Green Options » focus the nation

Climate Ride — Bicycle from NYC to DC!

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:32:32 +0000

Join other bicyclists or support a bicyclist to help combat global warming this Fall. For the second year in a row, bicyclists (and non-bicyclists) will join together for a climate conference “on wheels” — the Brita Climate Ride.

Popular Science Highlights America’s 50 Greenest Cities

Carol McClelland — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:34:39 +0000

Drawing from US Census Data and National Geographic Society’s Green Guide that collected data on thirty characteristics for American cities over 100,000 people, Popular Science create a list of America’s 50 Greenest Cities. Combining the data into four categories (electricity, transportation, green building/spaces, recycling), Popular Science determined green scores (see article for details) for the various cities and identified the cities who are at the forefront.

The top ten cities are: Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Boston, MA; Oakland, CA; Eugene, OR; Cambridge, MA; Berkeley, CA; Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL; Austin, TX. If you enjoy a visual, an industrious blogger from Austin TX placed all of the data on a map for easy viewing.

I found this list to be an interesting resource for people who are looking for green careers, start a green business, or grow their green business.

Focus the Nation … on Global Warming

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:58:23 +0000

It’s not too late to get involved in what organizers are calling an unprecedented U.S.-wide teach-in focused on solutions to global warming.

Organized by “Focus the Nation,” the teach-in — scheduled to culminate on Thursday, Jan. 31 — aims to get millions of students, teachers, people of faith and other citizens together in various locations to discuss just one topic: how Americans can start tackling climate change now.

A project of the Green House Network that’s being directed by Eban Goodstein, an economics professor at Lewis and Clark College, Focus the Nation set out to sign up 1,000 colleges and universities across the U.S. for the teach-in. Organizers have more than met that goal, with 1,600-plus organizations planning to participate as of Tuesday, Jan. 29: from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, to Western Wyoming Community College.

The event officially kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 30, with a live, one-hour Webcast of “The 2% Solution” starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Earth Day Television. The interactive program will feature, among others, Stephen Schneider, a climate scientist at Stanford University; Hunter Lovins, president and founder of Natural Capitalism Inc.; and Van Jones, an attorney, green jobs pioneer and founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

Why “The 2% Solution?” Becaue keeping global warming below about 4 degrees Fahrenheit tops will take an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by developed countries by mid-century. That’s a cut of about 2 percent per year.

So what happens after Jan. 31? Following the teach-in, Focus the Nation is urging participants to set up roundtable discussions with their elected representatives to discuss solutions to climate change. Organizers are also looking ahead to what they’re calling a “critical month in human history”: February 2009, the month in which the newly elected U.S. president and Congress start setting their agenda for the nation.

Can we really expect the nation’s leaders to take a drastic turn for the better one year from now? Time will tell, but it’s certainly a goal worth focusing on.

1/31/2008 National Teach-In: Global Warming Solutions

Jennifer Lance — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:26:14 +0000

On January 31, 2008, millions of students will engage in activities focused on global warming solutions as part of Focus the Nation’s National Teach-In. The 2008 National Teach-In: Global Warming Solutions for America is not just for k-12 teachers and students, but it includes higher education, civic groups, businesses, faith organizations, homeschool families, etc. “Focus the Nation is a catalyzing force helping shift the national conversation about global warming towards a determination to face this civilizational challenge.”

Focus the Nation explains,

A teach-in is a day when an entire school turns its attention to a single issue—when faculty, students and staff put aside business as usual, and focus the full weight of campus engagement on one topic.