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Earth Month Revisited
-- Andrew Snow -- 04/30/2008
Today is the last day of ‘Earth Month’ - you know, the month that has Earth Day. It’s nice to see the expansion of the theme from day, to week, to month. Of course, it’s up to each of us to make sure that the values of a sustainable world and brighter future are considered all year - but we’ve certainly got a good start. One thing I found truly encouraging this month: well over 300 Iowa Global Warming Campaign supporters attended at least one event statewide - and we’ve got more coming up, check our calendar to find an event near you.
Another thing I’m excited about is the Amtrak study released this month clearly demonstrating the feasibility and demand for rail service from Chicago to Iowa City through the Quad Cities. Governor Culver added his support for the plan: “Rail service has tremendous advantages in terms of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign sources of oil; slowing the growth of highway congestion and associated pollution; energy conservation; and lifestyle enhancement through improved mobility for persons who either cannot or simply do not want to drive or fly. That’s why passenger rail service has a bright future in America and why we are going to have to give it a higher priority in moving people to Iowa"
Des Moines Register article here: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/NEWS/80418007/1001/
Show your support (very easily!) here: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/iatrains
There are other signs of change, though some are coming more slowly than we might like (or need!) for them to happen. And even among discouraging news there can be a glimmer of hope. This year’s legislative session was a disappointment to all observers: Culver introduced an energy plan that would have put us much farther down the road to a renewable and energy-efficient future - but didn’t get anywhere near passing the legislature. But we did get some ‘baby steps’ on energy efficiency and ‘green’ building design; as well as a $25 million appropriation for the Power Fund. The IUB just approved another step forward for the Marshalltown coal plant; but included requirements for increased use of renewables and carbon sequestration. Good? No. Better? Somewhat. And the fight’s not over yet.
So, with Earth Month over but a sustainable future still unrealized, we need to do more. Please, take the time to get involved - or be more involved. Write a letter to the editor of your paper, or your representative, come to an event, volunteer. If you aren’t exactly sure how best to get involved, send me an email or give us a call at the office. It’s our mission to help you make a difference.
Andrew
asnow@iowaglobalwarming.org
The ‘Skeptical Environmentalist’
-- Andrew Snow -- 04/17/2008
Last night, at Iowa State’s Memorial Union, I had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by the self-proclaimed ‘Skeptical Environmentalist’ Bjorn Lomborg. Lomborg is best known among climate activists (and opponents) as the author of such books as ‘The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming’ - a book that has created a great deal of controversy in the scientific community. A community, it’s worth noting, that Lomborg isn’t a member of - he’s not actually a scientist. The controversy has included the following, as noted by the New York Times:
The Danish Committees on Scientific Dishonesty, after a six-month review following several complaints filed by scientists, issued a 17-page report yesterday concluding that the book displayed ‘systematic one-sidedness’. ‘’Objectively speaking,’’ the committees found, ‘’the publication of the work under consideration is deemed to fall within the concept of scientific dishonesty,’’ as defined by Danish rules for scientific integrity.
Overall, that’s the impression that I took away from yesterday’s lecture, too - that the basic facts in his arguments that are true, but are used poorly enough to be essentially dishonest. It’s not an accurate reflection of what’s going on with the environmental/climate change community to use the 1997 Kyoto Protocol as the basis for all your arguments about what it means to fight global warming. Nor is it accurate to assume that renewable energy sources such as solar are always going to be expensive, that wind isn’t getting more efficient, and that coal and oil are going to remain plentiful and cheap.
Apparently, however, there is one thing that’s changing very rapidly, and becoming more accurate with every new evolution - the ‘skeptical’ arguments about global warming. "It’s not happening" becomes "It’s not manmade", which is now morphing into "It’s real, it’s manmade, so what? We’ve got other things to worry about". Hopefully, the next step will be for them to become a little more skeptical about the wisdom of doing nothing.
My favorite clip from the lecture can be found here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=L2EuvMCga0U
Every Day is Earth Day
-- Andrew Snow -- 04/15/2008
Earth Day is upon us once again, bringing renewed media focus to the ‘green’ movement and ensuring that the public hears the message of sustainability and eco-friendliness. Here in Iowa, the next week is full of events, giving average Iowans a chance to come out to have a good time, learn something, and go home feeling a little better about themselves and their world. The question, though, is whether or not people will change their habits and expect more from their leaders once the media spotlight dies down. Right now is a good time for environmentalism - public attention is as high as it’s been in years, and many people are changing to live more sustainable lives. I believe we’re seeing the start of true ‘grassroots leadership’, which is to say that the people are starting to lead, and the leaders are starting to follow.
Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have reached the ‘tipping point’ quite yet, where the public is demanding better answers and leaders are providing them. This session of the Iowa Legislature has been a disappointment to many, as we have seen good proposals (including a worthy energy bill from Gov. Culver) killed before reaching the floor or watered down until they no longer matter. In short, we need more than a few days of media attention and public involvement. And that’s where your help can make a difference: take a minute to write a letter to the editor (Earth Week is a great time to get published!), call your representative, share your feelings with friends and co-workers, and of course attend an Earth Day event. I’ll be posting a list of events that the Iowa Global Warming Campaign will be participating in - don’t forget to stop by our booth and say hi, we’d love to talk to you!
Clinton’s Energy Speech in Newton
-- Steve -- 11/08/2007
In an outbuilding at the new biodiesel plant in Newton, Iowa, with a few hundred people in attendance, Hillary Clinton announced her plan to lead the country to a new "green" energy economy.
"This is the biggest challenge we’ve faced in a generation" said Clinton, "a challenge to our economy, our security, our health and our planet. I believe America is ready to take action, ready to break the bonds of the old energy economy and ready to prove that the climate crisis is also one of the greatest economic opportunities in the history of our country. . . . It will be a new beginning for the 21st century."
Clinton first outlined why we need to change and face this challenge as an opportunity. Global climate change and the threat it poses will "unleash a wave of innovation, create millions of new jobs, enhance our security and lead the world to a revolution in how we produce and use energy. It will literally be a new beginning for the 21st Century."
Major pieces of her proposal include:
- Putting in place a cap and trade system, with a goal of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 80 percent. Under that system, greenhouse gases are capped and businesses that produce less than allowed can sell their credits to companies that produce more than allowed.
- Set a vehicle fuel efficiency standard of 55 miles per gallon by 2030, partially financed by the $20 billion in new bonds. Clinton estimated that by 2030, her plan would cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds compared with current projections.
- Pay for the retrofitting and modernizing of 20 million homes for low-income residents to cut electrical use. Overall electrical use would be reduced by 20 percent by 2020, and one-fourth of electricity would be produced by renewable sources by 2030. Those sources include, wind, solar, biomass and geothermal.
- Setting a goal of producing 60 billion gallons of renewable fuel such as ethanol and soy diesel, immensely popular programs in farm states like Iowa that produce corn and soybeans.
- Double federal spending on basic energy research, set new efficiency standards for appliances and phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs.
- Begin a new program to make it easier for low- and middle-income families to buy energy efficient homes.
- Create a National Energy Council in the White House to coordinate federal efforts.
- Fund 10 "smart grid cities" to deploy plug-in hybrid vehicles on a large scale.
"It’s the biggest challenge we’ve faced in a generation, a challenge to our economy, our health and our planet,’’ said Clinton. "It’s time for America to meet it. It is time to get back into the solutions business."
At the end of her address, Clinton took questions from the audience and one of the questions was by a Grinnell College student who was concerned about the long-term effects of green house gases. Clinton made note that most of the questions she gets around the country about global warming come from college, high school, and middle school students that express concern about their future and the future of the planet.
I hope the young people of our country continue to ask all the presidential candidates about this threat that hangs over our future.
Colbert Visits South Carolina
-- Emma -- 11/01/2007
Hillary Clinton Brings Climate Change Home to South Carolina
-- Emma -- 10/16/2007
This weekend in Florence, SC, Hillary Clinton talked about global warming in a town hall meeting at Wilson High School. She started off by praising Al Gore for his longstanding dedication to raising awareness about global warming and for his Nobel Peace Prize, saying, "I think every American should be proud. Because what he won the Nobel Prize for is part of what we have to do here at home to begin to get prepared for the future. We’ve got to tackle the challenges we confront, we can’t act like they’re not important or don’t exist."
She went on to link developing renewable sources of fuel to job creation and energy independence. "Germany is ahead of us, because they made a decision that they were going to have 25 percent of their electricity produced from solar power by 2030. So they’ve already created 285,000 new jobs," she said. "I want to have a strategic energy fund. And here’s how I would pay for it: take the tax subsidies away from the oil companies and put them to work for us."
Senator Clinton went on to explain why climate change is important to people everywhere, including South Carolina: "You see these poor polar bears that have nowhere to go, that’s heartbreaking. We’ve got to act because of that. But if you live along the coast, as a lot of people in South Carolina do, a lot of people in New York do, your home owner’s insurance policies are going up right now. In New York, I have people losing their insurance because the insurance companies have done long-term weather projections. And they’ve concluded we’re going to have a lot more intense and frequent storms, so they’re raising the costs or they’re pulling out of the market. So this is a real world challenge that we’re confronting, right here in America, and we’ve got to get serious about addressing it. So I think we could have a triple win: enhance our security, deal with global warming, and put millions of Americans to work. And that’s what I would do."
Obama Meets with S.C. Conservationists
-- Emma -- 10/01/2007
Presidential candidate Barack Obama took about forty-five minutes on Sunday to meet with leaders of South Carolina’s most prominent conservation groups. Senator Obama outlined his environmental positions and solicited feedback on how to bring the issues home to primary voters in South Carolina.
Obama said that his concern for the environment dates from his childhood in Hawaii-a beautiful place with a fragile ecosystem-and has been reinforced by his oldest daughter’s problems with asthma. As president, he said he plans to reverse much of the damage done by the Bush Administration by reviewing and reversing problematic executive orders, ensuring that the Environmental Protection Agency is fully funded and staffed to carry out its intended work, and strengthening and enforcing the Clean Air and Water Acts.
However, Obama’s top environmental priority is fighting climate change. His plans in this area include raising automobile fuel efficiency, instituting a national renewable electricity standard, and using a primarily auction-based cap-and-trade system to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. His energy plan, which he expects to release shortly, will also include concrete interim goals. Obama does not categorically oppose nuclear power or liquid coal as sources of energy, but believes that dealing with the environmental impacts of these fuels is essential before moving forward.
1st UN Summit on Climate Change; Bush Convenes Own Summit Later This Week
-- Chris -- 09/24/2007
The UN held it’s first official summit on climate change in New York today. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pulled few punches in his surmission of the urgent need for immediate action. When President Bush backed out of the Kyoto Treaty shortly after his bags were unpacked in the White House, it was simply the tip of an iceberg that has proved the unmovable obstacle to taking action on climate change: That is, the notion that environmental responsibility means bad news for the economy. The Secretary-General addressed this notion head-on, saying "Inaction now will prove the costliest action of all in the long term".
President Bush opted not to attend the assembly of "presidents and premiers," but will hold his own two-day climate meeting, limited to 16 "major emitter" countries later this week. It’s the first in a series of U.S.-sponsored climate gatherings.
It’s hard to understand why the Bush Administration would miss such a golden opportunity to help restore American leadership in the international community by deciding not to take part in this landmark summit. We’ll look forward to seeing what comes out of the Bush summit later this week, but all the while preoccupied by the administrations determination to fail seeing climate change as a problem that requires a global solution.
Click here to read the full article.
Making the Change
-- Ria -- 09/21/2007
An article in the Washington Post today discusses the possibility of complicated international talks on climate change due to the differing positions among developing countries on global warming.
All agree that the rich should take a lead in tackling climate change after enjoying more than two centuries of economic growth fuelled by burning coal and oil.
However, establishing a consensus among the developing nations is hindering the unified front needed to make change happen. John Ashton, climate change representative at Britain’s foreign ministry, put it best when he said that to reach agreement all countries, developing and developed, will have to recognize the problem as a shared one. "We can’t do this on a blame game, ‘after you’ mentality… whether China, India, Europe or the U.S," Ashton said. Relating this back to the climate change movement here in the States, this way of thinking - thinking that unless other countries make changes, our move towards climate change will be insignificant - has often been the grounds for rejecting and ignoring the move towards a greener climate. But, this sort of criticism only serves to accelerate our collision with the inevitable future of dire climate consequences if change isn’t made. The upcoming presidential elections are our chance to make sure that the change is, in fact, made.
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.
