Concert for Climate in Crisis

Live Earth on MSN: The Concerts For A Climate In Crisis

Live Earth's nine venues - New York, London, Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, Rio De Janeiro, Hamburg, Chiba and Tokyo - touch every corner of the planet, and the collective line-up is a stunning one, spanning the spectrum of popular music. The U.S. show will feature mega-acts such as troubadour John Mayer, emo posters Fall Out Boy, arena rock legend (and Pink Floyd founder) Roger Waters and the reunited Police. London's Wembley Stadium will be graced by the Black Eyed Peas, rap pioneers the Beastie Boys, - 80s icons Duran Duran and the re-united Genesis (making their first live appearance in over a decade), along with many others.

Tags: Live Earth, concerts for a climate in crisis, global warming, John Mayer, Roger Waters, The Police, BlackEyed Peas, Beastie Boys, Duran Duran, Genesis

Green is the New Red, White and Blue

Delivering Our Declaration to Congress - Environmental Defense - please visit

Tags: new patriots, Environmental Defense Action Fund, take action

Everything They Do is Magic (Still)

Please click on this to go and view an awesome banner where you can watch The Police's videos, listen to tracks from The Police's new 2 cd hits collection, enter to win a trip to NYC to see The Police in concert and even view details about their current world tour.

You may click different areas of the banner to watch The Police Videos; to List all 28 classic tracks on the 2-disc compilation released June 5, 2007, and to play some of them on the Jukebox. If you click Tour, you will be taken to The Police website so that you can see all the venues and buy tickets to the concert, if you wish. Click Enter the Contest to enter for a chance to see The Police live in NYC! You may purchase Ringtones or Send to Friend. If you wish to purchase the 2-disc compilation, which includes a vintage poster, at Amazon.com, click Buy Now.

If you are a fan of The Police, buy your Police Cd, watch videos and get The Police ringtones with one visit to one place. Nothing else in your life is ever going to be this easy.

Tags: The Police, EyeWonder banner, 2-disc compilation CD

What To Do About Climate Change Refugees

Global warming to multiply world's refugee burden | Reuters - read complete article

People displaced by global warming -- the Christian Aid agency has predicted there will be one billion by 2050 -- could dwarf the nearly 10 million refugees and almost 25 million internally displaced people already fleeing wars and oppression.

Tags: global warming, climate change, one billion refugees, rising sea levels, islands under water

Sewage in your river?

Every year, more than 850 billion gallons of raw or partially-treated sewage is dumped into the waters where we fish, swim and play. As a result, millions of people become ill each year from unnecessary contact with disease causing pathogens found in sewage.

View complete message here and take action.

Tags: American Rivers, sewage in your river, take action

Send SOS for Polar Bears

Excerpt from email from Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council:

The Arctic spring in Greenland is coming two weeks earlier than it did in 1996 -- a rate of climate change that far outstrips warming trends seen elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere.

As the sea ice melts earlier and earlier each year, there have been more and more reports of starving polar bears being forced to resort to heart-breaking acts of desperation.

Only last summer, an adult bear -- his hip bones visible through his hide -- killed a polar bear cub for food in the first-ever eyewitness account of polar bear infanticide.

The scientists who observed this never-before-seen behavior linked the killing of the cub -- and other recent reports of polar bear cannibalism in Alaska's Beaufort Sea -- to "nutritional stress related to a longer ice-free period."

They also predicted that as the ice melt continues to accelerate, tragic incidents like these will become more frequent. This is the terrible and inexcusable toll that global warming is taking on the polar bear.

And our very best hope to prevent an even bigger tragedy is to start cutting our global warming pollution now.

So while you have this message in front of you -- please rally your friends in support of imperiled polar bears by sending SOS messages to as many people as you can at http://www.polarbearsos.org/tellfriends

Tags: NRDC, National Resource Defense Council, polar bears, SOS

MTV on Global Warming

MTV launched a worldwide multimedia campaign against global warming with 35 PSAs created by six agencies. The spots will run on MTV channels and reach 1.5 billion viewers. Here are a set of PSAs created by Lowe New York.

Francois features a man leaving the water running while he shaves and brushes his teeth, affecting the life of a polar bear. Click here to watch.

Marie leaves appliances in her bathroom plugged in, causing a penguin to starve in Antarctica. Watch the ad here.

Penguin shows a polluted skyline and a guy throwing a Frisbee to a penguin, hitting him square in the nose. Global warming: no fun for man, no party for penguin either. Click here to see the ad.

Trees is A variety of trees becoming winded as they navigate throughout a city. Watch the ad here.

Tags: MTV, environmental PSAs, interrelationships

Rising Sea Levels

Tags: global warming, rising sea levels

Australia Faces Disaster Due to Global Warming

North faces climate disaster EXCLUSIVE Experts say global warming could devastate the Top End June 18, 2007
canberra.yourguide.com.au - read complete article

Darwin-based northern rivers ecologist Stuart Blanch told The Canberra Times that over the next 50 years, rising sea levels were predicted to flood more than four million hectares of coastal freshwater wetlands, placing local barramundi fisheries and Aboriginal livelihoods at risk.

More than 100 million hectares of tropical savanna grasslands from Cairns to Broome would be affected by increased fire risk, and coral reefs extending across Australia's northern waters to Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia would experience increased coral bleaching

Tags: Australia, global warming, coral bleaching, rising sea levels, loss of wetlands, loss of grasslands

Sixth Extinction Underway

If you care about species diversity and our impact on our Earth, please read this:

Human beings are currently causing the greatest mass extinction of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If present trends continue one half of all species of life on earth will be extinct in less than 100 years, as a result of habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, and climate change.

Want to know more? Please visit Mass Extinction Underway.

Tags: mass extinction, sixth extinction, life extinct in 100 years

Nature Haiku Wanted

Please submit your nature-themed haiku to National Wildlife Federation by June 30th. Select haikus will be posted in next month's Wildlife Online.

Haiku are traditionally written in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables

Tags: National Wildlife Federation, haiku, nature haiku

American Rivers : River Policy Update

One year ago, a fractured decision by the U.S. Supreme Court threw a blanket of uncertainty over 35 years of Clean Water Act protections. Last week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a guidance document to guide the agency in carrying out the Court's decision, but it does little to ensure protection for many of the nation's waters. The guidance requires EPA staff to show on a case-by-case basis that waters such as wetlands and intermittent headwater streams are connected to permanent bodies of water such as rivers and lakes. The finding increases the workload required of EPA staff to show what is scientifically known - that upstream and downstream waters are connected. Conservationists contend the guidance will only generate more confusion by creating a multi-layered, laborious process to determine what waters are protected. They strongly support legislation that would reaffirm the original intent of the Clean Water Act to protect all waters of the United States. H.R. 2421, the Clean Water Restoration Act, was introduced recently by Representatives James Oberstar (D-MN), John Dingell (D-MI), Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) and over 150 additional cosponsors. A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI).

View the American Rivers River Policy Update here.

Tags: American Rivers, river policy update

Encourage Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is our nation’s greatest energy resource. Energy efficiency improvements and conservation measures since 1973 have reduced annual consumption by 43 quads. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings, automobiles, consumer appliances and industrial equipment will significantly reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. For more information about the benefits of energy efficiency, visit www.ase.org.

Please take a minute to send an e-mail to your Senator supporting energy efficiency. Help us ensure that energy efficiency continues to play a significant role in reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Take action

Tags: energy efficiency, ase.org, take action

Stop the Gas Wells in Wyoming

From the NRDC:

The Bush administration wants to drill more than 7,800 new gas wells in Wyoming's Upper Green River Valley, an irreplaceable
winter range for 100,000 mule deer, pronghorn, moose and elk.

NRDC activists sent thousands of messages earlier this year protesting a separate proposal to expand gas drilling in this
spectacular region. Now, the Bush administration is pushing a long-term management plan for the Upper Green River Valley that
would almost triple the number of oil and gas wells currently in place, and we must respond with an even bigger outcry.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction and tell the Bureau of Land Management to develop a management
plan for the Upper Green River Valley that safeguards the region's extraordinary wildlife and other natural values.

Nestled between the Wind River, Gros Ventre and Wyoming ranges, the 1.2 million-acre Upper Green River Valley is the largest
expanse of publicly owned winter wildlife habitat in Greater Yellowstone.

Each year, pronghorn travel up to 160 miles between Grand Teton National Park and Wyoming's Red Desert to forage on the region's
sagebrush steppes and valley bottoms laced with willow and cottonwoods.

Expanding drilling in this area would scar the landscape with roads, pipelines and transmission lines, harm crucial wildlife
habitat, and could pollute the fisheries of the Green and New Fork rivers.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction and tell the Bush administration to protect the outstanding wild
ranges of the Upper Green River Valley from gas drilling.

Tags: gas wells, Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, elk

More on Save the Internet

My name is Travis Thompson, and I am a twenty-three year old disabled student. I sustained a spinal cord injury at the age of 19, and ever since then my quality of life has been poor. However, the Internet has been a life line for me, because it has been my gateway to the outside world that I have such trouble navigating. Read my full story.

At SavetheInternet.com, you can read stories from others, view photographs, watch new videos, and join a national conversation about the future of the Internet. You even create your own personal comment page to share with others.

Tell Your Story and Save the Internet

Tags: Save the Internet, net neutrality, freedom of speech

Sometimes a Virtual Space is Endangered

We are not always paying attention to everything that we should be. With so much information "out there," it is almost impossible. However, we should be following what they want to do with the Internet, the last truly free frontier.

View the YouTube film below and please leave me a comment as to what you think.




Save the Internet is where you may take action. Would you sign the petition, would you tell your friends, would you protest outside your State capital on July 4? Let me know you thoughts on net neutrality.

Tags: net neutrality, save the Internet, FCC, freedom highway

Trains and Ships Cause Air Pollution, Too!

Trains and ships are major sources of air pollution. Nationwide commercial ships and trains emit about 20 percent of the smog-forming pollution and about 25 percent of diesel soot pollution from the transportation sector. EPA has proposed rules to clean up trains and ships.

Take action! Voice your support for cleaner trains and ships. Send an email to the Environmental Protection Agency on the Environmental Defense site.

Tags: take action, EPA, Environmental Defense, trains and ships

Take Action in the USA

With global warming threatening wildlife and habitat across America, the decisions made now for how we create and regulate energy are more important than ever before. The Senate will be crafting the first Energy Bill of the global warming era, including provisions for:

• Higher goals for how much renewable energy (such as solar or wind power) America uses.
• Higher gas mileage standards to make cars go further on a tank of gas.
• Better requirements for the production of biofuels crops to make sure they are grown in a wildlife friendly manner.

However, legislation could include a push for more highly polluting coal and environmentally devastating nuclear power. Take action now at the National Wildlife Federation website.

If you think I may be overreacting, the Texas legislature tacked on nuclear power projects to the state energy bill during the last days of session. Stop nuclear expansion at the national level.

Tags: take action, National Wildlife Federation, no coal, say no to coal, no nukes, say no to nuclear power

Support Cool Cars and Clean Energy

I thought you might be interested in this alert from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Please send a letter today urging Congress to support strong fuel economy, renewable energy and renewable fuels initiatives. Go to the website to send your own message.

Do Your Part to Improve Air Quality

Our daily activities affect the amount of ozone-forming pollutants in the air we breathe. You can do your share for cleaner air by trying some of the following pollution reducing actions:

• Drive less: bike, walk, carpool, or ride the bus
• Drive more efficiently
  
• Travel off-peak when possible
• Maintain your vehicle engine
• Keep your tires inflated to proper psi
  
• Fuel your vehicle in the evening
• Postpone mowing the lawn until evening

Tags: improve air quality, do your part, ozone, greenhouse gases

Stopping King Coal

Congress could vote in the next fews weeks on a bill that would double our greenhouse gas emissions from planes and cars. It sounds crazy, but this is exactly what will happen if a current plan to use "liquid coal" passes. Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels and we have a serious global warming problem.

I signed a petition urging Congress to vote no on tax breaks and subsidies on coal. Can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/stopkingcoal/?r_by=10484-1528081-krVVAy&rc=paste

Tags: greenhouse gases, liquid coal, global warming

Recycle and Help a Good Cause

Wilderness Society : Energy Policy Reform

The Energy Policy Act passed two years ago was badly skewed in favor of oil and gas companies, putting our public lands at risk. That's why Wilderness Society staff in DC have been working with the new majority in Congress to bring about key reforms to that flawed legislation. Next week, the House Natural Resources Committee will take up the reforms, and thousands of members of our WildAlert community have urged their representatives -- who are members of that Committee -- to support the needed reforms.

Learn more about H.R. 2337, the "Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007."

Tags: HR 2337, energy policy reform, Wilderness Society

American Rivers Update 6/4/07

Please read the entire update online.

American Rivers: Email - River Policy Update -- Week of June 4, 2007

2) Hearing on Climate Change and Water Supply

On Wednesday, June 6th, the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearing to address the water supply issues related to climate change. Climate change is expected to have serious and wide ranging impacts on water resources. Droughts and water shortages are predicted in some areas, while others should expect more intense hurricane activity and flooding. In many areas of the nation, aging and deteriorating wastewater infrastructure is unprepared to deal with increased storms. Without upgrades these systems are expected to increase discharges of untreated wastewater directly into waterways during storm events.

Tags: American Rivers, climate change, water issues

Perry Goes Nuclear

I had my eyes examined today. While I was waiting, I was perusing a Texas Monthly (May 2007) that had an article about Rick Perry, Governor of Texas. I do not know what made me read this as I feel about Perry about how I feel about Bush, angry.

I am glad I read this article. Gov. Perry made one comment that made me sit up and take notice. He said that he was talking with Exelon and other companies about three nuclear power plants in Texas. Nuclear power plants in Texas from the owners of Three Mile Island! Oh, joy.

I guess Gov. Perry is upset because his fast-track coal plants bit the dust due to quick work on the part of several advocacy groups in Texas. Why he is courting disaster with nuclear power is another mystery.

Looks like the Legislature is helping bring more nuclear power to Texas.

Tax breaks become a tool for shaping Texas energy policy

Tax breaks are going nuclear in Texas. This session, the Legislature approved multiyear tax subsidies for nuclear plants, including the already announced $5.2 billion expansion of the South Texas Project near Bay City. If Gov. Rick Perry signs House Bill 2994 into law, a growing list of energy companies planning to build nuclear facilities — including TXU Corp., Exelon Corp. and NRG Energy Inc., which owns the South Texas Project — will become eligible for school tax breaks that could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Why are we giving tax breaks to nuclear power plants? Especially school tax breaks?

Tags: nuclear power, Texas nuclear, Gov. Perry, nuclear subsidies

EXXON : Welcome to Sack and Ruin

From The Daily Grist.

. . . proposing that Exxon set emissions-reduction targets. . . A mere 31 percent of Exxon shareholders voted in favor. A resolution suggesting that Exxon -- which raked in a record $39.5 billion last year -- invest in renewable energy fared worse, garnering 7 percent support. Tillerson: "We're not in that business. We're in the business of oil and gas". . .

Tags: Exxon, business as usual

Sea Level May Be Rising

ScienceDaily: Greenland Has Experienced A Significant Loss Of Ice, NASA Research Shows

. . . ice sheets and glaciers like those on Greenland are changing provide an indirect measure of sea-level changes and indicate trends in world climate . . . . major glaciers have sped up since the turn of the century, with documented thinning from 65 to nearly 100 feet per year.

It has been estimated that a 9-inch change in the average height of the central Greenland ice sheet would result in a .12-inch change in the sea level of the world's oceans.

Tags: glaciers melting, Greenland ice sheet, global warming

Not So Great Lakes

A rapidly warming lake is the key to understanding the change, says Jay Austin, a limnologist at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Large Lakes Observatory. Earlier this year he reported that Superior's surface waters had warmed by about 2.5 °C since 1979 - far more than average air temperatures in the region during the same period (Geophysical Research Letters, vol 34, p L06604).

Global warming is shrinking the Great Lakes - earth - 30 May 2007 - New Scientist Environment

Lake Superior, the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area, is experiencing its lowest water levels since the record set in 1926. The lake is down by 34 centimetres from a year ago, and more than half a metre below its long-term mean. At least part of the drop can be attributed to a multi-year drought that has been particularly severe since 2006. More troubling, however, is evidence that global warming is driving a long-term shrinkage of this massive natural reservoir.

Tags: global warming, dropping water level, Great Lakes