An Episcopal seminary in Chelsea is struggling to cut through bureaucratic red tape in order to continue drilling tiny geothermal wells, which would heat and cool the building without fossil fuels.  The eco-smart plan would produce clean energy and reduce the seminary’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1,400 tons, but has been entangled by conflicting schedules and objectives of various governmental departments.  While the various agencies surely have valid reasons and concerns, someone should implement a streamlined process to facilitate a smoother transition to green energy.  If every organization that wants to reduce their carbon footprint faces similar costly, and time-consuming bureaucratic hurdles, many will no doubt shy away from making these important green improvements.

takepart by learning more about geothermal possibilities and encourage your elected officials to make a smooth transition to clean energy.

Related:  Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Google Investing in Geothermal

Oregon Tech Going 100% Geothermal

Photo: fdecomite’s Creative Commons Flickr Photostream

Oceana reported today that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which are absorbed by the oceans could lead to an accelerated deterioration of coral reefs.  Heightened levels of CO2 raise acidity levels in the ocean, creating an unhealthy environment for coral life, and threatens to create a domino effect on the fragile oceanic ecosystem that relies on it. Oceana explains:

The process, which is known as ocean acidification, reduces the ability of marine animals such as corals, crabs, lobsters, clams and oysters to create calcium carbonate skeletons and shells, which will likely reduce their survival rates, and their ability to mature and reproduce.

Acidification deteriorates the shells and skeletons of marine animals, and if the levels continue to rise could corrode them completely.  If this were to happen on a widespread scale, we could lose the important barrier that coral provides our shores as well as the larger marine life we depend upon for food.

The only way to decrease ocean acidification is to reduce the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases we release into the air.
takepart by helping Oceana reduce our carbon emissions.

Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Oh, because one buzzkill wasn’t enough for you today, I figured that I’d go ahead and let you know that levels of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, rose sharply last year for the first time in a decade. And the best part, the absolute clincher, is that scientists have no idea why that happened.

There is considerably less methane than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Pre-industrial concentrations of methane were about 700 parts per billion — that is, for every billion molecules of air, there were only 700 of methane — but that level rose gradually to 1773 parts per billion by the late 20th century…The rise in 2007 was about 10 parts per billion over the course of a year, a real jump for such a short period of time.

Reuters reports that though methane levels have more than doubled since pre-industrial times (so let’s call that 125 years, give or take a decade), the levels had been pretty constant for some time. And they’re pretty well stumped about this new development.

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Patagonia is taking a step beyond in informing its customers about the carbon footprint of their products. The outdoor wear manufacturer has launched The Footprint Chronicles, a new interactive web application that gives consumers a detailed, step-by-step analysis of the production processes involved in their products and the resulting environmental impact.

We learn a Patagonia Eco Rainshell Jacket, for example, is designed in Ventura, California, then the fabric manufacture is done in Matsuyama, Japan. From there the product is shipped to Hanoi, Vietnam for sewing and then gets shipped across the Pacific to Reno, Nevada for distribution in the United States. The production process involves over 14,000 miles of travel, 15 pounds of CO2 emissions, 5 ounces of wate and 18 kwh of energy consumption. The site also gives Patagonia’s impressions of the positives and negatives of the process and asks for user’s ideas on how to improve upon it.

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By Kerry Trueman

Texas is tops when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. “If Texas were a country,” NPR’s John Burnett reported on today’s Morning Edition, “it would be the seventh-largest carbon dioxide polluter in the world.”

Some Texans apparently think that Texas is its own country; the state that loves to live large is refusing to unite with the 35 other states that are taking action to fight global warming, including California, New York, and Florida. While the Republican governors of those states have launched serious initiatives to combat climate change, Texas governor Rick Perry is still making juvenile jokes about the largest source of carbon dioxide being Al Gore’s mouth.

Many of Governor Perry’s constituents share his skepticism about climate change. Carroll Smith, a Chevrolet car dealer who no doubt sells plenty of 14-mile-to-the-gallon Chevy Suburbans, told Burnett, “This is such a mega problem, and I hear some of the reports”¦that scientists disagree on, and when I hear that I’m thinking, well, gosh, I’m not a scientist, I’m just a car dealer, so how could I know more than they do?”

Well, shucks, I’m just a citizen activist, but last time I checked, the debate was over. Too bad Texas didn’t get the memo, because if the Lone Star State continues to go its own way on climate change, it’s gonna drag the rest of us down, too, gosh darnit.

by Kerry Trueman

I don’t care if I never see another Crate & Barrel catalogue in my lifetime, and thanks to a new website, catalogchoice.org, I won’t have to. It takes about 53 million trees to produce the 19 billion–yes, billion–catalogs that clog our mailboxes annually, so it’s no wonder the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ecology Center decided to join forces and start Catalog Choice, which has reportedly already spared more than 165,000 people from some 1.7 million catalogs since it launched on October 9th. Of course, there are some catalogs we’re glad to get and can’t wait to leaf through. I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the spring catalog from Musser Forests. Can’t wait to order some new trees.