Senators call for EPA Admin Johnson to resign

From the Wonk Room:

In a sobering speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) formally announced the request for a Department of Justice investigation into the potential criminal conduct of EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, whom he called “a man after Spiro Agnew’s own heart.”

Whitehouse listed five charges of “putting the interests of corporate polluters before science and the law” in ozone, lead, soot, tailpipe emissions, and global warming pollution; and four charges of degrading “the procedures and institutional safeguards that sustain the agency;” before discussing “his apparent dishonesty in testimony before Congress.”

See the video.

Driving down 30B mi in 2008, GHG down 29B lbs

On the news last night, a TV anchor bemoaned the gas tax revenues that were being lost due to US consumers driving 10 billion less miles in May. ClimateProgress shares that gas prices have reduced US driving by 30 billion miles from January to May "according to the Federal Highway Administration’s monthly report on 'Traffic Volume Trends.' This follows a 4.5 billion mile drop in April and 'the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history' in March."

Yes, it's true that gas tax revenues are dependent on volume sold, not price. But think about it this way. The average personal vehicle in the US gets 20 miles per gallon. So far this year, we have reduced gas consumption by 1.5 billion gallons. A gallon of gas when combusted emits about 19.56 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent. Americans have saved 29,340,000,000 (29.34 billion) pounds of CO2e from entering the atmosphere so far this year.

Hey President Bush! I think your "aspirational targets" are working! Who knew that doing nothing would be so effective at reducing greenhouse gases?

Save money on gas or spend it: it's your paycheck

CNN has a new feature that calculates how long you have to work to fill up your gas tank. I have to work 1.66 hours. I have a small tank.

Want to save money on gas? Here are a few posts that will give you pointers. Try the tips listed and let me know how they work!

• Hypermiling: Tips to save gas MPG and money
• 12 summer tips to saving energy and money
• Save energy, money, and emissions from your car
• Your carbon dioxide emissions matter
• Overview: Reduce carbon. Save money!
• EDF Tips for a healthy, low-carbon life

US #1 producer of wind power

A little national pride here: livescience reports that the US has taken the lead in global wind production:

Germany previously held this distinction, though since the United States has about 26 times more land than Germany, the milestone isn't a huge surprise. Nonetheless, we weren't expected to reach this point until late 2009.

"Our wind energy capacity is growing faster than anyplace else," said Randall Swisher, the executive director of the American Wind Energy Association, the national trade organization for the wind energy industry. "So it's no longer really alternative energy. This is very mainstream."

NRDC: MD in top ten for reducing oil dependency

NRDC released a report this week that puts Maryland in the top 10 states that are working to reduce dependency on oil. According to a press release by Maryland's Governor O'Malley, "The report ranked Maryland second overall among states that are making eco-friendly public transportation a high priority." See the full report here. The average driver in Maryland spent 4-5% of their income on gasoline in 2007. Some other interesting facts from the report about Maryland:

• is one of 18 states that seeks to adopt clean car standards
• has incentives for hybrids and plug-in hybrids
• has standards for state fleet efficiency
• has idling restrictions
• lacks state-sponsored grants for R&D on cars/fuels
• lacks a low carbon fuel standard
• lacks clean fuels fueling station initiatives
• lacks a reduction target for vehicle miles travelled (perhaps in the new State plan to be released on or around 8/11/08?)
• Lacks a state mechanism for "coordinated development" [specifically relating to public investments]
• has a growth management act
• spends 38.08% of its transportation money on public transit

GW report: "It is clear. It is chilling. It is detailed"

I am not a conspiracy theorist, so when I tell you something is a conspiracy, you can trust that I'm not reporting from my parents' basement in a tin foil hat on a short wave radio. The Bush Administration is actively conspiring to suppress climate change science in order to prevent the US from addressing global warming, to the point that Congress is trying to hold EPA administrator Johnson in contempt. Here are some recent highlights:

From McClatchy:

The Environmental Protection Agency told the Bush administration that by law California should be able to set air-quality standards that were tougher than federal law, but President Bush rejected the advice and made clear that he wanted a single national standard, a former EPA official said Tuesday.

The testimony from whistleblower Jason Burnett came as the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee's chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is investigating what she charges is an effort by the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's office to cover up the threat from global warming.

Burnett told the committee that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson went to the White House last year with a plan to grant California a waiver that would allow it to set tougher standards, at least for several years. Bush made it clear that he preferred a single national standard, Burnett said, and in the end Johnson denied California's request.

From Hartford Courant:

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency told the Bush administration in December that high levels of man-made heat-trapping gases are causing global warming and endanger the American people, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said Thursday after she reviewed the EPA finding, which has not been made public.The document is important because the Supreme Court ruled last year that if the EPA administrator finds greenhouse gases endanger the public, then the government must regulate them — a move the administration opposes...

The EPA sent the proposed finding to the White House in December in an e-mail, but the White House declined to open it, ensuring that it would not have to be made public.

It was not clear how the White House could not open the e-mail but nonetheless had the document to show to Boxer, other senators and staff for limited periods Tuesday night and Wednesday morning...

The EPA's document said the EPA chief "is proposing to find that elevated levels of GHG [greenhouse gas] concentrations may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public welfare."

From Hill Heat:

A vote on the issuance of a subpoena for the draft endangerment finding on global warming emissions rejected at the highest levels in the White House was stymied when Republican members boycotted the Senate Committee onEnvironment and Public Works business meeting, preventing a quorum...

The 38-page document says EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson believes there is "compelling and robust" evidence that the increasing average global temperature that has been observed in recent years is due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

From Barbara Boxer, Head of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works:

Picture this:

Three Senators huddled around one document – an EPA document that concludes that global warming endangers the American people, a document kept from the public by the White House. United States Senators compelled to take whatever notes they can, from a document only revealed to us under the watchful eyes of two White House lawyers.

From UK Guardian:

"Based on the evidence before him, the [EPA] administrator believes it is reasonable to conclude current and future emissions of greenhouse gases will contribute to future climate change," the proposal stated...

Democrats asked the EPA administrator, Stephen Johnson, to testify next week at a hearing exploring allegations of White House obstruction on climate change. But Johnson refused, citing executive privilege and forcing the cancellation of the hearing.

Boxer decried the White House's decision not to release the full EPA proposal to the public."It is clear. It is chilling. It is detailed," she said to colleagues yesterday. "That information belongs to the American people and we must get it to them. Then they will decide whether we should act to prevent this coming crisis or sit on our hands [emphasis mine]."

It is clear. It is chilling. It is detailed. Our leaders live in a fantasy world created by the oil lobby and the rest of us are watching in complete horror as we lose precious opportunities to protect our world from massive instability. Bush is concerned about his legacy but he already has one. The world will look at him as the most villainous President the United States has ever had. It already does, and we have not even seen the climate problems that are already on their way.

McCain prays for success of Chevy Volt

I watched Sean Hannity's interview with John McCain yesterday (yes I dislike Hannity too and think he's a propagandist too, so bear with me) and thought I would give you more information about the "Volt" McCain said that he prayed would succeed. McCain is a big supporter of these things (as well as offshore oil drilling, a 2 billion dollar public subsidy on so-called "clean coal, and billions in public subsidies to insure nuclear power plants) and has called for tax credits for consumers to make the electric Volt more affordable and competitive.

Technically? The Volt is a gas-electric hybrid that is different from the Prius because it would run primarily on electric rather than gas.

Celsias has a post about the Ten Hottest Electric Vehicles including the Volt here. Joel Makower explains why the future of vehicles is electric...and why we're not there yet. WattHead talks about an electrified Detroit.

Chevy needs this car. GM's finally dumping the Hummer and it really should have had this thing ready years ago. Detroit is finally getting it.

The Volt is promised for model year 2010. Can my old truck survive until then? Stay tuned...

It's Cold Here in AK!

This post is from guest blogger, Jen Willoughby. Jen lives part-time in Maryland and part-time in Alaska and writes a blog about her Alaskan life at willoughbyfen.blogspot.com. I asked her to post on the blog about Alaska, because she has learned a lot about the impacts of climate change there from talking to the locals...

Yep-another post about the weather. Temperatures have been in the 50s during the day and 40s at night here. Typically, temps here in Trapper Creek reach 65 or 70, sometimes 80 during the summer. The summer of 2008 for the state of Alaska is the coldest on record since 1920. Hmmm.

Joe Heller Cartoon: Dipstick

This cartoon is hilarious, though I don't believe its message. We can't drill our way to energy security. We need to focus on better energy sources. But darn if it isn't clever.

Hypermiling: Tips to save gas MPG and money

A beginner's guide to hypermiling

"Hypermiling" is one of my new favorite words. Essentially, hypermiling is changing the way you drive to conserve gas and get higher MPGs than your car is rated for (hence, beating EPA's dynamometer). CNN Money reports that "you can get 35 percent better fuel mileage out of your current vehicle", but you can actually do better than that. Anyone can use these basic tips from CNN Money, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Hypermiling.co.uk, Cleanmpg (advanced), and Topgear.com to save gas from how you drive and maintain your vehicle:

• Use cruise control on the highway. "In Edmunds.com's test using a Land Rover LR3 and a Ford Mustang, the Land Rover got almost 14 percent better mileage using cruise control set at 70 miles per hour rather than cruising at driver-controlled speeds between 65 and 75 miles per hour. The Mustang got 4.5 percent better mileage." [CNN]
• Coast and Burn: "Lay off the pedals when driving around town. Accelerating more slowly away from green lights and stopping more gradually for red lights cut fuel consumption in Edmunds.com's tests by 35.4 percent for the Land Rover and 27.1 percent for the Mustang." Basically, if you see a yellow or red light, lay off the gas [CNN]. But for acceleration, the jury is still out. Topgear.com recommends "when leaving the lights, accelerate smartly. Not like a bat out of hell. But don't dawdle. Get the car into top gear as quickly as is reasonable. "
• "Cole Quinnel, a spokesman for Chrysler Corp. engineers, advises not pressing the gas pedal down by more than an inch unless you really have to. Using that approach, the difference in fuel economy will be appreciable." [CNN]
• Minimize running mechanical and electrical accessories: Running mechanical and electrical accessories (e.g., air conditioner) decreases fuel economy. Operating the air conditioner on "Max" can reduce MPG by roughly 5-25% compared to not using it. [Cleanmpg] In field tests at Edmunds.com, vehicles got 1.6-4.1% better gas mileage [CNN]. Hypermiler estimates you can save up to 10%.
• Use the correct motor oil - Be sure to use the recommended grade of motor oil for your vehicle. Using the wrong grade reduces gas mileage by 1%.Cost: $3.00/qt [CCE].
• Maintain air filters - Replace dirt and old air filters. Clean air filters improve mileage by as much as 10%.Cost: $15.00 - $100.00 depending on your vehicle [CCE].
• Lighten the load - remove excessive weight and drag from your car, for instance, roof racks not in use. Lowering the overall weight in the car increases gas mileage. Cost: FREE [CCE].
• Observe speed limit – By observing posted speed limits you car runs at the most optimal and efficient level. As a rule of thumb, you can consider that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is the equivalent of paying an additional $0.21 per gallon for gas. Cost: FREE [CCE]. Optimum speed limit according to Topgear.com is 56mpg.
• Maintain the proper air pressure in your tires. Remember, in the winter cold air is denser, so your car will need more air in each tire. By maintaining proper air pressure you can expect a 3% improvement in mpg. Cost: Air $.50. Air pressure gauge: $1.00 [CCE].
• Never use your heated rear window unless you can't see a thing. It's the same story with your headlights. [Topgear]
• When going downhill, ease your throttle down and work with gravity to build up speed. Then, use that momentum to get you up the other side. Using the throttle going up hill is bad. [Topgear]
• PP (potential parking) and Face-out: When parking don’t opt for the closest space to the front of the shops, not only will you have to waste fuel looking for the elusive "prime" spot. But very often you will have a car parked in front of you meaning you will need a lengthy maneuver just to get out. Try parking away from the crowds in a forward facing spot. [Hypermiling and Cleanmpg]
• Cold weather and frequent short trips reduce fuel economy, since your engine doesn't operate efficiently until it is warmed up. In colder weather, it takes longer for your engine to warm, and on short trips, your vehicle operates a smaller percentage of time at the desired temperature. Note: Letting your car idle to warm-up doesn't help your fuel economy, it actually uses more fuel and creates more pollution. Drive to your furthest destination first and then as you are heading home, stop at the closer destinations in order from furthest to closest as the car is warmed up for longer portions of your drive. [Cleanmpg]
• Do not tow unless absolutely necessary: Towing a trailer or carrying excessive weight does decrease fuel economy. Vehicles are assumed to carry three hundred pounds of passengers and cargo in the EPA test cycles. [Cleanmpg]
• Avoid driving on hilly or mountainous terrain if possible: Driving hilly or mountainous terrain or on unpaved roads reduces fuel economy most of the time. The EPA test assumes vehicles operate over flat ground. [Cleanmpg]
• Do not use 4-wheel drive if it is not needed. 4-Wheel drive reduces fuel economy. Four-wheel drive vehicles are tested in 2-wheel drive. Engaging all four wheels makes the engine work harder and increases crankcase losses. [Cleanmpg]
• Try to purchase high BTU content gasoline if available: Fuels Vary in Energy Content and some fuels contain less energy than others. Using oxygenated fuels or reformulated gasoline (RFG), can cause a small decrease (1-3%) in fuel economy. In addition, the energy content of gasoline varies from season to season. Typical summer conventional gasoline contains about 1.7% more energy than typical winter conventional gasoline. [Cleanmpg]
• Rabbit Timing: Assume a stop light ½ a mile ahead. You see Stale Green (Green for a very long time ready to turn Yellow) or already red and will not change until a car comes up upon it and trips the sensors in the pavement to change it back to green. You want to have any traffic around you (the Rabbit) trip the weight sensor before you are anywhere near that light so you are unimpeded with a green light by the time you reach it. [Cleanmpg]

You can also get a gadget that plugs into your car's diagnostic port to get real-time MPG. It's a useful tool that Prius owners get automatically. http://shop.littlecarbonfeet.com/ carries one- the ScanGaugeII. It's $169.95 but supposedly pays itself off with improved mileage.

Hypermiler notes that there are extremes of hypermiling that are not safe:

• Overinflating tires
• Pulse and Glide (Accelerate up to speed and then glide to a stop)
• Tailgating / Drafting (really really stupid idea);
• Coasting with the engine off (again really stupid); [however, you can turn the engine off if you are going to sit more than 15 seconds at a stoplight or in traffic- this can save a lot of gas.]
• Removing your spare wheel and jack
• driving in neutral

Common hypermiling terms from Hypermiler:

• FE - Fuel Economy
• DWB - Driving without brakes
• FAS - Forced auto stop, basically coasting with the engine off - Bad and dangerous
• P&G - Pulse and Glide
• ICE - Internal Combustion Engine
• D-FAS - Draft-Assisted FAS. Coasting with engine off while drafting (again bad)

Of course, you can always get a vehicle with better mpg to start with. Or even better, take public transportation- the MPGs on that are awesome!

Make your own ExxonMobil gas station sign

From DotEarth: "Jason K. Burnett, once a Bush appointee and now an Obama supporter, told the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming that the argument for putting off any carbon dioxide limits was made by “individuals working for particular oil companies, Exxon Mobil,” as well as oil industry trade associations." Are there no responsible people in the government?

Here's my new ExxonMobil gas station sign. These guys love to take our money. At least we can keep our senses of humor.

Stephen Colbert: The Word: Priceless

"It's like the circle of life, minus the life." Watch this so you can laugh as hard as I did:

What's your neighborhood's Walk Score?

How walkable is your community? In other words, can you get to amenities like the grocery store and schools without having to drive all over the place? A website called Walk Score will let you type in an address and find out it how walkable it is from zero to a hundred. I consider my neighborhood very walkable for most amenities and was not surprised to learn that it scored a 74, "very walkable". I was, however, surprised to learn that the site counts Bradley's, the dirty bookstore on Market Street as a bookstore; the upside is that it's only .72 miles away. You could use this site to check the address of a vacation spot to see how far you would have to walk for basic services, or could check addresses of potential new residences or work locations. Even if the scores are a little weird, it's neat to have the basics listed all in one place by distance.

Side note: you can check the walkability of famous locations. Bill Gates' house scores a pitiful 11. The apartment on the show Friends? A hundred. Bush's ranch? A big fat zero.

Oh, and compare this to Forbes' list of the most sedentary cities. It's very telling. Walkable cities have less obesity.

Local Warming: now with "Sponsorship"

I have added some hopefully unobtrusive "sponsor links" to this site. They are at the bottom of each most recent post, but that is the only place you will see them. I am still testing them to see if you and I can tolerate them. The links relate directly to the content in each post. There are, of course, some denialist "skeptic" links there, which I find hilarious. Some of the links are actually pretty good; I've seen one on how to calculate your carbon footprint and another on finding contractors for solar hot water heaters. 100% of the money that I make on these links will go to supporting my global warming efforts. Google will basically be paying for energy saving props:

• For talks about how to save energy, save money, and save greenhouse gases. I have several coming up at local libraries this fall. I like to bring things like pipe insulation, spray insulation foam, crack sealing rope (no jokes please) and insulation batting.
• For our Carbon Reduction Action Group meetings. Tire gauge, anyone?
• For media interviews.

So far you have contributed $0.58 to my fund. Let me know if you just can't stand the ads...

MD Counties switching to cleaner fuel

The Baltimore Sun reports that Howard and Anne Arundel Counties "plan to establish the state's first natural-gas fueling station for trash trucks and have applied to the Environmental Protection Agency for $600,000 in grant money to help haulers switch to alternative-fuel vehicles." This type of program has already been tested: "Natural-gas trash trucks have been in service in California since 1997."

There is also a positive impact to the bottom line. According to the "regional account manager for Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the company proposing to build the shared fueling station in Jessup, 'The haulers are paying less for fuel, the county is getting hit with less surcharge, and the people are getting cleaner air and pay less in taxes," he said. "It's cleaner, it's domestic and it reduces our dependency on foreign oil'." Right now, according to the article, the cost of oil is twice the cost of natural gas.

Guess who founded Clean Energy Fuels Corp? T. Boone Pickens. When he says "I'm an oil man," add natural gas to that list. Oh, and wind. He wants to build the world's largest wind farm. Smart people know where the money is. Hello, investors?

My instinct is that these natural gas vehicles will be obsolete in ten years once we have updated the electricity grid and switched to plug-in electric vehicles (with a grid powered largely by wind and solar- more on some AMAZING recent breakthroughs in solar soon...). EPA is also not convinced that the natural gas-operated trash trucks are that great for the environment, claiming that newer diesel engines are just as clean.

One interesting thing I learned in the article is that some counties require their haulers to buy new trucks when signing contracts with the municipalities. I imagine this helps a lot with the municipality's greenhouse gas emissions inventory!

Al Gore's climate change speech

Greetings From Alaska!

This post is from our new guest blogger, Jen Willoughby. Jen lives part-time in Maryland and part-time in Alaska and writes a blog about her Alaskan life at willoughbyfen.blogspot.com. I asked her to post on the blog about Alaska, because she has learned a lot about the impacts of climate change there from talking to the locals...

It seems a bit weird to blog about the weather, but I guess that's appropriate here. Since my focus is local food as it relates to weather, I'll clue you in to how things work up here. Alaskans, particularly those living outside the major cities, are acutely aware of how cost-effective locally grown food is. And by local, that means collecting, growing, hunting, and fishing for yourself, or trading with your neighbors for the things you need. We just got a farmer's market this year-it has three tables so far, but I expect it to grow next summer.

This July has been fairly normal, but this past winter/spring through June was far from normal. Winter only dumped about 30 inches of snow. The norm for snow here in Trapper Creek is about 96-144 inches. Spring lasted so long that gardens have not been producing. Last year, it was warm enough for our neighbors to produce lots of corn! This year, they'll be lucky if the stalks get higher than two feet.

We've also not seen one moose this year, but bears are prolific. While it's a natural cycle, that combined with the cruddy growing season, fewer moose for hunting, and not-so-good fishing could mean problems for my neighbors. Alaskans in my area rely on gardens and hunting/fishing to help them get through the winter. This year, it's going to be lean.

We also got word that it snowed in June in Healy, Alaska, which puts a damper on the river flows. It may not seem related, but when the rivers don't flow enough, the fish can't swim upstream very far. It all relates back to food.

These are anectodal reports from our neighbors and my observations up here. You can draw your own conclusions about how and if it relates to global warming.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions about Alaska!

Michigan open and ready for green business

In "A Modest Proposal for Michigan on Primary Day" I told you that "Michigan is hurting. The state has a 7.4% unemployment rate, consumer prices rose 2.6% over the past year, jobs have been cut or shipped overseas, and the state has the sixth worst foreclosure rate in the nation, according to the Times Herald". This was back in January and you can bet that things are worse now, but there is hope in the form that I wished would come to Michigan; it is attracting green businesses. Not only has the State put out commercials that advertise to businesses that it has incentives for alternative energy companies, Celsias reports that:

This spring, State Governor Jennifer Granholm announced a partnership between the city and Swedish Biogas International to begin producing biogas from waste removed from the city's wastewater treatment plant. A recognized global leader in renewable energy, Sweden meets more than 65 percent of their heating needs with fuel derived from biomass waste. The Flint-based project - which will fuel cars and generate electricity - also involves the partnership of Kettering University, an educational institution first founded in 1919 as the School of Automotive Trades.

Other alternative energy projects are popping up all over the state. In Alpena, in Northern Michigan, a foundry that once made castings for the auto industry closed in 2007. A few months later, a company came forward with a plan to purchase the facility to make castings for the wind energy market. The new plant will create three times as many jobs as were lost. In Greenville, Michigan, the closure of an Electrolux plant that moved to Mexico meant the loss of nearly 3,000 jobs. But the world's largest manufacturer of thin film solar products swept in - thanks to the state's generous incentive package - and set up shop.

Several other projects are in various stages of discussion, including a deal that would turn waste from a paper mill in the Upper Peninsula into an annual 13 million gallons of liquid biofuel, construction of a cellulosic wood-ethanol plant, and possible expansion of the Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation, the world's leading producer of polycrystalline silicon (a component of photovoltaic cells used to produce solar energy).

Michigan once led the way in creating machines that revolutionized everyday life, so it makes sense that the state would be on the forefront of industry looking to change the world once again. After all, as the bearers of the brunt of the loss of car culture, defining, polishing and mining gold from green is their best hope. Luckily, this time around, their factories are producing a product we can all get behind.

MTA to buy only hybrid buses

Found by my pal Omar:

MTA says it'll stop buying diesel buses and only do hybrids now.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/bal-hybrid0715,0,5356675.story

Excerpt:
The Maryland Transit Administration will put up to 500 fuel-saving hybrid-electric buses on the street by 2014 in an effort to reduce harmful emissions and cut noise pollution, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced today.

"We are not purchasing any more diesel buses," O'Malley said at an open-air news conference at Druid Hill Park.

The MTA's plans would convert 75 percent of its fleet to the hybrids -- which it says use 20 percent less fuel and cut particulate emissions by up to 90 percent -- by the 200th anniversary of the 1814 battle for Baltimore and the composition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," O'Malley said.

-omar

Burmese python overwinters in Maryland

I got a strange text message from a friend of mine this weekend. "Burmese python overwinters in Maryland." It's the stuff of a terrible made-for-TV science fiction movie, except that it's true (the snakehead invasion in our region was also true, and it was made into not one, but TWO bad made-for-TV movies).

These pythons have invaded the Everglades in Florida, and have been known to eat alligators (when the alligators don't eat them). As a top chain predator, the pythons are hurting efforts to restore the ecosystems there. USGS says that "Burmese pythons have been found to eat endangered Key Largo woodrats and rare round-tailed muskrats." Pythons have also been known to eat people. Yes, I said it.

USGS reported back in February that the habitat of the invasive python is predicted to expand in a global warming scenario. The map of the United States at the top of the page shows "areas of the continental United States with climate matching that of the pythons' native range in Asia." In other words, if pet pythons get out, expect them to survive the winters in these areas now. Parts of Maryland are already suitable for overwintering pythons, especially the southernmost portion of the Eastern Shore. The second map however, shows "projected climate in the continental United States in the year 2100, based on global warming models, that matches climate in the pythons' native range in Asia." These projections for 2100, based on IPCC projections now considered to underestimate current global warming patterns, show potentially suitable python habitat in all parts of Maryland except some parts of Frederick, Washington, Carroll, Harford, and Garrett Counties. Delaware, you're not exempt either.

The thought of wild Burmese pythons in my home town is surreal.

*I have asked a herpetologist friend to give me more background on the issue and will hopefully have more to post soon.

Evacuation ahead of schedule due to global warming

I know, the title is Orwellian, but I could not help it. From the AP:

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Russian scientists are evacuating a research station built on an ice floe drifting in the western Arctic Ocean because global warming is melting the ice early, a spokesman said.

The North Pole-35 station, where 21 researchers and two dogs live in huts, will be pulled out this week instead of late August, said Sergei Balyasnikov of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

"The evacuation is ahead of schedule because of global warming," Balyasnikov said.

CNN Sanchez: White House censored climate science

We all know about these things, because we read climate change blogs. Finally, the rest of the country is beginning to hear about the White House's suppression of climate science. On CNN last night, I listened to Rick Sanchez on CNN talk about EPA Deputy Director Jason Burnett who resigned because of White House interference on climate science, and how staff from the Office of the Vice President censored CDC testimony to Congress about the human health effects of climate change. The Director of the CDC is claiming this is not the case. Sanchez also discussed how the EPA is refusing to address greenhouse gas emissions, and how the White House has refused to open emails on the topic in order to plead ignorance. Will we hear more about it? Who knows?

MD Climate Change Action Plan out July 25

Update: the report has been released.

From CCAN:

Exciting news for Maryland climate action aficionados! A plenary session of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change convened in Baltimore [Friday] for a final discussion and review of their hotly anticipated Climate Action Plan...The Plan is officially scheduled for public release on June 25th, so mark your calendars and prepare a nice cozy spot to kick back and enjoy what is sure to be a truly climatolicious read.

Though access to advance copies of the report has been restricted thus far to Commission members and government officials, the Commissioners did drop a few tantalizing hints as to its content. According to commissioner George “Tad” Aburn, the real meat of the report is contained in Chapter 2 - a comprehensive assessment of climate change in MD - Chapter 4 on carbon reduction strategies and Chapter 5 on adaptation strategies. Most of the content is sure to be on the wonky side, but for those of you who’d prefer a more publicly accessible version, fear not, there’s an executive summary for the uninitiated. Indeed, the report contains something for climate watchers of all stripes. Of particular interest to the CCAN community is the Chapter entitled Next Steps which discusses work that will need to be done in coming months to turn the report’s stellar recommendations into stellar public policy. To that end, the Commissioners will be meeting informally with environmental, labor, and industrial interests over the next few months to start hammering out a policy road map that everyone can live with. A more formal stakeholder process will follow in September, and the Commission will also sit down with Governor O’Malley sometime before summer’s end.

At the end of what turned out to be the shortest meeting in the Commission’s history the commissioners formally ratified the new report by unanimous vote. If the report ends up bearing legislative fruit, it would undoubtedly propel Maryland to the head of the learning curve on the national climate action front by putting the state on a path to an spectacularly ambitious 50 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020, and 90 percent by 2050. Such bold action would be particularly apropos for a state that is so vulnerable to climate change, and would set a fantastic example for other states and our foot-dragging federal neighbors to follow. So lets make sure that our legislators get on the ball this year and heed the recommendations of the Commission. The rewards of action will be a boon to Maryland and the country at large; the cost of inaction could be unthinkable.

Just how unthinkable? Log on to the Commission’s website on the 25th and download your personal copy of the report to find out.

RealClimate quote of the week

Enjoy this quote from RealClimate. I did.

Unfortunately one must conclude that no mistake is too dumb for someone, somewhere to make if they think they can spin it into supporting their anti-science agenda. For them complexity is something to be abused rather than a challenge to be understood, underlining quite clearly (again) the difference between science and propaganda.

Bush, EPA defy Supreme Court GHG Ruling

MSNBC reports that the Bush Administration today refused to meet a Supreme Court order to control greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, instead postponing the issue for the next administration.

In a 588-page federal notice, the Environmental Protection Agency made no
finding on whether global warming poses a threat to people's health, reversing
an earlier conclusion at the insistence of the White House and officially
kicking any decision on a solution to the next president and Congress...

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson insisted that regulating greenhouse gases
via the Clean Air Act was not workable.

According to today's Washington Post,

The decision to solicit further comment overrides the EPA's written
recommendation from December. Officials said a few senior White House officials
were unwilling to allow the EPA to state officially that global warming harms
human welfare. Doing so would legally trigger sweeping regulatory requirements
under the 45-year-old Clean Air Act, one of the pillars of U.S. environmental
protection, and would cost utilities, automakers and others billions of dollars
while also bringing economic benefits, EPA's analyses found.

"They argued that this increase in regulation should be on the next
president's record," not Bush's, said a participant in the lengthy interagency
debate, referring principally to officials in the office of Vice President Cheney, on the White House Council on Environmental
Quality, on the National Economic Council and in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Several EPA officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that
throughout the process, White House officials instructed the agency to change
their calculations with the aim of reducing the "social cost of carbon," a
regulatory term that reflects the economic burdens stemming from greenhouse gas
emissions.

Career EPA officials argued that the global benefits of reducing carbon are
worth at least $40 per ton, but Bush appointees changed the final document to
say the figure is just an example, not an official estimate. They prohibited the
agency from submitting a 21-page document titled "Technical Support Document on
Benefits of Reducing GHG Emissions" as part of today's announcement.

"The administration didn't want to show a high-dollar value for reducing
carbon," said one EPA official, adding that the administration cut dozens of
pages from a draft that outlined cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse
gases...

The proposal that the EPA will unveil today, known as an advance notice of
proposed rulemaking, stands in stark contrast to the agency's original Dec. 5
finding -- backed up by a lengthy scientific analysis -- that global warming is
unequivocal, that there is "compelling and robust" evidence that the emissions
endanger public welfare and that the EPA administrator is "required by law" to
act to protect Americans from future harm.

So in other words, reducing greenhouse gases will save money ($2 trillion to consumers through 2040 from car fuel efficiency alone, according to a leaked EPA report that the White House has been sitting on) but we're not going to do it because it would hurt the oil industry. The self-proclaimed "World's Largest Polluter" can't say goodbye too soon. EPA administrator Johnson should resign.

Oil up, DOW down: Time to tighten the belt

There goes my retirement.

The DOW has dropped below 11,000 today "in response to troubles at mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and oil’s continuing climb into record territory" according to the AP. Today, oil "extended its move into record territory, rising as high as $147.27. At midday, light, sweet crude traded up $2.44 at $144.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid tensions between the West and Iran and the potential for attacks on Nigerian oil facilities."

I could say a lot about the price of oil, the need for alternatives, the cost impacts to related products and services like food, and the impacts to the larger markets and jobs. But you've heard it all- impacts from the price of oil are some things you WILL hear in the major news outlets.

So I would like to take a moment to point out some resources at this blog in the links sections. Energy costs too high? Check out the resources here on how to save energy and money. Investments doing poorly? Check out the posts about growing sectors that savvy investors are taking all the way to the bank. Spending too much on food? My friend Yeon and I are starting a blog about growing and eating local food. We talk about what's in season, what we've been finding at the farmer's markets, and how our own vegetables are growing. http://growninfrederick.blogspot.com/.

How can you tighten the belt while preparing for better times ahead? Reduce your energy use, invest in smarter energy technology and deployment, and focus on your local economy. Keeping your local economy strong means more jobs and industry in your region, which means less job losses, foreclosures, and other negative effects. Buy local. Oh, and elect better leaders.

Plug-In Hybrids: Climate Progress FAQ

Head over to Climate Progress today and check out their FAQ about plug-in hybrids. They are likely to be the next big technology in vehicles (for real). Here's an example:

Why do PHEVs reduce greenhouse pollution?

A study by EPRI, the California Air Resources Board, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and others (5.3MB PDF) concluded that plug-in hybrids produced substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions than either conventional gasoline cars or unplugged hybrids. The reduction in emissions results from electric operation being much more efficient than gasoline operation.

Bush: Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter

"Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter." Those were the parting words from President Bush to the G8 after its discussions this week about global warming, while he pumped his fist into the air. A proper epitaph said best by himself.

Boxer: White House cover-up of global warming

Statement from Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works by way of Celsias. This is a must-read:

You have heard me say many times that this Administration has downplayed the dangers posed by global warming. They have used every excuse to avoid taking action, even hiding behind China and India.

Now, thanks to a very brave former EPA official, Jason Burnett, who has responded to an inquiry from this committee, who is here today, we know that the Administration's efforts have been about covering up the real dangers of global warming and hiding the facts from the public.

This cover-up is being directed from the White House and the Office of the Vice President.

I have met with Mr. Burnett, who informed me that he resigned from the Agency after concluding that no constructive action on global warming would take place during this Administration. What a sad day it is for the American people that they lost a brilliant professional who wanted to protect us from the ravages of global warming.

In October of 2007, when we held a hearing on the health impacts of global warming, we were stunned to learn that the testimony of CDC Director Julie Gerberding was watered down and heavily redacted.

We now know that this censorship was part of a master plan. The goal of the plan was to ensure that the EPA's response to the Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA would be as weak as possible. As you know, the Supreme Court overruled EPA, finding that greenhouse gas emissions are clearly covered by the Clean Air Act and the EPA had to move forward and address global warming.

What started in October with Dr. Gerberding's censored testimony continued into December, when the EPA had finally decided to begin to tell the truth about the dangers posed by unchecked global warming. The Office of Management and Budget at the White House refused to open the e-mail containing the provisional endangerment finding from the EPA. When EPA refused to retract the e-mail, the finding was left in limbo.

These two things - the CDC censorship and the stonewall on the endangerment finding -- are obviously related.

The CDC wanted to go into detail - about:

• Direct effects of heat [including mortality],
• Health and safety effects related to extreme weather events,
• Air pollution-related health effects,
• Allergic diseases,
• Water- and food-borne infectious diseases,
• Vector-borne diseases,
• Food and water scarcity for some populations,
• Mental health problems, and
• Long-term impacts of chronic diseases and other health effects

But their testimony was altered. CDC's work clearly would lead us to the endangerment finding. Fortunately, thanks to the free press and the work of congressional committees, the CDC's concerns were made known, adding to the pressure on the EPA to make the endangerment finding.

Today, I am announcing a number of actions.

1) I am asking EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to release every document related to the Agency's finding that global warming poses a danger to the public, including bringing the endangerment e-mail back to earth.

2) EPA should also immediately release a strong advance notice of proposed rulemaking on global warming emissions.

If Mr. Johnson refuses to do these two things -- if he does not have the strength to do them -- he should resign. The American people need the head of the EPA to be an independent advocate for their health and their environment.

3) If the information is not released, then I will use every means available to this Committee to obtain it.

4) I am sending Jason Burnett's letter on the Administration's efforts to block action on global warming to the Governor and Attorney General of California so they may be fully informed of the Bush Administration's misconduct relating to global warming, which may directly affect California's efforts to protect the public from this serious threat.

5) I will hold a hearing on July 22 to present the most recent evidence of the serious danger posed by global warming. Mr. Burnett will be a witness.

6) This Committee will also continue its work on how current authorities under the Clean Air Act could be used to address global warming now. We will hold a hearing on that subject in the fall, Mr. Burnett has agreed to give his advice and testimony, and we will issue a Committee report so that the next President can have all of our findings at his disposal at the start of the next Administration.

This is not about me, or about Mr. Johnson, or President Bush, or Vice President Cheney or Mr. Burnett. It is about protecting the public and the planet.

Let me close with an analogy. If I knew that danger was lurking around the corner, and I watched as a group of innocent people walked around that very corner without warning them, I would be guilty of a reckless and unconscionable act.

History will judge this Bush Administration harshly for recklessly covering up a real threat to the people they are supposed to protect.

12 summer tips to saving energy and money

From the Cool Capital Challenge:

12 Summer Tips to Saving Energy and Money

• Turn off lights when you leave the room. Use timers, light sensors and motion detectors.

• Change as many frequently used lights as possible to high efficiency lighting.

• Weatherize your home including caulking holes and cracks, weatherstripping, and insulating.

• Heat and cool your home just right with a programmable thermostat. Set your thermostat two degrees higher in the summer to save energy and maintain a comfortable indoor environment.
  

• Ceiling fans for additional cooling and air circulation allow you to raise the thermostat and cut AC costs. But remember: ceiling fans cool people, not rooms; if the room is unoccupied, turn off the ceiling fan to save energy.

• Just as a tune-up for your car can improve your gas mileage, a yearly tune-up of your heating and cooling system can improve efficiency and comfort. And be sure to clean or replace filters monthly or as needed. They improve efficiency of the unit and save carbon emissions!
  

• Cut your air conditioning load and reduce pollution by planting leafy trees around your home, especially to the east and west of your home for maximum summer shade, and painting your roof with highly reflective paint or installing a cool roof.

• Unplug appliances when they are not in use (including easy-on TVs, computers, mobile phone chargers) -- an easy way to do this is to use a power strip.

• Take shorter and cooler showers to save water and the energy used to heat water.

• Purchase local produce. Avoid food and drink from far distances by looking at the label to identify which country the food is from. Take into account the carbon footprint of shipping the product and rising fuel costs.

• Close blinds, curtains or shades during hot days. Install shading devices such as trellises or awnings to avoid heat build-up.

• Try making weekends as carbon-free as possible. Take it outside and enjoy the surrounding people and natural environment. Washington DC is 25% park! Walk, hike, or canoe!

Bye Bye Blackwater: Climate change case study

We have discussed the effects of climate change (past and future) on the Blackwater Refuge in Maryland several times. NWF predicts that a combination of subsidence and sea level increase from global warming will cause the loss of the refuge in 30 years. That will be bad news for the scientists at the Refuge who are studying the potential of wetlands to mitigate climate change. According to Senator Ben Cardin, "Tidal records for the last century show that the rate of sea level rise in Maryland is nearly twice the global average... About a third of Blackwater Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern Shore has been lost in the past 70 years." According to an article in the Washington Post, the Refuge is "Chesapeake Bay's best place to watch climate change in action."

See today's article in the Gazette:

The real concern for the future of the marshes... is summed up on Blackwater’s Web site, http://www.fws.gov/blackwater/restore.html

‘‘Efforts have been ongoing to save the wetlands at Blackwater Refuge.... But with the predicted increases in sea level rise, Blackwater Refuge will not survive without a major restoration effort taken on jointly by government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the concerned public.”

Let’s hope that cooperation comes together quickly enough to save Blackwater. The stakes are high. In addition to being home to hundreds of species of plants and animals and a major wintering ground for migratory waterfowl, the marshes provide a natural barrier against storm damage and protect the most populated areas of Dorchester County, which surrounds the refuge

G8 taking backward steps on climate change

Climate Feedback (Nature Magazine) reports that "At about 4pm today, just over half way into the the latest gathering of the G8 Summit, leaders released a draft communiqué on climate change." The results thus far are disappointing:

...The down side is that the document seems to actually take a step back from last year’s declaration by the G8 to ‘seriously consider’ cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50% of 1990 levels by 2050. This agreement, which unlike its predecessor includes the US, commits to a vision of halving emissions by 2050, but doesn’t specify a baseline year. When questioned on the baseline year, Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda said earlier today that it was 2005, rather than the UN framework year of 1990.

And despite international pressure to set specific, clear nearer-term targets for reducing emissions, the statement merely recognizes ‘aspirational’ mid-term goals, with no mention of dates or the level of cuts needed. Given that seven of the G8 nations agreed to work toward cutting emissions by 25-40% of 1990 levels by 2020 in Bali last December, its seems that they’ve had to make a large concession to appease the US in this forum.

Upsides:

On the plus side, though, the US has agreed to the declaration, which is a small step forward from last year. And the document does recognize the need for mid-term targets, even if it hasn’t been specific on what those should be or what ‘mid-term’ means.

The G8 replaced all reduction targets with the same crappy "aspirational goals" we saw in the major economies meetings and our President's Climate Summit. Yeah, I am sure we'll "seriously consider" them. Give me a break.

Carbon markets: model for nutrient markets?

The Bay Journal reports that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has gotten $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service to develop "a 'nutrient neutral fund,' tentatively named the Chesapeake Clean Water Fund, patterned after existing voluntary carbon markets. The hope is that citizens who want to improve their own stewardship, or businesses that want to enhance their green credentials, would buy offsets from the fund that would in turn support cleanup efforts."

I also learned about the value of carbon markets from this article:

Last year, the voluntary carbon market totaled $331 million. While small compared to the regulated cap-and-trade programs, which totaled $65 billion, the size of the voluntary market tripled from 2006, while the regulatory market doubled.

Is this the future? And how long will these markets remain voluntary?

G8 to discuss climate change at summit

One item of business on the G8 summit this week is climate change, though it's not as high on the agenda as some of us would wish- CNN didn't even mention it, for example. Avaaz is putting out a full-page ad in the Financial Times in an attempt to shame President Bush, Yasuo Fakuda of Japan, and Stephen Harper of Canada for blocking meaningful climate legislation. The ad is a play on the saying "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." It's kind of funny and kind of sad:

Reid: Coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick.

Folks, I have taken to watching some Fox news programs so that I can grasp how their perspectives are so radically different from mine. I was happily shocked to see that even Fox is coming around somewhat on the energy issue. Coal carbon sequestration and nuclear arguments are getting proportionately less play than before, while wind and solar discussions are increasing, along with those about electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Those who toe the line by parroting the administration are looking dumber and dumber on panels with experts that talk about the new technological deployments.

Change is coming. Republicans with reasoning ability are jumping off of the Bush administration's ship, not only because it's sinking, but also because it is obviously corrupt and just plain wrong. If the US does not invest in low-carbon tech now, it will be behind the rest of the world's economies. Not only that, carbon dioxide is "ruining our world." Watch the YouTube video of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Fox Business. "Coal makes us sick. Oil Makes us sick. It's global warming, it's ruining our country, it's ruining our world. We've got to stop using fossil fuel. We've for generations taken it out of the earth- taken carbon out of the earth- and put it into the atmosphere. It's making us all sick, it's changing our world."

HSBC and Earthwatch: MD climate change seminar

From CCAN:

The Earthwatch Institute is teaming up with HSBC to put on a series of professional development workshops - and there are some happening right here in Maryland this fall! This specially designed workshop is part of a much larger program called the HSBC Climate Partnership, a five-year global partnership between HSBC (the world’s largest bank), The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and WWF to reduce the impacts of climate change for people, forests, water, and cities. Earthwatch is focusing its climate partnership efforts on forest research and employee engagement at sites established in five unique forest ecosystems across the globe—the one in Maryland is one of the first!

Here are the details:

This fellowship is for you if you are a member of the local Annapolis/ Baltimore/DC community and would like to: learn more about climate change by participating in hands-on climate research near the Chesapeake Bay embed sustainable practices into your business or organization and feel empowered to inspire others in your office, home, and community to engage in environment-friendly practices.

No prior field research or training experience is necessary, and you don’t have to work for or be affiliated with an environmental organization; climate change affects all of us, and we all need to be a part of the solution.

By the end of the unique Earthwatch program, expect to be an integral part of a local community action team and fully equipped with the knowledge and support you need to play an active role in championing climate change-related issues within your organization, business, or government sector.

This is a awesome opportunity for those who are interested in really delving into studying climate change, and then developing an action plan to combat global warming in your community/workplace/church/school/anywhere else.

• When: There will be two workshops offered, from October 27-31 and November 3-7, 2008
• Where: North America Regional Climate Center in Edgewater, Maryland
• Cost: None! All program costs, including accommodations and meals, will be provided. All you have to do is get there!

A limited number of fellowships are available. Applications must be received by August 18, 2008. For more information and/or an application, please contact Rebecca Wadler Lase at narcc@earthwatch.org.

NY Times: Carbon Emissions across the US

The New York Times has a graphical representation of carbon emissions by sector across the United States that gets an A+. I read a lot of reports (like the Energy Information Administration report that sources the map) that most people will never bother with because they are full of tables of eye-blearing information; there is no substitute for a good map. Look at where the highest emissions are for electric power, transportation, industrial, residential, and commercial sectors. Cool!