Sorry it has been a while since I last posted on the blog! I was away on vacation on the New England coast.
As I was reflecting on the trip, I realized that last week I probably admired some beauty on the New England coastline that will soon disappear. That's right, Global Warming: It's real and if we don't do something about it, oceans will rise and we will lose a lot of our coastal areas. If you think I am crazy and you don't believe that global warming is caused by human activity, you are not alone. According to the chart above from a study by the Pew Research Center, only 49% of the public thinks that the earth is getting warmer because of human activity. However, an overwhelming majority of scientists--84%--agree that the earth is getting warmer because of human activity.
Continue reading "Global Warming: It's Real, It's Happening--What are We Doing About it?" »
Earth Day is one of my favorite days, but today is 5 days after the day we honor our Earth (technically 6), so why I am still talking about it?
On April 22nd ever year, it is popular to talk about how great the environment is and how much we should be doing to end climate change, protect endangered species, promote clean energy, and the like. And on April 23rd, we move on to other things and we all pat ourselves on the back for being such good environmentalists on Earth Day.
Along the same lines, greenwashing has also become a hip, new trend, as this Earth Day comic indicates. This is especially true of advertising. Every product and every company is trying to convince us that they are "green". (One of my pet peeves is seeing ads in the metro station from Chevron asking me to go green...I don't need an oil company telling me how to save the environment.) The greenwashing of politicians' speeches is also a growing epidemic. And yet, despite the cacophany of voices claiming to be green, the kind of massive, system change that we need seems far from realization.
The point of all of this is to say that I don't want to just add to the mass of people trying to capitalize on the "green revolution." So I am going to ask us to do something different this year. Today, not less than five days after Earth Day, I am asking us to take seriously the plea to make every day Earth Day.
On April 22nd, Obama made his Earth Day speech proclaiming: "My Administration is also working to achieve a comprehensive energy and climate policy, one that will lessen our dependence on foreign oil, make the U.S. the global leader in clean energy technology, and prevent the worst impacts of climate change. "
The President is encouraging action. And Congress is moving toward action on climate legislation....Finally! A first draft of climate change legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was released. Now WE must act! The proposed legislation needs to be improved by leaving out the carbon trading and simply capping carbon emissions. Congress also needs to ensure that the revenue from this system is returned to consumers. Take the opportunity today to show that you care about the earth every day by writing your members of Congress, encouraging them to pass climate legislation with these improvements.
Write your letter here!
Another way that you can work to create a more sustainable world is by donating to organizations like Outreach International which helps to better the environment and the lives of the poor. Check out this amazing story!
-Stephen Donahoe
How are you celebrating earth day today?
I had the opportunity to go to a presentation a couple weeks ago about forest gardens, a subset of the permaculture movement. This is really only the second time I have been exposed to the ideas of permaculture, but it sounds really interesting. I was especially intrigued by the way in which permaculture seeks long-term sustainability.
This definition by the Permaculture Institute sums up the concept pretty well: "Permaculture is an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of human endeavor. It teaches us how build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities and much more. "
Continue reading "Permaculture: Creating a More Sustainable World " »
Having grown up close to the gulf coast all of my life, I have seen my share of hurricanes. There are pictures of me on the sand of Gulf Shores, AL, forcing all of my weight forward in the wind –gripping smile, flapping hair – I was always one for a thrill. I loved hurricanes namely because of my innocence. I’d never experienced a hurricane strong enough to do much damage (other than ruin my beach vacation) and I always had a strong, stable shelter where I felt nothing but safe. Unfortunately, that's not the case for thousands if not millions of people on the Gulf Coast and in many other countries that experienced the devastating effects of Gustav.
As I have been visiting the amazing sites of Washington DC, I have been absolutely thoroughly impressed by the amount of human ingenuity that it has taken to build everything--the National Cathedral, the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument are spectacular. And while I realize the value of buildings, I became a little disheartened, because I wished that the ingenuity used on these structures could have been used to help solve the problems of poverty, war, environmental destruction. And then I stumbled upon these globes outside of the US Botanic Gardens.
Each globe represents one thing that we could do to make our world more sustainable. One covered with windmills encourages us to push for more wind power. Another covered with all kinds of colorful trash asks that we simply consume less. And one lined with bottle caps encourages us to buy recycled products.
I am participating in a growing network of anti-globalization environmental activists. We have no centralized headquarters, no bylaws, no mission statement. We also tend to be a dirty bunch – especially the fingernails! I’m speaking of a quiet sector of the local food revolution known as home gardeners. As a passionate organic gardener, I grow way more than my family can eat.
Continue reading "Gardening as activism: Working for the earth, one organic tomato at a time" »
Have you been keeping up with the Olympics in Beijing? Having lived in southwestern China for almost two years, I find myself glued to the TV – not necessarily during the gymnastics competitions or the swimming races but the B-roll of the vast landscape, the sea of bikes, the glistening food. These images bring me back to those two years – I can almost taste the lotus root and fish-smelling eggplant right now (I promise it’s amazing.) Unfortunately, I also taste the grime on my tongue and in my nose from a long bike ride in the smog. While Beijing has dramatically cut the smog for the Olympics, the athletes and visitors can still see those dirty molecules in the air and feel it in their lungs. I remember the claustrophobia I felt almost every time I walked outside to enjoy the day.
