Climate Change Advocates of Cincinnnati

Cincinnati Earth Hour March 27 @ 8:30PM

2010-02-24T14:24:00.004-05:00

Last year, I worked to get the City of Cincinnati to take part in Earth Hour. Doing it again this year!

On Earth Hour hundreds of millions of people, organizations, corporations and governments around the world will come together to make a bold statement about their concern for climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour. In the U.S. where we are already feeling the impacts of climate change, Earth Hour sends a clear message that Americans care about this issue and want to turn the lights out on dirty air, dangerous dependency on foreign oil and costly climate change impacts, and make the switch to cleaner air, a strong economic future and a more secure nation.

Participation is easy. By flipping off your lights on March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time you will be making the switch to a cleaner, more secure nation and prosperous America. View the toolkits, to find out what else you can do to get involved including leading the Earth Hour movement in your community.

To join in the fun, just click here: Earth Hour Invitation

Climate change info war offensive #3

2010-01-17T11:22:00.000-05:00

More and more voices are starting to say that scientists need to take the initiative in communicating the true climate science in the face of the deniers and liars. Here (Dr Richard Betts is head of climate impacts at the Met Office Hadley Centre) is one British scientist joining this growing chorus: "Climate scientists need to take more responsibility for the communication of their work to avoid this kind of thing.... If we do not help the media, NGOs and the public to understand this, we have done nothing to stop them getting it wrong.... If our science is misunderstood and misused, and then turned against us, it really will be a case of We've Been Framed."

Climate change info war offensive #2

2010-01-14T10:49:00.001-05:00

I'm not the only one suggesting compiling a list of climate deniers and liars. RollingStone.com Climate Killers and Alternet Climate Villains have also posted lists. I'm suggesting action to be taken in my previous post on this blog.

Climate change info war offensive

2010-01-08T23:23:00.006-05:00

Since the Flopenhagen Accord, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I'll be sharing my thoughts with many in the climate change movement. The good people at 350.org were insane enough to publicly ask for ideas, so I shared this with them first, along with a few others, trying to get feedback. So here are my thoughts on the climate change info war. I have others ideas, which will be in other posts. So strap yourselves in, we're going for a very interesting ride....

We are at war. We are at war with the fossil fuel lobby. We are at war with the climate change deniers and liars who are getting paid by the fossil fuel lobby. The existence of humanity is at stake. We can't win a war on the defensive, which is how NGOs and scientists have tried to wage this war for the most part. As someone trained by the US Army in psychological operations, my suggestion is that we take the battle to the deniers and liars.

We know who the most effective, consistent, and popular deniers and liars are: Inhofe, Patrick Michaels, George Will, etc. My suggestion is to have all the civil society groups who attended COP15 agree on a list: 'Ten Most Wanted Climate Change Deniers and Liars for Crimes Against Humanity' (and yes, I think 'deniers and liars' should be branded to these people's names every time civil society groups refer to them). Paul Krugman agrees in principle that climate change liars need to be called that here: Krugman: Call climate change liars what they are

Once we have the list, target ALL of their public statements directly (we need a separate list of US Senators, but Inhofe qualifies for both; I'll address that list in another email). Include publications like Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NY Times on the 'Ten Most Wanted' list as appropriate. (I would strongly suggest ignoring Beck and Limbaugh. David Brooks has shown they have no influence with voters here: David Brooks: Wizard of Beck. Their egos would relish being part of the group, and it would give them an aura of influence and strength they don't deserve.)

From every corner of the globe, every waking moment, the 'Ten Most Wanted Climate Deniers and Liars' need to feel the pressure, feel the heat. From the time they wake up in the morning, to the time they go to bed at night, they need to feel the heat from protesters with signs and bullhorns, through emails, vmails, faxes, letters. I like the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' that showed up in COP15. Having the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' follow the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars around for a week each would be great video for the major TV networks and YouTube. Having protestors dress up like climate change refugees from the future in rags and follow the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars around asking 'why did you kill me, why did you make me hungry, thirsty, why did you do this to so many people for so many generations with your lies' would also be great video. (When Paul Volcker was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and interest rates were 20% because of his policies, although he knew he was doing what needed to be done to reverse inflation, when people started mailing him bricks and boards that they couldn't use because there were no new housing starts, it made him reflect deeply.)

When any of the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars are mentioned in any media at all, have ALL civil societies and scientists target that outlet with the truth honed specifically to what they presented that was wrong. If anything appears about the Ten Most Wanted that calls them on their denials and lies, have all civil society groups comment on it in support, and email it, fax it, mail it, slip it under their office door. Every time they lie, there needs to be a tsunami of truth! Every time they are called out on their lies, there needs to be a tsunami of support!

Once the 'Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars' are identified by civil society groups, find one person per Most Wanted (preferably a retired police detective or investigator, ideally retired FBI) to compile a dossier. These ten dossier keepers would be people who are available to work on this full-time, and would be anonymous. All civil societies would publish the 'Ten Most Wanted Climate Change Deniers and Liars' list, and ask people to forward all known information about them to a gmail account set up just for each of the 'Ten Most Wanted'. The keeper of the dossier would verify all information that came in, to the extent possible. Once the basics of place of birth, places and times of education and employment are generally known, research can began in those geographical areas. What did they write and publish, even letters to the editor? What groups were they members of? If they worked for any government agencies, requests through Freedom of Information Act can be made for as much of their personnel records as is legal. All public records can be obtained, to see what there is to see. Arrest records, court cases of any kind, can all be used to give a more thorough idea of a pattern of behavior that supports a mercenary moral and ethical sense and/or any FACTUAL event that can be used to call into question their sincerity and/or motives when spouting climate change denials/lies, IF such a pattern can be identified and verified.

For instance, Patrick Michaels works for the University of Virginia. Letters to the editor of the university paper and the largest paper in the city he lives in would put pressure on him to report the science, not what he's paid to lie. In particular, we would need to identify who is paying him and how much, to call into question his veracity. He needs to have 'paid denier and liar' as the signature to his name, every time he is mentioned. The concrete facts of who he is paid by, and how much, need to be reported each time his name is mentioned.

There is probably already a student climate change activist group on that campus. Have every civil society org actively recruit on that campus by sending organizers there to enlarge those extant groups and create others. They can protest at Michaels office, particularly during his office hours, for one. Find out where he lives and organize protests at his home. Organize protests at very class he teaches, every single day. Those class schedules are public information to students, faculty and staff at the very least. Actively recruit the entire campus, beginning with the science departments to join the protests. Ask science faculty to sign a petition disavowing the things he is saying as being based on science. Find his official university email address, and organize online emailing campaigns, particularly among those nations that will first feel the effects of climate change like Tuvalu. Bombard his university fax #, his university mailing address, home mailing address.

Where is he spending this money? Someone who would lie for money probably has other moral and ethical failings. Recruit local people specifically to watch the Ten Most Wanted. This would need to be more subtle, hidden. It would be a more passive surveillance approach, rather than active following. The 'watchers' could establish the daily routine of the Ten Most Wanted, update the dossier keeper by email, cell, text on their sightings. This could be as mundane as UV students learning what Michaels looks like, becoming familiar with his routine on campus, and texting any sightings; time, place, activity, etc. Once the normal, regular, routine pattern is established, other more dedicated people could be assigned to use active surveillance to fill in the gaps outside the normal, known routine. It's the non-routine behavior that will likely show any illegal use of the money he's getting, if there is any.

I would also like to suggest hitting the Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars with lawsuits. There are numbers of lawyers out there who are unemployed/underemployed due to the economy. Finding them and enlisting their pro bono services shouldn't be hard. The fossil fuel lobby has already taken Jim Hansen to court once (and lost), it's time to turn the tables on them and hit them with every lawsuit imaginable from every angle, every state imaginable. Fifty lawsuits from fifty states, plus at least one from the federal courts, one suit per day, at each of the Ten Most Wanted, will get media coverage and cost them money to defend. I don't know how the World Court works, and whether lawsuits can be filed through that Court at individuals, but it's worth looking into.

Feeling uneasy about any of these suggestions? You think the fossil fuel lobby isn't doing this, with piles of money we don't have?! Again, they sued Hansen, stole emails as we all know (it's highly unlikely those emails were stumbled on accidentally, it was most likely an active, paid operation and not necessarily the first attempt, just the first attempt that found something usable; look for more like that to come), they are planning to sue Gavin Schmidt of RealClimate.org here Completely Evil Institute announces plan to sue Gavin Schmidt, and targeted Van Jones. One way to put a damper on future stolen emails is to offer a reward for info about the CRU hackers. Somebody is out there bragging big time! Enough money will get the authorities the names of the thieves, if not actual evidence that could be used in court. We find the email thieves, we probably eventually find their paymasters, which will do great damage to any sense of authority or propriety on anyone who uses the emails as climate deniers. They have certainly targeted other people, they just haven't turned up any dirt on that they can use yet. They will target Joe Romm of Climateprogress.org for certain, especially now that he's one of Time's 10 Environmental Heroes. Rajendra Pachuari describes how he has been targeted here: IPCC Chair targeted by climate change deniers and liars

I understand that scientists may not want to be part of the 'Ten Most Wanted Deniers and Liars' identification and publication. However, given that our very existence as a species is at stake, I think we have the right to expect a tsunami of truth from scientists every time the deniers and liars that are identified propagate their lies in print, broadcast, and/or online. I'm not the only one who believes this, see also: "On issues like global warming and evolution, scientists need to speak up." Scientists need to speak up A sea-change in attitude and actions in the scientific community will be virtually REQUIRED to counter the propaganda of the deniers and liars, IF we are going to prevent runaway, catastrophic climate change.

I know the AGU is actively persuading it's members to contact their Congress members. I know the AAAS and 17 other orgs sent a letter to the Senate. But I don't see AAAS+17 actively persuading their members to take the infowar offensive and contact their members of Congress individually. Organizing a group of volunteers from those orgs using online tools to respond to EVERY denial and lie would not be difficult, and would be very effective. Civil society groups can actively ask for this kind of cooperation from all scientists the world over. 1Sky.org in particular is very well-trained in arranging meetings with Congress members, so a joint venture with AAAS+17 and a civil society group with similar abilities would be a great way to counter the lies in a systematic, tsunami-like flood (full disclosure, I'm a volunteer community organizer for 1Sky.org, but do not speak for them, this is all my own). I personally am trying to recruit one IPCC member and also a Nobel Laureate for exactly these kinds of visits.

Although volunteers from AAAS+17 will be more likely to respond often to the denials and lies, I would also like to see AAAS+17 actively working to get EVERY ONE of their members to respond! Groups like 1Sky, Greenpeace, etc. email prepared issue statements to their members which can be modified per each person's desire prior to sending to their elected representatives. AAAS+17 can do the same for the US Senate, and also arrange such statements to be sent to ALL their members, when a climate change denial/lie appears in public, to be sent to the media outlet the denial/lie appeared in.

Joe Romm nails it here: Joe Romm on actively speaking against disinformation. Scientists passively issuing a statement is NOT going to cut it in the 24-hour news cycle driven by cable outlets and the blogosphere. Blather, spittle, and volume rule the new media world, but they CAN be overcome by sheer numbers of emails, letters, calls, comments. By the truth. We need to take the initiative, just as Michael Mann and Joe Romm did with Swifthack.

I'm NOT suggesting anything illegal or any violence of any kind. Anything they've done that's legal, we can do better! Nothing in this email is intended to promote or endorse violence or any illegal act. The tactics described are intended to unabashedly reveal truth in a sincere and earnest way without reservation or apology and in so doing to avoid libel and slander by painstakingly documenting and vetting the factual statements made and/or actions committed by the subjects of surveillance. Personal harassment if it occurs is intended to be a collateral result of revealing facts that are fully verified, and provide the reader with a larger background against which to evaluate the actions of the deniers/liars.

It's important to understand that taking the offensive in the info war on climate change should not come from a place of hatred or anger, but simply a passionate desire to tell the truth in an attempt to prevent pain and suffering on a scale and scope, and for a time span, never before imagined.

In service to the Earth.

Flopenhagen accord

2009-12-20T22:49:00.000-05:00

As you probably know, the 'accord' that came from COP15 has been called 'Brokenhagen', 'Flopenhagen', and various other monikers that I don't recall. It's nothing close to the what the planet and our descendants (if we have any) need. Such as it is, here is the text from the UN website: http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/application/pdf/cop15_cph_auv.pdf

Climate change science and politices timeline

2009-12-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to work up a comprehensive timeline of climate change for some time, and will probably still do my own thing someday. In the meantime, The New York Times science team has done a great job with this timeline: Climate Change Science timeline.

56 major newspapers around the world published a climate change editorial calling for action!

2009-12-10T11:03:00.001-05:00

"Kicking our carbon habit within a few short decades will require a feat of engineering and innovation to match anything in our history. But whereas putting a man on the moon or splitting the atom were born of conflict and competition, the coming carbon race must be driven by a collaborative effort to achieve collective salvation."

Climate change call for action by 56 newspapers around the world

Cincinnatian attending climate change treaty meeting in Copenhagen, COP15

2009-12-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

My friend Liz is a youth delegate to the 15th Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (try saying that three times real fast when you're drunk), AKA COP15. Here is her Day 1 blog entry: Liz in Copenhagen, Day 1. She is a recent UC graduate in international studies.

CityBeat guest editorial: Senate Nero's Fiddle While the Earth Burns

2009-12-04T23:36:00.002-05:00

CityBeat has graciously published a guest editorial I wrote: Senate Nero's Fiddle While the Earth Burns. Text below:

Guest Editorial: Senate Fiddles as Earth Burns

In Section: Politics/Issues » Posted In: Environment, Climate Change, Public PolicyPosted By: Jeff Cobb

(Activist Jeff Cobb, of Climate Change Advocates of Cincinnati, outlines why the climate change treaty meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, is important and how U.S. politicians are lagging in the effort.)

The parallels between Nero fiddling while Rome burned and the callous neglect by politicians like the U.S. Senate while the Earth burns due to global warming is sadly apt.

One could easily write an entire column containing only the names of the scientific reports that prove that climate change is happening, is caused by human activity and why action needs to be taken to reverse it. Scientific, political, religious, national security and economic thinkers who have looked at climate change understand our dire straits and beg for changes.

Europe faced a similar dark time prior to World War II as politicians practiced denial rather than address Hitler's relentless drive to war. Hitler seized Poland and readied to take more of Europe under his dark dominion, and billboards in England demanded: "What Price Churchill?" Churchill was finally made prime minister, and leapt to action, a leader in the fight to defeat the Nazi war machine. Climate change needs its own Churchill, and doesn’t yet have one. Neither hate-filled dictators nor climate change negotiate, a reality lost on politicians.

The word “unequivocal” was used by the 2007 Nobel Prize-winning U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (the United States is a member and all member governments approved every word) to describe the body of scientific evidence proving that climate change is occurring, is man-made, and action needs to be taken to reverse it. Because of their consensus process, this report only contains new data up to 2005, so climate science already was unequivocal by that time.

As anyone can see on the best climate blog out there, ClimateProgress.org by Dr. Joe Romm — one ofTime magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment” — there is scientific evidence for climate change aplenty, and he quotes and provides links to seven of the best of them here.

As further evidence for the scientific consensus, as well as frustration on the part of American scientists on Senate inaction, we have the letter signed by the most prestigious science organization in the U.S., along with 17 other American science organizations.

And if you need further proof, please see this nearly exhaustive list of science, industry, and religion quotes.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon describes climate change as "by far the most urgent and serious existential threat for all humanity and planet Earth" and "the one true existential threat to our planet."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is politically center-right in her nation and was recently reelected, said in her address to Congress: "In the Arctic icebergs are melting, in Africa people are becoming refugees due to environmental damage, and global sea levels are rising ... For we all know, we have no time to lose. We need an agreement at the climate conference in Copenhagen in December."

The president of the Maldives, an island nation likely to be underwater by the end of the century due to climate change, has become the first country to become carbon neutral. For that act, Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed was named one of Time's “Heroes of the Environment 2009.”

The European Union has committed to emissions reductions of 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, andis on the verge of increasing that to 30 percent.

By comparison, the United States — the greatest historical emitter of greenhouse gases — has made no concrete commitment at all.

Spiritual leaders from the world’s major religions address climate change in similar terms. The Vaticandescribes the “inescapable responsibility of one and all to care for the environment," the chief rabbi of Israel believes “care for the environment is a fundamental religious imperative," and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, supports reducing carbon dioxide to the scientific consensus of 350 parts per million, and counsels “urgent...corrective action.”

The Arab-Israeli conflict centers largely around water. Imagine more such conflicts breaking out, as climate change disrupts normal weather patterns. Mass migration to flee drought conditions in some areas, and floods in others, is poised to create more turmoil. For this reason, climate change is a growing concern for national security specialists. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, a West Point graduate and former National Security adviser, and Gen. Wesley Clark, a West Point valedictorian and ex-presidential candidate, have appeared on Repower America's TV commercial calling climate change a national security issue.

CNA, a think tank born in World War II that conducts military operations analysis, convened a board in 2006 comprised of former generals of all the military services, and has made climate change a major focus.CNA’s conclusion sees “climate change acting as a ‘threat multiplier’ for instability in some of the most volatile regions of the world and identifies key challenges that must be planned for now if they are to be met effectively in the future.”

Sir Nicholas Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank, made a study of the economics of climate change for the British government. He describes climate change as “the greatest market failure ever,” and proposes action with “fierce urgency." He has also framed the issue succinctly by pointing out that the U.S. generates 23 tons per capita of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases (CO2e), and the entire planet needs to get to 2 tons per capita by 2050. (Ohioans generate 24 tons CO2e per capita, due to our reliance on coal to generate electricity.)

According to Stern, if we don't act on climate change “damage could rise to [a reduction of] 20 percent of GDP or more."

And yet still U.S. politicians dither and choose more words, not deeds; inaction over action; insanity over what the science says we "have" to do to prevent catastrophic climate change and the possible end of humanity. Even some U.S. politicians like President Bill Clinton, who want climate change action, still put politics before science, next year's election ahead of our survival: "We shouldn't ask them [Congressional Democrats] to commit [political] suicide [by acting on climate change]," Clinton said.

The world has entered another period like the beginning of World War II, with a dark, deadly situation no one wanted to admit to or deal with. As Hitler made his move and began taking over nation after nation, politicians practiced appeasement, and tried and failed with words rather than action, to halt the advance of his war machine. The politicians had lived in denial far too long to stem the tide of the now-raging Nazi storm. Some knew then that the world needed a leader, not a politician, just as we do now (as admirably pointed out by Greenpeace International).

We, who in our darkest hour stare our mortality starkly in the face, need a leader. We don't need the kind of politicians who have declared their failure to agree to a climate change treaty this month in Copenhagen, before the date has even arrived. What confidence they exhibit in themselves, what compassion for future generations. We haven't seen their like since 1939, when Chamberlain declared success after selling out Poland to Hitler.

The time for action has long since passed. The time to shift the world to a war footing, and throw all global resources into a full-court press at the challenge of climate change as if our lives depended on it (because they do, especially if you are poor) is yesterday, not December 2010 at the next U.N. climate change meeting. In the absence of a climate change “Pearl Harbor,” we need leaders more than ever to galvanize public opinion, harness the world's political, economic, material and spiritual resources, and tackle head-on the greatest challenge humanity has ever stared in the eye.

In the absence of our “Climate Change Churchill,” we must take up the mantle of “leader” ourselves. As Gandhi said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” We must be the leaders of change we wish to see. Just as in Britain prior to World War II, we too can choose to send a message to our politicians, “What Price our Planet?”

Instead of billboards to send this message, we in Ohio can call, e-mail, fax, meet with our political leaders and ask them what it will take for action on climate change. Now.

Letter to the Editor in 'The Enquirer'

2009-11-19T18:08:00.004-05:00

Hello,

This is based on a suggested LTE that www.1sky.org sent out. I volunteer for them as a community organizer. I agree with all the points in the letter, and have had other totally independent LTE's published on climate change. But in the interest of full disclosure, wanted to make sure everyone knew the majority of the text of this one was written by 1sky.org.

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2009/11/19/pass-climate-change-laws-this-year/

This December, the world will watch the United Nations in Copenhagen, as negotiators build a climate change treaty. President Obama must move negotiations forward. The United States has shown that it wants to fight climate change by electing a president committed to this. Obama has talked the talk and called for an agreement that will fight the ravages of climate change. Now he can prove he understands how dire the consequences of inaction will be.

The world will follow America’s lead – we must pass bold federal legislation before December if we want to solve climate change and create millions of clean energy jobs.

Jeff Cobb

Norwood

More climate science, taken from www.climateprogress.org

2009-11-17T13:25:00.002-05:00

This is taken from this Climate Progress blog entry: http://bit.ly/FSFZA. I have already made one post on the science behind climate change, and really wanted to do another that's this condensed. Since Dr. Joe Romm has gotten me started, I'll add all the others I have soon. This will do to be getting on with.
American Association for the Advancement of Science: The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society. [10/9/06]

U.S. Global Change Research Program: Global temperature has increased over the past 50 years. This observed increase is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. [June 2009]

American Physical Society: Emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are changing the atmosphere in ways that affect the Earth’s climate. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide as well as methane, nitrous oxide and other gases. They are emitted from fossil fuel combustion and a range of industrial and agricultural processes. The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now. [11/18/07]

American Meteorological Society: Despite the uncertainties noted above, there is adequate evidence from observations and interpretations of climate simulations to conclude that the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface are warming; that humans have significantly contributed to this change; and that further climate change will continue to have important impacts on human societies, on economies, on ecosystems, and on wildlife through the 21st century and beyond. [2/1/07]

American Geophysical Union: The Earth’s climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system—including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons—are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century. . . . Evidence from most oceans and all continents except Antarctica shows warming attributable to human activities. [December 2007]

American Quaternary Association: Few credible scientists now doubt that humans have influenced the documented rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution. [10/24/06]

The national science academies of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa: It is essential that world leaders agree on the emission reductions needed to combat negative consequences of anthropogenic climate change at the UNFCCC negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009. [May 2009]

Lord Nicholas Stern revamps emissions calculations process; simpler and far more concrete

2009-11-11T01:36:00.002-05:00

Two of the most important things I learned in university are: "Figures never lie, but liars sure can figure," and "If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess." As a climate change volunteer organizer for two years, I've worked hard to understand what 350ppm, 80% by 2050, and other climate numbers esoterica REALLY mean. For instance, I know that the base year (1990 is the year used by the IPCC) used for '80% by 2050' is critical to deciphering the numbers used in proposed Congressional bills, scientific studies, news articles, op-eds, blogs, tweets, etc. But not every layman knows that, and therein lies the problem of global understanding and global solutions to climate change driven by the laymen who will be affected (all of us), and their potential to BE the change our planet needs. If laypeople do not TRULY understand climate change, they are not able to charge their political leaders with the kind of power and direction needed for the scope and scale of the problem. And they will not begin to make the changes possible in their own lives, like using less carbon intensive transportation more often, that will begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As climate change climbs higher and higher to its rightful place at the very summit of the global agenda, so too does the necessity of clear, easy communication to the layman become correspondingly greater and greater. Lord Nicholas Stern's analysis "Managing Climate Change and Overcoming Poverty: Facing the Realities and Building a Global Agreement" http://bit.ly/1NU6r9 provides an excellent example of sweeping away the confusion of percentages and other nuances that provide excellent fodder for those politicians and corporate spin-meisters who want to confuse and misinform the public in their short-sighted desire to maintain a status quo that is killing the planet. He makes climate change very concrete, communicating the magnitude and urgency of the challenge in a way that any layman can grasp far more easily than say, '80% by 2050 from 1990'.

Lord Stern is a former VP for Development at the World Bank, and the author of the 'Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change', the first serious economic analysis of climate change. His study is the benchmark against which all other climate change economic analyses are compared. The Stern Review galvanized world business, as well as government agencies around the world that deal with economics, to start taking climate change seriously. He has described climate change as "the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen."

His analysis uses terms and measurements that communicate as easily and concretely as we are likely to get when dealing with a global problem that has already impacted the lives of millions, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, changed the chemical composition of the oceans for hundreds of thousands of years, and will require that all 192 members of the United Nations truly become more united than ever before. For one, he measures all greenhouses gases in carbon dioxide equivalents, dealing with all of them in one stroke. This is done regularly in scientific circles, but rarely in the policy arena that is meant for public consumption without getting 'wonkish'. He also uses a 'per capita emissions' breakdown in addition to annual emissions figures, to easily compare between countries. The per capita approach not only allows concrete comparisons for each country, but also conveniently makes the analysis easy for the layman.

His approach first came to light for me in his article from the British newspaper 'The Observer', titled "The world's future is being decided this weekend." (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/oct/18/nicholas-stern-carbon-emission) In this article he wrote: "...the United States emits about 24 tons per head while the figure for India is below 2 tons. By 2050, the global population is projected to rise to 9 billion, so average per head emissions will have to be lower than 2 tons per year on average." In two sentences, he compacted the scale and scope of the problem into words anyone could understand: from 24 tons per year per person in the US, to 2 tons per year per person globally by 2050. Like it says in the beer commercial, 'It don't get no better than this!'

You don't have to have a Ph.D. to understand that going from 24 tons per capita to 2 tons per capita (of ANYTHING) is LARGE, and means a lot of things have to change, and quickly. Never before have I seen the only existential threat to humanity, made that succinct, concrete and concise. We can only hope that this clarity in climate change communication by using per capita and per annum measurements will be picked up by others. I hope to see all policymakers, commentators, analysts, and bloggers add this way of measurement and communication to their work on climate change! Using such a concrete way of framing the debate can only help educate and inform the average person, spurring them to get involved and pressure their governments to do more, and more quickly, as well as spur them to reduce their own personal carbon footprint.

Climate change too important to wait: Letter to Editor in Enquirer

2009-11-07T22:55:00.004-05:00

I sent this to The Enquirer before my Oct. 24 International Day of Climate Action. Here is the text:

The most important issue in history is climate change. Our existence as a species is at risk. Eighteen groups of scientists sent U.S. senators a letter about the consensus climate change opinion, evidently concerned about how the Senate is dealing with climate. We need the strongest negotiating position possible in Copenhagen this December. Passing science-based climate legislation before then will ensure China and India will commit to a reduction of greenhouse gases. The Senate continues to dawdle on issues that do not affect the end of humanity, weakening our ability to negotiate a climate change science-based treaty in December.

Here is the link: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/tag/greenhouse-gases/

LEED certified buildings in Cincinnati

2009-11-05T19:35:00.001-05:00

Today, I visited my first LEED-certfiied building, Keystone Parke http://www.keystoneparke.com/ on Dana Ave. LEED stands for "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design", and is an international standard in making buildings as green. Once we pass climate change legislation in the US, and after the climate change treaty that emerges form Copenhagen (COP15) next month, MANY more buildings will be built with LEED certification in mind, as well as even more being retrofitted to LEED.

The Cincinnnati chapter of the US Green Building Council http://www.usgbc-cincinnati.org/ is well poised to capitalize on this coming green revolution as seen in the stats below from their website:

- The Cincinnati area is home to more LEED projects than any city in Ohio
- The Cincinnati area is home to more LEED AP's per capita than Chicago, and has the fourth largest number of LEED AP's in the Midwest
- Cincinnati has more LEED registered schools than any other city in the state; Ohio has more LEED registered schools that California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, and Florida combined. Twenty percent of all LEED schools projects are in Ohio

- The Cincinnati Regional Chapter is the largest in Ohio and surrounding states
- It has spread green building education to more than half a million people through media and direct contact
- Chapter leaders have advocated for green building policy with the Governor's and Cincinnati Mayor's offices
- The chapter has forged an award-winning partnership with Cincinnati State to provide a sustainable building curriculum for professionals

20 tons of CO2 per capita is what the US generates, & we need to get to 2 (TWO) tons of CO2 per year

2009-11-02T09:41:00.009-05:00

24 tons of CO2e per year is what the average American generates, & we need to get to 2 (TWO) tons of CO2e per capita globally by 2050 to prevent runaway climate change. IF it's not too late already. According to Lord Nicholas Stern, former Chief Economist & Senior VP of the World Bank, now Chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change & the Environment at the London School of Economics, from which he graduated several decades ago.

This article ran Oct. 18, but the take-away message is how he makes the reduction that needs to be made very concrete.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/oct/18/nicholas-stern-carbon-emission

Oceans and Great Lakes Task Force Public Listening Session - October 29, Cleveland, OH

2009-10-27T23:53:00.004-04:00

Oceans and Great Lakes Task Force Public Listening Session - October 29

On June 12, President Obama announced the creation of a 23-member Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force to develop within 90 days: 1) a national policy that ensures the protection, maintenance, and restoration of the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources; 2) a framework for agency coordination in implementing the policy; and 3) a set of priority actions that will help advance the policy and, within 180 days, develop a framework for coordinated coastal and ocean spatial planning.

Join Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council of Environmental Quality, Joan Lubchenco, Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other high-level Administration official at a public listening session on October 29 in Cleveland.

Cleveland Marriott Hotel at Key Center
Salon D & E, 127 Public Square
4:00PM - 7:00PM
Cleveland, OH 44114

For more information and talking points, please contact Kristy Meyer, the OEC's Director of Agricultural & Clean Water Programs, at Kristy@theOEC.org or (614) 487-7506.

On the topic of ocean acidification, the national academies of science of 70 nations have signed a letter asking that ocean acidification be part of the COP15 climate change treaty created in Copenhagen this December, because they understand that we have changed the oceans for tens of thousands of years: http://www.interacademies.net/Object.File/Master/9/075/Statement_RS1579_IAP_05.09final2.pdf.

"Climate Progress" best climate change science blog

2009-10-27T13:28:00.003-04:00

No, it's not just my opinion that www.climateprogress.org is the best climate change science blog out there.

Time Magazine http://bit.ly/M6UAC name Dr. Joe Romm, the blogger for Climate Progress, one of the 'Environmental Heroes for 2009'.

In March 2009, The New York Times‘ Tom Friedman wrote that Romm is “a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org.”

In April, U.S. News & World Report named Romm one of the 8 “most influential energy and environmental policymakers in the Obama era,” writing, “In terms of his cachet in the blogosphere, Joe Romm is something like the climate change equivalent of economist (and New York Times columnist) Paul Krugman.”

So if you want to follow on ONE climate change science blog, make it this one!

American Association for the Advancement of Sciences & 17 other science orgs write climate change letter to US Senate

2009-10-27T12:02:00.004-04:00

18 US professional science organizations joined together to write a letter to the US Senate about the consensus scientific opinion on climate change: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2009/media/1021climate_letter.pdf

To my mind the letter was at least a year late, but at least now it's out there! I sent it to our two US Senators for Ohio via their email, along with my comments below. Please feel free to do the same, although calling the DC office is even better! The staff they work with see it, and it has a greater impact!

Senator,

The most important issue in human history is climate change, as it is literally our existence as a species. The fact that you have no "message topic" for climate change makes me wonder if you are taking climate change seriously.

Evidently, the 18 groups of scientists who sent all Senators the below letter also have concerns about how the Senate is dealing with climate change. Nothing is more important for humanity than giving the US the strongest negotiating position possible in Copenhagen this December, to ensure that the US is able to get China and India to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in a science-based manner.

Yet the Senate continues to dawdle on other issues that do NOT involve the fate of humanity, thereby directly weakening our ability to negotiate a climate change treaty in December that is science-based.

The climate change bills that pass the Senate, and the bills that pass the House-Senate reconciliation process that go to the President for his signature also need to be far more science-based than the House ACES bill. They need to be signed by the President prior to December.

The key quotes from the letter from the scientists are:

"Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver."

"...there is strong evidence that ongoing climate change will have broad impacts on society, including the global economy and on the environment."

"The severity of climate change impacts is expected to increase substantially in the coming decades."

"If we are to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, emissions of greenhouse gases must be dramatically reduced. In addition, adaptation will be necessary to address those impacts that are already unavoidable."

If you fail to pass climate change legislation prior to December, Senator, you fail humanity, and you fail to win my support after December.

'Age of Stupid' review

2009-10-27T10:22:00.001-04:00

I wrote this and forgot to post it. Disregard references to time, this was about a month ago.

I saw 'Age of Stupid' last night. I was told that the theater was sold out, and there were about 20 people there. I'll try to find out what happened and blog about it.

I was impressed with how well the director was on top of the reality of climate change, both the science and the policy. Kudos for UK Environment Minister Ed Miliband http://www.edmilibandmp.com/ for bravely showing up at the New York premiere. At the UK premiere in March, with Miliband on stage, the main actor, Pete Postelthwaite http://www.ageofstupid.net/people/pete_postlethwaite signed a pledge to give back is Order of the British Empire if the British Government didn't do the right thing in Copenhagen.

Last night, Franny Armstrong, the director of the film, invited Miliband to the stage again after the NY screening tonight, and live to over 60 countries in over 400 theaters, she proceeded to mercilessly ask him dogged question after question about the pledged emissions target of the UK only giving a 50% chance of preventing runaway climate change, and why he only wanted to give the world a 50% chance of avoiding runaway climate change.

Kofi Annan. Moby powered by people. A musician with Radiohead (don't recall his name had one of the most memorable lines of the whole night: 'Economy of limitless growth is dead.' Look forward to the economists (besides Nicholas Stern) waking up to that.

The best The woman who defeated allowing wind mills being created near her home, doggedly insisting she is taking action on climate change.

Grist.org has described 'Age of Stupid' as being 'scare tactics', but I wholeheartedly disagree. It's truth tactics, plain and simple. The stark, unavoidable plain truth is what she described, pure and simple.

Best audio of the movie: director Franny Armstrong accidently broadcast live saying "f@$%*!g s&$t!" Best image: children filmed in the room where the Copenhagen climate

International Day of Climate Action Oct 24 @ 11:00 am Fountain Square after the event report

2009-10-26T00:47:00.001-04:00

Speakers were organizer of event, myself (Jeff Cobb); Larry Falkin, Director of City of Cincinnati's Office of Environmental Quality; Laure Quinlivan, candidate for Cincinnati City Council; Todd Portune, Hamilton County Board of Commissioners; Alan Warner, Chair of Cincinnati Chapter of US Green Building Council; Mike Morgan, Director of Over-the-Rhine Foundation; Liz Trombley, student delegate to COP15 through SustainUS.org; Dr. Eric Gruenstein, presenter with the Climate Project (taught by Al Gore to give Gore's climate change presentation).

There were 30-40 people there, pretty chilly due to the wind. We would have had more with warmer weather.

It was mentioned on the big newspaper in Cincinnati's website: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/green/2009/10/18/1024-international-day-of-climate-action/.

And I had a guest editorial in the big alternative weekly, CityBeat: http://citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-1043-guest-editorial-climate-change-steps-crucial.html.

"Climate Change Science Compendium 2009" by UN Environment Program

2009-10-15T22:49:00.004-04:00

This is the only post from me for Blog Action Day on Climate that I think is worth your time to read:

The science that was used to reach the IPCC's AR4 report conclusion that proof of anthropogenic (man-made) climate change was real and unequivocal, was only based on science from peer-reviewed literature up to the year 2005, due to the consensus process that is used. To make sure that the negotiators have the best, most up-to-date science available, the United Nations Environment Program put together the major climate change science since 2005, in one volume, the Climate Change Science Compendium 2009. In part, it describes the tipping elements that might push us pass catastrophic, runaway climate change, as well as goes further into detail on the challenges faced by our oceans for thousands of years to come. There is also frank description of 'committments' we have already made. "Already we have committed [the planet] to tropical and temperate mountain glacier loss that will...alter the socio-economic and cultural lives of perhaps 20-25 per cent of the human population." This type of frank statement is repeated, something I'd not seen before in climate change science.

It is a sobering read about the sober state of our planet, and I commend it to you, lest the reality become more sober yet.

International Day of Climate Action Oct 24 @ 11:00 am Fountain Square

2009-10-12T23:53:00.001-04:00

We are having an International Day of Climate Action in conjunction with 350.org. We will send a message to policymakers to take action on climate change that will put us on a path to carbon dioxide levels at 350 parts per million to prevent runaway climate change. Cincinnati and Ohio are quietly leading the way in addressing climate change and living in a sustainable manner, by greening our Queen City. We will have speakers highlighting the many climate and green initiatives in Cincinnati and throughout Ohio that few are even aware of. See you there!

Blog Action Day Oct. 15: Climate Change

2009-10-07T14:09:00.001-04:00

Blog Action Day will focus on raising aware of climate change this year. For more info go to: http://www.blogactionday.org/. Let's spark some climate change action! I'm planning a lot of entries that I'll save as drafts, then post them periodically throughout the day on Oct. 15.

"Age of Stupid" THIS Monday, Sept. 21 @ 7:30, Springdale 18 Cinema Delux

2009-09-18T23:23:00.006-04:00

'Age of Stupid' is about climate change, and has been described by the LA Times as "'An Inconvenient Truth' with a personality." It has an Oscar-nominated actor, an Oscar-winning producer, and James Hansen and a Nobel Peace Prize winner will be at the New York premiere.

There is only one showing at only one cinema in Cincinnati, it is simulcast to about 40 nations in the world. This is the link to the US screenings: 'Age of Stupid' in the US. Please share it with everyone in Cincinnati!

This is the website to a 'making of' about Age of Stupid: Making of 'Age of Stupid'

See ya there!

Catholic Climate Covenant

2009-09-10T12:44:00.000-04:00

I've done an earilier, very extensive post on all the global institutions of prestige that understand the truth of climate change. One website included the position of the Vatican. To add to that, please add the Catholic Climate Covenant: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/catholic-post/.

Climate change and megafires happening 10 to 15 years

2009-09-09T12:19:00.003-04:00

Here is a great story on firefighters who have lived the effects of climate change for 10 & 15 years. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5291115n&tag=contentBody;housing That quote comes near the end of the story from Tom Boatner, the firefighter with 30 years experience.

Meeting today with staff person for Senator Voinovich

2009-09-08T14:16:00.004-04:00

I met with a very nice woman who listened to what we had to say, and expressed the Senator's concern that cap and trade would kill jobs in Ohio and increase costs for families and businesses by raising electricity costs.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the American Clean Energy and Security bill passed by the US House of Represntatives will be deficit neutral (won't add to the deficit, will actually make a little money as deficits go) and will only cost on average one postage stamp per person per day. http://bit.ly/16iSP7

According to University of Massachusetts Amherst Political Economy Research Institute and the Center for American Progress, the ACES bill will create 67,000 jobs in Ohio alone. http://bit.ly/NnDZW

If any of you have any additional info on green jobs in Ohio, and/or due to ACES bill, please post a comment about them.

Climate change deniers: Whenever you're ready to join the mainstream, we'll be there

2009-09-02T13:45:00.005-04:00

The most important event in human history, the climate change treaty meeting in Copenhagen (www.cop15.dk) is about 100 days out. Given the US Chamber of Commerce announcing it will sue if the EPA does not put climate change science 'on trial', this posting is all the more apropos. The Chamber's actions are as mature and educated as those who foisted the Butler Act on the State of Tennessee which made it illegal "to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals." The Chamber will also be as successful as the Butler Act in their vain attempt to deny scientific evidence.

The average American citizen may not know it yet, the GOP (Grandly Oiled Party) certainly doesn't get it, the fossil fuel lobby knew it the day King Coal was no longer producing more than 50% of our power (coal is down to less than 45% as of May and continues to drop), but leaders, thinkers, doers, movers and shakers the world over know it: climate change is now mainstream.

How else do you describe a global state of affairs requiring swift action supported by The World Bank; seventy of the world's National Academies of Science including The US National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering; the American Medical Association; the American Bar Association; the Vatican; the Conference of European Rabbis; the International Monetary Fund; the European Union; the World Health Organization; and the 192 nations of the UN who will meet in December to seal the fate of the planet?

Oh, did I forget to mention that Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon called climate change 'the number one existential threat to humanity'?

The World Bank is hardly a radical, left-wing institution. Yet, from the World Bank's own climate change website (http://beta.worldbank.org/climatechange/) we may read: "We are the first multilateral development bank to become carbon neutral and are committed to reducing our GHG emissions at the Washington, D.C. offices by 7% from a 2006 baseline by 2011." Hard to imagine too many global institutions as as stolid and staid as the World Bank. Who would have thought they are leading by example on climate change by becoming carbon neutral?

Not sure the scope of climate change impacts raise the stakes enough to threaten the very survival of humanity as I quoted earlier? Also from the World Bank's climate change website: "At stake are recent gains in the fight against poverty, hunger and disease, and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people in developing countries."

The American Medical Association is not a reactionary organization, and yet in November 2008 the AMA adopted a resolution (http://bit.ly/tsnnG) that states in part: "The AMA: 1. Supports the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report and concurs with the scientific consensus that the Earth is undergoing adverse global climate change and that anthropogenic contributions are significant. These climate changes will create conditions that affect public health, with disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and the poor. 2. Supports...incorporating the health implications of climate change into the spectrum of medical education, including topics such as population displacement, heat waves and drought, flooding, infectious and vector-borne diseases, and potable water supplies." They, at least, are stepping up to their responsibilities, in contast to Congressional Republicans.

The American Bar Association (ABA) is one of our venerable organizations that took early action, adopting this policy position in February 2008: "The ABA urges the US government to take a leadership role in addressing the issue of climate change through legal, policy, financial, and educational mechanisms...the ABA urges Congress to enact...legislation that would: cap and reduce US greenhouse gas emmissions to help prevent the rise of worldwide atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations to dangerous levels; Utilize market mechanisms...such as cap and trade, carbon taxation, or emissions trading...incorporate sustainable development principles; increase fuel economy and energy efficiency standards, promote greater use of renewable energy, promote fuel diversity...that reduce, eliminate, or sequester emissions of greenhouse gases...enable the US to adapt to existing and projected climate changes in a way that minimizes individual hardship, damage to its natural resources, and economic cost...engage in active international discussions and to negotiate and ratify treaties or other agreements to address and reduce climate change." http://bit.ly/RlpS6

The Vatican is also NOT synonymous with the words 'fringe group', and one doesn't really imagine the Pope tripping through forests hugging trees. In February of 2008, Monsignor Celestino Migliore addressed the UN debate on climate change for the Pope: "...the Holy See has already taken certain measures to reduce and offset the carbon emission of the Vatican City State, such as the use of solar panels and tree-planting....My delegation, therefore, commends the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for providing a global framework for concerted international action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impacts...starting with those most vulnerable, like small-island States and coastal, low-lying populated areas...." http://bit.ly/hEay No echoes of the aforementioned Butler Act here!

It's hard to imagine a drier, non-exciting, non-far-left group than the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Imagine the sight of all 5000 scientists, engineers, and doctors at one time. Geek! (Pun intended!) Now multiply that times sixty-nine other national academies of science (from Albania to Zimbabwe) all of whom signed a letter (http://bit.ly/uwRHA) urging that ocean acidification be a central focus of the Copenhagen treaty negotiations, and you have the body of people that ARE the ones who decide whether or not climate change is backed by science.

Their letter didn't address whether or not the threat is real, but a plea to make sure this major part of our Earth Stewardship heritage was not left out of climate change action, because they understand the science. The letter reads in part: “The implications of ocean acidification cannot be overstated. Unless we cut our global CO2 emissions by at least 50% by 2050 and thereafter, we could be looking at fundamental and immutable changes in the makeup of our marine biodiversity. The effects will be seen worldwide, threatening food security, reducing coastal protection and damaging the local economies that may be least able to tolerate it.”

The US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicines even have a separate website just for this issue: http://americasclimatechoices.org/. They explain climate change and why it must be addressed in layman's terms. The National Academies were created by Abraham Lincoln as an advisory body to guide the three branches of the federal government in understanding the science of the day (are you listening, Congress? see below for the answer).

Because government bureaucrats aren't prone to spiffy, energetic, punchy use of language, there aren't any such quotes easily found on their website. However, the site does describe in detail four panels of experts on climate change issues, one of which is named 'Panel on Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change'. It would seem that the hoary Republicans who called climate change 'the greatest hoax ever foisted on the American people' on the floor of Congress forgot to check with their own 5000 experts at the National Academies. Opps, minor oversight! That statement was made the same day the US House of Representatives voted to pass The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), a landmark bill to cap carbon emissions and get America (and therefore the rest of the world!) on a track to climate change action.

In May of last year, the Conference of European Rabbis met with the European Union at "Climate Change: An Ethical Challenge for All Cultures." The meeting leader said: "Climate change obliges all of us to take urgent action. Thanks to their outreach and role in our societies, religions and communities of belief are well placed to make a valuable contribution in mobilising them for a sustainable future." The rabbis called on the EU leaders to take action ensuring the protection of the planet and the efficient and controlled use of the world’s resources while stressing the moral responsibility of the world’s developed nations to lead such action.http://bit.ly/GJdnb

The International Monetary Fund is also geared to take supportive action on climate change: "It is now generally recognized that climate change poses potentially severe macroeconomic, fiscal and financial challenges, particularly in many low-income countries. It could lead to sizable reductions in output and productivity, particularly in agriculture, fisheries, and tourism, and brings a low (although unknown) risk of catastrophic events." Clearly not understanding the cutting-edge science and dangers that science is pointing to, the IMF is also just as clearly conversant with the essential reality of climate change and ready to help when called on.www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/enviro.htm

The European Union, compared to the US, is at the cutting edge of government action on climate (actually, compared to the US, almost EVERYBODY appears cutting edge). They have already set goals in line with scientific recommendations, and are planning mitigating strategies for helping the least developed nations. Because their work, like everyone elses, will be naught without similar actions by the 'Big Three Emitters', the US, China, and India, much of their work has halted while they wait for the US to catch up and make similarly substantive, effective commitments. It will likely come down to the wire just before Copenhagen, before Obama will be able to sign a climate change bill into law capping carbon emissions and making concrete our national commitment to addressing climate at the scope and scale of the problem.

From the EU's website (http://bit.ly/Hs9Xl): "Climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet. The EU is committed to working constructively for a global agreement to control climate change, and is leading the way by taking ambitious action of its own. The warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level...EU leaders set three key targets to be met by 2020: a 20% reduction in energy consumption compared with projected trends; an increase to 20% in renewable energies' share of total energy consumption; and an increase to 10% in the share of petrol and diesel consumption from sustainably-produced biofuels." FYI, Ohio has passed a state law mandating 12.5% renewable energy (RES), the Australian Senate has passed a bill setting a goal of 20% RES by 2020, while the ACES bill that passed the House has a 20% by 2020 goal with many exemptions rendering it almost useless.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the most venerable organization we will mention, plodding along in the background of the pages of history, quietly doing great deeds to little public fanfare. Their climate page echoes things already heard: "Climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health, and changes the way we must look at protecting vulnerable populations. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed that there is overwhelming evidence that humans are affecting the global climate....Climate variability and change cause death and disease through natural disasters, such as heatwaves, floods and droughts. In addition, many important diseases are highly sensitive to changing temperatures and precipitation....Climate change already contributes to the global burden of disease, and this contribution is expected to grow in the future...Developing country populations...are considered to be particularly vulnerable...Concerted action...can enhance public health now as well as reduce vulnerability to future climate change." http://bit.ly/iynG0

Last and certainly most important is the 192 countries that compose the United Nations. The UN meeting this December in Copenhagen will create a new treaty on climate change. Meetings have been held for many months in advance, to discuss the issues and discover the positions of the member nations on each issue. The details of those discussions can be found onwww.cop15.dk. It was recently reported that currently there are about 2000 points of disagreement, but the necessity for climate change action is not one of points of disagreement, meaning that none of the 192 nations of the UN argue that climate change is not real and requires action.

The timing of the treaty meeting is critical, because the scientists have been warning with increasing urgency that the window is closing rapidly to address global warming or risk passing tipping points that will lead to irreversible, catastrophic, runaway climate change and effectively wipe humanity off the planet by the end of the century. Most scientists agree some climate change is now unavoidable.

The last nail in the coffin of 'climate change scientific doubt' was the above-mentioned Nobel Prize-winning report which was published in 2007 (little-known fact: it was based on data published only up to 2005, and data since then shows that reality is outstripping some of the worst-case-scenarios contained in the IPCC report). The fossil fuel lobby has done a wonderful job creating the false perception that the report was the beginning of climate change science. Witness the recent actions of the US Chamber of Commerce. However, one only has to briefly glance at the postions and actions of institutions like the seventy National Academies of Science, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the American Bar Association and all 192 nations of the UN to see that climate change action is truly mainstream.

So whenever you are ready to join the mainstream, climate change deniers, we'll be there waiting for you to catch up!

Cincinnatian goes to Copenhagen for climate change treaty in December!

2009-08-27T12:22:00.004-04:00

My friend Liz Trombley is going to Copenhagen! But she needs our help. Her blog: Tales from the Road to Copenhagen. http://liztocopenhagen.wordpress.com/. Please give her a hand getting together the money to make this historic, once-in-a-lifetime event!

Repower America in Columbus, OH

2009-08-24T07:19:00.005-04:00

Repower America was created by Al Gore, and is another great green climate change advocacy group doing work similar to 1Sky.org. www.repoweramerica.org. They are having several events this month. I'll be attending the visit to Senator Voinovich's office in Columbus and also the townhall meeting. This is from an email I recevied from them.

Columbus Letter Writing and Cell Phone Bank Party! (Bring your own cell phone to use for a little while to make calls and invite people to our town hall event on Thursday)
Tuesday, August 25th 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Repower America Office
350 E. 1st Ave., 2nd Flr.
Columbus, OH 43201
-Volunteers and I will be writing letters to the editor to newspapers and personal letters to Senators Brown and Voinovich encouraging them to support comprehensive clean energy legislation. We will also be making phone calls to Repower America members in the area to invite them to our Town Hall event on Thursday.

Senator Voinovich Office Visit
Wednesday, August 26th 11:30am
Meet at Repower America Office beforehand:
350 E. 1st Ave., 2nd Floor
Columbus, OH 43201
-Volunteers will be visiting Senator's Voinovich's office and speaking with one of his staffers for a scheduled appointment about why they feel it is important that he vote to support federal clean energy legislation. We will have bunches of petition sign-ups to drop off to also show them how many people in the area care about this issue.

Repower Ohio Town Hall - "Made in America" - Thursday, August 27th 7:00pm - 8:30pm (Doors open at 6:30pm and there will be free parking)
The Ohio State University - School of Environment & Natural Resources
Kottman Hall Room 103 (Charles J. Willard Auditorium)
2021 Coffey Rd.
Columbus, OH 43210
-There will be a 4 person distinguished panel that will focus on the importance of clean energy jobs in Ohio and how Ohio's economy can benefit from clean energy legislation. There will be two local green business leaders, a union representative, and a professor at OSU that has an expertise in natural resources policy and will be our moderator. We hope to have over 50 people at this event, you should come and bring some friends too!

http://www.repoweramerica.org/page/event/detail/repoweramericaevent/w8v

Columbus Canvassing Weekend!
Saturday, August 29th 1st Shift (10am - 12:30pm) 2nd Shift (1pm - 3:30pm)
Sunday, August 30th 1st Shift (10am - 12:30pm) 2nd Shift (1pm - 3:30pm)
Clintonville Community Market (Co-op)
192 Crestview Rd.
Columbus, OH 43202
-We will go door to door in environmentally friendly neighborhoods in Clintonville to have people sign petitions that say they want their senators to support clean energy legislation and leave them with literature that allows them to also leave a phone message for their senators that mention the same thing. There will be a 20-30 minute training session before we begin each shift and volunteer will be led by Repower America staff and given clipboards and literature.

Let me know if you have any questions and which one of these events you can make it to.

Derek Freitas
Repower America
Field Coordinator - Ohio
401-935-7850
derek.freitas@climateprotect.org
www.RepowerAmerica.org

Larry Schwieger's talk at Akron, OH Roundtable, my tweets

2009-08-23T18:05:00.003-04:00

I promised my tweets from Larry's speach, here they are. I've corrected the spelling and organization name. I wasn't able to fit into the tweet that he talked about high carbon also producing more food, and also absorbing more carbon emissions.
Enjoy!

larry schweiger national wildlife federation speaking in akron ohio, apologies for bad spelling, wrong org listed previously.1:19 PM Aug 20th from PockeTwit
larry schweiger nwf in akron, oh. china spending 5% of gdp on clean energy tech. #energy #climate #wwf1:17 PM Aug 20th from PockeTwit
larry schweiger nwf in akron: put the black back in the soil. soil in us used to be high in carbon.1:13 PM Aug 20th from PockeTwit
larry schwieger nwf in akron: us one of best countries for developing wind power potential #energy #wind #climate #environment #wwf1:06 PM Aug 20th from PockeTwit
larry schwieger nwf in akron: ohio climate changing as if ohio moving 30 miles per day south. #climate #wwf #energy1:02 PM Aug 20th from PockeTwit
larry schwieger National wildife federation speaking in akron: fossil fuel spending half a billion $s to keep us confused about energy policy.

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Review of Cleveland rainfall records indicates climate change has arrived

2009-08-22T22:49:00.011-04:00

Of all publications, The Cleveland Plain Dealer is trumping the 'national newpapers', blogosphere, and the other Ohio big-city newspapers by pointing out that climate change is alive and well in Ohio: http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/08/review_of_cleveland_rainfall_r.html.

Moreover, the State of Ohio's official climatatologist (I didn't know we had one either!) also agrees: "A longer season when thunderstorms dominate means you can either get too wet, too quick -- or missed entirely," said Jeff Rogers, an Ohio State University professor and appointee as official state climatologist for Ohio. "There would be all kinds of problems with this, depending on the luck of the draw where you live, not the least of which is flooding.

The Plain Dealer also quoted the work of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which wrote a special study just on the Mid-Western states. I've already posted that report here (see below).

Vandana Shiva coming to Ohio!

2009-08-22T22:07:00.005-04:00

Dr. Vandana Shiva is a world-renowed ecologist, environmental and climate change activist, philosopher and feminist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandana_Shiva.

She is coming to Xavier University in Cincinnati on Oct. 28: http://www.xavier.edu/news/calendar/1/27480. She will be talking about her latest book 'Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis'.

Larry Schwieger's talk at Akron, OH Roundtable

2009-08-20T14:35:00.007-04:00

I arrived late due to the last page of my google map instructions not printing out, and never having been to Akron before. I was also misdirected south by google maps once, when I needed to go north. Didn't get to post any questions, but it's clear from what he said that NWF works actively with Congressmen and Senators during the crafting of legislation. It's also clear that he is strongly focused on climate change, as is also the rest of the world.

The rest of the world is watching the US VERY closely on climate change, because how strongly we act on climate change is how strongly they will act. China and India are the first and third largest GHG emitters in the world on an annual basis. The European Union is more than ready to move more strongly than they already have, but has delayed some actions, waiting to make sure they are not handicapping themselves as competitors in the global market place, giving the Big Three Emitters the chance to show they can pony up the necessary actual committment.

I met with Jodi Segal of the Ohio Environmental Council (www.theoec.org) after the talk to personally thank her for the ticket. We discussed becoming official allies of each other's orgs, and I found out later OEC is already a 1sky.org ally! Small climate change world!

Look for some details about his talk in my next post!

Potential questions for National Wildlife Federation President and CEO, Larry Schweiger

2009-08-18T21:56:00.004-04:00

How can those of us working as climate change activists in Ohio best actively partner with the NWF and it's work on climate change?

What exactly is NWF doing regarding the Senate passage of a climate bill?

Will the NWF be attending COP15 in December?

How does NWF plan to address Senate ratification of the treaty signed in Copenhagen?

The time frame for the Kyoto Protocol was 6 months from signing to a vote against by the US Senate. What kind of time frame do you anticipate for the Copenhagen treaty? Will there be votes in Senate committees? Committee hearings? Or just floor discussion and vote?

What are your suggestions?

Free ticket to see CEO of National Wildlife Federation

2009-08-18T18:47:00.007-04:00

Just scored a free ticket to the Akron Roundtable day after tomorrow! No idea what that is yet, other than that the speaker is President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, Larry Schweiger (http://www.akronroundtable.org/speakers/speakers.asp?id=430). Never been to Cleveland, even though I have lived in Ohio for 10 years, so it will be great to check out that part of the Buckeye State. Free lunch too!

This will be a great green networking opportunity! We can also submit written questions for the speaker. Mine will definitely be about climate change strategy, and how other green orgs can actively partner with the NWF to work to pass a strong bill in the Senate, and ratify the Copenhagen treaty that will be created in December. I'll be test-driving the questions here, stay tuned!

350.org Bill McKibben on Colbert Report

2009-08-18T09:41:00.003-04:00

Yes, 350.org Founder and 1Sky.org board member Bill McKibben has tweeted that he survived the Colbert Report with '40% of my dignity intact'. I thought it was closer to 75% myself, particularly when he surprised Colbert with.....but I don't want to give it away.

Video here: http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=240770.

Ask Colbert Nation to join 350.org!

The State of Climate Change in a nutshell

2009-08-17T22:50:00.009-04:00

No, sorry, I didn't write the best encapsulation ever of the State of Climate Change, Matt Ford of CNN.com did (I've never heard of him either, but I sure do wish I could write as well as he does!). You will not likely come across a more succinct, more complete snapshot of climate change anytime soon!

Here is the link: http://bit.ly/jXCJE. Enjoy!

Top Twitterers the Grist staff can’t live without

2009-08-15T21:23:00.005-04:00

I try to be on top of new things, but I'm no slave to trendiness. Twitter is getting a lot press (and tweets, may as well go there....). As Stephen Colbert pointed on the day Twitter briefly went down due to a 'denial of service' attack: "Twitter went down today -- if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror!"

Never one to give up an opportunity to play iconoclast, I applauded! But I have to admit, it's a great way to connect various other social networking technologies like this blog (see my Twitter posts from http://twitter.com/ClimateChangeOH to the right ) and Facebook (I disconnected my Twitter account from FB, because I don't think many of friends will want to constantly see all my climate change info sharing). I think many social networking technologies will be eclipsed by Google Wave wave.google.com, but we will see.

(More on the purpose of this blog and other social networking I'm doing in a later post.)

Anyway, once I found out Twitter actually served a non-shallow, non-self-indulgent purpose, I revamped my Twitter account for climate change duty, then started hunting green folks and orgs to follow. Currently, nonprofit orgs and social activist groups are going bananas over using social networking to recruit, raise money, inform, and mobilize in support of their causes. I'm taking my cues from www.1sky.org, a nonprofit working to advocate for action on climate change. Since they are an umbrella org for many other green, eco, environment groups, I had a ready-made list of greens to start following: www.1sky.org/allies.

Once I exhausted that list, I was on my own basically. Until I found this Grist list (apologies for the rhyme) http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-06-top-green-grist-twitter-picks. Grist is a green journalism outlet, that has more than the average amount of humor about itself. You can never have too much humor! Is is more of a green thinkers list, individuals, rather than groups. So it really balances out the allies list. I look forward to learning a lot from them.

Enjoy!

Follow Friday on Twitter

2009-08-14T23:13:00.004-04:00

There is a particular tradition (from what I can tell) on Twitter called 'Follow Friday'. Basically, give a shout out to all the people how are following you, about those Twitterers you think are worth following due to the quality of their tweets. I was mentioned in two of those yesterday (why people were sending 'Follow Friday' tweets on Thursday yet remains a mystery, but if I figure it out, I'll let you know!), one by 1Sky.org, the other by Dr. Jason Johnson, who blogs Ohio politics and is also at Netroots Nation. BTW, my Twitter name is 'ClimateChangeOH'. To be mentioned in the same 'FF' as @silbatron is quite an honor!

Here they are copy/pasted:

1Sky #followfriday @billmckibben @netroots_nation @weaddup @care2 @changedotorg @tweetingdonal @ClimateChangeOH @engagejoe @avizaaj @silbatron

DrJasonJohnson Follow Friday: From #nn09 @PunditMom @buffalopundit @tlanehudson @CarlosQC @ClimateChangeOH @milesgrant @adamgreenonline

Watching Netroots Nation on Facebook

2009-08-14T23:03:00.002-04:00

If you haven't heard of Netroots Nation, you aren't yet REALLY social networking for social activism. These guys are the epicenter for using the internet to promote progressive issues and policies. http://apps.facebook.com/netrootsnationlive/. I watched Bill Clinton on it (30 seconds aheard of CPAN' live feed), and got to trade comments and insight with some really cool people at the same time. Course my Facebook friends thought I was talking to myself, because all comments show in your status update, but they already know I'm weird, so none of them even commented. Except on climate change friend who is also a Climate Precinct Captain with 1Sky.org, who expressed envy when she first thought I was AT Netroots Nation in Philly. Hopefully next year!

Ohio Leads the U.S. in Advanced Energy Growth. Here's Why!

2009-08-11T15:04:00.013-04:00

If you've been paying attention to my tweets (yes, I've succumbed to the Twitterverse, pray for me!), you've seen that there are at least three or four estimates on the how many green jobs the ACES bill can bring to Ohio, ranging from 40,000 - 60,000. Now we can add Site Selection magazine and the Pew Charitable Trust!

http://obdc.cmail1.com/T/ViewEmail/y/13C453C418C387BE/EAE4DF0FBB2363CCF6A1C87C670A6B9F

Climate change deniers: Whenever you're ready to join the mainstream, we'll be there

2009-08-11T07:58:00.061-04:00

Oh, did I forget to mention that Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon called climate change 'the number one existential threat to humanity'?

Last and certainly most important is the 192 countries that compose the United Nations. The UN meeting this December in Copenhagen will create a new treaty on climate change. Meetings have been held for many months in advance, to discuss the issues and discover the positions of the member nations on each issue. The details of those discussions can be found on www.cop15.dk. It was recently reported that currently there are about 2000 points of disagreement, but the necessity for climate change action is not one of points of disagreement, meaning that none of the 192 nations of the UN argue that climate change is not real and requires action.

So whenever you are ready to join the mainstream, climate change deniers, we'll be there waiting for you to catch up!

Climate change as national security issue

2009-08-10T23:13:00.002-04:00

If you value military preparedness, as well as human life in general, you need to know that many current and former generals and admirals are beginning to see climate change as a nation security issue. It is being discussed and written about in the National Defense University as well as private think tanks with a military focus, such as CNA http://www.cna.org/nationalsecurity/climate/.

The State Department as well has elevated climate change by appointing a special climate change negotiator in the form of Todd Stern, who represented the US during the Kyoto Protocol formation, although the Department of Defense had to be prodded into examining the issue in more detail. The article also quotes the National Intelligence Council on climate change as a national security issue.

Here is a link to a New York Times article on climate change as an emerging national security issue: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/science/earth/09climate.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Earth Hour 2010 will take place on March 27th at 8:30 pm

2009-07-30T08:40:00.001-04:00

Look for it in Cincinnati, only better than this year, which was the first year for Cincinnati. I spearheaded that effort, and learned a lot.

"Confronting Climate Change in the US Midwest" report by Union of Concerned Scientists

2009-07-29T17:11:00.000-04:00

New report out this month, this is the part that focuses on Ohio: http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/climate-change-ohio.pdf. Only 12 pages, written for the layman like you and me.

The scientists ran two scenarios: low-emissions and high-emissions. Low emissions would be similar to what might happen if cap and trade goals are in line with what the IPCC (www.ipcc.ch) recommended in theie Nobel Prize-winning report on climate change. The other represents business as usual, no cap and trade, no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The results are between 'not good' for low emissions, and 'much worse' for high.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've bolded words like 'Ohio' and 'Cincinnati' to make them stand out. Italics are from the original.

Here are some criticals points: "...climate is changing due to global warming, and unless we make deep and swift cuts in our heat-trapping emissions, the changes ahead could be dramatic...The climate of the Midwest has already changed measurably over the last half century...Heavy rains are occurring about twice as frequently as they did a century ago, increasing the risk of flooding....

"...if current pollution trends continue...

• Cincinnati would experience more than 85 days per summer with highs over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (°F), and almost a month of days over 100°F....

• Cincinnati would face at least two heat waves per summer like the one that killed hundreds in Chicago in 1995....

• Air quality would deteriorate, as hotter weather causes more severe smog problems.... This would have serious consequences for public health, including a greater incidence of asthma attacks and other respiratory conditions.

• Heavy rains would become more common throughout the year, leading to a greater incidence of flash flooding.

• Winters and springs, when the flood risk is already high, would become almost 30 percent wetter.

• Crops and livestock would face substantially more heat stress, decreasing crop yields and livestock productivity.

• Warmer winters and a growing season up to six weeks longer would enable pests like corn earworm to expand their range.

• Crop production would be inhibited by changing rain patterns such as wetter springs (which delay planting and increase flood risk) and 5 percent less rain during the increasingly hot summers."

"...up until 2008, global emissions have been higher than the higher-emissions scenario being considered....During the historical baseline, Cincinnati averaged more than 18 days per summer with highs over 90°F, while Cleveland averaged half as many....under the higher-emissions scenario, Cincinnati is projected to experience more than 85 days over 90°F—nearly the entire summer—while Cleveland is projected to experience more than 60 days over 90°F. Under the lower-emissions scenario these numbers would be cut by about half for each city."

More dangerous air pollution.

"...ground-level ozone—a dangerous air pollutant and the main component of smog—increases at temperatures over 90°F (Luber et al. 2008). Since our projections show that, under the higher-emissions scenario, Ohio will experience such temperatures virtually the entire summer toward the end of the century, the state can expect far more days of unhealthy ozone levels."

"Another air contaminant of particular concern in Ohio is small particulate pollution (or soot); 27 counties, including those around Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton, have already been identified as failing to meet federal air quality standards for this pollutant (EPA 2004), and four Ohio cities rank among the nation’s 20 most soot-polluted cities (ALA 2009). Small particulates increase the severity of asthma attacks in children, increase the number of heart attacks and hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease and asthma, and cause early deaths from heart and lung disease (ALA 2009). The leading source of small particulate air pollution is coal-fired power plants, and as demand for electricity increases in response to rising temperatures, power plants generate more emissions. Therefore, climate change threatens to exacerbate Ohio’s particulate air pollution."

More frequent downpours and flooding

"Heavy downpours are already twice as frequent in the Midwest as they were a century ago (Kunkel et al. 1999)....Precipitation is more likely to come in the form of heavy rains. Under the higher-emissions scenario Cincinnati is projected to experience a 30 percent increase in heavy rainfalls (defined as more than two inches of rain in one day) over the next few decades. Toward the end of the century, heavy rainfalls are projected to occur more than twice as frequently under the higher-emissions scenario. The maximum amount of precipitation falling within a one-, five-, or seven-day period is also projected to rise under both scenarios."

More threats to water quality

"Heavy rains increase runoff that not only washes pollutants into waterways, but—in cities such as Cincinnati and Columbus—also causes raw sewage to spill from sewers into rivers. This has been a long-standing problem in Cincinnati, where more than 14 billion gallons of untreated sewage spill into the city’s waterways every year (MSDGC 2009)."

New Threats to Ohio’s Agriculture

"Ohio is an important part of the nation’s agricultural heartland, with more than 200 different crops under cultivation (ODA 2006) contributing nearly $7 billion to the state economy in 2007 (USDA 2009a). Ohio’s production of corn ranks eighth in the nation and its production of soybeans ranks sixth (USDA 2009c); it also produces substantial quantities of wheat, fruits, vegetables, and nursery and greenhouse crops. Nearly half of the state’s total acreage is considered prime farmland, and one of every seven residents is employed in the food and agriculture industry (ODA 2006). Ohio also has a thriving livestock industry, ranking second in the nation for number of laying hens, eighth for hog and pig sales, and eleventh for milk and dairy product sales (USDA 2009c).

The heat and precipitation changes projected for Ohio have potentially profound implications for agricultural production. Toward the end of the century, growing seasons are likely to lengthen by three weeks under the lower-emissions scenario and six to seven weeks under the higher-emissions scenario. Also, rising CO2 levels have a fertilizing effect on crops. These changes by themselves would increase crop production, but they will be accompanied by many other changes that threaten production, such as heat stress, increased drought and flood risks, and an expansion of crop pests’ range."

"Under the higher-emissions scenario, however, a three-day period with temperatures reaching 95°F or higher is projected to occur in three of every four summers in Ohio by mid-century, and one is projected to occur almost every summer toward the end of the century. A more destructive seven-day period would occur in at least one of every three summers by mid-century and in three of every four toward the end of the century. Under the lower-emissions scenario, the frequency of such periods would be significantly less toward the end of the century, with a week-long period of extreme heat occurring in one-quarter of Ohio’s summers.

The possibility of crop-damaging heat waves becoming commonplace in Ohio within a few decades represents a significant threat to the state’s economy, which took in $1.5 billion from corn alone in 2007 (USDA 2009a). Crops such as soybeans and wheat that fail at lower temperatures are even more vulnerable."

"A detailed study of the expected effects of climate change on crop yields in five Midwest states projects lower yields for crops vital to Ohio’s agriculture: corn yields, for example, begin to decline at 92°F and fall sharply at 100°F (Southworth et al. 2000). Widely varying climate conditions during the growing season also decreased average yields in all of the study’s models, so as temperatures continue to rise and weather becomes more extreme and variable, yields of all major crops will likely decline."

Potentially damaging changes in precipitation

"Crops under stress from extreme heat need more rain, but Ohio is projected to receive less rain in the summer growing season as the climate warms. Dry conditions will be a particular problem for Ohio’s crops because only a fraction of 1 percent have access to irrigation (USDA 2009a). In addition, the projected increase in spring rains could interfere with planting and pose a greater risk of floods like those of the past several years. Changes in precipitation are therefore likely to limit farmers’ ability to take advantage of the longer growing seasons expected to accompany future climate change."

CLIMATE SOLUTIONS FOR OHIO

"Ohio is the fourth largest producer of global warming emissions among all the states (EIA 2008a). Its per capita emissions are nearly 19 percent higher than the national average (U.S. Census Bureau 2009; EIA 2008a), mainly because 87 percent of Ohio’s electricity comes from coal-fired power plants (compared with the national average of 50 percent) (EIA 2007)."

The report then goes on to make several suggestions for solutions to Ohio's coming climate challenges, only some of which I'm quoting here. They also describe some notable actions Ohio has already taken, like an alternative energy standard for power generation. Here are some important captions to some eye-opening graphics in the solutions section.

The Midwest Burns More Fossil Fuels Than Entire Nations.

"The total combined emissions from eight states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin) would make the

Midwest the world’s fourth largest polluter if it were a nation. The region’s

emissions are more than double those of the United Kingdom, which has

about the same population (EIA 2008b)."

Power Plants Are Ohio’s Biggest Polluters

"Electricity generation—primarily from coal-fired power plants—is the largest

source of heat-trapping emissions in Ohio, followed by transportation and

industry (EIA 2008a)."

Building More Resilient Communities

"Because climate change is already upon us and some amount of additional warming is inevitable, Ohio must adapt to higher temperatures and more heavy rains while working to reduce its emissions. Any delay in emissions reductions will make it more difficult and costly to

adapt; conversely, aggressive steps to reduce emissions now will provide the time ecosystems and societies need to become more resilient. For each adaptation measure considered,

Ohio’s decision makers must carefully assess the potential barriers, costs, and unintended social and environmental consequences....our analysis found that a renewable electricity standard of 20 percent by 2020 would create 7,360 jobs in Ohio and lower residents’ electricity and natural gas bills a total of $213 million by 2020 (UCS 2007). A separate UCS analysis showed that if every car and light truck on U.S. roads averaged 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2018 (compared with the fleetwide average of 26 mpg today), drivers would save enough in fuel costs to create more than 10,500 new jobs in Ohio by 2020 (UCS 2007b)...."

"Another complementary federal strategy known as a “cap-and-trade” program would set a price on emissions and require polluters to obtain government-issued permits in order

to continue emitting. By auctioning these permits the government could generate revenue for investment in:

• Energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions

• Assistance for consumers, workers, and communities facing the most difficult transition to a clean energy economy (coal miners and mining towns, for example)

• Conservation of precious natural resources

• Assistance for communities that must adapt to unavoidable consequences of climate change

Setting a price on heat-trapping emissions will also stimulate investment in cleaner and more efficient energy technologies by making them more cost-competitive. One possibility is power plants equipped with carbon capture and storage technology (if and when this proves commercially feasible).

Finally, federal resources devoted to climate monitoring and assessments can provide essential information for states and communities that need to devise and implement adaptation

plans. Ohio’s U.S. senators and representatives must therefore support strong federal climate and clean energy policies that will help the state reduce emissions, transition to a clean energy

economy, and prepare for the climate change that will occur in the interim."

CONCLUSION

"Climate change represents an enormous challenge to Ohio’s way of life and its residents’ livelihoods, but we can meet this challenge if we act swiftly. The emissions choices we make today—in Ohio and throughout the nation—will shape the climate our children and grandchildren inherit. The time to act is now."

20% of our oxygen is lost at the rate of 200,000 acres a day

2009-07-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

This is from the newsletter of a nonprofit I belong to, The Heart of the Healer Foundation. http://www.heartofthehealer.org. These guys are at the forefront of the ecosystem restoration that I mentioned in my last tweet. Please feel free to donate or join! Climate change will not happen by legislation alone!

20% of our oxygen is lost at the rate of 200,000 acres a day.

We are inviting each of you who are able, to stretch just a little farther on behalf of our mother's health!

On August 3, 2009, after 12 months of intensely focused work and with your support, we will be completing the contracts for the 15,250 acres of endangered rainforest on Rio Las Piedras!

Accomplishments:
*Completion of establishing a non-profit organization, El Corazon del Curandero or THOTH Peru.
*Experienced in the intricacies of the legal and administrative agencies in Peru.
*Established Paula Givan as our legal representative in Peru.
* Completion of due diligence and negotiations for the land and concessions. Thank you for your questions!
* You have contributed $65,000 designated for the $105,000 purchase price.

You are an extraordinary human being. This is an opportunity to be part of a tangible accomplishment that you can point to for the rest of your life. We need your help. Please donate.

Beginnings:
* On August 3rd we will be the stewards of 13,500 acres including the 20-bed eco-lodge known as Las Heliconias.
*We will employ an active caretaker to live on the land.
* We will provide maintenance of the gardens, trails and lodge.
* We will provide reports, filings and accounting for government agencies.
* We will offer two trips a year for you to visit, commune and work on the land. First trip is scheduled for October 2009.
* We will offer environmental and scientific trips.

Delays:
Due to significant changes in the administrative agencies underway in Peru The conservation concession (558 hectares) contract will be completed in the coming months. Yet experience tells us the timing in Peru is a different than what we are accustomed to in the US.

We have the funds in hand to pay for the current purchase of RLP and the substantial legal expenses in Peru. However it has required us to significantly draw upon our US operating reserves.

We need $ 30,000 in the next sixty days and another $ 20,000 by November to complete the purchase. We are very sensitive to the fact that these are challenging economic times for each and every one of you. These are challenging times for our Mother as well.
Please connect your hearts with this effort so as a community we bring this into being. Please weave this vision into your Pachakuti Mesa for unseen assistance.and finally, we are asking each of you to give at any level you can.

This is a big step for the foundation to take RLP on. It is the deep knowing that it is a step to greater opportunities to serve and make a difference that keeps each of us going. We know we can rely upon each of you in our community to answer this call.

On behalf of the Board of Directors
Garry Caudill, Chair

PLEASE DONATE

WiserEarth.org

2009-07-06T09:27:00.000-04:00

I've found an interesting site, WiserEarth.org. It seems to be a site that tries to connect Earth-oriented groups, people, and organizations. You can't yet use your email address book to find all your friends, you have to search manually. So I can't help wondering if it's a great concept that falls short in execution. I'm still learning about it, but thought I would share anyway.

2009-07-01T18:18:00.000-04:00

I wrote a guest blog for 1Sky about the leadership summit. They edited for space, so here is the full entry I sent them, just for kicks. :0)

Yo.

The 1Sky Team calls me PeacefulJeff, because that's my gmail address. I was at the Leadership Summit meeting this weekend, and they made the mistake of asking me to describe some of my experiences. Evidently they've forgotten the volume of emails/words I bother these guys with. ;) Anyway, here's my take on the summit:

I got involved in climate change after watching 'the Inconvenient Truth' in 2007. It was clear that something needed to be done, and I had no idea what to do. The Gore people organized 'film parties' around showing the movie in peoples homes, and I went to one even though I had already seen it. After the movie, the man who had opened his home to us suggested we try to organize and promote action on climate change. So we did. We had no idea what we were doing, and nothing really happened. While we were trying to figure out which way was 'up', StepItUp2007.org came along and blew us out of the water with their organizational skills. When StepItUp morphed into 1Sky.org in 2008, I kept an eye on them to see what they were doing while I checked out the competition. I couldn't find anything that seemed more grounded, focused, and effective than 1Sky, having been blow away by the resumes of the people who started populating the 'about' page as they were brought on, not to mention the focus on national legislation putting a cap on carbon emissions. So I became a Climate Precinct Captain for Cincinnati, Ohio in October.

I still had no idea what I was doing, never having done any activist work, but 1Sky started filling in the gaps. They had everything I could imagine and more! So I went to work talking to friends, sending out emails, meeting with people for lunch. I joined the Environmental Advisory Council, a volunteer group that advises the Cincinnati City Government on environmental issues, I lobbied the Cincinnati City Council to pass a resolution in support of Earthhour (they did, but would never tell me what they were doing to promote it, so I did relatively little not wanting to duplicate effort or step on anyone's toes; it bombed spectacularly, so next year I work around them). All with an eye to meeting people who would want to get involved in 1Sky climate change actions.

I arranged lobby visits with my local Congressman and the staffs of the Senators, and I worked hard to educate myself on the cutting edge reports of scientists so I could develop a slide show to get people interested and enthused. Relatively few people showed up on a regular basis, and I never saw the bright shining look of eagerness I have for working on this issue. And I couldn't understand why.

So when the Leadership Summit was announced, I was in heaven! I knew I needed help recruiting people, and keeping them involved. I figured there were other things I also didn't understand or know yet, but you can't work on the unknown until you know what it is. What I didn't know, was that the slideshow I had worked up (thank goodness I never actually used it, although I'm glad for the understanding of the climate science I've gained) was of the infamous '10-point plan' type that progressives are known for using to actually kill enthusiasm, rather than generate it. I would learn how to develop an effective message, and what works and most importantly WHY at the Leadership Summit.

I also learned about building 'intentional relationships' as part of recruiting. And about different leadership styles needed once a team has been put together, and why a grass roots activist team works better when all the styles work together, rather than any one style predominating. All of the training involved role-playing and other active exercises so that I actually experienced what it's like doing these things, a style of learning I dread due to my introverted, shy nature. But I would not have it any other way for this kind of training, it makes for a process of learning that simply listening and reading cannot ever duplicate.

The weekend was very intense, the pace was fast and kept on time. There were 'working lunches' on both days to make maximum use of time. Leisure was not neglected, the 1Sky team also had descriptions of entertainment activities in the area after the training was over, if we wanted to use those to decompress, which I did. Using online tools to assist us was also discussed. We were given an update by Garth Moore, the internet director at 1Sky.org who talked about how to use Web 2.0 tools like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and others along with an updated version of the Climate Precinct Captain tool that will soon be rolled out on local.1sky.org. It's heartening to know that internet operations at 1Sky.org are being guided by none other than Michael Silberman, the Web 2.0 guru who used his tech savvy to help Barack Obama get elected and blow the competition out of the water with online organizing and fundraising that set new records nearly every month leading up to the November election.

1Sky wanted us to make lobby visits the Monday after the training, but I needed to get back home to Ohio by Monday, so they scheduled me two lobby visits the Thursday before the training. One lobby visit was for Rep. Steve Driehaus, the other was for Senator Sherrod Brown, both Dems. I met with the environmental liaison for Brown, and with the Legislative Director for Driehaus. Jason Kowalski, a VERY switched-on 1Sky.org policy wonk who talks about the minutiae of climate change policy in stream of conscouisness without missing a beat came with me (although really I tagged along after him, he took the discussion to a whole new level I never could have).

Driehaus' Legislative Director told us that the Congressman was still undecided on the Thursday before this historic vote, out of concern for how it would impact jobs in Ohio. Jason had some analysis on that and offered to send it to her later that day, which he did. The next day on Friday, Driehaus voted for it. My favorite line of the whole leadership summit came during the nail-biting vote tally on CSPAN, when someone asked where Nancy Pelosi was during the floor debate, one of interns at 1Sky said, 'She's probably off camera breaking people's fingers to get them to vote for the bill!' Maybe that had more to do with Rep. Driehaus' vote than the info Jason provided the Legislative Director. But whatever the reason, this historic, monumental legislation on climate change that is way overdue for the health of our planet and all it's inhabitants, passed!!! Given the closeness of the vote (only one vote extra) and despite being outspent $16 to $1 by the fossil fuel lobby, I don't think it would have happened without 1Sky.org, and want to thank for them for their part in this truly historic moment! These guys have earned a good hangover!

Due to fortuitous 'coincidences', for those who believe in such things, the vote on the Waxman-Markey bill was scheduled the Friday before the Leadership Summit. As I mentioned, the 1Sky.org Team had originally wanted those attending to make as many lobby visits as possible the Monday after the training, to lobby for making Waxman-Markey more effective. This was overcome by the scheduling of the vote for the day before the leadership summit, once the day for the summit had been set.

Since my lobby visits were on Thursday the day before Congress was scheduled to vote on the bill, and training didn't start until Saturday, I had Friday free. I dropped by 1Sky.org's offices on Friday to say hello and meet everyone, since not all the staff would be at the leadership training, and was immediately asked if I wanted to make phone calls to 1Sky members and ask them to call their Congresspeople to support the bill. I was very impressed with the analysis and organization of how they decided what member of Congress to focus on, and very glad to play an additional role in this legislation that is vitally important to the health and safety of billions of people for generations to come. You'll be proud to know that between ourselves and Greenforall.org, we had so many calls coming into the Congressional switchboard in support of this bill, that the switchboard crashed! Yes! I love breaking things, particularly when they don't belong to me!

I would be remiss without thanking Tommi Drum and his wife Jessica for letting me stay with them during the time I was in DC. Tommi is a former 1Sky.org intern, and current Climate Precinct Captain, and given car repair bills that cropped up just before this training, I doubt I would have been able to come if I had had to pay for lodging. I also want to thank the trainers at Wellstone Action http://www.wellstone.org/ for their wonderful training and for sharing their vast experiences with us. It will really make a difference!

The voracious, rapacious, aching hunger for resources that is the only possible result of a value system that puts unlimited, unbridled accumulation of wealth before all other considerations can only lead to systemic imbalances that will surely result in harm to others. Thanks to the creative innovation that is at the heart of the American spirit, our nation has become expert at exporting our greatest vices (Coca Cola, capitalism, cigarettes, capitalism, materialism, capitalism, unhealthy diets, capitalism) and making billions in the process. Thanks also to the military might of the US, this value system has gone viral across the globe, leading China to surpass the US in annual carbon emissions measured by the ton in the same unbridled pursuit of wealth that, in part, has helped us to become the world's only superpower. Our once-admired, now often-vilified (with good reason) nation has forgotten the maxim of Spiderman's Uncle Ben: "With great power, comes great responsibility." We used our great power to become the world's overall leader in the emission of carbon dioxide, the biggest driver of climate change, and it is also our responsibility to be a world leader in dealing with the reality we created. This last role we have for too long avoided. Now it is no longer avoidable. The scientific evidence is too clear, the need too dire to continue to do nothing.

You too can be part of this once-in-a-lifetime historic moment when the US once again rises to the occasion as we surely did in World War II, when so many voices counseled 'do nothing', and FDR not only refused to listen, but convinced a nation to join him. Only this time, we have to convince the entire planet to join together to reverse climate change, or the entire planet will be in jeopardy. This December, all nations will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark to create a replacement for the failed Kyoto Protocol. They will only create a treaty that is as strong as they are united in the common goal of bringing greenhouse gases down as low and as fast as the scientists say is necessary to save the planet. They are all looking to the actions of the US as their benchmark for how well or how poorly they will address climate change in December. If we don't have a strong law passed by then that truly addresses our own greenhouse gas emissions, this treaty too will be just as large a failure as the Kyoto Protocol.

In the days before this astronomically historic vote, Barack Obama brought a number of Congress members into the White House who were going to vote against this bill or were undecided, and he didn't talk about the science, he didn't promise pork, he didn't threaten. He pointed to a picture of Abraham Lincoln, and he said, 'Lincoln faced unprecedented challenges and made touch decisions. You can too.' Yes We Can change the world! What part will you play? Can we count on you to help?

Congressional Budget Office estimated cost of American Clean Energy and Security Act: $175 per year

2009-06-30T10:23:00.000-04:00

That's the CBO estimate of ACES: "On that basis, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the net annual economy wide cost of the cap-and-trade program in 2020 would be $22 billion-or about $175 per household." Here's the link to that report: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/103xx/doc10327/06-19-CapAndTradeCosts.pdf. As Al Gore put it, that's about the cost of a postage stamp per day.

That said, the cost overall to the planet is far greater for doing nothing (as we currently are), to doing something, however much it may need to be tweaked to evenly distribute the challenges of change.

Hello World! And strengthen ACES in the Senate!

2009-06-29T09:24:00.000-04:00

HELLO WORLD!

I just returned from leadership training with a nonprofit I volunteer for, 1Sky.org, a national grassroots advocacy group working on climate change. Because there was a large emphasis on the value of social networking as a tool to enhance grassroots organizing, and because this is a 'make or break' year for climate change given the upcoming international treaty to be created in December in Copenhagen that will replaced the failed Kyoto Protocol, I've created a blog specifically around advocating for Climate Change as part of 1Sky.org, in the southwestern part of Ohio where I live.

As you may know, the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed the US House of Representatives by a very narrow margin of only one vote on Friday. Senator Barbara Boxer will soon introduce a similar bill in the Senate. Final vote in the Senate is expected in August, at which point there will be a committee to reconcile the two bills before sending to the President for signing. Obama addressed the House bill in his weekly video statement the day after passage: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/06/26/weekly-address-opening-the-door-to-a-clean-energy-economy/.

For the treaty that will be created in December in Copenhagen to have any significant impact on global carbon emissions, it will have to be ratified by the US, China, and India. AND it will have to have goals for emission reductions in line with the recommendations of the planet's climate scientists. Anything less will be an exercise in futility, and future generations will not inherit the Earth that you and I know. If the US is finally going to take leadership on this issue and make sure China and India ratify a treaty with real carbon emission reduction goals, it will first have to walk it's talk by passing national legislation with similar or tougher goals than we will ask the international community to pursue in December.

Needless to say, the fossil fuel industry is outspending the environmental lobby by about $16 to our $1. Despite that, between 1Sky.org and Greenforall.org, our phone campaign to have people ask their Congresspeople to vote in favor of the ACES bill on Friday resulted in the Congressional switchboard crashing due to the number of incoming calls, and most importantly, the bill passed!

Having said that, the fossil fuel lobby was still successful in a number of efforts by preventing the EPA from regulating certain carbon emissions, getting the base year of the emissions goals target changed from 1990 levels as recommended by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to 2005 instead, as well as allowing some of the allowable emissions from the cap on carbon to be given away to polluters instead of auctioned off.

It was a challenging decision to make, whether or not to support the ACES bill after the various loopholes were created by fossil fuel lobbying efforts. For instance, Greenpeace chose NOT to support the bill because they considered it too weak. Rep. Doggett of Texas changed from a NO to a YES vote at the last minute, because he too thought it was too weak.

Therefore, the primary goal between now and final vote on the Senate bill will be to strengthen the bill and close as many of those loopholes as possible. The more stringent the bill that gets signed into law before the Copenhagen treaty negotiations get started in December, the better positioned the US will be to exert the leadership promised by the Obama administration in leading the way to tackling, in the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, 'the only truly existential threat to humanity, climate change'. If you would like to be a part of this global effort by humanity to reclaim it's fundamental responsibility of Earth Stewardship and create the kind of clean energy that will allow our childen and grandchildren to experience a healthier planet than the one we have now, please feel free to contact me through this blog or 1Sky.org.

Jeff

http://climate-change-advocates-of-cincinnati.groups.local.1sky.org/en/summary/