Climate Change & Extreme Weather

Guest entry by: Branden Grubb (energy intern)

Massive snowfalls, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and tornados are consistently occurring more often due to high levels of moisture in the air. Why are there high levels of moisture in the air? The answer is easy: climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that the earth is slowly warming. Slow warming results in greater amounts of evaporation, evaporation causes high moisture levels, and high moisture levels cause extreme weather. This is why there was a record snowfall (snowpocalypse) in Washington, D.C., this February, while in Vancouver, British Columbia, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics, some events had to be postponed due to lack of sufficient snowfall. The shocking part is that these events occurred in the same week.  My friends, it is time that some drastic changes took place.

While some argue that snow means no climate change – the reality is that climate change is very real. Eleven of the past twelve years rank among the warmest on record. During this time we have seen some of the most detrimental weather in history, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the cyclone in Burma in 2008. The sad thing is, human beings are the main contributor to climate change; in essence we are determining our own fate.

Even President George H. W. Bush admitted as much, and signed an act in 1990 that stated "Industrial, agricultural, and other human activities, coupled with an expanding world population, are contributing to processes of global change that may significantly alter the Earth habitat within a few human generations."

Stop the Attacks on the Clean Air Act

This is the weekly post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.

A Senate vote is looming on a measure that would gut the Clean Air Act, proposed by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. The resolution's passage would give big polluters a bail out by blocking President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from taking action to limit global warming pollution - even from the biggest polluters like coal plants and oil refineries.

Despite evidence that this measure was crafted by lobbyists who represent coal giants like Southern Company, Duke and Progress Energy, it is still gaining support in the Senate, and there are now similar measures in the House.

Major industrial facilities, including the nation's more than 500 existing coal plants, are responsible for almost 70% of our country's global warming pollution. Addressing the pollution from these sources is a key part of the big picture solution to global warming and energy independence. The agency has laid out a reasonable timeline for new regulations for these massive polluters and proposed measures that would require the biggest polluters to clean up first, so pollution would be quickly reduced without affecting smaller sources like small businesses, churches and apartment buildings.

Automobile Dealers - Nada!

This is a guest post by Ann Mesnikoff, director of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign.

Unfortunately, I can't speak Spanish but I know what NADA means - nothing. An alternative definition for NADA is National Automobile Dealers Association and nada (the Spanish definition here) is what they want to have happen when it comes to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) action on climate change.  On March 1st, NADA sent a letter supporting Senator Lisa Murkowski's resolution to prohibit EPA from regulating greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act.

Murkowski's resolution, aka the Dirty Air Act, would not only block EPA from taking responsible steps to regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gases which threaten public health and the environment, it would kill EPA's historic greenhouse gas standards which complement new fuel economy rules.

Contrast NADA's "nothing" approach to tackling greenhouse gas pollution for vehicles under the Clean Air Act with what happened last week in California as reported by Megan Norris, Sierra Club California's clean car organizer:

California and the nation have a reason to celebrate. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted unanimously to pass a resolution that accepts compliance with federal greenhouse gas emission standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) fuel economy program as compliance with CA's vehicle emissions standards.

Sierra Club California's Director, Bill Magavern testified at the hearing applauding CARB for setting the example for the rest of the nation when it comes to setting standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions spewing from our passenger vehicles. The auto manufacturers showed up, but this time it was to applaud CARB and the US EPA for taking steps to set national greenhouse gas standards. In fact, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM) and Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) both testified that they look forward to working on setting the next wave of national greenhouse gas standards for model years 2017 and beyond. Sierra Club California will be working hard to hold them to their end of the bargain.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions coming from our cars and trucks across the country could significantly clean up our air for our children and future generations, create new jobs and advance technology by creating a new green vehicle industry. Union of Concerned Scientists research shows that by setting high standards drivers could save tens of billions of dollars, curb US oil usage by 1.3 million barrels each day by 2020, and cut emissions that cause global warming by 217 million metric tons in 2020.

Next steps include the US EPA setting the final national standards by March 31, 2010. 

In addition to what automakers said in California last week, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers - which represents GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota and many other major automakers - has specifically expressed support for EPA finalizing its greenhouse gas standards along with new fuel economy standards: "It's important to manufacturers to have those rules in place so that we can finalize future product plans," said alliance spokesman Charles Territo.

Nada - nothing - is not the answer.

Join the 72-Hour Call-In

Today kicks off a busy couple of days for taking action, and we need your help!

This week, the Sierra Club is joining forces with dozens of organizations across the country for a 72 Hour Call in for Clean American Power to show our senators that voters will not wait another year for action on clean energy and climate legislation.

Join the 72 hour call in and tell your senators that we want action NOW on a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill.

Workers in hard hit industries cannot afford to watch jobs move overseas to countries like China and India while Congress drags its feet on building a clean energy economy.

Military families cannot afford to lose another parent, another spouse, or another child because our dependence on foreign oil threatens national security, while clean, American alternatives are ignored.

And our children cannot afford to lose their chance to enjoy the outdoors and live without fear rising sea levels, stronger storms, droughts and famine as the effects of global warming worsen, while skeptics are indulged.

Our clean energy future is on the line -- will you make the call?

This week, veterans, workers, business owners, people of faith and environmentalists are banding together with a common purpose, passing strong clean energy and climate legislation that will create jobs, build our economy, make our country more secure, and protect our planet.

We need all hands on deck to win this fight -- call your senators today! 72 hours can change history.

And if you like taking action on clean energy and climate change, then join the Climate Crossroads group!

Coal Ash Stories Highlight the Problems

This is the weekly blog post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. This post was co-written by Lyndsay Moseley, Associate Washington Representative for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.

This week we had the privilege to listen in on a White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conference call with citizen groups from across the country to share the concerns and priorities of citizens around the country who are directly impacted by coal ash disposal problems.

Coal ash is the by-product of burning coal for power, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), working with the OMB, is preparing to draft new proposed rules to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash – hence this conference call.

On the calls, local spokespersons from 16 states delivered powerful stories of how their lives have been impacted by improper coal ash handling, and compelling messages on the importance of mandatory federal safeguards for coal ash

We listened as residents from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Montana, New Mexico, Maryland, Virginia and many other states spoke about water contamination, the questionable reuse of coal ash to fill in mines, and more.

One southeast Ohio resident spoke of residents near her getting sick from the coal ash contamination. "Environmental justice and the human cost really have to be taken into consideration with this," said Elisa Young of Meigs Citizens Action Now, noting that the southeast Ohio area is very poor and Meigs County has no hospital despite having the highest rate of asthma in the state.
 
"The coal industry is dumping coal ash on us in so many ways, all with no regulation on how it affects us cumulatively," added Young. "They even dump it on the roads in the wintertime, which all runs off the road into the streams and groundwater."

Another resident who lives near a coal ash site by the New River in Virginia said he was tired of seeing ash from the unlined site in a 100-year-flood plain leech into the river and threaten the drinking water sources of communities down-river. "Our water table is being devastated," he said.

Other residents spoke of their battles to keep proposed coal ash sites from being placed near them. The stories went on and on, and all were heart-wrenching. Overall, their most common phrase to the government leaders on the call was, "We need help." These community activists want federal safeguards to protect them from the toxins in coal ash.

The staff of OMB, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and EPA were quite receptive during the calls, taking notes as they listened. After the meeting, one OMB staffer commented that that they don't often hear local stories such as these.

Coal ash contains arsenic, selenium, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, boron, thallium, and aluminum, and most coal ash is stored near coal-fired power plants in waste ponds near communities and waterways. The toxic materials leach out of the waste and contaminate groundwater and surface water.

There are hundreds of coal ash storage sites across the U.S. We've already seen one major coal ash disaster – December 2008's devastating Tennessee Valley Authority spill in Roane County, Tenn. The conference call included residents from near the spill, who spoke of the remaining devastation and toxins and how they do not want that kind of tragedy to happen anywhere else.

We need consistent mandatory federal safeguards to prevent future coal ash disasters - safeguards that will protect the environment and our communities from toxic leaching and flooding. Yet the coal industry continues fighting for special treatment to keep them from cleaning up their dirty business. Coal use from cradle to the grave is dirty, dangerous, and damaging, and but the coal industry continues spending millions on lobbying to retain and create more loopholes for themselves.

This much is clear - coal must be cleaned up and the industry will not clean itself. We must speak out in favor of stronger regulations and encourage EPA to quickly implement real safeguards to protect our communities from coal ash.

Take action today for coal ash safeguards.

Another Clean Energy News Round-Up

It's that time again - time to highlight some interesting clean energy news of note that's come through my inbox recently.

Let's start with some great activism news - this time from the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. Some fantastic students at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse held a public event on campus last Thursday to demonstrate the impacts of mountaintop removal coal - only they used a huge pile of snow instead of a real mountain. They want the university to move beyond coal and switch to cleaner energy sources.

Check out this video from WKBT-TV to see some great images of the event (sorry, you have to watch a 15-second ad first):


There's a short video from WXOW-TV, too, on the students' display.

Next up, some innovative news related to renewable energy. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is teaming up with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Brownfields/Superfund program to study the idea of placing renewable energy sites on contaminated land. From the news release:

The project is part of the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, which aims to decrease the amount of green space used for development, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide health and economic benefits to local communities, including job creation.

The project will analyze the potential development of wind, solar, or small hydro development at 12 sites.   The analysis will include determining the best renewable energy technology for the site, the optimal location for placement of the renewable energy technology on the site, potential energy generating capacity, the return on the investment, and the economic feasibility of the renewable energy projects.  The 12 sites are located in Calif., Fla., Kan., Mass., Mich., Minn., Pa., Puerto Rico, R.I., W.Va., and Wis.

You can learn more on this EPA website.

Related to renewable energy, the Wall Street Journal has an interested series of short articles entitled "Why Alternative Energy Will Be Slow to Make Inroads." The article covers nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, biofuels, wind, solar, and electric vehicles. Each power source is broken down into its technology, its current status, and why it's going to take so long. Nothing like the WSJ to bring a positive spin to renewable energy.

To take another swing into bad news, did you see the Guardian news story about a new report that estimates the world's top businesses caused $2.2 trillion in environmental damage in 2008? Yeesh. That's a "figure bigger than the national economies of all but seven countries in the world that year." The article even breaks down the damage by type in a helpful but depressing chart.

And the U.S. government is attempting to tackle the immense handouts that the oil and gas industry gets in the form of tax breaks. In this Houston Chronicle article, watch the oil and gas industries whine and dump millions into PR campaigns aimed at keeping this money. Here's a good section from the article:

Environmentalists say the industry's reaction is blown out of proportion. Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope called the arguments about job losses "scare tactics." Ending "wasteful and unnecessary giveaways … will help correct some of the market distortions that unfairly advantage dirty energy at the expense of clean energy," Pope said.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, the oil and gas sector reported spending more than $168 million to lobby Congress last year on climate change, taxes and other issues, a 26 percent jump over $133 million in 2008. Energy industry spending last year dwarfed expenditures by environmental groups that reported $22.5 million in lobbying last year. That included $1.9 million from the Environmental Defense Fund and $2.2 million from the Nature Conservancy.

Exxon Mobil's lobbying bill was $27.4 million last year, while Chevron Corp. invested $20.8 million and ConocoPhillips $18 million.

And finally, as those Congressional pushes to end those tax breaks for oil and gas companies, you can use this handy new 2009 Congressional Scorecard from the League of Conservation Voters to figure out just how your elected official will most likely vote on legislation related to it all.

The Struggle for Survival in a Changing World

Guest entry by: Branden Grubb, Global Warming & Energy Intern

Our country is home to a vast array of animal species that depend on healthy habitats for survival. Global warming has a detrimental affect on the world’s fish and wildlife, and climate change greatly impacts these wildlife habitats. For instance, salmon and trout depend on cold water for survival, and because of climate change, rising water temperatures are limiting their options for feeding and breeding grounds. In an article I read entitled “fish out of water,” I found that a 3 degree Fahrenheit rise in average August temperatures would cause up to 20 percent of streams in the Columbia River Basin of Washington and Oregon to become too warm for most salmon and trout to inhabit. As a result, many animals such as bears, that depend on these fish as a stable food source are limited to only certain areas, causing competition for food and ultimately for survival.

Polar bears are aquatic mammals that make their living on arctic ice. Melting arctic ice is an effect of Global Warming that is greatly impacting polar bears and their access to feeding grounds. Global warming is a serious threat to polar bear habitat because of an increasing climate change. Their habitat is changing too rapidly for them to keep up. As arctic ice slowly melts, the U.S. Geological Survey projects that two thirds of polar bear population will disappear by 2050, and polar bears could become extinct in the United States. This is a substantial amount considering the polar bear is already an endangered species.

More on the TIGER Grants: Biking Wins Big

This is a guest post by Jesse Prentice-Dunn of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign.

As I recently blogged, TIGER grants announced this week will fund transportation infrastructure projects that help build the foundation of a more efficient transportation system that reduces global warming pollution. In particular, biking and pedestrian infrastructure were big winners, with 24 of the 51 funded projects including some biking or walking component. Two grants in particular will fund bicycling and walking infrastructure networks in Philadelphia, PA, and Indianapolis, IN. Other funded projects will add bike lanes to bridges and downtown streets.

Creating safe and accessible biking and walking infrastructure could not come at a better time, as levels of commuting by biking and walking are skyrocketing. This month's SIERRA magazine features a great story on bike commuting and pedaling towards a post carbon future. Check it out!

To find out more about biking and walking projects receiving TIGER grants, visit our friends over at America Bikes.

TIGER Transportation Grants - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This is a guest post by Jesse Prentice-Dunn of the Sierra Club Green Transportation Campaign.

I doubt there was a drum roll or trumpet fanfare, but yesterday Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the long awaited recipients of 51 TIGER grants.

What is TIGER, you ask? In the economic recovery bill passed by Congress in February 2009, $1.5 billion was allocated for a competitive transportation grant program, named TIGER, with funding given to projects that have a significant long-term impact on a region and increase the sustainability and safety of our transportation system while making our communities more livable. Essentially the TIGER grant program is a competitive, performance-based method of funding transportation projects instead of the traditional earmark and formula-driven methods.

Over the last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) received nearly 1500 applications from all 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia, requesting funding for projects totaling $59 billion – roughly 40 times the amount of funding available. Applications ran the gamut – from new highways to downtown transit projects to port improvements. With so many applications, DOT had the opportunity to either select a range of forward-looking projects or continue funding the same sprawl and congestion that has grown for decades.

The result? From a quick glance at the 51 projects announced today, the Department of Transportation has fulfilled the goal of the TIGER program, selecting projects that will help build the foundation of a more efficient transportation system that reduces global warming pollution.

The projects funded represent a range of modes that will increase transportation options – 26% transit, 25% rail, 23% roads and 8% ports. Some specific examples of funded projects include a bicycle and pedestrian network in Philadelphia, a New Orleans streetcar line connecting an Amtrak hub to local transit, and intermodal rail facilities in Memphis, TN, and Birmingham, AL, that will redirect freight from highways to more efficient rail. To see the full list of projects funded, visit the Department of Transportation website (PDF), and you can also see the various states' reactions via this Google News Search.

The bad? Fortunately there's very little to report in the way of the bad or the ugly. Road and bridge projects funded focus primarily on repair and maintenance instead of merely constructing new capacity. The few projects that build new capacity, such as a highway around Dallas, Texas, will include tolling and other congestion mitigation technology. Additionally, we were pleased that several projects that do not advance the goals laid out in TIGER were not selected, such as a proposed bridge over the wild and scenic St. Croix River in Minnesota, which our North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club has fought for years.

In sum, the TIGER grants announced Wednesday show that there are innovative transportation solutions throughout the country that will help us create a greener, more efficient transportation system. Further, the 51 projects selected from a wide range of the good, the bad and the ugly are those that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lay the foundation for 21st century transportation.

Using Coal Ash to Melt Ice?

Co-written by Bruce Nilles and Lyndsay Moseley, Director and Associate Washington Representative, respectively, for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.

On Thursday, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will start using coal ash to melt the thick ice on the Platte River in Omaha, Nebraska, to prevent ice jams and severe flooding. From the article:

"The hope is that the dark ash will absorb the sun's energy and help 'rot' the ice so it breaks up into smaller chunks and washes downstream, Berndt said."

Coal ash contains heavy metals like lead, mercury, arsenic and more – all of which are linked to increased rates of cancer, learning disabilities and reproductive problems. The metals can be ingested through the dust or when dissolved in water.

This strikes us as a strange and dangerous move – one community is going to add coal ash to their water while many others are worried about how it will affect their water supplies.

For example, the Tennessee Valley Authority is working around the clock to get tons of coal ash out of the Emory and Clinch rivers to protect public health and the environment in Tennessee.

Also, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is drafting a rule to mandate safe coal ash disposal practices. Yet for some reason officials in Nebraska think it's is a good idea to take 86 tons of bottom ash from a coal plant and dump it onto the river ice via cropduster.

We are looking into this action by the Army Corps and the state to see if it violates any environmental laws designed to protect the rivers and drinking water sources.

For now, please urge EPA to move forward with federal safeguards that protect our waterways from improper coal ash disposal. And if you’re in or near Omaha, Nebraska, write a letter to the editor today!