Supporting Fossil Fuel Companies Makes Not Sense! Here is You Chance to do Something!

A majority of Americans now believe that excess carbon in the air leads to climate change and the weather extremes we have been experiencing are going to get worse. Rather than continuing to support companies who enjoy enormous profits for contributing to climate change shouldn’t we support alternatives and try to reverse the ominous forecast?

Why are fossil fuel companies getting tax breaks, financial assistance, royalty relief, and many loopholes that benefit the fossil fuel industry? Under current law, more than $113 billion in federal subsidies would go to oil, coal and gas industries in the coming decade. Do they need this money? No! In 2011 alone, the Big Five oil companies, alone, made $137 billion in profits!

Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation Thursday to end billions of dollars in oil, coal and gas subsidies.

You can support this new legislation and end polluter welfare by making your voice heard here.

Apocalyptic Weather: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet!

Unless you have been avoiding the news and life in general, the epic weather conditions are starting to get noticed. The record floods, heat, snows, tornadoes, fires, and more importantly, their after-effects are waking up even die-hard climate change deniers.  Although extreme weather and unpredictable systemic impacts have been predicted by NASA and NOAA climate models, the mainstream media is actually paying attention and getting nervous. Not only is extreme weather dangerous, unpredictable and enough to spoil your party, destroy your home and way of life, it is conceivable that it will change our lives sooner rather than later.

As weather becomes more unpredictable,  and extremes happen more often, we will all be looking for ways to survive and thrive in spite of it. This will test the abilities of our elected leaders and it will test our character as a society. US military leaders have been engaged in strategic planning for for some time and it is important that ordinary people plan for the impact of climate change as well. Our governments cannot protect us from Mother Nature! What are some of the impacts and what should we be doing to be safe and live well?

Unpredictable Weather will result in:

Flooding. Large quantities of moisture rising off warmer than usual oceans are creating bigger, wetter weather systems resulting in flash floods, enormous snow packs and floods several feet above flood stages in some places. If we have a wet summer in the Champlain Valley of Vermont, for example, many homes and camps and parks now under water will stay uninhabitable, possibly for some time. Aside from the social consequences and health issues of thousands of septic systems overflowing into the lake, which supplies the water to hundreds of thousands of people in the valley, the monetary damages are already exponential.

Tornadoes. We are seeing tornadoes in places that have never experienced them before like Vermont and Massachusetts. The high school where I work with 1400 students and a couple of hundred adults has an underground fallout shelter with a capacity of 100. Severe weather bulletins happen at a moments notice. Building shelters in public buildings for tornado events will be very costly.

Crops. This spring many farm fields were washed out repeatedly, after spreading fertilizer, after seeding, and after growing had begun. Climate models show that the wheat belt will migrate into Canada as the climate warms. What does this mean for a state and a nation that is used to being a bread basket and agriculturally-based? Food producers will become wealthy and poorer countries without basic commodities will become hungry.

Melting ice packs. Melting polar and continental ice is draining freshwater supplies in places where there are large populations. Californians and Arizonans to mention two states, know this already. In countries with billions of thirsty people, with little or no water, or with water being owned by private companies or used for industry, it is logical that we will see social unrest and political instability. This will become expensive.

I am not predicting an apocalypse but it is possible that there will be some panic, some finger-pointing and some disruptions unlike anything we have ever seen. It is possible we will see the federal government having to prioritize what it can afford to support in the FEMA budget as disasters become even more commonplace. It is possible that food and energy will become much more expensive and continue to erode your standard of living. Although this is not a popular view, the lions share of energy use and carbon pollution comes from business and industry. Scientists say the climate models show that the difference between doing nothing about carbon emissions and curtailing them will result in avoiding cataclysmic climate impacts during the next 20-40 years. So what can you do so you will be prepared for these possibilities or worse, if it happens?

For Your Health and Survival

1. Be prepared for disastrous weather that is sure to come. This means find a place to live far above your local flood plain. Make sure you have an emergency shelter.

2. Learn to grow your own food, preferably without fertilizers and pesticides which may become expensive, as they are made from crude oil.

3. Get a good water filter or a still. You need clean water every day.

Lifestyle Changes That Will Minimize Climate Change Impacts

1. Carpool whenever you can. It will save money and improve your social life!

2. Become politically active and lobby your congressional reps and senators to curtail carbon emissions immediately. Since business and industry contribute the most to climate change, even widespread personal activism will not equal the efforts of modest commercial changes.

3. Support local farmers and community sustainable agriculture. Food that is grown locally and without carbon-based chemicals lowers our carbon footprint.

4. Use energy wisely. Energy costs are predicted to skyrocket in the coming years. Most of our energy comes from coal and other fossil fuels that put a lot of carbon into the air. Unplug.

5. Recycle, reuse, repurpose. When we reuse and recycle our stuff, whether it is cars, clothing, or toys, it costs less energy and less money.

6. Minimize your lifestyle.

7. Actively work towards solutions. One highly regarded organization that is approaching climate change and other significant problems is Solutions. Solutions is a nonprofit print and online publication devoted to showcasing bold and innovative ideas for solving the world’s integrated ecological, social, and economic problems.  Chek them out and join the team!

In your own home, you can save money and energy, up to thousands a year. Get our ebook here: How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Energy in Your Home.

The Link Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather

Recently we have written at length about 30 years of climate models from NOAA and NASA that predict extreme weather as a consequence of climate change. All over the world people are starting to notice that our normal weather is starting to look not that normal, even when considering the natural fluctuations that happen over time. Check out this new video that depicts some of what has been happening recently. What do you think?

Ever wonder what a rap music video by climate scientists about climate change would look and sound like? You came to the right place!

This short music video is done by real climate scientists, and has a strong tone, in fact some would say it is a bit too over the top. Why did they do that? Who is their audience? What are they trying to say?

Check it out!

What Extreme Weather Climate Change Means For The Coasts

Photo: Glenn Fay

Now that snow storms are blanketing Los Angeles, after epic floods, polar ice melts, out of season tornadoes and the hottest years on record, skeptics are starting to accept that possibility that we had better get used to extreme weather. NOAA climate models have predicted extreme weather as a result of climate change for 30 years. Recently Science Daily reported research that reiterate “global warming causes severe storms”. The latest models from NOAA, the independent US government authority on weather and climate, show that we can expect these changes on the east and west coasts.

Significant sea-level rise and storm surge will adversely affect coastal cities and ecosystems around the nation; low-lying and subsiding areas are most vulnerable.

More spring runoff and warmer coastal waters will increase the seasonal reduction in oxygen resulting from excess nitrogen from agriculture.

Higher water temperatures and ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide will present major additional stresses to coral reefs, resulting in significant die-offs and limited recovery.

Changing ocean currents will affect coastal ecosystems.

What are the implications of these predictions? Hopefully people are paying attention, in the midst of rising gas and fuel prices, with food and commodities close behind. For me, I will back off on that multi-million dollar vacation home on the beach I was going to buy. I wonder what will happen to the insurance companies when they are no longer able to afford to pay out on coastal property losses? Can you say ‘BAILOUT’? Might be a good time to bone up on gardening if we plan on eating….

Photo: Glenn Fay

This article brought to you by the good folks at LoveEarthAlways. You can support and encourage them when you buy their sustainable Earth-loving products. And remember when you buy our products, we support cold and hungry people.

Check out a great book on Organic Gardening here:

Last night’s Letterman interview a success

Vermonter Bill McKibben from Middlebury College gave David Letterman a short course on climate change last night and according to McKibben, the future doesn’t look pretty. Letterman had apparently read his book, Eaarth, and was well-informed on climate change. There were not any chuckles during the exchange and it the end, Letterman remarked to McKibben, “Thanks for scaring the crap out of me.”

Video: 350.org, youtube

Check out McKibben’s new book, Eaarth here:

Image Credit: vgm8383, Flickr

From time to time we see and hear glimpses of the realities of our elected representatives, who have stressful jobs and important responsibilities and decisions to make. More importantly, our senators and representatives are often guests of paid corporate lobbyists, people who make their livelihoods by promoting a particular corporate world view. Sometimes the lobbyists promote competing views and politicians develop really good skills to “finesse” contradictory needs.

Sometimes, the corporate lobbyists have an overwhelming solidarity of influence. Imagine enormous multinational companies, who sell products like oil, coal, autos, military contractors and pharmaceuticals, who depend on huge quantities of cheap electricity to make their astronomical profits, all using billions of dollars of their  financial resources to convince our congressmen and women that special considerations for their particular business are essential to the economic and social well-being of the world. It would be hard to imagine a political action group or groups that could be equally well-funded to represent the scientific data for the common good of ordinary people. (more…)