Waste per capita

In 2000, according to the EPA, our per capita generation of waste in the United States was 4.5 pounds per person (232 million tons of total waste generation), up from 3.7 pounds in 1980 and 2.7 pounds in 1960. It is no surprise Americans represent among the most material intensive economies in the world and resources continue to be used at a rate our planet cannot sustain. Individually, we cannot completely eliminate our impact on the environment but we must look at our global problems and pursue solutions at any opportunity. We all can work to create less waste and be more resourceful with what we consume. It will benefit us all, especially our children and the environment they will experience.

India and setting the tone for more political challenges ahead

In Gurgaon, India, a suburb of New Delhi, on July 19th, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited an office that has been designed to highlight energy efficiency and green building practices. Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment and forests minister took the opportunity to tell Clinton that India feels pressured to reduce carbon emissions and was concerned that India could expect carbon tariffs on exports, even though their emissions are far less on a per capita basis. “We are simply not in a position to take over legally binding emission reduction targets,” Even so, Mr. Ramesh declared at the news conference: “That does not mean that we are oblivious of our responsibilities.”

As we make our way towards the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, the stance taken by both developed and developing countries represents the challenges we face for success at negotiating a climate change treaty.

Countries from around the world speak of who is to blame, and how much they are willing to participate, but in the end we have to look at this problem globally and remind ourselves that how we behave will significantly impact our future generations, and that we may not have another chance…

We can look at our own lives and find ways to be proactive environmentally; giving voice through action. We must believe that out leaders will listen, and that significant change is possible even with these political hurdles.

China and the big picture

Recently U.S. Trade Secretary Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited China to work on ways to face climate change and bring green technology from the US to Chinese markets. While there, China and the US announced a joint clean energy research center with bases in both countries to bring scientists together, looking initially at energy efficiency, clean coal technology, and low polluting cars.

Next week, the first US-China strategic dialogue will be held in Washington. Currently, China and other developing nations have refused to agree to compulsory cuts in emissions. Their belief is that it is the responsibility of developed nations because the climate change problems of today come primarily from their actions.

Energy secretary Chu stated, “China ... recognizes the serious consequences that they face, as well as the world, if the world—China included—doesn’t start to take aggressive action.” Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang indicated the visit by Locke and Chu had no impact on China’s climate change policy.

This appears to be politics as usual, and although anyone can see that the responsibility for what has led us to this environmental crisis comes from developed countries and not developing countries, it is critical for human kind to embrace this issue from a global perspective. At this point it doesn’t matter which country is responsible, but that we work together locally and globally to take action today.

The world’s growing population dictates that we must cooperate and spend less time pointing fingers..

What 51 years of CO2 monitoring can tell us…

A research site at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, is an excellent indicator of the trends found in the concentration of CO2 in the troposphere, the part of the atmosphere that accounts for most of our day to day weather. It is not disturbed by any local influence such as vegetation or human activity and so is effective in determining global trends. This site, at an elevation 3397m (11,145 ft) is also the location of the longest continuous data, recorded for CO2 concentration in the world, beginning in 1959.

The concentration climbed from 315.98 ppm (parts per million) in 1959 to 385.34 ppm in 2008. This number accounts for the natural CO2 cycle that ebbs and flows with the natural absorption of CO2 through photosynthesis, but also measures man’s influence historically on the health of our planet. The trend in concentration is increasing an average of 1.4 ppm annually!

When I came across this data I was stunned how clearly and rapidly we are poisoning ourselves. What does it mean? It means that we need to look beyond political boundaries. It means we all need to take a part of the responsibility, and become active in any way possible to reverse this trend.

Why should this issue be anything but a need for all of us to act on behalf of the planet, and do anything we can as individuals to change the course of our own destruction?

Wasatch Frame Shop

If it wasn’t for the frame shop, it would be unlikely that I would be here posting a blog! For those of you who don’t know, I started Wasatch Frame Shop from scratch in employee housing while working as a ski patroller in Alta (Utah) in the mid ninety’s. I learned a lot more than I expected, and realized last winter, that hard work and determination doesn’t necessarily bring “success”. Continuing to follow my dreams with Renewable Energy Resources, I embark on the difficult path ahead, fueled by the experience of my past and determined to succeed. It will be easier this time, I tell myself, because I am pursuing something I am inspired by.

July 8th, the G8 summit and what we can do…

In the United States on June 26 the House passed legislation intended to impose limits on greenhouse gases. Yesterday in a meeting of the Group of Eight nations in L’Aquilla, Italy, the hope was to commit to specific goals to reduce CO2 emissions by 2050. In Copenhagen in December, the UN Climate Change Conference plans to create a worldwide climate treaty.

We all have become more conscious of current climatic issues from a local, national and worldwide standpoint. We are working against the clock and these efforts are necessary to stimulate more action today in our country and around the world.

This is a unique opportunity for individuals to get involved in positive climatic change in any way possible and help tackle this problem one by one, and speak through action. We must believe that our leaders will hear our collective voice

Apollo and Renewable Energy

The Breakthrough Institute, http://www.thebreakthrough.org/, founded in 2002, believes that renewable energy success will come by making renewable energy affordable for everyone thereby revolutionizing energy technology.

Their belief is that the, “best way to develop those clean technologies is to increase federal energy research tenfold, and to create a project akin to the Apollo mission to the moon.”

I believe that the development of new technologies is critical to clean energy growth, and that existing opportunities for current renewable energy generation must fill the void between then and now.

What percentage of government funding do you believe should go into installing current designs versus research and development?