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 against 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

It wasn’t all that long ago that I was in Southern California living in the realtively safe eye of the fires that ravaged San Diego, so I can imagine the angst that is gripping Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties this morning as fires rip through the region, again, causing extensive damage.  The Los Angeles Times has video and a full report.

Though it looks as though progress is being made as of this morning, the damage already done, of course, is tragic.  There are, as per usual, multiple fires raging.

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Tomorrow, people around the world and in every U.S. state will Join the Impact to protest the passing of California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage. Such an enormous public outcry will hopefully send a clear message to opponents of gay marriage that this issue is not going away.

As a follow up, LA Times writer, Joel Stein has proposed No Gays For A Day, a boycott in which the LGBT community stays home from work to show how everyone is effected when one group is denied their rights.

takepart by signing the Courage Campaign’s pledge to repeal Prop 8.

What a treat to wake up to see a trailer for The Soloist!

My first impression is that is looks beautiful, but I’m not surprised, director Joe Wright’s first two films (Pride and Prejudice and Atonement) were both gorgeous.  Downey Jr. and Foxx both looks great as well. What excites me most however, is that this is a story about what it takes to help someone, to help someone who doesn’t want to or can’t be helped due to larger issues.  This is not uncommon and is something that needs to be seen more often.

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Music is a powerful way to communicate - with the world and with ones self. It seems a park in Vancouver understands this as they have adopted a program that lends out instruments to the homeless people that spend time in their park. The program is run by community workers and takes place in Oppenheimer Park. They’ve got a piano and a guitar, both donations, and a few others that also came from a money donation but they’d like to increase their offerings - but need more money to do it.

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I decided not to write about this before the Fourth of July as to not be a buzzkill, but now that the festivities are over I’d like to point you in the direction of this article from the Los Angeles Times that discusses how awful for the environment fireworks are. Turns out the answer is “really bad.” In fact,

Throughout the Los Angeles region, concentrations of fine particles, or carbon soot, skyrocket for up to 24 hours after the Independence Day shows, reaching levels as high as those from wildfires…

Also, traces of poisonous metals, which give fireworks their bright colors, and perchlorate, a hormone-altering substance used as an oxidizer, trickle to the ground, contaminating waterways.

One Environmental Protection Agency study found that perchlorate levels in an Oklahoma lake rose 1,000-fold after a fireworks display, and they stayed high in some areas for up to 80 days.

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