Citizens Climate lobby Roscommon/Crawford Chapter

                                                                                                                                                                                                       Roscommon/Crawford Chapter                                    ...

                                                              Roscommon/Crawford Chapter Merry Christmas   As winter begins to again cover our fields and forests with a white blanket, your friends at the Roscommon/Crawford Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby want to wish you a Merry Christmas. We are anxiously awaiting 2021 and its promise of newness: a vaccine for COVID for everyone, a new administration for our federal government, and the near certainty of more effective treatments for the ills created by increasing air pollution from carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We think now is the time for an outpouring of ideas for local action to dovetail with expected federal programs that will slow down continued air pollution and set the stage for eventual...

                                                   Roscommon/Crawford Chapter Biden Plan for Fixing Climate Change   Now that we have fired the old President, we can expect the incoming Biden/Harris Administration to take immediate and aggressive action in fixing climate change, unlike the former administration whose work on climate reminds of those sailors who re-arranged the deck chairs on the Titanic. Here is a summary of the Biden action plan for fixing climate change. John Kerry has been named as special envoy for climate protection and a standing member of the U.S. National Security Council, responsible for global climate leadership as the United States resumes its former role   encouraging world-wide cooperation in reducing air pollution. It is expected that Biden will name other men and women to additional climate leadership jobs in ...

                                                                             Roscommon/Crawford Chapter What Will Trump’s Most Profound Legacy Be? Possibly Climate Damage (Editor’s note – The New York Times has two investigative journalists who regularly report on climate change topics. This blog was prepared using two of their most recent offerings. Note that the quoted text portions of this blog are verbatim excerpts from their recently published reports.) “WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. will use the next four years to try to restore the environmental policies that his predecessor has methodically blown up, but the damage done by the greenhouse gas pollution unleashed by President Trump’s rollbacks may prove to be one of the most profou...

    Roscommon/Crawford Chapter Since we have learned that the transportation sector in the United States has surpassed electricity generation as the leading cause of carbon dioxide pollution, we need to focus on changes to reduce air pollution from that source. Here are some tips for reducing the amount of gasoline used when you need to travel. Drive less Burn fat instead of gas by walking or biking when you can. One of my favorite memories of a work-related trip to Sweden some years ago was the image of middle-aged woman on her way to town. I passed by her while in a vehicle on the way to the factory that I was scheduled to visit. It was snowing and the stylish lady was carrying an umbrella to shield her attractive dress and hat from the wet snow. She seemed entirely nonchalant as cars passed by her bicycle that she pedaled alongside the busy street, steering with one hand and avoiding the accumulating snow with her umbrella. She was not alone in her use of a bicycle in the v...

                                               Roscommon/Crawford Chapter  Progress in Reducing Air Pollution Michigan has a number of power producers across the state but our supplier in Roscommon and Crawford counties is Consumers Energy, one of the leading suppliers in Michigan along with DTE. I recently looked at my bill from Consumers Energy to track my contribution to air pollution. I was astounded to learn that from my average use of 530 KWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity per month, I caused 8,756 pounds of CO2 to be released to our atmosphere on a yearly basis. 8,765 pounds! It seems like an extraordinarily large quantity of pollution since I rate myself as being a careful consumer, turning off unneeded lights and other electronic gadgets when not being used. (To calculate your emissions, see the EPA web page at https://www.epa.gov/egr...

  Roscommon/Crawford Chapter This blog is a bit different from my normal sort, but since the election is soon, the old typing drill is appropriate, “ Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” Not being a climate change denier is not enough, Now is the time to be a climate change supporter. Read, listen, help, plan, speak out, speak up, march, and most of all VOTE. It will help our nation to become ‘good citizens’ in the world-wide struggle to save our planet. A problem that is related to climate change is our penchant for contaminating our environment with trash. I decided to take on a small piece of this problem, specifically straws. Yes, straws. Did you know that straws are part of a huge problem? We use billions and billions of straws in the US not to mention the additional gazillions used world-wide. They are everywhere. And that is the problem: straws end up polluting our rivers, lakes and oceans. California tried to solve the straw pr...