Just five more days until the Providence premiere of Carbon Nation. Tell your friends and come get inspired by inspiring people who took the path of positivity and solutions rather than complaining about the current carbon climate. Join us after the film for a panel discussion with director Peter Byck and local environmental leaders. You may even get a chance to share your own carbon solutions.  Find out more information and purchase your tickets here:  http://www.clf.org/carbonnation/ See you on Monday!

Ever wondered what your own carbon footprint looks like? Calculate it here. Once you’ve done that, make plans to come see Carbon Nation on October 25 at 6:00 PM at the Metcalf Auditorium in the Chace Center at RISD. Carbon Nation stands on the side of pioneers who want to find Solutions…who want to stop complaining and Take Action. Carbon Nation is an optimistic, solutions-based, non-preachy, non-partisan film that shows tackling climate change boosts the economy, increases national & energy security and promotes health & a clean environment. What more could you ask for? Come and see. Buy your tickets online today! Time is running out!

Me neither. That’s why I’m going to see Carbon Nation on October 25, 2010 at the Metcalf Auditorium at RISD. Details are here on how to get your tickets. Since its Premiere at The Washington Environmental Film Festival on March 28th Carbon Nation has had over 70 screenings and is headed for a major NYC screening on January 14, 2011. This film offers a glimpse to solutions rather than focusing on the problem. But don’t just take my word for it. Steve Katona, Director of Ocean Health for Conservation International, just wrote after viewing the film: “Carbon Nation is terrific!  It is positive, solutions-based and packed with information and uplifting examples.  It leaves the viewer with no doubt that we can stabilize atmospheric carbon levels, and that we already know read more…

There is no surprise that tritum has reached the drinking water aquifer at Vermont Yankee.  The claimed surprise by both Vermont Yankee officials and state officials cannot be genuine.   In June, CLF filed testimony stating:  “every indication is that the bedrock is, or soon will be, contaminated by tritium.”  CLF’s expert hydrogeologist reviewed Vermont Yankee’s groundwater data and analysis and concluded that the tritium is deep in the groundwater and has been there for months.  This  “represents clear evidence that radionuclides released from VY … have reached the bedrock surface, and threaten the water supply aquifer beneath it.”  (p. 19-20). Water flows down and downstream.  Any grade schooler will tell you this.  Sadly, rather than step up to acknowledge and clean up the pollution, we are getting more lies about the leaks.  It is no read more…

So the 100% biodegradable packaging that PepsiCo uses for its Sun Chips snacks is going away because … well, isn’t it obvious?! PepsiCo is taking the no-waste, completely compostable, producer-finally-taking-responsibility-for-the- waste-it generates packaging off the shelves because WE complained that the packaging makes too much noise. It is hard to believe that we as consumers would make the conscious effort NOT to buy a product simply because the part of the product that we usually throw away is too loud. The trash trucks barreling down the side streets to pick up garbage (not too loud), the people living near landfills raising their voices to complain about rodents and odors and air quality (not too loud), citizen voices raised in anger to complain about higher taxes to pay for the higher read more…

I was privileged to meet yesterday afternoon with a delegation of Russian leaders and activists to talk about decommissioning nuclear power plants.  They were mostly interested in how groups like CLF work within the system.  What are our strategies, tactics and funding to do the work we do?  The idea that we are funded by members and bring lawsuits or intervene in proceedings seemed more foreign to them than just our different nationalities. In a country still facing the effects of Chernobyl, it is inspiring that a group of dedicated persons – mostly volunteers – are working so hard internationally on decommissioning.  I am encouraged by their enthusiasm.  They seemed encouraged by Vermont’s example of passing a law to allow the state legislature to vote on relicensing.  They were wondering if they could do read more…

An exciting start to the big offshore wind energy conference in Atlantic City New Jersey came in the form of an announcement that a lease for the Cape Wind project would be signed by the Secretary of Interior and a public signing of that lease.  The folks back home at CLF posted a timely statement about that on this blog, illustrated by my debut as a breaking news photographer (if I had as nice a smartphone as my wife it would be a better picture). As it often has been, Atlantic City is an odd mix of the artificial (including the eerie artificially lit and climate controlled casinos where you literally can’t tell if it is day or night) and the natural (the crash of the Ocean waves is as read more…

Tomorrow, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles, will announce new state support for electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them.  This is great news for the environment and the economy. Electric vehicles are a vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants from the transportation sector.  These benefits are multiplied when electric cars are powered by clean renewable energy such as wind and solar.  In fact, electric cars are especially compatible with wind power which is often at its height when electric cars are charging at night.  Although these benefits are dampened in parts of the country where coal-fired power provides the majority of electricity, electric cars are still an improvement over the status quo.   So read more…

Hotter Temperatures More than Doubled Smog Days in New England On October 1, the EPA announced that the number of bad air quality days increased from 11 last year to 28 in 2010.  These are also known as “high ozone days” and are triggered when ozone levels exceed the standards EPA has set to protect public health. Excessive ozone, more commonly known as smog, results from a combination of nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and heat and sunlight. Even short-term exposure to smog has been shown to shorten lives and cause other severe health impacts, including shortness of breath, chest pain, asthma attacks, and increased hospitalization for vulnerable populations such as the very young, elderly, and those already suffering from lung or heart disease. In children, smog can also result read more…

October 8 is the deadline to adopt a mile of New England’s shoreline and we’re counting on you to make a difference. Even if you never heard the term “nutrient pollution” before, you may have seen its devastating effects on the New England waters that you treasure. Slimy algae blooms and fish kills are two of the more visible consequences of too much nitrogen and phosphorus in the water. And the effects you can’t see are the most troubling: massive areas under the glistening waters of our fragile bays and lakes where no living thing can survive. This man-made problem is a solvable one and the key to our success is you! By adopting a mile (or more!) of shoreline, you are giving CLF the ability to rescue our most read more…