Scientists say that currently we are at 350 parts per million which is the safe limit for humanity. Currently we are at 387 parts per million; of carbon dioxide that has entered into the atmosphere!

Today’s message is about taking action and sending a message. This December the world’s leaders will meet in Copenhagen to discuss the climate and amend the current climate treaty. It’s time to put pressure on our leaders to create a just climate treaty that meets the latest science. It’s time for us to recognize that our planet is in danger and needs our help!

I’m off to the local City Park with the kiddos where they plan to have a Pet Parade forSaving the Planet since our furry little friends are also affected by Global Warming.

So, let’s hear it! 350!! 350!!! 350!!

What are you doing on behalf of International Day of Climate Action?

This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

Cow poop is a leading contributor of nitrous oxide and ammonia into the atmosphere, adding heartily to global warming. Cars, as we all know, provide their own fair share of noxious fumes to the environment. But a British team of engineers and racers is working on a way to kill two birds with one stone (metaphorically of course) by developing a race car that can run on cow poop.

Realizing that most technology found in our daily drivers was often first developed for the race track, Oaktec has announced plans to develop a manure-powered rally car, giving all new meaning to the phrase “This car runs like crap!” [ed. note: cow farts and burps contribute far more GHGs than poop, but hey, you gotta start somewhere]

Read more of this story »

September isn’t usually the silly season, but this week’s protests are all weird, wonderful, whacky or … missing!

No protest for polluted Peruvian town

On 31 August the union supporting workers at the currently suspended Doe Run smelter in Peru said they would not be protesting after all. They had planned  roadblocks and other protests the following day, to force the national government to fund the reopening of the struggling plant, but so few people turned up to a planning meeting that they are re-thinking their strategy.

Doe Run Peru’s smelter at La Oroya was closed in June when banks cut off credit and the government is refusing to extend the time-frame for a environmental cleanup, which could allow new loans to be negotiated. The plant must meet a 1 October deadline to clean up local conditions and establish better implement environmental controls but it says it lacks the money to fulfil its environmental contract and wants an extension of the deadline to mid 2010.

Around 3,000 employees and a further 16,000 indirect jobs are linked to the plant, which is why local union leaders want action on reopening the plant, even though the town of La Oroya is considered one of the most polluted on the planet.

Naked protest for PR company

On 1 September the London offices of Edelman’s were invaded by six naked environmentalists. The campaigners were protesting the PR firms involvement with Eon who are planning to rebuild the coal-fired power plant at Kingsnorth with two replacement ‘cleaner coal’ plants.

The protestors, some male and naked, some female and wearing knickers, superglued their wrists together in the lobby of the firm, while other protestors scale the roof of the building. The were removed by police carrying blankets.

Rocky protest in Australia

Latvala of Finland took a 2.2-second lead in the 4 September stage of Rally Australia in New South Wales but the first day’s racing was marked by protests.

Environmental activists had already forced the cancellation of two of the 15 stages when state police found boulders on the road at one rally stage. Later that day, the first car to take that stage was pelted with rocks. The driver, Hirvonen, was unharmed but the stage was stopped as there were concerns for the safety of the drivers and spectators.

Two groups, ‘No Rally’ and Peacebus, had already staged a campaign, trying to get the World Rally stage in Australia stopped because they claimed it would damage environment and frighten wildlife in the remote areas in which it is being held, a local government officer also tried to get a court injunction to prevent the rally but failed.

Rally car courtesy of Repco Rally Australia

India’s tiger conservation efforts have suffered a multitude of major setbacks, and threats from inside and outside the country may lead to extinction of the wild tiger. Can the tiger be saved?

When Project Tiger was launched in 1973, India reported a tiger population of 1,827 tigers - a decline from 40,000 tigers in India at the turn of the century. Now, the tiger population in India is only approximately 1,400. The Indian public is outraged, and recently held a rally in support of saving its tigers.

It has now become clear that the almost four decade old Project Tiger has not been able to do much in stabilizing, let alone enhancing the tiger population in India. Its recent successor, the National Tiger Conservation Authority is said to be, for lack of better words, without teeth. And the tiger, perhaps unaware that so much is happening in its name is fast losing the battle to survive.

How did the tiger population in India get to such a sorry state?

Read more of this story »

‘Kids for Tigers’ Aerial Art with the President of India’s House in the vicinity

It was the famous cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who declared that he now bats for the tiger. It is the former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly who is referred to as the Bengal Tiger. But it was another ace Indian cricketer and a favorite of many, Rahul Dravid, who took part in the 5th Bengal Tiger Consultation and Tiger Rally. And as someone who was there to learn and do something about the drastically reducing tiger numbers in the country.

Read more of this story »

Alarmed with the almost daily reporting of rapidly declining tiger numbers and the inaction that follows, school children and several civil society groups in the Indian capital city of New Delhi are coming together to demand the basic right of the tiger–a Right to Survival. And in that, ensuring the survival of the entire human race. The Rally that follows a tiger consultation will also be a shift from all that has been done to all that needs to be done. As an organizer of the rally, comments like these are both inspiring and thought provoking.

Read more of this story »

San Francisco is often depicted as a bastion of enlightened progressive hippie vegans on bicycles, or sometimes as a queer and glittering island, raft with Prius-driving smug self-righteous liberals who rapture in the smell of their own farts. If only that were true. All of us who live here know that the local reality is a bit more of a curious and complicated dichotomy.

>> Read the rest of this story on EcoLocalizer

Even though our city has produced some progressive public officials who have pioneered visionary policy, such as Tom Ammiano’s ground-breaking universal health care plan, Healthy San Francisco, and Mayor Newsom’s marriage equality leadership, we are still a somewhat flawed municipality. Our major daily newspapers range from embarrassingly conservative to rabidly right wing, many of our citizens are still homeless, and our city is desperate for infrastructure improvements, such as a sorely needed safe, interconnected bike network. Although San Francisco has fostered many effective transportation advocacy organizations, like the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, it is also home to the occasionally misguided SFMTA Board of Directors. The SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors recently voted unanimously to remove a crucial bike lane and concrete safety island from Market Street at Octavia; their decision was made without any public comment or input from related advocacy groups.

Hundreds of people rally to save a crucial bike lane in the heart of San Francisco

Read more of this story »

More than fifteen thousand people have taken part in a mass protest in southern India, against the extension of a new reserve to protect tigers facing a very real threat of extinction.

The last count revealed that the number of Indian tigers has plummeted from around 40,000 at the beginning of last century to an all time low of just 1,411, largely due to dwindling habitats and the activities of poachers. Despite these depressing statistics, residents of India’s Chennai region are firmly against any further safeguards, fearing that they will lose their homes if an extension to the Mudumalai Wildlife sanctuary is given the green light.

Read more of this story »

A summer full of record gas prices has changed the automotive landscape forever, with changing consumer demands and buying habits forcing automakers to quickly bring more fuel-efficient vehicles to market ahead of larger, less-efficient trucks and SUVs.

These changes have also brought issues of energy conservation and environmental responsibility from the “back-burner” to the very forefront of future car design — but one question that has been largely ignored by the mainstream media is how these changes will affect car enthusiasts who usually care more about horsepower and acceleration than economy and emissions.

Read more of this story »

The excitement in the air was running high, even though we all stood squished up against each other for a few hours beforehand. It felt a lot like being in a mosh pit at a concert, actually. And after listening to a few boring stump speeches from Democratic candidates running for the MSU Board of Trustees (seriously, we came to see Barack) and the most political prayer I’ve ever heard from a priest, the man appeared at the podium.

Read more of this story »