Climate Change News Facts and Links Inspired By Live Earth

"Green doesn't mean antibusiness," writes author David de Rothschild in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook. "It means the planet needs new solutions."

You can be part of these new solutions with Essential Skill #40 in the Handbook:

Retrofit your career.

"Whether you start a company or join one, now is the time to get in on the ground floor of the green boom." Though the possibilities are plentiful, here's CareerBuilder's picks for the "Top 25 Green Gigs":

1) Hydrologist
2) Environmental Engineer
3) Pest Control Technician
4) Conservation Biologist
5) Science Teacher
6) Toxicologist
7) Pollution Control Technician
8) Fund-raising Director
9) Ecologist
10) Camp Counselor
11) Business Manager
12) Economist
13) Forester
14) Environmental Attorney
15) Community Affairs Manager
16) Environmental Health and Safety Technician
17) Landscape Architect
18) Waste Disposal Manager
19) Environmental Chemist
20) Corporate Waste Compliance Coordinator
21) Urban and Regional Planner
22) Agricultural Inspector
23) Wastewater Water Operator
24) Wildlife Biologist
25) Pollution Control Engineer

Click this link to find associated salaries and job openings for the "Top 25 Green Gigs" listed above.

Of course, if you're already in a career that you love, simply find creative ways of incorporating more eco-friendly choices, practices and policies.

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Live Earth To Rock the Vote in 2008
Since the presidential candidates, debate moderators and media have not given climate change the significant attention it needs and deserves thus far in the election process, Live Earth plans to push the issue this fall. On October 5, Live Earth will hold simultaneous concerts on college campuses all across America to “Rock the Green Vote.” We’ll post it here when participating colleges and performers are announced. Click this link to read full story.

2) Al’s Gore’s Company To Invest $638 Million Into Green Projects
Climate Solutions Fund, chaired by Al Gore, has raised $638 million dollars to invest in 1) renewable energy, 2) energy efficient technologies, 3) energy for biofuels and biomass and 4) carbon trading markets. And that’s just the beginning. Click this link to read full story.

3) New Study Says Oceans are Going to Cool the Planet, But Won’t Stop Global Warming
According to a new study published in the journal Nature, natural shifts in ocean circulation could actually make the planet cooler over the next 10 years. Suspecting that climate change skeptics and policymakers may spin this however they please, the study’s researcher says this: “Just to make things clear, we are not stating that anthropogenic climate change won’t be as bad as previously thought,” his concerns being that “policymakers may either think mitigation is working or that there is no global warming at all.” Click this link to read full story.

4) Once Again, Scientists Predict Record-Low Arctic Sea Ice This Year
“The current Arctic ice cover is thinner and younger than at any previous time in our recorded history, says climate researcher Sheldon Drobot, “and this sets the stage for rapid melt and a new record low” – more bad news for the polar bear and other Arctic wildlife. Click this link to read full story.

5) Oxygen-Deprived Oceans May Be Another Casualty of Global Warming
Sea life depends on oxygen in the water to keep them alive. Unfortunately, the warmer it gets, the harder it is for oxygen to absorb into water. “Reduced oxygen levels may have dramatic consequences for ecosystems and coastal economies,” say the scientists who published this research in the journal Science. Click this link to read full story.

6) UNICEF Report Says Poor Children Suffering Most from Climate Change
“It is clear that a failure to address climate change is a failure to protect children,” says UNICEF’s UK director. “Those who have contributed least to climate change – the world’s poorest children – are suffering the most.” Hunger and deadly diseases are among their concerns. Click this link to read full story.

7) States Not Giving Up On Regulating Their Own Vehicle Emissions
The federal government recently proposed new fuel efficiency standards that would override anything established by California to more aggressively cut greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The governors of 11 states responded with letters of protest to President Bush, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Click this link to read full story.

8) “Small Wind” Could Provide Enough Energy to Power Your Home
If you thought wind power was only available in those mammoth-size turbines that electric companies use, think again. People just like you are installing “small wind” turbines on their residential and business property to power just one home or building.

9) Environmental Defense Fund Partners With Private Equity Firm
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a private equity firm, wants all of its U.S. companies to be as eco-friendly as possible. So they’ve partnered up with the Environmental Defense Fund to help them address energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, water consumption and toxic waste. Click this link to read full story.

10) Kansas Legislature Fails To Override Governor’s Veto of New Coal-Fired Power Plants
State legislators had hoped to have enough votes to override the Kansas Governor’s veto of two new coal-fired power plants. Four votes short, that didn’t happen. Kansas was the first state to reject new coal-fired power plants based on carbon dioxide emissions. Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
Environmental Defense Fund, finding the ways that work

As you may have read in this week’s news posted above, the Environmental Defense Fund is partnering with a huge private equity firm to help “green” all of their companies in the US. Their other corporate partnerships include FedEx, DuPont and McDonald’s.

Yet forging partnerships with corporate America is just of many things the Environmental Defense Fund is doing to help save the planet, including its dedication to influencing laws and policies – its number one focus when it comes to global warming.

"Our top priority is to pass national legislation that caps global warming pollution and creates a flexible emissions trading market,” says the organization’s director of its national climate campaign. “That will open the door to a green technology revolution."

The Environmental Defense Fund is a non-profit organization founded by a group of scientists 40 years ago. Click this link to learn more.

4-25-08

Week #39: Living the Live Earth Pledge

Everywhere you turn these days, it seems we're being asked to help plant trees to offset our carbon footprint. Yet, according to author David de Rothschild, it's more complicated than that. It's Essential Skill #39 in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook:

Plant a tree (mindfully).

"In temperate parts of the globe, such as the U.S. and Europe, one result climatologists fear is that all those trees you plant will absorb and retain heat from the Sun," writes de Rothschild, "contributing to a rise in the temperature of the Earth's surface of up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100 in those regions."

Instead, it's best to sponsor the planting of trees in tropical areas.

"Tropical forests filter pollutants quickly and, with their deep roots, draw up water that evaporates into the atmosphere, helping to foster protective cloud cover that reflects sunlight back into space."

Critics of the tree planting solution point to the fact that when a tree dies -- and decomposes naturally or is burned as firewood -- the tree releases back into the atmosphere all the carbon dioxide sequestered throughout its life time.

That's why de Rothschild stresses the importance of caring for the trees we plant. And when a tree does die, it should be salvaged for lumber or disposed of in a landfill (as opposed to mulching or burning).

Click this link to learn more from the Tropical Rainforest Coalition.

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Go Veg to Fight Climate Change Says Paul McCartney
Did you know the livestock industry generates more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation? “It’s very surprising,” says vegetarian Paul McCartney, “that most major environmental organizations are leaving the option of going vegetarian off their lists of top ways to curtail global warming.” Click this link to learn how to live a healthy
vegetarian lifestyle. Click this link to read full story.

2) U.S. Government Interfered with Science, EPA Scientists Say
According to 1,580 EPA scientists who participated in a survey conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, 800 of them had their work interfered with in the past five years – primarily those whose job it was to write regulations and conduct risk assessments. Click this link to read full story.

3) Feds Outline Plan for Reaching 35 MPG by 2020
Increased fuel efficiency to 35 mpg won’t happen overnight. To ease our way into it, federal regulators have suggested the following timelines – 27.8 mpg by 2011 and 31.6 mpg by 2015. Unfortunately, the proposal also says that any state’s attempt to regulate its own vehicle emissions to be even more fuel-efficient will be overridden by federal rules. Click this link to read full story.

4) 18 State Leaders To Approach Presidential Candidates on Issue of Climate Change
It’s clear that the Bush administration will accomplish nothing substantial regarding global warming. So concerned state leaders are looking ahead – going straight to the presidential candidates in hopes of helping them shape U.S. policy on climate change. States involved include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington. Click this link to read full story.

5) L.A. Passes New Green Building Laws
If you’re building a residence or commercial building in Los Angeles that’s more than 50,000 square feet, you must now ensure that it meets all requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council. Click this link to read full story.

6) U.S. Set To Welcome All-Electric Car In 2009
Think City is a battery-operated car that runs solely on electricity. It’ll cost less than $25,000, and one charge will take you 110 miles. Click this link to read full story.

7) EU Meeting With China Regarding Climate Change
Committed to setting its own limits on greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union questions the impact if China doesn’t do the same, as China is now widely regarded as the world’s biggest emitter of carbon emissions. Determined to talk China into setting limits itself, EU reps headed over there for talks this week. Click this link to read full story.

8) EU Planning 50 New Coal-Fired Power Plants
As much as they say they’re committed to fighting climate change, the European Union is apparently okaying the building of 50 new coal-fired power plants within the next 5 years. Click this link to read full story.

9) Hydroelectric Dam Proposed for Congo River
Banks and construction companies are in talks to build an $80 billion hydroelectric dam on the Congo River to generate electricity. Unfortunately, it’s believed most of this electricity will be diverted into urban areas instead of poor areas where it’s needed most. Click this link to read full story.

10) Pope Gives Green Spin to His United Nations Address
“The protection of the environment, of resources, and of the climate,” are among the world’s most pressing problems said Pope Benedict XVI to the United Nations – problems that “require from the international community that it act on a common basis.” Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
Tropical Rainforest Coalition

We lose a part of the rainforest that is the size of a football field – not just every single day, but every single second! It’s a travesty, considering how critical our rainforests are to regulating the earth’s climate and sequestering global warming-causing carbon dioxide.

Thankfully, the Tropical Rainforest Coalition is doing something to stop it. Established in 1991, this mission of this all-volunteer non-profit is to:

Preserve tropical rainforest ecosystems, their indigenous people and cultures at the local level through enabling volunteerism and through community education, and at the international level through technical and financial support for recognized organizations involved in the conservation of tropical rainforests.

They accomplish this goal through three types of projects:

* Rainforest Growth Fund, for “research, ecotourism, community participation and education and other essential infratructure to conserve rainforests.”
* Save-an-Acre, through which they acquire land in the rainforest to protect it.
* Save-a-Species, focused on the protecting the rainforests’ endangered species

Right now these projects are being carried out in Ecuador and Belize, and prior areas of concentration have included Peru and Trinidad.

Click here to learn more about the Tropical Rainforest Coalition and how you can help.

4-22-08

Happy Earth Day!

4-18-18

When you're going through the checkout line, most cashiers no longer bother to ask, "Paper or plastic?" Everything goes right into the plastic bags hanging from the dispeners conveniently placed right in front of them, with the paper bags usually hidden from view under the counter. Paper bags have their own drawbacks, but at least they don't take 1,000 years to decompose.

Fortunately, we have another choice altogether -- the reusable bags that are taking grocery store clerks by storm. Granted, you have to be quick with those trigger-happy plastic baggers, like placing your bags before your groceries on the conveyor belt, or blurting out "I've got bags!" before you can even squeeze in a friendly hello.

Though more and more people switch to reusable bags every day, it's impossible to ignore the countless grocery carts rolling out of stores with 10+ plastic bags filled with food that you know would have fit into four or five of those roomy reusable bags of your own.

"The average American family of four tosses out about 1,500 plastic sacks a year," write author David de Rothschild in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook's "Essential Skill #38: Choose the Right Bag." "Most of these [plastic] bags aren't biodegrading; the plastic just breaks up into tinier and tinier bits until it leaches into the soil or water."

Some cities are taking matters into their own hands, banning plastic bags altogether. But we shouldn't need laws to make such a smart, simple choice.

"There are an estimated 500 billion to one trillion new plastic bags used every year. That's as many as two million per minute," writes de Rothschild. "If one million people switched to reusable bags, we'd eliminate the need for one billion plastic bags."

If you have yet to make the switch, make it now. And if you tend to forget your bags at home, keep extras in the car. You can get them from most grocery stores, but they tend to be flimsy and are rarely made from recycled materials. Check out these durable reusable bag designs made from recycled cotton, plastic bottles and containers at ReusableBags.com.

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Bush Reveals Climate Change Strategy
It’s been a long time coming – it’s just too bad it wasn’t worth the wait. Bush’s new climate change strategy falls far short of the aggressive action necessary for us to effecitvely impact global warming before it's too late. Click this link to read full story.

2) Researchers Release Top Polluting US Counties
Here’s how the top 10 emitters of CO2 stack up, including the county, state, city and tons of carbon dioxide emitted every year (numbers represent millions):

1. Harris, Texas (Houston), 18.625
2. Los Angeles, Calif. (Los Angeles), 18.595
3. Cook, Ill. (Chicago), 13.209
4. Cuyahoga, Ohio (Cleveland), 11.144
5. Wayne, Mich. (Detroit), 8.270
6. San Juan, N.M. (Farmington), 8.245
7. Santa Clara, Calif. (San Jose), 7.995
8. Jefferson, Ala. (Birmingham), 7.951
9. Wilcox, Ala. (Camden), 7.615
10. East Baton Rouge, La. (Baton Rouge), 7.322

Click this link to read full story.

3) China Announces Plans for Air Clean-up for Olympics
With the Olympic torch haphazardly making its way toward Beijing, China is feeling the pressure to clean up its infamous pollution. Steps include:
* Closing Beijing-area factories and cement plants for two months
* Banning the use of half of Beijing’s vehicles
* Banning the use of spray paint and other chemicals outside
* Closing a tenth of its gas stations
* Stopping construction in the Beijing area

Click this link to read full story.

4) Northern Ireland Welcomes World’s Largest Tidal Turbine
With rotors that will run up to 20 hours a day, Northern Ireland’s new tidal turbine will generate enough energy to power 1,000 homes. Click this link to read full story.

5) Critics Question World Bank’s Carbon-Offset Market
The World Bank says it wants to help fight climate change. So they loan money to fossil-fuel companies to help them make minor eco-friendlier changes. Then they sell carbon credits for the reductions. “This does nothing for increasing access to clean energy, the development of the low-carbon economy, or sustainable [solutions],” says the author of a report critical of the World Bank’s carbon-offset market. Click this link to read full story.

6) Renewable-Energy Tax Credit Gets an Extension
If you have yet to take advantage of the renewable-energy tax credit for “greening” your home, there’s still time. The Senate has passed an extension through 2009. Click this link to read full story.

7) Democrats To Take on the “Green Delegate Challenge”
At this year’s Democratic National Convention, delegates are being asked to participate in the “Green Delegate Challenge” – to buy as many carbon credits investing in clean-energy projects in Colorado. Click this link to read full story.

8) Green Groups Launch “Green Jobs for America” Campaign
The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), United Steelworkers and the Blue Green Alliance will push for the greening of jobs, with the focus on 12 strategically-targeted U.S. states. Click this link to read full story.

9) Ford Motor is Getting Greener
By 2020, Ford Motor Company says it will reduce greenhouse gases emitted from its vehicles by 30 percent. Click this link to read full story.

10) Student Finds Flaws in Textbook Coverage of Global Warming
“Science doesn’t know whether we are experiencing a dangerous level of global warming or how bad the greenhouse effect is, if it exists at all.” High-school senior Matthew LaClair didn’t blindly memorize that textbook “fact,” written by two conservative authors. He took to the Center for Inquiry who wrote report on the books biases, leading publisher Houghton Mifflin to say it’s reviewing the text. Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
350

“The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.”

So reads a portion of a letter from Bill McKibben, co-founder of Step It Up. He’s got a new project now – 350. The goal is to encourage people to “take the number 350 and drive it home: in art, in music, in political demonstrations, in any other way you can imagine.”

Best of all, you don’t have to wait for a special day to get started. That special day is now. Take the initiative and get 350 out there. When you do, take a picture and email it to organizers@350.org.

Click this link to learn more about 350 and how you can get involved.

4-6-08

Week #37: Living the Live Earth Pledge

Find a hero.

That's Essential Skill #37 in The Live Earth Global Warming Handbook.

Our hero inspired this blog. From his organization of the Live Earth Concerts ... to his book and movie An Inconvenient Truth ... to his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize -- no one has raised awareness of climate change more than Al Gore.

Yet, Al Gore is one of countless eco-heroes whose lasting legacy on this earth will be the dedicated work they did on its behalf.

Handbook author David de Rothschild highlights some of these heroes, like:

Jacques Cousteau, a scuba diver whose television specials showed us the importance of appreciating and preserving marine life
Petra Kelly, who co-founded the German Green Party -- the world's first environmentalist party to achieve political significance
John Muir, who co-founded the Sierra Club and helped Yosemite win designation as a national park
Greg Nickels, the Seattle mayor who created the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement that hundreds have now signed
Wangari Maathai, who founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya, which has planted more than 20 million acres of trees.
Yvon Chouinard, a rock-climber who developed "clean climbing" equipment to minimize damage to the rocks
Adam Wajrak, Poland's leading environmental journalist, working to protect wildlife threatened by post-communist development
William McDonough, a leading architect in the sustainability movement

Read about other eco-heroes in the Ecology Hall of Fame.

As I said, our hero -- Al Gore -- inspired us to create this blog, as well as the associated website, Living Live Earth.

What does your eco-hero inspire in you?

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) States Sue EPA for Failure to Limit Vehicle Emissions
Fed up with the feds, 18 states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency for not acting on its power to limit greenhouse gas emissions in new cars and trucks. It’s been a year since the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had the power to do so. Nearly a dozen environmental groups and three cities also signed the lawsuit. Click this link to read full story.

2) UN Holds Another Round of Climate Talks in Bangkok
Though nothing concrete will come from it, the UN’s latest round of climate talks in Bangkok are a necessary part of the process in hammering out an international treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. “With the 2009 deadline,” says one UN Climate Change Secreatry Yvo de Boer of the climate talks, “we have just one and a half years in which to complete negotiations on what will probably be the most complex international agreement that history has ever seen.” Click this link to read full story.

3) Cosmic Rays Not To Blame for Global Warming
Despite its best efforts “The Great Global Warming Swindle” has been debunked. Broadcast in 2007, this program aired on UK TV suggested that cosmic rays are to blame for global warming. Since then, a team of researchers from Lancaster and Durham Universities tried to prove that hypothesis, but without success. Click this link to read full story.

4) Obama Wants Gore’s Advice On Climate
Al Gore may have a place in the new administration after all. Senator Barack Obama says that if he is elected, he would consider asking Gore to assume a cabinet-level position. “I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem,” says Obama. “He’s somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I’m already consulting with him in terms of these issues.” Click this link to read full story.

5) McCain to Fight Terrorists from White House Run on Nuclear Power
“I will work hard to ensure that Americans are safe from terrorists,” says Senator John McCain of his bid for the presidency, “and I will conduct that work from a White House reliant on safe, clean, nuclear power produced right here in the United States.”

6) Even Barbie is Going Green
Instead of throwing out scrap fabric and trimmings, Mattel will be patching these pieces together into an entire wardrobe for a new Barbie doll. “Barbie BCause is for eco-conscious girls who believe that being environmentally friendly is the right thing to do,” says a Mattel spokesperson. “And we are thrilled to give extra meaning and extra style to what was once just extra Barbie doll fabric.” Click this link to read full story.

7) US May Grow Biofuel Crops On Floating Barges
Responding to criticism that growing biofuel crops is stealing space from produce needed for food, the USDA is researching a possible solution – growing bioful-bound crops on floating barges at sea.

8) Porsche Challenges London Congestion Fee
If London’s Mayor gets his way, he’ll raise the congestion fee for the most-polluting vehicles entering the city from $16 a day to $50. Porsche complains the new fee would probably cause their sales to drop by as much as 11 percent. Since the automaker is apparently uninterested in manufacturing more efficient vehicles to get out of the “most-polluting” category, Porsche is appealing to the courts for help. Click this link to read full story.

9) Baseball Team Plays On First Green-Built Stadium in the U.S.
From locally-manufactured building materials … to efficient lighting and plumbing … to drought-resistant plants, the new green-built Washington Nationals baseball stadium is the first of its kind in the country. Ironically, President Bush threw out the first green pitch. Click this link to read full story.

10) Navajo Nation Pushes for Wind, and Coal?
Though they recently signed a deal for a wind-powered project on its Western reservation, the Navajo Nation is also trying to get approval for a new coal plant. Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
WE, a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection

Last week, Al Gore announced the launch of a $300 million advertising campaign for WE, a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection. WeCanSolveIt.com is the website address, and also the driving force behind the project – that with individual effort and political will, we can stop human-caused global warming before it’s too late.

The WE campaign’s first television ad has already started airing, and future ads will feature odd pairings of people – like Pat Buchanan and Al Sharpton, and Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich – the point being that this is a non-partisan issue. If there’s one thing we should all be able to agree on, it’s the urgency of working together on this issue of climate change.

On WE’s website are many ways of getting involved:

* Join the WE campaign
* Sign the petition to urge for a global treaty on climate change and urge the press to ask more global warming questions of the presidential candidates
* Learn about the solutions to climate change
* Get involved in your own community
* Read success stories
* Watch videos, including the powerful Black Balloons video
* Sign up for periodic updates from WE

Click this link to visit and join the WE campaign today.

4-1-08

Al Gore's Alliance Launches New Website
As part of its $300 million marketing campaign to encourage everyone to help solve the climate crisis, The Alliance for Climate Protection has a new website to promote the new WE campaign. Check it out at WeCanSolveIt.org.

3-30-08

Week #36: Living the Live EarthPledge

"One million commuters waste about 47 million hours per year because of traffic congestion," writes author David de Rothschild in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook. Thus the need for Essential Skill # 36:

Decongest downtown.

As unlikely as it seems, Manhattan demonstrates just the kind of decongestion de Rothschild is talking about. Sure, there's bumper-to-bumper traffic in the streets, but there's also heel-to-toe traffic on the sidewalks, as so many Manhattanites "hoof it" most everywhere they go. Or they ride bikes, or take public transportation.

In fact, 82 percent of Manhattan residents walk, bike or take public transit instead of riding or driving in a car. The results are substantial:

"Manhattanites consume gasoline at a low rate that the country as a whole hasnt' matched since the 1920s," writes de Rothschild, "and generate less than one-third of the carbon emissions of the average American."

In the Handbook, de Rothschild notes three ways that cities are decongesting their downtown areas: 1) Charging vehicles to go downtown, 2) City bike programs and 3) Bus Rapid Transit, where one lane is designated for buses only. Cities all over the world are adopting programs like these at a greater rate than ever, and the public is responding.

Click these links for details on congestion charging, shared bike programs and bus rapid transit.

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Gore Alliance Announces $300 Million Marketing Campaign On Climate Change
“We have to mainstream this,” says The Alliance for Climate Protection of educating people on what they can do to help stop climate change. “It has to become easy and normal.” In an effort to help, The non-profit Alliance is launching a $300 million marketing campaign filled with the “how-to” messages peole need to hear. Click these links to read full story and learn more about The Alliance for Climate Protection.

2) Huge Chunk of Ice Shelf Collapses In Antarctica
It's the fastest warming place on earth, and it's melting before our eyes. The Antarctic Peninsula is now 160-square miles smaller. A piece of ice seven times the size of Manhattan has fallen off the Wilkins ice shelf in the western Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists first noticed a change in the ice on February 28, and it took less than one month for it to fall off into the ocean. The British Antarctic Survey calls this a sure sign of global warming. Click this link to read full story.

3) World Turns Out Lights for Earth Hour
In a campaign to raise awareness for energy conservation, people all over the world turned off their lights from 8 to 9 p.m. during their local time zone on Saturday, March 29. Click this link for details from Earth Hour.

4) Soot Pollution Much Bigger Problem than Previously Believed
According to new research, soot pollution has a global warming factor three to four times greater than previously believed, second only to carbon dioxide. The good news is that soot only stays in our atmosphere for about a week (compared carbon dioxide’s 100 years), so tackling the soot problem could help reduce global warming significantly. Click this link to read full story.

5) Western U.S. Fastest Warming Spot In the World
According to new data compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the U.S. West is warming up faster than any other place on earth. The NRDC warns of the drought conditions likely to follow in the region’s fastest growing cities. Click these links to read full story and to read the NRDC’s full report.

6) Congestion Pricing Favored By New York’s New Governor
In support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal, the New York’s new Governor David Paterson supports congestion pricing in Manhattan. If passed, the proposal will charge every car $8 to enter the downtown area. Click this link to read full story.

7) Bush Administration Plans To Propose Carbon Dioxide Rules This Spring
In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency must consider regulating CO2 emissions from vehicles, the Bush Administration says they’ll propose rules this spring. Critics says waiting so late in Bush’s administration is a tactic to prevent new rules from actually taking effect before he leaves office. “The name of the game here is to run out the clock, basically,” says a spokesman from the NRDC. “All of this stuff will come in a big pile and it will be on the next administration’s desk.” Click this link to read full story.

8) Kansas Governor Vetoes New Coal-Fired Power Plants
“Instead of building two new coal plants,” says Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, “which would produce 11 million new tons of carbon dioxide each year, I support pursuing other, more promising energy and economic development alternatives.” Click this link to read full story.

9) Boston Planning Indoor Composting Facility
If all goes as planned, Boston will be home to the first indoor composting facility generating electricity for 1,500 homes from the rotting leaves and fruit inside. Click this link to read full story.

10) Proposed Solar Projects To Power Thousands of California Homes
“These are the kinds of big ideas we need to meet California’s long-term energy and climate change goals,” says California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This big idea is two new solar-powered projects big enough to generate enough electricity to power 300,000 homes in the state. Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
Google

Yesterday Google “turned out the lights” on its website in support of Earth Hour, a campaign during which people all over the world turned out their lights for one hour to raise awareness of the importance of energy conservation. All day long, Google’s search engine page was black, accompanied by a message for all Google users to also participate in Earth Hour.

Google’s support of Earth Hour is just of many ways that this company is committing itself to eco-friendlier living.

As explained at Google.org, the company’s RechargeIT initiative “aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technology.”

In fact, Google has created its own test fleet of plug-in vehicles to collect data on their performance. So far, the results are beyond impressive. For instance, a Toyota Prius gets 44.6 miles per gallaon. Through the RechargeIT project, a Toyota Prius Plug-in gets 66.2 miles per gallon.

“Plug-in vehicles offer a major opportunity to reduce oil use and corresponding emissions,” reads Google.org, “while renewable energy sources – solar, wind, geothermal and others – could supplant a major portion of the planet's electricity generated from coal.”

Click this link to learn more about Google’s RechargeIT initiative.

3-29-08

Earth Hour is NOW Around the World
In a campaign to raise awareness for energy conservation, people all over the world are turning off their lights from 8 to 9 p.m. during their local time zone. If you want to participate, sign up through this link to Earth Hour's website.

3-25-08

Huge Chunk of Ice Shelf Collapses In Antarctica

It's the fastest warming place on earth, and it's melting before our eyes.

The Antarctic Peninsula is 160-square miles smaller today. A piece of ice seven times the size of Manhattan has fallen off the Wilkins ice shelf in the western Antarctic Peninsula. Scientists first noticed a change in the ice on February 28, and it took less than one month for it to fall off into the ocean.

Read more from Greenlight News.

3-22-08
After reading this week's Essential Skill for Living the Live Earth Pledge, scroll down for our top 10 stories and Live Earth Leader of the Week.

Week 35: Living the Live Earth Pledge

"About one-quarter of the carbon emissions we produce pours out of the tailpipes of our vehicles," writes author David de Rothschild in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook.

"Fortunately, you've had the key to solving this problem within your grasp since about the age of eight." It's Essential Skill #35 in The Handbook:

Ride a bike.

We could save 100,000 tons of carbon emissions every year if one million people committed to this: Every week, pick one 5-mile trip and ride your bike instead of driving your car.

So the next time you need to drop a letter off at the post office, pick up a few things at the grocery store or get cash out of the ATM, forget gasing up at the pump -- just slam an energy drink and pedal your two-wheeler down the street.

"No need for petitions, sign-waving, or calling on your leaders to do something about global warming," writes de Rothschild (though that's essential too). "On your bike, you're already doing it."

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Tony Blair Heads Up International Climate Team
Determined to bring the world together on the issue of climate change, Tony Blair is leading an international climate team to do just that. Its goal – getting the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters (the US and China included) to agree on cutting emissions 50% by 2050. “The fact of the matter is,” says Blair, “is that if we do not take substantial action over the next two years, by 2020 we will be thinking seriously about adaptation rather than prevention.” Click this link to read full story.

2) Tibet Protests Include Environmental Concerns
Though there are many issues fueling the recent protests in Chinese-ruled Tibet, the environment is among them. Tibetans disagree with the Chinese government’s destruction of the Himalyas for the mining of copper, iron, lead and other minerals. The Chinese also plan to fill China’s Yellow River with diverted water from Tibet’s melting glaciers. Click this link to read full story.

3) Accelerated Spring Weather Concerns Biologists
For some of us, warmer weather cannot come soon enough. Some biologists disagree, pointing to this year’s coming of Spring-like conditions earlier than ever, meaning a longer allergy and wildfire season (not to mention just one more indicator of global warming). Click this link to read full story.

4) Leiberman-Warner Climate Security Act Gets Mixed Reviews
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s economic analysis of the Leiberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 will not hurt the economy over the next two decades. On the other hand, energy industry and business trade groups are campaigning to stop it, pointing to job losses and higher energy prices if the legislation passes. Click this link to read full story here and here.

5) New Data Shows Glaciers Melting Rapidly
The World Glacier Monitoring Service keeps track of 30 “reference” glaciers, their health reflecting that of 160,000 other glaciers throughout the world. According to new data, it doesn’t look good. Between 1980 and 1999, they reference glaciers shrunk an average of less than one foot. Between 2000 and 2006, they shrunk nearly five feet. The central African glaciers are perfect example, which have shrunk by 50 percent over the past 50 years – a big problem for the more than 2 million people who depend on these glaciers for their water supply. Click this link to read full story here and here.

6) Kite Power Could Change Commercial Shipping
Captain Lutz Heldt recently completed a 12,000-mile roundtrip voyage on a cargo ship across the Atlantic Ocean. Thanks to a kite-like sail, the Captain says the trip used 20 percent less fuel. “We can once again actually ‘sail’ with cargo ships,” says the Captain, “thus opening a new chapter in the history of commercial shipping.

7) Liquefied-Natural-Gas Terminal Planned for Long Island Sound
Though still pending approval from two New York state agencies, a liquefied-natural-gas terminal planned for Long Island Sound has received the okay from the federal government. Though the terminal will ultimately generate enough natural gas to provide electricity for 4 million homes in New York and Connecticut, Connecticut state officials and environmentalists oppose the plan. Click this link to read full story.

8) Electric Cars Rely Too Heavily On Water for Widespread Use
According to a new study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, electric vehicles may not be the best alternative to fossil fuel. Electric cars require more water than that needed to make gasoline. So if most cars in the U.S. were to run on electricity, it could cause a water supply problem. “If we use only wind or solar energy,” says one coauthor of the study, “water use would be essentially zero.” Click this link to read full story.

9) Mixing Fresh Water and Salt Water Creates Energy
It’s called estuary energy – the mixing of fresh water and salt water at the world’s river mouths to create electricity. They’re already trying it in Norway and the Netherlands. If the process is perfected, this estuary energy could supply 20 percent of the world’s electricity. Click this link to read full story.

10) Nordstrom Department Store Goes Green
Starting in April, Nordstrom will start its transition to 100 percent recyclable shopping bags, gift boxes and tissue paper. Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
Eco-Libris

“About 20 million trees are cut down annually for virgin paper used for the production of books sold in the U.S. alone.” That’s according to the website of Eco-Libris, an organization that wants to help us doing something about it.

Though Eco-Libris’ ultimate hope is that books will one day be made only from recycled paper or some other eco-friendly material, their plan in the meantime is to replace those trees we’re cutting down.

Here’s how it works.

For every book you “balance out” through Eco-Libris, they’ll plant a tree in a developing country where it’s needed most.

Eco-Libris’ goal in 2008 is to balance out half-a-million trees by the end of the year. If you read books and love the planet, help Eco-Libris reach its goal. Click this link to start balancing out your books today.

3-15-08
After reading this week's Essential Skill for Living the Live Earth Pledge, scroll down for our top 10 stories and Live Earth Leader of the Week.

Essential Skill #34: Watch the Front Lines

How do we know global warming is starting to take its toll? By relying on Essential Skill #34 in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook:

Watch the front lines.

"Climate change happens too gradually for us to feel the difference between one day and the next," writes Handbook author David de Rothschild, "but that doesn't mean we can't monitor the front lines of global warming."

These are the top 11 places de Rothschild says to watch for the most visual evidence of climate change:

1) New Orleans
2) Canadian Arctic
3) Venice
4) Komodo National Park
5) Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras
6) Sundarbans
7) Kilimanjaro National Park
8) Himalayas
9) Amazon
10) Greenland Ice Sheet
11) Great Barrier Reef

"Landscapes around the world are already decaying," writes de Rothschild, "and among the first wave of casualties are some of the most cherished wonders. Keep watch on these fragile corners of the Earth to follow the progress of climate change."

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Australia Formally Ratifies the Kyoto Protocol
“From today, Australia officially becomes part of the goal solution on climate change, not just part of the solution,” said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of his country’s recent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Click this link to read full story.

2) China’s Emissions Expected To Double
According to findings published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, China’s emissions are going to double by 2010. Click this link to read full story.

3) Solar Panel Waste Product Getting Dumped In China
Though there are ways of recycling silicon tetrachloride – a toxic by-product of producing polysilicon for solar panels – many Chinese factories are opting for the faster, cheaper solution. They’re dumping the toxic waste into the land. According to a material-sciences expert, “No grass or trees will grow in the place. It is poisonous. It is polluting. Human being can never touch it.” Click this link to read full story.

4) Queen Elizabeth Addresses Issue of Climate Change
“If is often those who pollute the least – notably in the world’s least-developed nations – who are closest to the razor’s edge and most affected by the impact of climate change and least equipped to deal with it,” said Queen Elizabeth during her annual Commonwealth Day speech. “Whatever we do, wherever we live, our actions in defense of the environment can have a real and positive effect upon the lives of others, today and in the future.” Click this link to read full story.

5) Britain’s Tony Blair Talks Tough On Climate Change
From Tokyo to China to India, Tony Blair is taking his message on climate change: “A 50 percent cut by 2050 has to be a central component of this. We have to try this year to get that agreed. We need a true and proper global deal and that needs to include America and China.” Click this link to read full story.

6) Republicans Greening Their Convention
Plans to green the Republican Convention in September are aimed at making the event carbon neutral. They’ll also be using recycled-fiber carpet, booths and stages made from local, sustainably-harvested wood, water in petroleum-free bottles, biodegradable plates, composted food waste, non-plastic banners with soy-based inks, energy-efficient lighting and reduced paper use. Click this link to read full story.

7) US House Considers Ban On New Coal Plants
If they don’t have advanced controls for carbon dioxide pollution, new coal plants simply won’t get built. That’s according to a proposed bill in the House – the “Moratorium on Uncontrolled Power Plants Act of 2008.” Click this link to read full story.

8) Capitol Hill Introduces Bike-Sharing Program
“You have such a huge concentration of people and so much of the errand running doesn’t need to fire up an engine,” says Rep. Earl Blumenauer of those who work on Capitol Hill. That’s why the Capitol is trying a pilot bike-share program to be made available to all government employees. Click this link to read full story.

9) San Francisco Mayor Announces More Green Initiatives
Every taxi in town must be converted to a low-emission vehicle by 2011. City employees can only use 100 percent recycled paper by 2010. Tidal energy in San Francisco Bay should be explored. So says San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Click this link to read full story.

10) Southern Baptists & The Vatican Preach for Eco-friendly Living
“We believe our current denominational engagement with these issues have often been too time, failing to produce a unified moral voice,” reads the join statement of 40 Southern Baptist leaders on the issue of climate change. “Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring.” In a similar appeal, the Vatican has listed pollution among its new list of “social sins” to be avoided. Click this link to read full story here and here.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
United Nations Environment Programme

Tourism is the largest industry in the world, and it’s only getting bigger. “This growth brings the prospect of income and economic development to countless tourist destinations in rich and poor countries alike,” says UN-Under Secretary General and UNEP Director Achim Steiner.

“The challenge is to manage this growth sustainably. Governments have a key role to play, but so too do individuals and families when planning and going on holiday.”

So to help tourists travel green during the holiday season, the United Nations Environment Programme has launched “Green Passport.” This Internet-based campaign walks tourists through eco-friendliest ways to walk this world with the smallest carbon footprint possible.

Click this link to get your Green Passport today.

3-5-08
After reading this week's Essential Skill for Living the Live Earth Pledge, scroll down for our top 10 stories and Live Earth Leader of the Week.

Week #33: Living the Live Earth Pledge

As impossible as it seems in our world today, as many as two billion people do not have elecricity. Add to that the other billion people whose only source of power is batteries, kerosene and candles, and that's one-third of the global population living in what author David de Rothschild calls "energy poverty." In response, he points to Essential Skill #33 in The Live Earth Global Warming Handbook:

Harvest the sun.

Not only is solar power a good idea for people who are literally living in the dark in many developing countries, but it's also a great answer to the problem of global warming. Solar energy is a renewable resource that can replace the coal-fired power plants that generate most of our electricity today.

Of course, the problem is cost. "The price of solar systems is coming down," writes de Rothschild, "though a set of rooftop panels can still cost thousands of dollars."

One solution to the problem of cost is the example set by residents in Portola Valley, California. By joining together in their purchase of solar panels at a bulk discount, they saved 30% off the regular price. It's known as the Collective Power Program. Similar programs have spread throughout California and are moving into five other states this year.

Remember though, this high cost of solar is only temporary.

"Solar power's costs are predicted to match coal's by 2010," writes author David de Rothschild. "Soon, solar will be embedded in virtually everything, from shingles and windows to the tops of cars, with every bit of solar power displacing electricity produced from fossil fuel."

For more information on getting bulk discounts on solar systems for your community, check out this link to Solar City. Though they may not offer the program in your part of the country just yet, it will at least get you moving in the right direction.

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Online Global Map Tracks Wind Patterns
To find the best place to harness wind energy, check out the new online tool from 3Tier – a global map that tracks wind patterns all over the globe. The service is free, including a similar program that indicates the best places on earth to harness solar power. Click this link to read full story. Click this link to check it out.

2) EPA Tries To Justify Its Denial of California’s Waiver
California wanted to be able to regulate its own emissions from vehicles. To do so, they needed a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA said no and has released a 48-page document explaining why – that California doesn’t have the “compelling and extraordinary conditions” for special consideration. Critics point to the state’s coastline, big agricultural industry and wildfires as all the “compelling and extraordinary conditions” they need. Click this link to read full story.

3) Japan To Improve 21 Renewable Energy Technologies
Determined to make a big difference in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2005, Japan is planning to be on cutting edge of innovation in renewable energy technologies for coal, natural gas, and solar, among others. Click this link to read full story.

4) No More Federal Loans for Big Coal in Rural Areas of US
Citing the 30 percent annual rise in the cost of new coal-fired power plants, the federal government has suspended its funding of them through a loan program that issued $1.3 billion over the past 7 years. Click this link to read full story.

5) U.K. Activists Planning Protest of Proposed Coal Plant
In what has become an annual weeklong climate camp, a group of U.K. activists have chosen a proposed coal-fired power plant in Kent as this year’s focus. Click this link to read full story.

6) NYC “Black Taxis” Going Green
By 2009, all the limos and town cars in New York City will be hybrids. It’s the only these transportation companies can meet the new emissions standard – 25 miles per gallon by 2009 and 30 miles per gallon by 2010. Click this link to read full story.

7) Eco-Activists Continue Protesting at Heathrow Airport
If everything goes according to plan, London’s Heathrow Airport will begin construction on a third runway. Eco-activists, including Greenpeace, are staging protests to make sure that does not happen, arguing that it goes against Britain’s promise to curb carbon dioxide emissions. Click this link to read full story.

8) Filling Up at the Tank Falls in US
In the past six weeks, Americans have used 1.1 percent less gas than in 2007. It may not sounds like much of a drop, but it’s significant. We haven’t seen a drop that drastic for at least 16 years! Click this link to read full story.

9) Britain Urges Voluntary Plastic Bag Reduction In Stores
13 billion plastic grocery bags. No, that’s not the number we use worldwide. That’s how many are handed out in the U.K. alone every single year. Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants that to stop. If voluntary measures by grocery stores don’t work, he’s ready to impose mandatory programs of his own. Click this link to read full story.

10) Global Warming Skeptics Meet In New York City
“They have to get together to talk to each other, because nobody else is talking to them.” Princeton University geosciences professor Michael Oppenheimer said that of the recent conference held by global warming skeptics in New York City. Though the science of global warming is now widely understood, respected and accepted, there are those among us who refuse to budge. Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
Connect2Earth

178 days. That’s how long you have to upload your environmental-focused photos, videos and text to Connect2Earth.org. Each entry will be rated by other Connect2Earth visitors.

The best of the best will be shown at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October – the largest environmental event in the world. Of those selected, one person will be invited to appear in person to give a 5-minute presentation to the world’s leading conservationists, scientists and business leaders.

More than a contest though, Connect2Earth is an opportunity for environmentally-minded people to express their thoughts and feelings about the earth and our impact on it.

Click this link to learn more and to sign up at Connect2Earth.org.

2-28-08
After reading this week's Essential Skill for Living the Live Earth Pledge, scroll down for our top 10 stories and Live Earth Leader of the Week.

Week #32: Living the Live Earth Pledge

"Remind yourself what it is you're trying save: nature," writes author David de Rothschild in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook.

Busy with work, errands and household chores, we all too often treat the outdoors simply as an unavoidable transition from the house to the car to the school to our jobs to the store to the restaurant and back home again. If we're not careful, nature simply fades into the background of our lives. That's why we all need Essential Skill #32 in the Handbook:

Get lost in nature.

It's literally time to stop and smell the roses, whether they're in your own front yard or a field of flowers in the Holland.

"There are still 1.8 million square miles of unexplored rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon," writes de Rothschild. "Nearly one-quarter of the Earth's land is mountains waiting to be climbed. There are almost 600,000 miles of coastline -- much of it untouched -- and millions of square miles of glorious desert waiting to be crossed."

In other words, the world we're trying to save from global warming is still alive and well out there. The more we take the time to enjoy it, the harder we'll fight to keep it.

Take the time to enjoy your own backyard at least 15 minutes a day. Get your kids involved in outdoor activities and sports. Take your family camping, hiking, skiing or whitewater rafting. And plan vacations to places where the biggest tourist attractions are the landscapes, not the shopping malls.

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

1) Court Says California Needs Waiver for Ship-Emissions Rule
California wants to enforce its own laws to reduce smog-causing emissions from ships in L.A. A federal appeals court says they need from the EPA first. That’s not a good omen considering that the EPA recently denied a similar waiver that would have allowed California to regulate emission from automobiles. Click this link to read full story.

2) Chinese Plastic Bag Manufacturer Closes Down
In the wake of China’s discouragement of using plastic grocery bags, the country’s largest plastic bag manufacturer has closed its factory. Click this link to read full story.

3) Alaskan Village Sues Fossel Fuel Companies
Blaming 24 oil, coal and power companies for the erosion of its coastline, the village of Kivalina in Alaska has issued a lawsuit that would require these fossil fuel companies to pay for the village’s relocation. Click this link to read full story.

4) U.S. Governors Disagree On Best Course For Cleaner Energy
Though they all agree we need to find cleaner energy, the 50 U.S. governors at this year’s National Governors Association meeting, could not reach a consensus on what that energy should be. As the governor of Montana put it, “[Coal] has a CO2 problem, wind has a reliability problem, solar has a price problem, nukes have a price and radiation problem.” Click this link to read full story.

5) Conde Naste Magazine Identifies “Toxic Ten” & “Green 11” Companies
With all the “greenwashing” of companies and their products these days, what looks green on the outside may be the color of oil inside. To help consumers make sense of it all, Conde Naste Portfolio Magazine ranked the best and the worst. The “Toxic Ten” includes Ford, Boeing, Apple and Chevron, among others. The “Green 11” includes Bank of America, Dupont, General Electric, Starbucks, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart, among others. Click this link to read full story.

6) Companies Falling Short of Carbon Reduction Promise
According to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, participating countries are supposed to be lobbying for a mandatory cap on the country’s carbon emissions. What doesn’t jive is that many of these companies have their hands in organizations opposed to the caps. Click this link to read full story.

7) Virgin Airlines Flies First Ever Biofuel-Powered Plane
With all the biofuel backlash, it’s no surprise that some environmentalists were less than thrilled by Virgin Airlines recent biofuel-filled flight, which used 20% biofuel in one of the plane’s four main tanks. In response, Richard Branson pointed out that the biofuel he used was from nuts sustainably harvested, not corn ethanol, the growth of which often results in global warming-causing deforestation. Click this link to read full story.

8) Organic Fertilizers Help Fight Global Warming
According to new research published in Waste Management & Research, the use of organic fertilizers can help stop climate change, as it stores more carbon in the soil than that treated with chemicals fertilizers. “Furthermore, increasing organic matter in soils may cause other greenhouse gas-saving effects,” write the authors of the paper, “such as improved workability of soils, better water retention, less production and use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, and reduced release of nitrous oxide.” Click this link to read full story.

9) Study Shows Daylight-Savings Time Doesn’t Save Energy At All
According to a new study of Indiana’s energy use since all 92 counties adopted daylight savings time, energy use has gone up. The culprit is suspected to be increase use of air conditioners during the extra hour of daylight. Click this link to read full story.

10) French Automaker Exploring the Recycling of Cars
In keeping with a European Union directive that says all new vehicles must be 95 percent recyclable by 2015, French automaker Renault is partnering with a waste management company to develop end-of-life recycling for vehicles. Click this link to read full story.

Live Earth Leader of the Week
The Nature Conservancy

Considering that this week’s Essential Skill from The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook is “Get Lost In Nature,” this week’s Live Earth leader is an organization that helps ensure you can do just that.

The Nature Conservancy has been protecting nature for more than 50 years, its mission:

To preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

What sets The Nature Conservancy apart from other conservation organizations is its Conservation By Design approach. Where they go and what they do there is guided by the research of its more than 700 staff scientists. Today, The Nature Conservancy has a presence in all 50 states and more than 30 countries.

Click this link to learn more about The Nature Conservancy and its non-profit work.

2-22-08
After reading this week's Essential Skill for Living the Live Earth Pledge, scroll down for our top 10 stories and Live Earth Leader of the Week.

Week 31: Living the Live Earth Pledge

"Which adds more greenhouse gases to our atmosphere, motorized transporation or livestock?"

Based on the title of this post, you can probably guess that answer to David de Rothschild's question in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook. Or maybe you've already heard. The answer is livestock, which accounts for an astonishing 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thankfully, there's a simple way to change all that through Essential Skill #31:

Eat your veggies.

Though the meat and dairy industry would love you to believe otherwise -- and spend big money every year making sure you don't change your mind -- you don't need meat or dairy to be healthy. In fact, a vegetarian or vegan diet is healthier, as it's minus much of the fat and cholesterol that leads to heart disease and other complications.

All of this is not to suggest that if you really are a true-green environmentalist, you'll become become vegetarian or vegan overnight. But just like you cut down on your water, electricity and gas use, you can cut down on your support of the livestock industry to help shrink your carbon footprint.

"One pound of meat requires eight times as much energy to produce as one pound of veggie protein such as tofu," write de Rothschild in the Handbook. Add to that the deforestation for pasture land, fertilization of feed crops, methane from animal flatulence and nitrous oxide emitted from manure, and you can see how the greenhouse gases add up quick.

Check out this link to the Mayo Clinic for details on a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet.

If you need any more inspiration to eat your veggies instead of cows, pigs, chickens and other livestock, consider this. Ours is no longer a world of small family farms that respect the animals they're raising. Instead, we're eating animals from the cruel factory-farming system, which treats animals like unfeeling commodities meant only to be bought, killed, packaged and sold. If you want to know the truth that the meat meat and dairy industries do not want you to know, go to The Humane Society of the United States.

Live Earth News Watch: Top 10 Stories

Week #40: Living the Live Earth Pledge

Week #38: Living the Live Earth Pledge