LA is the city people love to hate. I am no different from the crowd. But today, I love LA. While reporting on the Grist item about Arbor Day and the lack of trees in urban centers, I went to my local power company website and found a program, Trees for a Green LA, that offers 5 free shade trees to any Department of Water and Power customer. The program requires me to take a 20 minute online course on how to plant and care for the trees, and after I complete a site plan, the DWP will deliver 5 trees to my home. Happy Arbor Day, my fellow Angelinos. If you are reading this in another city and know of a similar program local to you, please leave a comment in this message thread and we can get the word out together.

Earth Day is now celebrated on what used to be Arbor Day and that change has, in some respects, thrown some shade on the annual tree planting holiday. As today, Friday, is Arbor Day, I would like to give A-Day its props by linking to a story from Grist Magazine's Daily Grist: "Have You Hugged Your Tree Today? On Arbor Day, appreciate the trees Urban forest cover in many U.S. cities has declined about 30 percent over the past 10 to 15 years, according to the green group American Forests, and that's just not cool. Literally: loss of trees means loss of shade, more AC, and higher energy costs. On Arbor Day (you remember that today's Arbor Day, right?), it's worth remembering the many benefits trees provide. Urban trees reduce pollution and prevent storm water runoff. They boost surrounding property values by up to 25 percent. One study showed that hospital patients who can see trees from their windows stay an average of 8 percent fewer days. The city of Boulder, Colo., calculated that it got a $3.67 return on every dollar spent on urban forest. The lesson can't be learned fast enough: U.S. Forest Service data indicates that, in the U.S., an area the size of Montana will shift from forest to development in the next 50 years. So everyone: get planting!"

From: The AP "House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., center, gets out of a Hydrogen Alternative Fueled automobile, left, as he prepares to board his SUV, which uses gasoline, after holding a news conference at a local gas station in Washington, Thursday, April 27, 2006 to discuss the recent rise in gas prices. Hastert and other members of Congress drove off in the Hydrogen-Fueled cars only to switch to their official cars to drive back the few block back to the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)" Ah, yes. As long as we look like we're doing something for the environment, everything will be ok.

We save and protect things we love - things we have an affinity for. Rob Rosenheck took this photograph for earthscreen, and it is one of my favorites. Its a Hibiscus found in the Ecuadoran rainforest. Not only is it a beautiful flower, but it has many practical uses. It is eaten as a vegetable or in jams or as a tea. In Mexico it is made into the Jamaica Drink. Medicinally, it is used to prevent constipation, bladder infections, nausea, and high blood pressure. One species of Hibiscus is used to make paper, while another is used to make grass skirts in Polynesia. Love the flower, save the flower. It will love you back.

Last year, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) made news when seven states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Delaware banded together to cap carbon emissions in their states through a cap-and-trade program. Shortly thereafter, three more states, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, joined as limited partners. Today, the Associated Press reports that ten states, some of which are members of the RGGI, are suing the EPA to force a cap on greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Those states are New York, California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin. It is certainly not news that the US is not a party to the Kyoto Protocol, but these two actions by groups of individual states may well prove the strength of a Republic. If regional action succeeds, inaction on climate change may die the death of 1000 cuts.

In 1966 scientists begin to investigate the historical climate of the earth, as well as historical levels of carbon dioxide, by drilling ice cores in Greenland and in Antarctica. Information trapped in successive layers of ice provides the answers scientists have been seeking. In between the layers are tiny bubbles of atmosphere which are analyzed for specific content of greenhouse gases. Based on this information, paleoclimatologists plot the change in the earth’s climate for the last 400,000 years. The data the ice cores yield is shocking in its specificity. They show cyclical changes in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere over time. These changes are constant and predictable for most of the historical period studied. At one point in the record, however, the cyclical data come to an abrupt end and a steady, ever increasing level of carbon dioxide concentration builds in a predictable curve. That point of change: 1750 - The beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

My friends David and Lisa have a toddler who plays with nothing but toy cars. He has dozens, if not a hundred different models. At the ripe age of two, he knows the make and model of each of his prized vroom-vrooms (the child would scoff at my infantile nomenclature). The best thing about his hobby is that he likes to keep them all lined up, neat, and orderly. When he finishes playing, he dutifully puts each car in it proper place. Vivavi has a piece of sustainable, non-toxic furniture that I'm sure my young friend would love: The Fuji Toy Box.

Mat Kujak took this picture for earthscreen when he visited Belize last year. This one of the places the winner of the eco adventure to Belize will be able to visit. Somewhere in these waters lurks a herd of Manatees.

I love my job. I get to learn all kinds of great stuff. A case in point: I have heard of vegan wine, but I just assumed it meant that the vintner picked all of the bugs out of the grapes before pressing the wine. Not so! On the Organic Wine Company website, I found out that animal products are used to clarify wine. Expensive wines use egg whites (as do I when clarifying a broth or stock) and the cheaper wines use gelatin, which is derived from bones and hooves (I'm not vegan, but I do think gelatin is gross). If you want your wine but not the eggs and bones, try the 2002 Merlot, Domaine de Savignac from the OWC. Its certified Vegan.

Visiting the melting South Pole has brought religion to many CEOs and Republican politicians who are now prepared to break with Bush on the carbon cap issue. Bloomberg News reported: "Now, I think we should be concerned,'' says Inglis, who heads the U.S. House Science Research subcommittee. ``There are more and more Republicans willing to stop laughing at climate change who are ready to get serious about reclaiming their heritage as conservationists." "Two years ago, we weren't talking about it; it's a dramatic change," John Krenicki, head of Atlanta-based GE Energy, a unit of Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric, said in an interview. He predicts that a greenhouse gas limit will be in place in less than five years." Though this indicates positive movement in the right direction, I lament the possiblility that this may take five years to bring enough Republicans on board. Many scientists believe we will be beyond the point of no return in 10 years if carbon emissions are not level by that point. My biggest concern is that the GOP will continue to play with the numbers and the science the same way they play word games with the budget (no increase in spending equals a decrease in spending). Still, its a start. (The David Suzuki Foundation has great information on "Global Meltdown")

Treehugger has an older item from last fall, an "Eat Local challenge." I am dredging up this challenge because of an outrage I experienced recently. I live in California and we have Garlic Festivals up and down the coast every year. There are even several restaurants in LA that are "garlic restaurants." The Stinking Rose on La Cienega is one example. All of this is to say that we grow and eat tons of garlic in California. I went to the grocery store to buy garlic for a crown roast of lamb and found that my only option was a 5-pack of garlic grown in China! I am still flummoxed by this. How much energy it must take to ship one dollar's worth garlic thousands of miles from China to LA is a mystery to me. In following the Treehugger story, I found a website for an organization called Local Harvest. There, you can search for places to buy local food and produce by entering your zip code. Its a great resource that I highly recommend.

It is hard to convince people that they need to take personal action now to stop global warming. It is much easier to get people involved with local environmental problems like pollution because those problems can be felt daily. But it looks like that might be changing. CNN is reporting that "the record Atlantic hurricane season last year can be attributed to global warming, several top experts, including a leading U.S. government storm researcher, said on Monday." If this doesn't convince people that the problem is here now, I am not sure what will.

Last year, Mongabay.com reported that a tree with a compound found to inhibit HIV, Calanolide A, was almost lost to science. The plant was initially collected by pharma botanists from the National Cancer Institute in 1987. When scientists discovered that the compound could be used to fight HIV, they returned to Borneo to find that none of the trees remained. Scientists eventually found the tree had been collected by the Singapore Botanic Garden and the research was able to proceed. Calanolide A is currently in animal and in-vitro studies and the results are promising. In Malaysia, in the 1960s, 73 per cent of its total land area (24 million hectares) was forested. By the 1990s, it had already dropped to 58 per cent (19 million ha).* *figures from the New Sunday Times, Malaysia

I just found out from my vet that my dog, Jasper, has developed seasonal allergies! I had no clue that was possible. Just like people, dogs can develop allergies as they age. I'm going to check out the Allergy Machine from Green Nest.

Earth Day is considered to have two founders. It was originally conceived by Fred Dutton, who was involved in every Democratic presidential run between 1960 and 1972. He was Special Assistant to President Kennedy and managed the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. The other founder is Senator Gaylord Nelson, who did most of the heavy political lifting. Nelson saw the success of the "teach-ins" - the organized demonstrations which protested the Vietnam War - and thought that the same energy could be turned to helping the environment. Not coincidentally, Earth Day falls between Spring Break and final exams for college students. This made it possible to mobilize university students for the effort. Millions of people participated in the first Earth Day all across the US. Within three years of the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was created. The Clean Air Act and laws to protect drinking water and the ocean can also be tied back to the environmental awareness created by the first Earth Day. In 1971, Senator Nelson proclaimed the third week in April to be Earth Week. John McConnell, however, is the founder of International Earth Day. McConnell wrote the Earth Day Proclamation for the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco in 1969. The Secretary General of the United Nations, U. Thant, picked up on the Proclamation and created International Earth Day which is celebrated at the March Equinox - around March 20th.

I hate knickknacks, but my partner doesn't. I would rather keep sentimentals in a box in the garage rather than have them cluttering up my house. But here's something from Vivavi that may solve my domestic dispute. I love these shelves. Its a trade off. He'll get (some of) his knickknacks upgraded from storage to house display, and I'll get extra shelf space for my books.

Due to international action in banning CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons), the hole in the Ozone layer of the stratosphere is shrinking. Though the problem is not completely resolved (it will take another 50 years to completely close) the effort to join together in planetary action is paying off. See what we can do? Look here for a scientific discussion and lesson plan from The National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Grist Magazine marks Earth Day with it's list of " the year's goodies, oddities, and inanities. These are my favorites: Most improbable movie star: Al Gore (I saw the live, "road show" version of the Al Gore film - his oft written about speaking tour - at the UN World Environment Day 2005 and it was fantastic. Does the fact that I'm looking forward to this film as if it were Star Wars Episode 99 make me a geek?) Press announcement most likely to be accompanied by music of angelic choir: Evangelical Climate Initiative Best new book on climate change: Field Notes From a Catastrophe Global-warming critter crisis most likely to make us sob (tie): starving polar bear; drowning baby walrus

Use your earthscreen rewards to save on these beautiful spring blooms. earthscreen members receive up to 10% off organic flower delivery from Organic Bouquet. Order now for your weekend dinner party.

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency's review of US greenhouse gas emissions reported that Carbon Dioxide emissions are on the rise in the United States. A staff writer at the Environmental News Service (ENS) reports: "U.S. greenhouse gas emissions during 2004 increased by 1.7 percent from the previous year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which released the figures Monday. This was the largest annual amount ever produced by any country on record, said The Royal Society, the UK national academy of science, warning that urgent action is needed to curb emissions." The Environmental News Service goes on to quote EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson as saying: "Even with a dramatic increase in economic activity, the U.S. is making significant progress toward the President's greenhouse gas reduction goals by working with our partners to reduce their climate footprints in cost-effective ways, both at home and abroad." What strikes me about Johnson's statement is the phrase "our partners." Of course, "our partners" are the big polluters whose lobbying efforts directly contravene the interests of cleaning up the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is no surprise that the EPA is not working with “our representatives” or “our enforcement agencies” to reduce emissions. Click here to read "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2004" in its entirety.

Artist Rob Rosenheck photographed this tiny Green Spotted Tree Frog when earthscreen sent him to the Choco Raiforest in Ecuador. earthscreen members can see this and other photos of vanishing rainforest treasures in their Meaningful Media photo delivery application, automatically every day.

Did you know? The science of climate change dates back to the end of the 18th Century, shortly after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Horace Benedict de Saussure, a Swiss physicist and botanist, created a model of the atmosphere by building a single cube containing successively smaller glass boxes, each with its own thermometer. He found that heat was trapped in each of the boxes at varying degrees. He suggested the atmosphere had the same properties. Sassure was also an early solar energy pioneer. His "Hot Box" created for a different experiment, was the prototype for early solar collectors in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. These solar collectors were used to heat water, provide heat for homes and provide energy for running small machines. You can learn more about Saussure at Wikipedia.

Boy, do I hate junk mail. Our friends at Ideal Bite, who have an online tip library, feel the same way and also have a solution that, they say, reduced their junk mail by 75% in three months. Ideal Biters Jennifer Boulden and Heather Stephenson used an online service of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) which you can access, here. If you don't know Ideal Bite, I highly recommend signing up for their daily email called The Ideal Bite. They offer useful advice for sustainable living. They also write a blog with a very personal and wonderfully irreverent tone. Jennifer and Heather also appear in this month's Green Issue of Vanity Fair with other "E-gitators," which you can also read about at Grist Magazine. (photo credit: Mark Seliger, exclusively for Vanity Fair.)

According to NASA, 2005 was the hottest year on record. The next four hottest years were, in descending order, 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004. This is based on the historical record of temperature measurements. Deborah Zabarenko of Reuters reported: Drew Shindell of the NASA institute in New York City says, "Its fair to say that it probably is the warmest since we have modern meteorological records." He goes on to say, "Using indirect measurements that go back farther, I think it is even fair to say that it's the warmest in the last several thousands years."

Since 1972 the Ginoulhac family has been making organic wine on their St Chinian property, Chateau Boursquette, in the South of France. At that time, brother and sister Michael and Veronique convinced their Grandfather that the family should make organic wine. Today, Michael Ginoulhac and Veronique Raskin still run the company from San Francisco, importing not only their family farm, but also organic wines from around the world, from California to New Zealand and from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and France, in Europe - and all from small, family, organic farms and wineries. All of The Organic Wine Company wines are made from certified organically grown grapes and are free of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers and other synthetic chemicals, and essential natural preservatives like sulfur dioxide are kept to a minimum. This week, use your earthscreen rewards to save on the 2001 Merlot Domaine de Bajac. This is a perfect Spring wine with soft tannins (smooth on the palate) with a hint of Blackberry aroma. Wednesday is Organic Wine Company day at earthscreen so that you have fair warning to order for the weekend. A Votre Sante!

Now that its spring, its time to celebrate all of those who are welcoming new babies to the world by highlighting GreenNest.com's Healthy Nursery Discount Package. The Healthy Nursery Discount Package includes an air purifier - the Baby's Breath Allergy Machine, a bath water filter called the Bath Ball, non-toxic house cleaner, and a book to teach children about a healthy home: My Body My House by Lisa Beres. GreenNest bundles these products together which saves about $40 off the total. Use your earthscreen rewards to save even more, up to 10%.

earthscreen members get gorgeous photos automatically downloaded to their PC or Mac every day. We call this meaningful media. This photo of a Hibiscus was shot by our friend and media artist Nate Pagel. Nate traveled to El Salvador to capture the beauty of the rainforest for earthscreen members.

From the University of California, San Diego: "Today the amount of carbon dumped globally into the atmosphere corresponds, on average, to one ton per person on the planet, each year. In the United States, carbon-based energy is especially important. The average American per capita emission is 5 tons of carbon annually."

earthscreen partner, Carbonfund.org is featured in the April 3rd issue of Time Magazine. In the article titled: "How to Seize the Initiative," Carbonfund's Co-Founder Eric Carlson says: [Carbonfund.org's] ultimate aim "is to channel what support it gets into driving down the cost of clean energy--and, along the way, increase awareness of climate change." The article focuses on ways individuals can make a difference regardless of the US position on the Kyoto Protocol. earthscreen chose to partner with Carbonfund.org because we share similar goals. This partnership takes care of half of the earthscreen mission: to do good while doing well (the "doing good" part). Cheers to Eric and the Carbonfund team!

earthscreen rewards partner, Vivavi, sells a really cool CPU Skateboard by Offi. It is made out of resource efficient molded ply construction and uses all non-toxic adhesives. Now, you may be asking, "Why does my computer need a skateboard?" Keeping your computer off the floor keeps dust out which leads to a longer product life and better performance. Also, the wheels make accessing the ports for peripherals super easy. Log in to earthscreen and click "my rewards" to receive up to 10% off this and other great sustainable products.

According to The Face Foundation, a Dutch climate organization that focuses on reforestation: "Every year a huge amount of carbon or C – estimated at 125 gigatonnes – is exchanged between vegetation, the soil and the atmosphere. Forests account for a massive 80% of this exchange, but because the equilibrium between emission and uptake has been disrupted, deforestation has to date accounted for about 20-25% of the enhanced greenhouse effect."

Two articles today highlight the expanding universe of off-grid alternative energy users. What struck me about both articles is the fact that people are opting to go off-grid for myriad reasons: economics, fear of terrorism, rising oil prices, fear of a worldwide depression, conscience and personal independence. Going off the grid is no longer the exclusive domain of hippies looking to stick it to The Man. The USA Today article, "Off the grid or on, solar and wind power gain" focuses on rural Americans and the increasing demand for alternative energy: "Amid soaring electricity prices, the renewable energy industry is increasingly being driven by families such as the Doucettes who choose to be off the grid for environmental or political reasons and by a much faster-rising number of Americans adding solar and wind systems to grid-connected houses. " In the San Francisco Chronicle article "VENTURING OFF THE GRID Innovative families save money, gain power with solar, propane, other energy sources," Daniel King writes: "Now, members of a Yahoo chat-group called Off-Grid Living and Homesteading trade dozens of e-mails daily. One post last month, by newcomer Willow Polson, said she is "seriously looking at getting our 20-acre homestead off the grid" and becoming "as self-sufficient as possible. (We believe strongly that because of peak oil and other factors, a depression is coming very soon.)"" Together, these articles show that while not quite a populist movement, the move to alternative energy is being considered and implemented by American's of all stripes.

From LiveScience.com: "Using several models that project habitat changes, migration capabilities of various species, and related extinctions in 25 "hotspots," scientists predict that a quarter of the world's plant and vertebrate animal species would face extinction by 2050. A report detailing the projections was released today. Biodiversity hotspots are some of the richest and most threatened biological pools on Earth. They contain 44 percent of plant and 35 percent of the Earth's vertebrate species on only 1.4 percent of the Earth's land. Each hotspot contains its own set of unique species. "Climate change is rapidly becoming the most serious threats to the planet's biodiversity," said Jay Malcolm, an assistant forestry professor at the University of Toronto. "This study provides even stronger scientific evidence that global warming will result in catastrophic species loss across the planet.""

Via Inhabitat: "The site of the Big Dig was a literal graveyard of materials, and the city was running out of land to store them. The Big Dig house is akin to a prefab system, made from a kit of precomposed parts. A large chunk of recycled steel became the beams and columns which frame the house. The frame and stained concrete floors were completed in just four days."

The eco / auto rumor mill is in full swing with news that Toyota engineers are working on a version of the Prius that will get 93 - 113 miles per gallon. Citings can be found at GroovyGreen.com, AutoExpress.co.UK, and at Treehugger.com. Now, I'm not one to gossip, but this is great news indeed. This ditty caught my attention because about six months ago, I went to see L. Hunter Lovins (Natural Capitalism) speak about the need for consumers to demand environmentally sound products. Lovins emphasized that we would not get to 100 miles per gallon unless consumers demanded cars that achieved that rating or higher. She implored all of us to go the local car dealer and ask, "Show me every car on the lot that gets 100 miles a gallon" and then to walk away from the sale when the dealer couldn't fulfill the request. With 100MPG on the horizon, its time to demand 200MPG.

CNET has a great video from NASA that explains how earth's ice sheets & glaciers are shrinking. "Using the latest satellite data NASA produced 'A Tour of the Cryosphere: Earth's Frozen Assets.' This is a dramatic and colorful look at our planet from high above, and the changes that are taking place." The soundtrack reminds me of the videos I used to see at the Air & Space museum when I was a kid, but the 3D graphics and fly-overs are very cool.

From the Guardian: "A handful of the world's largest food companies and commodity traders, including McDonald's in the UK, are driving illegal and rapid destruction of the Amazon rainforest, according to a six-year investigation of the Brazilian soya bean industry.

"The report, published today, follows a 7,000km chain that starts with the clearing of virgin forest by farmers and leads directly to Chicken McNuggets being sold in British and European fast food restaurants. It also alleges that much of the soya animal feed arriving in the UK from Brazil is a product of "forest crime" and that McDonald's and British supermarkets have turned a blind eye to the destruction of the forest."

Today, Editor and Publisher reports, "A Gallup poll released today shows that nearly half of all Americans have cut back "significantly" on their driving due to high gas prices--and in a surprise, 57% say they will consider buying a hybrid car when replacing their current vehicle." Though the decision by those polled cited economic rather than environmental factors, the end result is the same: Hybrid cars are quickly moving into the mainstream.

Better Energy Systems has come out with the Solio®, a stylish solar charger for iPods, mobile phones, and lots of other personal electronic devices. Apart from the environmental benefits, I am looking forward to getting one of these to reduce my travel clutter: the last time I traveled, the octopus of chargers was daunting. The Solio® is one charger with several charging tips. And its great looking, too.

The movie trailer is up.

Thomas Kostigen of Dow Jones's MarketWatch writes a terrific article today titled, "Sirocco of change. Commentary: Climate worry has business thinking green” His article sums up the top environmental stories of the past couple of weeks, from politics to Wal*Mart's pledge to go green. He concludes his piece with this: "What can't be ignored is the effect climate change is having on the economy. It will spawn a lot more products than the moon program's Tang. And it will hopefully redirect the reckless consumption of the earth's resources." That Dow Jones is hip to a sustainable green economy is great news.

Our meaningful media is a collection of images from the forests that we help protect. earthscreen members get new photos every day automatically in full resolution. We will post weekly photos in the blog. Enjoy!

It is always great to hear about the discovery of new species. It emphasizes the need to protect forests not just to combat global warming, but also to save the undiscovered friends we have yet to meet. "The island of Camiguin, created by seven volcanoes (one is still active) is only 265 square kilometers (102 square miles) in size. This island is the smallest of the Philippine island group that is known to support endemic vertebrate species. There are approximately 7,000 islands in the Philippines. Camiguin has always been isolated from its neighbors, even when sea levels dropped 120 meters (130 yards) below current levels in the Pleistocene. This isolation allowed speciation to occur undisturbed. But this island ecosystem and its inhabitants are in grave danger from deforestation, the researchers warned in their paper."

From the NY Times: "Many of the shoppers who happen into Leber Jeweler's modest brick storefront in Western Springs, Ill., just outside Chicago, don't know much, if anything, about the social and environmental costs of industrial gold mining. "Brian Leber, the president and owner of the 85-year-old company, is happy to enlighten. He can then quietly suggest a piece of jewelry that makes the concerns about mining moot: his Earthwise Jewelry line, which Leber manufactures using recycled gold.

"'I try not to pontificate,' Mr. Leber said. 'But I do try to educate people on the issues.'

"In the last few years, as the outsize environmental impact of gold mining has been exposed, jewelers — as the retail face of the industry — have been trying to inoculate themselves against a consumer backlash. It is not here yet, but many people say it is sure to come.

"In February eight jewelry companies — some small like Leber, others giant like Zale, the nation's second largest gold retailer after Wal-Mart — signed on to a national campaign called 'No Dirty Gold.' The campaign was created two years ago by a coalition of advocacy groups to highlight the issues surrounding gold and gold mining."

The Alliance to Save Energy posts a comprehensive list of all of the available tax credits for energy savers. The credit for buying a hybrid car, for example, can knock as much as $3150 off of your income taxes. But hurry, because once 60,000 people claim the hybrid credit, the amount available begins to decline. This credit is available for cars put into service in 2006. Credits are also available for those who have upgraded their home insulation, purchased an energy efficient air conditioning system, or installed double glazed windows.