Iowa Global Warming

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!

Blanche Formaro, 79, has lived in her house on Southeast Dunham Avenue in Des Moines since 1952. The house has survived two floods and frigid winters, but Formaro said a lot of air comes in the front door.

Or at least it did before Monday.

Volunteers with Iowa Global Warming turned out Monday to help Formaro weatherize her home. They taped plastic on the windows, changed her light bulbs to energy-efficient ones and put weather stripping on her front door.

“I appreciate it a whole bunch,” said Formaro, who has six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Basic weatherization of a home can save up to 30 percent on the energy bill, said Andrew Snow, campaign manager with Iowa Global Warming.

With the present economic crisis, there couldn’t be a better time to cut down on energy bills, Snow said.

About 30 volunteers weatherized 18 area homes Monday.

“When you get groups working together, we can really make a difference in people’s lives,” Snow said.

Excerpt from a longer article. Read the full story here

Something very exciting is going on right now. As I write this, there are almost 40 volunteers out in the Des Moines area helping members of our community reduce their energy use. They’re participating in the ‘Iowa Winter Weatherization Challenge’, an effort organized by the Iowa Global Warming Campaign and our partner group Iowa Interfaith Power and Light; as well as community groups such as the Central Iowa Recovery Network and Wesley Meals on Wheels.

Volunteers are covering windows and doors with plastic, weatherstripping and caulk as well as insulating behind electrical outlets and replacing old light bulbs with energy-saving CFLs. These weatherization measures can save up to 30% on energy bills – at a time when the deepening recession is causing Americans to worry about their finances, this is a very cost effective way to provide relief.

Obviously, weatherizing eighteen area homes is a very small way to address our wasteful energy use. But it shows homeowners things they can do at home to save energy and help solve our energy needs, and perhaps more importantly it highlights these opportunities for our decision makers. Energy Efficiency is the best and cheapest way to meet our energy needs and reduce greenhouse gases, and we need our leaders to make sure that we’re achieving all possible savings.

We support the proposed state and national EE legislation that is moving forward right now, and are going to need your help to get strong measures passed. I’ll let you know more about that soon, so stay tuned… and, in the meanwhile, tune in to the evening news tonight. You might see a neighbor’s home, or a friend volunteering to help someone in your community!

The scent of fast money in Washington has all manner of corporate interests scrambling to show they can create jobs, especially green ones. The prize is a slice of the Obama Administration’s stimulus package, expected to range from $675 billion to $775 billion in scale. But the President-elect’s transition team is warning interest groups that they won’t see any of the money unless their pet projects meet strict criteria.

First, the projects must be “shovel-ready”—that is, ready to go immediately. “They told us that for business to get anything, we have to prove there’s a short-term job impact—within six months,” explains Brent Erickson, vice-president of the Biotechnology Industry Assn. (BIO), which is pushing for biofuels production incentives. But the projects can’t put Uncle Sam on the hook to spend money for more than a year or two. “They have to be temporary, not creating a permanent need for funding,” says Dow Chemical (DOW) lobbyist Peter Molinaro.
A “Feeding Frenzy” of Proposals

Hiring ditch diggers would get shovels in the ground fast, of course. But Obama’s team is most interested in projects that will speed America toward a greener, cleaner future, reducing both energy dependence and the emissions that cause global warming.

Read the full article here

Solving our global-warming problems is the moral, economic, policy, political and technological challenge of our times. Fortunately, there are smart, clean renewable-energy and energy-efficiency developments and clean-car innovation strategies that are good for the economy, create new green jobs and improve the environment.

The naysayers keep arguing that reducing global-warming pollution is too expensive and too difficult. We’ve heard this refrain before: Seat belts supposedly would dramatically increase the costs of cars, make no safety difference and wouldn’t be used by drivers and riders. Catalytic converters wouldn’t really reduce pollution and would make cars unaffordable. Reducing sulfur dioxide that causes acid rain would cause electric rates to skyrocket and not help the environment very much.

Read the full article here