It’s Getting Hot Out There! What Can You Do This Summer to Help Slow Climate Change?
Despite three decades of warnings and sporadic displays of global coordination over the last 30 years, the fact is we have done far too little, far too slowly to stop further warming of our climate. According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the leading scientific authority on all things related to climate change), carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is now the highest ever recorded in the last two million years – and trending higher!
Excess carbon dioxide is the direct cause of the warming of our climate.
Clean energy advocate Aliya Hag argues, “Change only happens when individuals take action. There’s no other way if it doesn’t start with people.”
Here are five things we can do this summer to help stop the rise of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere:
1. Speak UP! Study and discuss the dangers of climate change with your family, friends, and social circles. Contact your political leaders to make certain climate change is front on their minds. A great place to startis to immediately contact the City of Los Angeles and admonish them not to allow renewal of the permit for the South Park Nasco Petroleum Oil Site at Broadway and 14thPlace which is coming up for approval this month. This facility has been spewing harmful chemicals and carbon dioxide into South Park’s air for years. This must stop. Contact edber.macedo@lacity.org immediately and tell him you are not in favor of renewal of Nasco’s Operating Permit. Contact me at 213-266-2224 if you’d like some talking points for your argument.
2. Power your home with renewable energy. Contact your utility provider and tell them to supply your home with only renewable energy sources. LA Water and Power now has extensive renewable energy suppliers. Use them. Change out natural gas systems. Install a new heat pump water heating/heating and cooling system.
3. Weatherize your Home – Now. Make your home more energy efficient. Start with an energy audit of your home, cut down drafts, and upgrade insulation. Use less water. Install water wise fixtures to reduce water waste. The EPA estimates if just one out of every 100 American homes were retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, about 100 MILLION KwH of electricity per year would be saved – avoiding 80,000 TONS of global warming pollution! (You may even be able to claim federal tax credits for your improvements.) If your home is in an HOA, insist that your HOA leaders take steps to increase energy efficiency in your building. Every little bit helps!
4. Invest only in energy-efficient appliances. Make certain any new appliance you purchase has the Energy Star label. Since Energy Star was first implemented nationally in 1987, efficiency standards for dozens of appliances and products have kept 2.3 BILLION TONS of carbon dioxide out of the air. Trade your gas stove for a modern electric or induction unit. I know… I like to cook on gas too, but we can no longer afford the damage it does. Analysts estimate that if we can control and manage the carless release of 87% of the old refrigerant already in the system, we could avoid the emissions equivalent to 89.7 GIGATONS of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere! The careless venting of old refrigerant gasses is the single, number one release of carbon dioxide into the world’s atmosphere.
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Compost. These four climate saving actions should be on everyone’s minds. In the U.S., the average person generates 4.5 pounds of trash every day. Fortunately, in the last 20 years we have been recycling or composting more than one-third of our trash. In a 2014 study it was estimated that recycling and composting had saved carbon emissions equivalent to the yearly output of 38 MILLION passenger cars! This is great, but we could be doing so much more! There are so many billions of people on this planet that even the smallest effort by each of us can make a huge contribution to the solution of this vexing problem.
The information for this article has been provided by NRDC.org. I have personally identified The National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) as the most active, successful, and effective organization in defense of our world. NRDC receives 100% of my climate related contributions, and I would suggest you also concentrate your climate related donations to this great organization.
By John Nilsson