Candidates on Environmental Issues

The National Wildlife Federation gave each candidate the opportunity to answer questions regarding their commitment to confronting global warming, reconnecting our children with the natural world and protecting wildlife habitat for future generations. You can view the questions and answers on the National Wildlife Federations website by following this link:

http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=124&articleID=1650

Bangladesh Seeks Climate Change Aid

I believe the United States should have favored the Kyoto Protocol and got on board. But its not too late- Hopefully at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next year we can get behind new agreements and do our part- I think it is important for the richer nations to help those that are less fortunate, fight this battle. Looks like Britain is doing its part
From the AFP....


At-risk Bangladesh seeks climate change aid at London conference
by: Guy Jackson
LONDON (AFP) - Britain pledged 75 million pounds Wednesday to help Bangladesh fight the effects of climate change, as the flood- and cyclone-ravaged South Asian nation made a plea for billions of dollars in aid.
Joining forces at a conference in London, Bangladesh and Britain called on nations to thrash out a new global warming agreement in Copenhagen next year to try to slow the devastating effects of climate change.
Britain's International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander warned that time is running out for millions of people in impoverished Bangladesh unless urgent action is taken to cut harmful emissions.
"Climate change is today's crisis, not tomorrow's risk, and is already affecting millions of people in Bangladesh," Alexander said, while praising the country's "innovative approach" to adapting to the changing climate.
"But adaptation on the ground is not enough. We believe more must be done at a global level," he said.
"This is why today the UK and Bangladesh are announcing a new partnership calling for a comprehensive deal in Copenhagen, leading to the stabilisation of greenhouse gases at a level that avoids dangerous climate change -- and benefits some of the world's poorest people."
Flooding is an increasing problem for Bangladesh, which is located on a delta -- as the conference took place, at least 600,000 people have been stranded by flooding in the world's seventh most populous country.
Experts say Bangladesh is experiencing more rainfall, flooding, droughts and cyclones as a result of global warming.
A. B. Mirza Azizul Islam, honorary finance advisor of the Bangladesh government, told the conference: "The incidence of floods and cyclones has increased perceptibly as a result of climate change. Serious floods are now visiting us frequently."
He said the human cost was on a massive scale.
"Climate change in Bangladesh is tens of thousands of people uprooted from their homes, it's innumerable children prevented from going to school and hundreds of thousands of tonnes of foodstuffs lost."
Last year widespread flooding and a devastating cyclone caused crop and infrastructure damage worth 2.8 billion dollars, or around four percent of Bangladesh's gross domestic product, according to a World Bank study.
Mirza told journalists that six billion dollars was needed over the next 15 years to build dams, cyclone shelters, plant trees in coastal areas and develop infrastructure to defend people against natural disasters.
Alexander said the new 75 million pound (93 million euro, 130 million dollar) aid pledge would help Bangladesh protect houses and schools against flooding, and introduce new crop strains.
The Nobel Prize-winning United Nations Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts rising sea levels will devour 17 percent of Bangladesh's total land mass by 2050, leaving at least 20 million people homeless.
Bangladesh says rich nations must pay the billions of dollars it says it needs to help fight the effects of climate change because they are the biggest polluters.
Danish development minister Ulla Toernaes said her country had a huge responsibility when it hosts the Copenhagen meeting next year, aimed at agreeing a new global pact on cutting emissions to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
"Developed countries have an obligation to take action," she said.
She called on the United States, which did not sign up to Kyoto, to join a new global agreement, saying "developing countries pay the price if the major emitters do not change course".

Bloomberg Wants To Tap Wind for Power

Interesting article from the Associated Press I thought I would share.....

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed putting windmills on city bridges and rooftops as part of an ambitious push for renewable energy.
Bloomberg outlined his plan Tuesday night at a Las Vegas conference on alternative energy.

"In New York, we don't think of alternative power as something that we just import from other parts of the nation," he said.
The mayor says he will approach private companies and investors to study how turbines can be built throughout the city. On Tuesday, the city also issued a formal request to companies around the country for ways to build wind, solar and waterbased energy sources in the city.
"We want their best ideas for creating both small- and large-scale projects serving New Yorkers," Bloomberg said.
It would take years to turn New York City into a major source of wind power. But Bloomberg, who has 18 months left in office, says he is committed to getting the discussion going with the aim of reducing the city's dependence on a power grid that caused several large blackouts in the past decade.
Major obstacles to the technology include neighborhood opposition to the windmills; the high cost of building and running them; and a host of permits that would be needed from state and federal agencies.
But the mayor said offshore turbines could be placed "as much as 15, 20, 25 miles offshore, where it's virtually invisible to land."
Smaller eggbeater-like models could be used on rooftops. "You can make them so small that people think they are part of the design," Rohit Aggarwala, director of the city's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, told The New York Times.
Aides to the mayor said Bloomberg has met with oil investor T. Boone Pickens to discuss how wind power could be used in New York City. Pickens has proposed building the world's largest wind farm in Texas.

Bahar Shahpar

I stumbled across this amazing designer the other day. I love her clothes. The dresses are adorable!! I love everything on her website and I love her philosophy- which i have cut and pasted below. Please check out this talented designers page: http://www.baharshahpar.com/

"Sustainability is the cornerstone of our manufacturing philosophy. It has become increasingly clear that we can no longer ignore the impact of industry on our health, habitats, and resources, both present and future — it seems only logical to adopt more sustainable practices.
Producing locally here in New York, Bahar Shahpar designs using only ecologically sound materials, minimizing waste and overall energy consumption in every instance possible. Fibers are evaluated according to the methods used for their cultivation, processing, and finishing, and vintage trims, natural buttons, and unbleached organic cotton linings are incorporated into most pieces.
Combining turn-of-the-century femininity with a sharp playful edge, the line balances style with substance, honoring artisanship while maintaining a commitment to social and environmental responsibility. It is clothing for a cultivated consumer. "

Heart vs. Brain: To Drill or Not to Drill and T. Boone Pickens

For the few people that read this blog- my apologies. I have been MIA for way too long. Part of the reason is that I have been on vacation for a while. The other reason is I have been at a loss as to what I can write. This last month, I have been struggling with my beliefs pertaining to off-shore drilling. I promised that I wouldn’t bring politics into this blog but on this issue I feel like I need to bc it can help you understand where I am coming from. So here is where I stand- I am a liberal when it comes to social issues. That’s my heart. But my Brain, well it's a bit different. It's conservative. SO my heart is a liberal and my brain is a conservative. My heart tells me- no drilling - what if there is an oil spill- think of all the animals that could be affected etc... think of all the toxic chemicals that are released during drilling- which some experts have said can remain in the environment long after the drilling is complete.
Oh, But my head says...are you crazy, look at the price of gas. Look how dependent we are on foreign oil. We need to explore our own resources- Our economy needs a break- Will drilling bring relief- yes it will. But the question is for how long? And I think the answer is: not long enough.
So, do I think we should drill? Yes, I think I do. And I am slightly embarrassed because this is an environmental blog, but I hope I will be forgiven. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking for other options. If you haven’t been living under a rock in the last months then no doubt you have heard of T. Boone Pickens. I like what Mr. Pickens has to say. Yes, there are some flaws with his plan but I think its def something that our government should look into. If you haven’t checked out his "plan" yet- please do so at http://www.pickensplan.com/theplan/

Conflicted

Conflicted

Sorry, i have been MIA for a week or so.
So, i really like John McCain ( not saying im voting for him- i promise i am going to keep my political opinions out of this) and i think he has always tried to be a friend of the environment in his own way. Of course he could do more but so could we all. Right?
Well, yesterday he proposed to lift a 27-year federal moratorium on new oil and gas drilling along the nation's coastline. But he did say he was still opposed to drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, which makes me a little at ease.
So here is the conflict this struggling environmentalist has- GAS is so expensive and I want the US to be able to explore other options.
In the meantime here is what our presidential candidates have to say on the issue.

John McCain
I believe it is time for federal government to lift these restrictions and put our own reserves to use," .
"Off-shore drilling", McCain said is "safe enough these days that not even hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston,"

Barack Obama
He called McCain's proposal a "short-term political posturing from Washington, not the long-term leadership we need to solve our dependence on oil." Obama called for imposing a windfall- profits tax on oil companies and urged investing "in the affordable renewable sources of energy that Sen. McCain has opposed in the past."

Weather extremes consistent with global warming

This is a very interesting article on Global Warming and the recent floods in the midwest. I dont understand how our government officials can continue to ignore this climate crisis we are in. In one of the debates this fall or maybe it was after one- i remember John McCain (im conflicted about him right now, btw- about to post why) saying something like so what if we find out 50 years from now that there was nothing we could do prevent global warming- then what's the worse we have done- made our air cleaner? Now how is that so bad?
Makes sense to me- how about you?
My heart and prayers go out to all those in the flooded areas. Hang in there!

Here's the link to the article
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2008-06-19-global-warming-impacts-north-america_N.htm?csp=34

African Landmarks at Risk

Some of Africa's most famous landscapes such as snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Chad, are at risk of vanishing forever as a result of global warming, a new UN report warned Tuesday

The head of the United Nations' environment programme (UNEP) unveiled a new atlas of Africa which mapped out its changing nature.
The atlas showed images of more than 100 landmarks taken over the course of the last 35 years.
Included in the atlas were satellite images of Mount Kilimanjaro's glaciers which have been disappearing since the beginning of the 20th century.
The survey warned that Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, could be snow-free by 2020. Lake Chad and Lake Victoria, two of the continent's most important water sources, were both shown to be drying up.

Highlights from AFP article and report:
"Loss of forest is a major concern in 35 countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Nigeria and Rwanda, among others," said the survey which was released in Johannesburg".
"Africa is losing more than four million hectares (a little under 15,500 square miles) of forest every year -- twice the world's average deforestation rate, says the Atlas. Meanwhile, some areas across the continent are said to be losing over 50 tonnes of soil per hectare per year"
"The survey said that erosion and chemical and physical damage have degraded about 65 percent of the continent's farmlands".
"In addition, slash and burn agriculture, coupled with the high occurrence of lightning across Africa, is thought to be responsible for wild fires,".

The Full report can be found here:

http://na.unep.net/atlas/AfricaAtlas/

How Global Warming Will Hurt Crops

There was a great article in US News and World Report on the impact of Global Warming on American farmers. Scientist conducted extensive research on the effect Climate Change is having on US Agriculture. The report says that "Temperatures in the United States will rise on average by about 1.2 degrees Celsius by 2040, with carbon dioxide levels up more than 15 percent. The consequences for American-grown food, the report finds, will most likely be far-reaching: Some crop yields are predicted to drop; growing seasons will get longer and use more water; weeds and shrubs will grow faster and spread into new territory, some of it arable farmland; and insect and crop disease outbreaks will become more frequent." Hmmmm, i am really seeing consequences of this myself. If you have a dog, have you noticed that fleas have been awful the last two summer. The winters are not as long and cold as they used to be. Which means the fleas are not dying as much.
I promise this article is very interesting- so i encourage you to read the full version. I promise, if it was very boring i would take it apart for you. Anyway, the link is below. Let me know what you think and if you have noticed any changes already.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/05/28/how-global-warming-will-hurt-crops.html

NIMLI

I found this website today and i LOVE it. They have some really fashionable clothing and great gift ideas! http://www.nimli.com/. I Love the dress pictured. It's made by EcoSkin and it's made out of bamboo- which has become very popular in the last couple of years. We thought about using it for some of our products (did i mention i own an apparel company?) but decided against it- maybe i will save that story for my next "confession"

From their website:
"Nimli is an online retailer devoted to providing natural, organic, and sustainable lifestyle products while embracing style and aesthetic. Nimli offers clothing, accessories, home décor, beauty products and much more from independent designers who combine their effortless creativity with our environmentally conscious ethics. We offer an array of ecologically friendly products that are natural, organic, recycled, sweatshop-free, and cruelty-free. We are firmly aligned with a lifestyle that cultivates a green conscious mind, body, and soul"

TOGETHER

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon along with leading businesses and non profit groups came "together" today(http://www.together.com/) to to launch "Together" -- the largest-ever consumer engagement campaign on climate change.

Together's mission is to make it easier for every American to fight climate change. Together and its partners realize that many Americans want to help fight climate change but research shows they are unsure on what they can do. Together plans to help people with simple steps they can take to help reduce their impact on the planet.
"Protecting our environment is a job that belongs to each one of us. It means more than companies changing their practices or governments changing their policies. It means each person finding ways to change the little things in our lives that will in turn have a huge positive impact on the world around us. Together will help make this possible," said California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "By making it easier and more affordable for Americans to fight climate change, we are taking a giant step towards a brighter and cleaner future. I extend my best wishes for every success in saying 'Hasta la Vista' to climate change."

Confession

When i was in High School i had a "secret" eating problem. I didn't want anyone to see me eat- Once i drove about 40 miles out of town and picked up a hot fudge sundae cake and onion rings. The 40 miles back were spent shoving then in my face- that's so sick, i know! Anyway, for some reason, when i finished - i don't know what came over me- i tossed the entire bag out the window of my car. Let, me tell you- i have never felt so guilty. I felt like a piece of trash myself and from that day on I have vowed never to litter again. Its so disgusting- I mean, i see all the crap on the side of the road and it makes me so sick. Someone once put littering into perspective by saying - (try to look at it this way) would you walk into your parents house and throw a coke can on the floor? So why would you throw one on God's floor. Anyway, so that's my confession for the week- i once was a litter bug.

Climate Bill

Democrats and some Republicans fell short of the 60 votes they needed to end the debate and vote on the Climate Bill Friday. They were quite short- with only 48. I think its best anyway- Bush was going to veto it even if it did pass- so hopefully when congress comes back in January with a new President - they can get something accomplished.

Update on Climate Bill

The Climate Bill is stalled right now. Republicans have demanded a reading of the almost 500 page Bill. This really is just a tactic on the Republicans part to delay the debate. To be honest, i do understand. I think i promised to keep political opinions to myself- but i will admit that i am fiscally conservative and this bill is quite frankly the most ambitious legislation on Global Warming ever in the United States congress which some believe could have a large economic impact. The Bill, if passed would cut carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 71 percent by mid-century from power plants, refineries, factories and transportation. But, if you ask me- i think i would rather loose a few dollars in order to breath cleaner air. What about you? So Come on Congress! I'll keep you all updated on this issue- but i have a feeling- that when the debate heats back up- there wont be any progress before the end of this session and they will come back when we have a new president and new session of Congress and resume the debate.
Try to look at it this way- i would give up my Starbucks in the morning for a little cleaner air.

Confession

I've decided that every Sunday I am going to post an environmentally related "confession" it could be something that I did a long time ago that has been bothering me or something I recently did. I think this will be more of a benefit to me than the readers of this blog-if there are any..ha ha. I am totally picturing Chunk from the Goonies right now when he was eating the ice cream and spilling his guts to the Fratellis

Greenfeet

I stumbled across this website http://www.greenfeet.com/. They have some pretty cool things - great unique gift ideas. Ok, i think i need to add another disclaimer- i am not a tree hugging hippie- not that there is anything wrong with that. The reason i say that is bc i dont want to sound like i am preaching. I mean, i still sometimes leave the lights on- sometimes i dont recycle and sometimes, yes i still use plastic bags. But i think the important thing is that i am trying. I think if we all tried just a little then each year we would change just a little bit more and then by the time our children were adults- we might have created a safer and cleaner environment for everyone. Try to look at it this way- for everytime you choose to walk instead of drive you could be adding a few minutes to our precious planet's life. Now think if everyone in the world choose to walk just once when they could drive. (ok, so i am totally making up the idea that we could add minutes to the planet - i dont think there is any scientific proof of that- but hell, it sounds good and it just might be true) Anyway- i will leave you with this mission statement of Greenfeet taken from their website- i love it and it sums up what i am trying to say with this post
"Everybody leaves footprints on the environment. We ALL do it.We do it by just living our lives and going about our business. We all consume resources and we all leave an environmental footprint. However, the choices we make, in our behavior, in the products we use, affect the size of our footprint.
Greenfeet makes it easier to leave smaller, "greener" footprints. Hey, nobody's perfect - including us. We recognize that there are often obstacles in the path of green footprints. They range from awareness and knowledge to economics and availability. It's our mission to help everyone overcome these obstacles. "

Something to Look Forward To

UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said today that all three US presidential candidates pointed to a major change in US policies on global warming.
Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said "All three presidential candidates have recognised the importance of climate change; want to act on climate change; want to develop a strong domestic policy approach; seem to favour a policy approach that goes in the direction of a cap-and-trade regime which would mesh very well with the direction in which other industrialised countries want to go; and seem to favour an international approach to climate change," de Boer said in Paris.
"So, in other words, whoever wins the presidential elections, I think that we will see a pro-active, international, market-based approach to climate change in the United States, founded on solid domestic policy."

Water!!!

Here is a great water bottle! From www.kleankanteen.com

Confession

I have an SUV and the only reason i still have it is bc i cannot afford to get another car right now- but Believe me- i Do NOT drive that much. When i lived in the city - i always walked to work and when i moved too far to walk i took the metro or carpooled. So if you are like me and you have a gas guzzler and cant give it up for various reasons, then think of ways that you can offset the damage you are doing.
Car Pool
Walk when you can
Public Transportation
or other things that you dont do now that don't even involve your car.
For instance if you are in a gas guzzler- please being using energy efficient light bulbs, recycle and dont keep buying that expensive water in plastic bottles. Get a really hip water bottle that you put filtered tap water in.
Now, i know that there will be times when you have to grab that plastic water bottle in the gas station- but lets limit it- like i said EVERY BIT COUNTS!!!!

Global Warming Debate

With all the election news in the media 24/7 it has been second page news that the Senate began debate Monday over legislation to combat global warming by mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Its going to be hard fight bc many republican senators are threatening to filibuster- so the chances that we will see a vote on this anytime soon is unlikely and The Bush administration has already said it would veto the bill if it did pass, saying among other things that it will raise fuel taxes on the American people. A statement from the White House said the bill would raise gasoline taxes by 53 cents a gallon by 2030.

I think Senator Joe Lieberman's response to that statement was pretty funny- "People would be thrilled to have gas prices rise only 2 cents a year,"

However There is some bipartisan support for the bill. Sen. John Warner, R-Va. is a cosponsor of the bill and has been credited with bringing a some GOP senators on board, also rejected the administration's prediction of economic chaos. "The president has the stick to bring back the throttle" and set new emission timetables if there are serious economic problems, he argued"

It will be interesting to watch this debate and i will bring you an update next week.

Bag It

Envirosaxs

Something you can do to help the environment is to stop using plastic and paper bags at the grocery store. These are really cute bags and are a great way to shop! http://usa.envirosax.com/index.php

Deforestation

OK, so we are always hearing about how we need to save the trees, save the reforest etc..
What are we saving them from? Well we are saving them from ourselves and deforestation.
Simply put- deforestation is the removal of trees without replanting. And even replanting the trees isn’t a cure- because they could be of a totally different species and not provide the same benefits as the ones that were torn down,
Today, I am going to focus on the Tropical Rainforest. Almost half of our earths tropical rainforest have been destroyed- research shows that in less than 50 years if we continue on the same path- we will have destroyed 80% of the tropical rainforest.

Why should you care about the rainforest?
I’m not a complete idiot- I realize that deforestation meets some human needs but it also has devastating consequences. Deforestation limits our ability to find cures for certain diseases – For instance, I read somewhere that 25% of the worlds pharmaceutical products came from tropical forests. Can you imagine that if we already have found 25% of new medicines from the forest what else could be there?

Even more pressing is the effect deforestation has on our environment. There is research to suggest that Deforestation may account for as much as 10% of current greenhouse gas emissions.

There really isn’t a cure for deforestation- bc lets face it- we need paper products and we need lumber. But if everyone was more aware of the amount of paper they used and could drastically cut down that amount or even better RECYCLE- then we can certainly slow down the effect deforestation is having on our planet. Try to think of it this way- Yes, we need paper and lumber but we also need to cure cancer. Lets come to happy medium.

Here is an easy read article to learn more about the effects of deforestation
http://www.earlham.edu/~pols/17Fall96/inneske/kenpage.htm

Is it enough?

In an unprecedented decision - the polar bear has been made a protected species. The debate on this has been going on a while.

Controversy over the status of the polar bear is tied to the fact that this is the first time a species has been considered for listing specifically because its habitat is threatened by global warming
I think its great, even after great delay- that our government has acknowledged that the polar bear is being affected by climate change- although they made sure to let it be known that this does not mean that the endangered species act should be used to fight global warming- what they really mean by this- is even though – yes, they agree that climate change is affecting the polar bears survival- there is no proof what is causing that change- so gentleman you can still drill for you oil- so its not a 100 % victory for environmentalist but it is a huge step in the right direction. Long Live the Polar Bear!!!
Here are a few highlight from the New York Times article announcing the decision….
"Few natural resource decisions have been as closely watched or been the subject of such vehement disagreement within the Bush administration as this one, according to officials in the Interior Department and others familiar with the process. After the department missed a series of deadlines, a federal judge ruled two weeks ago that the decision had to be made by Thursday."

"Barton H. Thompson Jr., a law professor and director of the Woods Institute of the Environment at Stanford University, said Wednesday that while the Interior Department gave itself “sufficient room” to list the polar bear, it did not provide “environmental organizations with a mechanism for trying to address climate change.”
He said that lawsuits challenging the connection between a factory’s greenhouse-gas emissions and the threat to individual polar bears might provide difficult to win"

Make the "Switch" Already

If you are not using energy efficient light bulbs already- what in the hell are you waiting for. People they are not that much more expensive and they will pay for themselves. Your electric bill will be less and you can feel good about the fact that you just might be saving a polar bear. Look for the ENERGY STAR label it is a government-backed, labeling program that helps people save money and protect the environment by identifying products that offer superior energy efficiency and performance. Click on this link to find plenty of suggestions on more energy efficient light bulbs

http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=633&fixture=0&shape=0&brightness=0&color=0&matchingBulbCount=37

Sweet Little Bears

For my first post- I want to discuss climate change just a little bit- of course climate change will be a topic that will be discussed quite frequently here. So, there are all of these reports out there that tell us that Climate Change is taking place. But to be honest they are all so hard to understand- I mean, i get the basics as I am sure most of you do but the majority is hard to understand- I was a liberal arts major- i just took the basic biology classes (looking back now i sure wish i paid more attention). The purpose of this blog will be to try and find articles that might peak the interest of us regular people and hopefully get people to wake up and realize that this is real- its not a political issue. And Hopefully i will find ways to open your eyes. So for my first post- Look at it this way- if we don't do something(i'll get to what you can do soon) about the environment ASAP we will hurt the precious little bears to the left.

The folowing are some important and easy to understand facts from a recent report by the The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change full articel can be found on the WWF's website (www.panda.org).

"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has confirmed that human-induced climate change is a reality. It can no longer be dismissed as a theoretical, academic concept nor a politically motivated doomsday prophecy. In the Arctic, climate change impacts will be seen earlier are more dramatically than elsewhere in the world."

"Air temperatures in the Arctic have on average increased by about 5°C over the last 100 years"
"Arctic sea ice extent has decreased by 14% since the 1970s. "

What does this all mean for the polar bear? Well- the Sea Ice is melting earlier- The polar bear needs time on the ice to store up for summer and autum because food is less available to them at these times. If something isnt done about climate change soon- the period that these bears will have without food will become increasingly longer. And well, it doesnt take a genious to figure our what will happen then. They will DIE. So here comes the part of "what can i do to help" . After each post that i try to appeal to your compasionate side i will post something that you can do on your own. Sure there are about a billon things that the big time politicians can do- but these will be simple suggestions that if you and everyone you know will try to accomplish it will truly make a difference.