Jellyfish Burger: the delicious new global warming snack of champions

One of the bonus side effects of global warming is that warming water is super hospitable to jellyfish. This will have impacts in the Chesapeake Bay as well – more open seas as marsh lands floods, along with warmer temperatures and dead zones caused by algae blooms all mean more jellyfish.

The fate of the crab cake sandwich that you love so much? Well, since blue crabs are in trouble due to loss of habitat, we’re going to have to replace them with the squishier and potentially less delicious jellyfish burger, like this one,

What Recession? Dominion Wants Raises, Guaranteed Profits

From The Green Miles

“The sustainability of our economic development successes are dependent on having a reliable energy source,” — Delacey Skinner, Gov. Tim Kaine’s communications director, talking about coal-fired power, March 31, 2008

I think of that quote every time I hear about how our continued dependence on coal-fired power is hurting consumers and businesses and leaving Virginians in the dark. The only thing dependable these days about coal-fired power is that it keeps getting more expensive. And the only thing reliable is Dominion’s guaranteed profits

RICHMOND, March 31 — Dominion Virginia Power is seeking to raise electricity rates 6.9 percent during the next 14 months to pay for equipment, salaries, plant construction and conservation projects. […]

Dominion said incremental increases proposed for Sept. 1 and Jan. 1 will pay for operating costs, power plants in Buckingham and Wise counties and conservation programs. The increase also includes a 13.5 percent profit for the company and its investors.

Dominion: Global Warming Starts HereAt a time when Virginia businesses are laying off workers, Dominion is asking them to divert more money away from their payrolls and towards Dominion’s payroll and profit.

The proposed 7 percent hike would be on top of the 18 percent rate increase we just got hit with in September. Oddly, the Washington Post article doesn’t mention the 1.5 percent fee Dominion quietly added in January to cover the cost of the new $2 billion coal-fired power plant in Wise County. Compounding the rate hikes, it would be more than a 28 percent total increase.

But surely our elected officials will take a stand for consumers … right?

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who does not have a formal role in reviewing the request, said Dominion officials informed him they would be seeking an increase.

“The SCC is a strong body with a great staff, and I think they will do due diligence on this,” he said. “It’s difficult because the cost of energy is going up.”

Wow. Dominion wants to raise customers’ energy bills more than 28 percent in the worst economy since the Great Depression, and all Gov. Kaine can muster is a shrugging “well, what’re ya gonna do”?

Our continuing dependence on dirty coal is taking money out of consumers’ pockets, costing Virginia jobs, stripping our natural resources, polluting our air, and warming our planet. Remember that the next time anyone tries to tell you we can’t switch to clean energy.

MilesGrant2009.com

Having fun, low-carbon style

With a new carbon-free economy in the works, we’re going to need to start thinking creatively about how we entertain ourselves. Seriously. The carbon-budget of a Hollywood blockbuster is generally out of control (transportation for starlets, megawatt lighting, building all those crazy pyramid sets…), so I think we should support more entertainment like this:

Why it’s awesome and low-carbon:

1. LEDs. Nuff said.

2. No special treatment for the sheep stars.

3. It’s outside, and involves all low impact technology for fun. Like dogs.

So here’s what I suggest. Next time you and your friends are looking for something fun to do, get on your bikes, grab some LEDs, and make your own fun. Extreme sheepherding style.

An Analysis of "The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009" discussion draft

The House Energy and Commerce Committee discussion draft, “The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” released on March 31st is very robust, a 648 page document. Based upon one reading of this document, these seem to be most of the significant provisions:

-It would establish a cap-and-trade system which sets mandatory and declining limits on greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) over the next 40 years. Emissions credits would be allocated to accomplish this, but the draft is silent on how many of those credits would be given away or auctioned, or perhaps distributed in some other way. This remains to be negotiated.

-It appears that the cap is more “downstream” than “upstream.” The summary of the document says that it “establishes a market-based program for reducing global warming pollution from electric utilities, oil companies, large industrial sources, and other covered entities that collectively are responsible for 85% of U.S. global warming emissions.” At several points throughout the document it describes a “covered entity” as one which emits at least 25,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

-The draft projects a 20% reduction in ghg’s from 2005 levels via the cap, which is about a 7% reduction below the 1990 baseline year. There is another 10% reduction projected via investments in prevention of deforestation outside the U.S., and there is another 0-6% projected via offsets.
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DC residents: save some green on local eco-products!

Want to save some $ while supporting sweet local businesses like Sticky Fingers (mmm, vegan treats!), Clean Currents (yay! wind cheaper than coal!), and Zipcar? (ok, so Zipcar’s not local. They’re still pretty awesome.)

Now you can with LiveGreen, a new organization where, for a membership of only $13, you get special deals and discounts from local eco-friendly businesses, from energy auditors to yoga studios to clean energy businesses. Check it out!

Now that’s what I call going green.

Clean Energy Center opens in Montgomery County


The Maryland Clean Energy Center announced the location of its new home today, right here in Montgomery County. This new center, a non-profit organization working jointly with the Maryland Energy Administration, Montgomery County, and the University sytem of MD, was created to promote clean energy development across the state, and create green jobs in MD.

County executive Isiah Leggett says of the center:

The center will provide a coordinated approach to building a strong clean energy economy in Maryland through technology commercialization, business incubation, and workforce development and training.

Even though it’s not quite up-and-running, this is a great step of hitting MD’s goal of creating at least 100,000 green jobs by 2015, and one more resource that we have in making a clean energy revolution a reality. Bonus: there are already job listings of green jobs that are hiring right now on their resources page. I encourage you to check it out, register your clean energy business (or non-profit activities) for their database, and help get this green jobs ball rolling.

Once again, MD does something awesome.

MD's Climate Bill

You all probably all know this by now, but the MD House of Delegates passed the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act 107-31 last Friday. Woo! Celebrate! (you should probably get your beer-drinking in while you still can)

Now you’re probably wondering a few things: What else needs to happen for the bill to become law? And, more importantly, what exactly will this piece of legislation do, and what does it mean for MD and the US?

Easy question first. The bill will go back to the Senate, where they will vote again to accept the minor amendments passed by the House (things like a provision to make sure that the Department of Agriculture is involved in discussions of offset programs). Then, it will be headed off to Governor O’Malley’s desk. To find out how your elected officials voted, click here (enter your zip code to see your legislators), and then send them a thank you email (or a spank you email, if they are still thinking that global warming is actually caused by sunspots).

So what does GGERA actually do, and why do we love it so much? GGERA sets a hard cap on carbon – meaning that the state has a mandate to reduce our global warming pollution at least 25% below 2006 levels by 2020. In addition, GGERA calls for the Maryland Department of the Environment to create a comprehensive plan on how we’ll get to these reductions by 2012. This does NOT mean that we are holding off on taking action until 2012 – instead, that is the date by which MDE must have all of the necessary programs up and ready to go. For more details on the nitty-gritty of the bill, check out this factsheet put together by MDE.

This bill has broader implications as well. First off (time for me to brag about MD), this is the STRONGEST bill passed by any state on climate legislation, especially when it comes to short term reduction targets. This also means that MD’s passage of a strong climate bill will help push our federal officials into passing a strong bill. Want to help? Become a Climate Precinct Captain, and organize for federal solutions in YOUR community.

Earth Hour


Blog cross-posted from: HERE

For those of you who don’t know, tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 people people from all around the globe are going to be turning off their lights in a symbolic gesture. There are also going to be many businesses, cities, and countries turning off the lights in the buildings and facilities they control to send a message. I even heard McDonalds is going to be dimming all of its M signs. This is supposed to represent a message that people want there to be action on the issue of climate change. While Earth Hour was of a decent size last year, this year it appears that there’s going to be a massive upswing in participation, which is a good thing considering the distractions going on around us right now like the economy.
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