Earth Hour- Did you participate?

Environmentalists hail Earth Hour as a big success
By VANESSA GERA (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
March 29, 2009 7:12 AM EDT

BONN, Germany - For environmental activists, the message was clear: Earth Hour was a huge success.

Now they say it's time for nations to tackle climate change.

"The world said yes to climate action, now governments must follow," the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said a day after hundreds of millions of people worldwide followed its call to turn off lights for a full hour.

From an Antarctic research base and the Great Pyramids of Egypt, from the Colosseum in Rome to the Empire State building in New York, illuminated patches of the globe went dark Saturday night to highlight the threat of climate change. Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries dimmed nonessential lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

WWF called the event, which began in Australia in 2007 and grew last year to 400 cities worldwide, "the world's first-ever global vote about the future of our planet."

"Last night's message from the masses was loud and clear: Delay no more, real action now!" Kim Carstensen, the leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative, said in a statement.

Negotiators from 175 countries gathered Sunday in Bonn for the latest round in an effort to craft a deal to control emissions of the heat-trapping gases responsible for global warming.

Earth Hour officially began when the Chatham Islands, 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of New Zealand, switched off its diesel generators. At Scott Base in Antarctica, New Zealand's 26-member winter team resorted to minimum safety lighting and switched off appliances and computers.

In Australia, Sydney's glittering harbor was bathed in shadows as lights dimmed on the steel arch of the city's iconic Harbour Bridge and the nearby Opera House.

As the sun moved west, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt darkened. So did the Acropolis in Athens and the Colosseum in Rome.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral were among 200 monuments and buildings that went dark. The Eiffel Tower, however, only extinguished its lights for five minutes for security reasons because visitors were on the tower.

The celebration then crossed the Atlantic, where crowds at New York's Times Square watched as many of the massive billboards, including the giant Coca-Cola display, darkened. The Majestic Theater marquee at the home of "The Phantom of the Opera" went dark, along with the marquees at other Broadway shows.

Mikel Rouse, 52, a composer who lives and works nearby came to watch.

"C'mon, is it really necessary? ... All this ridiculous advertising ... all this corporate advertising taking up all that energy seems to be a waste," Rouse said.

Hundreds of other cities also joined in, from Chicago to San Francisco to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue that watches over the city was darkened, along with the beachfront of the famed Copacabana.

"Earth Hour has always been a positive campaign," said Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley. "It's always around street parties, not street protests, it's the idea of hope, not despair. And I think that's something that's been incredibly important this year because there is so much despair around."

First baby seal killed this morning - please help!

The first baby seal was killed this morning.
Here's how you can help save others from that cruel fate.



It began at 5:48 Eastern time this morning.

The sealers stormed into the once-peaceful seal nursery with their hakapiks raised. Within a matter of seconds, defenseless baby seals were clubbed and their blood spilled onto the ice. This year the Canadian government will allow commercial sealers to slaughter 280,000 seals for their fur.

Please, make a donation now of whatever you can afford to help end the cruel seal hunt once and for all.

Because of the previous support of hundreds of thousands of compassionate people like you, there is a ray of hope amidst the horror.

The European Union will consider banning its trade in seal products in a few weeks. But the fishing industry and the Canadian government are lobbying furiously to fight the ban. Just last week, Russia announced it would halt the killing of baby seals. It's clear the world community is condemning such killing -- increasingly Canada stands alone in defending the slaughter.

That's why it's crucial that we're here now, so we can broadcast the truth to the countries in the European Union and ask them to help us bring these atrocities to an end. Please help sustain our work on the ice -- together we'll raise our voices over the din of those who profit from the slaughter.

Thank you for standing with us -- having so many of you behind us at home makes all the difference.

I look forward to the day when seals will be safe from the hunt.

		Sincerely,
		Rebecca Aldworth Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues The Humane Society of the United States

Urge the EPA to pave the way for cleaner cars

	Urge the EPA to Pave the Way for Cleaner Cars To combat the serious threat of global warming pollution, states have the right, under the Clean Air Act, to adopt breakthrough clean car standards that require about a 30 percent reduction in emissions from new vehicles by 2016.

Take Action

Write today to urge the EPA to allow states to exercise their right to regulate global warming pollution from cars.

Stephen Johnson, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator under the Bush administration, ignored the science and the recommendations of his own staff and denied states the right to implement the clean car standards.

In his first week in office, President Obama instructed the EPA to reconsider this decision. But we’re up against some powerful adversaries. Even as automakers take billions in government bailout money, they continue to spend millions on lawyers and lobbyists attempting to subvert our right to cleaner cars.

The EPA is accepting comments on the clean car standards until Monday, April 6. Please write to them today and urge them to support states’ rights to reduce global warming pollution from automobiles.

Sincerely,

Michelle Robinson
Director, UCS Clean Vehicles Program

Contact the EPA today

Dear Administrator Lisa Jackson,

Thank you for reconsidering the request for states to be able to implement clean car standards for global warming pollution. I urge you to please grant states the right to implement these breakthrough regulations as soon as possible.

This is your opportunity to reduce automobile global warming pollution, provide consumers like me with more fuel-efficient vehicle choices, and help transform the auto industry into a key component of a clean energy economy.

State governments across the country are working to reduce global warming pollution. For many of these states, the clean car standards are a central component of their plans. The science is clear and it’s urgent: to prevent the worst effects of global warming, state and national policies must work in tandem to put the brakes on climate change.

I look forward to your swift action to allow states to implement the clean car standards.

Tell A Friend

You can help ensure this action has the greatest effect. Please pass this alert along to your friends and family.

Donate

Help us seize this opportunity and support our work for a healthy environment and a safer world by making a special tax-deductible donation today.

UPDATE: Helicopter Assault Kills 84 Wolves

Palin Escalates
Bloody War on Wolves

In just five days, Governor Sarah Palin's Administration slaughtered at least 84 wolves near the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve using helicopters, spotter planes and high-powered guns. And with denning season beginning soon, defenseless wolf pups and their families will soon face death from deadly snares and poison gas in and around their dens.

More than 3,000 compassionate wildlife supporters have contributed in the last few days to stop Palin and save the lives of wolves. We are so close to meeting our goal. Will you help?

Last week, at least 66 84 wolves were killed by aerial gunners with high-powered rifles in helicopters near Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. And, under new policies approved by Governor Sarah Palin’s Board of Game, wolf pups could be gassed to death in their dens in the weeks ahead.

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Make an emergency donation now to help stop the slaughter and run this ad.

www.eyeonpalin.org

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s cruel aerial slaughter has suddenly escalated.

Last week, Palin’s henchmen killed 66 84 wolves, using helicopters, spotter planes and aerial gunners. To make matters even worse, Palin’s Board of Game has approved the use of poison gas and deadly snares to kill defenseless wolf pups and their families in and around their dens.

Wolves are being slaughtered in record numbers. Please make an emergency donation to help us stop Palin’s killing frenzy and shine the national spotlight on her brutal massacre.

To stop the killing, we...

• Supported emergency legal efforts in state court to halt or delay the helicopter assault on wolves near the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, near the area made famous by the 1890s Alaska Gold Rush. Ironically, the state ended its effort just one day later.
• Are working on Capitol Hill with our champion Congressman George Miller of California to win cosponsors for the Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act to end Palin’s barbaric aerial killing and prevent programs like it from spreading to other states; and
• Are raising public awareness in the media to Palin’s horrible wolf-killing programs in newspapers, on radio and television across the country.

In just a few weeks, Governor Palin is scheduled to appear in Indianapolis. With your emergency help, we can run this ad and ensure that citizens in Indiana and the national media covering her appearance learn the terrible truth of what Palin and her killing thugs have been up to over the last few weeks.

Please make an emergency donation today to help underwrite our state court action and advocacy on Capitol Hill and to expand our Eye on Palin campaign through our new ad.

We need to raise $185,000 by next Friday to run our ad and expand the Eye on Palin campaign. Please make your donation today.

We can win this fight with your compassionate help. Please send whatever caring contribution you can today. Thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

P.S. Make a secure donation online today or call 1-800-425-4632 to help us run our new ad and support comprehensive action to protect wolves and other wildlife in Alaska.

Whale schnitzel?

Endangered Fin Whales like this one will die without your help.

Demand for whale meat is so low in Iceland, merchants have resorted to creating new products like whale schnitzel to try and sell it.

So then why has Iceland decided to cruelly hunt 150 endangered fin and 100 more minke whales? It just doesn't make sense!

Write to the Icelandic Fisheries Minister and tell him whales are worth more alive than dead!

Commercial whaling has been banned for more than two decades, yet Iceland continues firing harpoons into these gentle creatures for products that nobody needs. It is cruel, unnecessary and unsustainable.

No method exists to kill whales instantly or humanely. It can take up to an hour to kill a whale, which is first mutilated by an explosive harpoon and then shot with rifles or prodded with an electric lance.

Tell Iceland that even a small increase in the number of whale watching tourists will create and secure more jobs and money than the cruelty of whaling ever will.

The meat from endangered fin whales is not even traditionally eaten by Icelanders, but exported to places like Japan. Yet Japan already has thousands of tons of unsold whale meat in frozen storage.

The successful whale watching industry offers a humane, sustainable and financially lucrative alternative to whaling, bringing in approximately £10m a year. Our friends at the Icelandic Whale Watching Association are worried that killing the whales will also spell the end of their businesses. In a bankrupt country and a global recession, now is not the time to kill whales they depend on for tourism.

Please send an email to Iceland's Fisheries Minister urging him to call off this cruel and unnecessary hunt.

I need you to speak out for these magnificent animals. We still have time to act before the killing starts.

Thanks for all you do,

Fred O'Regan IFAW President P.S. Iceland's government should look to tourism, and in particular whale watching, as a means to rebuilding the economy - not the cruel killing of endangered whales. It just takes one simple click to help protect these amazing animals.

Chimps deserve sanctuary, tell Congress today!

Last night, ABC News: Nightline broke the story of more than 300 chimpanzees languishing at one of the world's largest primate research facilities.

The report featured video footage gathered by The Humane Society of the United States during a nine-month undercover investigation at the New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana -- and showed the routine and possibly unlawful treatment of hundreds of chimpanzees and monkeys.

Each animal's suffering detailed in the report was wrenching, but the story of 26 elder chimps currently warehoused at the facility was particularly poignant.

Watch our undercover video and see for yourself.

These 26 chimps were taken from their mothers in the wild, and have since lived a life behind bars. The oldest, Karen, was captured in 1958, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was still president.

Please help end invasive research on these chimps and give them the sanctuary they deserve. Urge your U.S. Representative, Thomas Rooney, to support the Great Ape Protection Act.

The Great Ape Protection Act was re-introduced in the House of Representatives today, on the heels of our undercover investigation. This legislation would phase out invasive research on the more than 1,000 chimpanzees remaining in U.S. laboratories, and lay the groundwork for permanent retirement of the approximately 500 chimpanzees owned by the federal government, including Karen and other chimps at the New Iberia Research Center.

TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief phone call to Representative Rooney at (202) 225-5792. When you call, you'll likely speak to a staff member who can take your message. Remember to be polite and professional, and leave your name and where you live so it's clear that you are a constituent. When you call, you can say:

"Hello, my name is [your name]. I'm a constituent in [your town]. Last night, ABC News: Nightline aired a report of chimpanzees at the New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana. I'm calling to ask Representative Rooney to please co-sponsor the Towns-Reichert Great Ape Protection Act, to stop this cruelty and to save taxpayers millions of dollars. Thank you."

We expect that Congress will receive a huge outpour of calls on this issue. If you aren't able to get through, please keep trying. After you make your call, send a follow up message and tell your friends and family how they can help, too.

Thank you for speaking out for chimps held in research. They deserve better than a life of torment and misery. Together, we can make a difference for these amazing creatures.

Sincerely,

Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
The Humane Society of the United States

Get Ready for Spring

Get Ready for Spring
As spring cleaning season gets into full-swing, take some time to sort through -- and properly dispose of -- your household hazardous waste. According to the EPA, the average home can accumulate up to 100 pounds of hazardous waste.

Learn more about household hazardous waste and how to properly dispose of it at Earth911.org.

Have an Enviro Tip to share?
E-mail us!

Sea Otter

Sea Otter
With up to 1 million hairs per square inch, sea otters have the thickest fur of any animal. But their coats cost millions of these animals their lives during the fur trade, pushing these playful marine mammals near extinction.

They’re now protected, but still face challenges from habitat loss, limited prey, disease and other threats.

Learn more about sea otters

RIP Macho B

RIP Macho B

Jaguars once ranged as far north as the Grand Canyon -- but only a few have been documented in the U.S. since 1971.

One in particular -- a 16-year-old dubbed Macho B -- was the most photographed jaguar in the U.S.

Late last month, Macho B was inadvertently caught during a research project, and Arizona Department of Game and Fish officials took the opportunity to fit him with a GPS collar. Researchers were excited at the prospect of studying the behavior of jaguars in the U.S. based on the data that Macho B would send back.

But that excitement turned to sadness. Days later, Macho B had to be euthanized when it was determined that he was suffering from terminal kidney failure.

Our fight for U.S. jaguars lives on. Later this month, Defenders will be in court to force federal officials to develop a recovery plan for U.S. jaguars -- a move the Bush Administration refused to take on.

Read more about Macho B on our website.


Adopt a jaguaror one of 23 other animals from Defenders Wildlife Adoption Center and help support our fight to save jaguars like Macho B and other wildlife in need.

Fighting on for Prairie Dogs and Ferrets

In an ongoing battle on the Kansas prairie, wildlife-friendly ranchers Larry & Bette Haverfield and neighboring landowners Gordon & Martha Barnhardt and Maxine Blank are resisting Logan County Commissioners who want to forcefully poison the state’s largest prairie dog complex on their land -- a move that would put highly endangered black-footed ferrets and other wildlife at risk.

Last month, a county judge in Kansas upheld a restraining order that protects most of the 10,000-acre ranch from poisoning -- all but a depth of 90 feet around the perimeter. For now, the majority of the ranchers’ land -- and the prairie dogs and ferrets it supports -- remain safe.

But in retaliation, County Commissioners ordered the poisoning of the 90-foot buffer area -- and stuck the wildlife-friendly ranchers and landowners with a bill reaching into the thousands of dollars.

These landowners have already spent tens of thousands of dollars on previous Commissioner-forced poisonings and court costs to fight for their piece of the American prairie and the wildlife that depends on it.

Take action now -- Send a message of support to the Barnhardts, Haverfields and Mrs. Blank for their ongoing fight to save prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets and the grassland ecosystem on their land.

Florida eNews: Panther Week in March!

Panther Week!

Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge, the Fish & Wildlife Service and other conservation partners are teaming up for a week-long series of events to celebrate the Florida panther.

Join us during Florida Panther Week in southwest Florida with a kick-off event at the Naples Zoo on March 15th. Spend a fun-filled day learning about these highly endangered cats through zoo exhibits and activities. You can also meet with Defenders staff, agency biologists and others actively involved in panther conservation.

The week of festivities wraps up on March 21st with Save the Florida Panther Day at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge near Naples. Explore important habitat for these great cats on the Duncan Memorial Trail or on a guided field trip or two.

Events held throughout the week provide opportunities to learn about the wildlife and habitat found on the refuge and nearby public lands.

Starting March 9th, you can RSVP for field trips and presentations by calling (239) 353-8442 x239 or by emailing events@floridapanther.org.

Learn more about Panther Week from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

BREAKING: Terrible News for Wolves

Nearly 1000 Wolves
Could be Killed

Last year, more than 100 wolves were killed in the opening days of wolf delisting in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone region before our legal efforts won the day.

Now, the Obama Administration embraced the deadly Bush-era delisting plan, and another round of wolf killing could begin in just weeks.

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Please donate now to support our Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone Wolf Legal Defense Fund so we can win again for our wolves.

World famous "Limpy" was one of the first wolves killed when federal protections were temporarily eliminated last year.

Please forward this message on to others who care about our wolves and other wildlife.

I have some terrible news. Today, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he would follow the discredited path of the Bush Administration and delist wolves in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone region.

This is a stunning development, just six weeks into the Obama Administration. This delisting paves the way for almost 1000 wolves to be killed under deadly state management plans in Idaho and Montana.

The killing could begin in just weeks.

As I write this, we are already preparing an emergency legal challenge to this harmful proposal -- and we’ll be in court as quickly as possible. But we need your help for the legal fight ahead.

Please make an emergency donation now to support our Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone Wolf Legal Defense Fund.

This delisting will put the fate of our wolves in the hands of state governments that want to slaughter nearly 1,000 wolves. Last year, when federal wolf protections were temporarily lifted in the region, more than 100 wolves were killed in just a short time -- including the world renowned “Limpy.”

In addition, regular wolf hunting seasons could begin as early as this fall in Idaho and Montana -- and Idaho Governor “Butch” Otter said again today that he still wants the first available hunting tag to shoot a wolf himself.

We can’t allow the out-of-control killing of wolves to happen again.

Please donate now to support our emergency legal challenge to protect our wolves in the Northern Rockies.

For more than 35 years, Defenders of Wildlife has fought for our wolves. We were there when the first wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and we’ve been there to defend them ever since. We’ve beaten back efforts to prematurely delist these wolves in the past, and I'm confident we can do so again.

Just this week, we celebrated a hard-fought victory made possible with your help as the Senate voted to overturn the Bush Administration's last-minute gutting of the Endangered Species Act. We now need to beat back another deadly Bush-era plan that will open the door to the slaughter of nearly 1,000 wolves.

Please donate what you can today to save the lives of wolves in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone.

Together, we can win our legal challenge of the same bad plan originally put forth in the last throes of the Bush Administration -- and ensure that our wolves will continue to be around for future generations.

Sincerely,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

P.S. Your donation through our secure website will ensure that your contribution will be put to immediate work. You can also donate by calling 1-800-385-9712.

Congress Sees the Light!

After such a long drought in federal leadership on renewables, we find ourselves pleasantly surprised by Congress' newfound love for the sun. Congress just passed an economic recovery package that makes good on Obama's promise to unleash the economic development engine that is clean energy. Nearly all of the solar provisions on the table made it into the final bill. Serious kudos to our hard-working friends at SEIA who traversed the halls of Congress until the 11th hour, and to all of our members who chimed in online to make their voices heard.

Click here to read about the solar provisions in the bill. The recovery package will immediately spur job creation along each link in the solar supply chain- from PV panel manufacturers to solar hot water system installers.

Next up on the federal solar agenda - a Renewable Electricity Standard. We are working to ensure that this important policy tool effectively deploys solar from coast to coast. As always, we will be counting on you to help deliver the message. Stay tuned, it may only be February, but it's already shaping up to be a great year for solar victories.

Onwards,

Annie + Vote Solar Team

The Vote Solar Initiative

300 Brannan Street, Suite 609

San Francisco, CA 94107

www.votesolar.org

Words from President Obama

Start an Energy
[R]evolution to
stop global Warming.

"This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands." - President Obama, July 25 2008

On this Presidents' Day, many Americans are suffering. Our economy is struggling, millions of jobs have been lost and thousands more are at risk. But at Greenpeace we also see hope - if our President, our Congress and our nation make the right choices, we can begin to achieve energy independence with thousands of green jobs and real solutions to global warming.

Can you give $30 or more today to start an Energy [R]evolution to stop global warming? Click here to contribute.

On March 2^nd Greenpeace will mobilize thousands of Americans to send a powerful message of urgency through peaceful protest and civil disobedience at the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant in Washington DC - a plant that literally powers Congress with dirty energy. This will be the largest mass civil disobedience for the climate in US history.

President Obama has made it clear that he is committed to returning the United States to being a world leader in stopping global warming. Greenpeace is committed to making sure that he follows through on this and receives the support needed from the Congress and the American people. Your gift of $30 or more can ensure that future generations do not have to live with the dire predictions of unchecked global warming - increased storms and floods, rising ocean levels, species extinction and the spread of tropical diseases. Please donate today. Thank you.

For a renewable future, Lisa Finaldi

Sarah Palin calls us extremists.

Since we launched our Eye on Palin campaign last week, millions have already seen our powerful video featuring actress and activist Ashley Judd. To learn more about this important campaign and what you can do to help, please take a few moments to read the message below from Ms. Judd.

We can’t stop now. Please consider making a donation today to help us air the Palin video on TV during Governor Palin’s next visit to Washington, DC and fight to save the lives of wolves, polar bears and other animals threatened by the extreme anti-wildlife policies of Sarah Palin.

-- Rodger Schlickeisen, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

Those who know me know that I think it is very important to stand up for the things I believe in. Because I strongly believe in stopping the aerial wolf slaughter in Alaska, I’m honored to be working with you as part of the Eye on Palin campaign.

We’ve already reached millions with the gruesome news of Governor Sarah Palin’s cruel aerial wolf-killing program. But now I need your help to turn up the heat and run Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund’s video on TV as Governor Palin continues her attempts to grab the national spotlight.

Please donate today to help air our video on CNN in Washington, DC during Governor Palin’s next visit to the nation’s capital, and to support Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund’s fight to end aerial wolf-killing in Alaska once and for all -- and also stop Palin’s other wildlife atrocities.

Palin is scheduled to give a major speech in Washington, DC on February 26th. And we want to put the national spotlight on her support for aerial killing of wolves and the execution of helpless wolf pups, her equally outrageous slaughter of female brown and black bears and their cubs, her lawsuit to eliminate federal protections for imperiled polar bears, and her opposition to protecting imperiled beluga whales.

Palin’s clearly worried about our national public education campaign: She’s tried to tar the Eye on Palin campaign as the efforts of an “extreme fringe group.” But Palin’s aerial wolf-killing program has been repeatedly condemned by scientists, Alaskans and ethical hunters alike.

We’re not about to back down from her and I’m sure you aren’t either. We know that the more Americans hear about her heartless animal-killing programs, the more the public recognizes that Palin is the extremist -- and her public support plummets.

We’ve already gained the support of some 120 members of Congress to pass federal legislation to end her barbaric killing. And we will stop her.

Please donate today to help Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund air this video on television in Washington, DC during Palin’s visit to the nation’s capital, and to help us take other actions to advance our great cause.

We don’t have much time to seize this opportunity. Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund needs to buy the time this week to put our powerful ad on television in Washington during Palin’s DC appearance at the end of the month.

Because of caring people like you, more Americans are talking about Governor Palin’s awful wolf-killing programs. Our video has been viewed more than 200,000 times on YouTube and been featured on MSNBC, CNN, The Today Show and in hundreds of news articles across the country. And last Friday, Rodger Schlickeisen and I appeared last Friday on Larry King Live to answer Governor Palin’s statement and set the record straight about her wolf-killing program.

With your support we can reach millions more Americans and make sure they know the truth about Sarah Palin and her anti-wildlife programs.

Thank you for doing what you can to help.

Ashley Judd

P.S. Thank you so much for the incredible support that people like you have shown for the Eye on Palin campaign. Together, we’re making a difference!

Urgent: Stop The Nuclear/Coal Power Plant Fraud In The Stimulus Bill

We've heard President Obama on the TV alot talking about how he's
promoting wind and solar power in the new stimulus bill. But in the
Senate version of the bill, it's all a great, big, honking FRAUD,
because the 50 billion in loan guarantees for "eligible technologies"
there has been deceptively defined so that most of that money will
instead go to finance nuclear and filthy coal power plants instead.

We know this because Republican Senator Bennett from Utah made sure
that was the intent when he snuck this provision into the bill in the
Appropriations Committee. Why it is still there after Bennett himself
voted against the whole package is an outrage. But because the House
bill lacks this garbage provision, we still have a chance to remove
it in the reconciliation between the Senate and house versions.

And if that weren't bad enough, there is another billion for new
nuclear weapons development. That's not the kind of infrastructure we
were promised.

Because of the urgency of this action, please call your members of
Congress toll-free at 800-828-0498 or 800-459-1887 to raise an
immediate fuss about this. Then submit the action page below as well
as a follow up.

No Nuclear/Coal Subsidies In Stimulus Bill:
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum934.php

What a cruel and dishonest trick on the American people if this is
all allowed to pass, to foist the sludge spill disasters of the
future on us, in the sheep's clothing of a green energy spirit, which
is what we thought we were all voting for in the last election.

All they've talked about for years is how vulnerable nuclear power
plants would be to a possible terrorist attack, and now they want to
build many more?? And this is on top to the fact we have nowhere to
put all the dangerous nuclear waste existing plants have already
generated. This is not the change we were promised and it's time to
make that abundantly clear with our phone calls and emails. Please
make your toll-free calls and submit the action page above.

Polar bear rescue: Two seconds is all it takes.

Urge Interior Secretary Salazar to Rescue the Polar Bear NOW

Help us build a national outcry to reverse the Bush Administration’s “polluters-first” policy.

Send your Citizen Petition now -- and tell the new Interior Secretary that you care more about polar bears than Big Oil’s profits.

After eight years of suffering under the Bush Administration's "polluters-first" policies, the polar bear is now hurtling headlong toward extinction.

It's up to the Obama Administration to slam on the brakes, put Bush's dangerous policies in reverse, and give the green light to full-fledged endangered species protection for the polar bear.

But that won't happen unless millions of Americans speak out now.

Why? Because President Obama's Interior Department will be under tremendous pressure from the oil lobby to maintain the Bush policy that puts oil development first and polar bears dead last.

We must make our voices heard if we are to persuade Interior Secretary Salazar to cancel Bush's "polar bears be damned" approach.

The stakes could not be higher. In the last year alone, the Bush Administration auctioned off a vast expanse of Alaska's Chukchi Sea to Shell and other oil giants -- exposing half of America's polar bears to potential drilling and lethal oil spills.

And only two months ago, Bush officials weakened the Endangered Species Act so badly that it no longer protects polar bears against the two deadliest threats they face: oil development and global warming.

But Interior Secretary Salazar is unlikely to defy Big Oil -- unless we mobilize a nationwide outcry that can't be ignored.

That's why it's so important that you send your own Citizen Petition right now and help NRDC ratchet up this next critical phase of our Polar Bear S.O.S. campaign.

Let the new Interior Secretary know you care deeply about saving the polar bear. Remind him that the American people expect our government agencies to protect our country's wildlife -- not sacrifice them for corporate profits.

Together, we can reverse eight years of relentless attacks on the polar bear -- and finally give these magnificent Arctic creatures a fighting chance at survival.

Sincerely,

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Senior Attorney
Natural Resources Defense Council

P.S. After you send your own Citizen Petition, I will let you know about an easy way to spread the word to your friends and family. We need at least one million petitions to put the polar bear on the new administration's radar screen, so rally everyone you know to speak out and say, "I Care More about the Polar Bear than Big Oil's Profits."

Obama Helps Greater Yellowstone Wolves Dodge Bullet

A Lasting Future?

President Obama has suspended the Bush Administration’s deadly plan for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the rest of the Northern Rockies, but the future of these animals is far from certain.

Urge President Obama and Dale Hall, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to permanently abandon Bush’s deadly plan for Greater Yellowstone wolves and adopt a more responsible and inclusive wolf strategy.

President Barack Obama has suspended the eleventh-hour attempt by Bush Administration officials to eliminate vital protections for hundreds of wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the rest of the Northern Rockies.

These beloved wolves have literally dodged a bullet. Under the Bush plan, nearly 1,000 of these magnificent animals could have been slaughtered.

But Greater Yellowstone’s wolves aren’t out of the woods yet. Officials in Idaho and Wyoming have already signaled their intent to pursue delisting under their existing management plans -- the same plans that would allow widespread killing of the region’s still-recovering wolf population.

Take action now! Urge President Obama and Dale Hall, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to permanently reject the Bush wolf plan and adopt a more responsible, long-term approach to wolf management in the Northern Rockies.

A successful wolf management plan would ensure a lasting future for these amazing animals with the most current science on wolf recovery and collaborative input from conservationists, ranchers and others concerned with the future of wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

Send a message to President Obama and Director Hall and urge them to abandon Bush’s awful wolf plan and instead develop one based on science and responsible management practices.

The Obama Administration can get wolf management right, but they need to hear from you. Please take action now…

Best Regards,

Rodger Schlickeisen President, Defenders of Wildlife

An Overview on the Interesting Facts about Solar Energy

There are lots of interesting facts about solar energy. Educating yourself about this will prove to be beneficial in the long run. You can share the information to your loved ones. You can teach them of ways on how they can help to conserve the energy. You can also do your share to help this method to advance if you are a genius in the field. But if you are an ordinary citizen who only wants to enjoy, then feast on. But remember that you also have responsibilities to the environment that you must accomplish in order to do your part in the whole scheme of things.

The Facts that Matter
1. Solar radiation makes it possible for the energy coming from the sun to be used as power source and energy that can in turn be used for many purposes. The technology on this aspect is characterized in two ways. They can either be passive or active. This will depend on the methods that are used to get, convert and allocate sunlight.

What are active solar techniques? These utilize pumps, photovoltaic panels and fans to renovate sunlight into useful resources. These aim to increase the energy supply that is why these can also be referred as supply side technologies. The passive solar techniques, on the other hand, use only selected resources with constructive thermal properties, utilize the kind of spaces that can circulate air naturally and apply the position of buildings and structures towards the sun. These will lessen the need for other sources and can also be referred as the demand side technology.

2. Solar energy has influenced many factors that surround people. This can be referred in planning and designing buildings. This process can be rooted back at the early days of the architectural history. The Greeks and the Chinese first used such factor in building and constructing their architectural pieces and on their planning methods.

3. Solar energy is also being utilized by the agricultural sector because they rely heavily on its benefits in order to gain more harvest. They developed ways in order to plant the kind of crops that will grow according to the amount of sun that they will be getting for the season. This can also be used to dry the crops, pump water, brooding of chicks and to dry animal manures that can later be used as fertilizers.

4. On seasons like the Little Ice Age, fruit walls were used by French and Chinese farmers to be able to collect and store solar energy to help them keep the plants warm and to speedy up the process of ripening of fruits. These walls serve as the thermal masses. The fruit walls that were first developed were perpendicular to the ground and faced the south direction. Over time, innovations were done and slopping walls were used to gain more advantage from the sun.

5. To convert the solar light into heat, people have developed greenhouses. These enable the production and cultivation of specialty crops all year round. Such innovation made it possible for crops to be produced in untimely seasons and in places where you think that those plants won’t grow.

And these are only some of the interesting facts about solar energy. These give you a good peek at how wonderful nature is and how people have developed ways to use it to advance in many aspects of their lives.

The Biggest Business Startup Ideas You Can Start Today

There will always be room for new ideas, particularly in business. Over the years, ideas have come and gone – some with a bang and some with a whimper. Many of these ideas have revolutionized the industry while others merely reinvented the wheel. But if you're looking to start a venture that will make a difference, cater to a ready market and still have the profitability of a promising business, here is the biggest startup business idea you can use:

Easy going green
Green technology is one of the best and biggest business startup ideas that have ever hit the industry. With eco-friendly consciousness becoming widespread worldwide and still a small number of products to meet that demand, today is the perfect time to consider going into business promoting green technology. Already, industry insiders are predicting that this business will grow and become a trillion dollar a year business in 10 years' time and could become the basis of the future global economy.

Some business ventures to consider:

Products recreated from recycled materials
From apparel to shoes to construction materials, products made from recycled materials have switched from being novelties at specialty shops to becoming mainstream items. Simple, uncomplicated and practical, the switch has become one of the biggest startup business ideas today, resulting to the establishment of hundreds of stores and production facilities around the world.

Probably the most saleable and ubiquitous so far are reusable shopping bags, touted as the eco-friendly consumer's answer to the call for reducing product carbon footprints and encouraging the use of materials that would otherwise clog up dumpsites.

How much you'll need: should you go homemade, you'll spend from around $3,000 to $5,000, depending on the equipment and materials you use. Design also matters, primarily because this product line does enjoy some popularity.

Eco-friendly car dealership
Eco-friendly cars don't only reduce the user's carbon footprint, they also minimize the demand for fossil fuel. These are mostly hybrids and are designed to be fuel-efficient, thus allowing high savings to the user. Car dealership can involve sales or leasing, so you'll have a choice. Either way, the use of alternative energy is indirectly being promoted. The business will require establishing a relationship with auto manufacturers, although a known dealer could offer the same opportunity for nearly the same profits.

How much you'll need: $10,000 to use with alternative models, probably lower if the auto producer is smaller. The latter option is a good choice for a startup business since new entrepreneurs might not want to shell out such a big capital. The need, however, is huge and continues to expand.

Organic products
Selling products that have been produced using organic methods helps promote a healthy choice and encourages a more responsible way of using natural resources. Organically grown plants, fruits and vegetables, for example, present a huge market and remain as one of the biggest startup business ideas today. The demand for organic products is rising and the profits are quite promising, considering that organic products are better priced than products using chemical fertilizers.

By-products in this sector are also promising. They could be expanded to include product lines such as skin care, cosmetics, home cleaning and maintenance created from organic materials. Many consumers are making the switch to these products because they are hypoallergenic and made from natural and naturally-sourced materials.

This segment of the industry expects huge growth, which means more competitors will be joining the field, all the more reason to grab the opportunity to make your mark as early as possible.

Gainesville utility places premium on solar power

By Asjylyn Loder, Times Staff Writer

James Mulhearn, left, owner of Interstate Mini Storage in Gainesville, had a 50-kilowatt solar system installed on one of his storage buildings. “It’s a new frontier,” he said.

GAINESVILLE — James Mulhearn clambered up a ladder and surveyed a gleaming stretch of flat metal roof and a newly installed solar panel, one of 288 that would soon cover the shed's roof with 50 kilowatts of solar power.

The retired electrician scanned the rows of flat-roofed storage sheds that make up his business, Interstate Mini Storage in Gainesville. If the numbers worked out, he might cover them all.

"It's the first thing in this business in 30 years that has gotten me excited," Mulhearn said. "It's brand new. It's a new frontier."

In a bid to become the nation's Solar City, Gainesville recently became the first in the country to adopt a feed-in tariff, which pays a premium price for electricity from the sun. Pioneered by Germany, feed-in tariffs led to a national solar boom.

Gainesville Regional Utilities is betting that if temperate Germany can become a world leader in solar power, then Gainesville can do the same.

• • •

At first, the idea seemed outrageous to Ed Regan, the assistant general manager for strategic planning at Gainesville Regional Utilities, the state's fifth-largest municipal utility with about 90,000 customers. He had heard that the German program paid as much as 60 cents per kilowatt hour for solar electricity — more than three times what Regan's utility charged its customers. Intrigued, Regan wrote a grant proposal and got the money last summer to travel to Germany.

"I wanted to find out, how do they possibly justify that?" Regan said.

Gainesville already had generous rebates for solar. Florida also allows net-metering, which runs the meter backward as the solar panels produce power. Still, some businesses were telling Regan it wasn't enough. Installing solar just didn't make financial sense.

Meanwhile, in far-cloudier Germany, farmers installed solar panels in pastures and on barns. The roofs of factories and office buildings gleamed with panels. In German villages, house after house had solar power.

Other countries took note of the German solar boom, said Jerry Karnas, Florida climate project director for Environmental Defense. The country is forecast to grow to 18 percent renewables by the end of the year from 2 percent in 1997. It also created 250,000 jobs in renewable energy. Dozens of other countries adopted similar tariffs, and a handful of U.S. states began considering it.

"It's a strategy that worked all over Europe, particularly in Germany," Regan said.

He was convinced he could make it work in Gainesville.

• • •

The feed-in tariff works by offering customers a higher price for solar than customers pay for power from the grid.

Gainesville Regional Utilities signs a 20-year contract to buy electricity from a homeowner's new solar installation at 32 cents a kilowatt hour, well above the average of about 17.5 cents the residential customers pay for electricity from the utility's fossil fuel plants, explained Barry Jacobson, founding partner of Solar Impact, Gainesville's leading solar installer. The prices are different for commercial and industrial customers, and depend on the size of the solar installation.

The 20-year contract — and the above-market rate — helps homeowners secure financing to pay for the panels, which can cost up to $40,000 for a 5-kilowatt solar home system, Jacobson said. The contract shows the bank that the homeowner has a revenue stream to repay a loan.

Over time, retail electric rates catch up to the premium feed-in tariff rate. The hope is that by that time, the prices of solar will have come down, and a sustainable market will have been created that makes solar power more competitive with fossil fuels.

Jacobson said he's working with developers who want to install solar on the rooftops of small office buildings and parking garages to see whether the feed-in tariff makes sense for them.

Some businesses may even see profit of up to 5 percent, Regan said. Considering the stock market's dismal performance last year, he said, 5 percent isn't all that bad.

• • •

Like many great ideas for renewable energy, it isn't free. The rest of Gainesville's customers pay a surcharge to subsidize those that go solar.

To Regan, the architect of the Gainesville system, the beauty of the program is that it distributes the cost over so many people that it has a negligible impact on the average consumer. In Germany, the average customer paid about $2.50 a month for the subsidy. In Gainesville, it will come out to about 40 cents a month for the average residential customer. To keep that cost from soaring, the City Commission agreed to revisit the program if more customers than expected signed up.

Regan expects that Gainesville will add about 1 megawatt of solar capacity every year. That's just a fraction of the 611 megawatts the city's fossil fuel plants can produce, but it's twice as much solar as the city has installed.

The price tag doesn't tell the whole story, Regan said. More solar power will result in more local jobs, greater energy independence and reduced pollution. It adds a value to the community that's not reflected in dollars and cents.

"It may not be the least expensive form of energy," said John Crider, an analyst with Gainesville Regional Utilities. But it is the most valuable, he said.

Feed-in tariffs have been adopted by 45 countries, and a handful of U.S. states are debating it, Karnas said. Florida Public Service Commissioner Nathan Skop recently proposed a similar measure. Last month, the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles adopted feed-in tariffs, crediting Gainesville for leading the way.