xcel
02-01-2007, 12:37 PM
League of Women Voters views film. (http://www.goedwardsville.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17795062&BRD=2291&PAG=461&dept_id=473648&rfi=6)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/An_Inconvenient_Truth.jpgNorma Mendoza – Edwardsville Intelligencer – Feb. 1, 2007
More chairs had to be set up in the Edwardsville Library's meeting room to accommodate those who came to view former Vice President Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," sponsored this week by the League of Women Voters.
For many, it was the first time they had seen it. Others came to see it again.
The movie has been nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary category and has been lauded by movie critics across the nation for bringing forward the most important issue facing the world today.
Gore has spent the years after so closely losing the presidential election in 2000 presenting talks and slide shows about global warming to audiences around the world. When approached to make a documentary about his topic, he agreed.
It's a topic that sparked his interest when he was a college student and he has continued to investigate the way global warming is changing the earth's outlook. His college professor, Roger Revelle, was the first to study carbon monoxide in the atmosphere and to draw connections between it and larger changes in earth's atmosphere, the most vulnerable part of the earth's ecosystem.
In less than 50 years, the amount of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere has not only tripled, it has grown higher than it's been in 650,000 years. In the last 14 years, 10 of the hottest years ever recorded have occurred with 2006 topping 2005 as the hottest of all.
Gore explained how the warming of the ocean temperatures contribute to some of the worst "natural" disasters seen in our lifetimes, the tsunami in Indonesia, a wild season of hurricanes in 2005, including the disastrous Katrina, and record numbers of tornadoes in our own part of the nation.
League member Kim Kirn of Glen Carbon said after seeing the documentary for the first time, she is even more thankful that she purchased a hybrid vehicle that consumes less than half the amount of gasoline that vehicles powered solely by gas use.
"It's scary," Kirn said. "I'm glad that my children seem more aware, even my son talks about global warming."
Kirn said she is more determined than ever to do what she can to help reduce greenhouse gases.
The film offers viewers a number of suggestions to do their part. Here are 10 simple things to start with:
Replace regular light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs which will also cut your electric bills;
Drive less
Recycle more
Keep vehicle tires properly inflated
Use less hot water, wash clothes in cold
Avoid products that come with a lot of packaging
Turn heat down 2 degrees in winter and air-conditioning up 2 degrees in summer's heat
Plant a tree
Turn off electronic devices instead of leaving them on standby: televisions, DVD players, stereos and computers
And the last advice is to learn how to be part of the solution by visiting the Web site: aninconvenienttruth.co.uk.
The "uk" extension for the Web site says a lot about our government's reaction to global warming. UK stands for United Kingdom which appears to be far ahead of the United States in addressing the issue of global warming. After years of denying the existence of global warming, President George Bush actually mentioned it in his State of the Union address last week.
According to the film, only two advanced nations have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol international global warming treaty, the United States and Australia.
Carol Gerdt of Edwardsville said she had seen the film before but wanted to show that the League of Women Voters is supportive. Gerdt, a micro-biologist at Children's Hospital in St. Louis, said she sees people in the science community getting interested for a time, but slipping back as everyday reality gets in the way.
John Byrd of the Sierra Club told the group about efforts by the people to take things into their own hands after waiting in vain for the government to act.
"I don't think we have time for the federal government to come up with a solution to the carbon monoxide emissions problem," Byrd said. "We as a nation must do it ourselves."
Byrd told the group about the Cool Cities campaign, in which leaders, frustrated by the stalling on the federal level, are moving forward toward innovative energy solutions to cut the nation's dependence on foreign oil, benefit the public health, and save taxpayer dollars.
Cities are taking the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels introduced the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in February of 2005, the same day the Kyoto agreement took effect in 141 nations.
More than 200 mayors representing more than 42 million Americans in 38 states have signed on, pledging to reduce global warming carbon dioxide pollution citywide to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Seattle's City Light is the only electric utility in the country producing zero net greenhouse gas emissions and the city is working on other ways to further reduce greenhouse gas by expanding transportation choices, recycling and restoring urban forests.
Five cities in northern Illinois have joined the campaign, but no Metro East communities have joined to date. In the Missouri metropolitan area, Clayton, Florissant, St. Louis city, Maplewood and Sunset Hills have joined.
Byrd said he is seeking local support to approach Edwardsville about becoming a Cool City. He said the first step would be to take inventory of what is creating greenhouse gas emissions and the second step would be to plan for solutions.
To start, the city could encourage the use of "green" vehicles by offering incentives to citizens who purchase vehicles such as Kirn's hybrid Ford.
The city could encourage the use of cleaner buses that run on compressed natural gas or hybrid-electric engines using renewable fuels instead of the dirty diesel engines.
Byrd said the city could set LED standards for traffic signals, street lights and light bulbs used in city buildings.
The last step in the Cool Cities campaign is to implement and monitor the decided-upon projects.
Chay Lemoine of Edwardsville encouraged people in attendance to contact their congressional representatives. He said the League of Conservation Voters released its scorecard about how the legislators voted on conservation issues.
Both Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama scored 100 percent. However, he said Rep. John Shimkus scored zero in the first and second sessions of the 109th Congress.
"By accident, he got 6 percent in 2002-2004, but by the next session he was back to zero percent," Lemoine said.
After Democrats won the majority in both Houses of Congress, they promised to make curbing greenhouse gases a No. 1 priority. The U.S. Senate conducted its first global warming hearing of the year this week before the Environmental and Public Works Committee now headed by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Groups such as the League of Conservation Voters have called Boxer a "champion." She takes over the chairmanship of the committee from Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who called global warming a hoax.
Boxer told USA Today that all the committee talked about for 12 years was whether there is such a thing as global warming.
"I'm done with that, I'm over it," she told a reporter. "We need to move forward."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., directed House committees to pass a global warming bill by July 4.
To find out more about how you can help, contact the Sierra Club at 462-6802. The film "An Inconvenient Truth" will be shown by the club at the First Unitarian Church, 102 East Third Street in Alton at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 12.
The club promises organic popcorn, lemonade and coffee. And it's all free of charge.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/An_Inconvenient_Truth.jpgNorma Mendoza – Edwardsville Intelligencer – Feb. 1, 2007
More chairs had to be set up in the Edwardsville Library's meeting room to accommodate those who came to view former Vice President Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," sponsored this week by the League of Women Voters.
For many, it was the first time they had seen it. Others came to see it again.
The movie has been nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary category and has been lauded by movie critics across the nation for bringing forward the most important issue facing the world today.
Gore has spent the years after so closely losing the presidential election in 2000 presenting talks and slide shows about global warming to audiences around the world. When approached to make a documentary about his topic, he agreed.
It's a topic that sparked his interest when he was a college student and he has continued to investigate the way global warming is changing the earth's outlook. His college professor, Roger Revelle, was the first to study carbon monoxide in the atmosphere and to draw connections between it and larger changes in earth's atmosphere, the most vulnerable part of the earth's ecosystem.
In less than 50 years, the amount of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere has not only tripled, it has grown higher than it's been in 650,000 years. In the last 14 years, 10 of the hottest years ever recorded have occurred with 2006 topping 2005 as the hottest of all.
Gore explained how the warming of the ocean temperatures contribute to some of the worst "natural" disasters seen in our lifetimes, the tsunami in Indonesia, a wild season of hurricanes in 2005, including the disastrous Katrina, and record numbers of tornadoes in our own part of the nation.
League member Kim Kirn of Glen Carbon said after seeing the documentary for the first time, she is even more thankful that she purchased a hybrid vehicle that consumes less than half the amount of gasoline that vehicles powered solely by gas use.
"It's scary," Kirn said. "I'm glad that my children seem more aware, even my son talks about global warming."
Kirn said she is more determined than ever to do what she can to help reduce greenhouse gases.
The film offers viewers a number of suggestions to do their part. Here are 10 simple things to start with:
Replace regular light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs which will also cut your electric bills;
Drive less
Recycle more
Keep vehicle tires properly inflated
Use less hot water, wash clothes in cold
Avoid products that come with a lot of packaging
Turn heat down 2 degrees in winter and air-conditioning up 2 degrees in summer's heat
Plant a tree
Turn off electronic devices instead of leaving them on standby: televisions, DVD players, stereos and computers
And the last advice is to learn how to be part of the solution by visiting the Web site: aninconvenienttruth.co.uk.
The "uk" extension for the Web site says a lot about our government's reaction to global warming. UK stands for United Kingdom which appears to be far ahead of the United States in addressing the issue of global warming. After years of denying the existence of global warming, President George Bush actually mentioned it in his State of the Union address last week.
According to the film, only two advanced nations have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol international global warming treaty, the United States and Australia.
Carol Gerdt of Edwardsville said she had seen the film before but wanted to show that the League of Women Voters is supportive. Gerdt, a micro-biologist at Children's Hospital in St. Louis, said she sees people in the science community getting interested for a time, but slipping back as everyday reality gets in the way.
John Byrd of the Sierra Club told the group about efforts by the people to take things into their own hands after waiting in vain for the government to act.
"I don't think we have time for the federal government to come up with a solution to the carbon monoxide emissions problem," Byrd said. "We as a nation must do it ourselves."
Byrd told the group about the Cool Cities campaign, in which leaders, frustrated by the stalling on the federal level, are moving forward toward innovative energy solutions to cut the nation's dependence on foreign oil, benefit the public health, and save taxpayer dollars.
Cities are taking the lead in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels introduced the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement in February of 2005, the same day the Kyoto agreement took effect in 141 nations.
More than 200 mayors representing more than 42 million Americans in 38 states have signed on, pledging to reduce global warming carbon dioxide pollution citywide to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.
Seattle's City Light is the only electric utility in the country producing zero net greenhouse gas emissions and the city is working on other ways to further reduce greenhouse gas by expanding transportation choices, recycling and restoring urban forests.
Five cities in northern Illinois have joined the campaign, but no Metro East communities have joined to date. In the Missouri metropolitan area, Clayton, Florissant, St. Louis city, Maplewood and Sunset Hills have joined.
Byrd said he is seeking local support to approach Edwardsville about becoming a Cool City. He said the first step would be to take inventory of what is creating greenhouse gas emissions and the second step would be to plan for solutions.
To start, the city could encourage the use of "green" vehicles by offering incentives to citizens who purchase vehicles such as Kirn's hybrid Ford.
The city could encourage the use of cleaner buses that run on compressed natural gas or hybrid-electric engines using renewable fuels instead of the dirty diesel engines.
Byrd said the city could set LED standards for traffic signals, street lights and light bulbs used in city buildings.
The last step in the Cool Cities campaign is to implement and monitor the decided-upon projects.
Chay Lemoine of Edwardsville encouraged people in attendance to contact their congressional representatives. He said the League of Conservation Voters released its scorecard about how the legislators voted on conservation issues.
Both Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama scored 100 percent. However, he said Rep. John Shimkus scored zero in the first and second sessions of the 109th Congress.
"By accident, he got 6 percent in 2002-2004, but by the next session he was back to zero percent," Lemoine said.
After Democrats won the majority in both Houses of Congress, they promised to make curbing greenhouse gases a No. 1 priority. The U.S. Senate conducted its first global warming hearing of the year this week before the Environmental and Public Works Committee now headed by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
Groups such as the League of Conservation Voters have called Boxer a "champion." She takes over the chairmanship of the committee from Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who called global warming a hoax.
Boxer told USA Today that all the committee talked about for 12 years was whether there is such a thing as global warming.
"I'm done with that, I'm over it," she told a reporter. "We need to move forward."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., directed House committees to pass a global warming bill by July 4.
To find out more about how you can help, contact the Sierra Club at 462-6802. The film "An Inconvenient Truth" will be shown by the club at the First Unitarian Church, 102 East Third Street in Alton at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 12.
The club promises organic popcorn, lemonade and coffee. And it's all free of charge.