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Originally published at CleanTechies.com by David Yarnold, executive director of Environmental Defense Fund
From a comfortable distance the BP oil disaster is depressing and horrific. But up close, it’s worse.
Two days in the Gulf of Mexico left me enraged – and deeply resolved. Both the widespread damage and the inadequacy of the response effort exceeded my worst fears. I’d spent a full day on the Gulf and we ended up soaked in oily water and seared by the journey.
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Once again, the money and power yielded by Big Oil has trumped any concern for the environment, our nation’s natural resources and precious eco systems, countless numbers of plants and animals, as well as the safety and even lives of our fellow human beings. For just last night, the 5th District Court of Appeals has terminated any hope of the Obama administration’s 6-month moratorium of new permits and the exploratory drilling of 33 deepwater wells to allow for time to review safety protocols, discover why the Deepwater Horizon blowout happened and to develop measures to ensure this never ever happens again.
Continue Reading Playing it “Safe” With Big Oil: Deepwater Offshore Drilling Moratorium Upheld
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Now that the U.S. is out of the World Cup, how can we maintain that fragile unity that we began to feel while watching our team play? Perhaps, global warming is the answer.
Continue Reading A Game With Heart: Soccer and Global Warming
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EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Dear EarthTalk: The U.S. got socked with several major storms this past winter. Local weather reports never mentioned this as odd. But is it a sign of global warming? — R.A. Forbes, via e-mail
Continue Reading Were the Heavy Storms Last Winter Due to Global Warming?
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Two universities in New York, Ithaca College and Hamilton College, have received the federal government’s version of a “gold star.” Ithaca College has been awarded two Energy Star certifications for residence halls Clarke and Hood and a platinum LEED award (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) established by the U.S. Green Building Council, for a business building on campus. Hamilton College has been awarded two Energy Star certifications for residence halls Skenandoa and Spencer, in addition to the LEED Gold certification for the renovation of the 40-year-old Kirner-Johnson (KJ) Building. While the Energy Star rating seems to be on every new washer and dryer heading to market, a building to receive the Energy Star rating is far more difficult. To qualify, the building must perform more efficiently than at least 75% of comparable buildings nationwide, based on the past year’s utility bills and energy consumption volume and costs. For a building to receive a LEED award, it must score appropriately in 5 categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.
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With the 40th anniversary of Earth Day upon us, a renewed sense of activism and attention is cast around the present state of our natural environment. What started as a local grassroots effort to increase environmental awareness and provoke action from our political leaders has not only led to significant policy changes, but has also developed into an international celebration of our planet. As we remember what this day first meant, it is important we not only look back on our past with a critical eye, but also look at our world with the hope that is needed to make the future better than today. We, along with our partner Rainforest Alliance, are calling on you to take the action needed to help make that dream a reality. Because as the recent events involving the rainforest show us, we hold the power for both tremendous improvement and colossal destruction.
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Too many times business leaders let their greed overcome them, making profit the most important factor in the decision-making process. But while this may skyrocket the company to superstar status, and make a handful of shareholders wealthy, the consequences of choosing money over people and the earth are severe. Unfortunately, the ones who suffer the most have the weakest voice. Who will speak out for those that can’t? We live in a country where we pledge “liberty and justice for all”, yet we allow ourselves to disregard these values in situations beyond our borders.
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The controversial new book SuperFreakonomics has stirred vociferous and vehement responses, with many accusing authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner of “getting it all wrong” in their chapter about global warming. In that chapter, Levitt and Dubner referenced the work of climatologist Ken Caldeira’s work studying the implications of geoengineering – large-scale, deliberate manipulation of Earth’s climate system – as a “solution” to the climate crisis that is poised to consume the 21st century. Many see geoengineering is a dangerous and hubristic path to take, exacerbating the damage already done in our attempts to manage and manipulate nature on a global scale.
Continue Reading Geoengineering: Will Attempts to “Play God” Lead to Ruin or Salvation?
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America is rife with confusion and contradictions about climate change. Contrary to what some may be thinking, a green oxymoron is not a colorful appellation for climate change deniers. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines normally contradictory terms. A green oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines normally contradictory terms in an environmental context.
Continue Reading Green Oxymorons – Coming to Grips with Being Green
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Agriculture, climate change, conservation of natural resources and biodiversity, and and socio-economic development are all coming together in Nairobi, Kenya as participants from around the globe attend the 2nd World Agroforestry Congress.
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