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.