Iowa Global Warming

President Obama said Wednesday the United States must take the lead on energy, citing the “enormous job creation potential that exists.”

Obama’s remarks came at the end of his first quarterly meeting with the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which was created in February to provide the administration with independent, nonpartisan advice on how to promote economic growth and stability.

The focus of Wednesday’s meeting, which was streamed live on the White House Web site, was job creation and green energy.

Obama told the board members he’s seen “some return to normalcy” in parts of the financial markets.
“But obviously, one of the things I’ve been concerned about since I took office is looking beyond the immediate crisis in front of us to find out what is a sustainable economic model, post bubble and bust,” he said.

Check out the rest of the article here.

An article released in Time Magazine this past month took a look at global temperatures, and found some interesting results. Is the world warming? Or cooling? Turns out, that depends on the time scale…

Read the article here

Another Time Magazine piece you might find interesting: here

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu made clear the Obama administration will be taking a markedly different path to approach global warming today in his first national interview. He took a hard line on global warming, affirming his belief that it’s real, dangerous, and needs to be addressed right now.

“I’m hoping that the American people will wake up,” he said, “I don’t think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen.” Foretelling action on his part and that of the Energy Department, he compared the current American state of mind to that of “A family buying an old house and being told by an inspector that it must pay a hefty sum to rewire it or risk an electrical fire that could burn everything down.”

Chu went on to cite specifically the serious droughts being experienced out west due to increasingly diminished snow packs in the Sierra Mountains, painting a grim picture of a potentially farm-less California.

The solution? Chu advocates more clean energy research, infrastructure, a national renewable electricity standard, and a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system. Sounds good to us.

Read more here

Every Tuesday, I’ll publish a blog post that summarizes and compiles some of the more interesting articles from the online environmental community. Follow the links at the end of each ‘blurb’ to read more, and feel free to email any questions, comments or thoughts to me at swelch@iowaglobalwarming.org.

“Often when I’m on TV, they’ll ask what are the three most important things for people to do [to stop global warming]. I know they want me to say that people should change their light bulbs. I say the number one thing is to organize politically; number two, do some political organizing; number three, get together with your neighbors and organize; and then if you have energy left over from all of that, change the light bulb.”
-Writer and Activist Bill McKibben (from Grist)

Interested in heeding Mr. McKibben’s advice? There are plenty of ways to get involved right here in Iowa, specifically with our organization (The Iowa Global Warming Campaign) and all of its political endeavors! To start with, you might want to visit our website and sign our petition to let your representatives know you care about climate change legislation and want change here in Iowa!

A peer-reviewed study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this past week found that the effects of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions will be felt not just 200, 300, or even 500 years into the future, but possibly up to 1,000 years from today. That would mean that carbon emitted during Leif Ericson’s first journey to North America is still affecting our atmosphere now, and might continue to in the future as well. Assuming that we are able to cap CO2 levels somewhere in the 450-600ppm range in the next few decades, the study predicts that rising sea levels, reduced snow-pack and Dust-Bowl Era farming conditions could continue well into the 3rd millennium. All the more reason to ensure the levels never get that high in the first place! Read more here (MSNBC), and make sure to check out this cool feature too!

An article in National Geographic Magazine this month called attention to a new study that contradicts the recent cooling trends reported for some areas of Antarctica. In recent months, Global warming skeptics have rallied around data that claimed only the peninsular area of the Antarctic had undergone dramatic warming in recent years, but now must contend information that says otherwise. Read more about the Western Antarctic warming here.

Proponents of home energy efficiency sill be excited to hear about the new “Architecture 2030: Challenge Stimulus Plan” announced earlier this month. The goal od the project is to ensure that “new and existing buildings meet energy consumption reduction targets, below an established benchmark of 30 percent, 50 percent, 75 percent and carbon neutral,” on a tiered timeline. Read more here (Green Energy News)

Interested in carpooling? Looks like plenty of other cities in the Midwest are already engaged in projects that limit unnecessary travel and single-car commuters. One project in Kansas City involving only 71 employees successfully prevented “2,169 pounds of hydrocarbons; 15,498 pounds of carbon monoxide; 930 pounds of nitrogen oxide; and 278,373 pounds of carbon dioxide” from being emitted into the local atmosphere. Read more here (EPA RSS Feed)

Finally, those interested in saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the work place should visit this site for information on how to make sure your office isn’t wasting valuable energy. Hosted by Energy Star and the EPA, the site will walk you through simple, cost-effective strategies to reduce your carbon footprint AND your energy bill, all at the same time.

That’s it for now. Remember to sign our petition and get involved in the fight to stop global warming!

See you next week!

What happens in the United States always matters enormously to Canadians, but I cannot remember the last time the inauguration of a new president generated so much interest.

When President-elect Barack Obama takes his oath of office, Canadians will sincerely wish him well, because we know that our safety and prosperity are inexorably linked to yours.

The health of the American economy is the No. 1 preoccupation in Canada, just as it is in your country. Our economies are deeply intertwined, and we cannot hope to thrive if you do not. We fervently hope that America’s commitment to open trade will be part of any strategy the new administration adopts to cope with the current crisis. Recourse to protectionist measures would not only harm all of America’s trading partners, chief among them its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, but also America itself by weakening export markets for its own products.

Canadians will also be keenly interested in the path Obama charts to tackle climate change. America is uniquely placed to induce a paradigm shift in our societies. Your position as a role model may have suffered of late, but for millions of people, American-style prosperity is still the standard to emulate. If you set ambitious targets for yourselves and invent a new, greener version of the “American way of life,” the ripple effects will be felt everywhere. Your willingness to lead is also our only hope of persuading emerging economies to carry a greater, if not entirely equal, share of the burden.

Read the full story here

Tom Vilsack is promising to use the U.S. Department of Agriculture to “aggressively address” global warming and energy independence.

In an opening statement prepared for his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for agriculture secretary also said he would use the department to “create real and meaningful opportunities” for farmers and to guarantee that rural communities grow and prosper.

The former Iowa governor provides no policy specifics in the relatively brief statement, just more than two pages in length. A copy of the statement was obtained by The Des Moines Register on Monday.

Vilsack’s hearing is before the Senate agriculture committee, which is chaired by Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin.

Senators typically use such hearings to impress their priorities on incoming members of the new administration. The nominees usually avoid discussing specific plans.

Vilsack said the USDA faces historic challenges because of the economic slowdown, global climate change and growing world demand for food.

Read the full article here

Climate change caused by greenhouse gases is warming the United States, though unevenly, government researchers said Thursday.

“The continent as a whole is warming, mostly as a result of the energy sources we are using,” William J. Brennan, acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a briefing on the nation’s climate since 1951.

But there is a “warming hole” where no change occurred in the center of the country, roughly between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians, added Martin Hoerling of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory.

Last year the International Panel on Climate Change, studying the planet as a whole, concluded that global warming is “unequivocal, is already happening, and is caused by human activity.”

Read the full story here

Ames, Ia. – Steve Schainker sometimes makes his rounds as Ames city manager in a two-seater Zenn, an electric car.

The tiny vehicle, plugged in to an electrical outlet behind City Hall, tops out at 25 mph and gets 35 miles to a charge. It is one of the more visible elements of an EcoSmart program designed to save fuel and to cut carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change.

Ames is one of 34 Iowa cities that have pledged to create strong local policies and programs to reduce global warming. From Shenandoah to Cedar Falls to Davenport to Des Moines, cities large and small are overhauling vehicle fleets, checking buildings for energy efficiency, and changing light fixtures to save money and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The efforts are paying dividends at the bank and in the air.

Read the full story here