A Carbon Diet For Your New Year's Resolution: Frugality That'll Save Your Wallet and the Planet

Over the last couple of years, there has been a lot of talk about how people need to lower their carbon footprint, but outside the eco-community, most people don’t even know what a carbon foorptint is. When the topic comes up, the questions are always: What is it and how does it affect me? Here’s an attempt to answer those questions.

Stock image.

At its most basic level, a carbon footprint is the total impact one person’s activities has on the environment during any given day. A big part of it has to do with how much unrecyclable trash is generated, and power used - generating greenhouse gases - to operating things like household appliances and systems, electrics, and transportation.

The family carbon footprint is important for two reasons - slowing the outflow of money from the household budget and preserving the global environment.

The health of the global environment directly affects every wallet in many ways, including the cost of food. What most people eat that isn’t locally grown, and if the climate shifts where that food is grown, it either won’t be available anymore or become a lot more expensive.

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20 Yrs Later- Alaskan Beaches Remain Polluted by Oil From Exxon Valdez Spill

The Exxon Valdez oil spill killed tens of thousands of animals during the initial days of the disaster alone. Photo courtesy of Nature’s Crusaders.

On Thursday evening, March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, a very large crude carrier and one of Exxon’s then two largest oil tankers, left the Port of Valdez for Long Beach, Calif.

“The shipped passed through the Valdez Narrows and the pilot disembarked. Captain Joe Hazelwood ordered the vessel to procced outside the normal traffic separation lanes in order to avoid ice which had calved from the Columbia Glacier and was reported near the shipping lanes.

“The captain indicated to the mate where he wanted the vessel to turn to bring it back into the shipping lanes and then left the bridge. The ship did not make the turn prescribed by the captain, and shortly after midnight on Friday, March 24, 1989, struck Bligh Reef and fetched up hard aground.

“The grounding punctured the single-hulled vessel, resulting in the rupture of 11 of the vessel’s crude oil tanks. As a result, over 11 million gallons of crude oil were released into the pristine environment of Prince William Sound.”

This is how Craig Tillery, deputy attorney general for the Alaska Department of Law, described the events of those days to the Alaska Forum on the Environment during his keynote presentation, last February, when he brought attendees up to speed on the continuing effects of the disaster and restoration efforts.

As part of that address, he talked about the fact that about 10 years ago the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council noticed that “oil remained in greater quantities and at greater levels of toxicity than anyone that anticipated.”

Recent research findings from Temple University say that “it is estimated that nearly 20,000 gallons of oil remain in the beaches.”

Late last month, Nature Geoscience published the results of a three-year study by researchers from Temple University and China University of Geoscience which examined the effects of oil still remaining from the spill.

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New U.S. Anti-Smog Restrictions Raising Debate Over Effects on Atmospheric Chemistry

Cartoon courtesy of toonpool.com

There is always a lot of controversy anytime longstanding federal regulations are changed. This time, the uproar came because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to increase the stringency of national air quality standards regarding nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions.

NO2 forms quickly from the emissions of cars, trucks, buses, power plants, and off-road equipment. In addition, the compound also contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone (also known as smog), and fine particle pollution, which is linked with a number of adverse effects on the human respiratory system.

There is a clear benefit to taking action to reduce NO2, but there is also concern among some in the scientific community about potential side effects to taking this action.

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The Arctic is Melting, But Fishermen Won’t Benefit From the Expanding Seas

Photo courtesy of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.

There is little dispute anymore that global warming is real. The 20th century’s last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to National Geographic’s review of a number of climate studies.

About the best piece of news is that most people, and especially important, world leaders and government agencies are starting to acknowledge the issue and taking measures to both combat its causes and ramifications.

One of the most visible affects of global warning has been the increased summer retreating of the Arctic ice sheets. While no one yet has figured out how to stop it, the U.S. government has put into effect a plan to stop commercial fishing from entering into the seas opened by the newly melted ice.

Gary Locke, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, just approved a plan to prohibit the expansion until researchers gather enough information on the fish and the Arctic marine environment to prevent adverse affects to the ecosystem.

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Declaration on Climate Change Adopted by African Ministers

NAIROBI, Kenya- In a special session yesterday, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment has adopted the Nairobi Declaration which provides African countries with a platform to make a strong case for international support at the upcoming Copenhagen Convention for combating climate change.

“Africa’s environmental ministers have signaled their resolve to be part of the solution to the climate change challenge by forging a unified position, with diversity of economics, in advance of the crucial United Nations climate convention meeting in Copenhagen (Denmark) in just 192 days time,” said Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which hosts the AMCEN secretariat.

Mr. Steiner added in his statement that, “the development prize for Africa is an acceleration of clean and renewable energy projects and payments for carbon-storing ecosystems from forests up to eventually perhaps dryland soils, grasslands, and sustainable agriculture.”

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