California’s Governor Schwarzenegger has gone commando in leading the fight against climate change on a global level by signing an international pact to cut greenhouse emmisions.  Hopefully he won’t be the last hero to take action againt climate change, and that other states, provinces and countries will join the growing group.  Refusing to be a barbarian when it comes to pollution, Schwarzenegger intends to lay down the law by developing strategies to target high polluting industries.

The Los Angeles Times recalls:

“California is a little spot on the globe, but the influence we have on the rest of the world is enormous,” Schwarzenegger told the conference, touting the “green jobs” that the state would produce from solar and other clean-technology energy.

California has already taken the lead in the U.S. by developing higher renewable energy standards, efficiency incentives and stricter car emission controls.  Now the state has the opportunity show the attendees of next month’s climate talks in Poland, that our country is ready to assume a leadership position on climate change, which the outgoing administration avoided with dire costs.

takepart by putting some more muscle behind California’s efforts to combat climate change.

Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Millions of acres of pine forest from British Columbia down to New Mexico have been decimated by the tiny bark beetle, in what is considered the largest insect infestation in North American history.  And the devastating losses show no sign of slowing down, as the dying trees severely disrupt forest ecosystems, and increase risks of fires and mudslides.  Some argue that new construction in certain areas have contributed to the spread while foresters explained to the New York Times that:

Because fires have been suppressed for so long, all forests are roughly the same age, and the trees are big enough to be susceptible to beetles. A decade of drought has weakened the trees. And hard winters have softened, which allows the beetles to flourish and expand their range.

While some organizations are finding clever ways to utilize the fallen trees, the catastrophic losses are too overwhelming to balance out.  It’s frightening to consider what other destructive insects could join the ranks of the Bark Beetle, if conditions associated with climate change continue unabated.

takepart by learning how we address the problems of climate change and hopefully discourage the spread of invaders like the Bark Beetle.

Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Photo: Anne Sherwood for The New York Times

Seeking to find long-term solutions to the global climate crisis, The Financial Times has launched the Climate Change Challenge.  The contest, co-sponsored by Hewlett Packard and Forum for the Future, offers a $75,000 prize to the most innovative business idea that will help reduce carbon emissions and offer sustainable strategies for the future.  I’ve always believed that financial incentive will be the true motivator for industries to improve their ecological impact, and projects like these will help spur businesses into action.  Industry leaders need to step up to the plate and reduce their carbon-footprint drastically, because it will require large-scale priority shifts to improve our climate outlook.  While individual efforts to combat climate change are important, there are only so many compact-fluorescent bulbs I can install.

Got a bright idea for the Climate Change Challenge? takepart by entering the contest or learn more about what you can do to help solve the climate crisis.

“Cap and trade” emissions programs have always struck a dubious note for me, and yesterday’s “Cashing in on Carbon” conference in London further reinforced my suspicions.   I’m all for polluters limiting their greenhouse gas output, and I have always argued that major environmental improvements for industries will come from economic incentives, but carbon trading seems like the old bait-and-switch deception long practiced by industry hucksters.   Sure they have to limit their emissions to a degree, but then they can buy up carbon credits all over they place, appearing to their shareholders and the public as environmental stewards, when in fact, they are continuing to spew huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.   And now we have industry leaders huddled in dark rooms scheming to make the most money from this shell game.

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This hurricane season brought an above average number of storms, and Mexico, with storms on both coasts, can attest that it ain’t over yet.   Tropical Storm Marco, approaching hurricane strength, touched down in the east, forcing evacuations of schools and oil platforms near Veracruz.   Fortunately, no major damage has been reported yet.   And in the west, Hurricane Norbert moves northeast growing in strength, and is expected to touchdown around the Baja Peninsula around Saturday.

takepart with Wecansolveit.org and see what can be done about climate change.

Related:

Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Photo: Washington Post

It seems all is not lost for Geochelone elephantopus, an extinct Galapagos tortoise that scientists plan to re-create by crossbreeding its descendants. While studying the subtle differences that had evolved between tortoises on the various islands, Charles Darwin also noticed that whaling ships were depleting the populations. At least 250, 000 tortoises were killed and eaten by whalers over the years, and sadly the practice continues even today. However, some whaling boats may have jettisoned surplus animals, leaving the now-extinct species to mix with other similar species.
A team of Yale scientists plans to identify these possible descendents that carry the unique elephantopus gene. Then using marker-assisted selection they will cross-breed the tortoises to re-create the extinct species. Appropriately enough, the project will likely take at least a century before showing clear results, as these tortoises take about 25 years to produce a new generation.

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This week U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan overturned a Bush administration-supported proposal to allow up to 540 snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park each winter day. The plan would have allowed licenses for more than twice as many vehicles than previous years and would have further contributed to the air and noise pollution caused by the current snowmobile usage. The judge ruled in favor of six conservation groups, and argued that the increase would run contrary to the mission of National Park Service’s Organic Act of 1916:
“… to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

takepart in protecting our oldest national park by joining the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

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On a promising note, polar scientists report that the annual summer retreat of sea ice is markedly less than the previous summer. And while seafarers celebrated the brief opening of the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route, the remaining Arctic Ice this summer was still 33% less than the average amount tracked since 1979, and continues the trend towards an ice-free Arctic.

takepart and keep track of the Arctic Ice with the National Snow and Ice Data Center

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The NY Times profiled the Mohonk Mountain House yesterday and it appears that this 19th-century resort, is home to National Weather Service’s cooperative station. For the last 112 years, the temperature and weather conditions have been diligently recorded,  in the same place, in the exact same way and only by 5 people since the stations first reading in Jan. 1 1896. Since the precise site of the station has never changed, nor has anything been built around it,  this is one of the most reliable and accurate locations to monitor the weather. And NT Times explains that the  “extremely limited number of observers greatly enhances the reliability, and therefore the value, of the data. Other weather stations have operated longer, but few match Mohonk’s consistency and reliability.

And the findings:

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Suddenly energy is sexy. From hybrid cars to wind farms to offshore drilling, activists from across the political spectrum are raising their voices to champion their own solutions to a complicated crisis. It is a perfect storm of issues and ideologies, as left-leaning environmentalists seek to curb human-driven global warming, and right-leaning security hawks strive to achieve energy independence.

This is an opportunity for me, I thought, to write in support of one of my favorite issues, a carbon tax as an economically efficient way to lower greenhouse emissions, spur investment in alternative energy, and reduce dependence on foreign oil. And, what’s more, its net impact on ordinary Americans can be minimized by returning tax revenue to citizens in the form of a dividend, offset of other taxes, or something similar.

But when you get right down to it, the resurgent interest in energy isn’t about green technology or national security, is it? It’s about high gas prices. Policy wonks on the right and the left may be happy that there’s now popular support for their issues, but mainstream Democratic support for investment in clean technology and mainstream Republican support for unfettered exploration have more to do with the impact on individuals’ wallets than with loftier notions of climate change or energy security.

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