Leonardo DiCaprio's "The 11th Hour" is a documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity.
The mission of our community is to inspire action at every level: from
individual action, up through our communities, to the state, national
and international level. The actions are all shifting our civilization
to a sustainable future. Let's work and take action together. The time is now. The hope is you. Let's begin.
The Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act of 2009 PASSED!
The Committee of the Whole approved the Committee Report on B18-150, the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act of 2009 without question or discussion.
We still have a second and final vote in two weeks; however, since it was unanimous, it's going through. Please thank all council members involved for passing this bill.
www.TrashFreeAnacostia.com
What does the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act of 2009 do?
* Place a 5-cent fee, paid by consumer, on all disposable recyclable plastic and paper carryout bags from Retail Food Establishment license holders (including grocery stores, food vendors, convenience stores, drug stores, restaurants) and Class A & B liquor licensees.
* Ban non-recyclable plastic carryout bags.
* Require that if a plastic carryout bag is offered, that it must be recyclable and clearly labeled as such.
* The retail establishment will get 1 cent of fee returned tax exempt to the retailer.
* Retailers who choose to offer a carryout bag credit program will retain an additional cent, for a total of 2 cents per bag.
* The remaining fee per bag will be deposited into a new Anacostia River Cleanup & Protection Fund.
DC LEGISLATIVE BILL DETAILS:
Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Act of 2009
Talking Points
The legislation puts a new focus on reducing the amount of trash that enters the Anacostia River and creates a new fund dedicated to the cleanup and restoration of the Anacostia River. The legislation represents a unique attempt – as best we can tell, the first of its kind in the nation – to work with business and environmental leaders to develop a shared strategy to reduce the amount of trash in the Anacostia River. In addition, this initiative creates a partnership with Maryland to create a shared stewardship for the health of the entire Anacostia watershed.
Regarding Trash in the Anacostia River
20,000 tons of trash enters the Anacostia River each year.
According to a recent report by the DC Dept. of the Environment, plastic bags, bottles, cans, snack wrappers and Styrofoam make up 85% of the trash in the Anacostia River.
In the river’s tributaries, such as Watts Branch, nearly 50% of the trash is plastic bags.
According to the report, placing a small fee on “free” bags could eliminate up to 47% of the trash in the tributaries and 21% from the river’s main stem.
DC WASA removes 477 tons of trash from the Anacostia River each year; Anacostia Watershed Society volunteers have pulled another 536 tons of trash out of the River.
The Cost of Taking No Action
EPA is establishing a new Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of allowable trash in the Anacostia River and violations are likely to occur with each rainfall event, potentially costing the District millions of dollars annually.
Each “free” bag that becomes litter already costs District residents:
District agencies already spend millions on trash rather than people.
DC WASA spends millions on Anacostia River trash removal, passed on to District rate payers in their monthly water bill.
Continued pollution of the Anacostia River is dangerous and creates a potential risk to wildlife and marine life.
How the Initiative Works
The legislation will place a small 5-cent fee on all single-use plastic and paper carryout bags from Retail Food Establishment license holders (which includes grocery stores, food vendors, convenience stores, drug stores, and others) and Class A and B liquor stores.
The legislation requires that these plastic and paper carryout bags be recyclable.
Community Education and Outreach
The legislation delays implementation for 6 months to a year, requiring the city to conduct an intensive public information campaign and outreach that includes providing reusable carryout bags to residents for free or low-cost, and work with service providers to distribute multiple reusable bags to seniors and low-income households.
How the Fee Would be Used
The 5-cent fee will be divided between the business and a newly created Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Fund.
Businesses will retain either 1 or 2 cents of the fee, depending whether they offer customers a carryout bag credit program for reusable bags.
The remaining amount of the fee will be deposited into the Fund to target environmental cleanup, reclamation, and restoration efforts on the Anacostia River, as well as continue a public education campaign and provide free reusable bags to DC residents, in particular the elderly and low income residents.
Where Has This Been Tried Before
Other cities are moving in this direction. New York, Seattle, and many European nations have already required, or plan to require, a small charge for plastic and paper bags. These initiatives have dramatically cut down on these single-use bags – by as much as 90% in some places.
In addition, many businesses are already taking similar steps on their own in addition to selling low-cost durable, reusable bags. Discount food stores like ALDI and Save-A-Lot, and even IKEA, charge customers a nominal fee for every bag – greatly reducing the number of plastic and paper bags used and encouraging customers to bring reusable bags.
A website, www.TrashFreeAnacostia.com, has been set up to support the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Initiative and to be a resource for information about the effort to reduce the amount of bags that enter the River.
Crude awakening
Sarah Phillips asks why aren't more people talking about the imminent oil supply crisis?
October 3, 2007 8:01 AM
"2007 is likely to go down as the year peak oil went mainstream", predicts David Strahan on the environment pages in today's Guardian
Strahan's book The Last Oil Shock[1] is likely to play a part in instigating such discussions about the impending oil supply crisis. As is A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash[2], a powerful Swiss documentary on peak oil, which finally gets a UK cinema release next month.
Date/time: Wednesday, November 14, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Location: Howard University A J Blackburn University Center Room 148-150 (2397 Sixth Street NW) Speaker: Cameron Shayne, Budokon and The 11th Hour Presenter: Jerry Hinkle, Sierra Club - Washington, DC Chapter Description: Climate change is one of the great challenges of our generation, destined to, in the words of British PM Tony Blair, "radically alter human existence." Yet it is clear we have the tools to mitigate its worst affects by acting soon and with urgency. This one-hour presentation provides the very latest information from the IPCC, the UN-based body charged with climate change research. It will include basic discussions of 1) the science, 2) global temperature projections through 2100, 3) expected impacts on weather patterns, human health, and species extinction, and 4) proposed solutions to climate change.
About Article:
Comparing global warming to United States 1960s civil rights movement... global warming represents an even greater source of potential human suffering, not just to us, but to all humans -- and not just now, but for centuries to come. And yet there is precious little popular discussion of banning the abusive practices that directly create violent climate change. Like Jim Crow practices, we must by law phase out completely the manufacture of inefficient light bulbs and gas-guzzling cars, as a serious start to fighting this problem.
A member of our group, who has a PhD in Decision Sciences is composing a critical assessment in response to this PowerPoint presentation created by Heartland Institute. According to our member, Heartland's methodology of criticism is incorrect, their criticism have no validity and their calculations are irrelevant.
Once this critical assessment is made, I will post it on this site, so we can pass it around to dispute Heartland's misinformation.
Heartland PowerPoint: http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org/Assets/PowerPoint/ball.ppt
If you are not familiar with Heartland Institute, please see the information below. Basically, they are a conservative organization that funds Exxon-Mobil as well as other companies, like the Tobacco industry.
Date/time:
Tuesday, August 21, 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm
Location
Sierra Club Legislative Office (401 C Street NE)
Contact:
Chasta Piatakovas, 202-320-1205, cpiatakovas@netzero.com
Description:
Climate change is one of the great challenges of our generation, destined to, in the words of British PM Tony Blair, "radically alter human existence." Yet it is clear we have the tools to mitigate its worst affects by acting soon and with urgency. This one-hour presentation (RSVP here) provides the very latest information from the IPCC, the UN-based body charged with climate change research. It will include basic discussions of 1) the science, 2) global temperature projections through 2100, 3) expected impacts on weather patterns, human health, and species extinction, and 4) proposed solutions to climate change. This discussion will leave the audience both much better informed, and inspired to act, on this critical issue.
