In the short term when you have hostile conservatives in control of the House of Representatives and their like minded ilk in the US Senate there’s not much that can be done to fight climate change. I think what President Clinton and Mayor Bloomberg are doing focusing on cities throughout the nation is a good approach.

Cities now house more than half of the world’s population, and while they occupy 2 percent of the globe’s land mass, cities consume 70 percent of global energy and produce 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. If anything meaningful is going to happen on climate in the short term, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bloomberg and their advisers say, it has to start in the cities.

In a world of hostile conservatives it’s good to know that there are some people with influence still trying to make a difference on climate change.

Kroff, Inc. to Present Advantages of Frac Fluid Reuse During Pittsburgh Chemical Day — PITTSBURGH, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –

“Some of the largest gas and oil drilling companies in the nation have set up shop here in Pennsylvania, which is a clear indicator of the depth of gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale.  This also represents tremendous economic opportunity for all kinds of businesses in our region,” Grottenthaler said.  ”At the same time, oil and gas companies are required to comply with environmental regulations in terms of handling and disposal of production water and flowback.  Kroff has the technologies and solutions to ensure that companies are environmentally compliant, and I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge with attendees during Pittsburgh Chemical Day.”

Apparently Kroff says they have the ability to reuse frac and flowback water?

During the presentation, Grottenthaler will discuss fluid design formulation and water treatment quality for safe and effective reuse of frac water.  He will also offer reasons for reuse; discuss the technologies, chemistries and remediation strategies currently being employed; and provide analytical proof to support safe reuse. Reusing flowback and produced waters rather than releasing this water back into the environment should prove to be a key enabler to the Marcellus Shale development.

Even if frac and flow back water can be made to be safe there are some other reasons why drilling in the Marcellus Shale is not a good thing.

Half of All Americans Breathe Polluted Air | Common Dreams

The United States has made progress in cleaning up air pollution, but 154.5 million people, about half the population, live where the air is so polluted with smog and particles that it is often dangerous to breathe, the American Lung Association said today.

The first Earth Day back in 1970 was all about clean air and drinkable water. While climate change is now a major problem, we cannot forget that concern for the environment is about more than just that one environmental issue.

Just came back from Europe. Wind farms everywhere – on land and in the sea. They were quiet and, generally, unobtrusive especially the ones in the North Sea. For the most part the wind turbines in the sea were obscured by the marine layer much of the time. And, when they weren’t, they looked a darned sight better than the oil platforms even further out to sea. The Nantucket Sound residents are worried that their land will devalue. The fisherman worry that their nets and lines will foul on the bottom cables. Frankly, none of them have ecology as their first priority.

via Cape Cod Wind Farm Controversy Still Roiling Nantucket Sound.

The above was from a comment someone made to the article on the Politics Daily website. I will have to defer to the Europeans on this one and say wind power to the Cape!

Since this law has passed I don’t take plastic bags for anything. I’ll put my purchases in my worn-out messenger bag. I should have been doing this a long time ago.

A Washington, D.C. law mandates shoppers shell out a nickel for each grocery bag they use, and the regulation has caused people to stop taking as many unnecessary bags and reduced waste, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Impressed, Baltimore’s city council is considering charging a quarter a bag. The trend seems to be catching on nationwide

Three Greenpeace activists were taken into custody after deploying a floating banner in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building in plain view of a favorite destination for polluter lobbyists — Senator Lisa Murkowskis Washington DC office. The banner exposed Murkowskis close relationship with dirty energy interests and promoted PolluterHarmony, a spoof online dating site launched just before Valentines Day to help connect polluters, industry lobbyists, and politicians.

via Lisa Murkowskis Big Oil Love – Greenpeace USA Blog.

We’re getting to the point where radical direct action appears to be the only option left. Ninety-nine percent of the country simply does not have a seat at the table when going up against the likes of major corporate polluters like Exxon and Chevron. This managed democracy we’re in must be turned on its head.

So I’m reading James Hanen’s latest essay in The Nation. on my Kindle when I came across this passage which I must share. It equates those who would argue for offsets in place of real limits on carbon emissions as sinners. I think this is great!

Hansen says:

The public must be firm and unwavering in demanding “no offsets,” because this sort of monkey business is exactly the type of thing that politicians love and will try to keep. Offsets are like the indulgences that were sold by the church in the Middle Ages. People of means loved indulgences because they could practice any hanky-panky or worse, then simply purchase and indulgence to avoid punishment for their sins. Bishops lived them too, because they brought in lots of moola. Anybody who argues for offsets today is either a sinner who wants to pretend he or she has done adequate penance or a bishop collecting moola.

If I were the World Bank I would totally reevaluate this thinking.

From Amazon Daily:

Interesting take by Ariel Schwartz on FastCompany.com : “The Energy Strategy recognizes that “Sustainable energy requires concerted efforts over the long term by a wide range of actors in industry, finance, government, and international organizations, but is still being addressed with short-term financing and policy frameworks that are not aligned with the scale of the challenge.” And in 2004, the bank’s Extractive Industries Review recommended an immediate moratorium on coal. But the World Bank somehow still thinks that coal is acceptable under certain conditions since it’s cheap–and in fact, the bank’s funding for coal energy has increased nearly 200% in the past few years.”

The British leader plans to attend the Copenhagen summit, intended to cap two years of negotiations on a global climate change treaty, and has called on fellow leaders to join him. So far, few have said they will go.

Britain’s Brown Warns of Climate Catastrophe – NYTimes.com

It’s a shame that the Prime Minister of the UK is the one out there trying to lead on an issue that the United States of America does not really care about. The leadership of this country pay an exorbitant amount of lip service to the issue but are held in check by polluting corporations in the coal and oil industries. Congress is simply feckless when it comes to legislating on climate change. This is why we will not have a climate bill this year. Our only hope is that the EPA will start to regulate carbon emissions in a way that Congress has failed to do.

I’m really happy to see another company in Exelon leaving the depressing organization that is the United States Chamber of Commerce. Honestly, if the right-wing can go after ACORN I want to go after the chamber and push them off the cliff.

Exelon, one of the country’s largest utilities, said Monday that it would quit the United States Chamber of Commerce because of that group’s stance on climate change. It was the latest in a string of companies to do so, perhaps a harbinger of how intense the fight over global warming legislation could become.

“The carbon-based free lunch is over,” said John W. Rowe, Exelon’s chief executive. “Breakthroughs on climate change and improving our society’s energy efficiency are within reach.”

The article says there as been a “wave” of departures. I wonder who will be next?