Local greenhouse gas factory

I shot this snapshot at the 5 Corners intersection in Essex Junction, Vt., yesterday. It's a casebook study on the carbon pollution of the great American motor vehicle. Pollute, pollute, pollute . . .

This is ground zero among the local greenhouse gas factories. I watched this traffic debacle yesterday at the vaunted 5 Corners intersection in the village of Essex Junction, Vt. It takes several minutes of watching to find an automobile that has more than one person in it. And that means this: There is no carpooling or ride-sharing. The personal motor vee

hikle still rules the roost, I mean the highway.

Cuts in carbon emissions won't stop climate from changing

It's too far gone for any reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to make any substantial difference at this point. And still, Americans keep on motoring across a landscape that's increasingly comfortable for cars, not humans who cycle or walk. Read this op-ed for the decisive finding on where the world is right now.

A paltry start in curbing climate change

That's the premise behind this NY Times op-ed I just read. And the headline is on the mark. I read nothing in the EPA's plan to curb the burning of coal any mention of individual Americans' carbon footprint. Where is the plea from President Obama to everyone to live more quietly and simply turn the lights off earlier each day? Growth for the sake of growth is the meandering spirit of the EPA plan. And that's not good enough.

Norway blockades oil rig from activists

That's ONE oil rig. One. While a worthy target of activism and a good photo-op, that's about it; kinda the equivalent of shutting down one coal-fired power plant for one hour as the hundreds of others (in the U.S. alone) churn out megawatt after megawatt. Read about the Norwegian drilling rig.

The cost of NOT creating greenhouse pollution? Small, even tiny

That's the point driven home nicely by columnist Paul Krugman in this piece. Just don't tell the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or its members or any other friends of polluters.

Some words from Florida's denier-in-chief (via Carl Hiaasen)

I love Hiaasen's writing, especially satirical pieces like this column he wrote for the Miami Herald. Gov. Rick Scott, Florida's elected leader, is clueless just as so many of America's politicians are when it comes to climate change.

What does today owe tomorrow?

NY Times writer Justin Gillis tackles that question in this article.

EPA charts direction for next four years

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its fiscal year (FY) 2014 to 2018 Strategic Plan today, which provides a blueprint for advancing EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment across the country.

The plan envisions a new era of partnerships with state and local governments, tribes, federal agencies, businesses, and industry leaders to achieve environmental benefits in a pragmatic, collaborative way.

“EPA will address the increasingly complex array of environmental challenges we face by advancing a rigorous research and development agenda that informs and supports our policy and decision making with timely and innovative technology and sustainable solutions,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “We are heeding President Obama’s call for action on climate change, the biggest challenge for our generation and those to come by building strong partnerships at home and around the world. We are working to mitigate this threat by reducing carbon pollution and other greenhouse-gas emissions and by focusing on efficiency improvements in homes, buildings and appliances.”

The five strategic goals in EPA’s plan include:

•           Addressing climate change and improving air quality;
•           Protecting America’s waters;
•           Cleaning up communities and advancing sustainable development;
•           Ensuring the safety of chemicals and preventing pollution; and
•           Protecting human health and the environment by enforcing laws and assuring compliance.

The agency will continue to deliver significant health benefits to the American public through improved air quality and reduced emissions of toxic pollutants, and will take action to keep communities safe and healthy by reducing risks associated with exposure to toxic chemicals in commerce, our indoor and outdoor environments, products, and food.

The agency will also continue efforts to improve water quality, given the nation’s significant water infrastructure needs, focusing on common sense, flexible approaches that rely on sustainable solutions, such as green infrastructure, and build resiliency to help us adapt to the effects of a changing climate.

The plan prioritizes environmental justice, continuing to focus on urban, rural, and economically disadvantaged communities, to ensure that everyone, regardless of age, race, economic status, or ethnicity, has access to clean water, clean air, and the opportunity to live, work and play in healthy communities.

To achieve the outcomes articulated in the FY 2014-2018 Plan, the agency outlined four cross-agency strategies:

•           Working toward a sustainable future;
•           Working to make a visible difference in communities;
•           Launching a new era of state, tribal, local, and international partnerships; and
•           Embracing EPA as a high-performing organization.

The EPA developed the FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan in accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010. Reflecting the agency’s interest in reaching out to stakeholders and communities, the EPA requested input on a draft plan last winter from over 800 organizations and individuals and issued a Federal Register Notice to solicit broad public feedback. As appropriate, the EPA incorporated suggestions and comments received in the final Plan.

More information on the Strategic Plan is available at: http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/strategicplan

One key impact of climate change in Idaho: Warming water not good for trout

There are a host of other impacts, as this article explains. And Idaho has no special place. All 50 states - the whole world - are being impacted by the changing climate.

UN panel's warning on climate risk: The worst is yet to come

More reporting that yells at policymakers: Do something!

New sprawl tract controls emissions?

Just how a new sprawl development - in Utah or anywhere else - would help, at least, control emissions of pollutants like greenhouse gases escapes me. And how about the natural land devoured by the sprawl of trophy homes, tract homes, McMansions, starter palaces and three-car garages? Walkability? What's that? Read about the "new" Utah model right here.

Crude oil and New York State's capital city

The neanderthal U.S. petroleum biz keeps on trucking, even if it is by rail more than tractor-trailer and tanker. And most folks forget this little fact: It takes burning the fossil fuel to get the tanker full of fossil fueld to the marketplace where other people then burn fossil fuel in order to buy more fossil fuel. Fossil fuel = greenhouse gas. Duh. Read about the ongoing debacle of America's new energy transportation network.

EPA lauds big retailers, others for cutting greenhouse gases

Some good PR here for some of America's biggest retailing chains and others. But it is too bad that good PR is seemingly more worthy than simply doing the right thing.
Here's the EPA release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 25, 2014

EPA Honors Corporate Leadership in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Center for Corporate Climate Leadership announced the third annual Climate Leadership Award winners in partnership with the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and The Climate Registry (TCR). Nineteen awards were given to 15 organizations and two individuals in the public and private sectors for their leadership in addressing climate change by reducing carbon pollution.

The 2014 Climate Leadership Award recipients are:

Organizational Leadership Award: City of Chula Vista, Sprint, and University of California, Irvine

Individual Leadership Award: Sam Brooks, Associate Director, D.C. Department of General Services, and Robert Taylor, Energy Manager, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission

Supply Chain Leadership Award: Sprint 

Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management (Goal Achievement Award): The Boeing Company; Caesars Entertainment; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Ecolab; The Hartford; IBM; Johnson Controls; Kohl's Department Stores; Mack Trucks; and Novelis

Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management (Goal Setting Certificate): Fruit of the Loom, Inc.; Hasbro, Inc.; and Kohl's Department Stores

“Our Climate Leadership Award winners have made great strides in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and are providing leadership nationwide in many sectors of our economy,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. "Their innovative approaches and commitment to reducing carbon pollution demonstrate that efforts to address climate change are repaid by saving money and energy, while supporting more livable and resilient communities, and a healthier, better protected environment now and for future generations."

The national awards program recognizes and incentivizes exemplary corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in response to climate change. Award recipients represent a wide array of industries, including finance, manufacturing, retail, technology, higher education and local government.

“The Association of Climate Change Officers is pleased to recognize another exceptional class of organizations and individuals who are demonstrating leadership in driving climate action into their organizational cultures,” said Daniel Kreeger, ACCO’s co-founder and executive director. “These award recipients are demonstrating critical devotion and leadership to managing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the risks and challenges posed by climate change. These recipients are role models for corporate, organizational, and individual leaders who can and should be responding proactively to climate change risks and opportunities.”

Let the EPA do its job

Too bad the EPA is not a cabinet-level agency, as its twins are in country after country. Still, Republicans in Congress, as they suck up to their rich campaign contributors (many of whom are big-time polluters and destroyers of Wild Nature), won't let our Environmental Protection Agency do its job of protecting. Here's an editorial on the subject. 

A look at the shills, skeptics and other climate change denalists

What a crowd. The Earth - our only planet - is entering what conservationists have termed the Sixth Great Extinction - but the shills skeptics and other shrills are worried only about the goodwill of their polluting campaign contributors and the other outliers in the "clean coal" universe. Read a dissection of the denalists.

Op-ed: Don't sell U.S. coal to Asian markets

There is no such thing as "clean" coal. Whether anthracite or bituminous, the stuff is fossilized dirt, and digging it up and shoveling it into a furnace means spreading the filthy, harmful dust. The writer of this NY Times op-ed says it right. If Americans care about the atmosphere we leave for generations to come, we'd better stop burning it, and selling it, too.

The already marginal ski resorts in Pennsylvania's Poconos region are doomed to vanish one day later this century. The reason? The end of snow

This op-ed from today's NY Times lays out the case. Oh, and there is no longer a "debate" about whether climate change is real or not? It is scientific fact. So, any so-called "debate" belongs in tabloid headlines, not in the public's mind.

New EPA initiative targets coal-fired power plants

That phrase - coal-fired - always makes me think of the power plants I'd see while traveling about Pennsylvania. To get the coal, of course, requires trashing the land, a reality that many Pennsylvanians live with daily.
Here's what the EPA is up to: A new rule being drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency will primarily affect coal-fired power plants, the country’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. 

The NY Times offers some nice graphs to make  the picture clear: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/31/us/politics/an-aggressive-climate-initiative.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140204&tntemail0=y

Obama's Keystone decision: Just say NO, Mr. President

This NY Times op-ed I just read spells out - quite clearly - why the president should just say no to the monster we know as the Keystone XL pipeline. So, Mr. President, just say no