It’s Getting Hot In Here

Whenever you mention words, “Abu Dhabi” to me, I can’t help but remember that classic Garfield and Friends episode where Garfield is fed up with some other cat named Nermal. Garfield is so frustrated that he decides to send that “cute” cat, Nermal, to Abu Dhabi and sings a repetitive and catchy song throughout the episode that you can never forget.

But a couple days ago, I read in the New York Times that Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and 4th largest OPEC oil producer is now stepping up for its own renewable energy revolution.

The article talks about the country bustin’ out new solar technologies to meet the growing need for renewables and clean energy sources. “We realize that the world energy markets are diversifying, so we need to diversify too,” said Sultan A. al-Jaber, chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, the government arm that manages the Masdar Initiative. “We see the growth of renewable energy as an opportunity, not as a problem.”

Awesome, now Abu Dhabi has a new ring to it besides the Garfield jingle…

Continue reading ‘Abu Dhabi, It’s far away… Abu Dhabi, That’s where you’ll stay’

The European Union Commission met in Brussels this week (March 8-9) and gave the rest of us a present. Nope, not a sweater, nor a cupcake, not even a puppy. (Although I would absolutely love to get a genuine 100% European Union cupcake!) But no, we got something much better than all of those… They created a common energy and climate change policy to follow through their said EU-wide goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020!

Largely, the new statements are great. Plans are in the mix for a possible ban on filament lightbulbs (just like Australia), a BINDING goal for 20% increase of renewable energy use for the whole EU, diversification of energy sources and transporation systems within the region, 20% increase in efficiency through better monitoring of appliances and consumer products, plus all sorts of other initatives.

It’s got its challenges though. The policy has made the language on nuclear energy flexible, which has made it feasible for France to jump on. Also, it has allowed easier language for certain nations to have easier individualized emission targets. Continue reading ‘Europe Follows Through! 20% by 2020′

With the colorful Euro currency, passport-free borders, and consensus-driven policy making, I’ve always been delightfully interested in and yet slightly apprehensive of the European Union. (That’s what you get with an International Studies major, I suppose.) But regardless, the EU just got much cooler in my book. On Tuesday, European Union Commission ministers unanimously approved a series of proposals that resolved for the Union to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2020, and by 30% if other developed nations agree to jump on board. With the EU now made up of 27 countries with over 490 million people emitting over 6,ooo million tons of greenhouse gases, this move is ambitious, bold, and necessary.

In 2002, the “EU-15″ (member states before its expansion in 2004 including: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) ratified the Kyoto Protocol, with the overall EU target to reduce emissions 8% (from 1990 base levels) by 2012. The EU-15 divided the task of meeting this target by assigning each member state a national target reduction level; and, unsurprisingly, there has been mixed degrees of success; some nations are making progress while others are falling behind in achieving their targets. Nonetheless, the proposal reports that the EU will still meet its 8% reduction target by the deadline (assuming completion of planned actions and additional non-domestic measures are taken) and that European GHG emissions are, in fact, decreasing (though very slowly) since the Protocol.
Continue reading ‘Europe Gets Cool… Fast’

What a holiday surprise! And we thought islands off Papua New Guinea would be the first— in about 8 years… wrong! India’s mangrove island on the Bay of Bengal, Lochachara, is now gone. In the same at-risk delta region, 70,000 people and 400 tigers now at risk…

Disappearing Worlds: Global Warming claims tropical island

For the first time, an inhabited island has disappeared beneath rising seas.
The Independent
Environment Editor, Geoffrey Lean reports
Published: 24 December 2006 Continue reading ‘Global Warming Claims its First Inhabited Tropical Island’

Finish off the Challenge Week of Action (Jan.29-Feb 2nd!) RIGHT by hoppin’ over to Seattle, WA for…

The first ever, Northwest Climate Justice Summit, hosted by the Sierra Student Coalition with the support of the Energy Action Coalition. During the past several years, the youth climate movement has been sweeping campuses across the country. It’s time to bring it to the Pacific Northwest in full force. To fight global warming, we need to act TOGETHER and NOW.

Who: Highschool and College students in WA, OR, ID, MT, BC (and anyone else who can make the trip!)
Where: University of Washington, Seattle
When: Friday, Feb. 2 – Sunday, Feb. 4

Continue reading ‘Northwest Climate Justice Summit’

IT PASSED. Washington state voters passed a ballot initiative in November (remember those elections? ahhh, glorious!) guaranteeing that by 2020, 15% of the electricity from Washington’s largest utilities comes from home-grown renewable energy sources such as wind and solar! The initiative (known as I-937) actually has teeth and timelines to make sure that state utilities actually do move forward with clean energy, conservation, and efficiency. Here’s the text of the actual initiative. Although endorsed by everyone (who’s cool) ranging from the Washington Association of Churches to the Washington Sustainable Food and Farm Network and the Sierra Club to the Washington Alliance for Retired Americans, passing this legislation was a tough job.

Many constituents had not been familiar with the initiative and initial polling surveys made its supporters worry about its chances. Luckily, Continue reading ‘Did ya hear about Washington’s Clean Energy Initiative?’