Haiku for a Friday Afternoon

A frog in water
Doesn't feel it boil in time.
Dude, we are that frog.

(From grist.com)

Option 1: Turn off the stove.

Option 2: Jump?

Time Magazine's "Global Warming Survival Guide"

As many have said - even Fox News! - the debate about the reality of global warming is over. Though there are remaining skeptics, they are getting pushed further and further to the fringe. Most everyone agrees that we have a problem. Most everyone agrees that we need to do something about it.

The cover story of this week's Time Magazine is "The Global Warming Survival Guide: 51 Things That You Can Do To Make A Difference." The online version can be seen by clicking here.

The article starts, "Can one person slow global warming? Actually, yes. You—along with scientists, businesses and governments—can create paths to cut carbon emissions. Here is our guide to some of the planet's best ideas, with an assessment of their impact and feel—good factor."

The standards are on the list - use compact fluorescent lights, take a bus, etc. But, there are others that you might not have considered:

• 2. Get Blueprints For a Green House
• 6. Ditch the Mansion
• 8. Give New Life to Your Old Fleece
• 11. Take Another Look at Vintage Clothes
• 15. Move to a High-Rise
• 19. Buy Green Power, At Home or Away
• 22. Skip the Steak
• 39. Make Your Garden Grow
• 45. Make One Right Turn After Another

I get overwhelmed when I look at a list like this. After all, making 51 changes at once is a huge task. But, making one small change, then another, then another.... Before you know it, you look back and see that significant progress was made!

This is the idea behind the Community Climate Challenge sponsored by the Sustainable Energy Alliance and Campaign Earth. When you sign up for this program, we will send you a Challenge (via e-mail) to focus on for the month. After a year, you will have made small changes in 12 different areas of your life. One by one, we will all be making a difference. Join the Community! Sign up for the Challenge by clicking here.

Supreme Court Rules Against EPA's Inaction on Climate Change

In November, as I posted in this blog (click here to read the post), the Supreme Court heard a case brought by 12 states, including Maine, and various environmental groups to force EPA to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. EPA claimed that the Clean Air Act did not give the Department the authority to do so.

In a decision handed down today, the Supreme Court rejected the Bush Administration's case. While not saying what the regulations should contain, the 5 - 4 decision supports the claims of the plaintiffs that EPA must regulate global warming pollution.

Reuters reports (click here to read the article) that "the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 'has offered no reasoned explanation' for its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change... Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the court majority, rejected the administration's argument that it lacked the power to regulate such emissions. He said the EPA's decision was arbitrary, capricious or otherwise not in accordance with law.'"

Hopefully, this decision is another example of the tide turning. With leadership from the federal level through the EPA, along with work being done in Congress, we may see a coordinated attempt by the United States, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, to address this critical issue while we still have time to minimize the impact of climate change.

Click here if you want to read the Supreme Court's opinion "MASSACHUSETTS, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ET AL. "

Greening your electronics

If you are looking for ways to reduce the effect that your electronic gadgets have on the environmental and on global warming, then Treehugger.com is a resource that you should look at. Their article titled "How to Green Your Electronics" (click here to read it) gives some great ways to go green. The page includes:

• Top 10 Tips - including "Kill vampire power," "Bright idea: The Solar Charger," and "Look for EPEAT"
• So You Want To Do More - including "Offset Your Energy" and "USB-It"
• By The Numbers - "40% of the energy used for electronics in your home is used while these devices are turned off." Ouch!!
• Going Techie - Information about Li-Ion and NiMH batteries
• Dig Deeper Into Treehugger - including a list of various products to help reduce energy usage (including some solar chargers that I am dying to get my hands on...)

This is a fantastic article for everyone who is plugged into the Electronics Age (all of us with our iPods, cell phones, laptops, PDAs...)

Also, I am an avid reader of the Lifehacker blog. Their post that discussed this Treehugger.com article has some great comments that include other ideas about how to reduce your electricity usage. Check out the Lifehacker blog at "How to go green with your electronics" (click here to read it).