The World According to Greg » Climate Change

Now I Know Why I Am An Environmentalist

ghile — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:05:28 +0000

Actually I’ve been one all my life. But after suffering through five or six major bouts of kidney stones over the last twelve years (I forget how many times I’ve had them), all of which required at least one hospitalization and one which resulted in my giving birth to a stent (for the gory details ask me offline), the news that global warming may cause an increase in the incidents of kidney stones just seals the deal.

Trust me, I feel your pain …

Still My Favorite

ghile — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:08:36 +0000

Since I lost all of my prior blog postings over the weekend I have been thinking about some of my personal favorites over the years. Here is still my all time favorite video: Will Farrell’s George W. Bush on Global Warming, courtesy of our friends at Stop Global Warming and TBS’ Earth to America series.

Enjoy …

And They Said it Would Cost American Jobs …

ghile — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:52:16 +0000

California Republicans are up in arms over Governor Schwarzenegger’s hiring of dozens of staff throughout state agencies to implement the state’s mandate to curb global warming. But the Gov is simply doing what private industry is quickly realizing is a profitable enterprise. When I worked for Rainforest Action Network pushing banks to calculate their carbon footprint, the facilities managers griped and complained … until they finally did it and discovered they could save a LOT of operational expense by going green. Schwarzenegger is certainly not perfect on the green scorecard, but he’s so much better than most other Republicans.

Al Gore Gets a “Frosty” Reception in Federal Way

ghile — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 05:28:30 +0000

The school board in the south Seattle suburb of Federal Way (home, it should noted, of logging giant Weyerhaeuser) has restricted showings of An Inconvenient Truth, imposing requirements that it be balanced with an adequate opposing viewpoint and be shown only with the school principal and district superintendent’s approval.

The decision was apparently sparked by complaints from parents who said their child was taking the film as fact after viewing it at school. “Condoms don’t belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He’s not a schoolteacher,” said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who believes the earth is 14,000 years old and doesn’t want the film shown at all. “The information that’s being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn’t in the DVD.”

Kind of hard to argue with that.

How Many Jews Does it Take to Screw in a Light Bulb?

ghile — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 05:42:18 +0000

As Hanukkah begins Friday night, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and synagogues around the nation are urging congregants to use energy-efficient light bulbs.

This Jewish response to global warming, dubbed “How Many Jews Does it Take to Screw in a Light Bulb” by COEJL, gives new meaning to the Festival of Lights, which lasts eight nights and celebrates an ancient triumph of energy conservation. This modern day commemoration of Hanukkah will include helping congregations, Jewish institutions, and individuals purchase and install energy efficient, cost effective compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs during Hanukkah, 2006. The campaign also aims to engage the Jewish community in energy legislation, greening synagogues, and to help our youth get involved in activities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by offsetting one’s own energy usage.

For a complementary perspective, check out Andrew Sullivan’s comments on the “missed opportunity” in the COEJL initiative.