Rising sea level floats all boats!

Love the Chesapeake Bay? Great! Because there will be more of it! Nearly 200 square miles on the Maryland coast alone!

A 3-foot increase in the Chesapeake water level later this century will be a boon to the oystering industry, says a new report on climate change commissioned by Maryland governor Martin O’Malley.

The report was also good news for those who will be retiring near the end of this century. There won’t be a need to relocate to Tampa for retirement, far away from grand kids and bridge buddies; Maryland’s climate should mirror that of the popular retirement destination by 2100, according to the report.

With a temperature bump of up to 9 degrees, summer-long heat waves and a projected 24 days over the 100 degree mark, happy days are on the way for ice cream truck drivers.

But as usual, some nay-sayers couldn’t help but look at the report from a bleak angle. Asked about her opinion of the report, Madeline Sampson, a local systems analyst responded, “Um, half of Annapolis is going to be underwater.”

Glass-half-empty types aside, Maryland stands to benefit immensely from the human-induced alterations to the subtly balanced equilibrium of Maryland’s natural climate and coastline.

Sales of sand, sand bags, shovels and flood insurance are expected to rise steadily over the coming years, good news in these times of economic uncertainty.

Asked for his opinion of the report, local houseboat retailer Joel Hardiman replied, “This is really great news. All those folks who get flooded out are going to want houseboats. And I’m their man.”

Marine sports enthusiasts rejoiced as well. “I live most of my life on the water, so this will make my drive to the coast shorter,” remarked Sam Masterson, a Bowie resident.

The full report is due to be released in coming weeks. While local lawmakers in the pocket of Big Dry Land may react with measures aimed at slowing the progress of the expanding Chesapeake, national legislators are thankfully expected to supersede any such measures by maintaining the status quo. Continue reading

Maryland Students Hot on the Hill

Many of us in the climate movement feel that we have the answers to the climate crisis. And why shouldn’t we? We have been doing brilliant work modeling solutions in our daily lives, on our campuses, and in our communities across the country. We know we need this localized action but also know that if we are to avoid the most devastating effects of climate chaos we need bold federal legislation to drastically bring down the dangerous levels of carbon in our atmosphere.

The real question then becomes: How many of us know exactly where our congressional elected officials stand on the issue? Do we trust them to make the right decision and vote correctly when the time comes? I know that after a decade of inaction on climate change I’m not making any assumptions. They need to hear our voices loud and clear in one unified and powerful demand for clean energy! Enter Power Vote.

To get the bold solutions we need we must engage in a new dialogue with our elected officials. For too long the conversation in congress has been dominated by the stench of the fossil fuel industry’s dirty money. It’s time to reclaim our democracy! This summer students from the Maryland Student Climate Coalition (MSCC) have begun to do just that.

Maryland students have had three constituent lobby meetings with their congressional elected officials on Capitol Hill to push for the bright vision outlined in the Power Vote platform.

The first meeting was about a month ago when several student representatives of the MSCC met with a member of US Representative Steny Hoyer’s,(D-MD) staff. Rep. Hoyer will be key player in our bid for federal climate legislation because of his influential position as House Majority leader. The main message coming out of that meeting was that Rep. Hoyer is supportive of science-based carbon reductions but isn’t hearing enough of a demand to act from his constituents. His staffer also mentioned that the other US House members’ staffs are behind on their understanding of climate legislation and what the citizenry wants them to do with the cap and trade revenue. It is clear to me that the bold demands of young people will be critical to getting us there. Continue reading

Nobel Laureate wants to talk to You!

No, not Al Gore, though that’s not a bad guess.

Jody Williams, who was awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work to ban antipersonnel landmines, has something to say to Marylanders. She wants to talk to you – and to me – about Constellation Energy. Specifically about their latest and greatest idea to ensure Maryland’s electricity supply: building another nuclear reactor.

So when’s this happening?

On August 12th, from 6:30-8 at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Jody Williams will be giving the opening remarks at a Public Meeting on Nuclear Power in Maryland. And you’re invited!

Fuel efficiency. You know, for kids!

Fun fact: by the time Bush’s proposed increases in drilling have one cent of effect on American gas prices the average family will have spent over $57,000 on gas.

So if you needed any more convincing on why the proposed drilling is a gadawful idea for a solution, you can chew on that little gem.

Maybe instead of pumping oil from under the sea we should tap into the potential of technology we already have, by, say, raising the minimum standards for fuel efficiency. If the average family has 2 cars, they probably are due to replace one of them in the next few years. And if that new car gets 50 miles to the gallon (attainable!), which is roughly double the current average MPG, they save 50% on fuel costs for that car. With an average fuel consumption of 678 gallons per year (according to the US Bureau of Labor and Stats), and with gas at $4 a gallon, over 5 years that bump in fuel efficiency will save that family about $6800. Hooray! Johnny gets a new saxophone! Little Margie can get braces! Sammy’s going to summer camp!

And the $6800 savings is over just 5 years, with one car. Bush’s drilling isn’t supposed to make a difference for 10-15 years or so. If we raise mileage standards next year families that buy new cars can start saving even sooner, bringing the savings during the drilling lag even higher. The sooner we convert the fleet to higher fuel efficiency vehicles the sooner we can start actually helping ease the burden of gas prices. Oh, btw, a rise in minimum fuel efficiency really helps slow global warming.

Amory Lovins sounds off on the economics of energy

In the past few weeks, Amory Lovins, the co-founder, chairman and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado, who has been described as “one of the Western world’s most influential energy thinkers,” was all over the airwaves, talking about the rapid switch to renewable energy that will be necessary in the next few years, if we are to effectively combat the climate crisis.