Energy Activism and Things to Do This Week 2007

Things you can do this week to make a difference:

~ Turn out all unnecessary lights at home or at work

~ Switch to one or two compact fluorescent bulbs.

~ If in Colorado, encourage your state legislators to support House Bill 1281, which is the cornerstone of the renewable-energy agenda of Governor Bill Ritter. It would increase the renewable-energy standard for investor-owned utilities to 20 percent and set the first renewable-energy standard for rural electric cooperatives. This bill passed in the Senate.

~ Tuesday, March 20 is Climate Crisis Action Day = Cool the Planet, Save the Arctic. See www.AlaskaWild.org/ACTION

~ Have your lawn aerated. It is inexpensive, but allows air, nutrients and water to soak deeper into your lawn, which in turn makes the roots grow deeper. As a result, your lawn is more healthy and requires less frequent watering.

~ Explore www.nextgenerationearth.org, a fantastic website that provides lots of information on global warming, carbon emissions, and also shows you how to show your support for making progressive changes in our energy use. The Global Roundtable on Climate change and others have a consensus statement that could be used by everyone.

~ Sign the petition supporting The Plan for Colorado's New Energy Future at www.EnvironmentColorado.org

~World Water Day is March 22. According to an environmental talk show water expert, 47 million gallons of oil are used just to provide water bottles for Americans for one year. Most of the bottled water is just modified ground water and the water bottle companies are sucking the water tables dry. 1.1 Billion people around the world don't get adequate water. Surely there are ways we can ensure our own clean water supply without depriving others. And think about the additional problem of all those empty plastic bottles, most of which are not recyclable.

~Encourage our local, state and federal legislators to push for and create incentives for using compact fluorescent bulbs or LED bulbs instead of the energy-wasting incandescent bulbs. After all, Australia and Russia are strongly promoting this, and even Wal-Mart has begun promoting this way of saving energy. Let's not get left behind!

~ Encourage our local, state and federal legislators to push for wind-power farms where appropriate. Even 3rd world countries are going this: Cuba opened an experimental wind farm on the Isla de la Juventud, using French technology and they are already working on another one. Let's not get left behind. Source: Denver Post 2/26/07.

~ Ask your mayor to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. 162 countries have ratified the Kyoto Protocol to address global warming, and the Bush Administration still has it's head in the sand, denying any global warming. Some U.S. Mayors are rising to the occasion and to date, 402 mayors representing some 58.9 million Americans have signed the mayors agreement. Please ask yours to do so as well.

~ Contact your legislators regarding the U.S. Navy's decision to continue using sonar training off the coast of California, including in marine sanctuaries. Source: Denver Post mid-Feb '07.

PRACTICE THE NEW "3 R'S " : ******* REDUCE ****** REUSE ****** RECYCLE ******