standforless: C'mon TeamUSA.... RT @TreeHugger: China Beat US in Offshore Wind, Europe Still Trounces Everyone Else in Solar Power http://bit.ly/aI7byBTue, Sep 7th @ 10:29am
Drive down pollution! You can also eliminate one pound of greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating just one mile of driving.
Californians bought 21.9 billion drinks in aluminum, glass, plastic and bi-metal containers last year. More than 16.2 billion of those were recycled, saving natural resources and extending the life of our landfills.
The U.S. transportation sector as a whole is responsible for almost 9% of the world's total CO2 emissions. That stinks.
Cut your monthly energy bills by as much as 30% by replacing the old equipment in your home with state-of-the-art Energy Star appliances.
CRV stands for California Refund Value. It equals 5¢ for each beverage container less than 24 ounces and 10¢ for each container 24 ounces or greater.
Report "smoking" vehicles. Call 1-800-28-SMOKE to report vehicles with excessive tailpipe emissions.
Shade provided by trees can reduce your air conditioning bill at home by 10-15%. Cool.
Save paper...save resources. Change your printer settings to 2-sided printing to reduce the amount of paper you consume at the office.
Close the loop! Visit greengiftguide.com and discover a wide range of household, recreational and beauty products made from recycled materials.
Unplug your cell phone charger and other household electronics from the wall when you're not using them. Even when they are turned off, they use phantom power.
Use cold water when you can. Water heating accounts for about 13% of home energy costs.
Carpools and vanpools can use High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes and HOV by-pass on ramp meters, which allows you to get to work faster.
Help eliminate the use of disposable plates, cups and utensils. Bring re-usable dishware to work.
How do we go beyond polarizing arguments to find common ground and common sense solutions?
The following came from Thomas Friedman’s column today:
The Senate’s failure to act is a result of many factors, but one is that the climate-energy policy debate got disconnected from average people. We need less talk about “climate” and more about how conservation saves money, renewable energy creates jobs, restoring the gulf’s marshes sustains fishermen and preserving the rainforest helps poor people. Said Glenn Prickett, vice president at the Nature Conservancy: “We have to take climate change out of the atmosphere, bring it down to earth and show how it matters in people’s everyday lives.”
Thomas Friedman’s response to the demise of the latest climate bill in the U.S. Congress is “we’re gonna be sorry.”
In California, for now, there is a consensus that global warming is a serious problem that requires serious action. Under Governor Schwarzenegger’s Administration this consensus has had bi-partisan support.
Clean energy technologies like solar require the support of government policies because of the long-term nature of the investment required by the private sector.
For anyone not ready to accept that global warming is caused by human activity, or that it is even bad–there are other compelling reasons for supporting most of the key aspects of the climate/energy bill that was just abandoned by Congress. At the top of the list is our dependence on oil and all that that entails. Since the early 1970s an increasing majority of oil consumed in the U.S. has been imported. This means we are shipping our wealth to other nations. That’s bad enough, but we’re also depending on them for the lifeblood of our economy–a dangerous and precarious place for us to be from a national security perspective.
Alternative energies are gaining increased adoption in the U.S., but we have a long, long way to go.
Last August we encouraged our readers to read “The Elusive Green Economy,” from The Atlantic Monthly–if you haven’t read it yet, it’s an important and educational piece (and not a short one!). This article does an outstanding job of demonstrating the price we continue to pay as a nation by not supporting policies that make alternative energies feasible in the marketplace. During the 1980s, the collapse in oil prices made such policies a low priority in Washington. The Atlantic Monthly article does an excellent job of explaining the long term cost of those policy choices.
The downside of lower oil prices is both high carbon emissions and the massive transfer of American wealth overseas.
Journalist and author Thomas Friedman has made the promotion of environmental awareness and clean energy two of his signature causes. “We’re Gonna Be Sorry,” is Friedman’s reply to the news that the U.S. Senate will not pursue a climate/energy bill. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last year so Senate action was the only thing separating the legislation from becoming the law of the land (the president is eager to sign it into law).
Friedman ends his column with various reports, including this one, that demonstrate the folly of inaction:
“Just as the U.S. Senate was abandoning plans for a U.S. cap-and-trade system, this article ran in The China Daily: ‘BEIJING — The country is set to begin domestic carbon trading programs during its 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015) to help it meet its 2020 carbon intensity target. . . . Putting a price on carbon is a crucial step for the country to employ the market to reduce its carbon emissions and genuinely shift to a low-carbon economy, industry analysts said.’”
It is ironic that communist China may embrace a market driven solution to that nation’s energy problems before the U.S. Like the U.S., China imports most of its oil.
We will be sorry if we don’t STAND FOR LESS and stand for more sensible policies from our leaders. California, as is often the case, is ahead of the curve in this effort. An initiative will be on this fall’s ballot to delay implementation of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
This would be much less likely to occur and the arguments in favor of delay would have less relevance if the U.S. would adopt a sensible national policy regarding climate change and energy.
Merchant asserts that “the clearer the science gets on climate change, the easier it is for the public to digest it, the more willing our politicians will be to address the issue head-on.” We hope this is true!
Here in California we are leaders when it comes addressing climate change. Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act into law in 2006.
The fact of the matter is, safe or not, we must talk about climate change, energy policy, and other pressing issues regarding our use–and all too often overuse–of natural resources.
A few days ago, utilizing sarcasm and dark humor, the following tweet came through from @BPGlobalPR: “Keep in mind, the more your interest in the oil spill wanes, the less damage the oil does. #outofsightoutofmind #day67.”
Whether the issue is the oil spill or global warming: Out of sight out of mind indeed!
The climate talks in Copenhagen are coming to a climax and winding down this week. Copenhagen has been “Disneyland for policy wonks,” said Gary Gero of Los Angeles in an L.A. Times article by Margot Roosevelt that offered a summary of the broad array of Californians who were drawn to Denmark. Roosevelt points out that California boasts the “first-in-the-nation economy-wide climate legislation, its first-in-the-world low-carbon fuel standard, and its highest-in-the nation renewable-energy requirements.”
Governor Schwarzenegger has an opinion about climate change. He’s been in Denmark to spread his message globally. Appearing on Good Morning America, Schwarzenegger communicated his key message: “It is nonsense to say we must talk about the economy, before discussing climate change.” Schwarzenegger believes that both are important and that dealing with climate change is a key to building a stronger economy. We encourage you to read the speech he gave this week in Copenhagen where he was representing our state.
Another excellent account of Schwarzenegger’s efforts in Denmark is available from Christopher Gavigan of Los Angeles who writes about a “very promising and exciting accord [that] has already been made in Denmark, and [how] its impacts will hopefully resonate throughout the country.”
Governor Schwarzenegger speaks on a panel in Copenhagen.
The headlines from Copenhagen have emphasized the discord, however, with public and private sector leaders from around the world gathering to discuss one of the most important issues of our day, you can be sure that something productive is happening as well. We encourage you to follow some of these links to educate yourself about Copenhagen beyond the top headlines of the week.
We choose to STAND FOR LESS because we believe a sustainable world is possible. The United Nations Climate Change Conference is under way right now in Copenhagen. The goal of the conference is to establish a framework for climate change mitigation.
In October Governor Schwarzenegger held an important conference as a precursor to the Copenhagen meeting. Of all American states, California is arguably the leader when it comes to discussing and dealing with issues related to climate change. On December 2, 2009, the governor released a report on California’s climate adaption strategy. Schwarzenegger calls this a first of its kind approach. The report and recommendations can be found on the state’s climate change portal at www.climatechange.ca.gov.
Residents of San Diego County can take important steps at home to learn about and address this issue, but state, national and international policy approaches to climate change are necessary as well. This is why Copenhagen is so important. It is one step in an ongoing process to address global climate change.
An outstanding campaign STAND FOR LESS has been following is called Hopenhagen. The mission of Hopenhagen is “To connect every person, every city, and every nation to Copenhagen. To give everyone hope, and a platform from which to act. To create a grassroots movement that’s powerful enough to influence change.”
STAND FOR LESS supports this mission and encourages you to learn more about Hopenhagen and sign the campaign’s petition:
Here are a few ideas for enjoying the holiday season while you take a STAND FOR LESS:
The Treehugger Holiday Gift Guide – It’s that time of year when many of us buy gifts for those we love. Treehugger does a great job of compiling a list of gifts that allows you to partake in the holiday tradition and STAND FOR LESS.
Governor Schwarzenegger hosted an extraordinary gathering in Los Angeles a few weeks ago.
From September 30 to October 2 an extraordinary gathering took place in Los Angeles: The Governors’ Global Climate Summit. STAND FOR LESS “attended” this event as virtual guests. Our team crowded around our computers as leaders spoke. Because of the webcast we were able to participate in the event at no cost.
What good are gatherings of this type where national and international leaders come together, give speeches and share ideas? We assert that such meetings can be very good and in fact are vital to our future. When people discuss climate change they tap into issues that directly affect all species on this planet—from the continued ability of our ecosystems to survive to daily issues that affect our economy.
STAND FOR LESS reported live on the event through our Facebook and twitter accounts. Here is a small sampling of some of the words that were spoken in Los Angeles:
“America has lost our groove as a country . . . I am focused on how we get our groove back. We need to take on the world’s biggest problems, the problems of the world becoming Hot, Flat, and Crowded.” –Author and reporter Thomas Friedman
“While people around the world may have different governments we all share one ecosystem.” –Actor Rob Lowe
“What sort of economy do we want in the future? A sustainable one and a low-carbon one.” Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
“California has shown that the fastest growing job sector is in the green economy, growing ten times faster than any other sector.” –Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
“Green is the new red, white and blue.” –Thomas Friedman
At STAND FOR LESS we believe that words matter. Actions follow words.
What does Friedman mean when he says that green is the new red, white and blue? Why is it important that in the toughest economy since the Depression, California’s governor recognizes green jobs are one of the few bright spots? What do you think of Prime Minister Blair’s point that our economy must become sustainable? What are the consequences of it not becoming sustainable? Have we lost our groove as a country?
One theme at STAND FOR LESS is that we’re all interconnected. Have you heard of the butterfly effect? The butterfly effect is a term used to describe a complex aspect of chaos theory. The simplest explanation is that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can have profound effects on larger systems. For example, one butterfly could cause a hurricane.
The butterfly effect is a simplification of a complex theory. It is not, however, complex to imagine that the lives we lead in San Diego County have an impact beyond our county’s borders. We’re part of an interconnected world. People throughout our nation, and around the world, are also having a massive impact on our planet.
The melting of the world’s glaciers is one example of the impact humans are having on large and complex systems. Our energy choices for transportation, the methods we use to grow and package food, how we transport and use water, how we create and dispose of waste—all of these have implications that go far beyond our community.
There are ways that as individuals and as a society we can transform the way we live on this planet that will allow us to pass on a healthier world to future generations. Keep scrolling down for many other short articles we’ve written that highlight this important point and show you how individuals and organizations in San Diego are taking a stand for a healthier planet.
The climate talks in Copenhagen are coming to a climax and winding down this week. Copenhagen has been “Disneyland for policy wonks,” said Gary Gero of Los Angeles in an 
