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Huckabee Addresses Environmentally Friendly Energy
-- Emma -- 09/20/2007
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee made a campaign stop in Columbia, S.C., yesterday, and was greeted at the Congaree Grill by area conservationists concerned about climate change. We had the opportunity to discuss renewable energy standards with Huckabee before his speech, and he brought up one of his favorite energy efficiency topics, compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs). Huckabee pointed out that , if widely used, CFLs could eliminate the need for many new coal-fired power plants around the country.
During his speech, Huckabee mentioned energy issues as well, repeating his call for energy independence. "In ten years, we will have self-sufficient, domestically produced and environmentally- friendly energy sources to power the needs for your children and grandchildren, and no longer will be dependent upon somebody else for our energy resources. That's something we've got to start doing," he said.
Hybrids Make Their Move
-- Chris -- 09/17/2007
It's been a big year for the issue of global warming. "An Inconvienient Truth" won an Oscar, we've seen countless magazine covers on the issue, and Live Earth delivered all the excitement of a Woodstockesque cultural moment. There's only one question left to be answered.
Did it matter?
Have the hearts and minds of America shifted in a different direction?
Of course there will always be those who assert the buzz around the issue is entirely media-created, but even the skeptics will find it hard to detract from the signifigance of a new report out today about Hybrid car sales. It seems that sales are up. Way up! Sales from the first seven months of the year rose 49% from the same period of time in 2006. The most interesting part of this study to me was that it really shatters preconceptions around who are buying hybrids. If you think the state that has the highest hybrid sales growth would be California (aren't hybrids only for those Hollywood tree-hugger types?), you probably wouldn't be alone. If I told you it wasn't California, and I asked you to keep guessing, well chances are it would be awhile before you worked your way down to the correct answer.
Oklahoma.
No, really. Oklahoma.
How is it that the state whose senior senator once said global warming is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people," managed to achieve this? Keep in mind that Oklahoma didn't just lead the way, it ran away with it! Hybrid car sales grew in Oklahoma by 143% compared to 2006.
So have the hearts and minds shifted? In a regulation vaccum, with no real incentives to speak of, the people of Oklahoma have answered the question loud and clear.
Yes.
Click here to read the article.
The Decline of Polar Bears
-- Ria -- 09/12/2007
The experts have once again spoken. As reported in the Washington Post, government scientists have concluded that two-thirds of the world's polar bears will disappear by 2050. Furthermore, the study states that the population will eventually be confined in the Arctic archipelago of Canada and parts of Greenland. All polar bears from Alaska will disappear in this time. "As the sea ice goes, so goes the polar bear," said Steven Amstrup, lead biologist for the survey team. With debate over whether the polar bear should be put on the endangered species list, one thing is for sure - the exceptional diversity of animals that we have always taken for granted is slowly vanishing.
NH’s Timberland Company rates carbon impact of products
-- brucebc -- 09/11/2007
Today's Boston Globe features a story on New Hampshire's Timberland Company and how they're adding labels to their shoe that explain the carbon impact of creating the product. Apparently they're at the forefront of this new wave of marketing in the US. Similarly, the Granite State's Stoneyfield Farms has initiated an effort to rate corporations' climate impacts. Their web site is http://www.climatecounts.org/.
These efforts help illustrate exactly how strong the desire for real change is in New Hampshire.
Arctic Icecaps Melting at an Accelerated Rate
-- Ria -- 09/07/2007
Today's article in the Washington Post, "NOAA Scientists Say Arctic Ice Is Melting Faster Than Expected", comes as a shock. Though the knowledge of the possible dissolution of the Arctic icecaps in the future is something we've been hearing about for a while now, the realization of how fast it is coming (and already happening) and how there is little to change what will happen to the Arctic in the next 30 - 40 years is disheartening. "The amount of emissions we have already put out in the last 20 years will stay around for 40 to 50 years," Overland (NOAA oceanographer) said. "I'm afraid to say that a lot of impacts we will see in the next 30 to 40 years are pretty much already established." This news report adds to the urgency that we start significantly curbing carbon emissions to stop further permanent damage. It can be done!
Romney Discusses Energy Independence in South Carolina
-- Emma -- 09/05/2007
South Carolina activists attended a Mitt Romney campaign event over the weekend, where the former governer was asked multiple questions about energy and global warming. He responded that energy independence is one of his top priorities, calling his plan "a Manhattan-style project, an Apollo-style project." And the content of his plan? "There are probably two parts, to get us independent of foreign oil. One is to develop our own sources of energy, much more aggressively than we have. And by that I mean: nuclear power, coal power, probably liquified coal, where we sequester the CO2, and our renewable sources-solar, wind, biodiesel, biofuel. The commissioner of agriculture in Florida was telling me about blue-green algae they use to create biofuel, so there are a lot of sources of our own energy we have to develop. That's number one. Number two, we have to be more efficient in our use of energy."
Romney reiterated his support for liquified coal later in the event, saying, "China's building five plants now, apparently, for liquified coal. We would attempt, if we were building one, to sequester the CO2 . . . We have to develop the technology. If it can do that, and not emit CO2, it would be a huge advance, because we have got a lot of coal, and so does China." According to Romney, his first priority is to create a program "that's going to get us independent of foreign oil, and at the same time have the byproduct of reducing our CO2 emissions."
Leo Urges Action on Climate in New Film
-- Ria -- 08/31/2007
Last week I saw the new Leonardo DiCaprio documentary on global warming - the 11th Hour. I had heard and read so much about the movie in the weeks leading up to its premier and so my hopes for the dashing Leo (c'mon, you know you liked Titanic) had no doubt become inflated. Not to mention that being the avid environmentalist that I am, I really wanted the documentary to be an effective, enlightening piece of work that thoroughly got across the urgent need for action to address the climate crisis.
Thankfully, my expectations were met!
Narrated by Dicaprio, the movie featured interviews from about 20 different experts and public figures all sharing their various perspectives while still delivering the same message... namely, "let's wake up!" While it's true that the subject is grave and incredibly serious, there is still hope. And, things can change. We've just got to turn up the heat...to cool it down.
The message of the movie was clear and I really hope it'll get more people talking about the need to solve global warming.
Heat Is On Volunteer Starts Global Warming Class
-- Chris -- 08/30/2007
Monica Brett, Nevada Heat Is On Steering Committee Member & Adjunct-Professor at Community College of Southern Nevada, has started the first of it's kind class "The Politics of Global Warming." City Life, a Las Vegas Weekly, ran a great article today about the class and the Heat Is On project. We hope that the class will become a model for the rest of the state, and around the country. Click here to read the article.
Country Ham House Hosts Huckabee
-- Colin -- 08/24/2007
This past Wednesday, Mike Huckabee stopped by the Country Ham House in Greenville, S.C. I had a chance to ask the former Arkansas governor, fresh off his second-place finish in the Ames straw poll in Iowa, about the 1300-megawatt coal-fired plant our state utility Santee Cooper is proposing for Kingsburg. Huckabee has publicly stated his support for "clean coal" technology. But if we hope one day to transition to "clean coal" technology, what do we do today about the "dirty coal" technology of Santee Cooper's proposed pulverized coal plant? Huckabee responded that the U.S. should increase its use of renewable energy - like solar - and, in his words, other "non-fossil fuel based" energy sources. He then mentioned the advancements being made at the Hydrogen Engine Center, which he recently visited in Iowa. Later on in his comment, Huckabee reiterated the connection between energy independence and national security, saying that we shouldn't be funding "despots" in the Middle East.
Huckabee addresses energy independence in South Carolina
-- Emma -- 08/22/2007
When asked about his support of a renewable energy standard at a gathering at Beef'O'Brady's in Fort Mill, S.C., yesterday, Mike Huckabee said that the United States can become energy independent in a decade. He said that he believes our fuel should be homegrown and environmentally friendly, and cited biofuels, wind, solar, and hydrogen as important sources of fuel that our country should pursue.
While Huckabee did not directly answer the renewable energy question in Fort Mill, he was more specific in a July interview, in which he expressed disappointment that the Senate energy bill passed earlier this year rejected a renewable energy standard of 15 percent by 2020. In the same interview, he offered support for the Senate bill's provision increasing fuel economy to 35 mpg by 2020.
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