Photo: Shruti Shrestha -- A woman wears compact fluorescent light bulbs during a protest rally in Kathmandu demanding alternative sources of energy March 11, 2010. Nepal's government is announcing 13 hours of power cut a day from today due to the low water levels in the hydro electric dams.

“The head of U.S. EPA’s research division on Wednesday defended the science used in the agency’s pending climate regulations to skeptical GOP lawmakers. “The overwhelming science that this finding is relied on is solvent and reliable,” Paul Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development, told the House Science and Technology Committee. (E&E Daily, 03/11/2010)

Things are really heating up with the politics of global warming lately, with much pressure being put on tired politicians who seem to want to pass health care and then go on vacation. Fortunately, scientists are urging the need to act. Scientists, including Steven Chu (see post below)  are strongly urging Congress to pass meaningful legislation this year that will begin to address the climate crisis. American politicians have been spending most of their time fighting for health care reform in the U.S., but that battle should be over in a week or less. Then they need to tackle climate change, no matter how tired and weary our representatives claim they are, and they need to hear from us on this extremely important topic.  That means call them!  (They get paid enough to work hard, and maybe they need to be reminded of that.) From USATODAY:

“Eight Nobel-prize winning economists and scientists have joined more than 2,000 others in signing a letter today that urges the Senate to take swift action on climate change.

“The longer we wait, the harder and more costly it will be to limit climate change and to adapt to those impacts that will not be avoided,” reads the letter, which is available on the Union of Concerned Scientists’ website here. ”Many emissions reduction strategies can be adopted today that would save consumers and industry money while providing benefits for air quality, energy security, public health, balance of trade, and employment.”

The renewed effort to focus attention on the issue comes after a difficult few months for advocates who want Congress to pass legislation to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. First, there was the “climate-gate” scandal, in which hundreds of e-mails from climate scientists were posted on-line — including some that questioned just how fast the earth’s temperature is rising. . . . . .

At one point last year, climate change legislation had been queued up behind health care in the list of priorities for congressional Democrats. The House narrowly passed so-called cap-and-trade legislation in June that would have taxed carbon emissions. But the Senate never embraced the approach. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who has been a lead negotiator on the issue, has said lawmakers are pursuing a new bill that would instead focus on utility companies.”

Senators John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham are [...]

US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu spoke at Stanford University last week on  clean energy , climate change science, innovation and education. It’s a science and solutions oriented talk so it’s valuable for everyone. Secretary Chu met with students before the talk for a student round table discussion on energy. The event was followed in the evening by a panel called “Educating the Energy Generation,” focused on how the U.S. can build a competitive clean energy workforce as quickly as possible. See here for an article about Secretary Chu’s visit to Stanford, “The Biggest Speaker of the Year,” and why his perspective is important. On the DoE website, Chu asks,

What are the steps we must take as a nation to create new, clean energy jobs and ensure America’s long-term competitiveness? What are the consequences for our climate of inaction? How can science and technology offer us new and better choices – and how can America’s young people make a difference?

I recently returned to Stanford University, where I spent many years as a professor, to discuss these and many other issues with a great group of students. I’d like to invite you to watch a replay of my speech here, and then share your thoughts afterward on my personal Facebook page (www.facebook.com/stevenchu) to continue the conversation.

During the speech he said something to take notice of: “Humans are altering the destiny of the planet. . . . [but] it’s not too late.”  He also repeated the quote Obama has used frequently on the “fierce urgency of now” and repeated that there is such a thing as being “too late”.

The message was clear — the U.S. has to act on the climate crisis as soon as possible.  Not next year, this year.

Chu  used the phrase climate crisis, which is strong language coming from the Secretary of Energy.

Download/listen to the Climate Files podcast here. (link to video is below)

More info from Stanford

“The Green Alliance for Innovative Action (GAIA), an initiative of the ASSU Executive (http://assu.stanford.edu), hosted U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on March 8, 2010 on the Stanford Campus (live webcast at http://gaia.stanford.edu). Dr. Steven Chu, distinguished scientist and co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics (1997), was appointed by President Obama as the 12th Secretary of Energy and sworn into office on January 21, 2009. Dr. Chu’s speech was titled “Meeting the Energy and Climate Challenge.” ASSU President David Gobaud noted that he “expected Dr. Chu’s talk to raise awareness on campus about the global energy and climate challenge and inspire students to work on solving the world’s biggest problems in the area.” Dr. Chu’s talk was followed by a panel titled “Educating the Energy Generation: How Universities Can Empower Future Energy Leaders” hosted by Energy Crossroads (http://ecstanford.org).”

(Thanks for the video info. from which I got the audio to It’s Getting Hot in Here)

To watch a video of this event, see the Department of Energy homepage

Emergildo Criollo attempted to deliver letters to Chevron CEO John Watson on March 2nd 2010.

Exposed: Chevron’s Cover-up of Gross Environmental Abuses in Ecuador

We need to save what is left of the rainforests and replenish what has been lost.   Can people do this in time to prevent runaway climate change?  An area the size of Greece has been cleared away already in the Amazon. This can’t continue. And the Amazon has additional problems.  Industrial wastewater is being dumped into the Amazon and there is a lot of contamination from oil drilling and spills and open oil pits.  It never fails to amaze me what people will do to the environment all in the name of making some money.

Alternet — Chevron claims it’s not responsible for dumping 18 billion gallons of industrial wastewater into the Amazon. A local leader says otherwise. A recent lawsuit has been brought by Ecuadorian indigenous groups against the U.S. oil giant, Chevron, for environmental destruction it allegedly wrought as Texaco in the Amazon rainforest of eastern Ecuador. The suit asks Chevron (which acquired Texaco in 2001) to pay for the environmental cleanup of an area three times the size of Manhattan, pocked with open oil pits and steeped in 18 billion gallons of dumped industrial wastewater. The damages in the case — calculated by a court-appointed expert at a record $27 billion — would also establish a health fund to pay for the estimated 1,400 cases of cancer caused by the pollution — a number that will likely continue to grow until the site is cleaned up. The rest of the damages fall into the catchall category, “compensation.”

The rainforests need more respect and protection than turning them over to the highest fossil fuel bidder.  They are the lungs of the planet, along with the oceans (something else human CO2 emissions are gravely harming).   The Rainforest Action Network gives us the story of Emergildo Criollo, the Indigenous leader from Ecuador.  From RAN’s story.

Criollo met with California legislators and asked for their support in the 16+ year campaign to demand Chevron remediate massive oil contamination affecting over 30,000 people. Along with supporters from Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network, Criollo spoke with lawmakers about the impact of California’s largest company in Ecuador, and what they can do to support his community’s call for environmental cleanup and action to prevent such tragedies in the future. . . . .

. . . .  At the reception, Criollo shared his story. He told the lawmakers about how he was only 6 years old when Chevron (then Texaco) began oil drilling in his community. He spoke of how his family was forced to relocate because of the contamination. About he had to part centimeters of oil off of the river to drink the water. About how he has lost two sons and nursed a wife through uterine cancer because of the contamination. His family drank, bathed, and fished in water that was poisoned [...]

Le donne di Umberto Boccioni
attraverso le opere e i suoi scritti

[The women of Umberto Boccioni throughout his works and writings]

March 8 – March 31, 2010
* Vernissage March 8th, 11am
Galleria Nazionale di Cosenza, Palazzo Arnone
Curated by Nella Mari, Melissa Acquesta, and Francesca Mandarino in coordination with Fabio De Chirico, Soprintendente.

Share/Bookmark