DC Clean Cars Hearing

Today, the Committee on Public Works and the Environment in Washington DC held a hearing on the DC Clean Cars Act of 2007 (Bill 17-0099), which went amazingly well.

A solid group of environmentalists, religious groups, DC residents, and representatives from the District Department of the Environment testified in favor of the bill.

The opposition consisted of two representatives from the automotive industry, Gerard Murphy from the Washington Area New Automotive Dealers Association, and Greg Dana from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. And actually, they presented less actual opposition to the bill, but were rather voices of ambivalence. When asked by Jim Graham, the Chair of the Committee on Public Works and Environment, whether they were there in opposition or support of the bill, Mr. Murphy replied that the auto industry was taking neither stance.

This hearing was a solid step in the right direction to getting the Clean Cars Act passed, but that doesn’t mean the fight is over! We must continue to pressure the DC council to act swiftly on this legislation

Forget the light bulbs: Part II

Tidwell responds to scientists responding to Tidwell

The essay below is a response to “The Power of Voluntary Actions,” written by a phalanx of social scientists, which was itself a response to Tidwell’s “Consider Using the N-Word Less.” It ran on Grist on September 21st.

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My Sept. 4 essay on the merits of voluntary versus statutory responses to global warming triggered quite a firestorm of debate. Lots of readers agreed with me: All those happy lists in magazines and on web sites — “10 things you can do to save the planet!” — actually trivialize the scale of the problem. We’ll never solve the climate crisis one light bulb at a time. What we need, Continue reading

Maryland and Global Warming Solutions

We’ve all heard the story: the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate, more hurricanes are on the way, and we’re fast on the road towards catastrophic climate change. So it’s a good thing that Maryland is starting to step up to the plate on enacting significant legislation to cut our carbon emissions.

A Great Blue Heron, one of the many Chesapeake Bay species that could be protected with strong climate legislation

The Global Warming Solutions Act, a call for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland of 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, will come before the Maryland General Assembly this spring. According to The Baltimore Sun‘s Bay & Environment page, this is one of the hottest issues for this spring’s session of the Maryland General Assembly.

Now is the time to make sure Governor O’Malley strongly supports this piece of legislation. And the people showing their strong support is the first step! Keep your eyes open for events coming soon, especially in November, designated a Global Warming Solutions Month of Action.

Northwest Passage in the Arctic is open for the first time EVER in recorded history!

The European Space Agency has published satellite images that show that the Northwest Passage in the Arctic is now open for the first time EVER in recorded history. This is due to the unprecedented Arctic melting this year- the current extent is 1 million kilometers below the previous minimum set in 2005. Though the U.N. Panel on Climate Change has predicted that the Arctic may have complete summer melt by 2070, other more recent credible estimates are much sooner- the National Snow and Ice Data Center, recognized as a top authority in Arctic measurements, recently predicted this could occur as early as 2020. The Northwest passage is the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe and has massive trade potential. We have also heard about the implications of all of the oil reserves predicted to be in this area. There are already fears that the opening of this region could cause a cold war between the US and other polar nations, particularly Canada. The President Bush claims that this passage is International Waters, contrary to Canada’s claims. Canada is beefing up military in this region to claim the ownership of the passage and protect its borders from people/drugs/weapons smuggling. And the plight of the polar bears? Let’s not go there. Folks, you can’t debate this. It’s real. Let’s do something about climate change NOW.

Image Credit: European Space Agency: “Envisat ASAR mosaic of the Arctic Ocean for early September 2007, clearly showing the most direct route of the Northwest Pssage open (orange line) and the Northeast passage only partially blocked (blue line). The dark gray colour represents the ice-free areas, while green represents areas with sea ice. “

cross-posted at http://www.local-warming.blogspot.com/

Dominion Subpoenaed; Reduces Price of CFLs

Here is a shocker, Dominion Power, the energy mogul that is pressing hard to build a new coal fired power plant in Wise, Virginia, is not properly accounting for the financial risks associated with, as a business, refusing to evolve and properly assess reality. Could it be true that a major polluter is acting unscrupulously, profiting off of misleading investors and ignoring the real world? According to the New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, maybe. According to the Attorney General, “The increase in [carbon-dioxide] emissions from the operation of this unit [the proposed Wise Co. Plant], in combination with Dominion’s other coal-fired power plants, will subject Dominion to increased financial, regulatory and litigation risks.”

Basically, I read Cuomo’s statement to mean, “hey Dominion, building another coal power plant are you kidding me? You know that legislation to regulate global warming emissions is coming soon, why are you going to build another super polluter? You know you can’t realistically sequester carbon from the plant, don’t even kid yourself. Why don’t you just do something less radical, like start building wind turbines or solar panels or investing in efficiency. Now that would be a plan we could all get behind.”

To help further illustrate my point, I will throw out some fun analogies. Coal is to power production as Asbestos is to insulation — it works, but you don’t want to use it. New coal power is as good an idea as reviving phrenology evaluation to help supplement student applications to college. Okay, that second one wasn’t as good as the first, but you get the point. Let me know if you have any good analogies about coal you want to pass on, I love analogies.

Oh, I try to never get totally negative with my blog posts, so here is the positive. Dominion is helping to offer CFL light bulbs at a discounted rate. That is one small step for man…

Virginia Energy Plan Maintains the Status Quo…

Last week, the Governor ceremoniously unveiled Virginia’s Energy Plan — read the news release or the 180 page report — a plan that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30%… Great news, right? Well, I am not so sure… For a scathingly intelligent critique, please see what The Green Miles has to say; he hits the nail right on the head. And see here for CCAN’s press release.

Here is the good:

  • The Governor is talking about climate change

  • We are starting to create the link between social justice, environmentalism, and power production

  • Emphasizes efficiency and conservation

  • There are (weak) goals set to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions.

Here is the bad:

  • Expansion of coal, petroleum and nuclear power production in state. The plan does not challenge the wisdom behind building more fossil fuel and nuclear infrastructure.

  • The greenhouse gas reduction targets proposed in the plan are amazingly weak, especially in comparison to what other states have committed to.

  • The plan does not recommend mandatory renewable energy purchases or a clean cars type of bill.

If you want my quick synthesis, I can sum it up in four words: where are our priorities? If we, as a state, are committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, improving our energy efficiency as a state, and conserving energy; then why are we investing in old, dirty technology? The plan does not challenge or even ask for a review of the planned coal fired power plant in Wise Co. Virginia (a 500-600 MW facility that will severely compromise our states ability to make any reductions in greenhouse gas emissions). Why even talk about minimizing your global warming impact in one document if you are going to, in the same document, talk about the benefits of another conventional coal fired power plant? These two statements are not congruent in the least bit.

If we are serious about fighting global warming we need to be serious about renewable energy, conservation and efficiency. These need to be the priority energy actions for the state, not another coal fired power plant.

Why I Fight Coal

One would hope that we, as a society, are closing in on a conscious recognition that the time to remove coal from the ground to burn it is nearly done.

Trees and Global Warming: In defense of trees

The popularity of trees is taking a hit in the land of carbon dioxide equivalents; trees uptake carbon while alive but can be chopped down. It is hard to figure out how much carbon a tree is removing when it is newly planted and has a high chance of mortality. Add to that that fact that some scientists say that the dark color of trees in the North makes it so they absorb the rays of the sun and cancel out the positive effect of absorbing Carbon Dioxide and releasing water vapor (Brahic, C. 2006. Location is key for trees to fight global warming. New Scientist, December 15, 2006. http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn10811-location-is-key-for-trees-to-fight-globalwarming.html. [you need a subscription to read this article]). I have friends in forestry and they asked me to share information with them that I find about trees and global warming, so this post is for them.

Let’s talk for a moment about why trees are crucial to protecting us from global warming. Eric Carlson of Carbonfund shared 8/16 (in the comments of the ClimateProgress blog) this food for thought:

But consider this: Trees are the only carbon offset that actually reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere today and from the last half century or longer. Renewables and efficiency reduce the need for future emissions (also critical) but trees serve important social and environmental needs, reduce CO2 today and BUY us time to get to a clean tech future. Also, if deforestation accounts for about 20% of climate change, as many experts agree, reforestation is absolutely a part of the solution. And certified offsets are the same whether they come from wind or trees (which is why certifications are so important). Many of our supporters prefer trees and, given their importance, we give them the choice of which type of offsets they want to support. I absolutely understand people who prefer renewables or efficiency, but I also understand why some people would choose trees and they too are providing an important part of the solution.

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