Climate Change

Energy efficiency is particularly critical in affordable housing developments, says Jeremy Hays, Chief Strategist for State and Local Initiatives at Green For All, a sustainability advocacy group with offices in Oakland and Washington, D.C. According to Hays, apartment buildings built before 1970 use 55 percent more energy than those built after 1990, while low-income residents spend 400 percent more of their monthly income on utility bills than the average American.

Measuring the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of biofuels has become increasingly important in recent years. Studies have shown a significant amount of variation in biofuels made from different feedstocks. In some cases, biofuels are only marginally better than fossil fuel counterparts. In other cases, there are significant improvements in GHG performance.

Last week BBC News published the first results from a year-long project launched at London’s Science Museum in March, 2013. The study found that people were more likely to take positive steps towards reducing climate change when presented with action steps in game form rather than in the midst of a deluge of gloomy facts and figures.

The varied crowd meant Jonathan Raab, another consultant and facilitator, got sometimes conflicting results when he polled the gathering.

The Rev. Stephen Blackmer, a long-time environmental activist turned Episcopal priest, did not mince words about what he believes is coming, saying he draws a "distinction between optimism and hope." "I find very little reason to be optimistic that we will summon the will or the skill or the energy to prevent serious harm from happening to us," Blackmer told a crowd of about 50 people during the forum at the Exeter Congregational Church.

Today, President Obama issued an executive order that establishes a task force on "climate preparedness and resilience." It directs federal agencies to begin dealing with the quandaries of planning for a world of bigger storms and rising seas. The order acknowledges that the impacts of climate change "are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies, and public health."

Ninety health, environmental and sportsmen’s groups asked the federal government Thursday to clamp down on the release of methane gas by the petrochemical industry, asserting that the United States cannot reach its goal for reducing heat-trapping emissions without addressing the issue.

"Combined with California's innovative climate policies, the LASER Atlas can impact how the region invests new state resources to address pressing environmental challenges while providing job opportunities in its most impacted communities," said Colleen Callahan, deputy director of the Luskin Center for Innovation. Read more

“No Hay Desechos, solo recursos” reads the Sistema BioBolsa logo, there is no waste, only resources, and that is the heart and sole of Sistema Biobolsa, an organization working in 22 Mexican States, and 15 other countries to bring sustainable resources to agricultural communities. Here is the low down, a highly innovative membrane digester that processes animal waste (especially cow) into a useable methane rich bio gas, and an organic rich fertilizer called Biol.