Remove the Trojan Horse from Global Warming Legislation

the following is from a CREDO petition I just signed:

Dear Friend,

Your representative is about to vote on legislation designed to stop global warming. Unfortunately, members of the House who answer to the worst polluters have succeeded in including a Trojan Horse at the heart of the legislation - a prohibition on Obama's EPA being able to use the Clean Air Act to take additional action on CO2.

This little known, almost secret provision actually guarantees that the United States will fall short of doing what the scientists tell us must happen - a reduction of 80% of CO2 emissions from their 1990 level.

Mr. Obama ran for president on a very strong global warming platform which achieved the 80% reduction, launched a cap and trade market without giving away free permits to polluters, and set strong standards for boosting clean renewable energy. Special interests are warping his pledge almost beyond recognition.

But the worst and most important compromise - and the one most secret and hidden from view - is the crippling of EPA's powers. This is precisely what Newt Gingrich and the Republican-controlled House of the 1990s did to President Clinton's EPA from 1995 on. They simply prohibited EPA from enforcing many laws. We cannot let the House strip President Obama of his most powerful tool to stop global warming.

I just signed a petition to tell my representative to stand up for President Obama's best weapon to fight global warming - the EPA. I hope you will, too. Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/trojan_horse/?r_by=4609-1476850-gZvO7Qx&rc=paste

SmartPower Ad - Jason vs. Frank

Another one of [nod] films's entries for the SmartPower commercial contest.

SmartPower Ad - Time Machine

One of [nod] films's entries for the SmartPower commercial contest.

If Teens Can Do It

This is not a post about how I am going to start being a curmudgeon soon (though I have picked up my dad's penchant for phoning in noise complaints).
Rather, I would like to highlight my pal Nicole's top-notch work on the Live Green section of the
Teens for Planet Earth web site.

Check it out; as they say "...you can't do everything. But if each person does even one thing, it all adds up to something pretty amazing."

[Photo by Kimberly Faye]

A Walkable NYC = A Liveable NYC

This past weekend I stopped by the Earth Day Green Festival at Grand Central and picked up a brochure about vision42 - a plan to replace traffic all along 42nd Street with pedestrian zones and light rail transit.

This sounds a little bit like Bloomberg's plans for Broadway (read about those here and here).

Granted, I no longer own a car, so I may be biased towards pedestrian-centric city planning, but the thing is: it works. According to this article, "...when planners in Seoul tore down a six-lane highway a few years ago and replaced it with a five-mile-long park, many transportation professionals were surprised to learn that the city’s traffic flow had actually improved, instead of worsening." [via VeryShortList]

Sign the petition for vision42 here.

For more about this kind of stuff, check out these articles from GOOD magazine's latest traffic-centric issue:

• How to overcome the haters of congestion pricing
• Bogotá has the world's modernest bus system
• Learn how to do your own street redesign

And check out today's Recession This!

[Photo by Randy Levine]

Free Earth Day Book at Grist.org

Check out this free book download from Grist.org. Register with Grist for free and get tips on how to live green every day.

Not only will you get the free e-book, but you will also be registered for a free trip to Bonnaroo '09!

And check out Recession This!

[Photo by SouthernPixel]

Scavengerjo Art on Exhibit at the Central Park Zoo

My wife, Jody, has been asked to exhibit her found-object art at the Central Park Zoo as part of their observation of Earth Week. Jody will be there all this week from 12:00-3:00; it's $10 to get in, but well worth it in my opinion. Plus, you can see monkeys.

Turning Out the Lights

I actually saw a Mythbusters episode* about this a while back, but now here is Concrete Proof from the Internet: It is almost always better to turn out the lights when you leave the room. "Start-up" energy surges are not that huge, certainly not enough to justify leaving the lights on. There are differences between traditional incandescents, fluorescents, and compact fluorescents; read the full skinny here.

As always: don't forget to check out Recession This!

*for the record, I am not as huge a fan of the show as my pal, Kmack.
[Photo by Jago Pauwels]

Electronics Recycling Is Also a Pain

You can now recycle your old electronics at Best Buy, rather than sending them to a landfill by putting them out on the curb. If you are recycling monitors or TVs under 32", they require you to buy $10 worth of stuff at Best Buy (i.e. they charge $10/item, but then turn around and give you a $10 gift card). Check their website for locations and items not accepted.

On a related note, check out this grim photo essay from TIME Magazine.

Bloodthirsty Sarah Palin

I guess former vice presidential candidate [shudder] and current governor of Alaska Sarah Palin was a caribou in a past life, given her relentless vendetta against Alaska's wolves and bears. Not only does she promote aerial hunting (not just allow - she offers a freakin' bounty) she is also planning to gas pups in the den.

Gimme 5 (Recycling's a Pain)

In New York City, the only plastics they recycle are #1 and #2. The rest = landfill. Recycling's a pain. I realize this. Ideally, municipalities would make it easier to recycle, so you could throw your soda can or water bottle* in the trash and it would end up recycled**, not in a landfill.

There is an alternative: Gimme 5, from the folks at Preserve.

Granted, you still have to collect your #5 plastics and bring them somewhere else (in this instance, Whole Foods), but at least you won't have that stomach-turning feeling when you throw a #5 yogurt container in the trash. You can also recycle the Brita filters you are using to filter the water you're pouring into your reusable bottles (see below).

More tips for hard-to-recycle items coming soon!

* Actually, I would recommend not drinking bottled water in the first place - it's a scam! Get yourself a reusable bottle from Sigg or Klean Kanteen. If you have multiples, you can fill them in advance, leave them in your fridge, and save yourself some money on your energy bill (not to mention the money you are saving on bottled water).

** I also realize that very few things are actually recycled, but rather are only downcycled: that #1 Poland Spring bottle doesn't become a new water bottle, it becomes some weird carpet or parking lot barrier. It's still going to end up in the landfill eventually, leaching toxins into the ground and water table. Ironic, isn't it? how the bottle of water you drink today because it's "pure" will poison your water tomorrow?
[Landfill photo by D'Arcy Norman]

Teach a Man Not to Overfish

It's Friday in Lent, and that means fish. That brings us to overfishing, which is catching fish faster than they can reproduce.

Help one meal at a time (even if you're not Catholic but rather are just a fish-eater) by referring to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.

If you have an iPhone (and who doesn't these days, besides me?) you can download a free app to get up-to-date recommendations of fish to avoid. (Non-iPhoners can check out the pocket guides at mobile.seafoodwatch.org.)

If you're really old school, you can print out a printable PocketMod-like version here.

[Photo by ezee123]

Rush Limbaugh Is Still a Big Fat Idiot (And He's Not Alone)

I don't think I will get political too often on this blog, but this is a quick video that bears watching (besides being a little creepy).

"Despite the hysterics of a few pseudo-scientists, there is no reason to believe in global warming."

-- Rush Limbaugh [not a scientist of any kind]

It astounds me that there are still those that would deny the effects of global warming or the steps we could take to reverse it. And that some can't see that green jobs would only be a boon to the economy is flabbergasting.



Send a message by signing the petition here.

Puppy Dogs & Energy Savings

Check out this funny video about the sequel to Marley & Me by Kevin Tor on YouTube. And, to make up for his heartlessness, here's something so cute your spleen will rupture. (I am posting cute clips on my 2nd blog post. It is the beginning of the end already.)

Kevin and I will be shooting more webisodes this Saturday, and the first episodes will start posting later this month. Watch for them.

Also check out the Recession This! blog that I contribute to for some simple tips for saving money on your energy bill.

Alarm Bells & Wacky Germans

All right, new year, new blog. I'll try to keep them short and hopefully you will find something of interest in each one, whether they're my thoughts or (more likely) things I find interesting to link to.

Like this one. Foreign Policy magazine's "Think Again" section is a pithy dissection of popularly held beliefs on various topics. This issue's topic is one important to me: Climate Change. Read it -- the parts about the Arctic ice melt that is decades ahead of predictions, the coming wars for food and resources -- and you won't think we can sit on our hands any longer.

On a lighter note: even though I studied German and speak it and like things German, this New Year's I was surprised to learn of the German tradition of watching Dinner for One on New Year's. Go figure.
picture © Nicolas Raymond