Green Options

Video source: GreenForAllOfficial on YouTube

Just how green California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is is definitely up for debate. He has his moments of somewhat progressive policy, which he then dilutes with moments of complete and utter ignorance.

What happens when corporations stop greenwashing…and start being real? MTV wants to find out. The NYC-based network just launched a global marketing push to tackle climate change with TV ads attacking those guilty of greenwashing. All of this is part of their youth-targeted climate change initiative called MTV Switch.

The launch includes not only TV ads, but also a series of five short films. With the

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Another whopping chunk of ice has broken free from Ellesmere Island in Canada’s northern Arctic. This Markham Ice Shelf, just one of five remaining shelves in the Canadian Arctic region, split away sometime in August. The shelf is gianormous. It’s 19-square miles, around the size of Manhattan, and now adrift in the Arctic Ocean. In addition, two other large chunks - totaling about 47 square miles - split [...]

Twelve states - New York, California, and a few I’ve never heard of - have announced yet another suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They claim federal regulators have failed in issuing the necessary standards to regulate green house gas emissions. The EPA’s rebuttal: it’s not in our job description.

Announcement of the suit came Monday and is being led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. It charges the EPA with once again violating the Clean Air Act by refusing to issue oil refineries a performance standard in which to curb global warming.  A claim hinged on the fact that 15 percent of the U.S.’s industrial emissions comes from crude refineries.

“The EPA’s refusal to control pollution from oil refineries is the latest example of the Bush Administration’s do-nothing policy on global warming,” Cuomo said in a release. “Oil refineries contribute substantially to global warming, posing grave threats to New York’s environment, health, and economy.”

But the EPA is pointing to Congress to get the job done. EPA spokesman Tim Lyons said time and money would be better spent by encouraging Congress to take action on sound environmental legislation. But it was just in 2003 when the EPA claimed that under the Clean Air Act they couldn’t regulate vehicle emmissions because green house gases were not air pollutants. And as a result from another suit against them, the Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 ruling that they should step up and regulate CO2 emissions.

I find myself both amused and completely horror-struck by the evangelical cult that resides within the GOP. They’re consistently bested by their faith, and to the point of absurdity. This is especially true with regards to the climate crisis. And quite frankly, I blame Jesus.

At first glance, the elimination of tariffs for goods and services that protect the environment and fight climate change sounds like a good idea to spur a green economy, but what about the social and environmental consequences of free trade?