Wana bankrupt warmaking???? ACT TODAY (Tues): Congress votes on global warming budget this week!

	Dear Start,	March 30, 2009
	Thanks to your efforts this week, both the House and Senate Budget Committees managed to fight back a serious lobbying push to strip global warming from the President's budget. This was a major hurdle, but the fight is far from over! The budget will head to the floor for a vote this week, and we have to act now. This is such a critical vote, because without budget funding, we won't likely see global warming legislation pass this year. We can't procrastinate about global warming any longer. We MUST take bold action THIS YEAR. We don't have much time - Congress will be voting any day now on the President's budget, including action on global warming - we have to act NOW. Call Congress right now and tell your Representative to pass a budget that includes limits on global warming pollution. Making a call is easy, fast, and extremely effective. Simply follow the steps below: 1) Call (202) 224-3121 . 2) Ask the operator to put you through to your Representative's office. If you don't know who your Representative is, then give the operator your zip code and they will let you know and put you through. 3) Someone will either answer the phone or you will be able to leave a message. Here's what you can say: "I urge the Representative to support the President's budget, including action to cap global warming pollution." 4) Let us know that you made the call by clicking the button below. Greenpeace activists just like you have already sent more than 34,500 letters to Congress urging them to keep action on global warming pollution in the budget. With the vote coming up any day now, we need you to go a step further and call now. Please make your voice heard today. For our future, Samantha Rodgers Greenpeace Field Organizing Director 702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20001 (800) 326-0959 You received this mailing because Start_Loving@yahoo.com is subscribed to our mailing list. If you prefer not to receive these mailings in the future click here. We value your privacy. If you have any questions about how we use your information please read our privacy policy.

The ethanol industry is taking a beating from the bad economy

Ethanol producers want the Environmental Protection Agency to raise from 10 percent to 15 percent the amount of ethanol blended with gasoline, saying it would increase demand for their fuel by 6 billion gallons annually. http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/e-15-could-be-t.html

***** NASA's Hansen: Coal is killing America (at RISK to his career)

A year ago, I wrote to (British Prime Minister) Gordon Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other leaders. The reason is this - coal is the single greatest threat to civilisation and all life on our planet.  http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2009/03/29/coal-is-killing-america?blog=94

USA Today: Nuclear power inches back into energy spotlight

Utilities are poised to build a new generation of nuclear plants 30 years after the Three Mile Island accident, whose anniversary was Saturday, halted new reactor applications. The momentum is being driven by growing public acceptance of relatively clean nuclear energy to combat global warming.  http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/2009-03-29-nuclear-power-energy-return_N.htm

Beginning the March to Copenhagen: Climate Negotiations Getting Serious

But if last year was the "dry run", this year will be need to be the real thing.  http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jschmidt/beginning_the_march_to_copenhagen_bonn1.html

*****Consensus Could Be a Conundrum for Climate-Change Bill

When Henry A. Waxman tries to get a global warming bill out of his House Energy and Commerce Committee this spring, much will depend on the views of moderate and conservative Democrats whose votes could be critical in moving the legislation forward.  http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003087581

Moment of Truth Arrives for Action on Climate Change

On Capitol Hill, some are saying legislation on the economy must come first, or health care or education — suggesting that Congress does not have the time or bandwidth to deal with climate and energy this year, too.  http://www.rollcall.com/features/Mission-Ahead_2009/ma_energy/33562-1.html

Obama praised for climate change policy

Czech Environment Minister Martin Bursik, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, said Europe "has gained a strong partner" in fighting global warming.  http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/28/Obama_praised_for_climate_change_policy/UPI-71621238261438/

****Winds of Change Evident in U.S. Environmental Policy

After years of chafing under political appointees who viewed stricter environmental regulation with skepticism, long-serving federal officials are seeing work that had been gathering dust for years translate quickly into action.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/29/AR2009032902280.html

Westport pilot has witnessed effects of Arctic melting

Most of us know the ice caps are melting, but Leo C. Brooks, a senior captain for Continental Airlines, has witnessed the evidence firsthand on his flights over the North Pole and Greenland.  http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090330/NEWS/903300318

Irish renewable energy firm makes $1 billion investment in Chile

Leading Irish renewable energy firm Mainstream Renewable Power has backed Chile's suitability for wind energy by ploughing $1 billion over the next five years to build wind farms in the country, the company has said in a statement.  http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200914/3332/Irish-renewable-energy-firm-makes-1-billion-investment-in-Chile

How to go carbon negative

By combining technology for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) with the use of biomass, future energy production can remove CO2 from the atmosphere. http://en.cop15.dk/blogs/view+blog?blogid=987

Animations of soil erosion.

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/geomorph/visualizations/soil_erosion.html

'We're the first generation that has had the power to destroy the planet. Ignoring that risk can only be described as reckless'

'There are many half-baked attempts to naysay the science, but they always unravel on inspection'.   http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/30/climate-change-nicholas-stern-interview

Greenpeace report, Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable U.S.A. Energy Outlook

details how the United States can cut greenhouse gas emissions to the levels we must reach in order to prevent the worst effects of global warming and simultaneously build a sustainable economy.  http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/energyrevolution

Design to Win: Philanthropy's Role in the Fight Against Global Warming

The report details clean energy strategies for China and India, and how to implement market-based solutions to preserve tropical forests in Africa, Asia and South America.  http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/03/09/bill_gates/index1.html

The facts are outstripping the worst-case scenarios. The costs of inaction or inadequate actions are unacceptable.

Such was the relief at the willingness of the US to act on climate change that its delegation was welcomed with applause by negotiators from other countries.  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5999170.ece

Mining industry leaders express concern about mountaintop removal issue

U.S. Senator John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., pointed out that the EPA's letter to the Corps "was specific to only one permit application in Ethel," and that the nation has more than a 200-year history of mining West Virginia coal, "and that is not going to change any time soon," Rockefeller was quoted as stating in a press release.  http://www.bdtonline.com/local/local_story_087203050.html

Nuclear industry's new burst of energy

The impetus is climate change. Nuclear power is touted as the one major electricity source that's emission-free and reliable, able to generate massive amounts of power night and day, in wind and calm.  http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=122780

*** Leaders to meet in summer for special climate change talks

The new summit – which is being called on the initiative of President Barack Obama as part of a US drive to get a new international agreement on tackling global warming – is to take place alongside the annual G8 gathering of world leaders on the island of La Maddalena off Sardinia.  http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/leaders-to-meet-in-summer-for-special-climate-change-talks-1656630.html

***Obama Sets International Climate Forum

But Obama officials believe the talks could help forge a basis for a broader U.N. climate agreement in December, when negotiators will meet in Copenhagen to develop a pact aimed at cutting global greenhouse gas emissions. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/03/28/obama_sets_international_clima.html?wprss=44

NYT: Cost Works Against Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources in Time of Recession

Yet as Congress begins debating new rules to restrict carbon dioxide emissions and promote electricity produced from renewable sources, an underlying question is how much more Americans will be willing to pay to harness the wind and the sun.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/business/energy-environment/29renew.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

***Nuclear-Power Industry Enjoys Revival 30 Years After Accident

NYT: Thirty years after the accident at Three Mile Island, the nuclear power industry is moving ahead with plans to build a string of new reactors in the U.S., though the revival faces many uncertainties.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123820275563962721.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

***The coming nuclear renaissance

Yet far from being washed up, atomic power seems poised for a renaissance. Consider: According to a new Gallup poll, 59 percent of Americans favor nuclear energy - a new high - and 27 percent say they strongly favor it. The attitude is bipartisan, with majorities of both Republicans and Democrats supporting nuclear power.  http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/03/29/the_coming_nuclear_renaissance/

World faces 'water bankruptcy'

In a first-ever pledge for American presidents, Barack Obama in his inaugural address included a promise to the world's poor nations -- "to work alongside you to ... let clean waters flow."  http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/03/world_faces_water_bankruptcy.html

'Extreme Ice': Seeing is believing on glacial melting

Probably no bit of information presented at the Aspen Environment Forum was as sobering as the screening of the film "Extreme Ice" at the Wheeler Opera House Thursday night.  http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=122862

G20 protest: Thousands march for 'jobs, justice and climate'

Police estimate crowd numbers in London at 35,000, which would exceed organisers' hopes  http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=122825http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=122825

***Obama team debuts at UN climate talks

BONN, Germany (AP) — President Barack Obama's climate change team made their international debut Sunday at a major U.N. conference — and delegates were eager to find out whether Obama could translate his aggressive domestic agenda into a worldwide deal to fight global warming.  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jpokgFJzTVqBUWoSV4Qm3bXiDWlAD977LV983

***Cave ‘batteries’ will store wind power

Now two British companies are putting money into a technology that could overcome this problem. Electricity from wind farms will be used to compress air, which will be stored in caverns below ground.  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5992419.ece

Environmentalists hail Earth Hour as a big success

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, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090329/ap_on_re_eu/earth_hour