Climate Capsule: Week of April 13, 2009

Highlight of the Week
EPA Decision On Global Warming And Threats To Public Health, Welfare Expected Soon

In a telephone press briefing today, environmental leaders from NWF, Sierra Club, NRDC, and Environment America explained the history and significance of an expected announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency.    

The press briefing provided background on the expected decision that global warming pollution constitutes a danger to public health and welfare.

EPA is expected to declare soon its authority to hold polluters accountable under the Clean Air Act. The decision, ordered by the Supreme Court in 2007 and based upon years of scientific research and analysis, has the potential to significantly alter energy politics and policy. Environmental leaders say it will spur clean energy jobs and protect public health and welfare.

Contact: Tony Iallonardo, IallonardoT@nwf.org or 202-797-6612.

Colleges Win Award for Campus Innovations to Curb Effects of Global Warming

Eight colleges and universities from across America have won recognition in National Wildlife Federation’s annual competition Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming. This contest is the nation’s only campus competition to promote sustainability and honor efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.

Chill Out participants have demonstrated effective solutions to global warming. Some treat the campus as a student laboratory for green education and training; others reach out to form supportive relationships with the surrounding community, green their transportation systems and offer incentives to students to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The winning schools include the grand prize winner, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and the Chancellor’s Office of the California State University system, California State University – Northridge, Humboldt State, Middlebury College, Oberlin College, Longwood University, and University of California – San Diego.  

To register for and view the webcast, and learn how to take action throughout the year, visit http://www.campuschillout.org/. The 2009 Chill Out campaign was shot by world-renowned cinematographer Eric Adkins (“Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow”), directed by Melissa Balin (“Green Means Go”), and produced by Melinda Esquibel of Mundo Maravilla, Carey Stanton of National Wildlife Federation, and Balin. The webcast is a low carbon footprint production.

NWF's Campus Ecology Program has been an integral part of the campus greening movement since 1989. The nation’s 4,100 colleges and universities educate more than 15 million students in any given year making these schools important laboratories for creativity and innovation—keys to tackling a monumental crisis like global warming.

Contact:  Jennifer Fournelle at 703-438-6002 or fournellej@nwf.org.

Happening This Week
Congress is on recess this week.

Wednesday, April 15: NWF will feature winning college submissions in the Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming webcast, a low footprint production. Visit http://www.campuschillout.org/ to register for and view the webcast. For more information, contact Jennifer Fournelle at 703-438-6002 or fournellej@nwf.org.

Quote:

“Climate change could undermine the conservation work of whole generations…It turns out you can't save species without saving the sky.”

—NWF President and CEO Larry Schweiger tells TIME Magazine that climate and energy action is requisite to save the world's endangered species.

Economic Message of the Week

Unemployed Americans Seek Training For Green Collar Jobs

As the economy continues to shed jobs, American community colleges are reporting a surge of the unemployed enrolling in courses that offer green jobs training.

The courses teach students how to install solar panels, repair wind turbines, produce biofuels and get back to work in other ways related to renewable energy.

Two-year colleges are meeting growing demand by launching or expanding green collar training with money from the federal stimulus package.

Many college officials believe there will be strong demand for trained green jobs workers once the economy rebounds and governments move to limit greenhouse gas emissions and require more use of renewable energy.

The renewable energy industry generated about 500,000 jobs and $43 billion revenue in the U.S. in 2007, according to the Associated Press.

U.N. Climate Talks Conclude In Germany

Talks wrapped up recently at the 11-day round of negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany, with the top UN climate official saying wealthy nations need to commit to more aggressive targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. 

The meeting was the first of at least six rounds this year tasked with creating solutions for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, set to expire in 2012.

"The session was marked by cheers and applause, when Todd Stern, the chief climate negotiator for the Obama Administration announced that the US had returned to these negotiations. This obviously increased enthusiasm for the talks but also exposed how much work remains to be done on linking the domestic and international tracks together," NWF's Barbara Bramble, Senior Program Advisor, International Affairs, wrote from onsite in Bonn.

President Barack Obama has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, while a House draft bill proposes a 20 percent reduction by 2020 based on 2005 levels. 

Contact: Barbara Bramble, bramble@nwf.org or 202-797-6601.

Fair Climate Summit in New Orleans

This Thursday, social justice advocates, youth, women leaders, faith leaders, community members, and environmentalists will meet in New Orleans to promote a fair climate agenda.

The leaders at the regional summit are calling for equal access to climate and energy policies that safeguard our natural resources and prioritize the most vulnerable communities.

“As organizations that are advocating for climate change policies to safeguard our communities and natural resources, we know that the health impacts of rising temperatures are already felt in many parts of the country and that the most vulnerable are disproportionately affected,” said Kassie Rohrbach, coordinator of fair climate projects, National Wildlife Federation.