Green Is Good

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

Hearings began yesterday on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733) in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. As the second day got under way, witnesses put their best foot forward and passionately spoke on job creation, national security issues and America's role on an international scale.

Today's key witnesses included Dan Reicher, Google's director of climate and energy initiatives, and former Sen. John Warner (R-VA).

Reicher took the time to applaud both the Senate and the House for the initiatives they have taken so far, such as putting a price on carbon emissions. At the same time, however, he urged Congress to do more, and asked for larger renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates as well as an additional $15 billion to be put toward federal energy research and development. He also mentioned that congressional energy and climate efforts could increase jobs, a point that other witnesses who spoke in support of the bill also made.

"The job creation potential in energy efficiency is extraordinary," Reicher said.

Former Sen. Warner, on the other hand, took the debate in a slightly different direction. Warner, who was a member of the Committee for Environment and Public Works when he was in office, addressed how environmental work could effect America's military strategy and efforts.

Technorati Tags: Green Is Good Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act Climate Change Senate Hearings

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun! 

Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun!

Wednesday morning, eight o'clock am. My alarm rings.

After staying up and doing homework until about 2 am, getting myself out of bed was hard. I have to be at BuzzFlash headquarters by 9:30, though, so slowly I peel myself up from under the covers and complete my morning ritual: turn on my computer, quickly go to the bathroom, and then come back out to check the weather so I can get dressed for the day.

Rubbing the morning grime off my eyes, I sit down in front of my Mac and hit F3, pulling up the menu that will automatically tell me what it's like outside. The little sun that pops up the screen tells me it's currently 65 degrees outside, with a high of 72 and a low of 57.

Wait. Hold on a second.

Does that say 65 degrees? With a high of 72? At the end of October?!

Well, that sure woke me up.

Technorati Tags: Green Is Good International Day of Climate Action 350 Climate Change UN Climate Change Conference Copenhagen

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

Marketed as a "green" energy source, in recent years biofuel use has increased around the world. Global ethanol production tripled between 2000 and 2007, increasing from 17 billion to more than 52 million liters. Biodiesel expanded 11-fold, from less than 1 billion to almost 11 billion liters. And these fuels together still only provided about 1.8 percent of transportation fuels globally.

It looks like development has come at the expense of research, though. Last week Friday, a major UN report stated that biofuels' effect on the environment has not yet been sufficiently explored, and that a more "advanced approach" is needed beyond the study of its production and use in order to match growing global production.

The report, the first to be released by the United Nation's Environment Programme's (UNEP) International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, added that all factors and uses of biomass must be considered in order to measure its harm to the environment, including food, fibers and fuel.

"Besides GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions, other impacts such as eutrophication and acidification need to be considered," the report says. "The available knowledge from life-cycle assessments, however, seems limited, despite that for those issues many biofuels cause higher environmental pressures than fossil fuels."

Technorati Tags: Green Is Good Biofuel Greenhouse Gases Carbon United Nations Environment Programme Renewable Resources

Editor's note: Blog Action Day is a moment when bloggers from all across the world and belief spectrum come together to bring attention to a specific issue. This year, that issue is climate change. At BuzzFlash, we have two special pieces for you today. You're looking at one of them, and you can read the other here. Check out Blog Action Day 2009 online here, and keep reading green!

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

You can make it with corn, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets and molasses. It will help lessen America's dependency on foreign oil. And, best of all, you'll still be able to drive your car in the process.

So what's the problem?

It has become recognized as a major source of greenhouse gases.

At least according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Last week Wednesday, the EPA said that "nearly all" U.S. ethanol production facilities will qualify as "major emitters" of greenhouse gases and be required to obtain Title V permits under new EPA regulations. The proposal, titled the Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule (PSD), adds yet another dimension to the ongoing debate on biofuels and whether or not they should be considered a "green" alternative energy source to gasoline.

Technorati Tags: Green Is Good Biofuels Ethanol Greenhouse Gases Clean Air Act EPA Regulations Blog Action Day

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

With a population of 6,946 people, the Hopi Tribe in northeastern Arizona has always been known as a relatively peaceful group. Short for Hopituh Shi-nu-mu, their name literally translates to "The Peaceful People" or "Peaceful Little Ones" in English, and the Hopi culture is deeply rooted in religion, with ethics based in peace and goodwill.

Don't think that means they're afraid to stand up for themselves, though.

In a unanimous vote, on Monday of last week the Hopi Tribal Council approved a resolution stating that environmentalists have worked to deprive their tribe of markets for its coal resources and the revenue that industry brings to provide jobs, sustain governmental solutions and secure the survival of the Hopi tradition and culture.

Technorati Tags: Green Is Good Native Americans Reservations Coal Renewable Energy EPA

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

Home of Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross, Independence Hall, and the Constitution Center, Pennsylvania's got something new to boast about when it comes to patriotism: a major stake in America's booming gas drilling industry. With at least 4,000 oil and gas wells drilled here in the last year, the state is becoming a forerunner in our nation's search for natural gas.

With that title comes a new problem that many were not prepared to confront as gas drilling expands nationwide, however. And it happens to weigh 9 million gallons a day.

According to industry estimates used by Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), that's how much wastewater oil and gas wells disgorge in Pennsylvania each day, and by 2011 that figure is expected to rise to at least 19 million gallons. Much of this wastewater is a byproduct of what is becoming a familiar culprit: hydraulic fracturing.

Pennsylvania's situation is just one of the many key statistics and figures released within the past couple of weeks that has shed light on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Today fracking has become a key issue in the nation's environmental debate, and many are now calling for a change.

Technorati Tags: Green Is Good Hydraulic Fracturing Fracking Drilling Natural Gas Energy

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

Senate Democrats Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) pushed forward in America's fight against global warming today when they finally introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, a sweeping new bill specifically aimed at combating climate change in the United States.

The bill, which has been in the works for months now, is a revision of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 that was narrowly passed by the House this June. Some of the key changes include steeper emission cuts (a 20% reduction from the 2005 levels by 2020), stronger oversight of carbon markets, new incentives for natural gas and nuclear energy, and a so-called price collar on carbon emissions, one development that has both environmentalists and climate policy experts thrilled.

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GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

For some people, solar power is a thing of the future. Using the sun as a renewable energy source to melt steel, heat water or even fuel cars, homes and businesses? Impossible, they say. Solar power is something you would see on a rerun of The Jetsons, not something that could be actually used for energy.

Others know what solar power is and have seen it in action, but just can't see how it could be successfully implemented today. Where would we find the space to put all those huge solar panels? Don't they cost a lot of money? How would you maintain them to ensure optimum performance? And what happens when the sun goes down?

Rep. Gabrielle Gifford (D-AZ), however, doesn't see things that way. Living in one of the sunniest states in America and married to Captain Mark Kelly, a Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, she's learned to have a brighter outlook on solar energy.

Technorati Tags: Green Is Good Sun Solar Power Solar Energy Solar Panels Renewable Energy New Legislation

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

World leaders gathered at the United Nations for a global summit meeting on climate change Tuesday, making modest proposals on how to combat the problem. Anticipation was in the air, yet the lack of ideas on how to address the issue on a world scale made it clear that political battles are still preventing any real action.

In speech after speech, presidents and prime ministers from countries across the globe spoke with eloquence on the hopes they have for climate change negotiations in the future, making grand promises on the progress that's possible through group work and cooperation between both developed and developing nations.

For all the ambitious rhetoric offered, however, there was an absence of clear planning. With 70 days left until the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December, experts and analysts expressed disappointment on the lack of substance with which to build a new treaty. Work is to begin at the conference on drafting a new treaty that is to come into effect after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

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GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

My mom made a decision for our family soon after I was born: locally-grown, organic produce only. With two little girls to take care of, why not try and provide us with the best? She had always been interested in a healthier lifestyle, and now was a perfect time to get serious. Preservatives? Chemicals? Fertilizers? Those didn't sound like something her precious babies should be eating.

The idea wasn't hard to follow up on. For a family of four living in Wauwatosa, WI (a small suburb of Milwaukee), farmer's markets were abundant. Once or twice a month, all of the us would pile in the car and drive to the one that my mom had chosen for the day, whether it was in my hometown, neighboring West Allis or Brookfield, or as far away as the hour drive to our state's capital, Madison.

My Saturday and Sunday mornings were full of bright colors, flowers, fresh food, the occasional sweet like that honey you can get in a stick and funny crafts like beer soap or sock puppets. We even had a Growing Power "Market Basket" sent to our house every week and a water cooler set up in home (to this day, I still refuse to drink tap water. Thank you, Brita.)

Well, my family and I were clearly ahead of the game, because local living has taken the country by storm. The idea is based on the local food movement that came to age about a decade ago, a combination of food, environmental politics and healthy living. Today, they call us devoted followers "locavores," the general rule being that you must eat food grown within a 100-mile radius of your home.

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