Posts Tagged climate

Generation Hot: Impact of climate change on children

Mar 31

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“A new father comes to terms with his hopes and fears for his daughter’s future with climate change, and the solutions he came across.

This story originally aired on PRI’s Living on Earth.

Being a parent these days is tough. There’s a lot to worry about: Will my kids get jobs, can we afford their education? And now: How will climate change affect their future? Until journalist Mark Hertsgaard became a dad, he didn’t take this global issue personally. Now he does.

Hertsgaard’s new book, “Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth,” tells the story of a new father’s attempt to come to terms with his fears and his hopes for the future. Recently on Living on Earth, he talked about what led him to write the book.”

Read more and Listen to the originally aired story: Generation Hot: Impact of climate change on children via Public Radio International – Living on Earth

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US Climate Change Concerns Approach Record Low

Mar 15

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“I could editorialize about this for a while, but here’s the straight story: A new Gallup poll found that just 51% of respondents said the worry “a great deal” or “fair amount” about climate change. That’s one percentage point away from the all-time low recorded in 1997. It’s also down from a high of 66% registered in 2008.

Other bits of drooping concern for the future (yes, some editorializing…) included a drop of eleven percentage points when it comes to people believing that the effects of climate change are already occurring, now down to 49% of respondents.”

Climate Change Concerns Approach Record Low via Matthew McDermott – TreeHugger

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Generation Hot Meets Generation Coal

Feb 21

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“Mark Hertsgaard has posted a piece defending his push against “climate cranks,” including an apology for his errant description of his relationship with  Politico.]

Mark Hertsgaard, a journalist and author long focused on the environment, has a new book and a related environmental campaign. The book, “ Hot,” focuses on building resilience to climatic and related challenges looming in the next 50 years. I’ve just started reading it this weekend.

This post is not focused on the book. This week, Hertsgaard took his “ Generation Hot” campaign to Washington to confront lawmakers fighting restrictions on emissions of greenhouse gases. He calls such politicians “climate cranks.” You might also call them “Generation Coal.”

Generation Hot Meets Generation Coal via Andrew Revkin – NY Times DotEarth

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Climate Cranks Gin Up The Right Wing Noise Machine

Feb 21

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“The right-wing media machine is a large part of the reason why denial of climate change persists in the United States long after the rest of the world has acknowledged the problem. Over the past few days, I’ve gotten a close-up look at how the machine works, because I’ve been its target.

Last Tuesday, February 15, I went to Capitol Hill on a mission: to confront the climate cranks who still refuse to accept what virtually every major scientific organization in the world, starting with our own National Academy of Sciences, has concluded: man-made climate change is real, happening now and extremely dangerous.”

Climate Cranks Gin Up The Right Wing Noise Machine via Mark Hertsgaard – Huffington Post

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Climate change: Galileo moment for GOP

Feb 16

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“Will it take the Republican Party as long to accept modern science as it took the Roman Catholic Church? The church waited 359 years to admit Galileo was right — the earth does move around the sun. Not until 1992 did the Vatican officially withdraw its condemnation of the man Albert Einstein called the father of modern science.

Today, even children know that the earth revolves around the sun. But that idea was heresy to the 17th-century church. When Galileo would not abandon his views, the Inquisition put him on trial in 1633. He was forced to recant under penalty of death, then lived under house arrest for the rest of his life.

Now the House Republican majority is launching its own attack on Galileo’s scientific descendants. Rejecting mainstream climate science became a GOP litmus test during the 2010 midterm elections. Republican leaders then floated the idea of putting mainstream climate science on trial in congressional hearings.”

Read more: Climate change: Galileo moment for GOP via Mark Hertsgaard – Politico

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Eat the Sky: The Food and Climate Connection

Jan 25

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Eat the Sky: The Food and Climate Connection via Anna Lappe – CSRWire Talkbacks

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Everything Is Negotiable, Except With Nature: You Can’t Bargain About Global Warming With Chemistry and Physics

Dec 16

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Everything Is Negotiable, Except With Nature: You Can’t Bargain About Global Warming With Chemistry and Physics by Bill Mckibben via Huffington Post

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“Continuation of the Kyoto Protocol Cannot be Put Under Conditions"

Dec 9

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Press Office – Venezuelan Embassy to the U.S. / December 7, 2010

Claudia Salerno, Venezuela’s Envoy for Climate Change, during an Interview with Democracy Now!

“The continuation of Kyoto cannot be put under negotiation, conditions or blackmails, because it’s the only legally biding agreement we have to actually control the emissions from the big countries,” said Claudia Salerno, Venezuela’s especial envoy for climate change, during an interview with Amy Goodman broadcast by Democracy Now from Cancun.

Delegates from 193 nations are gathered in Cancun to participate in the XVI Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will be held until December 10.

“Kyoto is important for the world because it’s the only legally binding agreement we have to actually control the emissions of the big countries, which are actually historically responsible for what we are living right now,” she emphasized during the interview.

Salerno also represents the member-states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) in the Cancun negotiations, when this alliance agrees to participate as a bloc in the negotiations. ALBA is a Latin American political alliance formed by Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela.

When asked about whether ALBA countries would pull out of the talks in case a legally biding agreement is not reached, Salerno clarified that this regional bloc never considered abandoning the discussions. “We, the ALBA countries, never said that we would leave this process if something doesn’t come up. We criticized that blackmailing approach (…) No, even in the worst minutes of Copenhagen we did not leave, and we will never ever leave,” she highlighted.

Additionally, Salerno said that the countries that didn’t sign the Kyoto Protocol, such as the United States, should not have the power of decision in an agreement they are not part of. “It’s an irony how the system is functioning. The only country that is not part of the Kyoto Protocol [the U.S.] has the power to end it. That’s unfair. It’s unfair to the rest of the countries that signed it and ratified it,” she emphasized.

“Obligation cannot be blackmailed, obligations have to be enforced and fulfilled,” added the Venezuelan negotiator.

The U.S., whose Congress did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, doesn’t want to assume a commitment for a second round of obligations in this agreement, once the first deadline for achieving those commitments finishes in 2012. Japan, for its part, announced in Cancun this same position, which has created an environment of disconcert and keeps the negotiations at a standstill. According to the experts, this would mean the death of the Kyoto protocol.

During the interview, broadcast by WPFW Pacifica Radio, Salerno pointed out that Venezuela, even as an oil-exporting country has a long tradition of commitments with the environment. Furthermore, she highlighted that Venezuela is part of the Amazonian basin and has one the largest protected areas in Latin America.

“We were the first country in Latin America to have a Ministry of Environment, and the first country of the region to have a penal law on the environment, so we are very committed with the environment,” Salerno added.

As an example, the Venezuelan diplomat said that 60 million conventional light bulbs were replaced by energy-saving light bulbs in Venezuela, part of a joint project with the country’s  communities.

In several meetings, President Chávez has reiterated his government’s commitment with the environment and, therefore, with the rational consumption of natural resources in Venezuela. The Venezuelan leader has also insisted on the need to change the predator model of the neoliberal system, which is destroying nature.

See the full interview with Democracy Now! here. (Minute 13:00.)

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Bill McKibben: Climate Talks So Weakened by U.S., Major Polluters that Walkout Could Be Good News for Planet

Dec 7

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Bill Mckibben: Climate Talks So Weakened by U.S., Major Polluters that Walkout Could Be Good News for Planet via Democracy Now!

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9th Annual San Francisco Green Festival hosts over 34,000 participants, gives back to green economy and engages community year-round

Dec 6

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San Francisco – Green Festival hosted more than 34,000 socially and environmentally conscious participants on November 6-7, to celebrate what’s working in regional communities and engage in solutions to create a cleaner, greener and more socially-responsible world. Green Festival, the nation’s premier sustainability event, stimulated the green economy by giving back $24,000 to more than 300 local, regional and national sustainable businesses through the new “GF Bucks” admissions policy. Also, new this fall, Green Festival gave 10,000 free tickets, a $150,000 value, to local non profit organizations and asked community members to give back to their local communities in exchange for free admission.

Green Festival’s new admissions policy, “Pay it Forward, Get it Back at Green Festival,” engaged community members with 10 local non profit organizations to create year-round community involvement. These non profit allies engaged with new volunteers and donors by providing free Green Festival admission as incentive.

Highlights of the weekend included inspiring presentations from 350.0rg founder Bill Mckibben, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and empowering activist Dolores Huerta.  Additional highlights included eco-fashion shows, a screening of the movie “Ghetto Physics” and fun interactive art projects, creepy crawly insects and reptiles in Annie’s Green Kid’s Zone

Green Festival partnered with T-Mobile to recycle old, unused cell phones in exchange for free admission. T-Mobile representatives were thrilled to report that 560 cell phones were collected at Green Festival for recycling, as well as a large amount of phone accessories, such as wall and car chargers. Recycling cell phones is incredibly important, as it aids the recycling of energy and preserves a significant amount of precious resource metals, including gold, silver, copper and palladium.

The San Francisco Food Bank and KPIX CBS 5 partnered with Green Festival to host a food drive in which nonperishable cans were donated for free admission. Over 3,000 lbs of food was collected and distributed to families in need in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday. According to the SF Foodbank, in San Francisco, 197,000 people struggle each day to feed themselves and their families.

“The generous donation of food collected at Green Festival will aid the SF Food Bank in delivering nutritious and delicious Thanksgiving meals for over 35,000 families throughout San Francisco and Marin,” says Events and Food Drives Manager, Jessica Brittsan. “Every donation helps in the fight to end hunger in our community.”

A project of Green America and Global Exchange, two leading non profit organiza­tions dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than twenty-six years, Green Festival serves as a foundation to explore and build sustainable solutions to benefit communities and the environment, discover new environmentally-friendly products and practices and connect with like minded individuals from all over the nation.

In a continuing commitment to green event management, Green Festival diverted over 31,000 lb. of waste over the weekend, for a 93.5% per cent diversion rat

Green Festival will return to San Francisco April 9th and 10th, 2011. For information and regular news updates, visit http://www.greenfestivals.org. Also, keep up with continuing news from exhibitors, partners and more on the new Green Festival press portal at http://www.greenfestivals.org/press or through Twitter @GreenFestival and Facebook.

Special thanks to: Made, Earthbound Farm, Park Merced, Nissan LEAF and KPFA.

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About Green America

Green America is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1982, providing the economic strategies, organizing power and practicing tools for businesses and individuals to address today’s social and environmental problems. Its Green Business Network is the largest national network of businesses screened for their social and environmental responsibility.  www.greenamericatoday.org

About Global Exchange

Global Exchange is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has successfully increased public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change. www.globalexchange.org

About Seven-Star, Inc.

Seven-Star, Inc. is the nation’s premier green full-service event company focusing exclusively on green events. Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services for environmentally Responsible and socially Respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences and concerts. From the greening of the 2007 International Live Earth events, to the 2008 Democratic National Convention events, to producing the nation’s largest consumer Green Festivals, Seven-Star has defined itself as the company for eR/sR event production. Seven-Star is the first event company to have won the EPA’s Gold Waste Wise Award for Excellence in recognition for their proprietary system of event waste diversion, which has consistently achieved greater than 85%. www.sevenstarevents.com

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