This year marks the 400th anniversary of the “discovery” of Lake Champlain by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Of course the Lake’s been there for more than 400 years and de Champlain was certainly not its first human “discoverer.”  Putting aside the anthropological and historical debates, we here at CLF think it’s always a good time to celebrate the many important roles that water bodies such as Lake Champlain–one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country–play in our lives. Alas, there hasn’t been much to celebrate when it comes to water quality in many parts of Lake Champlain that are plagued annually with “blooms” or “scums” of blue-green algae caused by excess phosphorus pollution. This pollution comes from a variety of sources including manure and other agricultural wastes, polluted read more…

According to an April 2008 National Science Foundation press release discussing the findings of a Russian/American scientific collaboration, even the world’s largest freshwater lake–Siberia’s Lake Baikal–is feeling the effects of a changing climate and not in a good way.  Drawing on sixty years worth of data collected under grueling weather conditions (negative 50!) throughout the tumult of 20th century Russia, researchers document long-term warming trends that are changing the lake’s pristine waters and unique habitat. We’re talking about global warming affecting the health of a 25-million year-old lake that contains 20% of the world’s fresh water and 2500 plant and animal species that make their home there but nowhere else. Closer to home, CLF has been making the case that global climate change is aggravating pollution and food web problems in read more…

In her post here Lesley Bunnell, CLF’s Rhode Island office manager, persuasively deflates and rebuts an attack in the Washington Post by Sarah Palin on the cap-and-trade mechanism.   One important evolution in the idea of cap-and-trade that Lesley did not have a chance to get into is the key reform of auctioning the allowances and using the money generated by the auction for good purposes that reduce emissions and save money for all our citizens. CLF, as part of a broad coalition, successfully fought for this model in the design and creation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative regulating carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.   The states of New England have repeatedly pushed in Congress for this model to be recreated on the federal level. The reason for embracing allowance read more…

Most people are aware that burning fossil fuels is changing the chemical composition of the atmosphere and causing climate change.  People might be surprised to learn that greenhouse gases (and in particular, carbon dioxide) are also altering the ocean and pose an independent and equally serious threat to marine life.  In fact this change, making the oceans more acidic, is a direct threat to the survival of lobsters, oysters and other marine animals that are an essential element in the life and culture of New England. The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has skyrocketed from 280 parts per million (ppm) in the mid 18th century to 385 ppm at the beginning of the 21st century.  As a result of a simple chemical reaction, the ocean has absorbed approximately one third read more…

While there are many longer-term lifestyle changes that we all ought to adopt (like composting, driving fewer miles, using less water, etc), here are 6 things that you can do in 3.5 minutes to save our planet without leaving your chair: Save a tree, stop junk mail. We all know about the Federal “Do Not Call” list – but unfortunately, there’s no such list for junk mail. However, you can sign up with DMAchoice.org to eliminate up to 80% of junk mail sent to your home. The trees will thank you, and it takes only 90 seconds. Petition for expanded public transit. There are many benefits to expanded public transit – including a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and decreased dependence on foreign oil. Signing this petition takes just read more…

Welcome to the CLF Scoop! CLF Scoop, powered by Conservation Law Foundation, is designed to be the go-to resource for CLF supporters, advocates and environmental enthusiasts in New England and around the world by offering case and project updates, events, news and information. In this blog, you’ll be hearing from a number of CLF advocates and staffers. But we also want to hear from you! You are invited to be an active participant in our blog! Please leave comments on our posts and engage in the important dialogues about New England’s past, present and future. For your viewing pleasure, you may find it easiesr to tune-in to CLF Scoop through our feed. To subsribe to our RSS feed, click here. To get e-mail updates, click here.