Please welcome today’s guest poster, Stefanie, who blogs at Stefanie Says.
Science has never been my strong suit (I was an English major; words have always been more my thing), so I remember how confused I was the day in college when my Chemistry professor’s TA called to ask me if I’d be interested in tutoring the class. “Me? You must have the wrong number,” I wanted to say. It’s sort of how I felt when Allie and Courtney asked me to guest post about eco-friendly cleaning products. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t quite live in filth and squalor, and I do care a great deal about the planet and my impact on it. But if I were making a list of my areas of expertise, eco-friendly cleaning products wouldn’t be at the top of it. Need someone for your Gilmore Girls trivia team? I’m your woman. Eco-friendly cleaning products? Well, we shall see.
That disclaimer out of the way, I do think there’s a benefit to my amateur greenist status. As Allie says, going green is a learning process, and I’m looking forward to learning along with (and from) the rest of you. Like many of us, I’m trying to make more responsible choices whenever I can, but I generally don’t think about those choices until I’m faced with them. For example, when I’m staring at a shelf full of drain openers at the store a few hours after taking a shower in three inches of standing water.
For all the controversy surrounding it and complex plans used to preserve it, sometimes the environment is simple. Not every conservation measure has to be as complicated as climate change bills or alternative fuels. Sometimes, it’s as simple as a light bulb.
President Obama’s energy secretary, Steven Chu, is working on developing tougher efficiency standards for light bulbs. According to a statement given by the president at the White House, lighting makes up 7 percent of all energy consumed in America. With stricter efficiency standards, we could save $4 billion per year by 2022.
If you’ve not already placed all the bulbs in your home with energy-efficient CFL bulbs, please take the time to do so. It’s a simple, inexpensive way to significantly decrease the amount of energy you’re consuming, and you’re not only helping the planet, you’re helping your wallet as well.
You’ve probably read in the news that the House has narrowly approved President Obama’s climate change bill. It’s often my knee-jerk reaction to support any measure to reduce our nation’s carbon footprint, but as responsible news gatherers, it’s our duty to examine all sides of an issue before forming an opinion.
Those who voted against the climate change bill (44 Democrats and all but eight Republicans) did so because they oppose the “cap and trade” program this bill encompasses. So what is cap and trade? It’s a process that aims to reduce greenhouse gases in a cost-effective manner. Each large-scale emitter of greenhouse gases will have to abide by a cap on the amount of greenhouse gases it can emit, and each company must have an emissions permit for every ton of carbon dioxide it releases into the atmosphere. Over time, the limits will become stricter until the ultimate pollution reduction goal is met. It will inevitably be easier and cheaper for some companies to reduce their emissions than others; in order to help the companies that will struggle more, these more efficient companies can sell their extra permits to the other companies that need them. This is where the “trade” comes in. In theory, this will reward the companies that are already energy-efficient while easing the transition for the companies that are not, while guaranteeing reductions across the board.
Sounds great, right? In some cases, it is. The Clean Air Act of 1990 is a prime example of a successful cap-and-trade program. Its goal was to reduce the sulfur emissions that cause acid rain, and it met that goal at a much lower cost than industry or government predicted. But there are some who say Obama’s bill doesn’t do enough to curb global warming. The bill originally aspired to cut greenhouse emissions by 20 percent in the next decade; in order to make it more moderate, that number was cut to 17 percent. There is also the inevitable question of how much difference these reductions would make on a global scale; it’s a bit disheartening to realize that a 17 percent reduction in American emissions is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of greenhouse gases constantly pumped into the air by, say, China.
We also must consider the effects of this bill on household energy costs. A congressional study found that the bill would raise energy costs by less than $200 per year for the average household, but in the cases of low-income families, this is a significant amount of money. However, the president is calling this a “jobs bill,” just as he did with the economic stimulus. In his weekly radio address, Obama says this is not a case of having to choose between economic growth and investing in clean energy. If passed, he claims, this bill can have positive implications for both.
Nothing is final yet; the bill must still pass the Senate before any actions can be enacted upon the American people. What do you think of Obama’s climate change bill? Is it a positive step toward curbing global warming, or will it just increase our energy bills without making any real environmental difference?
Please welcome today’s guest poster, Chris. Chris is a lecturer at a university in Australia and blogs at A Free Man.
I am a committed carnivore, some might say a fanatical one, so this is going to be a difficult post for me to write. I’ve been thinking a lot about food lately and I’m slowly coming around to the conclusion that we’re doing not only ourselves a lot of harm with our gluttonous Western diets, but the planet as well.
I’m behind the curve on this one, as there has been a fair bit in the mainstream press and the chatterbox commentators about cow farts and global warming. As is typically the case with the TV ‘news’ personalities, a lot of this talk is the oversimplification peddled by ill informed idiots misunderstanding complex science. Let’s start fresh and leave this particular story aside. In fact, let’s leave climate change in general aside. I’m a geneticist, not a climatologist, and I don’t know enough about the topic to get into it in any real critical analysis.
But I think that we can probably all agree on some simple things. We can probably all agree that we need to be careful in terms of water use - particularly if you live in Australia, for example, or the Western United States. I think we can all probably agree that energy conservation is a good idea, that pesticide and fertilizer use should be minimized as should the amount of waste we generate as a species.
As writers, we know that part of good stewardship is sharing information, but even the most intelligent among us can not make change without DOING something. So The Good Human & Twilight Earth, along with Grass Stain Guru, Lighter Footstep, My Green Side, The Smart Mama, A Little Greener Every Day, Fake Plastic Fish, Allie’s Answers, and Natural Papa have teamed up to carry our message with one united strong voice. The message is that there are great organizations out there which are suffering in this economic downturn through decreased donations…and they need our help! So we have decided to give you, our readers, a voice and a choice. We have decided to take on a very simple fundraising mission, and we are asking you to donate just $1.00.
A single dollar; that’s all.
Who cannot afford a buck even in these times? We know you can spare a dollar to help out our fellow humans!
But how do we all decide which charities to give 100% of all monies raised to? Well, we are going to put it to a vote and let you guys decide. The 10 websites participating have chosen 5 charities for all donors to vote for, and we are going to let you guys choose which two of them will receive the all monies donated.
Our purpose in doing this is three-fold
It gives YOU a voice. As loyal readers and stewards of our environment, we want to offer you the opportunity to make a difference without breaking the bank.
It gives the two charities with the most votes some much appreciated funds to continue their mission
It allows all of us an opportunity to connect as a community of like-minded people working for the common good of ourselves, our families and our planet.
If the community of folks who care about our planet cannot come together to rise up to a challenge, who will? That is why we are asking you for a $1 donation. While $1 may seem insignificant all by itself, by pooling our resources together we really can make a difference in these tough economic times. $1 is less than the price of a candy bar and can usually be found under the seat cushions of your couch. Won’t you help 2 of these charities with your $1 donation? (Now, if you want to give more, please - feel free. We won’t stop you! And by all means, send this to everyone you know so we can raise even more!)
Below you will find a poll and a Paypal donation link asking you to choose which of the 5 charities your favorite is. We ask that you please donate a dollar to the charity pool if you are going to vote, and know that even if your absolute favorite does not finish first or second, all the money donated will be going to worthwhile causes. If everyone we know who reads our sites, our Twitter feeds, our Facebook sites, etc. donates just $1, imagine the impact we can have as a group. And please, spread the word!
Click the button to make a secure donation via Paypal, or you can send your donation direct via Paypal to “1dollarcharity@gmail.com“
Please take a moment to vote for your favorite and to donate just a single dollar to these charities. Times are tough and our collective might can really help them out. The results will be tallied two weeks from today, and we will write another article detailing the amounts and the two charities who garnered the most votes and will be receiving the money collected. It’s only $1, so please donate!
Ethanol is one of the most viable alternative fuel sources on the table today, and some people are drawn to it because it would mean much less drilling for oil. That’s a good thing, but as with many environmental matters, it’s always a trade-off. Many people are opposed to the establishment of ethanol biorefineries in their towns because of the air pollution they would create. According to Citizens for Clean Power, ethanol plants can release anywhere from 120 to 1,000 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) every year. This could create some large-scale health problems.
While some environmentalists support ethanol as a fuel source, there are other things to consider other than air pollution. It’s better than relying on oil for our fuel, but in the United States we’d likely use corn as its base, which could be a problem because corn is one of our major food staples. We should also consider the environmental degradation associated with large-scale farming methods.
In short, ethanol may be a short-term solution for our fuel issues, but we’re going to have to keep researching if we’re going to find something that will fulfill our needs and not contribute to air pollution and/or a global food shortage. What do you think of ethanol?
“Query about fans, Allie who always has the answer: I’m fan cooled in my house, I have those window numbers that do both intake and outtake. I leave them on the lowest level of outtake during the day to keep the air from getting stagnant in the house. It works really well, but Umbra says not to do it. Now I’m all conflicted, because stagnant air is like death, and those fans seem to be doing a great job during the day.
Oh and she’s right, I’ve got an exhaust fan in my roof, and it’s marvelous.”
I thought I was stumped.
One of the best ways to stay cool is not to let yourself get too hot to begin with. But Umbra is right about the energy use. But walking into a house full of hot air is going to totally make anyone lose their cool. But the energy use. . .
Completely and totally stumped. Then just before I fell asleep last night, I had an idea.
