With oil continuing to spew from the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico at a potentially growing rate- the size of the slick has tripled in the past couple of days– many experts are now worried that this spill may affect more than just the gulf coast.
Tidwell on @katiecouric: US Energy Policy To Blame for Spill
Katie Couric interviewed CCAN director and coastal Louisiana expert Mike Tidwell about the massive oil spill in the Gulf and its potential consequences to coastal communities.
Tidwell Talks Oil Spill on the Diane Rehm Show
Coastal Louisiana author and CCAN director Mike Tidwell spoke to Diane Rehm this morning about the oil spill and its impact on the already vulnerable Louisiana coasts. Tidwell’s 2003 best-selling book “Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast” catalogued how the Louisiana wetlands are vulnerable to oil drilling activity as well as the related consequences of climate change.
Mike has reported extensively from the drilling fields of the Gulf of Mexico and can speak directly to the enormous scale and scope of the drilling operation there.
The show also features Jackie Savitz, Pollution Campaign Director and Senior Scientist for Oceana, Stephen Power, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and Rayola Dougher, senior economic adviser for the American Petroleum Institute.
Tragic oil spill = smarter climate bill?
Several weeks before president Obama made the tragic decision to approve expanded offshore drilling, Maryland Senators Cardin and Mikulski joined eight other coastal-state senators on a letter to their colleagues Kerry, Lieberman and Graham pressing the trio to keep expanded offshore drilling out of their now-floundering climate and energy package.
In the letter the Senators warned about the serious threats such drilling posed to their coast lines:
While technological advances have attempted to lower the environmental and economic risks of drilling, experience has shown that no technology is foolproof. Since 1964 offshore operators have had 40 spills of greater than 42,000 gallons
Support Ted Glick! New trial date approaching
Our very own Ted Glick is headed to a jury trial on May 11th in Washington, D.C. All the way back on Sept. 8th, 2009 (the day Congress returned from its summer recess) he hung a banner that said: “Green Jobs Now, Get to Work.”
It’s ironic and sad that this call for action is as relevant now as it was eight months ago.
The trial was originally set to take place in late February but was postponed until May 11th. Prosecutors have made it clear that they want to make an example of Ted because of prior convictions for similar actions. Their plea deal, which he rejected, was that if he pleaded guilty he’d have to serve 30 days in jail.
Ted’s going to be defending himself, with the assistance of attorney Ann Wilcox. An important part of his defense will be to fill the courtroom with supporters. Can you come out and show your support?
If possible, it’s preferable that you come in the morning when the jury is selected. Of course, if you can only make it for the afternoon, that would also be greatly appreciated. The trial will take place in the Superior Court building, 500 Indiana Ave. NW. Ted’s judge will be Judge Frederick Weisberg. Hope to see you there!
Forget Humpty-Dumpty, Move Forward with CLEAR Bill
Rabbi Arthur Waskow and the Shalom Center recently announced their support of the CLEAR Act. Here’s a piece he recently wrote about the legislation:
Even if Senators Kerry and Lieberman can put Humpty-Dumpty back together again after losing Senator Graham’s support for what used to be the KGL (Kugel) bill for climate control, far better is the CLEAR bill introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (Democrat) of Washington State and Susan Collins (Republican) of Maine. It is often named “cap and dividend” because it prevents any Wall Street trades in carbon credits, and returns 75% of the money gathered from auctioning rights to emit CO2 to the American people: dividends of about $1,000 a year to every legal resident of the US. The other 25% will go to research on renewable energy sources.
It is now the only climate bill with bipartisan support, and could attract grassroots support because it gives most of the money to the people, not big corporations or the government.
Those dividends to the people will offset the cost of higher fuel prices for the poor and the middle class, and will build a Main Street rather than Wall Street political constituency for CO2 controls. CLEAR
A BIG Victory!
Wow. Today is a great day for the climate movement and our nation as a whole. After months of hearing rumors about the possible dreadful components of the Senate climate bill and President Obama’s announcement to open our coasts for offshore drilling, with Virginia at the top of that list, we finally have a victory to celebrate. This afternoon, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar announced his agency’s approval of the Cape Wind project. This project, nine years in the making, will meet 75% of the area’s electricity needs with clean, renewable energy. Finally, the US is moving toward a clean energy future.
This announcement is incredibly personal for me because I spent almost 4 years trying to make this project a reality. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see it through to the end but the victory is just as sweet from a distance. Now I am using my experience and knowledge to push offshore wind for Virginia, which hopefully won’t take another decade to come to fruition. Just yesterday I was appointed to DEQs offshore wind Regulator Advisory Panel to flesh out the permitting and siting guidelines for projects off our coasts. This is going to be a daunting task but I look forward to the adventure.
And on a side note, the DMME opened up the appliance rebate program for Virginia residents today so if you are thinking of buying a new energy star appliance check their website first! Hurry up though because these funds will run out quickly!
"Step up and show leadership"
CCAN had a strong presence at Earth Day Network’s huge climate rally on the Mall yesterday. The Earth Day celebration attracted tens of thousands of people and it didn’t rain!
CCAN’s Keith Harrington was featured in this piece by the local ABC affiliate:
40 Day Earth Day Video Contest
Friends at Solar Energy World forwarded me this press release, which I wanted to pass along. Seems like a great opportunity to win a pretty significant prize for your favorite nonprofit.
40 Day Earth Day Video Contest Extends Earth Day Celebrations, Encourages Children, Teens to Promote Environmental Awareness
Two $2,500 Prize Donations for Best Videos to Be AwardedJessup, Md. (April 22, 2010)
Mother Earth Day in Cochabamba
With the poor people of the earth
I want to share my fate
The brook of the mountains
Gives me more pleasure than the sea-the last verse of the song, “Guantanamera,” by Jose Marti
Riding in a taxi yesterday early in the morning of the last day of the World Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, my driver told me, as we passed the big stadium in Cochabamba where the concluding event was being held later that afternoon, that the stadium held 30,000 people. If he was right, then there were 30,000 people celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Mother Earth Day, in Cochabamba yesterday.
I’d be surprised if there was a bigger Earth Day event anywhere in the world. And it sure would be a nice surprise to find out that this likely reality was reported in the mainstream news sources of the USA. After all, just like the 117 nations at Copenhagen that supported 350 parts per million as the objective that the world needs to get to as far as carbon in the atmosphere, those 30,000 people, and the many like them around the world, just don