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Why conservationists need a little hope: saving themselves from becoming the most depressing scientists on the planet

August 19, 2014, news.mongabay.com | “Here’s a challenge: take a conservationist out for a drink and ask them about their work. Nine times out of ten—or possibly more—you’ll walk away feeling frustrated, despondent, and utterly hopeless. You’ll hear about rainforests being chopped down for palm oil or chopsticks; or a just-discovered species that probably just went extinct; or a government that is worse than ambivalent: corrupt; or a shadowy corporation that’s doing some horrific thing to ecosystems and local people just to make greedy shareholders happy.”

GoodNews FortheEarth shared a link.
Here’s a great article about why to support the kind of cheerleading that we do at Good News for the Earth —
interviews with top conservation biologists
Why conservationists need a little hope
news.mongabay.com
the human brain is wired to try harder only when there is reason to believe that those efforts will make a difference. — The Sword of Damocles over our head is not the right image
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Aug 19, 2014 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Cap and Trade, Climate, Forests, GMOs, International Policy, Lawsuits - Climate, Local Policy, National Policy, Ocean Pollution, Oceans, Plastic Bags, Pollution, Protection, Protests, Recycling, Trash cleanups, Water

Closing Chicago’s Toxic Cloud Factories

July 9, 2014, www.ran.org | “Last month I was in Chicago to attend the U.S. Climate Action Network’s national meeting. The keynote speaker was Gina McCarthy, head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Her speech focused on the agency’s recently proposed carbon pollution standards, the first-ever rule to limit carbon pollution from power plants.”

Pamela Benda shared a link via Rainforest Action Network.
HEALING THE EARTH CREATES JOBS
SHUTTING DOWN THIS COAL SITE BROUGHT JOBS TO THE COMMUNITY VIA THE COMPANY WORKING TO REGENERATE THE LAND
Closing Chicago’s Toxic Cloud Factories – Rainforest Action Network
www.ran.org
Last month I was in Chicago to attend the U.S. Climate Action Network’s national meeting. The keynote speaker was Gina…
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Filed under: Air, Buildings, Business Policy, Cap and Trade, Climate, Economics, Energy, Energy - Polluting, Local Policy, National Policy, Pollution, Retrofitting

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Cross-State Air Pollution Rule

April 29, 2014, ens-newswire.com | “The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the U.S. EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, a clean air standard that requires 28 states in the East, Midwest, and South to cut emissions of pollutants from coal-fired power plants that cross state lines and degrade air quality in downwind states.”

Robert Brothers shared a link.
“Millions of Americans will breathe easier, thanks to the decision today by the U.S. Supreme Court that will finally curtail second-hand smog – ozone smog and particle pollution blown across state borders far from their sources, threatening lives and health.” — The American Lung Association
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Cross-State Air Pollution Rule | Environment News Service
ens-newswire.com
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Apr 29, 2014 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Coal, Energy - Polluting, Pollution

Latin America applies the weight of the law to confront climate change

March 13, 2014, www.worldbank.org | “In some Latin American countries, attacking nature is a crime whereas others promote the buying and selling of gases that destroy the atmosphere. They are different means to the same end: to address inevitable climate change, which is already being felt throughout the region, whether in the form of extreme weather, such as twin storms, or less perceptibly, such as rising sea levels.”

Latin America applies the weight of the law to confront climate change
www.worldbank.org
Latin America applies the weight of the law to confront climate change
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Mar 13, 2014 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Business Policy, Climate, Economics, Energy - Polluting, Energy - Renewable, Local Policy, National Policy, Pollution

Hamburg Sets Out to Become a Car-Free City in 20 Years

plan envisages “eliminating the need for automobiles” within two decades.

February 19, 2014, www.whydontyoutrythis.com | “Hamburg city council has disclosed ambitious plans to divert most cars away from its main thoroughfares in twenty years.  In order to do so, local authorities are to connect pedestrian and cycle lanes in what is to become a large green network.”

Polly Howells shared a link via Jeffrey Vasterling.
“Hamburg Sets Out to Become a Car-Free City in 20 Years
www.whydontyoutrythis.com
Hamburg City Council has disclosed ambitious plans to divert most cars away from its main thoroughfares in twenty years. In order to do so, local authorities are to connect pedestrian and…”
amburg City Council has disclosed ambitious plans to divert most cars away from its main thoroughfares in twenty years. In order to do so, local authorities are to connect pedestrian and cycle lanes in what is expected to become a large green network. In all, the Grunes Netz (Green Web) plan envisages “eliminating the need for automobiles” within two decades. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2014/02/hamburg-sets-out-to-become-a-carfree-city-in-20-years.html
Hamburg City Council has disclosed ambitious plans to divert most cars away from its main thoroughfares in twenty years. In order to do so, local authorities are to connect pedestrian and cycle lanes in what is expected to become a large green network. In all, the Grunes Netz (Green Web) plan envisages “eliminating the need for automobiles” within two decades. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2014/02/hamburg-sets-out-to-become-a-carfree-city-in-20-years.html
Hamburg City Council has disclosed ambitious plans to divert most cars away from its main thoroughfares in twenty years. In order to do so, local authorities are to connect pedestrian and cycle lanes in what is expected to become a large green network. In all, the Grunes Netz (Green Web) plan envisages “eliminating the need for automobiles” within two decades. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2014/02/hamburg-sets-out-to-become-a-carfree-city-in-20-years.html
Hamburg City Council has disclosed ambitious plans to divert most cars away from its main thoroughfares in twenty years. In order to do so, local authorities are to connect pedestrian and cycle lanes in what is expected to become a large green network. In all, the Grunes Netz (Green Web) plan envisages “eliminating the need for automobiles” within two decades. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2014/02/hamburg-sets-out-to-become-a-carfree-city-in-20-years.html
Hamburg City Council has disclosed ambitious plans to divert most cars away from its main thoroughfares in twenty years. In order to do so, local authorities are to connect pedestrian and cycle lanes in what is expected to become a large green network. In all, the Grunes Netz (Green Web) plan envisages “eliminating the need for automobiles” within two decades. Read More: http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2014/02/hamburg-sets-out-to-become-a-carfree-city-in-20-years.html
Feb 19, 2014 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Automobiles, Bicycles, Climate, Energy - Polluting, Local Policy, Pollution, Public Transport, Transportation

A solar-powered future for India’s Ladakh region

Photo: SOLAR ENERGY FUELS "THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS" Ladakh, India is an isolated high altitude region in the rain shadow of the Himalayas that used to rely on imported, expensive, and dirty fossil fuels for light, heat, and power. Now, it uses #solar energy for almost everything. Since it's sunny 320 days a year, solar is an incredibly cheap and reliable power source. Nations around the world are leapfrogging fossil fuels so that they do not have to pay ever increasing $$ for them. Switching to #renewable energies, saving $$ and the environment are the right steps to the 'economics of happiness'. Learn more >> http://tinyurl.com/lvorpok The documentary "The Economics of Happiness" describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people around the world are resisting those policies – and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization - and of happiness rather than material overconsumption. WATCH the trailer >> http://vimeo.com/ondemand/theeconomicsofhappiness/64564269 More info >> http://www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org/, http://www.localfutures.org/ Image credit: EARTH-The Operators' Manual [M]

February 10, 2014, www.scidev.net | “Ladakh, a cold, desert region high in the western Himalayas, is abandoning fossil fuels and embracing clean energy. For years, residents have relied on fossil fuels imported from nearby valleys. But transporting kerosene and diesel, as well as firewood, proved to be expensive and trucks added further to the air pollution in the region.”

Connie Ashby shared 1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling’s photo.
“SOLAR ENERGY FUELS “THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS”
Ladakh, India is an isolated high altitude region in the rain shadow of the Himalayas that used to rely on imported, expensive, and dirty fossil fuels for light, heat, and power. Now, it uses #solar energy for almost everything. Since it’s sunny 320 days a year, solar is an incredibly cheap and reliable power source.
Nations around the world are leapfrogging fossil fuels so that they do not have to pay ever increasing $$ for them. Switching to #renewable energies, saving $$ and the environment are the right steps to the ‘economics of happiness’.
Learn more >> http://tinyurl.com/lvorpok

The documentary “The Economics of Happiness” describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people around the world are resisting those policies – and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization – and of happiness rather than material overconsumption.

WATCH the trailer >> http://vimeo.com/ondemand/theeconomicsofhappiness/64564269
More info >> http://www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org/,
http://www.localfutures.org/

Image credit: EARTH-The Operators’ Manual“

Feb 10, 2014 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Energy - Polluting, Energy - Renewable, Investments, Oil, Pollution

How Vancouver, B.C. became North America’s smart-growth leader

Janaury 20, 2014, www.hcn.org | “Vancouver, B.C., is North America’s uncontested smart-growth leader: Among Northwestern cities, it has the greatest population density; the highest rates of cycling, walking and transit riding; and the fewest cars per capita. Its more than 2.3 million people have the highest life expectancy and the lowest teen birth and poverty rates. Ninety percent of Vancouver’s power is hydroelectric, and the city regularly uses wind and solar. The extensive mass transit system includes high-capacity diesel buses, electric trolleys, light rail and an elevated train service. There are hundreds of miles of bike trails. As a result, Vancouver has the lowest per capita carbon emissions of any major city in the Western Hemisphere.”

Robert Brothers shared a link

How Vancouver, B.C. became North America’s smart-growth leader
www.hcn.org
It wasn’t visionary city officials; it was a movement to save the city’s ethnic Chinese neighborhoods in the ’60s.
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Jan 20, 2014 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Buildings, Climate, Economics, Energy - Polluting, Energy - Renewable, Farms & Gardens, Green Jobs, Investments, Local Policy, Pollution, Recycling & Plastics, Retrofitting, Solar, Trash cleanups, Wind

Talk Nation Radio Interview with Climate Campaign Director Rose Braz

 

Talk Nation Radio: 72 Cities Demand Clean Air Act Be Enforced to Protect Climate

www.biologicaldiversity.org | “Rose Braz, the Climate Campaign Director for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute talks about the politics behind the Clean Air Act.  Clean Air Cities is a campaign put together by Rose Braz, which demonstrates that there is a broad basis for cities to use the Clean Air Act to their benefit.”

Talk Nation Radio Interview with Climate Campaign Director Rose Braz
For more info, see http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/clean_air_cities/index.html
72 Cities Demand Clean Air Act Be Enforced to Protect Climate
www.biologicaldiversity.org
Rose Braz is the Climate Campaign Director for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. The Clean Air Cities campaign has thus far organized 72 cities, large and small, across the United States, to pass resolutions demanding that the EPA make full use of the Clean Air Act to cut…
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Oct 18, 2013 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Business Policy, Climate, Economics, Energy - Polluting, Energy - Renewable, Green Jobs, National Policy, Pollution

Talk Nation Radio Interview with Climate Campaign Director Rose Braz

 

Talk Nation Radio: 72 Cities Demand Clean Air Act Be Enforced to Protect Climate

 

 

www.biologicaldiversity.org | “Rose Braz, the Climate Campaign Director for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute talks about the politics behind the Clean Air Act.  Clean Air Cities is a campaign put together by Rose Braz, which demonstrates that there is a broad basis for cities to use the Clean Air Act to their benefit.”

Talk Nation Radio Interview with Climate Campaign Director Rose Braz
For more info, see http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/clean_air_cities/index.html
72 Cities Demand Clean Air Act Be Enforced to Protect Climate
www.biologicaldiversity.org
Rose Braz is the Climate Campaign Director for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. The Clean Air Cities campaign has thus far organized 72 cities, large and small, across the United States, to pass resolutions demanding that the EPA make full use of the Clean Air Act to cut…
  • Connie Ashby likes this
Oct 18, 2013 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Business Policy, Climate, Economics, Energy - Polluting, Energy - Renewable, Green Jobs, National Policy, Pollution

Clean Air Cities

biologicaldiversity.org | “The equation is simple: If we want clean air and a healthy climate, we have to cut greenhouse gas pollution. The Clean Air Act is our current best hope to reach this goal in the United States. But the Act is under significant attack from the fossil fuel industry and its allies in Congress.  That’s why the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute has launched “Clean Air Cities,” a nationwide campaign urging cities around the United States to call on the Obama administration and the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to make significant reductions in greenhouse gas pollution.”

Connie Ashby shared a link. Clean Air Cities www.biologicaldiversity.org

RELATED CAMPAIGNS• Climate Law Institute• 350 or Bust• 350 Reasons We Need to Get to 350• Global Warming Litigation• Solutions: Political and Personal• Fuel Economy StandardsKEY DOCUMENTSThe Clean Air Act WorksThe Clean Air Act: Myth Versus Reality
Oct 18, 2013 GoodNews FortheEarth on Facebook Leave a Comment
Filed under: Air, Climate, Economics, Energy - Renewable, Green Jobs, National Policy, Pollution, Retrofitting