Why the delay?

U.S. To Phase Out Cancerous Flame Retardant Chemical by 2013:

Credit: Public Domain

The most effective and commonly used flame retardant Deca-BDE will be phased out by 2013 in the United States under a new deal between Chemtura and Albemarle Corp., its US producers, ICL Industrial Products Inc., the largest US importer, and the Environmental Protection Agency...

The chemical is a polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) used in upholstery textiles, carpet backings, mattresses, cars, buses, aircraft, and construction materials, that can potentially cause cancer and may impact brain function:

PBDEs are closely linked to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which have been banned for nearly 30 years because they can cause immune suppression, endocrine disruption, and behavioral problems. Deca-BDE's largest U.S. producer ICL Industrial Products Inc. (ICL-IP) has already started on a program to accelerate the market's transition to "sustainable flame retardant solutions," according to Eco Textile News. This includes a three-year phase-out (with a one-year extension for essential uses) of sales of Deca in the US market.

Why wait?

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Banksy on Global warming

From Banksy.

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Global Warming Hike

May Be Steeper: Research:

Global temperatures could rise substantially more because of increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than previously thought, according to a new study by US and Chinese scientists released Sunday.

The researchers used a long-term model for assessing climate change, confirming a similar British study released this month that said calculations for man-made global warming may be underestimated by between 30 and 50 percent.
"This work and other ancient climate reconstructions reveal that Earth's climate is more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than is discussed in political circles," said the paper's lead author, Yale's Mark Pagani.

And yet COP15 closed with no clear leadership or direction.

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A Deal?

Obama Says 'A First Step' Climate Deal Has Been Reached In Copenhagen

Bill McKibben, author and founder of 350.org, gave the following statement:

"This is a declaration that small and poor countries don't matter, that international civil society doesn't matter, and that serious limits on carbon don't matter. The president has wrecked the UN and he's wrecked the possibility of a tough plan to control global warming. It may get Obama a reputation as a tough American leader, but it's at the expense of everything progressives have held dear. 189 countries have been left powerless, and the foxes now guard the carbon henhouse without any oversight."


Kumi Naidoo, The Executive Director of Greenpeace, stated:

"Not fair, not ambitious and not legally binding. The job of world leaders is not done. Today they failed to avert catastrophic climate change.
The city of Copenhagen is a climate crime scene tonight, with the guilty men and women fleeing to the airport in shame. World leaders had a once in a generation chance to change the world for good, to avert catastrophic climate change. In the end they produced a poor deal full of loopholes big enough to fly Air Force One through.

We have seen a year of crises, but today it is clear that the biggest one facing humanity is a leadership crisis."

Some great photo opportunities and headlines, but progress?

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The question is asked again - next steps?

McKibben: Proof Copenhagen Is "An Elaborate Sham"

This afternoon at Copenhagen a document mysteriously leaked from the UN Secretariat. It was first reported from the Guardian, and by the time it was posted online it oddly had my name scrawled all across the top—I don't know why, because I didn't leak it.

My suspicion, though, is because it confirms something I've been writing for weeks. The cuts in emissions that countries are proposing here are nowhere near good enough to meet even their remarkably weak target of limiting temperature rise to two degrees Celsius. In fact, says the UN in this leaked report, the cuts on offer now produce a rise of at least three degrees, and a CO2 concentration of at least 550 ppm, not the 350 scientists say we need, or even the weak 450 that the US supposedly supports.

In other words, this entire conference is an elaborate sham, where the organizers have known all along that they're heading for a very different world than the one they're supposedly creating. It's intellectual dishonesty of a very high order, and with very high consequences. And it's probably come too late to derail the stage management—tomorrow Barack Obama will piously intone that he's committed to a two degree temperature target. But he isn't—and now he can't even say it with a straight face.

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COP 15 - failure

Diagnosis: Inadequate

Extensive analysis of the Copenhagen talks has been put forth by pundits across the political spectrum. In many ways, the scientific bottom line is the most important story here, and it's a story that few are telling.

Which is why we're so grateful to the scientists and statisticians and Climate Interactive, who have presented us with these stark figures about the proposals on the table. Here's the scoreboard right now.

The next step after governments fail to lead?

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Weird? Or clever?

Weird Solar Device of the Day: Solar Powered Garden Insect Theatre:

Image via ecotopia

If you need some front porch evening entertainment but aren't into the cruelty of the traditional bug zapper, you can try the solar powered Garden Insect Theater. Like the bug zapper, it draws insects in at night with its bright light. But unlike the bug zapper, it won't electrify them. Instead, when the insects fly in to get closer to the light, you can watch them flutter around for awhile until they find their way out though the holes in the side.

Beats a zapper. Helps you appreciate the beauty of all nature.

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COP15 News - it's not good!

U.S. Undermining Effort to Curb Deforestation

COP15 negotiations on a text aimed at curbing deforestation are quickly unraveling, according to several conservation and indigenous rights organizations. These groups are calling a recently released draft text on REDD – Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation – a major step backwards.


Several people I've spoken with today put the blame squarely at the feet of the U.S. delegation.



U.S. negotiators have successfully pushed for the removal of language that would ensure that financing from developed countries isn't used to convert existing forests to palm oil or bio fuels plantations in poor and developing ones.



Simona Lovera of GFC told me: "Basically the trees that Barack Obama is talking about planting are meant to fuel U.S. cars."

Let's hope we start walking the talk that we heard during the election. Let us hope we look past our deep wallets and look to Mother Earth and all her citizens. Let us hope we begin striving for climate stability and economic justice.

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Goodbye Alaska?

Alaskan Coastline Triple-Threatened, Eroding at Incredible 45 Feet Per Year (Video):

Photo via University of Colorado at Boulder

A study out of the University of Colorado at Boulder shows that a substantial piece of the northern Alaska coastline is eroding at an astonishing rate of 45 feet a year thanks to three major threats - less ice, more waves, and warmer water. In other words, climate change is eating away at Alaska, and fast.

Now what did former Governor Palin say about global warming? Inconclusive? Go back home and see the results of the inconclusive crisis.

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Tutu's words of advice

Archbishop Desmond Tutu on President Obama: "He Is Now a Nobel Laureate -- Become What You Are":

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa also traveled to Copenhagen this weekend to urge world leaders to tackle the climate crisis. The longtime anti-apartheid campaigner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate spoke on Saturday at a candlelight vigil just outside the UN climate summit. []

Perfectly stated!

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Delicious pretzel croissants

Inside New York's Most Sustainable Bakery

For nearly two decades, Maury Rubin’s City Bakery has been “quietly green,” building a loyal New York City following on the back of its surprisingly delicious pretzel croissants and legendary hot chocolate rather than its sustainable business practices. Then, in December of 2005, Rubin opened a brand new bakery that proudly broadcast environmental friendliness in its name: Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery. Why?

“The more I think about it, the more I think George W. Bush should get the credit,” says Rubin, whose tongue is more or less permanently in cheek. “I’m a soy bean-eating, recycling-devoted, vintage clothes-wearing, used Volvo-driving, low-carbon-footprint person in the first place. Sometime during the Bush years, that administration’s intense assault on the environment left me feeling that as a business owner with a large and loyal customer base, I had a responsibility to begin talking about the environment.”

IN the city this upcoming weekend. May have to make a small jaunt down to see what Birdbath is all about - and enjoy some food too.

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Another reason to drink beer...

The more beer you drink, the more yeast available, the more ethanol for vehicles. Who said beer and cars don't mix?

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Blame it on...

Gore Tackles Palin, Fights Back On ClimateGate

In a wide-ranging interview with Slate, Gore talks about environmental policy, why the Copenhagen meeting matters, and the hacked climate science emails. The emails, Gore stresses, were "taken wildly out of context" and the uproar surrounding them is "sound and fury signifying nothing."

His frustration with the hacked-email fallout is palpable. "The basic facts are incontrovertible. What do they think happens when we put 90 million tons up there every day? Is there some magic wand they can wave on it and presto!--physics is overturned and carbon dioxide doesn't trap heat anymore?" Gore asked, and pressed his point harder: "And when we see all these things happening on the Earth itself, what in the hell do they think is causing it?

I think that last line is priceless and sums it up best.

When it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck....it is a duck. So it goes with climate change - we are involved, we are a cause, we are a solution.

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Say hello to Merlin and Gandalf Scoby

How to Flavor Kombucha Tea -- powered by eHow.com

Going to try making a papaya flavored batch tomorrow.

Wondering about Merlin and Gandalf? After nurturing and watching the two cultures grow I decided to name them. Had to come up with two magical names - Merlin and Gandalf - for "magic" alive in my room.

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