Welcome to Edition #2 of This week in climate change.
In the past, we were lucky to have environmental series like Green Diary Rescue and PDNC's Climate Change News Roundup.
Despite pledges to revive Green Diary Rescue, it has not been posted by its creator in over 4 months. MB seems overworked already with the meta police job kos foisted upon him.
The latter has been posted just twice since Valentine's Day.
I bring up these series' absence not to shame their writers, but to thank them. They did untold hours of work on this issue in the past. I've decided to follow suit.
• • •
This week also marks the 40th anniversary of EARTH DAY.
Climate news, Green Diary Rescue, and much more below the fold.
This week in climate change is a new series at Daily Kos devoted to climate change and related news. The hope is that we can engange in constructive debate about the issues raised by the topics presented, and coalesce around the action items proposed each week.
The diary for now will appear Wednesday afternoons, around 1PM Pacific.
What's that?
We already have plenty of "eco series"?
Isn't that what DK Greenroots is for?
Indeed, in the past there have been many great DK Greenroots diaries. The goal of this series is to supplement the good work done on that front, and to raise awareness about climate issues.
This series, This week in climate change, narrows its focus to climate-related items only.
As we prepare for the upcoming vote in the Senate on a climate bill, we are still seeing the topic covered only sporadically on the front page despite -lip service- pledges by kos to the contrary.
The Senate climate bill will be released in the next 4 or 5 days.
Just sayin'.
Also, over the past few days, green diaries have naught but one ultra-brief rec list stay. (The most recent one was "Climate Change Will Increase Volcanism in Iceland" by FishOutofWater Sun Apr 18, 2010 at 04:09:33 AM PDT, some 75 recommended diaries ago.)
Again....just sayin'.
THE LEDE
For the 2nd week in a row, I think it is worth highlighting this:
Come to the largest climate rally ever on the D.C. mall on April 25
by Denis Hayes
19 Apr 2010 9:37 AM
http://www.grist.org/...
Earth Day Network is organizing a huge event on the Mall in Washington D.C. on April 25. The goal is to demand tough, effective climate legislation and a swift transition away from 19th century energy sources.
"So what?" you may be asking yourself. There have been a lot of climate rallies over the last 25 years and Congress still hasn't managed to pass a law. Why should I come to this one?
Let me count the ways ...
Size
Past climate rallies have generally run from a few dozen people to a couple thousand. On Sunday, April 25, energy and climate activists from New England to the Carolinas will gather together to find new friends and allies at largest climate rally ever. We are coming together to move beyond education; to demand change; and to make it clear there will be political consequences of Congress doesn't act.
The CLIMATE RALLY on The National Mall – April 25th, 2010
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is quickly approaching, but the United States has failed to enact a comprehensive climate bill.
It is time to stop protecting polluters and enact comprehensive climate legislation that will create American jobs, cap carbon emissions and secure our nation’s future. The first Earth Day was a success because 20 million Americans demonstrated their outrage for the state of the environment. Together, we can make Earth Day 2010 a pivotal moment in the environmental movement.
On Sunday, April 25, Earth Day Network will organize a massive climate rally on The National Mall to demand Congress passes strong legislation.The Climate Rally will include speeches from environmental stewards Reverend Jesse Jackson, film director, James Cameron, AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, Olympic gold medalist, Billy Demong, producer, Trudie Styler, author, Margaret Atwood and others.
Click here to RSVP for The Climate Rally.
TOP STORY
World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth convenes in Bolivia.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
by Robert S. Eshelman
Posted: April 19, 2010 03:00 PM
International climate change negotiations will take a significant shift in focus this week when environmental justice and indigenous rights organizations from 150 nations join government representatives and several heads of state for the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth.
Bolivian President Evo Morales, who proposed hosting the conference in early January following the failure of UN climate talks in Copenhagen to produce a sufficient comprehensive climate agreement, will open conference on Tuesday. Panel discussions will follow, continuing through to the close of the conference on Thursday, with participants including Bill McKibben, NASA scientist Jim Hansen, Martin Khor, G77 + China negotiator Lumumba Di Aping, and Vandana Shiva. Throughout the conference, seventeen working groups will convene to discuss issues ranging deforestation and climate migrants to the rights of indigenous peoples and developing technologies for poor and low-lying nations to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The Peoples’ World Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights objectives are the following:
1. Analyze the structural and systemic causes of climate change and propose substantive measures that facilitate the well-being of all mankind in harmony with nature.
2. Discuss and agree the draft Universal Declaration of rights of Mother Earth.
3. To agree on proposals for new commitments to the Kyoto Protocol and projects for a COP Decision under the United Nations Framework for Climate Change that will guide future actions in those countries that are engaged with life during climate change negotiation
4. Work on the organization of a people’s world referendum on climate change.
5. Analyze and draw up a plan of action to advance the establishment of a Climate Justice Tribunal;
6. Define strategies for action and mobilization in defense of life against climate change and for mother earth rights.
Learn more about this historic conference and its agenda with
this 41 page download (pdf)
We, the indigenous nations,
believe that all of us
living beings
live on the skin
of the Mother Earth.
We nourish from
her milk, the water.
At the same time,
we know that she needs us
to be able to continue
living in full health.
We nations that live
in harmony with nature
have always respected the earth,
water, air and fire.
We care for nature
in same way that
we care for ourselves.
We share with her,
and we never take
more than we need.
She is part of our life,
and we are part of her.
OTHER NEWS
HuffPo Green:
White House Earth Day Announcements And Activities
The White House is gearing up for five days of events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and they're starting big. Vice President Joe Biden announced today a plan to invest $452 million in Recovery Act funding to go toward energy-efficient building retrofits in 25 communities.
"For forty years, Earth Day has focused on transforming the way we use energy and reducing our dependence on fossil fuel - but this year, because of the historic clean energy investments in the Recovery Act, we're poised to make greater strides than ever in building a nationwide clean energy economy," Biden said in a statement.
Environment News Service:
Global Temperatures Last Month Broke Heat Records for March
WASHINGTON, DC, April 16, 2010 (ENS) -
The world's combined global land and ocean surface temperature made last month the warmest March on record, according to federal government scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.
Taken separately, average ocean temperatures were the warmest for any March and the global land surface was the fourth warmest for any March on record.
Additionally, the planet has seen the fourth warmest January through March period on record, NOAA analysts conclude.
Sen. Kerry hints at changes in climate bill
(Reuters) - Senator John Kerry, leading the drive for compromise climate change legislation, said on Tuesday his proposal would not contain any sort of motor fuels tax and could scrap an oil sector "fee" that has been discussed.
(snip)
Kerry spokeswoman Whitney Smith told Reuters there was "progress" toward a compromise bill and that senators drafting legislation were "coming up with ways to tackle emissions sector by sector that haven't been tried before." She did not elaborate.
White House: Climate bill 'doable' this year
By MATTHEW DALY
The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 20, 2010; 5:47 PM
WASHINGTON -- White House energy adviser Carol Browner said Tuesday she thinks Congress still has time to approve a climate and energy bill this year.
Browner called action on the long-delayed legislation "doable," because members of Congress increasingly understand the need to develop clean energy that does not emit carbon dioxide and other pollutants blamed for global warming.
Oscar & Nobel-winning -President- climate champion, Al Gore, has a book
suggestion:
Joe Romm is one of the most important and influential voices fighting for an end to the climate crisis. His blog, Climate Progress, is a must read.
Romm just published an important new book, titled Straight Up: America's Fiercest Climate Blogger Takes on the Status Quo Media, Politicians, and Clean Energy Solutions. In the book, Romm “cuts through the misinformation and presents the truth about humanity's most dire threat.
You can pick up a copy
HERE.
World Bank says East Asia can stabilise CO2 by 2025
SINGAPORE, April 19 (Reuters) - China, the world's top greenhouse gas emitter, and five other East Asian nations, need a net additional investment of $80 billion per year to get on to a sustainable energy path, the World Bank said on Monday.
Such investment was crucial to curb an otherwise inevitable surge in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions as regional economies grow to lift millions out of poverty and to meet the energy needs of rapid urbanisation, the Bank said in a report.
The report, "Winds of change: East Asia's sustainable energy future", said it was possible for China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to stabilize their greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 without compromising growth.
But the move would require major policy changes and investments in energy efficiency and a concerted switch to renewable sources of power.
Workers Missing After Oil Rig Blast
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 21, 2010
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Rescuers searched waters off Louisiana's coast Wednesday after an explosion and fire on an offshore drilling platform left seven workers badly hurt and 11 missing.
Most of the 126 people were believed to have escaped safely after the explosion on the rig Deepwater Horizon at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry said. The rig, about 52 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, was listing about 10 degrees and still burning Wednesday morning.
Penan Step Up Campaign to Defend Heart of Borneo Nature Reserve (Wolrd Wire)
Bruner Mansard Fund LONG SABAI, SARAWAK / MALAYSIA, APRIL 6, 2010 --WORLD-WIRE-- Penan natives from Sarawak's Upper Baram region in the Malaysian part of Borneo have erected two logging road blockades to prevent their last remaining virgin jungle from being logged by the Samling Group, a Malaysian timber giant.
The blockades have been erected at two strategical locations on logging roads near the Penan villages of Long Sabai and Ba Kerameu on the upper reaches of the Akah river. According to community sources, surveyors of the Samling corporation had repeatedly been asked to stop working on the Penan' s native lands but had refused to do so. As a consequence, the villagers erected two blockades that have been in place since 24 March and 31 March 2010 respectively.
Here are a few items from
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization funded entirely through individual donations and grants from foundations.
http://www.democracynow.org/...
(Video)
Environmentalist, 350.org Founder Bill McKibben on “Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet”
Twenty years ago, environmental activist Bill McKibben wrote The End of Nature, but his warnings went largely unheeded. Now, as people are grappling with the unavoidable effects of climate change and confronting an earth that is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding and burning in unprecedented ways, Bill McKibben is out with Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, a new book about what we have to do to survive this brave new world.
http://www.democracynow.org/...
(Video)
Author Nikolas Kozloff on “No Rain in the Amazon: How South America’s Climate Change Affects the Entire Planet”
Environmentalists and indigenous communities along the Amazon celebrated an important victory Thursday after a Brazilian judge suspended bidding on the construction of what is slated to be the third largest dam in the world.
http://www.democracynow.org/...
(Video)
Actress Q’orianka Kilcher on Climate Change Activism: Public Figures and Celebrities “Have a Responsibility to Help Give a Voice to the Voiceless”
Thousands of indigenous groups, grassroots activists and environmentalists began streaming into the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth in Tiquipaya, Bolivia on Monday. Among them was the award-winning young Hollywood actress Q’orianka Kilcher. “I really believe, and love, the saying ‘there comes a time when silence is betrayal,’” Kilcher says.
More Hollywood...
I loved Avatar, haters be damned. So this item is touching to me.
Avatar director James Cameron joins Amazon tribe's fight to halt giant dam
by Tom Phillips
The Observer, Sunday 18 April 2010
Avatar's stars and director James Cameron are supporting the Xingu people who say the giant Belo Monte hydroelectric project will wreck their rainforest way of life
Sitting before them on a wooden schoolroom chair, the guest, better known outside the rainforest as Hollywood player and director of the blockbuster 3D film Avatar, James Cameron, listened intently before addressing his hosts. "We're here to listen to what you are saying, to hear your concerns and, because I am a film-maker, to share this with the outside world," he said. "We're just here to help in any way we can."
Sitting with him as he spoke were Sigourney Weaver and Joel David Moore, who starred in Avatar, which charts the fight of the fictitious Na'vi people against outside attempts to pillage their resources on the planet Pandora.
Until last month Cameron had never been to the Brazilian Amazon, home to the world's greatest tropical rainforest. Now, however, he has become the figurehead of an international campaign against Amazon destruction and specifically the multibillion-dollar Belo Monte hydroelectric dam project, which many of the Xingu region's indigenous residents believe will wreak havoc in communities, flooding land in some places, drying up rivers in others and triggering an influx of workers, prostitution and disease.
UPDATED on Wed AM:
http://www.grist.org/...
Brazil awards dam contract despite environmental protests
BRASILIA -- Brazil on Tuesday speedily awarded the tender for a controversial hydroelectric dam projected to be the world's third-largest, despite fierce opposition from environmentalists.
What an unfortunate update to that news item.
Also on this front, from RL Miller, a possible action item:
http://www.internationalrivers.org/...
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/...
Please call the Brazilian Embassy today and express your concern about the government’s support for the Belo Monte Dam and its impact on indigenous people.
If you are in the US, please call (202) 238-2712.
.
Perhaps something light will helps re-lift our collective spirits:
National Park Week (PHOTOS): Celebrating The Beauty Of Our Parks
This week is not only all about Earth Day, but it's also National Park Week. From April 17-25, all national parks across the U.S. are offering free admission, making it a great opportunity to visit these tributes to wilderness
.
Global Warming Reduces Grain Output in Inflation-Ridden India
By Dinakar Sethuraman
April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Rising temperatures and inadequate rainfall are causing grain output to stagnate in India, threatening food security in the world’s second-most populous nation, according to a weather scientist.
In the past decade, average temperatures have increased by 0.25 degree Celsius when the monsoon crops are sown in June, and by 0.6 degree Celsius when winter crops are planted in October, said Krishna Kumar, a senior scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, a state-owned researcher.
"Babies r'nt us"
Making people feel safe about living child-free.
Say it loud: I’m childfree and I’m proud
By Lisa Hymas
Making the green choice too often feels like a sacrifice or a hassle or an expense. In this case, it feels like a luxurious indulgence that just so happens to cost a lot less for me and weigh a lot less on the carbon-bloated atmosphere.
I call myself a GINK: green inclinations, no kids.
Grist editor talks childfree living and population on MSNBC [VIDEO]
Posted 19 Apr 2010 2:43 PM
(For the record, I have never said, "Kids are killing the planet," and I would never want to drag any happy parent away from their adorable newborn in the hospital nursery.)
Does climate change make you weep? You are not alone:
Allergies Worse Than Ever? Blame Global Warming
By Bryan Walsh
http://www.time.com/...
The bad news is that in a warmer world, allergies are likely to get worse — and that's going to cost sufferers and the rest of us. A new report released on Wednesday by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) found that global warming will likely increase pollen counts in the heavily populated eastern section of the country and that the effect of climate change could push the economic cost of allergies and asthma well above the current $32 billion price tag. "The latest climate science makes it clear that allergies could get much worse," says Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist at NWF and the author of the report. "I really think this should be a wake-up call."
The good news is that as a result, Kleenex futures are through the roof.
DIARIES
Saturday, April 17th, around noon, an amazing thing occurred. Fully half of the recommended diaries were tinted green.
I'd be utterly stunned if this ever happened before. I can only hope it's not the last time.
Air Force "bombs" large wind farm in Oregon
by DWG
Something Called Volcano Monitoring
by laflaur
"The most important number you've never heard of."
by A Siegel
and
Massey Energy: 442 Violations Since the Blast Through Today. With Poll
by ekyprogressive
Here are the searches I used:
DK Greenroots
Climate Change
environment
Village Green: an Earth Day Gallery of Smart Growth
by Kaid at NRDC
There is no question that environmental sustainability requires, among other things, more efficient use of land. Indeed, I have basically staked my career on the proposition that we must increase the average density of our new (and, in some cases, existing) built environment in the US if we are to achieve anything near sustainability as we absorb more growth. Nothing has been worse for our environment than sprawl. Smart growth based on walkable neighborhoods, transportation choices, nearby amenities and the accommodation of an increasingly diverse society – more urbanism, if you will – is the only way we can limit per-capita impacts, and thus total impacts, to a manageable level.
There is simply no valid solution to global warming, to food security, to ecological conservation – to say nothing about redressing urban disinvestment – without using smart, compact growth to replace sprawl. I happen to think it also creates better environments for people to live in, but I suppose that is to an extent a matter of taste.
Macca's Meatless Monday...give me chickpeas on Earth Day
by beach babe in fl
As we approach Earth Day I am looking forward to celebrating with one of the most Earth friendly foods in the world. Chickpeas also called garbanzos, cecis, Indian pea and Bengal gram are high in protein, one of the earliest cultivated vegetables and a delicious addition to a vegetarian meal. They are used in most cultures and today I will show some familiar and some perhaps not so familiar recipes for chickpeas.
Eddie C has been doing a great job of highlighting the virtues of the boob toob and that great Marxist network PBS with two diaries this past week.
An Earth Day Edition of Two For Tuesday and
For Earth Day: Make Television a Tool of Progress Today
PBS will be celebrating Earth Day with a special edition of American Experience called "Earth Days" that tracks the American ecological movement and also by showing "Food Inc" on April 21st.
On most PBS stations at 8 PM tonight "Nature" will show "The Thin Green Line" for a second time. It is an indictment of the human race, the fact that we are wiping out the frogs and amphibians and the we will also be sure to follow, has to be the most motivating hour of television I've ever seen.
VA Voters Reject GOP Obstruction on Climate & Energy
by TheGreenMiles
http://www.dailykos.com/...
First, let's establish one thing: Virginia's government is doing nothing to address global warming. That's not me talking -- that's what a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality spokesman told the Newport News Daily Press. No, wait -- that's not quite right. Virginia is actively trying to obstruct action on global warming thanks to the war on science led by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli & supported by Gov. Bob McDonnell & Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.
WATCH: China building ambitious "Solar Valley City" to advance solar industry
by Teryn Norris
China is building an ambitious "Solar Valley City" as a new national center for manufacturing, research and development, education, and tourism around solar energy technologies. as part of the Chinese government and industry's efforts to promote clean energy technology and grow the nation's global market share
This next one is included for the title alone
(I'm talking to YOU TWO PROMINENT DKOS ECO FEMALES):
Nhavey asks a question we have all wondered in What if all environmentalists could work together? Introducing Environmental Countdown (Video) -
The EPA are sponsoring an environmental justice video contest that challenges amateur or professional filmmakers to create videos that capture the faces of the environmental justice movement. The Faces of the Grassroots contest is an opportunity to publicly exhibit creativity, environmental justice stories, and connect with others working to raise awareness of the movement.
Learn about the contest: http://www.epa.gov/...
Steven D informs us of an unlikely ally in the war on climate change in
The Greening of the US Military
The Army hopes to have 4000 electrical vehicles by 2013, which would be one of the largest all electrical fleets in the world. The Air Force plans to use 25% renewable energy by 2025, and have half its planes running on biofuels by 2016. The Navy already has its first hybrid amphibious assault craft in operation, the USS Makin Island. It's maiden voyage saved $2 MILLION DOLLARS in fuel costs.
In Afghanistan, the military is increasing its reliance on solar and wind energy to reduce the number of fuel convoys necessary which are always at great risk of attack. It is also employing solar powered water purification systems. By 2020, the Navy expects that half of all its bases will generate all of their energy requirements.
PDNC returned on Sunday to grace us with her
Climate Change News Roundup series:
Body Heat Energy Source & 2012 Doomsday Shelters For Rich
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
http://www.dailykos.com/...
• Cost of climate change not just environmental.
This year, the cost of global warming worldwide could be as high as $371 billion, he said. And over the next 40 years, the cost could rise as high as $7.5 trillion, said Goodstein, director of the Center for Environmental Policy at Bard, in Annandale-on-Hudson.
As always,
please list your own favorite climate diaries that I didn't list above in the comments below.
INTO ACTION
• Facebook users can "LIKE" here:
http://www.facebook.com/...
• For those with more chutzpah, HuffPo throws down the gauntlet.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
7 Things You Can Do For Earth Day That Actually Matter
by Travis Walter Donovan and Gazelle Emami First
To get big change, you have to make big changes, which is why we're asking you to go bold for Earth Day this year. Instead of boring you with talk of CFL light bulbs and planting trees, we'd rather focus on changes that are harder to make, but are that much more rewarding.
Items include
• Power Your House/Business With Alternative Energy
• Go Vegetarian (at least on Mondays, right bbif?)
• Buy Local
• On Earth Day: Stop Junk Mail And Keep Trees In The Forests
FERNDALE, MI, April 12, 2010 --WORLD-WIRE-- The danger of dramatic climate change underlines the need for each of us to find sensible ways we can contribute to keeping the planet healthy. One simple step is to say ”NO” to unwanted junk mail. The nonprofit 41pounds.org service stops your paper junk mail – and keeps more trees in the forest providing oxygen for us to breathe and absorbing carbon to cool the planet.
I've been a member of
41pounds.org for years. They do great work.
The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year.
Our service stops 80-95% of unwanted catalogs and junk mail
for you. We’ll contact dozens of companies on your behalf to
STOP YOUR JUNK MAIL and PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.
•
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• • •
What actions do you guys suggest? Leave items in the comments and I'll update the diary and include them here.
• • • • • •
I tried to spend not too much more than a couple hours on this diary to inspire others to try doing their own version in the future.
In the comments below, please mention if you are willing to try and host this series on a future date.
Thank you for reading, recommending, and participating in the comments.