The announcement by President Obama that the US would not seek a comprehensive climate deal at an upcoming global meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark next month is a gut punch to anyone who cares about the fate of the planet. A reading this past weekend of the elite press on this breakdown (The New York Times and The Washington Post for example) would have you believe it was just too tough politically to pull off.

Yet again activists are reduced to being happy that there is still another day, the next meeting is in Mexico, so a failed Copenhagen can be spun as an "important step forward." We are all starting to sound like co-dependents. This pattern has been consistent since the beginning of this process, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (the Earth Summit). How can it be that after almost twenty years, scores of meetings, thousands of participants and calls to action by millions of people around the world the only reduction in greenhouse gas emissions has come from economic collapse, not international treaty?

President Obama was elected in part on his promise to deal with global warming. So were many new members of the House and Senate. Yet the consequence has been a climate bill in the House (Waxman-Markey) that gives away billions of dollars to the coal industry and doesn't get real greenhouse gas reductions for more than ten years. Worse still, the House bill has been followed up by an even weaker bill in the Senate, which is followed by a proposal from a few senators to trade away two long-time environmental gains (a ban on offshore drilling and a mothballed nuclear industry) for an even weaker deal. WHY?

The extractive industries still have more political power than the people. They use their money effectively to maintain and increase their political power. And who specifically are these people?

Missing from the mainstream accounts are the names of the real accomplices who rarely get identified due to their heavy advertising budgets in some of the same publications. Here's my list but I hope that you will feel free to nominate others.

ExxonMobil Corporation must top any list as it spent more than 22 millions dollars from 1998 through 2008 on front groups who, among other things, downplayed or denied the science on global warming.

The US Chamber of Commerce, the only group to outspend ExxonMobil in efforts to stop climate legislation.

The coal giants: Massey Energy Company, Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, Inc.

The coal industry front group: American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

The utilities: American Electric Power; Duke Energy and the Southern Company.

The American Petroleum Institute.

The National Association of Manufacturers.

How do we hold these entities and the people behind them accountable? Can we stand by while the people responsible for these companies steer our world into a nightmarish future? Is it time to bring the climate actions to their board meetings, country clubs and social events? You tell me.

Follow John Passacantando on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JPassacantando

Here's the link:

 http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17764-success-of-us-climate-bill-hinges-on-health-care-reform.html

Even though the ice caps are melting at an increased rate, fewer Americans believe the planet is warming:  

 http://news.aol.com/article/pew-poll-americans-cooler-on-global/731614

Here is a 2009 summary of scientific data showing that the planet is indeed warming:

http://www.aip.org/history/climate/20ctrend.htm

Not believing the planet is warming, doesn't change the fact, that the planet is indeed warming. 

Michael Jackson's album Off the Wall came out 21 days after my 17th birthday, and at the time thanks to ABBA, I really did think I was a Dancing Queen. (lol) My 8-track of Off the Wall was played and danced to over and over and over again. That album and Michael Jackson have made an ever lasting impression on me. Music, art, and film always have the greatest impact on you when you are open to receiving the message.

Michael Jackson's Earth Song which came out in 1995 was his first single that overtly dealt with the environment and animal welfare. I was not completely surprised when I read this past week how Earth Song was a top five hit in most European countries, and in the UK, it remains Jackson's best-selling single. Sadly, Earth Song was not even released as a single in the United States. I wonder why? Maybe the reason was the US was not open to receiving this message at the time.

Earth Song was accompanied by a lavish music video which had an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution and war. Jackson and the world's people unite in a spiritual chant Earth Song which summons a force that heals the world. Using special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, war ends and the forests regrow.

The video was filmed in four geographic regions. The first location was the Amazon Rainforest, where a large part was destroyed a week after the video's completion. Natives of the region appeared in the video and were not actors. The second scene was a war zone in Croatia, with residents of the area. The third location was Tanzania, which incorporated scenes of illegal poaching and hunting into the video. No animals were harmed in the making of the Earth Song, as the footage came from documentary archives. However, a poacher killed an elephant within a mile of the shot. The final location was in Warwick, New York, where a safe forest fire was simulated in a corn field.

Michael said this about Earth Song:

"I remember writing Earth Song when I was in Austria, in a hotel. And I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the Planet Earth. And for me, this is Earth's Song, because I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man's mismanagement of the Earth. And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it's about some of the joys of the planet as well. But this is my chance to pretty much let people hear the voice of the planet. And this is "Earth Song." And that's what inspired it."

I was happy I came across so many eco-bloggers like Treehugger, Ecorazzie and many others blogging about this song since Michael Jackson's transition last week. I hope this music video gets shown all over the world and especially here in the United States.  Here's wishing that we are now more open to receiving this message and the wonderful gift of music and video from a true genius.

You can view Michael Jackson's Earth Song video HERE.

Do you know where to get the best local, sustainable seafood?  Do you clean up plastic litter, even if it’s not yours and no one is watching?  Do you take reusable bags to the grocery store? In other words, do you live blue? 

Well then, here’s a marble.

If someone hands you a small blue marble don’t be surprised.  Here’s what to do:  give it away to someone who is also taking care of our little blue planet.  Or give it to someone else along with a tip about how to live blue: where to get the best local organic food, how to avoid plastic waste, or which politicians and businesses are true blue.

Blue Marble is the name given to the most replicated photo ever, it’s the one made by Apollo 17 astronauts as they pointed their Hasselblad camera back at an illuminated Earth.  From up there we looked small, fragile, beautiful…and blue.  Sort of like a blue marble.

Understandably, the green patches of our planet get most of the eco-attention—albeit not nearly enough—while the blue expanses quietly take the hit.  I’ve heard it said that less than 1% of eco-funding goes to caring for the blue world. But, the fact is we live on a blue planet, not a green one, or a brown one.  Earth is mostly water, surrounded by a light blue or dark blue sky.  Life came from the ocean, and most of our planet’s life and habitable space is in the ocean.  We know all too well that the ocean gives us our climate, the air we breathe and food to eat.

But we’ve treated Big Blue like a giant dump.  Our chemicals, exhaust, emissions and trash are blown away with the breeze or washed away with the tide.  Invisible.  Out of sight.  Out of mind.  Global warming, ocean acidification, toxic seafood and plastic-laden seas and beaches mean that dilution is no longer a viable solution to pollution.

But our hope isn't false or shallow.  Soon, the health of the ocean, once the wallflower of the environmental movement, will move center stage, and not a moment too soon.

Those in the know say that 2010 is going to be a big year for the blue parts of our planet.  Beginning with World Ocean Day this June 8th (now recognized by the UN) a string of ocean events flows outward including the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Archie Carr, the father of sea turtle conservation, the premier of the IMAX film OCEAN, World Ocean Day 2010 and the anniversary of Jacques Cousteau’s 100th birthday.  Ocean explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle, aka “her Deepness,” has made a global network of marine protected areas her TED Prize wish.  Our new administration is poised to change the way climate change and energy politics are played for the better (to put it mildly).

The message is quite clear: we must do more for the ocean, we must do it better and we must do it now.

Your local “blue” organizations—the frontline warriors—need your help.  These days “help” means money, so update your memberships at Save Our Shores, Surfrider, O’Neill Sea Odyssey, FishWise and all the other blue orgs today.  While you’re at it, renew your commitment to the national organizations like Ocean Champions, Ocean Conservancy and Oceana, the people who, day-in and day-out, lobby for and shape the plans and policies that will restore healthy oceans.  Hit the beach, roll up your sleeves and volunteer to pick up that trash even when no one is watching.  Without local support these groups are not going to make it, which means neither will we.  

If you’re not convinced, just consider what our ocean would look like without the people who have fought for it through the years.  More oil rigs, an extra few thousand tons of trash, lots more runoff, fewer fish, whales and turtles, lack of public access and poorer ocean illiteracy leap to mind. 

We all owe these ocean saints a world of thanks.  Maybe your neighbor, teacher, co-worker or partner is one of them.  In fact, I’ll bet you’re one of them, too.  If so, then one day, very soon, I hope someone puts a blue marble into your hand and says, “thank you.”  

And then, when that blue marble is yours, you’ll know exactly what to do with it.

On June 5th Celebrate World Ocean Day and Ocean Revolution 5 at the Catalyst with the Mother Hips and Hot Buttered Rum (catalystclub.com)

Earth Day is Every Day, And For Adults,Too, Most of All

On Earth Day, as the world celebrates the miracle of Mother Earth and all that she provides, I also often hear the phrase“Earth Day is every day.” And I agree. While I appreciate and understand the need for a special day to heighten awareness around the earth’s biosystems that are currently on life support, because the state of the world IS so dire, our consciousness around environmental issues must remain at code red every day. 

While this may sound exhausting and perhaps impossible, I also want to up the ante. And my next point comes from the many 11th Hour panels and discussions that I have been fortunate enough to attend.  The discussions are always rewarding and it is so heartening to engage with people on the issues directly.  However, in almost every Q+A, there is someone in the audience who raises their hand somewhat solemnly and says something like: “Yes, I agree that the ecosystems are in trouble and this crisis is real, but, have you considered really targeting children? I mean, it’s really difficult for adults to change, and, really, the future belongs to children, so this message is really for them.  They can change, we can’t.”  And, usually, many in the audience nod in agreement, and there is a sensation that flows through the room that if I could put words to it, it would be something like “Whew, we are off the hook!!”

Hmmm…I pause and then reply: “Well, if we wait for our kids to get old enough to act on the information I give to them today, it WILL BE TOO LATE!” 

Really. It will be too late. 

Consider that almost every data point on the ice melt in the Arctic and Antarctic has been too conservative – it’s melting faster than predicted.  Consider that there are crises that the public at large still has not been hit with yet, like endocrine disruption and acidification of the oceans, both of which (and there are more) could need as much attention as climate change. (Google Theo Colborn for endocrine disruption and NOAA for ocean acidification as I don’t want to digress on those here).

So when that “Adults can’t change, but kids can” comment comes along, I have to suppress a growing anger at our, adults’, collective lack of responsibility for our lives and the lives of our children. (Much less the lives of the thousands of life forms that are going extinct every year due to our actions.) How dare we be comfortable with passing along a trashed planet because we couldn’t cure ourselves of our addiction to stuff fast enough?  And I count myself among those who are having a tough time changing. Even with all the things that I know, I still do not live a fully green lifestyle. Far from it.  So I acknowledge that this addiction to our way of life, even in the face of human extinction and massive die-off of life on our planet, for some reason is not hitting home to the degree that will cause all of us, adults, to make radical, personal change. 

So what is it going to take?  Well, I think that the first step is for all of us to stop counting on our kids and start counting on ourselves. And the second thing is that we must work together, in community, locally as well as further afield if you can. Yes, of course, educate our kids, but, please don’t count yourself out. YOU ARE IT. And yes there still is time – like a Hollywood ending, the odds are stacked against us, but we really do have the technology and the ideas “on the shelf” that can reduce the human footprint on planet earth by 90%.  So what we do today to make substantial change does matter, and it will give our kids the future we would want to live in ourselves, and if we don’t act, a dark future awaits us all, and yes, in our lifetimes. 

Leila is Director, Writer and Producer of The 11th Hour and President of Tree Media Group. http://www.treemedia.com 

I wrote a blog back in October 2007 about photographic artist Chris Jordan who began a series of digital photographs that present contemporary American culture by way of inconceivable statistics regarding American consumption. In his photographic series, Running the Numbers: An American Self Portrait, each image portrays a specific quantity of consumption: Plastic Bags, 2007 - Depicts 60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the US every five seconds; Plastic Bottles, 2007 - Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes. Jordan portrays these statistics by incorporating them visually in large, intricately detailed photographic prints assembled from thousands of smaller images.

In his new series, Runninng the Numbers II: Portraits of Global Mass Culture (2009) Jordan depicts mass phenomena that occur on a global scale. The first few pieces in this series depict statistics about threats to the world's marine ecosystems.

Gyre (2009) is the first set of images in this new series which represents the Pacific Gyre, or The Great Garbage Patch. The Pacific Gyre is the largest garbage swill floating midway between Hawaii and San Francisco and is roughly the size of Texas containing approximately 3.5 million tons of trash.

The below photographic image Gyre (2009) is composed of 2.4 million pieces of plastic – the estimated number of pounds of plastic that enter the world’s ocean’s every hour.

                              Actual image                                                                    Partial zoom

                           Zoomed in further                                                                  Viewed up close

Next in the series is a set of images called Shark Teeth, 2009. If you have read the 11th Hour Action blog about how sharks are under a global threat and yet may be a key to our survival then you may appreciate the significance of these images, and the serious consequences to killing sharks.

The below images depicts 270,000 fossilized shark teeth, equal to the estimated number of sharks of all species killed around the world every day for their fins.

                         Actual image                                                                                        Partial zoom

                              Zoomed in further                                                                            Viewed up close

To fully appreciate these photographic images you should really view them directly from Chris Jordan’s website. There are 11 images from the Gyre series, and 5 from Shark Teeth. Plus there are 5 images that depicts 20,500 tuna, the average number of tuna fished from the world's oceans every fifteen minutes.

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.