Regulating Plant Food?

In a hearing last week about regulating carbon, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) remarkably questioned the need to regulate carbon, saying that carbon is just plant food and we'd do more harm than good.

SHIMKUS: It’s plant food … So if we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere? … So all our good intentions could be for naught. In fact, we could be doing just the opposite of what the people who want to save the world are saying.

Iowa Global Warming Campaign Event on Monday

Iowa Global Warming Campaign is planning a fun event on Monday.

We're busy putting together an awesome event this coming Monday, February 23rd, as part of our monthly volunteer push and would love to invite you to attend. Starting at 6:00pm in our offices, there will be a discussion centered on ICCAC recommendations, passenger rail and mobilizing neighborhood climate leaders, then a letter writing party and a screening of the film "Fighting Goliath," about the Texas coal industry. We'll have food and movie snacks-its an easy, fun way to get involved and tell your representatives what you think!

An Iowa Activist Evening

"February- Leadership for Coal and Climate."

This event is planned to start at 6:00 pm on Feb 23, 2009 at Iowa Global Warming and ELPC Offices.

McCain's Plan to Solve Global Warming: Attack the Sun

Iraq Joins the Kyoto Protocol

Iraq signed onto the Kyoto Protocol over the weekend.

Iraq has formally ratified the UN's Kyoto Protocol on climate change, according to a government statement seen by AFP on Saturday.

"The presidential council ratified in its session on January 23 a law according to which the Republic of Iraq will join the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol," the statement said.

The Kyoto Protocol legally commits industrialised countries which have signed and ratified it to trim their output of six carbon gases seen as being responsible for global warming.

I find this pretty ironic considering that the US hasn't joined and that Iraq produces so much oil.

March to ReEnergize Iowa Ends with Rally on Sunday

The March to ReEnergize Iowa ended on Sunday with a rally in Des Moines. NASA's Chief Climatologist, James Hansen spoke to the crowd at Nollen Plaza.

From the Des Moines Register...

On Sunday afternoon, under a blistering hot sun and a heat index in the low 90s, James Hansen, a Denison native and outspoken global warming expert, called for a moratorium on coal-fueled power plants in the United States and the creation of a federal carbon czar to monitor taxes levied on businesses for carbon emissions.

"The science is clear. If we do not reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, climate extremes will increase and we will exterminate many of the species on the planet," Hansen said to roughly 250 people during the ReEnergize Iowa rally at Nollen Plaza in downtown Des Moines.

The rally capped a four-day march from Ames to Des Moines organized by the Sierra Student Coalition and other environmental advocates, students and labor leaders.

"The public must demand that political leaders give greater priority to the planet that we leave for our children and grandchildren," Hansen said. "Our children deserve higher priority than the special interests who have wielded so much power in Washington."

Hansen then went on to called for a moratorium on the building of new coal-fired power plants...

"Until there is technology to make them truly clean, there needs to be a moratorium," Hansen said. "There are claims that some of the new plants will be clean, but they don't really mean that in the sense of capturing carbon dioxide and sequestering it."

Pressure is building on Gov. Culver to take action about the two coal-fired power plants that are proposed in Waterloo and Marshalltown.

Join the March to “Re-Energize Iowa”!

From ICAN...

Join the March to “Re-Energize Iowa”!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coalition will march from Ames to Des Moines August 2-5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Global warming is a colossal problem. But here in Iowa, we have the potential to take the lead in finding solutions to that problem by building a clean energy economy – one that creates jobs, cuts carbon emissions, and promotes environmental stewardship. We already have the third most wind power in the nation, but we have a very long way to go to rise to the scale of the climate crisis we face. To make the changes needed and build that new clean energy economy, we’ve got to start with the simple recognition that we are all in this together.

One great way to show that solidarity this summer is by joining the “March to Re-Energize Iowa,” which will start in Ames on August 2 and end in Des Moines on August 5. This exciting event is hosted by ReEnergizeIA, a Project of the Sierra Student Coalition. Co-sponsors include ICAN and several of our affiliates including the United Steelworkers of America, the Iowa Farmers Union and Iowans for Sensible Priorities. This broad coalition of labor, environmental, farm and other organizations have joined together to meet the global warming challenge.

There is information below on where to find the marchers each day of the march.

The march will send a strong message to Congress, and to the presidential candidates on the trail here in Iowa: cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050, by building a clean energy economy. As the march organizers point out, “We can change our light bulbs and ride our bikes to work, but the scale of the problem demands national action. We need an economy driven by clean energy.” We need an economy that works for us.

The only way our government will take the necessary steps to build that clean energy economy is in response to we the people, acting together.

Check out ReEngergize Iowa for the schedule of the march.

Do Culver and Judge Want it Both Ways When it Comes to Climate Change?

Lt. Governor Patty Judge co-sponsored a resolution at the Lt. Governor Association summer meeting that would pledge lieutenant governors to use their offices to combat climate change and promote energy independence.

If passed, the resolution would call for a seven percent reduction in 1990 carbon emissions levels by 2012 and 60 to 80 percent reduction below 1990 levels by 2050.

This is great news from the Lt. Governor. When you add it to Gov. Culver's commitment to renewable energy and the formation of the Iowa Power Fund, Iowa is leading the way to reduce the need for foreign sources of energy, on protecting the environment, and on reversing global climate change.

However, Lt. Governor Judge and Gov. Culver have been in favor of the two proposed coal-fired power plants in Waterloo and Marshalltown. The proposed 630 mw coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown alone would emit 6 million tons of carbon dioxide, thousands of tons of particulate matter, and more than 100 lbs of mercury a year into the air.

The two proposed plant will take capital investment away from renewable energy, which would create hundreds more jobs, lower energy costs, and create revenue for Iowans.

Can Culver and Judge have it both ways when it comes to global climate change?

March to ReEnergize Iowa

There is a march to ReEngergize Iowa scheduled for August 2nd through August 5th from Ames to Des Moines to promote awareness of global warming.

Here is some information from their website...

The ReEnergize Iowa campaign has been working throughout the summer to bring together a diverse coalition of organizations, constituents and individuals in Iowa for a unified call on our national leaders to cut carbon emissions at least 80% by 2050---a doable 2% each year, starting now. We are organizing a march to highlight the need to build a clean energy economy for real global warming solutions. The march will commence in Ames on August 2 and end with a rally at Nollen Plaza in Des Moines on August 5. At the same time that we will be marching in Iowa, thousands of citizens will be marching in New Hampshire from Nashua to Concord. With the two largest marches ever planned around climate change occurring simultaneously, we will be organizing local and national media to amplify our call to action.

NASA scientist and Iowa native, Dr. James Hansen will be speaking at the rally following the march on August 5th in Des Moines.

I first learned about the march at the John Mayer/Ben Folds concert last month. Ben Folds received a flyer with information about the March the day before the show while walking around downtown Des Moines. That night, Folds wrote a song using the words on the flyer. He planned on playing the song at the concert, but misplaced the flyer. It took a stagehand half the show to find the flyer. Here's Ben Folds singing the song, March to ReEngergize Iowa...

The Issue of the So-called Global Warmings of Our Planet

This is about a year old, but it is pretty darn funny. The video is from the Earth to America special that was on TBS and shows Will Farrell as George W. Bush talking about Global Warming.

Global Warming? But it is Cold Outside and Other Crazy Statements

On Friday, a group of scientists released a report that said global warming is for real and people are likely the cause.

The IPCC, the most authoritative group on warming grouping 2,500 scientists from more than 130 nations, predicted more severe rains, melting glaciers, droughts, heatwaves and rising sea levels, especially if Antarctica or Greenland thaw.

Conservatives then began showing their disaproval with idiotic statements. Rush Limbaugh tried to debunk global warming by saying stranded polar bears, who live on melting ice caps, are just playing around, just like your cat does.

A caller to the Sam Seder show said that global warming is just a way from liberals to reach into his wallet and take his money.

And the ridiculous statements continued over at State 29. State 29 has recently had a couple posts attacking Al Gore and basically saying global warming can't exist because it is cold outside. This statement shows how ignorant State 29 is. If State 29 actually spent 5 minutes researching global warming, he would know that global warming increases extreme weather patterns such as hurricanes, tornados, droughts, heat waves, and cold spells.

To counter the report, Exxon-Mobil has offered $10,000 to any reports that discuss the shortcomings of global warming.

Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate change report

Maybe State 29 should submit his posts.