought I’d never write anything about Ed Ricketts because even though a lot of people don’t know that much about him, he’s been written about a lot in some circles. In particular, in marine biology circles he’s very well known and then in John Steinbeck circles, he’s very well known because of his relationship with Steinbeck.

Lori: That whole era was so intriguing with these luminaries sort of getting together on the beach and discussing philosophy and everything. It’s incredible.

Stephen: It was. It was pretty amazing. So Ed Ricketts was a self-trained marine biologist, and he ran a biological supply house. He sold specimens to colleges and high schools – specimens and starfish and pickled shark vivisections and things. He knew the tide pools out here. He knew the rocks. He knew the marine habitats and that was his business to collect these things and then ship them off for sale. He ran into John Steinbeck. In the 1920s John had just published a very bad novel – his first – and wasn’t famous. They became friends and had amazing wild, loud and long parties that lasted well into the night and then another fellow showed up named Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell was here for just a few years, but then he would go on to be world famous for his depiction of how myth and legends were portrayed in native cultures all over the world. And both of them, John and Joe, would write later that everything that really happened to them, all they were really started with Ricketts and started at Pacific Grove because they had this almost like a solon, a philosophical convention all the time where Ed would spout philosophical theories about ecology and Joe and John would talk about the philosophy of human interaction and there was a lot of art and literature in Carmel and their various friends and their friends’ wives would all get into these – they had three or four day parties at John’s or Joe’s house and talk about all kinds of things and Ed developed an entire philosophy of ecology which can be summed up in a very simple way which doesn’t sound very profound, but it kind of was at the time, the philosophy is just that one leads to another. That in ecological systems everything is connected so if something happens at one edge of a tide pool or ecosystem it ripples through and so taking the otters out ripples through all of the kelp forest. And so Ed knew that because he watched all these things happen in tide pools and he taught that to John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell. And Steinbeck was a good enough writer to turn that basic philosophy into some really amazing human-oriented plot lines where one thing leads to another. So that really became a lot of the inspiration for Steinbeck’s earliest plots, and he always credited Ed with that and he used Ed as a model in some of his characters – the most famous one being Doc in Cannery Row. And Ed who wasn’t a doctor at all really was tickled pink by that, but all the sudden he had this character he had to live up to all the time – being Doc.

Lori: When I was reading about him and his whole philosophy that he came up with really because he was watching the tide pools about the interconnectivity of nature and how things relate to each other, it was hard for me to realize that that wasn’t understood back then.

Stephen: Well, it really wasn’t understood, you know, that way, and when people talked about ecology back then they really talked about the way organisms interacted with their physical environment and, of course, they knew there were predators and herbivores and competitors, but they didn’t think about the connections among species within ecosystems in the same way that ecologists do now. I mean now it’s the basic fabric of ecology. Then it was the environment that was the basic fabric.

Lori: Well, as I said it’s a great book and I love the fact that it’s about the ability for things to come back even if they’ve been destroyed for quite a number of years and I was really taken when the otters started returning. What a great moment.

Stephen: Of course, they’re very cute, but they’re like a whirlwind too. They are an enormous force in nature and they were all bottled up along the Big Sur coast for a long time, and then were suddenly unleashed and that has made a huge difference to this coast and there’s some stories told in the book that aren’t told all that well or that completely. One of them, for example, was that the otters were discovered and they were protected and then started to spread. So that’s covered in the book in a pretty well way. What we don’t talk that much about is there was a huge controversy about whether to protect them or not and what they were going to do and what affect they were going to have on fishing. There was an enormous disruption over it all and there were a couple of groups of people that formed small advocacy groups. One of them was called The Friend of the Sea Otter. It still exists as a group and they really made a huge difference by insisting that these animals be protected at the fullest extent of the law and basically the fishermen were kept from shooting them and so their populations began to thrive and expand and that led to the kelp forest coming back all along the coast.

Lori: Well, it’s a great story and I’m so glad you wrote it because I had a great time reading it.

Stephen: I’m so glad you did. We had a wonderful time – Carolyn and I – we had a wonderful writing it

Lori: Well, thank you so much.

Stephen: Yup, bye-bye, Lori.

My test-drive of the all-electric Nissan Leaf – On a scale of One to Ten, I give it a …

The Editor — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:48:32 +0000

Nissan Leaf

Guest blogger: Diane, Big Green Purse

Solid Nine. And that’s saying a lot, considering that most cars would probably average only a 3 or a 4.

What’s so great about the Leaf?

I had a chance to find out earlier this week when I stopped by the Nissan Leaf road show as

it passed through my county. The Leaf is Nissan’s snazzy eco-friendly, all-electric car which means…it runs ONLY on electricity. It is NOT a gasoline-electric hybrid like the Ford Fusion or Chevy Volt, both of which I have also tested. The Leaf does not run on flex fuel or biodiesel or hydrogen or natural gas or anything other than electricity. It is truly gas-free.

Nissan had set up a big pavilion in the parking lot of the local mall to explain how the car works and then let people take it for a test drive. I was ready to be skeptical, since I drive a Prius (the original model, which I purchased in 2002), and love it. Instead, I fell in love with the Leaf. Here’s why.

Almost No Pollution: The Leaf’s motto is “100% electric. zero gas. zero tailpipe.”Because the car only runs on electricity, operating it generates none of the air pollutants that make smog, nor does it release the carbon dioxide that’s substantially responsible for climate change. It doesn’t even create noise pollution. In fact, the engine is so quiet, Nissan has had to build in a little “hum” to the system so you can tell the car is running!

It’s Very Zippy: The car can quickly reach speeds of 94 mph, according to the tour guides I met during my test drive (not that I ever drive that fast…). It’s also got a great turning radius so is very easy to park and maneuver, a plus in the city.

It’s Made from Recycled Parts, and Can Be Recycled: For example, the seats are crafted from recycled soda bottles. Over 95% of the components of the vehicle can be recycled at the end of its life, including metal wiring, the car frame itself, tires, and other components.

It’s Spacious and Comfortable — With Convenient Cupholders: My Prius can feel a little small if it’s carrying five passengers or for someone who’s tall and sitting in the back seat. Plus, the cupholder for the back seats was flimsy and broke soon after we brought the car home. By comparison, the Leaf feels luxuriously spacious. And the cupholders — an important feature to many drivers – are built into the side of the doors rather than take up interior space on a central console. In addition, the hatchback trunk offers enough room for a bunch of bags of groceries or luggage if you’re traveling for a couple of weeks.

Covers Most Commutes: The Leaf has gotten a lot of publicity around the fact that it only travels about 100 miles on a single battery charge. But that’s plenty for most people, whose average daily commute is closer to 40 miles per hour. Plus, you can switch between a “drive” function and an “eco” function to extend the life of the battery if needed.

Charge at Home or at a Variety of Retail Outlets: No, you don’t have the convenience of pulling into a gas station to fuel your car. You can plug it into a regular outlet at home, though it will take 20 hours to charge using a common household socket. You can install a Home Charging Dock to reduce the charging time down to 7 or 8 hours, but it’s expensive: around $2,000. You can also plug it in at an increasing number of retailers, including Best Buy, Walgreen’s, Cracker Barrell, and others. Unlike with a cell phone, you can partially recharge the battery at any time and it won’t undermine the integrity of the battery.

Lots of Cool Aps and Online Tools Help You Get the Most Out of Every Charge: An iPhone Ap lets you turn the car on remotely or check how much charge you have left. An online mapping function lets you plug in all your day’s destinations and let you know how much charge you need to cover the distance.

What are the Downsides?

No Spare Tire: As someone who’s had several flat tires over the years, it makes me nervous that this car does not come with a spare tire and the gear to change it. If I bought the car, I’d buy a spare tire and I guess I’d just have to keep it in the hatchback, but that would take up space I’d rather use for cargo.

It’s Relatively Expensive: At between $32, 700 for the standard model, and $35,200 for the upgrade (which includes a back-up viewfinder on the car’s interior console and solar panels on the hatchback for additional charging capacity), it’s pretty pricey. Even with federal tax credits of up to $7,000, the car will still cost almost $30,000. That’s cheaper than the upscale Tesla that George Clooney drives, but a lot more expensive than the current Prius after the same tax breaks.

Availability: Right now, all the 2011 Leafs are spoken for. If you want this car, you’ll have to order the 2012 model this fall and put down a $99 refundable deposit.

It’s Made in Japan: Right now, the Leaf is only made in Japan. The company is building a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee to manufacture the batteries for the car. Ultimately, said the reps,the company would like to build the entire car in the U.S., but it’s not made in America yet.

Charging Takes Time: As noted above, if you use a regular household plug, it will take 20 hours to fully recharge; if you want a faster charge, it will cost you a couple of thousand dollars to install a charging dock.

Bottom Line? I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. If you generally travel less than 100 miles per day and can take advantage of state and federal tax credits to lower the price, consider the Leaf.

NOTE to Nissan – When I asked a guy from the road trip demo team what amount of state tax credit U could add to the federal tax credit, he was singularly unhelpful and simply suggested I go home and check online. Why not have a list of tax credits available in every state the road trip stops in to give consumers as much info as possible about the cost savings available for a purchase of this magnitude?

More from Big Green Purse: Want to see more test drives?

Test Drive the New Chevy Volt With Me

Ford Fusion Hybrid: Good Choice for Family Looking for High MPG

Comparing Hybrid Cars, The Honda Civic Came Out on Top for My Dad

Zip Car Comes to the Rescue (And Saves Me a Lot of Money)

Yes, the Earth did move

The Editor — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:26:23 +0000

Well, for once I can say, “I felt the Earth move” and mean it. The D.C. area, where I live, had a 5.9 (or 5.8 depending on the source) earthquake yesterday. What a ride!

I was in the middle of a flute lesson, when my teacher and I heard a strange noise. At first I thought it was the next door neighbor’s washing machine which sounded very unbalanced. (I live in a townhouse and share walls with neighbors so it would not be odd to hear an unbalanced washing machine making a ruckus.) Soon the sound grew and the walls had an interesting movement to them. I quickly scanned my brain for the tips newscasters list whenever the Earth makes the slightest rumble and came up with nothing, so my flute teacher and I ran out the door — flutes in hand. On the bright side I got to meet my new neighbors who had moved in two weeks ago. (The ones I was so ready to label as washing machine over stuffers.) We may share a wall, but it took an earthquake to meet face to face. After the jolt, we all had a good laugh and commented how exciting to have felt such a powerful Earthly force (as long as buildings didn’t come toppling down).

Today, I had a question from an Adventures fan commenting that friends as far away as New Jersey and Ohio felt the quake and was this the same quake. She also asked about the connection between earthquakes and climate change. Here’s my answer:

According to the Washington Post, the quake was felt “from Georgia to southeast Canada”. Surprisingly, there are two active earthquake faults in this area, but yesterday’s shaker is the largest on record for this region. The reason the shaking was felt so far afield is that in this corner of the world according to Mike Blanpied, associate coordinator for the USGS earthquakes hazards program, “The rocks are old and cold and they carry the seismic energy very far. Even a magnitude 6 or less earthquake can be felt over a considerably large area, unlike California where the shaking is more concentrated.”

USGS map indicating earthquake epicenter, where it was felt, and the degree of shaking.

As for climate change, if you live near a glacier that is melting, such as Alaska, there might be a chance for more earthquakes. According to NASA, “The weight of a big glacier on top of these earthquake active areas can help keep things stable. But, as the glaciers melt and their load on the plate lessens, there is a greater likelihood of an earthquake happening to relieve the large strain underneath. Even though shrinking glaciers make it easier for earthquakes to occur, the forcing together of tectonic plates is the main reason behind major earthquakes.”

Did anyone else feel the earthquake. Tell your story.

Tar sands pipeline provokes Americans to civil disobedience

The Editor — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:08:16 +0000

Guest blogger: Christine from 350 or bust

Saturday August 20th marked the start of the largest act of civil disobedience for the climate in U.S. history. Over 2,000 people from across the U.S. and Canada are arriving in Washington, D.C. to send a message to President Obama that our children’s future is more important than oil profits. Obama will be deciding the fate of the massive new Keystone XL Pipeline that would bring Alberta tar sands oil across the U.S. to be refined in Texas. NASA scientist James Hansen has described the Canadian tar sands as a “carbon bomb” and warned that if they are fully developed it will be “game over” for the climate.

The police moved in within a few minutes of the 50 or so participants lining up at the White House fence. Several participants held two large banners that read “Climate Change is Not in Our National Interest: Stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline” and “We Sit In Against the Keystone XL Pipeline. Obama Will You Stand Up to Big Oil?” while the rest of the group sat-in on the sidewalk in front of the fence. More than 50 people were arrested on Saturday, and they remained in jail on Sunday as 45 more people were arrested as they stood peacefully in front of the White House. Today, 50 more people are planning to stand there to remind Obama of what is at stake in his upcoming decision (it is his, and his alone to make – Congress doesn’t have a vote in the pipeline decision).

Not all of us concerned about climate change can be in Washington this August. I considered it, but prior commitments to family and friends won out; I also will admit to being nervous about being arrested in a foreign country. As well, I don’t think this will be the last time that those of us deeply concerned about our children’s future will be asked to participate in civil disobedience, so I will have other opportunities to act.

There are some things that those of us watching those courageous souls in Washington can do to support them:

350.org is asking for messages of support for the participants in the Washington action. Write a short message of support, hold it up and take a picture of it, and send it as an attachment to photos@350.org with Tar Sands Action Solidarity from (*Wherever you live*)” in the subject. These pictures will be projected on the walls of the training spaces for everyone who is preparing to for the sitting-in to see. For more info, go to 350.org. The coalition organizing the protest, Tarsandsaction.org, is accepting donations and new sign-ups for the sit-in throughout the next two weeks.

Email or write President Obama asking him to defuse the tar sands carbon bomb by refusing permission for the Keystone XL pipeline.
E-mail address: (5000 character limit) http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Mailing Address: The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Australia steps up climate fight, U.S. republicans step back In time

The Editor — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:28:32 +0000

Guest blogger: Christine, 350 or Bust

With the announcement yesterday of a new carbon tax proposal, Australia is set to become the world leader on addressing climate change. Right now, Australia leads the world in per-capita carbon pollution. The carbon tax, which has been described as “modest, riddled with exclusions, bribing voters and corporations“, is still the best national carbon plan in the world. It is expected to pass in both houses of parliament before the end of the year, but the Conservative opposition and the Australian coal industry seem determined to whip up public sentiment against the carbon tax (remember, Australia is where climate scientists have been receiving death threats and über-denier Monckton is invited back regularly ). Right now, polls indicate 60 percent of the population is opposed to carbon pricing, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Labor government is the most unpopular in 40 years. A lot is riding on the government’s ability to convince voters that it’s time to tackle climate change.

In the meantime, closer to home, U.S. Republicans, bowing to their tea party members, are set today to repeal legislation that promotes energy-efficient light bulbs, one that was signed into law by none other than President George W. Bush and is now embraced by industry. Sounds like the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Washington these days!

Editor’s Note: The Bulb Act was defeated in the house with a 233-193 vote. As reported in the Hill’s Congress blog, posted by Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.):

When the EISA [Energy Independence and Security Act] bill was first introduced, it enjoyed the support of top leaders of the Republican Party. In fact, Republican leaders on the Energy & Commerce Committee actually helped draft the efficiency language. However, pressed by their extremist allies, these same leaders voted against the very language they had previously supported and helped draft. Today’s House majority is so beholden to its extremist elements that even concepts that used to be considered moderate and commonsense are now off limits.

Moving at the efficiency of a light bulb

The Editor — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:10:10 +0000

If you’ve been paying any attention, you must know by now I’m not a fan of cars, particularly the fossil fuel gas guzzling kind. My favorite mode of transportation is walking. (For a recap of my obsession read: When I walk I run.)

I realize walking is not for everyone, so I’m encouraged by the ingenuity of plug-in enthusiast, Ben Nelson. Ben has found a way to get around in style on less energy than a light bulb.

Field trip: Polar bear check up

The Editor — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:17:57 +0000

Dr. Andrew Derocher

I just had a great discussion with Dr. Derocher, professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta and a scientific advisor to Polar Bears International. He has recently returned from a trip to the Beaufort Sea where he gathered data and gave a couple polar bears some snappy new necklaces, also known as GPS tracking collars. Listen to what he had to say about the work that was done and take a look at the great pictures from the field trip.

Need more of a polar bear fix, check out a previous conversation I had with Andrew, The future of the Polar Bear, and a video piece about this field trip by the CBC, Tracking Polar Bears.

Back to my roots

The Editor — Sun, 22 May 2011 16:26:19 +0000

Melting ice, rising seas and temperatures, mass extinctions … I’m tired of hearing about it. I know the state of the Earth sucks, so why do I have to continually be reminded especially when there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it?

Over the past year of creating this site, I’ve learned a lot about climate change and have passed this info on as clearly and succinctly as I knew how while wondering if it mattered. I have the feeling that you come to my site already having a pretty good understanding of the facts of climate change so am I just preaching to the choir? Anyone who is a denier of climate change is probably hanging out someplace else.

My original mission of the site was to showcase the adventures taking place because of climate change. I am continuing with this mission by highlighting the scientists who are out in the field, sometimes risking life and limb, to understand what the planet is up to. The other parts of my site have drifted into the role of climate change education, probably because it’s easy to regurgitate the facts of climate change. Data, graphics and images are splattered all over the Web – find some info, repackage and you have a story.

Along my trudge down the path of wondering about the meaning of life (according to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy it’s 42 ), I began to hear a strange buzz in the air and it wasn’t because I was slipping into insanity from too much bad news. Feeling like an eavesdropper listening to a secret conversation, I started to hear stories about the people, industries, mega-companies, small communities and governments, striving to ameliorate, adapt or innovate our way out of this mess – stories that were exciting and involved passionate people who are thrilled to be presented with such a unique challenge.

So I’m returning to my roots. In the next few months you’ll see some new menu items on Adventures. I’ll start with Green Tech, which include stories of innovative building materials (spoiler alert: cement that actually takes CO2 out of the air), Wal-mart’s sustainability push (yes, Wal-mart), smart grids and more. The recent Climate Central blogs, Building to the future and California’s ingenious flood relief valve are the start of this new direction.

Next up will be Lost Arts, an area devoted to how climate change is helping us rediscover ways to work with nature and how this change is affecting our lives. I’ll also post a section on “Good Reads” with interviews by the authors and, of course, Adventures in Climate Change scientists will continue to post their blogs from the field. My personal blog will follow the story of my condo community’s effort to go Green in a big way. (If you live in a condo you will appreciate the difficulties we may be facing.) I’ll also point you in the direction of interesting projects and products being developed whether highlighted on my site or somewhere else on the Web.

I will not sugarcoat. Even with good solutions, there will be some downsides or issues to consider which I will not hide under a smiley face. Without facing the difficulties, how can we convert negatives into positives?

So there you have it. I encourage you to post your comments, suggestions and stories as we all take a step forward on this adventure.

Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

The Editor — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 13:08:18 +0000

As some of you may know I recently interview Lester Brown. I thought you may be interested in seeing this PBS program which highlights Lester Brown’s Plan B” and provides a glimpse into a new and emerging economy based upon renewable resources as well as strategies to avoid the growing threat of climate change. The program will be streaming through the month of April.

Watch the full episode. See more Journey to Planet Earth.