Calif. unveils anti-global warming plan

The bill requires the state's major industries — such as utility plants, oil and gas refineries, and cement kilns — to reduce their emissions carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by an estimated 25 percent by 2020. One of the key mechanisms designed to drive the reductions is a market program that will allow businesses to buy, sell and trade emission credits with other companies.

Of course, State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth from San Diego led the Republican doomsday message by saying, "This bill is the road to economic ruin for California." Such statements show a lack of confidence in both the power of a market-based solution to climate change and in the ability of companies to excercise innovation.

Caribbean 'faces stormier future'

Latin America and the Caribbean face a greater risk of more natural disasters because of environmental degradation and climate change, campaigners warn.

Digging deeper into the bulleted breakout in the article is mention of a particularly frightening prospect: water shortages "leading to a greater risk of disputes." Though calmly worded, here, the U.S. Department of Defense has stated that climate change could very likely lead to regional instability and threaten natonal security. This is how it all begins.

Some Hybrid Vehicles Becoming Sensible Purchases

Edmunds.com latest hybrid study shows that despite higher sales prices, purchasing some — though not all — of today's hybrids can make good financial sense.

We just bought a Prius a couple of weeks ago, but before biting the bullet I was actually feeling a little resentment toward the market. Though pleased with the popularity of the Prius and the move that many drivers were making to reduce gas consumption, I doubted that I would actually reap any financial benefit. The MSRP of a base model Prius is around $23,000. In California, dealers are tacking on an additional $3,000 to take advantage of the demand and low inventory. Zap - there goes the rebate. Here, most Prius's are ordered in advance and require a $1,000 refundable deposit. If a Prius does become available on the lot, they are usually snapped up in a couple of hours. Actually getting a Prius involves patience and a bit of gamesmanship. It turns out the effort was worth it, financially. Good news, indeed, from Edmunds!

McCain heads overseas to observe global warming effects:

Arizona Sen. John McCain will visit Greenland, Turkey, Georgia, Montenegro and Italy as part of a Senate delegation headed overseas during Congress' summer break. McCain and the other Republican senators want to observe the effects of global warming while in Greenland.

Between yesterday's Zogby poll stating that most Americans, regardless of party, support government action on climate change and today's announcement that probable Republican candidate for president in 2008, John McCain, is embarking on a global warming tour, it looks like the environment may become a front and center issue in American politics. It's about time.

This is creepy. From Treehugger:

2500 people get Listeriosis each year in America; 500 die. Listeria is a type of bacteria that is common in nature and can contaminate food easily. Measures to prevent it include washing vegetables and using clean knives and cutting boards, but we know that doesn't always happen so the world needs a high-tech solution, right? Consequently for the first time the Food and Drug Administration has approved the spraying of hot dogs, sausages and luncheon meats such as sliced ham and turkey, with a cocktail of viruses. According to CNN: 'Consumers won't be aware that meat and poultry products have been treated with the spray....The viruses are grown in a preparation of the very bacteria they kill, and then purified. The FDA had concerns that the virus preparation potentially could contain toxic residues associated with the bacteria. However, testing did not reveal the presence of such residues, which in small quantities likely wouldn't cause health problems anyway, the FDA said.' The bacteriophage (bacteria eating) viruses theoretically do not attack human or plant cel.

The Organic Wine Company celebrates the remaining summer season by offering $25 off a selection of white wines called The White Wave.

'02 Limoux, Domaine Delmas

'03 Bourgogne Chardonnay, Guy Chaumont

'03 Marsanne, Domaine de Clairac

'03 Sauvignon Blanc, Richmond Plains (NZ)

'04 No Sulfites Added Muscadet, Château La Fessardière

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Poll: Americans Say Global Warming Is Linked To Extreme Heat And Hurricanes:

As Americans recover from this summer's heat wave and mark the first anniversary next week of Hurricane Katrina , an overwhelming majority say they are more convinced that global warming is happening than they were two years ago, and they are also connecting intense weather events like hurricane Katrina and heat waves to global warming, according to a new Zogby America telephone poll. The survey, sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, was conducted Aug. 11-16, and included 1,018 respondents. It carries a margin of error of /- 3.1 percentage points.

Interesting idea via Treehugger:

Browsing HowStuffWorks, we found some tips on how to put those winter snow storms to good use—and cool your house for free in the summer. We don’t know how practical this is…but an interesting concept.

Illinois Gov. Touts Clean Energy Plan:

Ethanol, biodiesel and other fuels produced in Illinois would provide half of the state's energy supply by 2017 under a $1.2 billion, 10-year initiative Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Tuesday.

From Think Progress: "Earlier this month, Peter Schweizer published a hit piece on Al Gore’s environmental habits. (Schweizer works at the Hoover Institute which has received nearly $300,000 from Exxon Mobile since 1998.) It was an obvious attempt to discredit Gore’s efforts to combat the threat of global warming. The problem was the piece was inaccurate and USA today was forced to print a correction. That didn’t stop Rich Lowry, filling in for Sean Hannity, to repeat Schweizer’s false claims on Fox after the correction was printed. Lowry also took the liberty to add some new smears."

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | San Francisco Plans Green Power Community on Former Naval Shipyard It's all about infrastructure. Here in Los Angeles, I am signed up for green power, but that only guarantees a small fraction of my energy use is green. At the Naval Shipyard, the solution is infrastructure-based, so that means it will be 100% renewable energy.

From CNET: "Dutch company Formula Zero is trying to have fun while saving the planet--it's preparing to launch a zero-emission kart-racing circuit. One of the goals of the project is to develop new and more powerful fuel cells, technology that's being touted as one route to reducing automotive air pollution. The company has developed a 'racing circus' modeled after the barnstorming flying circuses of the early days of aviation nearly a century ago. Formula Zero hopes to spread its vision for developing automobile technology that is safe for the environment."

Grist Magazine: Ask Umbra The big idea here is that commercial car washes use a 50/50 mix of water and air to increase the power of the wash and then send the gray-water to a treatment center for reuse. If you do it at home, all that soap and grease goes right into the storm drain where it pollutes the water and kills fish down stream.

Witness the top 10 8One-of-a-kind solar-powered lightings! - Ecofriend From urban street lights to solar powered flowers, this top 10 sets solar apart from the pack. Of course, these glowing flowers are not the most practical lights on the list: it also includes street lights and urban sidewalk lighting. Fun stuff!

Friedman energy plan focuses on renewable resources: "Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman rolled out his Texas energy proposal today, saying he wants to substantially boost renewable energy production. 'Texas was once the world's leading energy producer,' Friedman said in a written policy statement. 'We have the resources to be self-sufficient. We have enormous solar, wind and biofuel capabilities. What we lack is leadership.'"

From The Green Guide: "The pressure is on for kids to achieve high marks from a very early age, with college choices and future salaries hanging in the balance. But many schools are failing to prepare children on two fronts—by not providing them healthy environments in which to do their best, and by neglecting to integrate the environment into their curriculum, particularly in terms of outdoors learning and using the natural world as a teaching tool. A healthy school building is no small matter when nationwide asthma attacks result in 14 million missed school days each year and exposure to peanuts and tree nuts can prove fatal. Beyond eliminating allergens and chemical contaminants, schools need to better the conditions in which kids perform, offering more daylight (shown to boost test scores when glare and noise are eliminated), providing healthy meals, and cycling out stale air."

Biodiesel and speed: "Earthrace was docked in San Francisco as the main attraction of the Earthrace Project, a six-month, 30-city tour to promote renewable fuels that will culminate with an around-the-world speedboat race in March 2007. The wave-piercing powerboat, called a trimaran, is fueled solely by biodiesel, a so-called green energy source made from plant and animal fats. Bethune, his crew and Earthrace's sponsors hope that breaking the world powerboat record of 75 days to circumnavigate the globe will raise awareness for biodiesel as a viable alternative to oil. Biodiesel has lower emissions, a smaller environmental 'footprint' and 'less reliance on dodgy parts of the world,' Bethune said."

ZAP CEO Steven Schneider is right: People do notice you more when you drive an unusual car. The green car revolution continues.

Marine Mammal Rarely Seen So Far North Manatees are normally at home in places like Belize and Florida. They are part of the tropical eco system earthscreen helps protect. In the U.S., they are protected by the Endangered Species Act.

The good news was a decline in CFCs: But this is very bad news: "The atmosphere will take up to 15 years longer than previously expected to recover from pollution and repair its ozone hole over the southern hemisphere, the United Nations' weather organization said Friday. Thinning in the ozone layer _ due to chemical compounds leaked from refrigerators, air conditioners and other devices _ exposes the Earth to harmful solar rays. Too much ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer and destroy tiny plants at the beginning of the food chain. Scientists said Friday it would take until 2065, instead of 2050 as previously expected, for the ozone layer to recover and the hole over the Antarctic to close."

From ABCNews Online: "Vargas: A majority of scientists now believe that mankind is changing the Earth's climate to an unmistakable and potentially catastrophic degree. Do you think it possible for us to stop global warming from getting worse? Hawking: The danger is that global warming may become self-sustaining, if it has not done so already. The melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps reduces the fraction of solar energy reflected back into space, and so increases the temperature further. Climate change may kill off the Amazon and other rain forests, and so eliminate once one of the main ways in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. The rise in sea temperature may trigger the release of large quantities of carbon dioxide, trapped as hydrides on the ocean floor. Both these phenomena would increase the greenhouse effect, and so global warming further. We have to reverse global warming urgently, if we still can."

I hadn't seen this study before: 'A staggering 98 tons of prehistoric, buried plant material – that's 196,000 pounds – is required to produce each gallon of gasoline we burn in our cars, SUVs, trucks and other vehicles, according to a study conducted at the University of Utah. "Can you imagine loading 40 acres worth of wheat – stalks, roots and all – into the tank of your car or SUV every 20 miles?" asks ecologist Jeff Dukes, whose study [was published in] the journal Climatic Change. But that's how much ancient plant matter had to be buried millions of years ago and converted by pressure, heat and time into oil to produce one gallon of gas, Dukes concluded. Dukes also calculated that the amount of fossil fuel burned in a single year – 1997 was used in the study – totals 97 million billion pounds of carbon, which is equivalent to more than 400 times "all the plant matter that grows in the world in a year," including vast amounts of microscopic plant life in the oceans. "Every day, people are using the fossil fuel equivalent of all the plant matter that grows on land and in the oceans over the course of a whole year," he adds. In another calcultation, Dukes determined that "the amount of plants that went into the fossil fuels we burned since the Industrial Revolution began [in 1751] is equal to all the plants grown on Earth over 13,300 years.'

Rob Rosenheck took this picture for earthscreen members on a trip to Ecuador. I have always had a particular fondness for lizards. As a kid in the South, I spent countless after-school hours crouched in the humid, most grass flipping stones searching for these mysterious creatures. Yesterday, as I was headed out to run some errands, I spotted a tiny salamander running for cover under my car tire. I was able to coax him out to a safer hiding place with a popsicle stick. My fondness for these tiny creatures is why I find this report particularly troublesome.

A handy list indeed: "Here, from the distinguished Royal Society, is an exhaustive, point-by-point response to the 12 most commonly used arguments that deny climate change. And here are five essays by Royal Society members who are addressing everything from questions of controversy (the difficulties of extracting the effects of man-made climate change from naturally occuring fluctuations) to upleasant certainties (the earth will continue to warm even when we control emissions)."

There is an argument that biofuel and biodiesel pose a problem of great ethical concern as the crops would compete for the same resources as food production. Michigan State University and Daimler-Chrysler are partnering on research that may, at least in some locales, alleviate this concern. By growing fuel on brownfields, industrially contaminated land unfit for growing food, the ethics of food vs. fuel is a non-issue. Furthermore, by growing fuel on the contaminated land an additional benefit may be that the soil would someday be fit for growing food crops. What strikes me the strongest about this story is that a Green future must be a nimble future. Perhaps that's why 20th Century Industry is so freaked out (to the point of denial) by climate change. If the success of industry requires an 'adapt and change' methodology, it will be much harder for a few megalithic corporations to control the flow of energy and food.

Corn-based coffee cups to reduce environmental waste: "Most coffee lovers would love to have rich hot, brewing coffee with lots of sugar and thick cream. But, what if corn is added to it!? Yeah, corn. It would not make a difference to your taste for coffee, but surely a lot for the environment. The disposable coffee mugs have been chocking the landfills across the world rising concerns, created by the 39 billion disposable paper and polystyrene coffee cups, which American throw away every year! The Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and International Paper have distributed 10 million corn-based coffee cups to cafes and office kitchens across the country. The coatings of the cups are made of corn, unlike the other oil-based compound, and are easily biodegradable once discarded."

The beginning of the end: Costco Eliminating Bubble Packs, Ups Recycling Potential With MeadWestvaco’s “Natralock”: "Costco is replacing some of its plastic packaging clamshells with Natralock , a new paperboard-based product made by MeadWestvaco. Natralock combines paperboard with a much smaller plastic bubble segment. According to the promotional literature, a standard scissors will safely open a the paper segment of the package, helping to eliminate “Wrap Rage.” "

Shanghai Leading the Charge for a Greener China The Shanghai Clean Energy Research and Industry Promotion Center is the only research center in China dedicated solely to finding clean energy solutions. The secret of success is found in two phrases in the Institute's name: Clean Energy and Industry Promotion. Shanghai's badge of environmental honor lies in its use of clean coal technology: the city has virtually wiped out all sulfur dioxide emissions caused by the burning of coal. Local leaders in Shanghai realize that the research is pointless unless it aligns itself with market forces. It has to make economic sense for Industry to adopt clean practices. With this concept as a guiding principle, Shanghai is poised to remain a global leader in clean energy research and implementation.

China Seeks to Prevent Pollution Crisis: "Recognizing that breakneck economic expansion was overwhelming official goals to cut emissions and energy use, China's top environment official said the country will rigorously enforce limits on industrial pollution as it seeks to rein in rampant pollution."

Algae seems to be taking over everywhere: "Fed by nutrients including lawn fertilizer and road runoff, a noxious algae named microcystis has invaded Boston’s Charles River to a degree never seen before, presenting health hazards for both humans and animals."

Progress: "Seven Northeast states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state program to reduce harmful climate-changing emissions from power plants, released a model set of regulations to be proposed in each state to implement the first mandatory cap-and-trade program in U.S. history."

This seems to back up the MIT scientist who found the same thing last year: "James Elsner, director of the Hurricane Center at Florida State University, says he has evidence that global warming is to blame for the gathering intensity of hurricanes, in this MCNBC story."

From Treehugger: "Green Star Products, Inc. (GSPI) will build the first biodiesel plant to emit almost zero net greenhouse gases from direct plant production of biodiesel."

And it's a beautiful building: "This is the new Ballard Library in Seattle. It's a state-of-the-art green building which makes use of a sod roof, daylighting, and translucent thin-film solar collectors from Schott. It is listed in the American Institute of Architecte's top ten green buildings."

Unfortunately, it looks like most of us don't understand global warming: The good news is "The majority felt that global warming was a pretty important problem and they were concerned about it." The bad news: "The average Joe don’t know Jack about global warming. This is according to a David Suzuki commentary (here) that shows the public doesn’t understand global warming — at all. The average person is muddled on the issue and thinks that global warming is caused by a hole in the ozone layer, cars and aerosol cans — or something like that."

DSIRE is an online database where users can search by state for local rebates for installing residential solar systems. There is also info for Federal incentives. After several days of 110 - 119 degree temperatures in Woodland Hills, I'm researching going as solar as possible with my given roof space. Tied into the city grid, I could be making money hand over fist!

From It's Getting Hot in Here: "With the August 29th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina less than two weeks away, the world media are beginning to take stock of the enduring outcomes of the catastrophe. Some of the most current effects of Hurricane Katrina are written about in an article released today by the Earth Policy Institute. Particularly, it raises the idea that Katrina’s second wave of destruction is the plight of the 250,000 climate refugees who are still displaced today."

Three is all it takes for fires, floods and famine: "A 3-degree increase in the average global temperature is virtually inevitable, according to Sir David King, Tony Blair's science adviser. Three degrees may not sound like much -- until you see what the latest research from Bristol University indicates. "

This is not good, especially since I own one: "According to C/NET : - “The Treo 650 smart phone has fallen victim to the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive in Europe…Palm has been forced to stop shipping its Treo 650 smart phone in Europe, because it violates new environmental laws." The C/NET article references hexavalent chromium, which if I remember correctly was the nasty substance in Erin Brockovich.

Great to see values attracting the best "Patagonia aims to produce top-quality products while doing the least possible harm to the environment. It's a mission that attracts and holds top-notch talent." Via CommonGround.

Toiling Point: Getting a toehold on your company's climate footprint: "'What's your company's climate footprint?' It's a hot question these days -- one being asked increasingly of companies by customers, investors, activists, regulators, and others. OK, it may not be exactly that question, but it's probably in some form, like, 'What's your company doing to reduce its climate impacts?' Or, 'How do you call yourself environmentally responsible when you take so damn many plane trips?'"

gWiki is the Green Wiki: "gWiki (think quickie with a “g”) is the Green Wiki. gWiki is newly launched and a great source to both the green guru and those who are just starting out on the path of environmentalism and needing to know more. If you have an area of green expertise, gWiki invites you to join in and contribute to the growing wealth of information. Pass it on! Source: Treehugger"

Nice to see progress: "As the U.S. wind energy industry stayed on pace for another record year, Texas for the first time supplanted historic leader California as the top state in cumulative wind power capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) Second Quarter Market Report."

This is good to hear, since I used to live in Echo Park: "It’s happened, finally. Los Angeles now has its own fashion-forward eco-friendly fair trade boutique!" Update from green LA girl: Looks like this is Eagle Rock, not Echo Park. But still nice to hear.

Well, sort of: "The China Daily reported late last week that all new residential construction in the massive powerhouse city of Shenzhen must install solar powered water heating system. While we applaud this gesture to renewable energy, it is worth noting that there is an exemption for buildings over 12 storeys. For those who have been lucky enough to have visited this dynamic and vibrant city, you will quickly get my point, in that there are very few, if any, new buildings under 12 storeys!"

NASA scientists want to know "Every hurricane season, clusters of showers and thunderstorms roll off the coast of Africa and head over the Atlantic toward America. Most of these 60 or so tropical waves never do any harm. But about 10 eventually grow into tropical storms or monster hurricanes like Katrina and Andrew."

Treehugger: 6 Cents Per kWh: World's Largest Solar Project Unveiled The thing that is most newsworthy about this story is that the technology does not use photovoltaic cells. The array uses mirrors to focus the sun' energy to heat up hydrogen gas which then expands to create the power. That's a good thing considering the current shortage of photovoltaic cells.

Environmental Economics: An update on the Chicago Climate Exchange "According to the EIA, the U.S. generates almost 6000 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year. At $4 per metric ton, the cost of reducing carbon emissions by 70%, about what scientists say needs to be cut to avoid climate change problems, is $16.8 billion, about 0.14% of annual GDP."

This is a great interview with Ben Santer, a climate modeler at the U.S Department of Energy. Climate skeptics try to use all sorts of things to attack the idea that climate change is man-made. For example, "For well over a decade, climate skeptics undercut the science on climate change by citing satellite temperature records, which showed that the atmosphere was not warming. But all of this changed last August when three papers published in Science (2005, 309, 1548–1551; 1551–1556; 1556–1559) showed that the satellite data were not as accurate as people had reported. When the data were corrected for problems such as satellite drift, researchers found that the earth’s atmosphere has been heating up." Think about the reasons they attack. I can think of $100 trillion of them.

Production of synthetic fragrance compounds has doubled since the 1990s I just posted about the Pacific fish dead zone and then read this: "As noted in the research report, much of what we North Americans buy that contains synthetic fragrance goes down toilets and sinks, through sewerage systems, and into lakes and streams."

Pacific 'Dead Zone' Worse Than Thought "Fish-killing 'dead zone' along Pacific Coast worse than initially thought, scientists say."

"Five companies in Britain produce more carbon dioxide pollution together than all the motorists on UK roads combined, according to new figures which reveal heavy