Environment

Sea Levels Are Rising: It's Time to Decide Which Coastal Cities Are Worth Saving
By Scott Thill | AlterNet

Since April Fool's Day expired, there has been nothing but bad news about Earth's various ice shelves circulating through the news. Antarctica's Wordie and Larsen ice shelves? The first is simply gone, and the second is disappearing fast. How about the Connecticut-sized Wilkins shelf? It has fragmented into polar pieces after the ice tether holding it to the Antarctic peninsula snapped this week, signaling that the Earth is undergoing some profound changes. 

So what do melting ice shelves a world away have to do with the rest of us? That is where the fools come in.

"This continued and often-significant glacier retreat is a wakeup call that change is happening," USGS glaciologist Jane Ferrigno explained in a joint United States Geological Survey and British Antarctic Survey on the melt. "Antarctica is of special interest, because it holds an estimated 91 percent of the Earth's glacier volume, and change anywhere in the ice sheet poses significant hazards to society."

By Mariah Blake, Washington Monthly

This winter, as Congress was scrambling to pass the stimulus package, the bottom fell out of the renewable energy sector -- the very industry that lawmakers have held out as our best hope of salvaging the economy. Trade groups like the American Wind Energy Association, which as recently as December was forecasting "another record-shattering year of growth," began predicting that new installations would plunge by 30 to 50 percent. Solar panel manufacturers that had been blazing a trail of growth announced a wave of layoffs. Some have since cut their workforces in half, as stock prices tumble and plans for new green energy projects stall.

http://www.fastingforourfuture.org

Camp Lejeune Historic Water Update

Dear Registrant: 

Daniel McGowan, Another "War on Terrorism" Victim
by Stephen Lendman

Of so-called "eco-terrorism" in his case, a term believed coined by Ron Arnold, executive director of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise (CDFE), a radical right wing group established on July 4, 1976 "to continue (the) Revolution of liberty, free enterprise and individual initiative....without hindrance by government."

According to Sourcewatch:

"Arnold blurred the boundaries between nonviolent civil disobedience and more contentious tactics such as vandalism and sabotage," (mostly rejected by environmentalists) by equating property damage to "terrorism as a societal threat."

How microbes can power America’s future
Scientists use tiny organisms to create fuel, viruses to make batteries.
By Robert C. Cowen | CS Monitor

For millenniums, microbes have been a staunch technological ally. They have leavened our bread and cured our cheeses. Now, engineers are asking them to convert carbon dioxide into fuel and to build a new generation of batteries. Some of the smallest life forms with which we share the planet are helping us cope with the energy challenges of the 21st century.

Forget about the so-called hydrogen economy for a moment. The much-discussed plan to use hydrogen as a major power source has serious problems, such as how to deliver the fuel to consumers.

Bruce Logan at Penn State says methane could be a much more appealing candidate. Through the study of how microbes produce methane in swamps, bogs, and landfills, he and his colleagues believe they have found a perfect source for the gas.

Johann Hari: The protesters are the ones we should listen to at this summit | Independent UK
The way out of the credit and the climate crunch is the same - a Green New Deal

When this hinge-point in human history is remembered, there will be far more sympathy for the people who took to the streets and rioted than for the people who stayed silently in their homes. Two global crises have collided, and we have a chance here, now, to solve them both with one mighty heave – but our leaders are letting this opportunity for greatness leach away. The protesters here in London were trying to sound an alarm now, at five minutes to ecological midnight.

Many commentators seemed bemused that the protesters focused on the climate crunch as much as the credit crunch. What's it got to do with a G20 meeting on reviving the global economy? Why wave banners saying 'Nature Doesn't Do Bail-Outs' today? Because both crises have their roots in the same ideology – and both have the same solution.

By Ted Glick, CCAN Policy Director

The House Energy and Commerce Committee discussion draft, “The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” released on March 31st is very robust, a 648 page document. Based upon one reading of this document, these seem to be most of the significant provisions:

-It would establish a cap-and-trade system which sets mandatory and declining limits on greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) over the next 40 years. Emissions credits would be allocated to accomplish this, but the draft is silent on how many of those credits would be given away or auctioned, or perhaps distributed in some other way. This remains to be negotiated.

Outrage Growing Over Perchlorate Contamination | WISN
Group Says Government Must To More To Protect Public

MILWAUKEE -- An environmental group is accusing the government of not doing enough to protect people and the nation’s food from potentially dangerous levels of a rocket fuel ingredient.

It’s called perchlorate and it’s a key component in rocket fuel.

"We don't think people realize how widespread of a contaminant it is," Environmental Working Group Dr. Anila Jacob said.

The group says that 20 million to 40 million Americans may be exposed to the chemical.

"We know that the CDC has found perchlorate in 100 percent of the people they've tested, so there's widespread exposure, through contaminated drinking water and also through contaminated food," Jacob said.

Longer version with more detail and advice: HERE.

Recommendations

For Meetings with Congress Members and Senators

During April 4-19, 2009, Recess

Adjust to your  communities’ priorities and to fit your representative and senators.  Make the case to them of the necessary trade-off in defunding war in order to fund human needs. Make alliances with activist groups wishing to pressure elected officials on domestic funding needs and workers’ rights.

I. PEACE

Oppose Escalation of War in Afghanistan and Pakistan

A bipartisan group of fourteen members of Congress recently wrote to the president asking him to reconsider his proposal to send more troops to Afghanistan.  Your representative and senators should send similar letters, and should include opposition to missile strikes or the introduction of troops into Pakistan.

A Watery Revolt in Boston Harbor
By Beth Daley | Boston Globe

They came in colonial garb to Boston Harbor today not to dump tea - but to dump what they say is overpriced unnecessary water.

[Obama accepts a treaty with Iraq without Senate ratification and declares in a signing statement that Congress cannot interfere in his power to make treaties all by himself (the Constitution be damned), but when it comes to climate change Obama won't sign a treaty unless Congress approves it BEFOREHAND? -- DS]

Barack Obama May Delay Signing up to Copenhagen Climate Change Deal
By Patrick Wintour, The Guardian/UK

Barack Obama may be forced to delay signing up to a new international agreement on climate change in Copenhagen at the end of the year because of the scale of opposition in the US Congress, it emerged today.

Senior figures in the Obama administration have been warning Labour counterparts that the president may need at least another six months to win domestic support for any proposal.

Such a delay could derail the securing of a tough global agreement in time for countries and markets to adopt it before the Kyoto treaty runs out in 2012.

By Jere Locke and Alyssa Burgin

All of our hopes, all of our dreams for the next generation--for our children and grandchildren-- are now on a collision course with nature if our governments don’t soon act to limit carbon emissions. This year will be pivotal in deciding the future of this planet. For many years, the U.S. has dragged its feet in passing legislation on the subject, while sabotaging international negotiations. Congressman Lloyd Doggett is to be applauded in recognizing the severity of this situation, reflected in his just-released “Safe Markets Development Act of 2009”, but he does not go far enough.

World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions. On Saturday, March 28th at 8:30pm millions of people around the world will turn off their lights for one hour, Earth Hour to join the largest call to action on climate change in history.

Maine Water Justice Activists Mark World Water Day | Press Release

On Sunday, March 22nd a coalition of Maine Water Justice activists organized World Water Day in Portland, Maine. They did this in concert with thousands of other actions taking place throughout the world in recognition of World Water Day, an annual day of action created by the United Nations to highlight the importance of freshwater resources and to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Today, 2.6 billion people do not have access to clean water worldwide.

In the United States, the support for public water systems has been slashed during the last several administrations, therefore encouraging privatization by cash strapped municipalities. When water systems are privatized for profit, water quality goes down and becomes more expensive and water cut-offs increase drastically.

Energy and Commerce Subcommittee Hearing on "Preparing for Climate Change: Adaptation Policies and Programs" | Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC The Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing titled, "Preparing for Climate Change: Adaptation Policies and Programs" on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. This hearing will examine ongoing domestic and international efforts to reduce climate change vulnerability, and potential policies in climate change legislation that could assist such efforts.

VA to gather data on alleged burn-pit victims
Shinseki won’t commit agency to performing medical tests
By Kelly Kennedy | Army Times

Kerry Baker, DAV’s assistant national legislative director, issued an update Tuesday in which he reported that about 182 veterans are in the database. Of those, 48 have developed lymphoma, leukemia or some other form of cancer. Another 55 reported pulmonary disorders, including asthma and asthma-like symptoms. Other reported conditions include multiple sclerosis, sleep apnea and heart problems. At least 16 veterans entered into the database have died, Baker said.

The Veterans Affairs Department is gathering data to monitor potential health problems in troops who say they were made ill by exposure to smoke from open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a letter to Congress.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is the biggest consumer of coal in the United States and last Christmas residents living near the TVA Kingston Steam Plant were flooded with approximately 1.6 billion gallons of coal waste after a retaining wall at the facility failed.

The spill was 40 times the size of the Exxon Valdez, has caused severe health problems, and polluted the water and the air quality throughout the region. So far the TVA hasn't taken full responsibility for the spill and another could happen at any time.

Please send a letter to TVA CEO Tom Kilgore and tell him that you support the residents of Tennessee who are calling for the TVA to be held accountable for this spill.

Oil soaks Australian beaches after spill
By Dennis Passa | Yahoo!News

Authorities declared a disaster zone Friday along a stretch of some of Australia's most popular beaches after tons of fuel oil that leaked from a cargo ship blackened the creamy white sand for miles.

The government of Queensland state denied it had acted too slowly to stop an environmental disaster, and threatened the shipping company with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

National parks at Moreton and Bribie islands just north of the state capital of Brisbane were hardest hit by oil spilled Wednesday from the container ship Pacific Adventurer, and oil washed ashore in pockets along the Sunshine Coast.

By Ted Glick

It was tremendous to be part of the crowd of thousands of people demonstrating last Monday, March 2nd at the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant on Capitol Hill. But I wonder how many of those who have heard about this action or who even took part are aware of the role that the Power Past Coal campaign played in making it a success.

In mid-November, 2008 I traveled to Charleston, West Virginia for the first national climate meeting following the election of our nation's first African American President. Representatives were there from two dozen groups, many of them Appalachian-based, others national groups like the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Energy Action, 1Sky and Rainforest Action Network. Over the course of a day and a half we came up with a plan for "100 Days of Action to Power Past Coal." This campaign began on the day after Barack Obama's inauguration.

By Ted Glick

"Throughout this jubilant day, there was a palpable sense of a psychological line being crossed which has had a parallel in all great movements for nonviolent social change. It is the moment when a movement becomes aware that it is tapping into the immensely strong and unstoppable power of truth. It is a time of spiritual awakening, when seekers of change suddenly realize they have unleashed an infinite force far beyond the strength of any individuals - what Gandhi referred to as 'satyagraha.' It is comparable to those moments in time when the peasants of India understood that an entire British empire could be defied and bus riders in Montgomery, Alabama realized that racism was not in reality an immovable fact of life.

Rachel Maddow Interviews Duke Energy's Jim Rogers

Starts around 3:33 mins.; total run time 11:09 mins.

Scenes from the "Climate Justice" Rally in D.C. Held March 2, 2009

A huge and spirited rally demanding “Climate Justice,” was held in Washington, D.C., on March 2, 2009. This video reflects some of the crowd scenes from that event; interviews with activists Anne Havemann of Chesapeake Climate Action; and Kate Lally of Baltimore’s Rising Tide; and a speech from Washington, D.C. Council Member, the Hon. Tom Wells (Ward 6).

By David Swanson

This weekend in Washington, D.C., there was a lot of preparation for Monday's massive civil disobedience for clean energy at the Capitol power plant. Nonviolence trainings, sign creation, conferences. On Sunday night, just before it began snowing hard, I attended a gathering of authors, poets, singers, and the lead organizers of the action in a large university auditorium, and blogged as follows:

I'm at the big stop-carbon, pro-environment, Power Shift, Chesapeake Climate Action Network rally at GW University in Washington, D.C. Bill McKibben is MCing. Huge auditorium is sold out and packed. 12,000 students were in town this weekend for this conference. 2,500 have committed to risking arrest in civil resistance tomorrow. The crowd tends toward the white, wealthy, and elderly, but there are a good number of young people even in this event tonight. And there are a lot of the usual peace and justice activists here who work on issues other than this one.

Lawmakers ask coal-fired plant near Capitol to switch to gas
By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers | February 26, 2009

Four days before a planned civil disobedience action at a coal-fired power plant near the U.S. Capitol, the leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate asked Thursday for the plant to replace all its coal with natural gas.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent a letter to Stephen Ayers, the acting architect of the Capitol, who's in charge of maintaining the Capitol complex, telling him to reduce the amount of coal burned at the plant and to prepare for converting it to burn only natural gas by the end of the year.

Maine Town Passes Ordinance Asserting Local Self-Governance and Stripping Corporate Personhood | Press Release

Today the citizens of Shapleigh, Maine voted at a special town meeting to pass a groundbreaking Rights-Based Ordinance, 114 for and 66 against. This revolutionary ordinance give its citizens the right to local self-governance and gives rights to ecosystems but denies the rights of personhood to corporations. This ordinance allows the citizens to protect their groundwater resources, putting it in a common trust to be used for the benefit of its residents.

CNN has rejected this ad:

Surfers vs. the Superferry
By Jerry Mander & Koohan Paik | The Nation

We don't ordinarily seek inspirational models of grassroots uprisings--especially against global corporate-military boondoggles--from surfer beaches on luscious tropical islands. So it surprises colleagues on the left when we tell them they might check out some surprising events on the small "outer" islands in Hawaii that may have an impact on grand US aspirations for military domination of the Pacific basin. Few mainlanders have heard about it, but Hawaii is up in arms.

It all started in 2001 as a purportedly modest "local" effort to offer inter-island ferry service to "help local people more easily visit their relatives on other islands, and carry their farm produce to market." Most locals liked the idea but soon found that this ferry, the gigantic Hawaii Superferry, was an environmental nightmare. It uses far more fuel (in total and per person) than big planes. It races at high speed (40-45 miles per hour) through zones teeming with endangered humpback whales, dolphins and rare sea turtles. It could transport dangerous invasive species to pristine islands. And it carries hundreds of cars to tiny places already choking on traffic.

Sources: Obama cuts funds for US nuclear dump | Jakarta Post

President Barack Obama is taking the first step toward blocking a proposed repository for U.S. nuclear waste, by slashing money for the program in his first budget, according to congressional sources.

Obama's budget to be announced Thursday (Friday in Jakarta) will eliminate virtually all funding for the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada with the exception of money needed for license applications submitted last year to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the document had not been made public.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who has fought the Yucca Mountain dump for years, said Obama's decision to cut funding "represents our most significant victory to date in our battle to protect Nevada from becoming the country's toxic wasteland."