Typically, my postings on the action thread of The Earth Connection are relatively easy, feel-good steps we can take to lessen our impact on the earth.  But the ‘inconvenient truth’ is that the steps that matter most are also the hardest.

     Take air travel, for example.  There was a time when I thought flying was an environmentally better choice than driving.  I saw air travel as a form of ‘public’ transportation.  The planes were going anyway, I figured, so it was better for me to be on one than to also put a car out on the road. 

     But that line of thinking, it turns out, is bogus.  If we Americans were to travel less or to travel by other means, the demand for air travel would fall, and the airlines would fly fewer planes.  That would be a very good thing.  

     A typical round-trip flight between Los Angeles and New York  yields about 715 kilograms of carbon dioxide per economy class passenger, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization.  And because of the great height at which commercial airliners fly, the climatic impact is magnified, more than doubling that carbon dioxide emission figure to 1,917 kilograms, or almost two tons of global warming emissions per passenger.  

     To put those figures in perspective, the International Institute for the Environment and Development maintains that if we are to keep within a safe upper limit of atmospheric carbon, emissions must be brought down to 0.45 tons per capita per year.  Thus, that Los Angeles- New York trip accounts for about four years’ worth of a person’s flying ‘allowance.’  Frequent air travel and a sustainable lifestyle are clearly at odds. 

     These are sobering facts.  Like many other middle class Americans, I love to travel.  I don’t even have the ‘excuse’ of traveling to important environmental or business  meetings.  I fly primarily to visit loved ones and to see the world.  Perhaps a little ironically, I am posting this piece from Boston.  And how did I get here from my home in Virginia?  Yes,  I flew.  Flying was justified,  I reasoned, because the train was far more expensive and would have taken much longer.  Like most of us, I am used to getting to my destination quickly.  Such convenience feels natural and normal.  

     That feeling–that  flying is ‘natural and normal’– is part of what is doing in the planet.  Because flying has become fairly convenient and inexpensive, and because the most earth-friendly form of mass transit of all–rail–has been allowed to wither in this country, flying is very often the only way to get  somewhere.   And I, like many others, have not, until very recently, even begun to  question whether my desire to go somewhere that requires me to fly is justified, in light of the damage my flight  will do to the planet.

     That, for me, is the really hard part.  Should my husband and I give up the 25th anniversary trip we are planning to Europe next fall?  I know I won’t give it up.  And so, I am caught in an environmentalist’s bind.  I know I should walk my talk, but doing so would get in the way of getting something I really want.  And if even I, a self-proclaimed defender of the planet, refuse to sacrifice for the planet I love, how can I expect others to do so?

     So, in closing, I urge all of us to at least think about our own travel.  Can we get there by some means other than flying?  Is the trip really that important?  Would it be much of a sacrifice to stay home?  And if we’re traveling for business, can we accomplish our goals with Skype? –April Moore

photo by Greg Bajor

     I often find shopping overwhelming.  With so many products to choose from, how can I tell which ones are relatively earth-friendly and which are not? 

     I am happy to share a website I just discovered that makes it much easier to choose the more benign products over the more harmful ones.  

     www.goodguide.com rates tens of thousands of products–foods, toys, and household and personal care products.  Each product receives an overall score of 0-10, with zero the worst and 10 the best.  A product’s score is an average of three measures–environmental, health, and social impact.  And those three component ratings are shown, as well as each product’s overall score.

      Having been wondering about the environmental impact of the shampoo I’ve been using for years, I went to the GoodGuide site and saw which shampoos had received the hightest ratings.  The top-rated shampoos, both environmentally and overall, scored between 8 and 9.  My shampoo, Suave, was not in that group.  Looking up my shampoo, I found it had received a middling 5 to 6 overall rating, but a higher environmental rating.  I could also readily learn which shampoos received the worst ratings.    A similar ’study’ could be conducted for conditioners, soap, make-up, deodorant, and many, many other personal care and other products. 

    Browsing around the GoodGuide site, I saw that certain entire brands were evaluated.  The scores of all of a brand’s products were averaged to determine an overall score for particular companies.  I looked up Neutrogena, a brand I associate with high quality.  But its overall product score was an unimpressive 5.7.  Neutrogena’s overall score would have been even lower, had it not been for its relatively high 7.9 environmental rating.

     The vast number and variety of products rated makes GoodGuide a valuable resource.  For instance, more than 1,000 canned food products are rated.   More than 200 diapers, 1,000 household cleaners, more than 700 baby and toddler toys are rated.  For many categories, advice is included on what to look for when buying. 

     The site also offers an iPhone app that can be downloaded for use when in a store. 

     GoodGuide was founded in 2007.  Its mission is to provide authoritative information on the environmental, health, and social impacts of products and companies.   A GoodGuide team of scientists and technology experts works to acquire and organize high quality data, which it transforms into useable information for consumers.  Not operating as a commercial organization, GoodGuide is incorporated as a ‘for benefit’ organization.  GoodGuide is funded by several venture capital funds.  And GoodGuide information products are available by subscription to companies that want to understand how their products compare with competitors’.  “Neither our investors nor our paying corporate customers have any ability to influence GoodGuide ratings of a specific product or company,” GoodGuide states on its site.–April Moore 

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     We can’t wait for Congress to get going on climate change.  The Senate has failed miserably thus far, and if some of the climate change-denying Republican Senate candidates win in November, meaningful action will be delayed even longer.

     But there is a great deal we can do now, without action from the top.  We can join with others around the U.S. and the world to participate in practical actions to reduce global warming emissions.  October 10 has been designated, by the new organization known as 10:10, a Day to Celebrate Climate Solutions.  Individuals, families, businesses, organizations, religious groups, neighborhoods, and many others in 180 countries are planning thousands of actions for Sunday, October 10.  The goal of this Global Work Party is to cut global carbon emissions by 10% every year, starting this year, 2010.  

     Here are some examples of what will be happening arund the U.S. on Sunday, October 10:

In Oakland, CA, hundreds of citizens, politicians and musicians will party and plant a community garden at Oakland’s Laney College. One of 20 events in the Bay Area.
In New York City, NY, community members in Harlem will paint the roof of a local high school white to reflect the sun and save energy by reducing the need for air conditioning.
In Washington, DC, residents will install 10kw of solar on a local home, host a special farmers market, and rally at the White House for climate solutions.
In New Bedford, MA,  hundreds of residents will join Mayor Scott Lang to weatherize a home as part of the city’s goal of weatherizing 10,000 homes. The event includes a block party, a climate basketball game, and a concert.
In Atlanta, GA, parishioners of many faiths will join together for a climate justice service at the Central Presbyterian Church, and will participate in a church weatherization event following the service.
In Houston, TX, citizens will launch “GreenWeek Houston” by picking up trash and planting trees in the Greater Fifth Ward neighborhood.
In Burlington, VT, Senator Leahy will join Mayor Kiss and gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin for a rally at Battery Park following a day of service across the city.
In Lincoln, NE, hundreds of citizens will get to work planting native grasses to restore the Nebraska prairie.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, hundreds of community members are organizing a bike ride and rally next to the last coal burning power plant in Minneapolis.
In Los Angeles, CA,  thousands of people are expected to take part in “Ciclavia,” when 7.5 miles of streets will be closed to cars and opened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

     A few of the events planned for other countries:

• Environmentalists will host an environmental film festival in Dubai.
• Students at 10,000 schools in Russia and Croatia will plant trees.
• Over 100 cyclists from Jordan, Israel and Palestine will take part in a 3-day bicycle relay to carry water from the Yarmouk River and the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea to symbolize the need for cooperation to stop climate change and save precious water resources.
• In Ushuaia, at the far southern tip of Argentina, residents will clean up their shoreline where ocean currents bring trash from around the world.
• In Barcelona, Spain, hundreds of people are expected to take part in a bicycle-powered music festival.
• In the Namib Desert, Namibia, an education facility will install six solar panels to further their attempt to go carbon neutral.

     You may be thinking that with the Day to Celebrate Climate Solutions just 12 days away, it’s impossible for you to organize an event.  But please consider these two points:

1)  There may already be an activity planned for your area that you can join.  To find out, click on http://www.350.org/en/map.  There you will find a map of planned actions, including the ones nearest you.  You will also find out how to get involved.

2)  You can get together with family, friends, or coworkers to organize a relatively small and simple action to reduce carbon emissions or to raise awareness.  Or you might do something by yourself.  Here are just a few possibilities:

• Set up clotheslines in a central location and, along with others, bring your laundry and dry it on the line.  Remind your community that ’solar drying’ is a way to reduce carbon emissions.
• Decorate cloth grocery bags and give them out to the public.
• Paint a roof white.
• Organize a parade of push mowers.
• Organize a discussion session at your workplace about global warming and solutions.
• Give a talk about climate change to your local civic group, garden club, or faith group.

     If you do organize an event, no matter how small, please register it at www.1010global.org.   The more events that we can all learn about, the stronger our efforts.  And 10:10 requests that you send in a photo of your event. 

     And have fun.  As for me, I will be speaking next week to the local Lions Club about climate change.  I am told they are a group that largely denies climate change.  I have my work cut out for me!–April Moore

     When it comes to climate change, many of us feel helpless.   But there is something helpful that anyone can do, and it doesn’t involve a lot of time or a change in routine. 

     In order to mitigate as many of the impacts of global warming as possible, we need to understand just what is going on.  Watch the Wild is a program that uses citizen volunteers’ observations of their immediate environment to augment the growing body of scientific data about how climate is changing in different regions and how ecosystems are reacting to those changes.

     Watch the Wild is looking for volunteers in cities, suburbs, and rural areas all around the U.S. to spend as little as 10 minutes on a regular basis observing weather, wildlife, trees, and plants in their immediate area.  The observations can be made in one’s back yard, along one’s route to work, at a park or a beach one visits frequently, etc.  Only with abundant and accurate data can scientists, policy makers, and all of us address the issues raised by a warming planet.  

     Indeed, seasonal changes are already impacting our ecosystems, according to Nature Abounds, the nonprofit organization that sponsors Watch the Wild.  We are already seeing changes in migration and breeding patterns, a decline in food supplies, as well as variations in temperature and water.  Such changes affect not only wildlife, but human agriculture, trade, transportation, recreation, tourism, and much more.

     You can learn more about how to participate with Watch the Wild, just click on http://www.natureabounds.org/Watch_the_Wild.html. –April Moore  

    As the east coast swelters in 100 degree-plus temperatures, as Russian towns are torched in a summer of fire, and even as 14 countries report their highest-ever temperatures this year, the U.S. Senate still refuses to address global warming. 

     Even a bill greatly watered down in an attempt to get 60 votes could not pass.  Oil and gas companies, and their friends in the Senate–all the Republicans as well as Democrats Blanche Lincoln (AR) , Kent Conrad (ND), and Jay Rockefeller (WV)–got their wish.  No action on global warming. 

     But even as the highest legislative body in the land wastes precious time, we cannot afford to wait.  Fortunately, there are many actions we citizens can take to help stop global warming, even as our elected Senators sit on their hands.  Following are just a few:

• If one or both of your Senators is a Republican, contact that Senator’s office, and let him/her know in no uncertain terms that you are angry that the Republicans are blocking needed legislation to address climate change.  Also make it known that you vote.  To find your Senators’ contact info, click here:  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
• If you live in Arkansas, North Dakota, or West Virginia, let Senator Lincoln (AR), Conrad (ND), or Rockefeller (WV) know that you are very disappointed that s/he joined with all the Republicans to block any meaningful legislation to address climate change.  Click above for contact info.
• Help hasten the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy by working to end our reliance on coal.  The burning of coal accounts for about 30% of U.S. global warming pollution.  Support the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal effort at www.sierraclub.org/coal. 
• Urge Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not to approve the 2,000 mile pipeline planned for the importation of dirty oil from Canada’s Tar Sands to the Gulf of Mexico.  Learn more at www.1sky.org/blog/2010/07/stop-the-keystone-xl-tar-sands-pipeline.
• Urge President Obama to install solar panels on the White House.  Former President Jimmy Carter had them installed, and Ronald Reagan had them removed.  Admittedly, this step is more symbol than substance, but the President sets a powerful example.    Go to www.putsolaron.it/whitehouse/ and urge the President to join with people all over America who will be celebrating climate solutions on October 10.–April Moore

     Despite the pleas of thousands and thousands of Americans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told us last week that the Senate will not pass climate change legislation this summer.   

     Why?  The votes just aren’t there, says Reid.  There is no Republican support, and even some Democrats do not support the bill.  While Republican opposition is in keeping with the party’s lock-step opposition to virtually anything the President supports, it seems that the upcoming November elections have some Democrats worried they might pay too high a political price if they support a bill to cap carbon emissions.  But even some Democratic Senators who are not up for re-election this fall have done nothing to move the Kerry-Lieberman bill forward in the Senate. 

     Another reason we don’t have the Senate votes we need, says Eric Pooley, author of The Climate War:  True Believers, Power Brokers, and the Fight to Save the Planet, is that President Obama missed a key opportunity to build support for the measure.  He failed to encourage the public, angered by the BP gulf oil disaster, to channel their anger into calls to their Senators to enact climate change legislation this summer.  

     Many Senate observers believe the next chance for passage of a Senate climate change bill will be the lame duck session, following the November elections.  If the Senate fails to pass a bill by January, the coresponding bill passed in the House last year dies, and we must start over.

     We can’t give up!  Despite the sorry current state affairs, we cannot forget that climate change is the moral issue of our lifetime.  We can’t afford to let up in our efforts to get Congress to do what the country desperately needs.   Based on recent messages I’ve received from national organizations that are working on this issue, here are several actions we can take now:

1)  Call your two Senators.  Let them know you are angry and disappointed that the Senate has failed to enact an economy-wide–or even utility industry-wide–carbon emissions cap.  Even though the bill is dead for now, you are urging your Senators to work for its passage by the end of the year.  Click on this link to find your Senators’ phone numbers.    http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm 

2)  Call your Senators, and urge them to vote for the Home Star Energy Retrofit bill.  This bill is being promoted by some Senators who are determined to pass SOME sort of energy bill this summer.  The bill would make substantial sums of money available to homeonwers for making energy-saving retrofits to their homes.  While no substitute for a strong climate change bill, this bill would save money, create jobs, and reduce greenhouse emissions.   

3)  Make use of the August recess.  Arrange to meet with your Senators when they are in the state during the recess.  At your Senators’ public appearances, express your opinion that  you are angry and disappointed that the Senate backed away from doing its job in passing climate change legislation this summer.  Try to get a commitment to pass a strong climate change bill this year.–April Moore

     Well over two months since BP’s deepwater oil rig exploded, thousands of barrels of oil are still spewing into Gulf waters every day.  Nothing I have seen in recent years has focused attention on the urgent task of breaking our addiction to oil like this terrible incident.

     We’re all in it together.  Our society was built on fossil fuels, and currently, we all depend on oil for many of our daily activities and needs.  But we can make choices in our daily lives to at least reduce our oil consumption.  The following are some tips from the National Audubon Society for reducing your consumption of petroleum-based products. 

     By the way, in addition to acting on Audubon’s suggestions, you might also talk with others about the changes you’re making.  Quite likely you will find that others are also looking for things they can do in their own lives to cut their petroleum consumption.

     Here are Audubon’s tips:  

• Drive less. Take public transit. Carpool.
• Combine your driving errands to reduce vehicle miles traveled.
• Insist that meetings and other activities be held near public transit.
• Stop using plastic bottles. It is estimated 17 million barrels of oil are used to make them. Nearly 90 percent are not recycled but go to landfills where it takes many years for them to decompose.
• Stop using plastic bags. It is estimated 100 billion plastic shopping bags are used each year, made from around 12 million barrels of oil. They are slow to biodegrade and many end up in trees and waterways and threaten wildlife.    

     These are all good suggestions.  An especially easy and effective tip, I think, is to avoid bottled water.  If  you like having water with you when you go about your day, a good option is tap water in a non-BPA thermos.  You’ll save money too.

     And it’s easy to avoid plastic bags if you keep a few canvas, reusable bags in your car.  Then you’ll have them when you shop, and you won’t need to take a plastic bag from the store.–April Moore

     If you’re like me, you are hopping mad at BP for its greed, its cheating, and what appears to be its continued lying about the extent of the damage the company is causing. 

     This environmental disaster that grows bigger every day as oil continues to gush into the Gulf,  shows more clearly than any chart or graph or speech that we must end our dependence on polluting fossil fuels.  We must act now to embrace a cleaner environment, a multitude of clean energy jobs, and the dramatically reduced carbon emissions that would result from an economy powered by renewables like wind, solar, and biofuels. 

     The U.S. Senate will likely vote this summer on a climate change and energy bill, quite possibly in July.  If passed, the American Power Act, introduced by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, will complement the climate and energy bill passed last year by the U.S. House of Representatives.

     You can be sure that the oil industries, engorged with recent record profits, are investing heavily in making sure the American Power Act fails.  We can’t let that happen!  My hope is that the Senate will feel they have to pass the bill because their consituents are telling them loudly and clearly to transition to clean, renewable energy.  Now! 

     While I have to admit that the American Power Act is a far weaker bill than I wish it were, it is at least a start.  And we have to get started now in making the shift to clean energy.  At best, this legislation is a baby step.  But it’s all we’ve got at the moment.

     I have joined with a local Virginia climate action organization to call my two Senators every day for three weeks.  I leave a daily message on the constituent hot line, along with my name and zip code.  Congressional offices typically check the calls at the end of each day and note the number of calls received for and against any given legislation. 

     At first I had reservations about calling my Senators more than once with the same message;  I don’t want to be dismissed as a crank.  But then I was persuaded that Senators’ hearing from voters again and again, even from some of the same ones, helps create an impression that the public is demanding Congressional action to address climate change.  

     After all, if we are silent, who will be talking to our Senators?

     The calls are brief.  I complete my two daily calls in about five minutes.  You can find your two Senators’ office phone numbers by clicking on the U.S. Senate’s website:  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

     When you call your Senator’s office, you will likely get a recording that includes the option to leave an opinion.  Then you might say something like this:

     “I am __________________.  My zip code is _________.  Please support strong climate and energy legislation and work with your fellow Senators this summer to pass the American Power Act.  The ongoing BP Gulf oil disaster clearly shows that we cannot wait any longer to make the shift to a future of clean energy and clean jobs.”

     And if you don’ have time for daily calls, how about twice a week for a few weeks?

     One of the best antidotes to anger and despair is constructive action.  If you are angry about the BP oil disaster, then these calls are a way for you to translate your anger into effective action.–April Moore 

     As you may know, monarch butterflies are in decline. 

     A major reason for the decline of the fluttering little orange and black beauties is the disappearance of their main food–milkweed.  But this is a situation that can readily be addressed by increasing the amount of milkweed that is available to monarch butterflies.

     Now, in late spring, is a good time to plant milkweed.  Plant seeds or seedlings in full sun.  As the plants mature, adult monarchs lay their eggs on them.  The caterpillars that hatch, then, eat the milkweed leaves.  The caterpillars also build their pupae on the milkweed plants.

     The milkweed is a lovely plant that we humans can enjoy too.  It produces orange flowers in mid-summer, and in late summer the large seed-pods begin developing.  In the fall, the pods split and disperse their seeds.  You may want to save some of the seeds to plant more milkweed next spring.

     Milkweed seeds and young plants are readily available at garden stores.  Planting a good stock of milkweed will bring monarchs to your yard and will support them through their life stages.  In addition to the pleasure of watching these butterflies, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping to rebuild the population of this once-ubiquitous butterfly.–April Moore

Monarch laying eggs on milkweed

     The price the earth pays for heating and cooling a single home, of lighting it and running all of its appliances, is very high.   According to the EPA, an average 9,000 pounds per person of CO2 are emitted from people’s houses in the U.S.  every year as a result of home energy use.   This amounts to 17% of the nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions.

     While one can try to save small amounts of energy by increasing efficiencies here and there around the house, why not invest in ways that will save a lot of energy, while saving money as well?  Home Energy Saver is a website that can tell you how much money it costs to pay for the energy in an average home in your zip code area, compared to the cost for an energy-efficient home in the same area.  And, based on information you provide about your house, the site offers concrete suggestions for making your house much more energy-efficient.  Just click on http://hes.lbl.gov/ to get to Home Energy Saver.  The financial investment you make now will more than pay for itself over time.–April Moore