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Archive for the ‘Global Warming’ Category

Update on Netroots Nation 08 Day 3: Gore, Doggett, Lessig, and Courage

Posted in Campaign Finance, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , on July 19, 2008 |

Public Citizen is a national sponsor of this year’s Netroots Nation conference, and as the Austin Texas office of Public Citizen is happy to play host. We’ve met so many great people and been in so many excellent meetings. We’re also proud that we launched this, our Texas blog, in concert with NN08. Today has been incredibly busy and wonderful, so let me fill all of you in who weren’t here.

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Want some Kidney Stones to go with your Global Warming?

Posted in Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , on July 18, 2008 |

A new study from Tom Brikowski, a geosciences professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, and Drs. Yair Lotan and Margaret Pearle, urology professors at UT Southwestern Medical School, printed in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, made an interesting conclusion. More global warming will mean more kidney stones. For those of us who are at risk for or have a family history of kidney stones (it’s because of all the Diet Coke I drink), this is even more worrisome.

The good news is we can easily change our diets and reduce other risk factors. Switching to non-carbon producing forms of energy and transportation may not be quite so easy. However, just like kicking a bad Diet Coke habit. we can get ourselves off of oil and especially coal by making new investments in renewable energy.

Kidney stones are just the beginning of the health problems we can prevent by stopping global warming. We can prevent the spread of previously tropical and exotic disease like malaria and West Nile virus that can migrate as the climate changes. By stopping greenhouse gas pollution we can also stop the pollution that leads to asthma, emphysema, and other lung ailments. And by investing in efficiency and renewable energy now, we can have cheaper energy and get more bang for our energy buck.

Read the story in the Dallas Morning News on this subject here.

~~Andy

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Cleaner cheaper energy for Texas? Coming soon! (We Won!!)

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , on July 17, 2008 |

This article originally posted at citizenvox.org

Global warming is the singular environmental challenge of our generation. Some people claim you cannot be green without sacrificing economic development. Actually, we can create a greener energy future for Texas and reduce our electric bills at the same time by investing in our electric infrastructure.

This week the Texas Public Utility Commission met to decide on upgrading the power grid infrastructure to make sure that we can build new clean, renewable sources of energy in West Texas (where all the sun and wind is) and get it to the people in the major population centers in East Texas. Of three options, they chose the medium, compromise amount of investment. While not as large as we would have liked (the best option was an “electric superhighway” that would have saved Texans billions in their energy bills), the PUC chose to make a large investment in the clean energy future of our state.

Wind power in Texas is now a cheaper source of electricity than fossil fuel alternatives. Building newer transmission lines is the best way to quit our addiction to fossil fuels.

Want to learn more? Read our press release about our news conference, or read the study and policy paper here. You can also watch a video about renewable energy in Texas and how we can save $1.2 billion dollars here.

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Why 350?

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , on July 17, 2008 |

In the past few weeks I have come across 350.org‘s recent animated video several times, each time more impressed at its simplicity and effectiveness. In 90 seconds, without words, the short cartoon manages to convey what we are doing to cause global warming, why you should care, and what you can do about it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5kg1oOq9tY]

350.org‘s message is clear and simple. Global warming is a universal problem and if we continue to go about our lives normally at 387 ppm we will suffer dire consequences (many of which we are already experiencing—melting ice caps, increased drought, and more incidences of disease). Though universal in scope, effects of global warming will vary by region. Texas leads the United States in greenhouse gas emissions and if we were a country, we would rank 7th in the world for our emissions.

BUT, it is not too late! …if we act now. Just like the stick figures in the video, what you do adds up. Every little thing helps. So, ride your bike to work, use canvas bags at the grocery store, write your congressman to support renewable energy sources, invest in more efficient appliances, and keep spreading the word: 350.

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