Associated Press reported today that "a group of Middlebury College students looking to draw attention to global warming have sparked a national day of action beyond their wildest expectations: 1,350 actions planned Saturday across all 50 states.
"Participants in Step It Up 2007 will be skiing down a disappearing glacier in Wyoming and diving to a coral reef off the Florida Keys. In Vershire, Vt., they'll be eating pancakes to highlight concerns about how climate change could affect maple syrup production.
"In New York City, blue-clad protesters will line up to mark where rising sea levels could move the coastline. San Franciscans will load up their low-emissions vehicles with stuffed polar bears for a trip to a local Hummer dealership, to illustrate worries that warmer temperatures could wipe out the species' habitat.
"'We see this to be the most pressing issue of our time, and our generation,' said Will Bates, 23, one of six former Middlebury students who helped organize the event with author Bill McKibben, a scholar in residence at the school.
"'We care about the impact it'll have on our lives and on the lives of people all over the world,' Bates said. 'We see it as a moral issue, and we see the need to take urgent action. It's not something that can wait years or decades.'
"Step It Up is aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. It is the outgrowth of a Nov. 4 event in which more than 500 people hiked up mountains, handed out leaflets and held other actions in 30 locations around Vermont, each branded with a 'Vote to Stop Global Warming' banner.
"Working from a two-room storefront in Burlington and using word of mouth, blogs, e-mail messages and other appeals, organizers have drawn a huge response to the April day of action, thanks in part to help from organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"'Since we had no money and no organization, we thought we might organize 100 (events) by April 14,' said McKibben. 'Instead, it's taken off like a shot.'
"McKibben, whose 1989 book 'The End of Nature,' was among the first to highlight the problem of global warming, says the event marks a watershed moment in the push to act.
"'It makes me unbelievably hopeful,' he said Thursday in a telephone interview from New York, where he was promoting the event. 'I've been doing this for a very long time. I wrote the first book on all this in 1989. Most of that time, not much has been happening. I've been telling myself The moment will come, and when it does, we have to take advantage.'"
11 April 2007
Global Climate Change: IPCC Report - No One Will Escape Impacts
The IPCC report last week was indeed grim, which is probably why I've avoided commenting on it thus far. It's too damned depressing to wrap my head around while I'm on vacation. The sobering fact is that billions of the world's poorest citizens are at risk of hardship and disease as a result of climate change.
But that's not all: everyone is at risk; everyone will feel the impact. Those most vulnerable live at or near sea level, many of whom are crowded into coastal cities already in danger. And say goodbye to those luxury coastal properties. You may want to start buying land along the "new coast," the perimeter of sea level rise to come.
Still, you can run, but you can't hide. You may move away from the areas of direct impact, only to be chased by drought, disease and extreme weather. All of this combines, in the IPCC future to threaten the livelihoods and the very lives of maybe millions more.
Depressing? Indeed. Too late to do anything about it? Not if we can finally put the science to rest and get to work reducing the impacts, adapting to the changes, and investing in the technologies and systems that will help us survive, if not thrive, in the world of change ahead.
But that's not all: everyone is at risk; everyone will feel the impact. Those most vulnerable live at or near sea level, many of whom are crowded into coastal cities already in danger. And say goodbye to those luxury coastal properties. You may want to start buying land along the "new coast," the perimeter of sea level rise to come.
Still, you can run, but you can't hide. You may move away from the areas of direct impact, only to be chased by drought, disease and extreme weather. All of this combines, in the IPCC future to threaten the livelihoods and the very lives of maybe millions more.
Depressing? Indeed. Too late to do anything about it? Not if we can finally put the science to rest and get to work reducing the impacts, adapting to the changes, and investing in the technologies and systems that will help us survive, if not thrive, in the world of change ahead.
Global Climate Change: ConocoPhillips Joins Coalition
UPI reported this morning that ConocoPhillips Co. became the first major U.S. oil company to call for a federal global-warming-emissions cap.
The Houston-based oil company said it had joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a group of corporations outlining broad principles they propose for a U.S. emissions cap.
"We recognize that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate," Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Mulva said.
Britain's BP PLC has also endorsed a U.S. global-warming emissions cap and is in USCAP, along with industrial products and media conglomerate General Electric Co. while supermajors ExxonMobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and Chevron Corp. are not.
Mulva said ConocoPhillips believed "a mandatory national regulatory framework that links to international programs is most likely to achieve meaningful impact on global greenhouse gas emissions."
ConocoPhillips and other companies are endorsing a single nationwide cap because they believe it will be less onerous than a patchwork of state rules, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Houston-based oil company said it had joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a group of corporations outlining broad principles they propose for a U.S. emissions cap.
"We recognize that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate," Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Mulva said.
Britain's BP PLC has also endorsed a U.S. global-warming emissions cap and is in USCAP, along with industrial products and media conglomerate General Electric Co. while supermajors ExxonMobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and Chevron Corp. are not.
Mulva said ConocoPhillips believed "a mandatory national regulatory framework that links to international programs is most likely to achieve meaningful impact on global greenhouse gas emissions."
ConocoPhillips and other companies are endorsing a single nationwide cap because they believe it will be less onerous than a patchwork of state rules, The Wall Street Journal reported.
03 April 2007
Global Climate Change: Supreme Court Rules EPA Must Regulate Carbon
Reuters reports on the Supreme Court ruling that "a U.S. government agency has the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that spur global warming.
"By a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 'has offered no reasoned explanation' for its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change.
"The ruling in one of the most important environmental cases to reach the Supreme Court marked the first high court decision in a case involving global warming.
"President George W. Bush has opposed mandatory controls on greenhouse gases as harmful to the U.S. economy, and the administration has called for voluntary programs instead of regulation. The states and environmental groups that brought the lawsuit hailed the ruling.
"'As a result of today's landmark ruling, EPA can no longer hide behind the fiction that it lacks any regulatory authority to address the problem of global warming,' Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said.
"'Today the nation's highest court has set the White House straight. Carbon dioxide is an air pollutant, and the Clean Air Act gives EPA the power to start cutting the pollution from new vehicles that is wreaking havoc with our climate,' said David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"Greenhouse gases occur naturally and also are emitted by cars, trucks and factories into the atmosphere. They can trap heat close to Earth's surface like the glass walls of a greenhouse."
"By a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 'has offered no reasoned explanation' for its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change.
"The ruling in one of the most important environmental cases to reach the Supreme Court marked the first high court decision in a case involving global warming.
"President George W. Bush has opposed mandatory controls on greenhouse gases as harmful to the U.S. economy, and the administration has called for voluntary programs instead of regulation. The states and environmental groups that brought the lawsuit hailed the ruling.
"'As a result of today's landmark ruling, EPA can no longer hide behind the fiction that it lacks any regulatory authority to address the problem of global warming,' Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said.
"'Today the nation's highest court has set the White House straight. Carbon dioxide is an air pollutant, and the Clean Air Act gives EPA the power to start cutting the pollution from new vehicles that is wreaking havoc with our climate,' said David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"Greenhouse gases occur naturally and also are emitted by cars, trucks and factories into the atmosphere. They can trap heat close to Earth's surface like the glass walls of a greenhouse."
02 April 2007
Social Entrepreneurs: Skoll World Forum - More Funds Needed by Social Entrepreneurs
In the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Nicole Wallace reports on the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, held last week at the Said Business School on Oxford University's 900-year-old campus. The relatively new field of social entrepreneurship, which brings together business acumen and social goals, is struggling to get to scale.
In a word, the growing field is short on funds to finance its growth.
Wallace quotes Martin Fisher, chief executive officer of KickStart, a nonprofit organization in Nairobi that sells water pumps to poor farmers in Africa: "'There's still a shortage of funds, and the funds that are there are still very hard for social entrepreneurs to get. Every social entrepreneur I've met is spending far too much of their time working to raise money.'
"Instead, he argued, they should be working to develop 'the next big thing, the next equivalent to microfinance.'"
"Through the work of social entrepreneurs around the world, he said, microfinance has reached a point where millions of dollars — both philanthropic and for-profit — are pouring into lending projects, enabling loans to more than 110 million of the world's poorest people.
"But, 'we have to remember very clearly that it's taken microfinance 30 years and hundreds of millions of dollars of consistent investment to reach the place where it is today,' said Mr. Fisher. 'So to get to a tipping point, any of the new innovations are going to take a large amount of time and a large amount of money.'"
Growth is essential for this field, which is addressing some of the world's most pressing problems. A new study by the SustainAbility, a company in London that provides consulting and research on corporate responsibility, "Growing Opportunity: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Insoluble Problems", is the first part of a three-year project to increase partnerships between social entrepreneurs and corporations. The Skoll Foundation, in Palo Alto, CA, is supporting the project with a $1-million grant.
Read the full article: Social Entrepreneurs
In a word, the growing field is short on funds to finance its growth.
Wallace quotes Martin Fisher, chief executive officer of KickStart, a nonprofit organization in Nairobi that sells water pumps to poor farmers in Africa: "'There's still a shortage of funds, and the funds that are there are still very hard for social entrepreneurs to get. Every social entrepreneur I've met is spending far too much of their time working to raise money.'
"Instead, he argued, they should be working to develop 'the next big thing, the next equivalent to microfinance.'"
"Through the work of social entrepreneurs around the world, he said, microfinance has reached a point where millions of dollars — both philanthropic and for-profit — are pouring into lending projects, enabling loans to more than 110 million of the world's poorest people.
"But, 'we have to remember very clearly that it's taken microfinance 30 years and hundreds of millions of dollars of consistent investment to reach the place where it is today,' said Mr. Fisher. 'So to get to a tipping point, any of the new innovations are going to take a large amount of time and a large amount of money.'"
Growth is essential for this field, which is addressing some of the world's most pressing problems. A new study by the SustainAbility, a company in London that provides consulting and research on corporate responsibility, "Growing Opportunity: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Insoluble Problems", is the first part of a three-year project to increase partnerships between social entrepreneurs and corporations. The Skoll Foundation, in Palo Alto, CA, is supporting the project with a $1-million grant.
Read the full article: Social Entrepreneurs
01 April 2007
Bush Concedes; Hands Over Presidency to "Climate Man" Gore
(WASHINGTON, 1 APRIL) In a surprising announcement from Camp David, President George W. Bush conceded victory to Al Gore nearly seven years after snatching the presidency from him. Referring to the former Vice President as Al "Climate Man" Gore, the president stunned reporters and others who had expected the news conference to focus on talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"I'm announcing my concession on April Fool's Day, because it was all meant to be one big April fool's joke," Mr. Bush said in a written statement released to the press Sunday. "We never thought he would take us seriously. He won. Now he should have the presidency he deserves along with his Oscar and Peace Prize nomination."
Bush Administration sources say that the Mr. Gore would be welcome to "trade places" whenever he likes. The president has moved his office out of the Oval Office, one source claims, and into a skybox at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, home of the team in which Mr. Bush once held an ownership position.
Mr. Gore was unavailable for comment, but sources close the star of "An Inconvenient Truth," say that he has so enjoyed his new-found fame and fortune that he is "not sure he wants to trade places with the president, even if it includes a signing bonus and his own reality TV show."
In a related story, Laurie David, producer of "An Inconvenient Truth," is reportedly shopping a reality pilot with the unlikely title of "Swapping Presidents."
Bush sources suggest the president may have gotten the idea from the pilot, which is apparently being considered by Dan Rather, formerly anchor of CBS News, who would host the program for CBS's sister network "The CW."
###
"I'm announcing my concession on April Fool's Day, because it was all meant to be one big April fool's joke," Mr. Bush said in a written statement released to the press Sunday. "We never thought he would take us seriously. He won. Now he should have the presidency he deserves along with his Oscar and Peace Prize nomination."
Bush Administration sources say that the Mr. Gore would be welcome to "trade places" whenever he likes. The president has moved his office out of the Oval Office, one source claims, and into a skybox at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, home of the team in which Mr. Bush once held an ownership position.
Mr. Gore was unavailable for comment, but sources close the star of "An Inconvenient Truth," say that he has so enjoyed his new-found fame and fortune that he is "not sure he wants to trade places with the president, even if it includes a signing bonus and his own reality TV show."
In a related story, Laurie David, producer of "An Inconvenient Truth," is reportedly shopping a reality pilot with the unlikely title of "Swapping Presidents."
Bush sources suggest the president may have gotten the idea from the pilot, which is apparently being considered by Dan Rather, formerly anchor of CBS News, who would host the program for CBS's sister network "The CW."
###
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)