California Judge Denies Auto Industry Attorneys

A federal judge in California today rebuked the auto industry's attempt to block California and 16 other states from setting tough new limits on global warming pollution from automobiles, calling these efforts "the very definition of folly."

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Movie from iLoveMountains.org

My sister just sent me this link because this is how her local (Tampa, Fla.) power is generated. I believe she is working on blueprints for a bicycle-dynamo generator so that her husband can provide all of the modern conveniences without the guilt [I wonder how she feels about spousal slavery (RUN JEREMIAH RUN)]. Maybe she can hook up a treadmill and let him run there.

The more I learn, the more urgent and obvious the need for a paradigm shift becomes. We can gain control of the economy and from there it's a whole new arrangement. "What you do with your money is how you vote on what exists (or doesn't exist) in the world." Vicki Robin (parenthetical from Buddha)

Q. What steps can you take to reduce your dependence on fossil fuels?

A. Some answers can be found within the links on this blog, but please use your imagination as well. Feel free to send your answers or new links as comments or straight to my e-mail.

http://www.ilovemountains.org/

Europe's Cities Take The Lead On Cutting Emissions

Outpacing global efforts, they've set targets even more ambitious than those on the table at this week's climate talks in Bali.(excerpt)

By Mark Rice-Oxley | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

from the December 12, 2007 edition
(encouraging start, title link)

NO OIL EXTRACTION IN ANWAR

Hey kids,

They're at it again (still?). The point is we need to stay on top of this. If this fragile ecosystem is stomped on, the footprints will last an unacceptably long time at best. Tell your congressional representative what to do [that's what we pay them for (you know the job they keep voting themselves raises to perform)].

bush (shrub) vetoes kids health insurance bill (again)

Australia gets Prime Minister Kevin Rudd with immediate and positive change and here in the U.S. we get......

Ominous Arctic Melt Worries Experts

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer (excerpted, click title for full article)

An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this
summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global
warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that
summer sea ice would be gone in five years.

Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the
previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was
half what it was just four years earlier, according to new NASA
satellite data obtained by The Associated Press.

"The Arctic is screaming," said Mark Serreze, senior scientist at the
government's snow and ice data center in Boulder, Colo.

Just last year, two top scientists surprised their colleagues by
projecting that the Arctic sea ice was melting so rapidly that it could
disappear entirely by the summer of 2040.

This week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay
Zwally said: "At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at
the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions."

So scientists in recent days have been asking themselves these
questions: Was the record melt seen all over the Arctic in 2007 a blip
amid relentless and steady warming? Or has everything sped up to a new
climate cycle that goes beyond the worst case scenarios presented by
computer models?

"The Arctic is often cited as the canary in the coal mine for climate
warming," said Zwally, who as a teenager hauled coal. "Now as a sign of
climate warming, the canary has died. It is time to start getting out of
the coal mines."

It is the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels that produces
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, responsible for man-made
global warming. For the past several days, government diplomats have
been debating in Bali, Indonesia, the outlines of a new climate treaty
calling for tougher limits on these gases.

What happens in the Arctic has implications for the rest of the world.


NASA's "Tipping Points" panel and slide show materials:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/tipping_points.html

U.N. Climate Conference in Bali ( Al Gore's Petition )

Dear Friend,

In less than forty-eight hours, I will step on stage at the UN Climate Conference in Bali. With me I will bring hundreds of thousands of messages demanding a visionary global treaty be completed and brought into effect by 2010.

If we want to solve the climate crisis, we need to demonstrate the broad public support for action together. That's why it is vital you sign our petition right now by visiting:

http://www.climateprotect.org/standwithal

Over the past few months we've taken many positive steps towards uniting governments worldwide around the goal of solving the climate crisis. Just over a week ago on December 3rd, Australia's new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was sworn in. His first formal act in office was to ratify the Kyoto Treaty. This was a clear demonstration of Australia's priorities.

Yet this progress has not swayed the Bush Administration. With thousands of delegates gathered in Bali for the UN Climate Conference, this is our last chance in 2007 to show the world how serious the American people are about ending the climate crisis. That's why it is so vital all of us join together and demonstrate the political will of our country.

Only two days remain before I deliver your messages to the delegates meeting in Bali. Over the past few days more than 174,612 people have added their voices. Don't miss this incredible opportunity to demonstrate your support for a visionary global treaty to end the climate crisis.

Sign our petition, then reach out to everyone you know and ask them to sign today by visiting:

http://www.climateprotect.org/standwithal

Your activism and enthusiasm for this cause inspires me every day.

Thank you,

Al Gore

[ forwarded by Kiwilassy (my hero) ]

I'm supporting Al Gore, please add your voice too!

Polar Bear S.O.S.

By speaking out today, you could help save polar bears from
extinction.

The Bush Administration has proposed listing the polar bear as
"threatened" under the Endangered Species Act because its Arctic
sea ice habitat is rapidly melting from global warming. This
proposed protection comes after successful legal action by NRDC
and its partners to protect the imperiled bear.

However, this proposal won't become reality without a huge
outpouring of public support.

Please send a message to the Bush Administration today by going
to: http://www.PolarBearSOS.org/takeaction

Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are completely dependent
on sea ice for survival. But 80 percent of their summer ice
could be gone in 20 years and all of it by 2040. They are
already suffering the effects: birth rates are falling, fewer
cubs are surviving, and more bears are drowning.

Time is running out. Without protection, polar bears could
become the first mammal to lose 100 percent of its habitat to
global warming.

Please speak out now. Go to
http://www.PolarBearSOS.org/takeaction

Thank you for speaking out at this critical time.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/polarbearsos_0407?rk=K1MTmZs1cYmMW

(forwarded to me by Kiwilassy)

Australia Ratifies Kyoto Global WarmingTreaty

Click this link to get the full article. Rudd is fantastic! Go Oz!!

One Prize Fits Al

Al Gore and IPCC awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Posted at 7:51 AM on 10 Dec 2007

Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received their Nobel Peace Prizes this morning in Oslo, Norway. In his acceptance speech, Gore emphasized humanity's role in the climate crisis, saying, "We are what is wrong, and we must make it right ... We never intended to cause all this destruction, just as Alfred Nobel never intended that dynamite be used for waging war. He had hoped his invention would promote human progress. We shared that same worthy goal when we began burning massive quantities of coal, then oil and methane." Gore called for a moratorium on coal-burning power plants that don't sequester their emissions and stressed the need for a carbon tax. In his own speech, R. K. Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, spoke of science and peace. "Peace can be defined as security and the secure access to resources that are essential for living. A disruption in such access could prove disruptive of peace," he said. "In this regard, climate change will have several implications, as numerous adverse impacts are expected for some populations in terms of access to clean water, access to sufficient food, stable health conditions, ecosystem resources, [and] security of settlements."

source: Aftenposten

What is Al's next trick? I know he just linked up with some heavy hitters in the venture capital world (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park). Hopefully he can leverage this into some really serious changes. He's one to watch.

Al Gore

The Nobel Peace Prize 2007

Nobel Diploma

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2007
Artist: Britt Juul
Calligrapher: Inger Magnus
Photo reproduction: Thomas Widerberg

Authority Zero (Revolution) Lyrics

Look at the blueprints as they disappear
Gaze at the blank space filled with all our fears
To make a move could mean devastation
To take a chance is the way to face them
Making a choice to take a different road

You want a revolution?
You've got to make a difference on your own
You want a revolution?
Stand up, stand out and make it known

A new state, renovation
A new day, brings rejuvenation
These days, another way no replay
No replay, I think about it this way
Time's up, how can I say that's okay?
Too late, I should've, could've maybe
Why wait when in the end it could be my last big mistake?

You want a revolution?
You've got to make a difference on your own
You want a revolution?
Stand up, stand out and make it known

Face first, new days, choices we've made
Face first, new days, the choices we make
Face first our ability to choose
I make a change instead of saying that it's just fine
Time to open up and time to realize
You can make a difference if you try

You want a revolution?
You've got to make a difference on your own
You want a revolution?
Stand up, stand out and make it known
You've got to stand up and make it known
You want a revolution?

These are the lyrics to the song linked through youtube under my "Face for Radio" photo.
This song is on a compilation album titled Rock Against Bush and is one of my favorites.
Want a revolution? Vote for progress with your time, energy, $$$$$, and oh yeah at the polling booth. You can make a difference if you try!!!

Positive Energy Conference at Findhorn (Scotland)

I encourage anyone with the means to attend this conference to please do so. We need to wean ourselves from fossil fuels with their heavy environmental and social costs. I have heard many amazing things about these folks from several sources. My friend Paul Symanski who carpooled to the Bioneers conference with me said that the month he spent at Findhorn was amazing (this from a Ph.D. energy researcher). I'm looking into attending myself, so if anyone has too much money and wants to help sponsor me, please let me know.

Green Jobs Growing

Thanks to Grist for pointing the way to a fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute showing that clean energy, already a job-creation engine, will soon rev even higher:

• Energy efficiency now employs 8 million, and renewable energy 450,000, in the U.S. • Renewable energy creates more jobs per megawatt of power installed, unit of energy produced, and dollar invested than fossil energy. • Generating 20 percent of U.S. electricity from new renewable energy by 2020 will add 185,000 new jobs, while cumulatively reducing utility bills $10.5 billion and increasing rural landowner income by $26.5 billion. • A national light vehicle efficiency standard of 35 mpg by 2018 will create 241,000 jobs, including 23,900 in the automotive sector, while saving consumers $37 billion in 2020 alone. • The Massachusetts clean energy sector employs 14,000 and will soon be the state's 10th largest economic sector. • Washington state's 15 percent renewable energy standard will result in a net increase of 1,230 jobs in-state. • California's Million Solar Roof Initiative will generate 15,000 jobs there. • Germany employs 214,000 in renewable energy, including 64,000 in wind. • Denmark's wind industry employs 20,000 and Spain's 35,000. • U.S. wind power was responsible for 16,000 direct jobs and 36,800 total jobs in 2006. •

Not to mention which, renewables revive communities.

(taken from The Blue Marble Blog)

Green Energy the Next Frontier

Great piece by Declan Butler in Nature on the new venture capitalism in Silicon Valley. Green energy, folks. California gold. Butler reports how the venture-capital industry in the US spent $2.6 billion on clean-energy technologies in the first three-quarters of this year. Up from $1.8 billion in 2006, and $533 million in 2005. Google joined the game last week, committing millions more to solar, wind and geothermal, seeking a technology patch to make renewables cheaper than coal. A few weeks earlier, Al Gore's London-based Generation Investment Management partnered with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park—the green-energy investors that nurtured Amazon, Google and Genentech—to fund global climate solutions.

For the fast-moving entrepreneurs of the [Silicon] [V]alley… the next frontier is the roughly US$6-trillion energy market, where the dinosaurs of power-generation utilities have traditionally invested a pittance in research and development. "Venture capital is exactly what we need to try new things outside the bounds of what the traditional energy companies think is worth doing," says Vinod Khosla, a veteran entrepreneur who co-founded Sun Microsystems and now heads Khosla Ventures in Menlo Park, one of the most prominent clean-energy venture-capital firms. "There is almost no technology risk-taking in any of the energy companies." Khosla predicts that within five years there will be a green form of electricity that is cheaper than coal, and cleaner fuels that are cheaper than oil.

Butler also notes that although the US lags far behind Europe's leaders, Denmark and Germany, in renewables, its venture-capital investments in clean tech now more than double those in Europe.

California scooped $726.2 million of this year's US clean-tech venture funding, followed by Massachusetts ($292.6 million) and Texas ($149.4 million). Almost $1 billion of US investment went abroad, including a $200-million investment in Brazil's Brazilian Renewable Energy, which produces ethanol, and a $118-million investment in China's Yingli Green Energy Holding Company, which makes photovoltaic solar systems.

This is the reason I refuse to surrender all hope.

[taken from Julia Whitty's blog The Blue Marble Blog (title link)]