Friday, 16 Feb 2007

If It Weren't for Those Meddling Kids

Legislators around the globe demand climate-change action

This week, Canada's House of Commons voted 161 to 113 to force the Conservative government to stick to its Kyoto Protocol greenhouse-gas emissions targets and punish over-polluting industries. Since taking power in 2006, the Conservatives have continually claimed that Kyoto targets would be simply impossible to reach, dahling, so why even try? The new measure, likely to easily pass the Liberal-dominated Senate, is binding and gives the big guns 60 days to follow through. If the Conservatives do nothing, a Canuck catfight could ensue; opposition parties could take the feds to court or issue a no-confidence vote to force a spring election. Down south, a coalition of legislators from the G8 nations and Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa ended a two-day D.C. summit with strong recommendations for emissions action from all countries "in line with our capabilities and historic responsibilities" and a demand that a post-Kyoto plan be in place by 2009. Who do these people think they are?

Does the Polar Bear Club Know About This?

Vast lakes discovered underneath Antarctic ice sheet

Thrilling hairy men in Speedos everywhere, satellite-wielding scientists have mapped new lakes deep below Antarctica's legendary ice. The finds, they say, could help predict how the area will respond to climate change. According to research published online in the journal Science, the lakes, some of which span hundreds of square miles, cause parts of the massive ice sheet to change elevation as they fill and drain. Geologically speaking, the ice above the lakes is "really ripping along" as fast as 2.5 feet per day, said coauthor Robert Bindschadler of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "It's the fast-moving ice that determines how the ice sheet responds to climate change on a short timescale." Images collected from NASA's Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, show changes taking place over a few months, rather than years or decades, and lead author Helen Fricker of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography says climate models need to take that subglacial aqua action into account.


In Kristen Berry's day job as the president of BirdPAC, he gives a political voice to the nation's 90 million birdwatchers and hunters. We suspect that he may spend just as much brainpower seeking answers to the age-old question: "Can't we all just get along?" As InterActivist this week, Berry's answers to reader questions have a consistent theme of creative cooperation, be it between bird-lovers and wind-power advocates or small movements and big organizations. Take a peck -- er, peek -- and find out who gets credit from Berry for the most success in coalition-building.


The on-again-off-again flirtation between big business and the mainstream environmental movement seems to be progressing into a full-on steamy love affair -- and perhaps even a committed, long-term relationship. This week, just before Valentine's Day, corporate titans and green leaders were spotted canoodling at a hearing of the Senate Environment Committee and a swanky bash celebrating the 25th anniversary of the World Resources Institute. Muckraker dishes on this high-profile, fledgling romance.

It's Official: He Rocks

Gore announces continents-spanning concert series, Live Earth

Never let it be said that Al Gore is not dedicated to his cause: the man will do whatever it takes to raise awareness about climate change. If it means hobnobbing at Sundance, he'll do it. Starring in a film that gets nominated for an Oscar? Not afraid. Orchestrating an event that features seven concerts on seven continents on 7/7/07? Check. Announcing said event with (slightly less luscious now that she's a brunette) Cameron Diaz at his side? Oh, if he must. The man is a modern-day martyr, and we salute him. With the help of Kevin Wall, executive producer of the 2005 Live8 concert that pushed for debt relief for poor nations, Gore will use the Live Earth shows to kick off a "Save Our Selves" campaign. "In order to solve the climate crisis, we have to reach billions of people," Gore said. "We are launching SOS and Live Earth to ... mobilize people all over the world to take action." More than 100 artists, from Snoop Dogg to Faith Hill, have already signed on. Short straw gets Antarctica.

We're Just a Lincoln Your Chain

Daily Grist takes a break for democracy's sake

Know what's more fun than gawking at the ever-expanding field of 2008 presidential contenders? Pausing for a moment to reflect upon the noble and not-so-noble men who have brought us to this point. With that goal in mind, Grist will be taking Monday off to spend Presidents' Day engrossed in historical contemplation. But don't worry -- on Tuesday, we'll be right Barack in the saddle.