Maryland Citizens Rally for Real Global Warming Solutions

This morning in Annapolis, I was one of over 70 Maryland citizens and students gathered outside the state house to support the Maryland Commission on Climate Change and Governor Martin O’Malley. Backed by a giant yellow banner calling for science-based reductions in global warming pollution of at least 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, speakers from the newly formed Alliance for Global Warming Solutions and politicians spoke of the importance of taking real action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. The Alliance delivered over 5,000 (!!!) postcard petitions to the Governor and Commission members asking the state leaders for a firm commitment and swift action!

The Time to Commit is Now!

Last April, Governor O’Malley created the MD Commission on Climate Change to study the effects of global warming in Maryland and to make an action plan to deal with them. And believe me, Maryland may seem small, but just like in every other place, the effects of global warming will cause massive changes. Maryland, with over 3,100 miles of coastline, is the third most vulnerable state to sea level rise- after Louisiana and Florida. With just a small rise in sea level rise, Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay culture and much of the Eastern Shore will be dramatically impacted. Even Allstate Insurance Company is no longer issuing new flood policies in coastal Maryland.

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And today before the Commission’s third meeting, we turned out to rally the Commission and the Governor to set firm commitments to science-based reductions of at least 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. It was incredible to see how many people had come from out of town, or taken the day off work. Armed with a giant hourglass, Claire Douglass, CCAN’s Maryland Campaign director, showed how with every passing minute and every turn of the hourglass, Marylanders are pumping 350,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere.

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I was inspired by the overwhelming grassroots support and dedicated political leaders (including state Sen. Paul Pinsky and Del. Kumar Barve, who spoke at the rally). Maryland is the position to become a national leader in the fight against climate change. Click here to send an email to Governor O’Malley and the Commissioners to thank them for their support and to encourage them to make a commitment to science-based reductions.

As Claire said, “These are achievable reductions. We can do this, we must do this, but we have to act now.”

Hansen: Declaration of Stewardship

Jim Hansen has clearly determined that the time to stay silent has long past. That urgency demands urgent voices. That he must — and other scientists — should speak out forcefully.

Hansen is not just speaking forcefully, he is also speaking eloquently. This past week, at a Re-Energize America event, Hansen gave a speech that spoke to the risks of Global Warming and discussed his draft Declaration of Stewardship for the Earth and all Creation to be asked of every candidate (at all levels).

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1998: Still Hot

You may have heard this from a conservative friend already, but NASA recalculated its temperature records for 1998 and the year is no longer the hottest in the 48 states (1934 is). Hill Heat has a good synopsis of the political fallout- sometimes more interesting than the science itself. RealClimate has a good rundown on the science. What your conservative friend did not tell you is that the differences are statistically insignificant. Anyway, the problem with the NASA data was found by a blogger from http://www.climateaudit.org/. Nice work, Steve McIntyre. You get the gold star for analyzing primary data and for paying attention.

The data record still indicates that temperatures on the surface of the Earth are getting warmer. The data corrections are for anomalies of surface air temperatures for the 48 states and do not change the fact that temperatures in 19 of the past 26 years globally have been setting records, and that 2005 was the warmest year on record for the globe. According to RealClimate:

More importantly for climate purposes, the longer term US averages have not changed rank. 2002-2006 (at 0.66 Continue reading

Coal Keeps on Killing…

If you don’t mind, I would like to take a second to say a couple words on coal…

What is there to like about coal as a major source of power in Virginia? That it is cheap? I don’t buy that. I am not about to pull out the spread-sheets, slide-rulers, and protractors — but just a quick (and unscientific) look at the big picture when it comes to coal can give you pretty good insight into the real cost of coal.

Coal is a primary killer of our climate. Coal now accounts for nearly half of Virginia’s energy consumed, a statistic that is disturbing at best considering the impacts that coal is widely acknowledged to be having on our climate. Global warming is impacting our Virginia’s coast lines, ecosystems, and economies today — continuing to use coal is committing ourselves to an uncertain future at best; a global catastrophe at worst.

Coal is killing residents of Virginia. Pollutants emitted from coal fired power generators in the region greatly increase incidences of cancer and asthma among all that are unlucky enough to breath in the toxic air. Coal is a major contributor to those “code red” smog days, particularly in the DC metropolitan area where coal power plants send 180,000 people to the hospital every year. The elderly, children and people with pre-existing health issues are particularly vulnerable and likely to be the affected.

Coal is killing coal miners. 400 coal miners die annually from black lung. 47 Coal miners died from mine related accidents in 2006 alone — an 80% increase from the previous year! The current and tragic plight of the six miners trapped in Utah is unfortunately not unique. CCAN wishes for their safe return and will work tirelessly to help ensure that one day we live a world where coal is no longer needed to sustain energy or employment needs.

So where am I going with all this? Add it up. Coal kills our climate which will impact our coastal economies through increased insurance costs, loss of land, and disaster relief aide. Coal kills regular people and coal miners alike and puts hundreds of thousands in the hospital cost individuals and tax payers a substantial sum. These unaccounted for consequences of coal cost us millions if not billions annually and that is unacceptable.

Solar panels don’t cause cancer. Wind power doesn’t raise our sea levels. Clean energy saves lives and money, both today and tomorrow.

Arctic Sea Ice at All Time Low

Arctic Ice Melt

On August 9th the Northern Hemisphere sea ice area broke the record for the lowest recorded ice area in recorded history. The new record came a full month before the historic summer minimum typically occurs. There is still a month or more of melt likely this year. It is therefore almost certain that the previous 2005 record will be annihilated by the final 2007 annual minimum closer to the end of this summer.

The University of Illinois Ice site, which monitors Arctic sea ice, is reporting:

In previous record sea ice minima years, ice area anomalies were confined to certain sectors (N. Atlantic, Beaufort/Bering Sea, etc). The character of 2007’s sea ice melt is unique in that it is dramatic and covers the entire Arctic sector. Atlantic, Pacific and even the central Arctic sectors are showing large negative sea ice area anomalies.

Read more on Daily Kos.

The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of previous predictions made by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. This means the ocean at the top of the world could be free or nearly free of summer ice by 2020, three decades sooner than the global panel’s gloomiest forecast of 2050.

Quit ruining the rich people's views!

Daily Show’s Jason Jones took on the Cape Wind debate on the Wednesday, 8/8, show. An offshore wind farm is being proposed in Nantucket Sound, which would provide energy for 75% of the region. The project is facing opposition from the Kennedy family and other wealthy coastal homeowners, partly because their houses (including the “Kennedy Compound”) would be in sight of the turbines.

The wind farm is unique not only because it would replace a bunker oil and natural gas power plant, but also because it would be the first wind farm of its size in the US. For more about the controversy, go to Wikipedia’s very good page, here.

To view this great video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEaOkhWOZ1A

No Time for Activism as Usual

“The Weather Makers,” a book by Tim Flannery, is one of the best sources for those who want to understand the global heating process that is seriously destabilizing the world’s climate. In it, Flannery explains the three main Continue reading

Stepping it Up … second time around …

Global Warming is a massive challenge. It requires serious commitment for change toward a better tomorrow, change from government and from individuals. Government action can help drive (and facilitate) individual action. And, well, individual action — individuals acting in concert — can help drive government action.

That second, individuals combining to drive a government response, is the core to Step-It-Up. And, after a massive set of actions earlier this year (1400 rallies across the nation), Bill McKibben is organizing another day of citizen engagement for 3 November 2007. This is something that everyone (EVERYONE) should engage with …

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