Taking Action: Fight Global Warming

Stopglobalwarming.org has a very comprehensive list of steps you can take to reduce global warming. Some small changes can have surprising results, for example, did you know this:

"Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Save 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $60 per year."

Three hundred pounds? That would definitely hurt if it dropped on my foot!

More than a third of US consumers looking for more fuel-efficient cars - Yahoo! News

Via Yahoo News: More than a third of US consumers looking for more fuel-efficient cars.

Consumers are responding to higher gas prices:

"High gas prices are not just an inconvenience anymore," Robert Gentile, director of Consumer Reports' Auto Prices Services said in a statement. "They are forcing people to reconsider what and how they drive, even the way they live their lives."

Many are considering alternative fuels:

Alternative fuels were also popular: 50 percent said they were considering buying a gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle while 38 percent said they were considering flexible-fuel or diesel vehicles.

Insurance by the Mile: A Simple Way to Slow Global Warming?

In an article published today in Harper's Magazine, Dean Baker suggests having car owners insure their vehicles per mile driven. He thinks paying as you go, rather than a fixed cost per year will change the way people think about driving a car and thus alter their behavior. Dean Baker explains:

"[...] But there is one thing we could do now that would change how people consume gasoline. We could switch from the current way in which people pay for auto insurance to a pay-by-the-mile system. Such a switch might reduce annual gasoline consumption by as much as 10 percent, without raising the cost of insurance for an average driver. The key is to change the way that people view the cost of driving their car. "

He continues to explain the dollars and cents:

"This would change if drivers paid for insurance by the mile. Taking rough numbers, the average person drives her car around 10,000 miles a year and pays a bit less than $1,000 each year for insurance. This means that the cost of insurance is approximately 10 cents per mile. If for each mile they drive drivers paid 10 cents for insurance, then on average they would pay the same amount for insurance as they do now—but they would have much more incentive to cut back their driving.

So, for instance, a driver who was considering carpooling to avoid a 40-mile roundtrip commute to work could save herself $4 a day (more than $800 a year) in insurance costs by carpooling under the pay-by-the-mile system. Many trips that make sense under the current insurance payment system would not make sense with a pay-by-the-mile system. It would discourage driving in the same way that a large gas tax would discourage driving, except that—on average—no one will pay more for insurance."

I'd be interested in your comments on this idea.

Insurance by the Mile [Harper's Magazine, June 2006]

A Link for a Ton of Carbon Dioxide

According to a recent press release, Deepmarket.com, a stock research blog, pledged to offset a ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) for each link to their blog. So, here it goes:

Deepmarket.com.

Going Carbon Zero For A Year

After doing some research on carbon offsets and writing about them, I decided to go carbon zero for a year. I used carbonfund.org to purchase the carbon offset. I estimated how much I drive, how much air travel I do, and how much energy I use at home. Carbonfund.org has a nifty calculator on their web site to help you determine how many carbon offsets to buy. As I'm an apartment dweller, my home energy consumption is lower than that of most people who live in a house.

Carbonfund.org is a non profit 503c organization, so my donation is tax deductible in the US. However, carbonfund.org accepts donations from around the world. Also, the company I work for matches donations to charities, so in effect I doubled my carbon offsets!

Reducing Your CO2 Emissions

Via Carbonfund.org: Tips for reducing your CO2 emissions.

Carbonfund.org is a non-profit organization that seeks to educate the public about the dangers of climate change. They also offer carbon offsets for tax deductible contributions.

"We impact the climate in many ways everyday, probably in ways you’ve never thought about.

Every time we flick on a light, turn on the heat or AC, cook, use our computer, drive or fly, we are using electricity or gas or oil. Consider that over 55% of our electricity comes from coal and almost all our heat is from oil or natural gas and you start to see the problem. Your car? Well, that’s obvious.

The average American is responsible for about 10 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually through these ‘direct’ energy uses.

Unfortunately, it gets a bit worse. Consider all the pollution caused from some of the things we buy or use: clothes, food, roads, buildings, work, packaging, TVs, disposable diapers, toothpaste, everything plastic. Yes, even our iPods.

It really adds up. In fact, Americans on average are responsible for over 24 tons of CO2 per year. That’s almost twice a typical European and ten times the average Chinese person. As a country, America has just four percent of the global population but emits over 25% of the emissions causing climate change.

Carbonfund wants to help you reduce your climate footprint and offset the rest."

Awareness and Urgency Around Global Warming Growing: CBS Poll

Via Pollingreport.com: a CBS poll on climate change points to more awareness and urgency among the public when it comes to global warming.

In response to this question: "Global warming is a term used to describe changes in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere which could result in changes in the environment. How much have you heard or read about global warming: a lot, some, not much or nothing at all?", 41% answered "A lot" this year compared with 27% in 2003.

In response to the question: "Do you think global warming is an environmental problem that is causing a serious impact now, or do you think global warming isn't having a serious impact?", 66% answered "Serious impact now" versus 59% in 2003.

Tropics Expanded to Poles by 140 Miles in Last 27 Years

Via USA Today: Tropics are expanding, study finds.

Some aspects of the results are consistent with global-warming projections, team members note. If the cause does prove to be global warming, these results would represent the first direct satellite evidence of its impact on worldwide atmospheric circulation, says team leader Qiang Fu, a researcher at the University of Washington.

Tags: global warming, climate change

Case Closed: The Debate about Global Warming is Over

In this paper (pdf), Gregg Easterbrook, from the Brookings Institution lays out everything you need to know about global warming.

Here's the short version of everything you need to know about global warming. First, the consensus of the scientific community has shifted from skepticism to near-unanimous acceptance of the evidence of an artificial greenhouse effect. Second, while artificial climate change may have some beneficial effects, the odds are we're not going to like it. Third, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases may turn out to be much more practical and affordable than currently assumed.

Tags: global warming, climate change