Global Warming.
What are you doing about it?
Welcome to my compendium
website about Global Warming.
Global Warming
is very dangerous.
It can be stopped. It must be stopped! You can
help. Read on below. There is a lot to learn. There is much
to do. You can help. Write to me with your opinion. I will publish
your comments here. Brian Nelson
What
is Global Warming?
The Earth as an ecosystem is
changing, attributable in great part to the effects of globalization and
man. More carbon dioxide is now in the atmosphere than has been in the past
650,000 years. This carbon stays in the atmosphere, acts like a warm
blanket, and holds in the heat — hence the name ‘global warming.’
The reason we exist on this planet is
because the earth naturally traps just enough heat in the atmosphere to keep the
temperature within a very narrow range. - This creates the conditions that give
us breathable air, clean water, and the weather we depend on to survive. Human
beings have begun to tip that balance. We've overloaded the atmosphere with
heat-trapping gasses from our cars and factories and power plants. If we don't
start fixing the problem now, we’re in for devastating changes to our
environment. We will experience extreme temperatures, rises in sea levels, and
storms of unimaginable destructive fury. Recently, alarming events that are
consistent with scientific predictions about the effects of climate change have
become more and more commonplace.
Designers Box. Brian Nelson. Owner
31 Gessner Rd. , Houston, TX 77024 713-467-3025
Click: E-mail me The important words found on this site include:
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Stop Global Warming Virtual MarchBookmark this page
now!
01/25/07 HELP SAVE POLAR BEARS FROM GLOBAL
WARMING
The Bush Administration is beginning the review process to decide whether to
protect the polar bear, threatened with extinction due to global warming,
under the Endangered Species Act. But we must speak up before February 23,
2007, or they will not hold public hearings on this critical matter.
Please help by
sending a message directly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
letting them know you want public hearings on polar bear protection. They
are not required by law to hold such hearings, but they can be swayed if we
all speak up.
GLOBAL WARMING DISRUPTING BEAR
HIBERNATION IN EUROPE
It's not just Arctic creatures suffering from the negative effects of global
warming. Spanish scientists are blaming global warming for the fact that
brown bears appear to have stopped hibernating in Spain's northern
Cantabrian Mountains, the first bears known not to hibernate in Europe.
According to Douglas Futuyma, professor of ecology
and evolution at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, "There is
a grave concern about the prospects of a great number of species. They are
likely to be harmed by temperature changes, by mismatch between their life
cycles and the altered seasonal life cycles of species on which they depend,
and by invasion of competing species that are better adapted to warmer
conditions."
STEP IT UP: UNITING FOR CLIMATE
ACTION
Our friends at
StepItUp07.org, a grassroots effort led by author
Bill McKibben, are organizing simultaneous rallies across the country on
April 14, 2007, to stage a National Day of Climate Action. If you want to do
more to raise awareness about global warming, they'll make it incredibly
easy for you.
Visit their website
StepItUp07.org and register to host an action: all you need is the
ability to gather as many interested people as you can and hold a small
rally. They will help coordinate the responses, introducing you to others
from your area, and give you everything you need to be a rally leader, from
banners to press releases. Please join in -- it's an easy but extremely
powerful way to take action as a Stop Global Warming Virtual Marcher.
1/3
17 Add my name to the Live Earth pledge.
I
PLEDGE:
1.To demand that my country
join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global
warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half
worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
2.To take personal action to
help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as
I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"
3.To fight for a moratorium on
the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without
the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
4.To work for a dramatic
increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of
worship, and means of transportation;
5.To fight for laws and
policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce
dependence on oil and coal;
6.To plant new trees and to
join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
7.To buy from businesses and
support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and
building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.
“Live Earth” Concerts in All 7
Continents to Reach Global Audience of Over 2 Billion
Los
Angeles, CA – Detailing a historic effort to engage billions of
people across the globe, Kevin Wall, Al Gore, Pharrell Williams,
Maná, Cameron Diaz, and the MSN Network today launched Save Our
Selves (SOS) – The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis. The
announcement was made at the California Science Center.
SOS
is designed to trigger a global movement to combat our climate
crisis. It will reach
people in every corner of the planet through television, film,
radio, the Internet and Live Earth, a 24-hour concert on 7/7/07
across all 7 continents that will bring together more than 100 of
the world’s top musical acts. Live Earth alone will engage an
audience of more than 2 billion people through concert attendance
and broadcasts. MSN has partnered with SOS to use its reach to make
the Live Earth concerts available across the globe. The Live Earth
audience, and the proceeds from the concerts, will create the
foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate
crisis led by The Alliance for Climate Protection and its Chair,
Vice President Al Gore. SOS was founded by Kevin Wall, who won an
Emmy as Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8.
“Our climate crisis is the paramount challenge facing
humanity. SOS is more than a global distress call. SOS will give the
world the tools we need to answer that call with meaningful action.
The most important part of SOS is how individuals, corporations, and
governments respond,” Wall said. “Our climate crisis affects
everyone, everywhere, and that’s who SOS is aimed at. Only a global
response can conquer our climate crisis. SOS asks all people to Save
Our Selves because only we can.”
“In order to solve the
Climate Crisis, we have to reach billions of people.
We are launching SOS and Live Earth to begin a process of
communication that will mobilize people all over the world to take
action,” Gore said. “The Climate Crisis will only be stopped by an
unprecedented and sustained global movement. We hope to jump-start
that movement right here, right now, and take it to a new level on
July 7, 2007.”
“At MSN, we have the worldwide audience and the technology
stage to help unite a global community around SOS and Live Earth,”
said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president and chief media
officer of MSN. “Anyone around the world with an Internet connection
will be able to come to MSN to view not just the concert events, but
also an extensive collection of interactive media that will
entertain, educate, inspire and ultimately drive change.”
Wall
announced 25 of the 100 top musical acts that have answered SOS’s
call and are performing at Live Earth. SOS is also engaging other
celebrities, CEOs, athletes, academics and government leaders to
engage their constituencies. Please see that attached list of 25
artists.
“More than 100 artists are
performing at Live Earth and they’re all headliners.
That’s what it takes to engage billions of people. We’re not just
engaging fans of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg, or the
Foo Fighters and Faith Hill. We’re engaging them and everyone in
between,” Wall said. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from
the artist community and are feverishly working out the logistics
for all of the bands that want to be involved. Today we are
announcing just the first 25 and will soon be announcing even more
headliners who, for contractual reasons, cannot be announced today.”
The campaign’s identity is based on SOS, the international
Morse code distress signal: three dots, followed by three dashes,
followed by three dots. SOS is the most urgent, universal message we
have, and SOS will use that signal as a continuous distress call to
prompt individuals, corporations and governments around the world to
respond to our climate crisis with action.
“SOS is creating an unmatched communications platform to take
on an unparalleled crisis,” Wall said. “Our message must saturate
the globe if we’re to succeed, and we will. In the US, we’re
partnering with NBC-Universal and its networks. On satellite radio,
we have SIRIUS and XM. In the UK, we’re partnering with the BBC. In
Japan, we have a historic partnership with two broadcast partners.
We have already secured television, Internet and wireless coverage
in 120 countries, and the rest are soon to come.”
Wall announced that Live Earth concerts will take place in
Brazil, Shanghai, Japan, Johannesburg, London, Sydney, and the
Eastern United States.
Live Earth will be broadcast
worldwide on MSN, which
was the first sponsor to answer SOS’s call. MSN is one of the
world’s most popular Internet destinations, and as such will allow
the SOS campaign to have a global reach. MSN has services in over 42
markets and 21 languages, and more than 465 million people around
the world visit MSN each month. Beginning today, people can go to
http://liveearth.msn.com and begin participating in the global
movement, and on 7/7/07, to watch the Live Earth concerts.
Live
Earth is being produced by Control Room, of which Kevin Wall is the
CEO. Control Room has produced and distributed more than 60 concerts
since its founding a year and a half ago featuring Beyoncé, Madonna,
Green Day, Dave Matthews Band, Keith Urban, James Blunt, Snoop Dogg,
the Rolling Stones, among others. Its multi-partner network provides
a global reach for live offerings through broadband, television,
digital movie theatres and mobile phones throughout the U.S. and the
world.
Live Earth will implement a new Green Event Standard that will
become the model for carbon neutral concerts and other live events
in the future. The Green Event Standard is being developed in
partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council to create a way for
venues to be LEED-approved.
+
LIVE EARTH FACT
SHEET
Live Earth - The Concert for a Climate in Crisis
Concerts on all 7 continents:
Shanghai
Sydney
Johannesburg
London
Brazil - TBD
Japan - TBD
United States - TBD
Antarctica - TBD
100+ artists
Current and legendary artists across all genres performing multiple
hits.
Announced today:
Pharrell
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Foo Fighters
Snoop Dogg
Lenny Kravitz
Bon Jovi
Paolo Nutini
Sheryl Crow
AFI
Melissa Etheridge
John Mayer
Damien Rice
Corinne Bailey Rae
Duran Duran
Snow Patrol
John Legend
Black Eyed Peas
Akon
Enrique Iglesias
Fall Out Boy
Maná
Keane
Kelly Clarkson
Korn
Faith Hill w/ Tim McGraw
Bloc Party
Celebrities and
thought leaders
Entertainers, athletes, scientists, government leaders and CEOs
helping engage their constituencies with SOS.
More than 1 million audience members
Live concert attendance reaching more than 1 million people.
More than 2 billion viewers
Multi-platform distribution (television, radio, internet, wireless)
reaching in excess of 2 billion people across the globe.
The global audience gathered for Live Earth, its ongoing
actions, and the proceeds from the concerts, will form the
foundation for a new, multi-year international initiative to combat
the climate crisis led by The Alliance for Climate Protection and
its Chair, Al Gore.
2/3
Click
Here for television and radio broadcast schedules and
information.
Live Blog is where you will find up-to-the-minute
information covering all of Live Earth’s 24 hours of music
on 7 continents.
We will be posting official statements, global facts,
remarkable stage moments, reports from the ground, and
worldwide broadcast and pledge statistics around the clock
beginning with Live Earth Sydney.
Online press kits are available for download in the
Press Materials section to the right of Live Blog.
20A What is Carbon Neutral?
A carbon audit regime is an effective means of accounting
for greenhouse gas control efforts. It establishes that the claimed
reductions in emissions, or carbon sequestration, has actually occurred and
is stable.
The Stop Global Warming Virtual March
is a non-political effort bringing Americans together to declare that global
warming is here now and it’s time to act.
Learn
More
The results are in and the reality of global
warming is beyond dispute or debate. It’s not just an environmental
issue. It affects ours public health and national security. It’s an
urgent matter of survival for everyone on the planet — the most urgent
threat facing humanity today. It’s going to take action from you and all
of us working together.
The second step, Keep reading
below, and share this with friends.
Global warming isn’t opinion. It’s a scientific
reality. And the science tells us that human activity has made enormous
impacts to our planet that affect our well-being and even our survival
as a species.
The world’s leading science journals report
that glaciers are melting ten times faster than previously thought, that
atmospheric greenhouse gases have reached levels not seen for millions
of years, and that species are vanishing as a result of climate change.
They also report of extreme weather events, long-term droughts, and
rising sea levels.
Fortunately, the science also tells us how we
can begin to make significant repairs to try and reverse those impacts,
but only through immediate action. That’s why we urge you to join us.
The Stop Global Warming Virtual March is virtual but its purpose is
real. By spreading the word and sharing this with others, our collective
power will force governments, corporations, and politicians everywhere
to pay attention.
What is
Global Warming?
The Earth as an ecosystem is changing,
attributable in great part to the effects of globalization and man. More
carbon dioxide is now in the atmosphere than has been in the past
650,000 years. This carbon stays in the atmosphere, acts like a warm
blanket, and holds in the heat — hence the name ‘global warming.’
The reason we exist on this planet is because
the earth naturally traps just enough heat in the atmosphere to keep the
temperature within a very narrow range - this creates the conditions
that give us breathable air, clean water, and the weather we depend on
to survive. Human beings have begun to tip that balance. We've
overloaded the atmosphere with heat-trapping gasses from our cars and
factories and power plants. If we don't start fixing the problem now,
we’re in for devastating changes to our environment. We will experience
extreme temperatures, rises in sea levels, and storms of unimaginable
destructive fury. Recently, alarming events that are consistent with
scientific predictions about the effects of climate change have become
more and more commonplace.
Environmental Destruction
The massive ice sheets in the Arctic are
melting at alarming rates. This is causing the oceans to rise. That’s
how big these ice sheets are! Most of the world’s population lives on or
near the coasts. Rising ocean levels, an estimated six feet over the
next 100 years or sooner, will cause massive devastation and economic
catastrophe to population centers worldwide.
The United States, with only four percent of
the world’s population, is responsible for 22% of the world’s greenhouse
gas emissions. A rapid transition to energy efficiency and renewable
energy sources will combat global warming, protect human health, create
new jobs, protect habitat and wildlife, and ensure a secure, affordable
energy future.
Catastrophic Weather
Super powerful hurricanes, fueled by warmer
ocean temperatures are the “smoking gun” of global warming. Since 1970,
the number of category 4 and 5 events has jumped sharply. Hurricane
Katrina, in September 2005 almost became a category 6 event. Human
activities are adding an alarming amount of pollution to the earth’s
atmosphere causing catastrophic shifts in weather patterns. These shifts
are causing severe heat, floods and worse.
An Inconvenient Truth
BY
ROGER EBERT / June 2, 2006
Cast & Credits
Paramount Classics presents a documentary featuring Al Gore. Directed
by Davis Guggenheim. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated PG (for mild
thematic elements).
I want to write this review so every reader
will begin it and finish it. I am a liberal, but I do not intend this
as a review reflecting any kind of politics. It reflects the truth as
I understand it, and it represents, I believe, agreement among the
world's experts.
Global warming is real.
It is caused by human activity.
Mankind and its governments must begin
immediate action to halt and reverse it.
If we do nothing, in about 10 years the
planet may reach a "tipping point" and begin a slide toward
destruction of our civilization and most of the other species on this
planet.
After that point is reached, it would be too
late for any action.
These facts are stated by Al Gore in the
documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Forget he ever ran for office.
Consider him a concerned man speaking out on the approaching crisis.
"There is no controversy about these facts," he says in the film. "Out
of 925 recent articles in peer-review scientific journals about global
warming, there was no disagreement. Zero."
He stands on a stage before a vast screen, in
front of an audience. The documentary is based on a speech he has been
developing for six years, and is supported by dramatic visuals. He
shows the famous photograph "Earthrise," taken from space by the first
American astronauts. Then he shows a series of later space
photographs, clearly indicating that glaciers and lakes are shrinking,
snows are melting, shorelines are retreating.
He provides statistics: The 10 warmest years
in history were in the last 14 years. Last year South America
experienced its first hurricane. Japan and the Pacific are setting
records for typhoons. Hurricane Katrina passed over Florida, doubled
back over the Gulf, picked up strength from unusually warm Gulf
waters, and went from Category 3 to Category 5. There are changes in
the Gulf Stream and the jet stream. Cores of polar ice show that
carbon dioxide is much, much higher than ever before in a quarter of a
million years. It was once thought that such things went in cycles.
Gore stands in front of a graph showing the ups and downs of carbon
dioxide over the centuries. Yes, there is a cyclical pattern. Then, in
recent years, the graph turns up and keeps going up, higher and
higher, off the chart.
The primary man-made cause of global warming
is the burning of fossil fuels. We are taking energy stored over
hundreds of millions of years in the form of coal, gas and oil, and
releasing it suddenly. This causes global warming, and there is a
pass-along effect. Since glaciers and snow reflect sunlight but sea
water absorbs it, the more the ice melts, the more of the sun's energy
is retained by the sea.
Gore says that although there is "100 percent
agreement" among scientists, a database search of newspaper and
magazine articles shows that 57 percent question the fact of global
warming, while 43 percent support it. These figures are the result, he
says, of a disinformation campaign started in the 1990s by the energy
industries to "reposition global warming as a debate." It is the same
strategy used for years by the defenders of tobacco. My father was a
Luckys smoker who died of lung cancer in 1960, and 20 years later it
was still "debatable" that there was a link between smoking and lung
cancer. Now we are talking about the death of the future, starting in
the lives of those now living.
"The world won't 'end' overnight in 10
years," Gore says. "But a point will have been passed, and there will
be an irreversible slide into destruction."
In England, Sir James Lovelock, the scientist
who proposed the Gaia hypothesis (that the planet functions like a
living organism), has published a new book saying that in 100 years
mankind will be reduced to "a few breeding couples at the Poles." Gore
thinks "that's too pessimistic. We can turn this around just as we
reversed the hole in the ozone layer. But it takes action right now,
and politicians in every nation must have the courage to do what is
necessary. It is not a political issue. It is a moral issue."
When I said I was going to a press screening
of "An Inconvenient Truth," a friend said, "Al Gore talking about the
environment! Bor...ing!" This is not a boring film. The director,
Davis Guggenheim, uses words, images and Gore's concise litany of
facts to build a film that is fascinating and relentless. In 39 years,
I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are:
You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have
grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.
Am I acting as an advocate in this review?
Yes, I am. I believe that to be "impartial" and "balanced" on global
warming means one must take a position like Gore's. There is no other
view that can be defended. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of
the Senate Environment Committee, has said, "Global warming is the
greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." I hope he
takes his job seriously enough to see this film. I think he has a
responsibility to do that.
What can we do? Switch to and encourage the
development of alternative energy sources: Solar, wind, tidal, and,
yes, nuclear. Move quickly toward hybrid and electric cars. Pour money
into public transit, and subsidize the fares. Save energy in our
houses. I did a funny thing when I came home after seeing "An
Inconvenient Truth." I went around the house turning off the lights.
There are many simple things you can do in your
daily life — what you eat, what you drive, how you build your home —
that can have an effect on your immediate surroundings, and on places as
far away as Antarctica. Here is a list of a few things that you can do
to make a difference.
The Stop Global Warming calculator shows you
how much carbon dioxide you can prevent from being released into the
atmosphere and how much money you can save by making some small changes
in your daily life. It’s our hope that the calculator will promote
action, awareness and empowerment by showing you that one person can
make a difference and help stop global warming.
Watch the trailer for ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ –
then pre-purchase tickets. The film eloquently weaves the science of
global warming with Al Gore’s personal history and lifelong commitment
to reversing the effects of global warming.
An
Inconvenient Truth
The film eloquently weaves the science of
global warming with Al Gore's personal story and lifelong commitment to
stop global warming. A rallying cry for action
Trailer (2:30)
Documentary
Rating: PG
In Theatres: May 24th, 2006
The
truth is coming soon to a theater near you: Al Gore’s New Global Warming
Movie “An Inconvenient Truth”
Al Gore’s critically-acclaimed new film “An
Inconvenient Truth” offers the best opportunity we’ve ever had to
capture the immediate attention of all Americans and move this country
forward quickly to stop global warming. While the problem is urgent, the
solutions are clear, and with American ingenuity and leadership, we can
avert disaster and restore the world’s confidence in our values. Let’s
work together to make this movie a success, and turn the audience
interest into action.
One easy way to get involved as virtual
marchers is to buy a ticket and bring a friend to see this movie. Then
help spread the word. The more people go see this movie on opening
weekend, the more theaters will pick it up. Bring the power of the
Virtual March to movie theaters across the country.
While 162 countries have ratified the Kyoto
Protocol to address global warming, the United States has not. When
federal leadership failed to lead, mayors across the country rose to the
occasion. 255 mayors representing over 45.4 million Americans have signed
the Climate Protection Agreement, pledging to reduce global warming
emissions in their cities.
Has yours?
The results are in and the reality of global
warming is beyond dispute or debate. It’s not just an environmental issue.
It affects our public health and national security. It’s an urgent matter
of survival for everyone on the planet — the most urgent threat facing
humanity today. It’s going to take action from you and all of us working
together. If you’re not convinced that global warming is a serious issue
that concerns you then you need to
click here to
learn why.
Spread the word, share the learning. Send this
link to family, friends, and colleagues. Share why this is so important.
Change begins at home. (See the list
home-related
Action Items)
Put the heat on your elected officials.
The power of the pocketbook.
From :
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/home.nsf/pt_climate_change
Climate Change: Business
Opportunity, Business Challenge
Human beings are
changing the Earth’s climate. Around the world, heat-trapping gases from
human activities are raising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and
altering the length of seasons. These alarming trends threaten livelihoods
and long-established ways of life in every nation.
This summer, in what has become a disturbingly
predictable pattern, many parts of the United States experienced record
high temperatures. In July, parts of India experienced record rainfall,
killing more than 1,000 people. In June, eleven national academies of
science from around the world issued a joint statement declaring that “the
scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to
justify nations taking strong action.” On June 12, the popular newspaper
USA Today— reflecting this widespread scientific consensus—ran a front
page headline that read: “The debate’s over: Globe is warming.”
The heat-trapping gases gathering in the atmosphere
come mainly from fossil fuels. Since the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution, billions of tons of coal and oil beneath the earth’s surface
have been burned, converting solid carbon into gaseous carbon dioxide (the
leading “greenhouse gas”). Forest loss also plays an important role. More
than 20% of the heat-trapping gases released into the atmosphere each year
come from the cutting and burning of forests.
Global warming will be felt in all nations, but
nowhere more acutely than in the developing world. These countries are
most vulnerable because their economies depend on agriculture and other
sectors tied to the climate, and because they simply have less money to
spend on expensive adaptation measures. An African environmentalist once
said that “for us, the problem of global warming is like the problem of
secondhand smoke. We don’t create these gases, but they blow over us,
causing no end of problems.”
As the threat posed by global warming becomes more
apparent, governments and businesses have started to turn their attention
to solutions. In recent years dozens of companies around the world have
significantly cut emissions while saving money. Dozens of cities have done
the same. This growing record of success raises questions about
longstanding assumptions concerning the costs of reducing emissions and
the dire warnings that this could only be done at significant economic
cost.
For the private sector, climate change presents both
a daunting challenge and an exciting opportunity. One challenge is the
threat to physical infrastructure from more severe storms, as companies
operating in the Gulf of Mexico have learned from this summer’s
hurricanes. Another challenge is regulatory uncertainty: many governments
around the world are only beginning to implement programs to control
heat-trapping gases, with many elements of these programs still in the
process of development. In the United States, a complex patchwork of state
and local regulation is emerging as Washington moves haltingly toward
playing a role. A final challenge is managing public perceptions.
Shareholders of public companies, for example, are increasingly seeking
ways to hold management accountable for perceived poor performance in
response to climate change.
The opportunities are also considerable. Demand for
clean energy is exploding around the world. Markets for wind and solar
power are doubling every 2-3 years. Europe plans to generate 22% of its
electricity from renewable sources by 2010; India plans to generate 10% of
its electricity from renewables by 2012. Wind power already provides more
than 17% of Denmark’s electricity; more than 6,000 solar electric systems
are being installed in the next several years in Nicaragua alone.
Meanwhile, clean coal technologies such as integrated gasification
combined cycle (IGCC) have efficiencies at least 25% greater than
traditional coal-fired power plants. Investments in energy efficiency are
especially powerful, helping to save energy and reduce costs.
Many large and small companies are positioning
themselves to capture portions of these markets. Emissions trading offers
companies the opportunity to capture extra profits from efficient
production processes. In developing countries in particular, new sources
of financing may be available for business ventures that help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions. Companies that show leadership on this issue may
be able to win customer loyalty, attract investment and build a positive
brand.
Global
Forecast
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has signed
a Memorandum of Understanding with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to
engage the largest cities in the world through the Large Cities Climate
Leadership Group and provide them with the tools to become leaders in energy
efficiency and green building strategies, which will result in the reduction
of carbon emissions. CCI is focusing on three key deliverables: improving
green purchasing power; mobilizing and deploying technical expertise; and
implementing common measurement tools in the areas of buildings, power and
water; and transportation. CCI, a program of the Clinton Foundation,
recently launched in Los Angeles, Calif.
As a partner in the CCI's effort, USGBC will
provide technical assistance and expertise in green building practices,
engaging the World Green Building Council (WGBC), and mobilizing leading
green building experts from around the globe with the goal of increasing the
inventory of green buildings around the world. Other partners in the Clinton
Climate Initiative include the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating
and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Alliance to Save Energy, and
the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.
Governor, Blair Reach Environmental Accord
Schwarzenegger,
saying the state 'will not wait' for federal
government to act on global warming, signs pact with Britain's prime
minister.
By Deborah Schoch and Janet Wilson, Times Staff
Writers
August 1, 2006
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and British Prime
Minister Tony Blair signed an agreement on Monday to work together to curb
greenhouse gas emissions, promote clean-burning fuels and collaborate on
research to fight global warming.
Blair and Schwarzenegger announced the agreement at a meeting at the Port
of Long Beach with prominent California and European business leaders on
climate issues.
"California will not wait for our
federal government to take strong action on global warming,"
said Schwarzenegger in a statement. "International partnerships are needed
in the fight against global warming, and California has a responsibility
and a profound role to play to protect not only our environment, but to be
a world leader on this issue as well."
At the meeting, Blair called global warming "long term, the single biggest
issue we face."
The agreement stops short of recommending mandatory cap-and-trade programs
or other regulations that Britain and other European countries have
implemented, which some environmentalists and Democratic state lawmakers
are advocating.
Instead, the pact calls for studying the economic benefits and costs of
such programs and of new energy technology, with an eye to a possible
joint emissions trading program between California and Britain in the
future.
BP Chief Executive Officer John Browne hosted the meeting at its terminal
in Long Beach, with a company oil tanker looming in the background.
Blair and Schwarzenegger met privately with an array of corporate leaders,
including Virgin Group Chief Executive Richard Branson, DuPont chief
Charles O. Holliday Jr., Edison International chief John Bryson and Google
co-founder Sergey Brin. The session was organized by the Climate Group, a
London-based nonprofit organization.
At the news conference, reporters asked Blair and Schwarzenegger whether
the agreement was an attempt to sidestep the Bush administration, which
has been criticized for not acknowledging climate change more forcefully
or embracing strong measures to combat it. The Bush administration favors
voluntary emissions reductions rather than regulation.
Schwarzenegger responded that California would not wait for Washington to
act, and he called climate change "the single most important issue" faced
by the world community.
At a morning press briefing, the governor's communications director, Adam
Mendelsohn, offered a milder comment. "Just to be clear," he said, for the
press to report that the state was "bypassing the federal administration
to enter into agreements with Great Britain would be wrong."
Schwarzenegger's environmental officials said they are in "constant
contact" with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials about global
warming. But Cal-EPA secretary Linda Adams said that no draft of the
agreement had been shown to federal officials and that they had not been
consulted.
James L. Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental
Quality, did not attend Monday's meeting.
"There were some informal discussions about him attending, and he had a
prior commitment, so he couldn't make it," said Kristen Hellmer, the
council's deputy director for communications. She said the council views
Monday's agreement as "a great amplification" of what Bush and Blair
discussed at the G-8 summit last year.
Some environmental
groups praised the pact.
The agreement "sounds like good politics for all … sort of like an
international climate diplomacy by press release," said V. John White,
executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Technology in Sacramento.
White said, however, that the Schwarzenegger administration and
environmentalists still needed to agree this month on how to pass a bill
to cap greenhouse gas emissions that the governor would sign.
California business leaders guardedly praised the agreement but warned
that they don't want to see the state impose a strict limit on emissions.
The Western States Petroleum Assn., representing the state's major oil
companies, released a comment underscoring its concerns about AB32, a bill
cosponsored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) that would
set limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases given off by
industry.
By contrast, said the association's chief operating officer, Catherine
Reheis-Boyd, Monday's agreement "recognizes the importance of using
market-based mechanisms to address the challenging issues of climate
change. It acknowledges the very real risks to our economic future if we
don't move with care and deliberation."
In a statement, Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of
Commerce, applauded Schwarzenegger and Blair for their actions, including
proposals to examine the true costs of greenhouse gas regulatory programs,
adding, "Knowing what climate change policies will do to California's
economy should be a prerequisite of any statutory change…. Unfortunately,
some state policymakers continue to encourage the imposition of an
arbitrary, California-only mandatory emissions cap program."
Blair, the first sitting British prime minister to visit Los Angeles, met
with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other local leaders Monday at the
Getty Villa.
An Inconvenient Truth:
Audiences everywhere respond to An Inconvenient Truthwith spontaneous applause and standing ovations.
That’s because An
Inconvenient Truth gives voice to a crisis that impacts us
all: global warming. The facts are chilling
and galvanizing individuals.
An-Inconvenient-Truth.com is an independent site established by fans
to help promote this film in theaters and on DVD. We want
everyone to see this film and help to spread its message.
Whether you see it in the theaters or not, we hope you share it with
your friends, family, and community so that we can all
start reducing our environmental impact.
While you wait for the DVD there are simple steps you can take to
reduce your personal contribution to global warming. Our
Personal Impact Audit Checklist will walk you through your
home, room-by-room, and help you assess your energy efficiency.
Even the smallest lifestyle adjustments taken collectively can add up
to significant reductions in global warming.
There is nothing more inspiring or more effective than Americans
united behind a cause. We’re the most technologically advanced, highly
educated, and wealthiest country on the planet. As a society, we’ve
overcome tremendous challenges and done “the impossible” over and over
again.
Reversing global warming is not a political issue. It’s a
practical and realistic proposal. It’s our civic responsibility. If
we, our children, and our children’s children want to continue living
on Earth, it’s an imperative. And we have to start today.
That’s why we put together this site. There’s a wealth of information,
links, recommendations for books and movies, a blog – and of course,
the Personal Impact Audit Checklist. Just fill
in your name and email, and we’ll send you the link so you can start reducing your impact today.
We hope you join us and then take a tour of the site. Thank you!
Aloha,
James Jacobson
President
Maui Media, LLC
Maui, Hawaii
I consider myself a
modern environmentalist who lives a life of dichotomy. I am ok
with cities growing and providing for their citizens but I also
think we should preserve green space wherever we can. I am
conscious of my energy consumption but I still love a good road
trip once in awhile. And, I love modern
conveniences. I have a great microwave, I live less than a mile
from the grocery store, and I just like to have the stuff I want
when I want it. I confess that I sometimes hit a wall of choice
between my desire to conserve, recyle, and preserve the
environment and my desire for modern conveniences. So, I ask you:
how do you manage the trade-off between convenience and
conservation? Do you believe these two ideas are mutually
exclusive? What things can we do to fulfill both desires?
I ask this of you
because sometimes I feel stuck in a dilema. You see, besides being
a modern environmentalist, I am also a hard-core hedonist. I love
abundant and delicious food, beautiful art, amazing smells, ease
and flow in life, and objects of pure desire. I like wearing sexy
heels out and about and frankly, they just aren’t that comfortable
if you’re catching mass transit (and fancy dresses do not go with
tennis shoes..). It might sound vain to consider what I wear to be
any kind of a consideration, but for me it’s not about showing off
but an expression of my creative self. Do I really have to
sacrifice my creative expression to be kind to the environment? I
don’t honestly think so. I know there must be alternatives that I
am overlooking in many areas of life, so I am turning to you to
make suggestions that I (and hopefully others) can use.
These are a few
things I can tell you I do now: I subscribe to Netflicks that
gives me movies delivered to my mailbox so I don’t have to drive
to the movie shop. When I sell stuff on E-bay, I get my postal
carrier to pick it up from my doorstep instead of driving to the
Post Office. I consolidate my errand runs so that I get several
things done at one time when I go out shopping. I carpool with my
girlfriends when we go sing karaoke on Friday nights so we only
have one car driving around. I use the phone and internet as often
as I can instead of a car trip. I grocery shop just once a week
instead of going out every day. I re-use those indestructible
plastic microwave dishes for feeding my dog and use the plastic
grocery bags I get when I go to HEBs as my trash bags. I have a
low-water use xeriscape garden. I am always on the look-out
for ways to enjoy modern conveniences yet still apply conservation
to my lifestyle.
This is just as
short list so I am inviting you to add to it. What do you do to
overcome the trade-off between enjoying modern conveniences and
conserving the precious resources we have here on Earth to share?
How do we achieve both a state of self enjoyment and convenience
and also do our part as conscious world citizens? I look forward
to hearing what you have to say and until next time, thanks for
reading.
#4 on this list
is about addressing climate change as it affects the Inuit
people in the Arctic. Climate change for this community is
really a Human Rights issue, as their way of life is being
decimated as global warming is changing their environment - ice
melting, changing weather patterns, etc. They have filed a
petition with an International Court to get the US to curb
greenhouse gas emmisions, demanding that the US respect their
right to life, health, culture.
While those of us
closer to the equator feel the effects of global warming via
stonger weather patters/storms, the Inuit are the first people
experiencing the disastrous effects of climate change on a
day-to-day basis.
'An
Inconvenient Truth':
Here Comes the Sun
Trailer Audio may play automatically in duplicate . Sorry I
am not sure how to fix it. Brian
by Patricia Chui
What It's About
When some politicians retire, they play golf. Well, former Veep
Al Gore
must have a miserable chip shot, because he's spent the years since his
failed presidential bid lecturing tirelessly and articulately about global
warming and its dire consequences. This documentary, a more elaborate
version of Gore's presentation, uses video footage, charts, statistics,
personal narrative and even cartoons to convey the alarmingly rapid rate at
which rising temperatures are changing the face of the Earth -- and not in a
good way.
Why You Should See It Energy
issues are hot: Soaring gas prices have sent lawmakers scrambling to lessen
our dependence on oil. But as Gore shows in his ardent call to arms, quick
fixes are no solution to the potentially catastrophic dangers posed by
carbon-dioxide emissions. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to come away
from
'An Inconvenient Truth' convinced that we can no longer afford to bury
our heads in the sand -- which makes this a film that everyone who cares
about our future should see.
Breakout Star While he isn't
anyone's idea of an ingénue, Al Gore -- Mr. I Won the Popular Vote and All I
Got Was This Lousy Hanging Chad -- has seen renewed political life with the
positive buzz surrounding 'Truth.' Will he run again? Who knows? But if Gore
had been half as engaged, charming and passionate in 2000 as he is in this
doc, we'd probably have a different president today.
Unforgettable Scene If you've
seen the trailer, you can't get this phrase (and accompanying then-and-now
photos) out of your head: "Within the decade, there will be no more snows of
Kilimanjaro." It's just as sobering in the film, as are images of an
Antarctic ice shelf crashing into the ocean, boats stranded in the desert
that was once the Aral Sea, and a graphic showing the site of the World
Trade Center flooded as a result of melting ice caps.
Buzz Meter The film premiered at
January's Sundance Film Festival, where it sold out theaters and received
standing ovations. It's an early favorite to earn an Oscar nomination for
Best Documentary. Plus, activist
Laurie
David ('Curb Your Enthusiasm' star Larry's wife) has been shilling the
film everywhere she can, including promoting the website
StopGlobalWarming.org, where more than 370,000 "virtual marchers" are
registered.
Multi-national energy companies are held to
ZERO accountability when it comes to oil production/exploration. This day
in age they are more powerful and exert more influence than most
countries. That’s because $$$ buys power. So when a country like Venezuela
decides to raise their taxes from 34% to 50% on profits in an attempt to
discourage drilling, they’re not really scaring away the ExxonMobile’s or
the ShellConoco’s. Really, these multinationals have no problem shaing
their profits with the state so long as they are given access to the
wealth that lays beneath their borders.
So what is it called when state and business
interests merge together: oh wait, it’s called Fascism. Is this the new
global economy we were promised? Where are the checks and balances on this
kind of corporate perversion and dominance in the world? The answer is in
the creation of free energy systems that will displace the archaic form of
fossil fuel energy production that exists today. We need to shed light on
those courageous enough to bring these existing technologies to market
that will replace our current means of energy production that is
polluting/killing our planet.
I consider myself a modern
environmentalist who lives a life of dichotomy. I am ok with cities
growing and providing for their citizens but I also think we should
preserve green space wherever we can. I am conscious of my energy
consumption but I still love a good road trip once in awhile. And, I love modern conveniences. I have a great microwave,
I live less than a mile from the grocery store, and I just like to have
the stuff I want when I want it. I confess that I sometimes hit a wall
of choice between my desire to conserve, recyle, and preserve the
environment and my desire for modern conveniences. So, I ask you: how do
you manage the trade-off between convenience and conservation? Do you
believe these two ideas are mutually exclusive? What things can we do to
fulfill both desires?
I ask
this of you because sometimes I feel stuck in a dilema. You see, besides
being a modern environmentalist, I am also a hard-core hedonist. I love
abundant and delicious food, beautiful art, amazing smells, ease and
flow in life, and objects of pure desire. I like wearing sexy heels out
and about and frankly, they just aren’t that comfortable if you’re
catching mass transit (and fancy dresses do not go with tennis shoes..).
It might sound vain to consider what I wear to be any kind of
a consideration, but for me it’s not about showing off but an expression
of my creative self. Do I really have to sacrifice my creative
expression to be kind to the environment? I don’t honestly think so. I
know there must be alternatives that I am overlooking in many areas of
life, so I am turning to you to make suggestions that I (and hopefully
others) can use.
These are a few things I can tell you
I do now: I subscribe to Netflicks that gives me movies delivered to my
mailbox so I don’t have to drive to the movie shop. When I sell stuff on
E-bay, I get my postal carrier to pick it up from my doorstep instead of
driving to the Post Office. I consolidate my errand runs so that I get
several things done at one time when I go out shopping. I carpool with
my girlfriends when we go sing karaoke on Friday nights so we only have
one car driving around. I use the phone and internet as often as I can
instead of a car trip. I grocery shop just once a week instead of going
out every day. I re-use those indestructible plastic microwave dishes
for feeding my dog and use the plastic grocery bags I get when I go to
HEBs as my trash bags. I have a low-water use xeriscape garden. I am
always on the look-out for ways to enjoy modern conveniences yet still
apply conservation to my lifestyle.
This is just as short list so I am
inviting you to add to it. What do you do to overcome the trade-off
between enjoying modern conveniences and conserving the precious
resources we have here on Earth to share? How do we achieve both a state
of self enjoyment and convenience and also do our part as conscious
world citizens? I look forward to hearing what you have to say and until
next time, thanks for reading.
Building A Sustainable World /
Life in Balance
We here at An-Inconvenient-Truth.com have been contacted by The Royal
Institute of British Architects about a really cool competition that is
open to architects, urban planners, designers, engineers, and anyone
else interested in participating in a project to create a sustainable
community. We would like to urge anyone interested to participate, as it
is one of many ways individuals and organizations can address the issue
of global warming and take decisive action to create a peaceful and
healthy society on Earth.
For more information and registration
details, check out the following link: http://www.riba-usa.org/Competitions/index.htm
For those that enter, we would love to
hear about your experiences. Good luck and have fun!