I had hoped that one of my progressive causes (Y.I. campaign for Health Care reform, join the Facebook group.) would be concluded before we as a country got to the climate conference in Copenhagen. Not the case, unfortunately.
I am feeling a little bit behind with the debate. And I am feeling extremely frustrated that the segue into this entire thing is the “climate-gate” scandal of the leaked emails. I’ve railed on this before, and will, I’m sure, rail again, but who is being served when the national media discussion on Copenhagen is about emails being leaked? Will there be hundreds of stories written about the visible and track-able changes already happening on the coast of china, in the Texas sized trash heap in the pacific, or in the increasing size of the Sahara desert? My guess is no. As of right now, the Google count on “climate-gate” is growing exponentially. It only takes one story like this to completely muddy the waters of American perception. In that sense, then, the global warming skeptics are correct — this email story has already done more (because of the lack of information on the global scale) then anything else in the last ten years to set back the discussion of how to combat massive destruction of the environment. Let me be the first to congratulate them on a job well done! (more…)
This is a review week. First, hotels. Later, I hope to get a few episodes of The Goode Family under my belt (New! from ABC!). But today, it’s a review of a product that I have not, technically, tried: a cell phone.
Ok, I know it’s not really a review of the product… it’s more an analysis of what happens when corporations claim to be green. Some of them really are!
Is it Greenwashing or is it Legit?
We will rank products that are LtAG reviewed on a series of Al Gores (see the grid to the right for the scoring effect)
For example, the Proximity gets 5 Al Gores – tip top luxury, combined with as much green per square inch as you can imagine. The new Sunchips campaign from the good folks Frito Lay? It’s looking like it might get an Inhoff – the ranking reserved for pure Green-washing with no actual corporate change.
The subject of this week’s episode: The new Motorola MOTO W233 Renew.
This brand spankin new phone claims to be the first CarbonFree® (that’s right, that’s a restricted phrase now: a rating certification much like the Gores!) out there. Lets see what that means…
Motorola offsets the amount of energy used to make and distribute the phone by buying Carbon offsets.
The battery seems to be pretty good: nine hours of continuous use isn’t shabby.
Recyclable exterior.
They have a cool program where the phone’s documentation includes an addressed and stamped envelope to return the thing when it breaks: planned obsolescence is gravy when they are keeping the phones out of landfills. I wonder if there is any program for incentivizing the process — its always easier to just toss the thing in the trash.
I really like this trend of top-down greening, where someone takes the time to examine every aspect of the product: creation, marketing, use, and death. (more…)
While scatter shooting around Earthday, and wondering how many more times I can hear about cool ideas that are “coming sometime soon” before my head explodes…
This is actually a time when public action matters. Dems and Reps alike are wiffling and waffling on supporting the current Clean Energy Bill put forward by Rep. Waxman and Rep. Markey. They have introduced a really good bill that will jump start the U.S. government regulating things it should have been regulating long ago. I don’t usually subscribe to people pushing out contact your representative requests, but this one is a big deal to me, and it should be a big deal to you. So. Read up on the bill. (or, if you are feeling super motivated, read the actual bill. I like OpenCongress.com for that) Then, click the link below.
Actually, I don’t care that it says it’s from Al Gore, and if you would rather go directly to your congress person that would be even better, but We Can Solve It is a good advocacy group that can use your voice.
This. Legislation. Matters.
Right now, Congress is debating clean energy legislation that will jumpstart our economy and help solve the climate crisis. I’ve joined with Vice President Al Gore and millions of others to show my support — will you?
Please click here to sign our petition in support of this crucial clean energy legislation: http://www.repoweramerica.org/earthday
Al Gore puts the whole Global Warming thing under a lens that everyone can love: Get on Board with Electric Cars, or the Chinese win. And yo don’t want the Chinese to win, do ya? Come on. Come oooooonnnn…
“Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.”
“The goal, which radiates from the very top of the Chinese government, suggests that Detroit’s Big Three, already struggling to stay alive, will face even stiffer foreign competition on the next field of automotive technology than they do today.”
Our security crisis, our economic crisis and our climate crisis are all connected. By leading the world in the creation of renewable technology, we will not only put America back to work, but we can also reduce our dependence on foreign oil and help solve the climate crisis.
If, instead, we allow other nations to take the lead in developing the technologies of the future, we would put our entire economy at risk for the next generation. Repowering America is not only about solving the climate crisis; it’s about leading the world. If we don’t, others are sure to take our place.
And I ask you: Where is the down side? What is the PROBLEM with being a world leader in automobiles (which — need I mind you — we invented)?
Do you HATE AMERICA, Republicans? You must. Jerks.
Eight years of that has still left me feeling bitter. I wonder if anyone can tell? (more…)
Global Warming skeptics, climate change deniers, whack jobs, or lonely prophets in the desert, call them what you will.
LtAG is here to try and walk the line ‘twixt outright dismissal and over acceptance. To this end, lets compare two of the more prominent and visible doubters out there. One the one hand, you’ve got Freeman Dyson, who I wrote about at length after his profile in the Times. Here’s a dude who does exactly what I would want the opposition to do every time they don’t agree with me: rationally explain why they have a problem with the science behind global warming, and back it up with a lifetime of good science and following his own scientific creed.
Marc Morano, from the New York Times profile.
In contrast, lets look at Marc Morano, someone I’ve written about before, who was also profiled in the New York Times today. Morano is the sort of political operative who gives wing-nuts a bad name. There is no nuance and no discussion for him: he discards some science and supports others based on a political agenda. In point of fact, he does exactly what he is constantly accusing Al Gore of: ignoring the stuff that doesn’t fit his conception of a giant left-wing science conspiracy/hoax. Take a look at his site, ClimateDepot, for a sense of how this dude roles. I like how he takes his subtly and style clues straight from the Drudge Report (minus the Siren). (more…)
xkcd continues to be the funniest of all the web comics that I obsessively check three times a day (yes, I know that they only update once daily, or sometimes weekly. It’s reflexive, ok?) As such, I am always compelled to share the great work of Randall Munroe. Amazing stuff, all around, but check out the newest: and as always, we want to extend a warm friendly welcome to our Benevolent Robot Overlords. Smart Grids are coming, and with them Al Gore will take his rightful place as the MASTER of the UNIVERSE!
Update! Everything has been quite on the Please Do These Things for the Environment front for a little while: not a lot of requests or demands from our in-box. That is, until this week, when everyone went CRAZY!
People been demanding all kinds of stuff from us, but the important one seems to be all surrounding the Bailout Package. Now, as we’re sure you all know, everyone is clamoring to get a piece of the big dollars Uncle Sam is about to be throwing around. And on Wednesday, the Obama Package (hehe) got past the House (along VERY partisan lines) and is on the Senate. Well, Green-For-All, 1Sky and WeCanChange are all suggesting that the package contains a lot of cash for the green-collar based plans. If you are interested in some really interesting reading (watch out: time wormhole!) the we recommend scrolling through both the stimulus bill as posted here and some of the comments sections. We aren’t really sure if the Bailout is popular on the left because Obama likes it, or because it’s actually a good Bill, and we aren’t sure if it was unpopular with House Republicans for the same reasons. It doesn’t seem like it’s all that different then what the Bush crew was proposing, yet the battle lines have totally redrawn. Balls to that.
To add our own voice to the hew and cry, the only thing that we would point out is that Republicans seem to have very short memories when it comes to how these things happened and how the economic crisis came about. To say that a Bailout package that gives money directly to industries instead of lowering taxes is “more of the same” or “more of the Liberal silver spoon elite” seems to ignore the fact that deregulation and giving money back to the taxpayers is what got us into this mess. Turns out that giving a tax credit means that poor folk who need it get a few bucks, and rich folk who don’t want to spend it get a lot of bucks. That’s how it works in a vaguely progressive tax system. Also: we don’t like Kool-aid! We were JUST having a conversation last night that the Kool-aid man sort of creeps us out! Please stop accusing us drinking Kool-aid!
But we digress.
The point of all this is that the stimulus bill might be rife with problems, or it might be pretty good. We aren’t nearly smart enough to know. But the Green-Collar economy lobby is strongly behind this Bill, and that’s the point of this site, ain’t it?
He makes some good points (sorry that its dated to before Al testified before Congress. Old news now. The concern has become the Senate, where a Democratic Majority can not carry the weight) and because it’s Al Gore, we clicked on this link and asked our Senators to support the stimulus. But, then again, they are democrats anyway, so we aren’t that worried who’s side they are on.
(interesting side note: the different green mailing lists we are on are starting to compete for time and compete for numbers. One crew offers that they contacted senators “more then 24,000 times!” other are nearing 40K. We wonder how much lobbying power each group can claim to muster, and we wonder how much of that depends on which form letter we choose to send to our senators when we click that button. Also, can you imagine if the New Senator from NY, Gillibrand, DIDN’T vote for the package? Man, would Paterson come off looking like a dick!)
UPDATE: VAN JONES THINKS I AM AWESOME! HE SAYS:
Here are three things we think you’ll be especially excited about in President Obama’s economic recovery plan: 1. GREEN JOBS ACT: $500 Million
In 2007, Green For All and our allies got the Green Jobs Act signed into law. The Act authorizes federal support for green-collar job-training programs. But last year, Congress failed to appropriate the money. Now, President Obama and the House want to invest $500 million in these programs. (YAY!) (Editor note: the YAY was Van Jones, not me!)
But the Senate wants to create a grant program at half that amount, and divide this smaller pie into smaller pieces – by directing the funds to train workers in various industries (not just green ones). (Boo!)
With the support of the President and the House, full funding for the Green Jobs Act finally is within sight. But we need your help to move the Senate.
2. WEATHERIZATION: $6.2 Billion
President Obama’s recovery package contains the largest weatherization investment in history, as well as funding for a number of other programs that will increase the energy efficiency of America’s buildings. Upgrading our buildings so that they protect us better from the weather means we can spend less energy heating and cooling them.
This is the single biggest thing we can do right now to stop global warming. Nothing in the country uses as much energy as our buildings – not even our transportation. And weatherizing won’t just save lots of energy and reduce greenhouse gases – it will also create a ton of new green-collar jobs!
3. DOUBLING RENEWABLE ENERGY
Efficiency is only part of the solution. We also need to replace the fossil fuels we’re burning with renewable energy. The recovery plan is part of that, with plans to double our capacity to generate renewable energy in just three years. Another big job engine!
If you wanted to contrivbute to Van Jones’ power to Lobby Congress (instead of Al’s) you would do that here.
That’s what you create when you don’t sign up for the We campaign. You make Al Gore cry.
We signed up for the We organization yesterday, because we love Al Gore and don’t want to hurt his feelings, and because the television ad buy we saw told us too. At first blush, it looks really in depth, and we are a big fan of the solutions page (check it out!)
However, we aren’t exactly sure what signing up for the We campaign does for the world. Growing the list is good. Giving that little bit of extra weight to the campaign. But this thing begs the question: How do we get on-line organization to manifest itself into actual change?
For example: the We crew have a wonderful list of success stories, but we aren’t sure what we did to help with them. Does writing to congress people directly effect anything? We have certainly been trained to think that it doesn’t, and we must confess that our letters to congress people have not only been universally ignored, but the opposite thing has happened every time we made the effort.
But, for the sake of an argument, lets use the We program for a test of one person’s agency, shall we? For the next month, we are going to do everything they ask for us. Every Email, we will forward. Ever congressperson, we will call. Every letter, we will write. And we will keep you up to date on what we get from it besides a little bit of smug satisfaction.
Today is Blog Action day, with the happy topic of environmentalism. Thats right! We aren’t just passively blogging about nothing, were passively blogging about nothing IN UNISON! (editorial shout out: PGP and JES)
Anyway, in celebration of this glorious web communal action, we thought we would post something. We know this Video is old, but its worth looking at again because of its inherent similarities and differences with what we at American Green are working on. Plus, we haven’t had any time to create more of our own stuff.
Some stuff to know about this video:
There are more then 350 PAGES of comments on the Youtube page of this video. Thats a lot of comments.
When you read through these comments, you discover that 4/5ths of them say one of two things: Al Gore is stupid and global warming doesn’t exist, or George Bush is MORE stupid, and global warming DOES exist. It’s exhausting, to say the least.
It was produced by an advertising agency (or at least someone with a IP address from an ad agency) that works for Exxon/Mobile. Just Sayin.
So, give it a little watch. On the surface, it appears to be what we are all about: humor to make a point, with a call to… wait. A call to what, exactly?
We will rank products that are LtAG reviewed on a series of Al Gores (see the grid to the right for the scoring effect)
