PepsiCo tests "green" vending machines

PepsiCo Inc is testing greener vending machines, a move that helps the soft drink maker reduce its environmental footprint and gives businesses a little relief on their electric bills.

The test involving 30 machines in the Washington, D.C., area has just begun. Pepsi hopes to begin rolling them out worldwide over the next several years, said Robert Lewis, vice president of packaging and equipment development. The Purchase, N.Y.-based beverage company says this marks the first time that vending machines cooled by CO2 have been introduced in the United States.

The new machines use 5.08 kilowatt-hours of energy per day, down about 15 percent from a nationwide average of 6 kilowatt-hours used by current machines. Current machines already use 44 percent less energy on average than the machines used six years ago.

"That was the equivalent of burning five 100-watt bulbs constantly," Lewis said, referring to the 2003-era machines. "We're currently down to about two 100-watt bulbs. They're not using a lot of energy as it is."

The new machines also emit about 12 percent less greenhouse gas, in part by keeping the drinks cool with carbon dioxide instead of the usual hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which scientists say contribute to global warming.

The green machines, which have won the praise of Greenpeace, are the latest step PepsiCo is taking to promote its more environmentally friendly ways. Both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Co have come under fire for issues such as using too much plastic, and have made changes such as making lighter bottles and conserving more water.

In addition to the CO2-cooled machines, PepsiCo is testing thousands of machines around the world that use other green refrigerants, specifically isobutane and propane, that also have a lower climate impact than current HFC refrigerants

CUTTING COSTS

The new machines are more expensive than current equipment, Lewis said, but declined to say by how much.

PepsiCo, whose brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist and Aquafina, currently has about 4 million to 5 million vending machines and coolers around the world.

Vending machines are typically owned and serviced by the company's bottlers, which share their revenue with the offices, schools and stores that house them. Therefore, those customers will not incur any charges for the new machines, yet will benefit from lower energy bills, Lewis said.

PepsiCo worked with Greenpeace Solutions, an arm of the large environmental organization, to develop the program.

Greenpeace Solutions Director Amy Larkin said PepsiCo was leading the way to improve a technology that people use every day but rarely think about.

"They're transforming the industry in a way that is going to be more climate-friendly to a great degree, so what can I do but applaud that," Larkin said.

While Pepsi's greener vending machines are the first in the United States, Unilever Plc's Ben & Jerry's ice-cream brand introduced coolers that use carbon dioxide, she noted.

Coca-Cola has introduced HFC-free vending machines in Britain, and used them at official venues at last year's Beijing Olympics.

Source:
Reuters, "PepsiCo tests "green" vending machines", accessed March 30, 2009
Environmental Leader, "PepsiCo Tests Green Vending Machines in the US", accessed March 30, 2009

Obama signs landmark U.S. conservation bill

U.S. President Barack Obama signed sweeping land and water conservation rules into law on Monday, setting aside millions of acres as protected areas and delighting environmentalists.

The measure, a package of more than 160 bills, would designate about 2 million acres -- parks, rivers, streams, desert, forest and trails -- in nine states as new wilderness and render them off limits to oil and gas drilling and other development.

The House of Representatives approved the measure on a vote of 285-140 a week after it cleared the Senate, capping years of wrangling and procedural roadblocks.

Opponents, most of them Republicans, complained the legislation would deny access for oil and gas drilling and said House Democrats refused to consider changes.

"This legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted," Obama said at a signing ceremony.

The areas that would be designated as new wilderness are mostly in California, followed by Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, West Virginia, New Mexico and Michigan.

Environmentalists welcomed the move.

"As global warming changes wildlife habitat and food sources, it's more important than ever that we take care of our last remaining wild forests and rivers," the environmental group Sierra Club said in a statement.

"This is the most important lands protection legislation in decades."


Source:
Reuters, "Obama signs landmark U.S. conservation bill", accessed March 20, 2009

Global warming hits Japan's cherry blossom season

Japan's cherry blossom season, an iconic symbol of spring, is under threat from global warming after rising temperatures were blamed for the early arrival of the pretty pink flowers.

The annual appearance of the cherry blossoms in Tokyo this year came five days ahead of schedule and a week earlier than the average arrival for the past three decades of the 20th century. It is the fourth consecutive year that the flowers have appeared early.

Their arrival heralds the start of spring and will be welcomed by millions of Japanese hosting lavish picnics washed down by sake under the trees while appreciating the fleeting beauty of the blossoms.

However, climate change experts warned that the increasingly early arrival of the cherry blossoms, known as sakura, reflected steadily rising global temperatures.

"A rise in temperatures is one of the key elements prompting cherry trees to bloom," said an official at the Japan Meteorological Society (JMA).

"The early blooming could be affected by global warming, but we need more study to probe it."

One reason for early blossoming was "a warming climate and urbanization" as a result of the warming effect of cars, heaters and air conditioners, added Takashi Yoshida, a climate expert at the JMA.

The first cherry blossom flowers traditionally appear in the second half of March in the southern tip of the Japanese archipelago before slowly spreading northwards.

However, the latitude of flowering trees known as the "blossoming line" has shifted 125 miles further north over the past 40 years, reflecting the earlier arrival of the blooms.

The exact moment of their arrival is the subject of extensive media coverage in Japan, where flower appreciation picnics known as "hanami" are a highlight of the spring calendar.

However, Nobuyuki Asada, a member of the Japan Cherry Blossom Association, warned that already many trees were "not blossoming as well as they used to" due to the effects of global warming.

"With the change in temperatures and a more erratic rainy season, I am not sure that we will still have cherry trees in 50 or 100 years," he said.

Source:
London Telegraph, "Global warming hits Japan's cherry blossom season", accessed March 26, 2009

Impending water shortages spell unforeseen financial losses

Cotton clothes will be harder to make as water resources shrink with climate change.

As the climate continues to change, water shortages will hit all industries hard, warns a new report from the nonprofit water research group Pacific Institute. Commissioned by Ceres, an investor network group, and published at the end of February, the report also tells businesses—and their customers and investors—what to measure to prepare for the inevitable droughts, shortages, and polluted water resources.

Although many of these impacts have been forecast in the past decade, Pacific Institute reports that most businesses are not thinking about looming water problems. Using information from 120 companies in eight industrial sectors covering food, clothing, pharmaceuticals, mining, energy, and more, the authors used a risk framework to calculate the industries’ “water footprints”.

Some companies that sell water-based products already have run up against barriers, the authors report. For example, beverage and food companies Coca-Cola and Nestlé have had trouble situating their facilities in places like drought-stricken California. Silicon computer chip makers also have suffered: one estimate suggests that the shutdown of one plant because of a lack of clean water could amount to losses of up to $200 million per quarter.

So far, water use for energy has trumped water conservation and protection, the report’s authors say. This is especially true in such regions as the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where water is used for excavating an energy source (crude oil) and then returned to the environment contaminated with drilling oils and other waste.

To ensure future stability and investor confidence, companies must clearly report their sustainability measures and strategies for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, water, and energy use, and should situate their operations where water use can be minimized, Ceres proposes. Businesses in most of the eight industrial sectors have not reported water, wastewater, and other impacts, or their climate change strategies and supply chain risks, said Pacific Institute President Peter Gleick at a telephone press conference held in February. “This report is really the first of its kind [presenting] the key questions that investors ought to be asking,” Gleick said.

Source:
Environmental Science and Technology, "Impending water shortages spell unforeseen financial losses", accessed March 26, 2009

Idled U.S. farmland may be large carbon sink: USDA

The Conservation Reserve, which pays owners to idle fragile U.S. farmland, could become one of the largest carbon sequestration programs on private land, an Agriculture Department official said on Wednesday.

Some farm-state lawmakers say efforts to reduce greenhouse gases could result in a pay-off in rural America because some agricultural practices, such as reduced tillage, can lock carbon into the soil.

USDA official Robert Stephenson pointed during a U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture subcommittee hearing to the benefits of programs that reduce soil erosion.

"Land enrolled in the (Conservation) Reserve will also reduce soil erosion by 400 million tons each year and has the potential to be one of the nation's largest carbon sequestration programs on private lands," said Stephenson, acting deputy administrator of USDA's Farm Service Agency.

Some 33.7 million acres are enrolled in the reserve at present. The 2008 farm law lowered the enrollment ceiling to 32 million acres. Land owners agree to idle land for 10 years or longer when they enroll in the reserve.

In written testimony, Stephenson said contracts on 3.9 million acres will expire on Sept 30, "so there is some room" for new land to be enrolled in the near future.

USDA says contracts on 4.5 million acres expire at the end of fiscal 2010, 4.4 million acres in fiscal 2011 and 5.6 million acres in fiscal 2012.

Source:
Reuters, "Idled U.S. farmland may be large carbon sink: USDA", accessed March 26, 2009

Less dusty air warms Atlantic, may spur hurricanes

A decline in sun-dimming airborne dust has caused a fast warming of the tropical North Atlantic in recent decades, according to a study that might help predict hurricanes on the other side of the ocean.

About 70 percent of the warming of the Atlantic since the early 1980s was caused by less dust, blown from Saharan sandstorms or caused by volcanic eruptions, U.S.-based scientists wrote in the journal Science.

Clouds of dust can be blown thousands of kilometers (miles) and reflect some of the sun's rays back into space.

"Since 1980 tropical North Atlantic Ocean temperatures have been rising at a rate of nearly 0.25 Celsius (0.45 F) per decade," they wrote on Thursday.

In the past, the rapid temperature rise had been blamed on factors such as global warming or shifts in ocean currents. Warmer temperatures may spur more hurricanes, which need sea surface temperatures of about 28 Celsius (82.40F) to form.

A sea temperature difference of just one Fahrenheit separated 1994, a quiet hurricane year, from a record 2005 when storms included Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans, according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison statement.

"We were surprised" by the big role of dust on Atlantic temperatures, said Ralf Bennartz, a professor at the university and a co-author of the study written with experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

COOLER

In past decades "there was much more dust blowing from (Africa) onto the Atlantic and cooling the sea and ... potentially suppressing hurricane intensity," he stated. No other ocean receives so much dust.

More droughts in Africa in the 1980s, for instance, meant more dust in the air, he said of the study of satellite data and climate models. Annual emissions of dust from North Africa have been estimated at between 240 million and 1.6 billion tonnes.

Bennartz said the scientists were trying to work out, for instance, if wet weather in North Africa could mean less dust and in turn point to fewer hurricanes battering the United States or Caribbean islands.

Big volcanic eruptions were El Chichon in Mexico in 1982 and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. Both dimmed the sun.

The study suggests that only 30 percent of the warming of the Atlantic can be explained by factors other than dust, for instance global warming blamed by the U.N. Climate Panel on emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

"This makes sense, because we don't really expect global warming to make the ocean (temperatures) increase that fast," said Amato Evan, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was lead author.

Bennartz said it was unclear how climate change might affect overall dust amounts blown from Africa this century.

Source:
Reuters, "Less dusty air warms Atlantic, may spur hurricanes", accessed March 26, 2009

Congress approves landmark conservation bill

The Democratic-led U.S. Congress gave final approval on Wednesday to sweeping land and water conservation legislation that environmental groups praised as one of the most significant in U.S. history.

The measure, a package of more than 160 bills, would set aside about 2 million acres -- parks, rivers, streams, desert, forest and trails -- in nine states as new wilderness and render them off limits to oil and gas drilling and other development.

The House of Representatives approved the measure on a vote of 285-140 a week after it cleared the Senate, capping years of wrangling and procedural roadblocks.

It now goes to President Barack Obama to sign into law, which he is expected to do swiftly.

"I can't think of a single bill that has ever done more to ensure the enjoyment of, and access to, wilderness areas (and) historic sites," said Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Opponents, most of them Republican, complained the legislation would deny access for oil and gas drilling and said House Democrats refused to consider changes.

The 2 million acres that would be designated as new wilderness are mostly in California, followed by Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia, West Virginia, New Mexico and Michigan.

Separately, the legislation would permanently protect and restore a 26 million-acre (10.5 million-hectare) system composed of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's most historic and scenic lands and waters, including the Canyons of the Ancients (upper right) in Colorado and Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas.

Environmental and historic groups praised the legislation.

"Future generations will look back at this day as a major milestone in our nation's conservation history," said William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society.

"It has been a long and difficult road, but today, Congress acted on behalf of hunters and anglers who understand the need for intact habitat," said Tom Reed of Trout Unlimited.

Source:
Reuters, "Congress approves landmark conservation bill", accessed March 26, 2009

From the Inbox - Fur Seals Need Help

Animals in the Bering Sea Are Suffering as Big Corporations Make Billions Overfishing is threatening the populations of many species who depend on pollock fish for food. Fur seals, endangered Steller sea lions, and sea birds are starving in the Bering Sea because their food supplies of Alaskan pollock fish are being depleted. Pollock is the world's largest food fishery. Used to make McDonald's fish sandwiches and frozen fish sticks, the population has decreased by a stunning 62 percent since 2003. Factory fishing trawlers take over a million tons of pollock out of the ocean each year. The fish cannot reproduce and recover as quickly as they are being fished. Without your help, we may be witnessing the total loss of the Bering Sea ecosystem. Please donate to Greenpeace today to help them prevent a disaster. Multi-national corporations are making a billion dollars a year by overfishing pollock, while local wildlife face extinction. About a million tons of pollock are dragged out of the Bering Sea every year. For years, Greenpeace has warned that industrial fishing would destroy this fragile environment, but the fisheries managers have buckled under pressure from industry. In these tough economic times, you can know that Greenpeace will make every dollar of your donation count. Please help them guarantee the survival of the Bering Sea. When Canadian policy makers ignored the warning signs about declining cod populations, the resulting collapse put 40,000 fishermen out of work and caused far-reaching changes to the ecology of the northwest Atlantic. Today, this same scenario is possible in the Bering Sea. The repercussions of this could be disastrous not only for local communities and economies, but for the many wildlife who call this area home. Please, support Greenpeace's efforts to protect the Bering Sea and all those who depend on it for survival. They can't do it without you. Thank you for helping the Bering Sea ecosystem survive. Emily Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

From the Inbox - Worst Day of my Life

I asked Troy Galloway -- a former steelworker who now builds wind turbine blades -- to share his story. Congress needs to support more opportunities like this and revitalize the economy. - Cathy ---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Troy Galloway Subject: Worst day of my life The worst day of my life was when I got that pink slip. I expected to work in the steel mill until the day I retired, and then suddenly my job and my livelihood were gone. Then in 2006 a wind turbine company opened two plants near my home in Hollsopple, Pennsylvania. Today, I build the blades for wind turbines that are powering parts of America with clean electricity. A clean energy job saved my family and me, and many more in my community. But with the current economic mess, even some of my smartest and hardest-working friends here are still struggling -- as I know millions of Americans are. That's why I am asking you for help. We need millions more green jobs -- like the one that saved me -- all across the nation. And those jobs will only be available if our leaders in Washington take bold steps. Please sign the petition to our leaders here: http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/troyvideo Here's what the petition says: "Congress must support bold national policies this year to transition to a clean energy economy and help solve the climate crisis. We urge you to cap carbon pollution to help create the jobs and businesses that will Repower America." I'm hearing some talk on TV about how we can't afford to deal with the climate crisis and the economic crisis at the same time. Well, my experience shows we can't afford not to. The green jobs that reduce carbon pollution are this country's ticket out of a deep economic rut. I hear that we lost half a million jobs last month. Imagine if those laid-off workers could turn in their pink slips for jobs in wind, solar, clean cars and green technology. Well, our leaders in Washington have an opportunity to deliver green jobs like these to cities and towns all across America. Send them a message today: http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/troyvideo Sincerely, Troy

Coral may live for thousands of years

Some species of coral can live for over 4,000 years — longer than any other animal that lives in the ocean, a study has found.

Uncertainty over how to date coral makes estimates of their lifespan contentious. A radiocarbon-dating study published in 2006 by Brendan Roark, then at Stanford University in California, suggested that living colonies of Gerardia corals could be more than 2,700 years old1. But a 2002 study by Richard Grigg at the University of Hawaii had estimated the life span of the same species to be around 70 years.

Much of the disagreement turns on where carbon in the corals is coming from. Roark, currently at Texas A&M University in College Station, now claims to have confirmed his earlier results by looking closely at how the corals obtain their carbon.

When growing their skeletons, corals use carbon that is found as either dissolved inorganic carbon or particulate organic carbon in the surrounding waters. As they get larger, corals grow in a tree-like fashion, forming growth rings. Grigg counted these rings to estimate age.

In contrast, Roark used radiocarbon dating in his 2006 study to look at the amounts of the isotope carbon-14 in the corals. 14C is produced in the upper atmosphere where it rapidly oxidizes into 14CO2. All living organisms take up 14C in proportion to the amount of it that is present when they are alive. Whereas carbon-12 and carbon-13 are stable isotopes, 14C decays to nitrogen with a half-life of 5,730 years. Monitoring the decay can give researchers an idea of how long ago the isotope formed — allowing old tissue to be dated.

But some researchers questioned Roark's methods, arguing that carbon in the food the corals were eating from the ocean floor and incorporating into their skeletons could be older than the corals themselves — giving rise to unduly ancient age estimates.

To determine if this was the case, Roark and his colleagues carefully analysed the outer few millimetres of recently deposited skeletons of both Gerardia and Leiopathes and compared the 14C values to those of the surrounding water and to that of shallow-water coral. Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they reveal that the organic carbon that these corals are acquiring is fresh carbon that is rapidly transported to depth from surface waters3.

Their detailed study confirms the longest lived, Gerardia, to be 2,742 years old and Leiopathes to be 4,265 years old. This places them among other extremely long-lived organisms such as the bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva), which can live for more than 4,800 years, and the mahogany clam (Arctica islandica) which can reach over 400 years.

Roark's radiocarbon analysis, however, is far from settling long-standing disagreements in the field. "The conclusions … are extremely biased if not flatly wrong," comments Grigg. He says the sample size of just three Leiopathes colonies is inadequate for any ecological study.

Very long lived species tend to have much lower reproductive output while shorter lived species tend to have higher output, he explains. "I've been taking submersible dives to look at these corals for 40 years and they are often full of developing eggs — this is hardly a characteristic of a thousand year old species," he adds.

Of greatest concern, says Grigg, is that the combination of live and dead material used in the study produces an age bias because live polyps feed on both modern and old carbon while dead material is subject to diffusion from old carbon dissolved in the water.

Yet not everyone agrees. "This is a nice piece of work that reveals a lot about the lives of these corals," says marine biologist Murray Roberts at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, UK.

The animals' long lives and slow growth, with rates as sluggish as 5 µm a year, puts them at risk, as they are frequently collected for jewellery and are often damaged by deep-sea trawling, says Roark. "With such slow growth, human activity can potentially wipe them out before they can respond. [This creates] an increased impetus for the development of a coherent and effective international conservation strategy," he adds.

But Grigg points out that Leiopathes has never been harvested commercially and is useless for jewelery. Gerardia has only been harvested selectively in two small locations in Hawaii, annual yields have never exceeded 3% of the standing crop, and 99% of the habitat of Gerardia in the Hawaiian Archipelago currently lies in federally protected waters. "The authors may have analyzed some live twigs and some very old dead corals but their analyzes overall smack of eco-extremism," says Grigg.


Source:
Nature, "Coral may live for thousands of years", accessed March 25, 2009

Pancake ice takes over the Arctic

Climate change is not only making Arctic sea ice disappear — it's also changing the type of ice that forms. Researchers are now trying to determine how an increase in 'pancake ice' is affecting the far north, including whether it's accelerating local warming.

In the past, Arctic waters have been dominated by thick slabs of sea ice that last from one year to the next. But sea-ice cover is diminishing and thick ice that lasts for several years is disappearing fast, with researchers seeing a greater proportion of thin, newly formed ice.

New ice can form in several different ways. When water is surrounded by ice packs, as has been common in the Arctic, areas of open water are small and there is little chance for wind to work up vigorous waves. In such calm conditions, ice forms in unbroken sheets called 'nilas'.

But now the Arctic has larger areas of open water, and more waves. "As soon as you introduce swell, you get an entirely different form of ice," says Jeremy Wilkinson of the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, UK. Under these conditions, globs of ice crystals tossed about in the water combine to form first a soupy mixture called 'grease ice', and then 'pancakes' of thin ice a meter or two in diameter.

This can have all sorts of knock-on effects. Because the pancakes are round, for example, they have areas of open water between them when joined up, making the surface darker overall. This could have a warming effect as a result of less of the Sun's radiation being reflected. Water also slops up from these holes over the ice so that falling snow melts rather than settling, keeping the surface darker. "This whole cycle is not in models of the Arctic or the Antarctic. It's one of these conundrums that people haven't looked into," says Wilkinson.

Pancakes in the lab

Wilkinson and his colleagues this month completed a series of controlled experiments to measure the differences between nilas and pancake ice in the lab, including differences in ice thickness, water temperature, salinity and albedo — the fraction of incident sunlight that's reflected. The team used a wave tank 30 meters long and 1.5 meters deep at the Arctic Environmental Test Basin in Hamburg, Germany, to test ice formation in calm conditions compared with choppy water and storms1. The team could not replicate the meter-high waves that might be seen in the ocean, so to mimic stormy conditions they increased the frequency of waves tens of centimeters high.

Their tests confirmed that, as expected, pancake ice dominated when waves were around. Their as-yet unpublished quantitative data, which will take some months yet to analyze, will be incorporated into new climate models being developed by team member Dirk Notz and others at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg to see how the changing ice type might affect future Arctic temperatures.

There are effects other than a change in albedo. Ice accumulates on the bottom of a single sheet more slowly than it does around crystals bobbing up and down in the water, so pancake ice 0-15 cm thick can form in the same time as 1 cm thickness of nilas ice. As ice formation extracts fresh water from the ocean, faster ice formation should mean saltier seas, which could in turn have an impact on ocean circulation, ice growth and air temperature.

"Young ice isn't that well studied because there didn't used to be that much of it," says David Barber of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, who led an over-wintering project investigating sea ice conditions in the Arctic that ended last year. He says there is clearly more open water during the winter freeze-up now, causing cyclonic storms that bring wind and snow, and more pancake ice. "We had to take our ship out of the open water because the storms were too rough for us," says Barber. "We couldn't land our helicopters because there was too much snow." He notes that although the extent of the sea ice was greater in 2008 than during the record low of 2007, this was because of additional young ice; the multi-year ice had in fact declined from 2007 levels.

Such rare observations of the winter ice pack along with lab and modeling work should help to determine the likely future of the Arctic. "We're trying to work out what the net result of all these processes are," says Barber.

Source:
Nature, "Pancake ice takes over the Arctic", accessed March 25, 2009

From the Inbox - US Senate joins Movement to stop Mountaintop Removal Mining

Sen. Alexander Sen. Cardin

Now we've got momentum -- and we need you to act. On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was reviewing hundreds of mountaintop removal coal mining permits. We wrote to ask you to thank the administration for taking this bold stance against the devastation of mountaintop removal coal mining, and asked you to help make the EPA's decision permanent by telling the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Clean Water Protection Act. And yesterday, for the first time ever, a companion bill to the Clean Water Protection Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate. Two U.S. senators from coal producing states -- Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) -- introduced the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696), which would amend the Clean Water Act to prevent the dumping of toxic mining waste from mountaintop removal coal mining into headwater streams and rivers. Can you contract your Senators today, and urge them to support (co-sponsor?) the Appalachia Restoration Act? http://ilovemountains.org/action/write_your_senators In introducing the legislation, Senator Cardin said: "My goal is to put a stop to one of the most destructive mining practices that has already destroyed some of America's most beautiful and ecologically significant regions. This legislation will put a stop to the smothering of our nation's streams and water systems and will restore the Clean Water Act to its original intent." Senator Alexander of Tennessee stated: "It is not necessary to destroy our mountaintops in order to have enough coal, Millions of tourists spend tens of millions of dollars in Tennessee every year to enjoy the natural beauty of our mountains - a beauty that, for me, and I believe for most Tennesseans, makes us proud to live here." Senator Alexander has it right. This is not an either/or choice -- it's about saving the environment and creating new jobs. Please, contact your Senator today and urge them to support this important bipartisan bill: http://ilovemountains.org/action/write_your_senators With your help, the Clean Water Protection Act can pass the House and Senate this year -- and put a permanent end to the worst practices of mountaintop removal coal mining. Thank you for taking action. Matt Wasson iLoveMountains.org

The T. Boone Pickens alt-energy show rolls across America

Standing in the sunken pit of a packed lecture hall at Houston's Rice University, he's hawking his Pickens Plan for energy independence from foreign oil by using more wind power and natural gas. The 80-year-old, with flesh-colored hearing aids set deep inside his ears and tanned bags drooping under his eyes, looks confused and momentarily loses track of what he's saying. He pauses, takes his gold Rolex off, slumps down on a stool, and announces in his trademark drawl, "I'm runnin' out of money." (Which for Pickens means he's still got untold millions, possibly billions, in the bank).

This visit to Rice in early January is just another stop for the long-running Pickens Road Show. He's been zigzagging across the country like a presidential candidate for eight months, spending more than $60 million of his own oil fortune on TV ads and lectures promoting greener, American energy, in which he is heavily invested. His companies have plans to erect the world's largest wind farm in west Texas, and have a significant stake in natural gas.

When he launched the Pickens Plan on July 8, gas prices at the pump had hit $4 a gallon and Americans were demanding a wallet-friendly energy policy that included long-term planning and alternative fuels. Leftist green-power organizations finally had a public-relations darling in Pickens—a Republican who famously funded the swift-boat attack ads that all but killed John Kerry's 2004 presidential dreams—with the money, power, and clout to get taken seriously on Capitol Hill and advance their renewable energy agenda in the business world.

It was as if the stars had once again aligned for the former wildcatter and corporate-takeover tycoon.

Since then, however, Pickens's precious winds have begun blowing all over the place.

Over the past several months, drivers filling up at the nation's gas stations have been happy paying less than a buck-eighty a gallon, and with the mortgage crisis, homeowners are more concerned with keeping their homes than with what powers them. Add the banking troubles and frozen credit markets to the mix, thanks to the worst U.S. economy in decades, and Pickens's task of getting his plan off the ground appears to be getting tougher and tougher.

Pickens makes no bones about the fact that global warming is not his main concern. For him it's all about importing less oil from "our enemies," becoming energy independent, and thereby shoring up national security. The thrust of the Pickens Plan calls for building wind farms that will generate up to 22 percent of the nation's energy, the creation of a more efficient and expansive electrical grid, and using domestic natural gas instead of imported oil as a transportation fuel, focusing on fleet vehicles and 18-wheelers. In 10 years, says Pickens, the combination can reduce oil imports by a third.

At the moment, though, the much-heralded $10 billion wind farm in the Texas Panhandle is on hold until at least 2011 because Pickens can't get the financing together in the tightened credit market. Plus, Pickens's vision for natural gas, despite a recent bump in public support from lawmakers, still has at least as many opponents as allies and was all but left out of the $787 billion stimulus package President Barack Obama signed into law in mid-February.

Critics say that the entire Pickens Plan is nothing more than a public-relations campaign driven by Pickens's ego, and warn not to mistake the veteran oilman for a tree-hugger. They say the fortune this neo-Greenie stands to make if he can get his wind farms and natural-gas interests up and running could earn him the kind of money traditionally seen only when an oil well explodes in a geyser of black gold. Pickens dismisses this by saying that at 80, he's got enough money and just wants to leave a positive, lasting energy legacy for America. Unlike in the past, Pickens, a longtime free-market man, is counting on the federal government, tax incentives, and subsidies to help make his dreams come true.

Despite the economic crisis, cheap gas, and political bickering between Democrats and Republicans over the best energy policy, slowly but surely Pickens appears to be succeeding.

He's crept into the nation's conscience, claiming that more than 1.5 million people have drafted themselves into Pickens's New Energy Army, a virtual and on-line militia of supporters who interface and spread the Pickens gospel on Pickens's social networking website, modeled after MySpace and Facebook. Pickens uses these masses to lobby politicians. He has received vital government help for wind farms and appears to be gaining ground with his idea of using natural gas to fuel trucks. The fate of Pickens's massive lobbying effort rests with the likes of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, both of whom Pickens has been palling around with at every turn and referring to as his new, dear friends.

During his lectures, Pickens invariably rails against former U.S. presidents for not having an energy plan. Then he smoothly transitions to a story, told in the folksy style that Pickens easily employs, recounting advice his father gave him in the late 1940s when Pickens was a sophomore struggling at Oklahoma A&M, now Oklahoma State University:

"He said, 'Son, a fool with a plan can beat a genius with no plan. And I'm afraid that I have a fool with no plan.'" Pickens has a plan now, and it appears, at least for the moment, that this self-anointed "fool" is inching closer than ever to genius.

"I think we've got the fish hooked," Pickens says. "Now we've got to get it in the boat."

For more than 30 years, Pickens has found sanctuary and solace at Mesa Vista, his sprawling 68,000-acre ranch in the Panhandle, near where he plans on building the world's largest wind farm. He's transformed the rolling hills, canyons, and creek beds along the Canadian River into what's been called arguably the best quail-hunting spot on the planet. This is where Pickens calls home, and he'll be damned if the sight of soaring industrial wind turbines is going to cast a shadow on his perfect country-boy oasis. That Pickens will not put windmills on his own land sits just fine with Ronnie Gill, a rancher from nearby Miami. To Gill, that just means there will be more turbines to go around for folks such as him.

"Everybody wants one and hopes they'll get one," he says.

Last year, Gill leased all 7,000 of his acres to Pickens to use for the proposed wind farm that will span up to five counties. At $4 an acre, that means Gill is already making $28,000 a year for nothing more than signing a piece of paper. And just thinking about the day when the turbines start cranking forces a smile from the hardened rancher.

Pickens has said that he can erect five turbines every 640 acres without interrupting existing farming and cattle operations, and that each turbine will produce $10,000 to $20,000 a year in royalties to the landowner. Gill figures that means, on the conservative end, that he'll pull in at least an extra quarter-million dollars a year.

Like almost everyone living in the area, Gill knows the criticisms circling Pickens: that the energy-baron is simply out to make money for himself. Gill could not care less.

"I don't mind him making a buck," says Gill, "because I'll tell you what, he's generous enough to share it with the rest of us. And I really need it because I'm getting old and bald-headed. I really hope it'll come to pass."

Read rest of article........

Source:
Minneapolis News, "The T. Boone Pickens alt-energy show rolls across America", accessed March 26, 2009

Melting glaciers force Italy, Swiss to redraw borders

Melting glaciers in the Alps may prompt Italy and Switzerland to redraw their borders near the Matterhorn, according to parliamentary draft legislation being readied in Rome.

Franco Narducci of Italy's opposition Democratic Party is preparing a bill to redefine the frontier with neighboring Switzerland, his office said Wednesday.

Narducci is a member of the foreign affairs panel in Italy's lower Chamber of Deputies. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has authorized the bill.

Switzerland also has cooperated with Italy on the matter.
The Italian Military Geographic Institute says climate change is responsible for the Alpine glaciers melting.

"This draft law is born out the necessity to revise and verify the frontiers given the changes in climate and atmosphere," Narducci said. "The 1941 convention between Italy and Switzerland established as criteria [for border revisions] the ridge [crest] of the glaciers. Following the withdrawal of the glaciers in the Alps, a new criterion has been proposed so that the new border coincides with the rock."

The border change only affects uninhabited mountaintop terrain. The deputy excludes the possibility of any family having to change citizenship.

The border between Italy and Switzerland was fixed 1861, when Italy became a nation, but it has been occasionally modified, the Military Geographic Institute said. The border was last modified in the 1970s when the Switzerland-Italy highway was built at the Brogeda crossing.

The bill is expected to become law by the end of April, Narducci said.

Unlike Switzerland, Italy can change its border only with new laws approved by parliament.

Narducci said the same negotiation will be proposed to France and Austria

"Once upon a time, the border line demarcation between two nations was synonymous to war and bloodshed," he said. "Instead , today we proceed with photograms."

Source:
CNN, "Melting glaciers force Italy, Swiss to redraw border", accessed March 25, 2009

From the Inbox - WE Big Announcement

Two million members mobilizing on Main Street, in community centers, in church halls: the campaign to Repower America is scaling up to meet the challenges of 2009. We're expanding our massive online movement with the launch of a substantial field operation in states across this country. Today, we need your help to make it happen. Achieving bold action on the climate crisis and accelerating the creation of clean energy jobs will require the largest grassroots organization of its kind -- and this is the year the work must get done. With your help, we'll galvanize citizens from across the country to ensure climate is a top priority in Washington. Like the fight waged for civil rights decades ago, the pressure for change must come from many places -- geographically, politically, and institutionally. New voices. Committed voices. Loud voices. Leading this groundbreaking grassroots effort are Steve Hildebrand -- the organizing guru who helped build Barack Obama's groundbreaking field program -- and Steve Bouchard -- a veteran manager who has led a number of state and national campaigns. The program will require hundreds of staff to mobilize local actions and grow the movement to Repower America. Will you support this crucial new state-based campaign with a contribution of $30 now? http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/nextstep Every contribution makes a difference -- $3,000 supports a local organizer's work to reach thousands of people. That's 100 members donating $30 each. Can you help? This person-to-person organizing in local communities is the best way to let our leaders know that we want bold and meaningful policies to solve the climate crisis and get our economy moving again. And we don't have any time to waste. Help take this movement to the cities and towns across this country that will make change possible. Make a $30 contribution to fund this vitally important campaign: http://www.RepowerAmerica.org/nextstep Thanks again for everything you've done to make our efforts so successful after only one year. We hope you are as excited as we are about this next step in our effort to Repower America. Thanks, Cathy Zoi CEO RepowerAmerica.org

Gore to publish new global warming book in November

Nobel Peace Prize winner and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore will publish a follow-up to his global warming awareness bestseller "An Inconvenient Truth" on November 3.

The book will be called "Our Choice" and will describe solutions to global warming, the environmental crusader and U.S. publisher Rodale Inc. said in a statement on Tuesday.

"'An Inconvenient Truth' reached millions of people with the message that the climate crisis is threatening the future of human civilization and that it must and can be solved," Gore said.

"Now that the need for urgent action is even clearer with the alarming new findings of the last three years, it is time for a comprehensive global plan that actually solves the climate crisis. 'Our Choice' will answer that call," he said.

Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work to raise awareness about climate change and the same year also won an Academy Award for a documentary based on his slide show lecture and book "An Inconvenient Truth."

He said he will donate all proceeds from "Our Choice" to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

Source:
Reuters, "Gore to publish new global warming book in November", accessed March 25, 2009

EPA says it could block mountaintop coal permits

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it has the legal power to block permits for so-called mountaintop coal mines (left), a move that could affect hundreds of mining operations.

The EPA voiced concerns about the controversial mining practice and said it could veto permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers if the mines would permanently impair water quality by fouling valley streams.

This could affect hundreds of operations where mining permits have been sought or granted.

The environment agency made its position known in a pair of letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which grants permits for this kind of destructive mining under the condition that mine operators rebuild the streams.

The EPA strongly questioned whether the human-made channels often used to replace natural valley streams meet this condition.

"The two letters reflect EPA's considerable concern regarding the environmental impact these projects would have on fragile habitats and streams," Lisa Jackson, the agency's chief, said in a statement.

"I have directed the agency to review other mining permit requests," she said. "EPA will use the best science and follow the letter of the law in ensuring we are protecting our environment."

The essential components of living streams -- microscopic animals and plants -- suffer downstream from mountaintop mining sites, compared with undisturbed sites, the EPA letters said. The letters referred to two specific operations in West Virginia where mountaintop mining is proposed.

The EPA's move is a departure from the agency's stance during the Bush administration, which supported mountaintop mining. Coal companies consider it an economical alternative to traditional underground mines in Appalachia, where production is declining.

More than half of U.S. electricity is derived from coal.

Environmentalists and community activists in coal country decry it as ecological devastation and went to court to prevent it in West Virginia, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. Appeals Court in Richmond, Virginia, overturned a ban on the practice on February 13.

The appeal was brought by Massey Energy Co and the West Virginia Coal Association.

Joan Mulhern, an attorney with the environmental legal group Earthjustice, said the matter is still in flux and the plaintiffs have the right to ask the whole appeals court to hear the case.

But Mulhern said EPA was showing a "seismic shift" in U.S. policy.

"The EPA is saying this is a significant transition from Bush policies on mountaintop removal to Obama administration policies," Mulhern said by telephone.

Source:
Reuters, "EPA says it could block mountaintop coal permits", accessed March 25, 2009

From the Inbox - Climate Worst Case Scenario

Scientists say we could see the end of Arctic sea ice -- and thus the polar bear -- in our lifetime. Help us enact landmark cap and trade legislation while we can still make a difference. Please make an urgent donation today. On my desk are two chilling reports from our global warming team that perfectly define our critical moment in history. Either memo by itself is disturbing. Viewed together, they are shocking. The first report is a global warming science update, which can be summarized in seven short words – It is much worse than we thought. The second is a report on public opinion, which finds that a record 41% of the American people think the threat of global warming is being exaggerated. How can both of these reports be true? The only possible explanation is that our opponents are successfully using the current economic crisis to twist the debate and slow momentum for global warming action. Please donate now to help us fight back. The Science Outlook I fear we have become numb to the litany of bad news that is coming from the scientific community. We cannot let that happen. Just consider: Economist Nicholas Stern believes that without urgent action, we could be committing ourselves to a planetary increase of four to six degrees Centigrade Even at a more modest four degree rise, Stern predicts that 85% of the Amazon rainforest will be destroyed, leading to catastrophic shortages of fresh water and mass failures of food harvests. As many as half of all species on Earth may become extinct A 2009 peer-reviewed study published in Science concludes that the planetary effects of Antarctic ice melt could lead to wildly uneven sea level increases. In the Northern hemisphere sea level increases as high as 21 feet may threaten New York, London, and Tokyo with total inundation -- creating tens of millions of refugees. These reports all carry the same message: we are on the brink of experiencing the worst case scenario as conceived by the scientific community. Please donate now to help us pass global warming legislation that places a cap on carbon. Denial and Deceit -- The Opposition You'd think this terrifying wave of discoveries would galvanize all of us to take drastic action today. Instead, we are witnessing an unprecedented propaganda blitz by polluters and global warming deniers to stop legislation and confuse the public. Consider these few highlights of what they're up to: They are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying, political contributions alone -- with hundreds of millions more in paid ads. The number of lobbyists working to block global warming action has increased 300% in recent years, according to the Center for Public Integrity. They've landed an army of talking heads on the political talk shows to drive the debate among the Beltway crowd. Their message is as simple as it is false. A cap on global warming pollution is a "hidden energy tax" (which it is not) and that "we can't afford to act in the current economic crisis" (which is not true). Please donate now to help us fight back. We must pass legislation this year that caps carbon in order to stop global warming. Thank you for your support and activism. Sincerely, David Yarnold President, Environmental Defense Action Fund P.S. What really makes me angry are the claims that in a recession we "can't afford" to cap carbon. The opposition has it backward. Capping carbon is our last best hope to avoid the worst consequences of warming. And it is an investment in our economy that will transform our energy sources and create millions of new jobs. Please donate now to help pass global warming legislation.

From the Inbox - A Major Victory on Mountaintop Removal Mining

We've got great news to report! This afternoon, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was suspend and review permits for two mountaintop removal coal mining operations -- and putting hundreds more mountaintop coal-mining permits on hold until it can evaluate their impact on our nation's streams and wetlands. This is a major victory for our movement. And make no mistake, it is a result of your efforts to raise the alarm about the devastating effects of mountaintop removal coal mining to our mountains, our waters, and our communities. CBS News has the details: The decision was announced Tuesday by EPA administrator Lisa Jackson.... It could delay 150-250 permits being sought by companies wanting to begin blasting mountaintops to access coal. Those permits are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, an agency that has been criticized by environmental groups. The Corps has been sued for failing to thoroughly evaluate the environmental impact of mountaintop removal, during which forests are clear-cut and mountaintops are blasted apart to expose coal seams; the rock and dirt left behind is dumped into adjacent valleys, affecting the course and health of waterways. In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers denying the two permits, the EPA wrote: [T]hat the coal mines would likely cause water quality problems in streams below the mines, would cause significant degradation to streams buried by mining activities, and that proposed steps to offset these impacts are inadequate. EPA has recommended specific actions be taken to further avoid and reduce these harmful impacts and to improve mitigation. In other words, filling valleys with mountaintop removal coal waste and healthy ecosystems don't mix. The EPA's decision is a powerful statement for good science and common sense, and it's an amazing first step towards ending mountaintop removal and creating a new, green and just economy in Appalachia. This is a big victory for our effort to end mountaintop removal coal mining -- but here's what you can do to make it just the first of many victories to come: Call the White House and thank the administration for using sound science and common sense to put a hold on the permitting process. You can call the White House at 202-456-1111 or click here to be connected. Help make the EPA's decision permanent by telling Congress to pass the Clean Water Protection Act, which would outlaw the valley fills that the permitting process seeks to allow. Spread the word about the disastrous effects of mountaintop removal coal mining by inviting your friends and family to join you at iLoveMountains.org. Thank you for everything you do! Matt Wasson iLoveMountains.org P.S.--We strongly suggest you call your representative, but if you would prefer to contact your Representative by email, click here: http://www.ilovemountains.org/action/write_your_rep/