MORE NEWS, 4-16 (FASTING FOR THE FUTURE; CLIMATE CHANGE BILL, THE PLAYERS; BIG WIND IN INDIANA)

FASTING FOR THE FUTURE
Fasting for Our Future; It’s Time for Strong Action on Climate!
Ted Glick, April 14, 2009 (Fasting For Our Future)

"On Monday, April 20th, members of Congress will be returning to Washington from their spring recess. On that day hundreds of people around the USA and in other countries will be fasting, abstaining from solid food, engaging in what Mahatma Gandhi called, “the sincerest form of prayer.” Some will continue fasting for more than one day, some for 25-40 days or more.

"We are writing as people who will be part of this action to invite you to join with us…"

click for the website and more info

"Why 25-40 or more? Because we want to call attention to the need for the U.S. and other industrialized countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020…It is a target that, if reached, would give the world some chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change.

"…[W]e are entering a critical period in the struggle to get the U.S. government to act decisively on the climate crisis. With the introduction in the House Energy and Commerce Committee of the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” a process has been started that will lead to a vote in the full House this summer and in the Senate in the summer or fall. Hearings on this bill begin the week of April 20th.

"We need federal legislation…We must slash greenhouse gas emissions…We must discourage the building of any new coal plants…100% of permits to pollute under a cap must be auctioned, or a substantial carbon fee must be enacted…[L]egislation [must provide] for a just transition for workers and communities… [Return] a substantial percentage of the money raised to the public…[Create] millions of green jobs and pathways out of poverty…[Assist] vulnerable communities and developing countries …[And enable a shift] to sustainable practices that support family farmers."

Fasting worked for him. (click to enlarge)

"The American people support a shift from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency…[Y]et too many of our government representatives on Capitol Hill are either controlled by the coal and oil companies, are afraid of taking them on or just don’t appreciate the depth of the climate crisis we are facing and the need for urgent action. Some of them, apparently, also don’t appreciate that investments in renewables and efficiency create several times as many jobs as investments in dirty and polluting industries.

"We are asking those who support the demands of this fast to take action in whatever ways you can, and to take action of some kind every day until a strong climate bill is signed by President Obama…"

"Sincerely,
[Fasting For Our Future:] Elliott Adams, Past President of Veterans for Peace…Craig S. Altemose, Co-coordinator, Massachusetts Power Shift…Edward Asner, Actor/Activist…May Boeve…Kolya Braun-Greiner, M.Div…Sheila Collins, National Jobs for All Coalition, political science professor…Steve Crowley, S. Burlington, Vt….Jared Duval, author and activist…Patricia Egan…AshEL Eldridge, Alliance for Climate Education, Oakland Resilience Alliance…Bruce K. Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space…Ted Glick, climate activist and writer...Eban Goodstein, Director, National Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions…Connie Hogarth, Climate Crisis Coalition…Jonathan Isham, Jr., Middlebury College…Earl Katz, President, Public Interest Pictures…Diane Ladd, three-time Academy Award nominee, Actress, Writer, Director…Jan Lundberg, Portland, Or., with CultureChange.org and Sail Transport Network…Jere Locke, Director, Texas Climate Emergency Campaign…Dana Kuhnline, Coordinator, Alliance for Appalachia…Elena Rojas Martinez…Fr. Paul Mayer, Climate Crisis Coalition…Bill McKibben, 350.org …Kandi Mossett, Indigenous Environmental Network…Sierra Murdoch, coordinator, Power Past Coal campaign…Ethan Nuss, Maryland youth organizer…Janisse Ray, environmental author and activist…Joshua Kahn Russell, Grassroots Action Manager, Rainforest Action Network…Robert Shetterly, artist, Americans Who Tell the Truth
Vandana Shiva, author and activist…Ezra Small, Climate Crisis Coalition…Rev. Fred Small, Senior Minister, First Parish in Cambridge, MA (Unitarian Universalist), Co-chair, Religious Witness for the Earth…Jayne Lyn Stahl, poet, essayist, founder of Writers-at-Large…Alli Chagi-Starr, Green for All, Art in Action…Tom Stokes, Coordinator, Climate Crisis Coalition…Josh Tulkin, National Field Director, Energy Action Coalition…Karen Weinberg, Cool Communities, Bath, Maine…Diane Wilson, Calhoun County Resource Watch (Texas), co-founder Code Pink…Daphne Wysham, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies"


CLIMATE CHANGE BILL, THE PLAYERS
White House Seeks Bill on Climate by December
Mark Peters, April 13, 2009 (Wall Street Journal)

"Climate czar Carol Browner said she wants Congress to establish a broad U.S. greenhouse-gas policy before global climate-change talks near the end of the year…[She] said she is confident Congress can move forward on a climate-change policy, citing hearings scheduled for next week on sweeping legislation proposed by Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) and Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass). Ms. Browner didn't provide a timetable for when she would like to see congressional action, but said advancing climate-change legislation is "absolutely essential" to what the U.S. can accomplish during United Nations negotiations scheduled for December in Copenhagen…"

Fromclimatebrad via YouTube

"As early as this month, the Environmental Protection Agency could declare that carbon dioxide is a danger to the public, triggering regulation of emissions under the Clean Air Act. Such a regulatory move is widely seen as part of the Obama administration's strategy to pressure reluctant lawmakers into action.

"Rep. Markey…said the goal is to complete federal legislation ahead of the U.N. meetings. But he added that even if Congress hasn't passed a final bill, it will be clear to other nations that the U.S. is moving in a dramatically different direction on climate change…[He] said legislation -- rather than EPA regulation of carbon dioxide -- would provide greater flexibility to ease the potential impact on the economy and consumers. He declined to give a specific time when the process should be taken over by the EPA if Congress can't reach an agreement…"

From StartLoving1 via YouTube

"The Waxman/Markey bill introduced late last month would put in place a cap-and-trade market to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, while requiring that an increasing share of U.S. electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and the sun.

"In his fiscal 2010 budget, President Barack Obama proposed cutting greenhouse gases 14% by 2020 and 83% by 2050 from 2005 levels, and auctioning off 100% of emission credits, or the right to emit…But the Obama administration has remained largely silent on the details of climate legislation."


BIG WIND IN INDIANA
600-turbine wind farm set northwestern Indiana
April 14, 2009 (AP via BusinessWeek)

"An energy company expects to have the first of hundreds of wind turbines in operation by this fall at a new wind farm in northwestern Indiana.

"White County officials joined managers from Texas-based Horizon Wind Energy in a groundbreaking ceremony for the project near the town of Chalmers…"

The potential is enormous. (click to enlarge)

"Horizon plans within five years to install more than 600 turbines with the potential to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Project manager Martin Culik says he expects enough turbines for producing 200 megawatts to be finished by the end of October.

"The new project follows construction of other wind farms in the rural area north of Lafayette. More than 300 turbines are already in operation in nearby Benton County and construction is set to start soon on a 53-turbine project."