Jeremy Symons: "If Corporate Polluters Succeed, We All Lose"

As I watch the winter wind rattle my screen door, it's hard to put today's weather here in the context of our global climate. But the data keeps coming in, and it's undeniable. 2000s: Hottest decade on record. 2009: 2nd-hottest year on record. And now this -- January 2010: Hottest January on record.

Once you start looking at the bigger picture, the consequences of one snowy winter in one metro area seem insignificant. "Hey grandkids, I know it's 3 degrees warmer in your world, but check out this snowman!"

Jeremy Symons, a Leeland Station, VA resident & senior vice president for the National Wildlife Federation, frames our choice in today's Fredericksburg Free Lance Star:

For our kids and grandkids, snowstorms may be the least of their concerns if we fail to act to reduce pollution and invest in clean energy alternatives. Warmer average temperatures could increase concentrations of ground-level ozone, which is known to aggravate respiratory problems such as asthma, especially in children and seniors. Virginia's incredible diversity of native wildlife--more than 700 species of birds, fish, and animals--will have to adapt to rapid changes in climate and habitat or perish.

Why do polluters work so hard to persuade us not to believe NASA and other scientists? Because they are worried we are going to shift to cleaner alternative energy sources like wind and solar and also pursue greater energy efficiency. If we take a bite out of our dependency on oil, we take a bite out of their enormous profits.

Congress is working now on clean energy legislation that would reduce our dependence on oil, create more than 45,000 clean energy jobs here in Virginia, and reduce pollution. Corporate lobbyists are hard at work pressuring Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb, and Congressman Rob Wittman, to let clean energy legislation die in Congress.

If corporate polluters succeed, we all lose. We will lose the clean energy race, and those jobs will go to Beijing instead of Virginia. Instead of being good stewards of the environment, we will leave our kids with a dangerous inheritance. Our senators need to stay focused on delivering jobs and clean air to Virginia by passing legislation that limits pollution and unleashes investments in clean energy alternatives.

As always, full disclosure: While I work for the National Wildlife Federation for my day job, I blog at The Green Miles on my personal time. (Really, I should just replace this disclaimer with a little picture of me in an old sweatshirt drinking coffee.)

Beck Lies About His Lying - Maddow Calls Him Out

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Via TalkingPointsMemo.com

Virginia Becoming a New National Leader in War on Science

While the Bush-Cheney Era has closed, we have a new leadership team for the war on science. Welcome to the McDonnell-Bolling-Cuccinelli Era:

Richmond- Today, Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to convene a proceeding for the reconsideration of the "Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Finding for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act"(Endangerment Finding) published by the EPA on December 15th, 2009.

The petition asks that the EPA reconvene the regulatory proceeding, provide the public with the opportunity to comment on newly available information, and provide such information to the Science Advisory Board for its review and comment.

A petition for judicial review of the endangerment finding was also filed today in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Virginia is the first state to file such petitions.

Of course, the Environmental Protection Agency has already held public hearings, taken public comment, and conducted thorough scientific reviews. The Clean Air Act itself was passed by a Democratic Congress, signed by a Republican president, and its carbon regulations were validated by the Supreme Court.

But this isn't about debate & discussion -- this is about denial & delay. Cuccinelli wants to open a new carbon loophole in the Clean Air Act so America's worst polluters can keep dumping carbon into our atmosphere and not have to pay the price. Disgusting.

Keep in mind Cuccinelli is using the office of Virginia's Attorney General, funded by your tax dollars and in a time of budget crisis, to fight for some of the world's most profitable companies, like Exxon Mobil. Those polluters are spending plenty on their own to try to keep America addicted to dirty fuels -- Exxon Mobil alone spent $27 million on lobbying last year.

Virginia faces major threats if we refuse to tackle our climate crisis. Investment in clean energy could create tens of thousands of jobs in Virginia (PDF). It's a win-win. But instead of working to move Virginia forward, Ken Cuccinelli is keeping his head buried in the sand.

What's next for the McDonnell-Bolling-Cuccinelli Era? A challenge to evolution? Fighting back against those dastardly doctors who say cigarettes kill?

Cross-posted from Blue Virginia

How Do Politicians Find Polluter Love?

Are you a politician who's eager to sell out to polluters, but haven't been able to find the right match? This Valentine's Day, there's a new website to help -- PolluterHarmony.com.

Just listen to this testimonial from legendary polluter & front group funder Charles Koch:

When the PolluterHarmony compatibility test matched me up with a Democratic senator from Arkansas, I was sure the site was a scam. How could a Libertarian like me possibly relate to a Democrat? But then I read Blanche's profile, I realized maybe I was wrong. She wrote that she loves discovering new places, especially for oil drilling. More importantly, she considers herself someone who likes taking risks, like with public health and safety. Best of all, she had one of the worst environmental voting records of any Democrat on Capitol Hill.

When we first met, I knew I'd found my match. Within a few weeks, I was funneling thousands of dollars into her campaign fund while she quietly worked to stall climate and clean energy policy.

And check out this story from a polluter lobbyist matched up with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK):

"It's like we finish each other's legislation." Hilarious! Great Valentine's Day parody from Greenpeace.

The Daily Show Skewers Global Warming Deniers

If all this snow isn't enough to convince you to start listening to Rush Limbaugh, consider this -- New York City is in the middle of a six month long cooling trend:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Unusually Large Snowstorm
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Dear GOP: Please Stop "Bring 'Em On"ing Mother Nature

You just had to do it, didn't you, Republican Party of Virginia? Couldn't let last weekend's Snowmageddon go by without a taunting video that snow backed up your belief that global warming didn't exist? And national Republicans giddily joined in.

Never get in all up in Mother Nature's grill and sneer, "Bring 'em on."

Just five days later, the DC area is waking up to intense snowfall & 60 mile per hour wind gusts, creating whiteout conditions. Is this "normal," RPV? We here in DC would kill for some of those placid, bucolic scenes featured in your video. Instead, we're getting, simply put, a winter hurricane:

Which is exactly what climate scientists have been warning to expect as our climate continues to change unchecked. Just last week, the National Wildlife Federation issued a report on Global Warming & Oddball Winter Weather that warned, "Global warming is bringing a clear trend toward heavier precipitation events."

And there are signs that even the national media, which can't even be trusted to publicly state that trying to insure the uninsured is a good thing, is finally willing to call out Republican climate ignorance. Here's TIME:

Brace yourselves now — this may be a case of politicians twisting the facts. There is some evidence that climate change could in fact make such massive snowstorms more common, even as the world continues to warm. As the meteorologist Jeff Masters points out in his excellent blog at Weather Underground, the two major storms that hit Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., this winter — in December and during the first weekend of February — are already among the 10 heaviest snowfalls those cities have ever recorded. The chance of that happening in the same winter is incredibly unlikely.

And that's before today's Snowstorm #3.

The facts of global warming are more clear than ever:

• 2009 was the 2nd-hottest year on record & the 2000s were the hottest decade on record.
• We risk major, costly impacts if we don't act to curb global warming by cutting carbon pollution now.
• The transition to clean energy & efficient technology could not only avert billions in climate costs, it could create 1.7 million jobs.
• The only question is the political will of our elected officials (i.e. Sen. Jim Webb).

But hey, if you're tired of the snow, global warming is here to help! Spring is now arriving 10-14 days sooner. We'll be back to record heat waves before you know it!

Cross-posted from Blue Virginia. Full Disclosure: While I work for the National Wildlife Federation for my day job, I blog at The Green Miles on my personal time.

We'll Miss you, Butterstick

This was the closest I ever got to the now-departed Tai Shan, during last year's ZooLights:

Ballston: Now With Even More Frosting!

We may not have gotten a day off out of it, but the snow is at least nice to look at. Here's my view from Ballston:

Thursday: Arlington's Natural Heritage Resource Inventory

Here's an event coming up on Thursday night:

Please join us for a presentation on the natural treasures in our backyards!
ARLINGTON COUNTY'S NATURAL HERITAGE RESOURCE INVENTORY
Thursday, February 4, 7:00 pm
Introduction by County Board Chairman Jay Fisette
Arlington County Central Library Auditorium
1015 N. Quincy Street, 2 blocks from Virginia Square Metro
Come early and explore table displays from partner groups, 6:30 ‐7:00 pm

The county’s natural resources are more extensive and diverse than might be expected in an urban setting. Within Arlington's boundaries are globally-rare natural communities, old-age forest remnants, wetlands and springs, a number of state champion trees, and unique locations harboring many uncommon plants and wild flowers. Greg Zell, Natural Resource Specialist with Arlington County, Virginia, will discuss the County's efforts in documenting Arlington's natural resources at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, at Arlington’s Central Library Auditorium, 1015 North Quincy St.

Via the flyer, here's a photo of Greg Zell at base of some Arlington natural heritage -- the largest tree in Arlington, a tulip poplar at Fort C.F. Smith Park:

If Obstruction Reigns in Senate, Will Obama Tell EPA to Act?

Following his State of the Union address, President Obama will be taking follow-up questions from citizens on Monday during a live online chat. You can submit a video question at the White House's CitizenTube channel -- all you need is a cell phone that takes videos & a free YouTube account. You can also vote for the questions you'd most like to see President Obama answer.

Here's the question I submitted:

New Video: How Cap & Trade Works

Clean Energy Works has put together a short video with Nat Keohane, Environmental Defense Fund environmental & economic policy expert. It explains how a carbon cap & trade system to curb global warming pollution would work. Watch the video & learn more at CarbonCapFacts.org:

The Facts of Cap-and-Trade from Clean Energy Works on Vimeo.

More Denial from Virginia's Coal Country

Coal will be king forever! Mining jobs aren't vanishing! Global warming isn't happening!

In the face of economic, energy & climate crises, that's what passes for "leadership" from Virginia's coal country. From Glen Besa on ArticleXI:

On the same day that the Washington Post reported that a NASA study found this past decade was the warmest on record and that 2009 was the second warmest year, Virginia freshman Delegate James Morefield introduced legislation that would prohibit the director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality from enforcing any federal law restricting the emissions of carbon dioxide. Despite a United States Supreme Court case that upheld the authority of the U.S. EPA to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act the bill goes on to say "carbon dioxide shall not be considered air pollution." [...]

The Virginia General Assembly that prides itself as the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere has in more recent times gained national notoriety for considering "droopy drawers" legislation requiring young men to pull up their pants. One of the sharper wits in the Assembly once quipped that they ought to have a standing committee just for the unconstitutional bills the legislators serve up for their constituents.

Imagine how many new jobs could be created if Virginia charted a new energy course? Imagine how much cleaner Virginia's air & water could be? Imagine how much more secure we'd be if we weren't paying unstable countries billions for their oil?

But instead of envisioning a new, clean energy future, Virginia politicians like James Morefield think they can cling to our dirty energy past. He'd have the same luck raising a hand to the sunset and yelling stop.

WaPo Can't Be Bothered to Read Things Like "Polls"

As Lowell details at Blue Virginia, there are many many many things wrong with today's Washington Post article on Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA). But I'll focus on just one:

By all rights, Tom Perriello should have almost no chance to win reelection to Congress. He's a stimulus-backing, health-care-reform-loving, cap-and-trade-supporting liberal Democrat who represents a conservative central Virginia district where antipathy to the president and all things Washington runs high.

So according to the Washington Post, whatever the GOP says must be true. There's just one problem: Rep. Perriello's constituents disagree with the Republican talking points. The Washington Post could have found this out for itself with a simple Google search. From September:

Politico has just published the results of a new poll indicating that - in spite of the teabaggers - citizens of Rep. Tom Perriello's district (the 5th) support cap and trade legislation by a 17-point (42%-25%) margin.

But these days, the Washington Post doesn't seem to have any interest in challenging Republican talking points on clean energy & climate legislation -- or on anything else for that matter.

In a related story, check out The New Republic's must-read article, Post Apocalypse: Inside the messy collapse of a great newspaper.

Colbert on Mountaintop Removal: Coal Comfort

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Coal Comfort - Margaret Palmer
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

How Dare You Accuse Me of Being a Heartland Institute Member!

I'm not usually one to laugh at the misfortune of others. But when it comes to the Heartland Institute ...

HAHAHA:

Doug Southgate, Ohio State University professor of environmental economics, felt the plaintiff’s wrath after testifying for Chevron, based on his experience in Ecuador, dating back to the late 1970s. The plaintiffs attacked him for being a member of the Heartland Institute, which does not believe in global warming. He says he is not a member and only made one presentation to the Institute. It is remarkable, he says, how easy it is to spread anything on the internet.

How dare you smear me by repeating those vicious internet rumors that I'm a member of the Heartland Institute!

Awesome.

Video: End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in Virginia

Monday: Conservation Lobby Day in Richmond

I've attended this Virginia Conservation Network event before and it's a lot of fun. Legislators & their staff are so often lobbied on divisive issues like taxes, guns & abortion, they're usually thrilled to get a chance to talk about conservation issues:

Make Conservation Count

When: January 18, 2010 (9 am - 2 pm)
Where: Centenary Methodist Church, Richmond VA (411 E. Grace Street)
Onsite registration is avaiable: $15.00 Registration
$15 adults, $10 students; includes lunch and materials.

MLK Day is your day to tell legislators what you expect from them this General Assembly session. Join Virginia Conservation Network, the Garden Club of Virginia, and countless volunteers as we take our conservation priorities to the Capitol on January 18, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

Whether you discuss energy efficiency, green building, natural resource protection, or other important conservation issues your legislators need to hear from you. Every year General Assembly members learn important information about how to do the right thing for the environment from citizens like you. Not to mention that by taking the time to discuss your position on specific legislation you hold them accountable for their vote.

If you go, please make sure to strongly emphasize clean energy & climate issues. Our legislators can't hear enough that Virginia is at risk of falling behind the push towards a clean energy future.

New LCV Ad in MA Senate Race

Will Webb Join Effort to Gut Clean Air Act?

Could Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) join the efforts of polluter lobbyists & Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to gut the Clean Air Act's protections against carbon pollution? It's possible, according to Mother Jones' Kate Sheppard:

Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski has gained co-sponsorship for her effort to block the EPA from regulating carbon dioxide from at least one Democrat, her office confirmed Friday evening.

Spokesman Robert Dillon said that one Democrat has signed on, though he was not able to confirm the identity of the Democrat. There are, however, plenty of ideas about who this Democratic cosponsor may be. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), all previously on record voicing concerns about carbon regulation, have all been floated as possible sign-ons. We've put in inquiries at all those offices and will update as more information becomes available.

Webb has already declared his discomfort with comprehensive clean energy & climate legislation. But would he really go one step further and gut the Clean Air Act's Congressionally-approved, Supreme Court-validated protections? Such a move would be a free license to massive emitters to pollute as much as they want.

While we've had an unusually cold winter so far in the U.S., other parts of the world have been unusually warm. Temperatures have been a startling 10-15 degrees above normal in the Artic.

Webb wrote in "What It Means To Be A Leader" that "you and your grandchildren will be the inheritors of both our successes and flaws." Unless Sen. Webb wakes up soon, future generations could be paying for his apparent indifference to our climate crisis.

No One Plugs a Lamp Into a Windmill.

Virginia tourism is very unreliable. Summer & weekends? Extremely busy! Winter & weekdays? Extremely slow!

A ridiculous premise? Of course! But that's the argument you often hear people make against wind power. When it's not windy, it doesn't produce as much power! You are correct, Mr. Wizard. I can't wait to hear your analysis of how much power solar produces on cloudy winter days. (Spoiler alert: Not as much!)

Here's the thing -- just as no one plugs their television directly into a nuclear reactor, no one plugs their television directly into a windmill. It's just one element of a massive electric grid.

But that doesn't stop people from acting like they've cracked some major conspiracy every time they point that out. Just look at a recent public hearing on the proposal by Dominion Power & BP Wind Energy to install wind turbines on top of East River Mountain in Tazewell County:

“It produces very little energy and it’s very unreliable,” said Charlie Stacy.

A power plant produces very little power? Really? I made many arguments against Dominion's Wise County coal fired power plants in the last few years, but "it produces very little energy" is one that never crossed my mind. Probably because it's beyond batty. Why bother building a reservoir? It produces very little water!

As for reliability, just as with tourism, you have to look at the big picture. A wind farm is part of a grid, which includes a mix of energy from an array of sources like coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, solar & other sources.

Good day for wind? A nuclear plant can throttle back for the day. Bad day for wind? If demand's low on a given day, the grid may not miss it. If demand is high, a natural gas plant could work closer to capacity to make up the difference. (There's a misconception that all existing coal/gas/nuke plants work at 100% day & night. Not true except on a few of the hottest summer days.)

Or better yet, a smart grid could manage it. On good days, it could direct the excess electricity to other parts of the country where it was in demand. On bad days, it could pull more power from a part of the country where the wind was blowing strong. The bottom line is, customers wouldn't notice a thing.

If you've found all this energy nitty gritty fascinating, buy Al Gore's new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.

Photo courtesy Flickr's floyduk

Man vs. Wild vs. Plastic

The Green Miles loves those reality shows where they drop some poor bastard in the middle of nowhere and expect him to survive. I think this is in large part because if you dropped me in the middle of nowhere, I couldn't survive more than 20 minutes before starving to death, being eaten by a lion, going into shock from lack of internet access, etc. So Man vs. Wild, Survivorman, whatever -- if there's a haggard dude looking at a bug and wondering how it tastes, COUNT ME IN.

I was watching Man vs. Wild the other day and they tossed Bear Grylls out of a helicopter somewhere near Panama. He swam to an island and immediately went looking not for food or water, but for plastic. "No matter where you go in the world, you can always find plastic washed up on shore," Grylls told viewers. He then used the plastic to collect water.

Out in the Pacific, currents collect the plastic in one area of ocean now known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation talked about it on an episode of The Colbert Report last week:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Charles Moore
www.colbertnation.com

Via Twitter's Kajjajja

A Clean Energy Champion for Senate: Martha Coakley

The Green Miles is in Boston for the weekend. Was just driving down the Southeast Expressway and spotted this new ad on a long-standing windmill. It's for Senate candidate Martha Coakley (D-MA). Here's an image from her primary campaign ad (since updated to Coakley 2010 for the January 19th general election):
Coakley has been endorsed by the Sierra Club & League of Conservation Voters. The ad is especially appropriate since Coakley is a vigorous supporter of wind power, including the Cape Wind project, opposed by wealthy landowners & dirty energy interests. The late Sen. Ted Kennedy was one of my political heroes, but his opposition to Cape Wind wasn't his finest moment.

Coakley's opponent, Scott Brown, doesn't have much going for him, other than his cozy relationship with the teabagging crowd. I'd slam him for having absolutely no plan to address our energy & environmental problems, but it's nothing personal -- Brown's website lists no specific plans at all for any issue. In fact, his "issues page" could be summed up by "whatever solution the Democrats propose, I'll try to stop them!"

Here's hoping Coakley cruises to victory on the January 19th!

Warning to Webb: We'll Play the Plaid Till You Vote Yes

Remember how, during its invasion of Panama, the U.S. military bombarded General Manuel Noriega with loud rock music in hopes of speeding his surrender?

Repower America has come up with a similar tactic to get Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) to help pass a clean energy & climate bill -- they'll show me wearing this horrific plaid flannel shirt outside his office until he pledges to vote yes:

OK, not really. Repower America brought this video truck to Sen. Webb's Virginia Beach office this week, displaying videos from constituents across Virginia. The Green Miles' video was just one of many asking Sen. Webb to support a comprehensive clean energy & climate bill. You can submit your video at the Repower America Wall.

Is Wikipedia Being Overrun by Conservative Trolls?

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has an entire "Criminal Record" section, with two separate subsections, for the heinous crimes of ... possessing less than gram of heroin 27 years ago and protesting military operations in Puerto Rico.

Lord Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, repeatedly called American climate activists "Hitler Youth" ... but any reference to the incidents has been scrubbed from his Wikipedia page.

Is Wikipedia developing a conservative slant?

Even in Olden Days, Scientists Warned of Global Warming

Every once in a while, you'll hear global warming deniers like George Will regurgitating the myth that climate scientists haven't been able to get their stories straight about whether the Earth is warming or not.

In reality, global warming theory dates back to 1824. Here's a video from 1958 with a scientist expressing concerns about global warming that have only been reinforced in 52 years of research since then:



Via Grist.org

Tuesday in Ballston: Cafe Scientifique on Climate Policy

Climate talk? Happy hour specials like half-priced burgers? I'm in:

Cafe Scientifique: Climate Change Policy at Home and Abroad
Sponsored by The Ballston Science and Technology Alliance
Date: January 5, 2010
Time: 6:15 pm to 8:15 pm
Location: The Front Page Restaurant, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
Free - Open to the public

President Obama, Governors of both parties around the country, and key international allies have made addressing climate change a top priority. This cafe will discuss the state-of-play in the development of U.S. and international climate change policy. The speaker will be Nikki Roy, Vice President of Federal Government Outreach for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

Register for the event at ArlingtonVirginiaUSA.com.

Chris Mooney: "Scientists Need to Speak Up"

Chris Mooney, the author of The Republican War on Science, has a must-read op-ed in today's Washington Post calling on scientists to more effectively influence the public debate:

Scientific training continues to turn out researchers who speak in careful nuances and with many caveats, in a language aimed at their peers, not at the media or the public. Many scientists can scarcely contemplate framing a simple media message for maximum impact; the very idea sounds unbecoming. And many of them don't trust the public or the press: According to a recent Pew study, 85 percent of U.S. scientists say it's a "major problem" that the public doesn't know much about science, and 76 percent say the same about what they see as the media's inability to distinguish between well-supported science and less-than-scientific claims. Rather than spurring greater efforts at communication, such mistrust and resignation have further motivated some scientists to avoid talking to reporters and going on television.

They no longer have that luxury. After all, global-warming skeptics suffer no such compunctions. What's more, amid the current upheaval in the media industry, the traditional science journalists who have long sought to bridge the gap between scientists and the public are losing their jobs en masse. As New York Times science writer Natalie Angier recently observed, her profession is "basically going out of existence." If scientists don't take a central communications role, nobody else with the same expertise and credibility will do it for them.

You can read more from Chris at his Discover Magazine blog, The Intersection.

Fun With Unnecessary Attribution

At WashingtonPost.com right now:


You needed the official to tell you the volcano was erupting? Really? Otherwise you wouldn't have known what was going on? "What appears to be red-hot molten rock is spewing out of the top of this mountain. We think it's a volcanic eruption, but that's just speculation right now -- we're still waiting for an official to return our voicemail."

Obviously I'm nitpicking in this instance. But If An Official Didn't Say It, It Didn't Happen syndrome remains rampant in the media. Just look at the WashingtonPost.com's refusal to place a gun at the scene of the recent U Street snowball fight -- even though one of its own editorial staffers had witnessed the incident.

Arlington Creates Community Energy & Sustainability Task Force

I'm live-blogging the Arlington County Board's traditional New Year's Day meeting over at BlueVirginia.us. Wanted to give you a heads up about something just announced:

11:37am -- Jay Fisette says 2010 will be about sustainability -- specifically, fiscal and environmental sustainability. Says that we must maintain our social safety net even in tough budget times. Announces the creation of a "green ribbon task force" -- the Community Energy & Sustainability Task Force, building off the Fresh AIRE effort. Announces the task force members, which include an impressive range of leaders from businesses, community organizations & utilities, along with State Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple. Was a little surprised not to hear anyone from ACE on the panel, but there are other environmentalists involved like "Solar Scott" Sklar.

Read more at the live blog!

Ask Senators Warner & Webb to Keep Christmas Cold

Merry Christmas! The Green Miles is in Holyoke, MA this morning, drinking organic coffee (Newman's Own Nell's Blend!) with my mom & cousins. And of course, celebrating the passage of the health insurance reform bill in the Senate. We all have friends & family members who'll be helped -- either through help paying for insurance or through new protections on pre-existing conditions.

With the health insurance reform debate in Congress now in its final stages, I had a party in Arlington this week to look ahead to the Senate's clean energy & climate debate. Just as with the health debate, industries making huge profits will be pressuring Virginia Senators Mark Warner & Jim Webb to kill reform & preserve the status quo. We talked about ways to let Warner & Webb know that Virginians are behind clean energy solutions.

We started by recording some YouTube clips asking for action, which my friend Chris posted to Repower America's Wall. I decided to add a little season to my greetings:



If you're on Twitter, you can ask Mark Warner to support clean energy & climate legislation by signing our Act.ly petition to Keep Christmas Cold.

Recognizing Mortal Danger: Do Humans Suck At It?

I'm watching a special on the fifth anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake & tsunami on TLC right now. The special is a mix of home video of the tsunami's impact and interviews with its survivors.

What's most amazing is how people stand on the beach watching the monster wave right offshore ... and do nothing.

In cases when an enormous, killer wave is bearing down on the beach, just a few hundred yards away ... people just stand there and remark about how strange the wave looks.

In cases when there wasn't a big wave but the water simply came up quickly like an overflowing bathtub, again, people just stand there as the water rises around their ankles.

The first couple of times it happens, you think, "What idiots! Not recognizing the disaster that's about to hit them!"

But then they show Banda Aceh. And Phuket. Everywhere, the same response. It's no wonder the death toll was so high -- an impossible-to-comprehend 230,000 people. Most people didn't react until it was too late.

Humans like to use the fable about the boiling frog to illustrate failing to recognize danger. You know how it goes -- a frog placed in a pot of water brought to a boil through gradual temperature increase won't try to escape (not actually true). OK, so the story would be more grotesque with a boiling human. But are we any better at recognizing a slowly rising mortal danger?

In other news, delegates in Copenhagen put off dealing with global warming and U.S. Senators haven't gotten around to working on clean energy & climate legislation.

ACE Endorses Geothermal at New Wakefield

Big news in the debate about geothermal power at the new Wakefield High School. The Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment board has endorsed the plan:

Dear Ms. Baird:

On behalf of the board of directors of Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE), we’re pleased to offer support for the School Board’s plan to adopt geothermal energy, solar hot water, and photovoltaic generation for energy at Wakefield High School. Your commitment to adopting a framework to evaluate school construction projects in both financial costs as well as environmental and educational value is commendable.

We specifically support your inclusion of these alternative energy features at Wakefield to:

* Reduce carbon emissions and pollution.
* Provide a world-class learning opportunity for students.
* Reduce dependence on fluctuating global energy markets.

With Arlington’s history as a community committed to sustainability, the integration of alternative energy features is the right decision for our students. Thank you for your continued leadership in providing outstanding learning environments and minimizing the footprint of our schools.

Sincerely,
Elenor Hodges
Executive Director

The School Board will vote on the environmental options tonight (Thursday 12/17) at 7:30pm. If you can spare the time, please attend tonight's meeting (Education Center, 1426 North Quincy Street) and speak up in favor of the clean energy options. If you can't attend in person, please email the Arlington County School Board to tell them you're willing to put your money where your mouth is by investing our tax dollars in a sustainable future for our children.

UPDATE 3:13pm: The APS Advisory Council on Facilities & Capital Programs has also endorsed the clean energy options (including geothermal power):

ARLINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ADVISORY COUNCIL ON FACILITIES AND CAPITAL PROGRAMS
Recommendation on Wakefield High School Environmental Alternatives
December 16, 2009

The Advisory Council on Facilities and Capital Programs (FAC) supports the inclusion of the recommended environmental alternatives for the design of Wakefield High School. These include a geothermal heating and cooling system, a solar hot water system, and photovoltaic generation of electricity sufficient to meet 2.5% of the building’s total energy needs. It is our belief that the inclusion of these items will allow Wakefield to control its long term energy costs as much as possible and to operate in an environmentally sensitive, efficient manner. Although there is an up front cost associated with all of these alternatives, when one evaluates the alternatives using a life cycle analysis, it is clear that over the life of the investment, the costs are minimal and the benefits are positive. Overall, the projected additional upfront costs represent less than 1% of the projected cost of the new building. Most importantly, APS needs to be sure that it implements LEED Enhanced Commissioning. The intent of this would be to begin the commissioning process early and allow time to execute verification and training activities after the systems’ performance verification is completed. Finally, these systems should be fully integrated into the overall design of the building.

Geothermal For New Wakefield On The Rocks?

Cost concerns have already killed two major sustainability features for Arlington's new Wakefield High School. Will the Arlington School Board now cut yet another one?

Arlington Public Schools staff, looking to balance cost and environmental impact, made a series of recommendations for the upcoming project:

Senior staff on Dec. 3 are expected to recommend to School Board members that the design for a new Wakefield include geothermal heating and cooling, solar hot water and photovoltaic generation of energy to meet about 2.5 percent of the building’s total energy needs.

But school officials rejected two other options, saying that a green roof and using photovoltaic generation to supply 7.5 percent of energy needs are not cost-effective in a tight budget environment.

You can watch the December 3rd discussion at the Arlington County School Board website. (A warning -- to watch it, you have to download the full 42-minute, 138MB video. Yes, really.)

School Board members focused in on the proposed geothermal heating & cooling system. While Sally Baird and Ed Fendley expressed strong support for all recommended environmental features, Abby Raphael and, to a lesser extent, Emma Violand-Sanchez, expressed concern about the cost. (Libby Garvey was absent from the meeting.)

"We have the potential here to make Wakefield High School the environmental learning center for this community, and I think for around the region, if we invest in these systems and take the opportunity to fully integrate them into the curriculum," said Fendley.

"To not do it now, we pass up the opportunity for 50 years," said Baird.

The geothermal system would cut the new Wakefield's carbon emissions by an estimated 100 tons a year. However, it requires an up-front investment that isn't projected to fully repay its cost. But as we've learned through recent spikes in gasoline & coal prices, projections can't tell you the whole story when you're dependent on fluctuating global energy markets.

Additionally, the projections don't take into account the likely effects of a new, national global warming policy on coal-dependent Virginia's electricity rates. And considering the devastation of mountaintop removal coal mining, along with coal-fired power's resulting air & water pollution, it's hard to put a simple dollar value on getting off the grid.

I asked several Arlington environmental leaders what they thought about the Wakefield debate. Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Jay Fisette told me:

Arlington needs to be smart about our energy future. The cost and availability of fossil fuels will become increasingly unpredictable. Accepting the Superintendent's recommendation for a sustainable geothermal system in the design for Wakefield High School would help the environment, provide great learning value to the students, and will remove the long-term cost risk for the schools.

While Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment has not taken a position on each of the individual proposed elements, ACE Executive Director Elenor Hodges said:

If we consider education of our children a long-term investment, we should also consider the construction of our buildings’ energy system a long-term investment. We should take a holistic approach where students are not only being taught about critical environmental issues and stewardship on paper, but they are learning in buildings that have incorporated best practices for stewardship of our resources.

Beyond energy & environmental concerns, it seems odd that board members would make decisions based on FY2010's economic conditions on spending that won't kick in until somewhere around FY2014. If our economy (and with it, tax revenue) hasn't long since come roaring back four years from now ... well, we're screwed in a lot more ways than this one.

The School Board will vote on the environmental options tomorrow (Thursday 12/17) at 7:30pm. If you can spare the time, please sign up to speak at the meeting (Education Center, 1426 North Quincy Street) in favor of the geothermal system. If you can't attend in person, please email the Arlington County School Board to tell them you're willing to put your money where your mouth is by investing our tax dollars in a sustainable future for our children.

UPDATE 12/17: ACE has endorsed the geothermal plan, along with solar hot water & solar power.

The Mist: DC Edition

All that was missing were giant mosquitoes.

Weird weather in DC this morning. At F & 9th NW it was totally clear with blue skies overhead ... but looking down 9th, there was a solid wall of fog over the National Mall. Quite an eerie effect, like the world ended just past Bruegger's Bagels:

Copenhagen Coverage: A Brief Note on Bullshit

You may have heard several stories this week that indicate climate talks in Copenhagen are going off the rails.

When you see these stories, ask yourself several questions:

* Did the story involve a suspiciously leaked document?
* Was the story reported by a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper?
* Was a crime committed in the process of manufacturing the story?
* How big a role did the right wing noise machine play in getting the story out?
* Is one side's case being made mainly on someone's Facebook wall?

If so, your bullshit detector should be lighting up brighter than Clark Griswold's house.

Then take a deep breath and go to Grist to get the best Copenhagen coverage around.

Flying Squirrels Finally Get Their Due

Arlington has a thriving population of flying squirrels, with an extremely popular meet the squirrels program at Long Branch Nature Center.

Now Richmond's new minor league baseball team is paying tribute to the local rodents, with the Flying Squirrels slated to begin play next season. Thanks to MinorLeagueBaseball.com, here's the AA team's new logo:

Sarah Palin Unclear on What Your Word "Denier" Means

Sarah Palin responds to Al Gore on her Facebook page:

However, he’s wrong in calling me a “denier.” As I noted in my op-ed above and in my original Facebook post on Climategate, I have never denied the existence of climate change. I just don’t think we can primarily blame man’s activities for the earth’s cyclical weather changes.

Why would anyone think Sarah Palin denies the existence of climate change? Just because she put "climate change impacts" in scare quotes in her op-ed in today's Washington Post?

OK, so let's give Sarah that. It doesn't make her sound less dumb -- it makes her sound more ignorant that she apparently doesn't even know what a global warming denier is. I mean, does Sarah think there's anyone out there who's denying that Alaskan winter temperatures have shot up six degrees in my lifetime alone? No one's gonna drip melting glaciers on your leg and tell you it's raining. We're 25 years past that.

Being a denier is about blaming global warming on anything but us. Sunspots! Volcanoes! An interplanetary conspiracy! Whatever it takes to distract us for as long as possible from our addiction to the dirty fuels that deliver record profits to Big Oil & Big Coal.

The science is settled & scary -- manmade emissions are increasing temperatures, raising sea levels, and driving deeper droughts & stronger storms. We need climate action now -- both a global treaty in Copenhagen and a deal in the Senate -- to transition us away from expensive use of polluting fuels to efficient use of clean energy. Let's hope Sen. Mark Warner & Sen. Jim Webb take their cues from President Obama, not from science deniers like Sarah Palin.

Tonight: Sustainability Toolkit for Condos & Apts

Check out this Fresh AIRE event in Arlington tonight:

Please join us for the unveiling of Fresh AIRE’s sustainability toolkit for condos and apartments. It will include a demo of the new utility tracking software and comprehensive signage package.

What: Multifamily Toolkit Unveiling

Where: Arlington’s Central Library (1015 North Quincy Street, near Ballston Metro)

When: Wednesday December 7, 7:00-8:30pm

Christmas Conundrum: Real Tree vs. Fake Tree?

Here's a re-post of a clip from last year:

CVS Launches New Reusable Bag Incentive

As DC prepares to implement its 5 cent disposable bag fee, CVS is offering an incentive that stretches across the Potomac:

CVS is also distributing “Green Bag Tag” cards that offer discounts to reusable bag customers. Gordon Howard, CVS area vice president, said in the city’s release that the company has “a long history of rewarding our customers with incentives that are both convenient and beneficial to their well-being. The District of Columbia’s initiative to clean up the Anacostia ties in with our ongoing green efforts, such as the Green Bag Tag program.”

Seems like a vastly better incentive than the usual 5 cents off. My friend Virginia Robinson reports, "My local CVS (Clarendon) tells me that there has been so much demand for them that they can't keep them in stock."

Photo via IHeartCVS.com

Arlington Hosts White House Clean Energy Economy Forum

The Green Miles was at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington this morning for the White House Clean Energy Economy Forum. I was part of an Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment contingent invited to attend. W-L served an ideal host –- a gold-level LEED-certified green school in one of the most climate-conscious counties in the country.

The forum featured Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA), former Sen. John Warner (R-VA), Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Deputy Agriculture Sec. Kathleen Merrigan, and Assistant Energy Sec. Cathy Zoi.

I live-blogged the forum over at DailyKos. Check it out!

Hazmat Release in Four Mile Run

Just got this from Arlington Alert:

Avoid all contact with Four Mile Run stream downstream of South Walter Reed Drive until further notice as precautionary measure following major automobile fire resulting in the release of auto fluids and fire fighting materials.

Ikea: Chopping Down Forests = Sustainability!

The Green Miles was recently in the market for a new desk and coffee table, so I went searching for sustainable options. I ended up going with Legare Furniture, which is Forest Stewardship Council-certified and uses what it calls eco-friendly finishes.

I haven't found any independent sources that verify Legare's eco-friendliness. But in my brief furniture search, it was rare to find a company that even bothered to claim sustainability.

And then there were claims of sustainability that were laughable. Check out Ikea's note in a coffee table's description:

Chop down an old-growth forest to make cheap furniture? No sweat, it'll grow back ... eventually. Let's just hope "eventually" comes before the planet gets too warm for them to grow back.

Ikea has made some progress on sustainability, reducing energy use, setting goals to make more of its products from recycled material & sustainably-managed forests, and eliminating plastic bags. But it has a long way to go -- just look at the National Wildlife Federation's 2009 Garden Furniture Scorecard (PDF). Ikea received a measly one star.

Could I have saved a few dollars by shopping at Ikea? Sure. But I'd much rather spend a bit more for products that reflect my lifestyle -- and I'm not talking about square chairs.

Smart shopper footnote: You can get Legare products much cheaper (and in many cases with free shipping) through Amazon.com, Walmart.com or KitchenSource.com than you can through the Legare site.