chuckanuttransition.com
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletter sign-up
  • Sustainable Samish Garden Tour
  • Rural Rhythm Revival - Blog
  • Events & Workshops - Blog
  • Resources
    • Commercial Kitchens
    • Classifieds
    • Transition Book Store >
      • Seeds For A New Day
      • Serving The Skagit Harvest Cookbook
    • Newsletter Archive

Transition Fidalgo & Friends E-Newsletter March 2014 - The Catalyst ~ Stirring the pot to cook up change

3/6/2014

0 Comments

 
The Catalyst 
     ~Stirring the pot to cook up change
    Transition Fidalgo & Friends  E-Newsletter March 2014


    Thought for the month:  "We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us." Wendell Berry

CLIMATE CHANGE

Ocean Acidification
off B.C. Coast May Be Causing Massive Shellfish Die-off:   As oceans take up more and more carbon dioxide, their acidic level rises, making it difficult for marine organisms to form shells. Local oyster farms such as Taylor's Shellfish are already dealing with the problem; now it's happening to the north, although the cause there is still unknown. But ocean acidification is the main suspect. The Vancouver Aquarium has been tracking the "souring" of the water, and its records show a rising acidity in Vancouver’s harbor. The CEO of Island Scallops, whose business has lost 10 million scallops over the past two years, has tracked pH levels closely and is convinced an increasingly acidic ocean is the cause. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/mystery-surrounds-massive-die-off-of-oysters-and-scallops-off-bc-coast/article17156108/

Climate Change Document Lays It Out Clearly:  Experts know that human activity is changing the global climate, even though they don't fully understand every detail of that process, according to a new report by two of the world's leading scientific bodies. Climate Change: Evidence and Causes, from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.K.'s Royal Society, is easy to read (in fact, a "breakthrough in readability") and heavily illustrated to explain what you need to know about climate change. The bulk of the document is a 20-part series of questions that range from the basic "Is the climate warming?" – Answer: Yes – to the thornier "Does the recent slowdown of warming mean that climate change is no longer happening?" – Answer: No, blame the slowdown on interactions between the ocean and atmosphere, quiet solar activity and an increase in sunlight-reflecting particles. Read it here: http://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/events/a-discussion-on-climate-change-evidence-and-causes

Volcanoes Contribute to Global Warming Slowdown: 
Volcanic eruptions help explain a hiatus in global warming this century by dimming sunlight and stalling a record-high rise in heat-trapping emissions, according to a recent study in the journal Nature GeoScience. Eruptions of at least 17 volcanoes since 2000 ejected sulfur, which had a sun-blocking effect largely ignored by scientists until now. (A study by the IPCC last year suggested that an extra uptake of heat by the oceans also helps explain the warming slowdown.) http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/volcanoes-contributing-to-hiatus-in-global-warming-study-20140224-33b3h.html#ixzz2uHhFjsDU

Fungus Affects Carbon Content of Soil:  Most of the planet’s carbon isn't in the forests or the atmosphere but in the soil under our feet. Just how much is stored there is determined largely by what sort of fungi live in the roots of plants and trees. Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Boston University report in the journal Nature that carbon storage in soils is influenced by the mycorrhizal fungi that live in symbiotic relationships with plants. http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2014/01/fungus-governs-soils-carbon-content/

RENEWABLE ENERGY


Renewable Energy Provided 99% of New U.S. Power Generation in January: 
That's according to new data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Solar energy crushed all competitors with 287 MW installed in January. Geothermal steam projects accounted for 30 MW, while wind came in third at 4 MW.  Coal, natural gas, nuclear and oil combined for zero units and zero installed capacity. http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/24/renewable-energy-99-percent 

Wind Power: Mark Jacobson, an engineer at Stanford University, presented his study, "We Can Run the World's Energy on Wind Power," at the AAAS 2014 Annual Meeting.  Jacobson and his team at The Solutions Project think it's feasible to run the U.S. completely on wind, water, and solar, and have created interactive energy maps for each state which can be accessed at http://thesolutionsproject.org. Aside from reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Jacobson notes that offshore wind turbines could dissipate the impacts of a hurricane by reducing up to 80% of the storm surge.

Wave Power: Constantly churning oceans offer an inexhaustible source of clean energy. The world's largest wave-energy project off Australia's coast will use buoys to convert the sea's waves into enough energy to power 10,000 homes, according to partners Lockheed Martin and Victorian Wave Partners Ltd. But the Aussie buoys are just a drop in the ocean for wave power potential. The amount of recoverable energy embedded along the U.S. continental shelf, for example, amounts to almost a third of all the electricity the country uses in one year, according to estimates from the Electric Power Research Institute.  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/02/140220-five-striking-wave-and-tidal-energy-concepts/

FOSSIL FUEL-ISH


Landowners Fight - and Win - Eminent Domain Case, Stopping Keystone Pipeline in Nebraska:  A recent ruling by a judge in Lincoln, Nebraska found unconstitutional a law signed by Gov. Heineman amending state pipeline laws to clear the way for the Keystone XL pipeline by the power of eminent domain.  Three Nebraska landowners challenged that law. The judge ruled that Heineman lacked the authority to approve a route through the state, which he did in January, and issued a permanent injunction preventing any further action to authorize or advance the Keystone XL. Striking approval to let the controversial pipeline stretch across Nebraska may postpone the ultimate decision on the project for months or years. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/0220/Did-go-slow-approach-on-Keystone-XL-pipeline-just-get-slower-video

"Power Shouldn't Be Poisonous":  On Feb. 20, the Environment America Research & Policy Center and its state affiliates delivered letters from over 1000 doctors, nurses and other health professionals to President Obama and state decision-makers urging a halt to fracking, due to the overwhelming threats to public health. Fracking is expanding rapidly across the country, and there is a growing number of documented cases of people suffering acute and chronic health effects while living near fracking operations, ­including nausea, rashes, dizziness, headaches and nose bleeds. “Fracking harms health in many ways: releasing toxic gases, contaminating huge amounts of water, and contributing heavily to climate change. As a nation, we should develop clean renewable energy instead,” said Dr. Catherine Thomasson, director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Generating electricity shouldn’t be a source of illness; power shouldn’t be poisonous.” http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/20/health-professionals-call-obama-halt-fracking/

TAKE ACTION!


Speak Out on Keystone Pipeline:  According to the U.S. State Department, a 30-day comment period on its environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline ends March 7. Right now, corporate front groups are "robocalling" thousands of Americans, using pre-recorded, misleading talking points to solicit comments supporting the pipeline. This is one of those times where numbers are critical to counter the onslaught. A flood of comments is needed to show the President that there’s a huge risk, politically and scientifically, to approving the pipeline. Go to act.350.org/letter/kxl-feis/ to comment.  You could even quote the President, who has said, “Frankly [climate change] has to affect all of our decisions at this stage, because the science is irrefutable. We are already seeing severe weather patterns increase. It has consequences for our businesses, for our jobs, for our families, for safety and security. It has the potential of displacing people in ways that we cannot currently fully anticipate.”

Support EPA Regulation of Power Plants
:  Most people don't know that carbon pollution from power plants is entirely unregulated and it's costing us dearly. The EPA is currently collecting public comments on their carbon pollution standards for new power plants and needs to hear that the public supports strong carbon pollution regs and the rule to limit carbon pollution from new power plants. Go to http://forms.climaterealityproject.org/page/s/make-carbon-history-for-children?utm_source=EPAemail3&utm_campaign=PeopleVsCarbon&utm_medium=Email

DEPT. OF ENCOURAGEMENT


E
nergy Visionary Amory Lovins Sees a Renewable Revolution:   Last year energy analyst Lovins harvested from his small garden more than 30 pounds of bananas, along with guava, mango, papaya, loquat, passion and other exotic fruit. Nothing remarkable in that, except that the chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) doesn't live in the tropics but in an unheated house 6500 feet up a mountain near Aspen, Colorado, where the temperature falls to -44C. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/17/amory-lovins-renewable-energy

Seven Inspiring Interviews of 2013:
  Learn more about the folks who are leading the efforts to protect our planet. Check out these not-to-be-missed interviews of 2013 for inspiration in the days ahead.  http://ecowatch.com/2013/12/26/best-interviews-2013/

Transition Fidalgo & Friends

Growing a resilient community with a reduced reliance on fossil fuels

transitionfidalgo.org

Find us on Facebook
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Chuckanut Transition Community

    We're all rural, independent and capable people learning to live cooperatively with one another and with our natural surroundings while recreating our lost village economic network.

    Archives

    March 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Categories

    All
    Building Local Economy
    Buying Groups
    Cider Pressing
    Community Action
    Community Resilience In A Rural Area
    Conservation
    Cottage Industry
    Ending Childhood Hunger
    Food Security
    Harvest
    Local Food To Schools
    Market
    Natural World
    Natural World
    Non-gmo Project
    Rural Life
    Rural Life

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.