I was all ready to attend the rally with Tim DeChristopher yesterday, but work got crazy and I couldn't leave.  Here are some links to the event:

We are Bidder 70 - One Utah

Accused saboteur pleads not guilty-  Downtown SLC » NASA climate scientist joins march, calls U. student's act extremely important
 - Salt Lake Tribune

DeChristopher pleads not guilty after marching with supporters - Deseret News

Environmental activist pleads not guilty to disrupting auction - KSL TV

Arraignment Support Info and photos - Facebook

It's kind of creepy to see that retailers have the power to ration food....

http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994
Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 21, 2008

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Many parts of America, long considered the
breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable
phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New
England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and
cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports
that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew
frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain
for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

"Where's the rice?" an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said.
"You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous."

The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or
five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but
only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A
20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.

"You can't eat this every day. It's too heavy," a health care executive
from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two sacks of the
Basmati into a shopping cart. "We only need one bag but I'm getting two in
case a neighbor or a friend needs it," the elder man said.
( Read more... )

Not only did Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs perform, so did Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson with Salt Lake's School of Rock at the Step It Up 2 event on Saturday November 3rd:



More photos

Here are few more photos from the Rocky Roast the other night.
There are also some other posts and photos at Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs Live Journal Page.
Links to news:
Rocky takes a couple of punches from his friends (Salt Lake Tribune)

( Read more... )

Rocky ends up 'well done' in roast (Deseret News) - PPnBB mentioned!

( Read more... )

Last night our radical cheerleading squad, Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs performed at the Rocky Roast put on by the Salt Lake Acting Company.  It was great fun and everyone loved us!  I will be posting for photos later today or tomorrow, but here is a photo of us with Rocky (I am to Rocky's left!):

The weather was overcast, showery, and the day became increasingly colder, but it was still a great Earth Day in Salt Lake City. We had fun operating the Kiddie Village. Pom Poms Not Bomb Bombs performed too!
(See video of performance)
Links to news articles:
Hands up high for the globe - Earth Jam praises planet: The global warming issue may be helping Earth Day regain the cultural punch it once had (Salt Lake Tribune)( Read more... )
Here are photos of Earth Jam 2007.

( Read more... )

The Earth Day Network is filled with pages of useful information.  Its Climate Change Solutions: What You can Do Right Now has a top 10 list of action items for individuals, organizations and businesses to take as a first step in reducing their contribution to global warming.  The page provides examples of what people and organizations have started doing as well.

Here are the top 10 with my comments after on how I do with the items.
If just a third of us in the United States follow through on most of what's on this list, we can all collectively make a difference - and keep greenhouse gas emissions where they might otherwise be if the U.S. government stepped in and imposed mandatory CO2 caps and fuel-efficiency standards.

Project Switch: Change your light bulbs!

( Read more... )

I don't think I have one light bulb in my house that is not cfl.  Tom and I have been doing this for years.

Drive your car differently – or drive a different car altogether!

( Read more... )

We used to drive a truck, but a couple of years ago we bought a used Mitsubishi Mirage.  It gets about 30 miles to the gallon in town and 38 on the freeway.  We try to only drive when we have to and hope to someday give up fossil fuel vehicles.

Your house – not too hot, not too cold!

( Read more... )

Our house is about 100 years old.  We have plastic over windows and we have a thermostat that automatically sets the heat down to low temps at strategic times.  We will be building a new house within the next 2 years (on our current property) that we plan to have be energy efficient with green building aspects.

Tame the refrigerator monster!

( Read more... )

We recently purchased an Energy Star Refrigerator.  One concept we have to make use of our old refrigerator is to convert it to a solar collector.  We would do this by  removing the coils from the back of the refrigerator and embedding them in the refrigerator door and covering the whole with glass - and then hook it up to our hot water system.  Another concept is to use it for root storage of garden goodies.

Twist the knobs on your other household appliances!

I don't have an automatic dishwasher and so I wash dishes by hand.  I try to conserve water as much as possible.  One thing I'd like to do in the future is to have a gray water system where water that goes through the drain is routed to my yard.  For washing clothes in my washer, I almost always use cold water.  In warm weather I always line dry our clothes.

Green plants with less water, more trees to provide shade.

( Read more... )

We have water rights on our property so in the spring and summer we "flood" our property about once a week.  The water is channeled from the Utah Lake in Utah county through irrigation channels.  We have an irrigation ditch that runs along the north side of our property and we have gates that open up from the ditch to let the water in when it is our turn.  We have to go to a wier to open the gate to our channel and then we go to another "box" to divert the water towards our house.  We almost never water our garden from the hose - only in the beginning of spring when the water hasn't arrived yet.

We also never mow.  We let the plants do what they want.  We have a non-elecric hand push mower we use for the front of the house where there is grass around the trees to keep the "cleanliness police" in our town from coming around to tell us what to do.

Buy Green Energy, and invest in green energy stocks.

( Read more... )

I have a 401k in the Utah Retirement System (non-contributory).  When I first started teaching here, I was oblivious to the investments but now that I'm more informed, I plan to change the options where my money is invested.  In my current job, I have not yet been afforded retirement benefits, but I am told that will change next year.  The company that my school works with works with our staff to choose socially responsible and "green" investment options. 

Our power company also has a program where consumers can purchase wind energy.  Someday I'd like to be totally off the grid, we'll see.

Go organic.

( Read more... )

This is easy!  (Well, not the gardening part......)  We grow our own food every year.  We give a lot away, thereby sharing the wealth of locally grown, organic food and helping others to have this available.  We still have enough for ourselves for the season and for the winter.  The food we do buy we make every effort to be sure it is organic and locally grown where possible.  We at least try to buy things from socially responsible companies and participate in a food buying club through a local non-profit, run by a group of animal rights activists.

Buy recycled.

( Read more... )

Another easy one!  None of my clothes are bought new.  I either make them or buy from thrift stores.  Most things we purchase are from thrift stores.  If we buy new we try to buy things that are from recycled materials or we can recycle ourselves.

Be a minimalist.

( Read more... )

Yes, this one is difficult.  But if I look at where I am today compared to 10 years ago, minimalist is right on target.  I only buy in bulk what I use a lot of, especially if it costs me less per item to do so (vitamins, toilet paper [which is recycle by the way], etc.).  I still have a lot of "stuff" in my house and need to continue to part with things I really don't use or need.  Growing up in a family that saved a lot of "stuff" (my grandmother in particular who I adored and terribly miss), I learned the value of reusing things and saving things that could be used in the future (instead of being thrown away).  Trouble is, that "stuff" sometimes hangs around forever.  About a year or two ago I discovered the "freecycle" movement and belong to the Salt Lake freecycle group.  I've given away a lot of stuff through that medium. It's a start.

I've been doing a lot over the years to reduce my personal impact on climate change.  I still have many areas of improvement on which to focus and hope to continue to be conscious of my impact on the planet - and by so doing set an example for others.

Yesterday's Global Warming rally was a success! It was beautiful weather, lots of great entertainment, outreach and networking. Our tables were busy all day!

I wasn't able to get as many photos as I usually do, due to my tabling activities, but I did get quite a few (see below).

The highlight was being able to see Los Lobos who came to Salt Lake to perform for the event.

Local musicians Motherlode Canyon Band, Blue Haiku, Brenn Hill, Salty Rootz and the Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Band also performed.



( Read more... )

I will be participating in Salt Lake's Global Warming Rally on Saturday.  I will be doing outreach for Blue Sky Institute.  This event is being held as part of a nationwide campaign.  Here is a schedule of events that day:

FREE CONCERT!

LOS LOBOS

 

Please join Mayor Rocky Anderson and thousands of others this Saturday, April 14th at STEP IT UP Salt Lake City.

STEP IT UP events will take place across the nation calling for Congress to pass legislation to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.  Washington Square will be the site of great music including Los Lobos!  There will also be food, exhibits, presentations, vendors, informational booths and even a children’s playground.

Click HERE for a personal invitation from Mayor Rocky Anderson.

It's hard to believe that this is COG #70! This week's host is Camden Kiwi.
There is a lot of great reading over there - especially on climate change.

Happy Reading!

I have found several intereseting articles this morning on global warming and climate change. I've posted them over on planetcooldown.

12-Step Plan for Climate Action

Diet for a Hot Planet

Global Warming: It's Personal

There is evidence that mankind is at fault for accelerated rate of global warming.
For folks who are still sitting on the fence about global warming and climate change, conssider this:

Evidence of climate change

Arctic sea ice has shrunk by 2.7 per cent per decade since 1978 and by 7.4 per cent each decade during the summer months.

Five of the six warmest years have occurred in the past five years, with 2005 and 1998 being the two warmest years on record.

Global average sea levels rose at a rate of about 2mm a year between 1961-2003, and by an average of more than 3mm a year between 1993-2003.

Mountain glaciers and polar land ice have in general melted faster than they have formed over the past 40 years.

Permafrost temperatures have increased on average and the area covered by seasonally frozen ground has decreased by about 7 per cent over the past 50 years.

Read more on this issue at The Independent.