Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet
Sierra Club Currents - Fighting Global Warming: Give Your Two Cents Quote of Note: "While a number of natural factors have certainly contributed to the overall decline in sea ice, the effects of greenhouse warming are now coming through loud and clear." -- Mark Serreze, National Snow and Ice Data Center researcher (1) Take Action: Fighting Global Warming- Give Your Two Cents (2) Take Action: Protect Public Lands! (3) Faces of Forest Loss: Rainforest Defenders Tour U.S. (4) Global Warming: Melting Opens Arctic Sea Lane (1) Take Action: Fighting Global Warming: Give Your Two Cents House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell recently released his draft carbon tax legislation intended to help reduce greenhouse gases 80% by 2050. Rep. Dingell has asked for public comments on his website to gauge public interest. This is a great opportunity to tell Rep. Dingell that we need practical measures NOW to begin to reduce global warming emissions. Tell Congressman Dingell what YOU want to see in a plan to curb global warming. (2) Take Action: Protect Public Lands! For too long we have permitted the oil and gas industry to control our energy policies and destroy public lands. Under new BLM land use plans 126,000 new oil and gas wells could be drilled on public lands in the next 20 years. The energy bill passed by the House includes vital provisions that will help re-establish a balance in the management of our public lands, while the Senate energy bill does not. These provisions set the foundation for a new direction in responsible energy development and can help our country move toward a new energy future. It's essential that the provisions of the House bill be included in any final energy bill coming out of Congress. Tell your Senators to include protections for our public lands in the final energy bill! (3) Faces of Forest Loss: Rainforest Defenders Tour U.S. Yesterday, internationally-acclaimed human rights activists from Indonesia, Peru, and Papua New Guinea kicked off a tour of the U.S. focusing on illegal logging and the United States' role in driving it. The activists are speaking out about the impacts of illegal logging and associated trade on their communities, forests and global warming. Worldwide, illegal logging crimes drive human rights abuses, environmental harm and billions of dollars in annual economic losses to governments in developing countries. It also drives and accelerates deforestation, which already accounts for almost one-fifth of the world’s global warming emissions. Learn more about the activists work to stop illegal logging and the tour. (4) Global Warming: Melting Opens Arctic Sea Lane This year, large declines in sea ice opened the arctic Northwest Passage for the first time in recorded history, allowing ships to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Scientists at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center recorded the lowest levels of sea ice registered since the Center began using satellites to monitor ice levels over three decades ago -- a trend they say is being fueled by global warming. Find out what you can do to fight global warming. |
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Currents is the Sierra Club's weekly e-mail update providing you with facts, stories, quotes, and "take action" features. |