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Friday, October 19, 2007

New Climate Bill: America's Climate Security Act (ACSA)

Environmental Defense supports this newly formulated bill, and is working to protect and strengthen it as it makes it to the Senate floor and moves through to passage. It has bi-partisan support; we are at the threshold of a great climate bill finally taking effect! Read more about it here.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Launching Climate Save!



In part to raise funds for continuing the trip, I have launched a new business of selling PowerCost Monitors that allow you to monitor your home's or business's electricity consumption in real time. For example, before you leave the house, you can see how much your house is still consuming even when you are not going to be there! and then you can go around turning off unnecessary appliances reducing your impact on the climate--saving it and some change:) To buy a powercost monitor from me, please email me (pauljosephpark at gmail dot com).

Friday, October 05, 2007

Operation: Climate Vote

This is the Congressional session when we are going to get a vote on serious action to deal with climate change. If you would like to give Congress the nudge it needs to get this ball rolling, you can participate in Environmental Defense's Operation: Climate Vote--sending a letter and perhaps making a phone call to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Send a letter.

Monday, October 01, 2007

If global warming and climate change are as dire a situation as the scientists make them out to be, why aren't we ACTING like it?!!!

Okay, lets be hopeful, wind power, solar power, conservation, energy efficiency, energy efficient appliances, lights, cars, using less, (having fewer babies?), sustainably-harvested bio-fuels, people changing their lifestyles (living closer to work, living in smaller quarters, putting up insulation, getting efficient refridgerators, etc.)--all this is going to add up to fewer emissions, and enough fewer emissions that we will avoid disastrous, catastrophic climate change.

Okay, or we need to do EVERYTHING(?) we can--personal, culturally, socially, politically--on all levels--household, workplace, community, municipal, county, state, regional, federal, international, private and public, with our actions and our dollars, to promote energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy--then we will solve this crisis.

Maybe we need mass demonstrations in the streets, which we have had and they are getting bigger. Maybe we need a carbon tax, and then the revenue raised can be used for energy conservation, efficiency and renewables initiatives. Maybe we need cap-and-trade, auctioning off the allowances and use those funds for conservation, efficiency and renewables measures. We gotta do something big, and we have to do it now--we only have one chance. And we need everybody.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Global Warming and Climate Change news coming through my channel: Let's get Political!

Hi all,

In my world, based on the news I read in the Post, on other online news sources, through my contacts, environmental organizations, etc: the world and the US need to act together in concert ASAP; we are in a race against time, against Global Warming. We are behind, and we need to catch up as fast as possible.
In my view, individuals can only do so much. One individual by changing their lifestyle cannot change the world and stop climate change. Coal-fired power plants are not the acts of individuals. Mass agriculture is not the act of individuals. The market must be spoken to; we need to give the market the input that carbon generation is not desirable, and carbon reduction IS desirable. The problem is so systematic, and we need change so fast, only government intervention can dictate to the market what we need to have changed. Thus, we need to be spending the energy that we would be using on trying to change our own lives on telling our representatives how much we need them to support the carbon-reduction strategies we need now.
Step It Up 2007 steps it up again on November 3rd when we are going to have rallies all over the country at locations where movers and shakers in our nation's history are commemorated, and we are inviting politicians of all levels, and asking them to be leaders on this issue. We need large marches demanding change on this singularly important issue. One sky, one chance. CARPE DIEM

Thursday, September 20, 2007

washingtonpost.com/climate

The Washington Post has a great section on the climate, including coverage of the Senate proposals, economics of the problem, effects of climate change, and interactive graphics. www.washingtonpost.com/climate

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Carpoolworld.com!

Hi All,

We (my family: parents and brothers) are working on a way to get my brother Timmy from home to Anne Arundel Community College and back three days a week. The school is near Anapolis, 25 miles away in Arnold, MD. We have come across a great site that everyone ought to know about and use more often: It is called Car Pool World! Someone contacted me with this site while I was on my bicycle trip. You can post your trip, starting and ending points, departure times, and then you can request drivers or passengers! You can specify how much leeway you wish to allow--how far out of the way you are willing to catch a ride or pick up a passenger. This tool can be of great value in helping us consolidate our traffic, reducing congestion and fuel consumption. Please try it out
! The more people we have using it, easier it will be to find a ride for Timmy (and anyone else looking for one)!

Monday, September 17, 2007

cool site

Project House

A carbon tax would be good; cap and trade much better

We could tax each ton of carbon emissions, and that would create incentive to reduce emissions, would encourage conservation and efficiency. But a couple of characteristics of the challenge make a cap-and-trade system a much better policy choice. One is that each unit of carbon emissions has an equal impact no matter where or how it is created. The other is that each emission reduction is not created equally with regard to how much it costs. Wait, though, I just found out that Chris Dodd's energy plan incorporates both. He supports the Sanders-Boxer cap and trade system, with some of the credits auctioned off, plus a Corporate Carbon Tax. Proceeds from the auction and tax would go to a Corporate Carbon Tax Trust fund that will be used to fast-track renewables and energy-efficient products. Please see his plan here. By the way, this isn't yet an endorsement of Chris Dodd; rather, it is part of my research.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

My quote of the day

People keep using gasoline and coal-fired electricity like it does not matter because they are not being held accountable. Normally, polluter pays. Not one cent of the price of gasoline or electricity goes to pay for the damage the CO2 emissions cause.