Hot News Two.
My weekly series on the news and action items on global warming. A little good news, some bad news... and some things to do. Look for it on Mondays or Tuesdays (I put it together over the weekend :). Read it, take action, recommend... the world is heating up! (Last week's diary is here. All from now on will be tagged "hot news"
sorry for the title changes, trying to get people to at least read :)
News and action items after the fold:
Hot News:
The kind-of good news:
She's not my favorite California senator, but she gave a speech about global warming last week. We need more senators and representatives and everyone else talking more about this. Her speech in a quote:
So, we're at a tipping point:
Refuse to act, or act too slowly, and humans will have caused the most sudden temperature shift in the history of the planet.
But, if we act soon and decisively, global warming can be limited to 1 to 2 degrees. This, I contend, should be our goal.
Well, our federal government might be playing ostrich while we all burn, but even states
like Colorado are taking some action. Now we need a few dozen more states... or a smart president and congress.
Oh, and the governator of California signed the "Million Solar Roofs" legislation last week. It's not the best we could get, but it's a step. The goal is to get a million roofs with solar (hey, hence the name) and among other things it will:
Making Solar Power a Standard Item on New Homes: SB 1 would require a developer of more than 50 new single family homes offer the option of a solar energy system to all customers beginning January 1, 2011.
This is old news (a month ago), but an author of a paper that looked at the overwhelming consensus in the scientific community on global warming (it's happening and we're causing it) wrote an excellent editorial "Global Warming- Signed, sealed delivered" in the LA Times (needs free registration). She takes down the Wall Street Journal idiocy and `deniers' in general with great examples from scientific history (she's a science historian).
The greatest scientist of all time, Isaac Newton, warned against this tendency more than three centuries ago. Writing in "Principia Mathematica" in 1687, he noted that once scientists had successfully drawn conclusions by "general induction from phenomena," then those conclusions had to be held as "accurately or very nearly true notwithstanding any contrary hypothesis that may be imagined.... "
Climate-change deniers can imagine all the hypotheses they like, but it will not change the facts nor "the general induction from the phenomena."
The bad news:
The president and Republicans in congress are working feverously...
on nothing. Well, no.. lets give credit where credit is due. McCain and some other Republican senators, in the ongoing deep investigation of if global warming is really real [snark], will visit Greenland, you know, to watch ice melt. Of course, first they go party:
McCain and the other Republican senators want to observe the effects of global warming while in Greenland. They also will attend an A-list economic and political conference at a swanky northern Italian resort. (emphasis, as they say, is mine)
Maybe they didn't get the "signed sealed and delivered" message... or can't read.
GREENLAND ICE IS MELTING. How clearer can we make it?
A new study came out recently in "Climate Dynamics" looking at the rise of CO2 and warming in the ice age. Their conclusions? Our climate models are getting it right. The rise of CO2 is going to make us all hot (and not like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie "hot" sadly enough).
While people in Alaska and the Gulf Coast are retreating because of rising water levels and too much water (in the form of killer storms), the people around the Great Lakes are watching the water recede. Lake Erie has been receding since the 1990's. Scientists now believe the lake level will drop another 3 feet, at least, in the next 64 years (not sure why they picked that number of years). Already Michiganers are having problems... who owns the new shoreline? I'll buy it and then build a house on it in front of the house that was previously lakefront.. hmm, could make some people mad.
Damn, reading the bad news makes the good news seem.. .well....lukewarm. We have to do MORE MORE MORE!
A new feature: Hot Action Items Every week I'll list a few actions you can take, either individually or politically, divided by the level of activism.
Warm Action
Just do it, change your most used light bulbs with compact flourescents.. These aren't your grandad's fluorescents. (as in, they don't flicker and the light is nice). They have some that aren't fluorescents, but still save energy, for dimming locations and small bulbs. Think of it as a win-win-win situation. You cut greenhouse gases, you save money AND you don't have to get the ladder out very often to change that ceiling bulb.
WALK! It's a win-win-win also. Listen, most of us could use some more exercise. Most of us could use a few extra dollars in our pocket. And we'll save energy. Now, granted, a lot of us live in the suburbs and rural areas and walking ain't that easy. But for those of you who live even a mile or two (hey, count it as exercise!) away from a grocery store, post office, etc (and can physically do it), consider walking. Get one of these grocery carts so you don't have to carry things. I love mine. Stylish and easy to pull, I pulled a gallon of milk, a gallon of orange juice, potatoes, rice, and a bunch of other stuff with no problem. Saves me a car trip, gets me exercising and saves money! (full disclosure: the owner of that web site is a friend of mine, I get no financial incentive to link to it J, I just think these carts are cool).
Hot Action
Ok, this is a little out there, but still... have you considered using rainwater for toilet flushing? No? Consider that a huge portion of your water use comes from the bathroom. Also consider the energy it takes to acquire, clean and pump that water to your house. Consider using the rain water to flush that toilet and save some energy, it actually looks relatively easy. Ok, won't work for everyone and you have to check codes, still.. hey.. it's something.
Sizzling Action
CLONE AL GORE! Go over to The Climate Project and volunteer to train as a presenter of Al Gore's Global Warming presentation. They are training 1,000 presenters. There are several two day training sessions in Tennessee over the next 5 months. To be a presenter and get trained, you have to promise to give at least 10 presentations to (your) local groups in the next year and you have to have passion and dedication. I just applied. I hope to see you in Tennessee! (well, if they accept my application.. and yours). Here is the online application. Hey, Tennessee ain't that bad in winter... it's supposed to be a mild one too.. (sorry..).
I'll come back next week and see which of these actions you've taken. Better take something.. because I'll have more to-do items.. and you don't want to get behind now do you?