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Gettin’ Your Kicks On A Green Route 66 The U.S. highway system is broken. We’re barely keeping up with the costs of maintaining our roads and bridges. A gamble we lose at times, with tragic results. New materials and technologies have to be found to replace our current archaic system. Well, now hear this — Solar Roadways [...]

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Image via Wikipedia What a week it has been. We (my husband and I), just finished what turned out to be one of the longest re-fi’s in history.  If you recall last February, President Obama, passed several plans to help Americans who got caught in the mortgage meltdown, and the economic crisis we all have been [...]

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The Times of London reports this morning that the head of the UN's International Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, was told that the IPCC assertion that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 was wrong, but he waited two months to take actions to correct it.

Dr. Pachauri, who played a lead role at the recent Copenhagen climate summit where he called for drastic cuts in carbon emissions, corrected the error last week after coming under media scrutiny.

Apparently, Dr. Pachauri told The Times as recently as January 22 that he had only known about the error for a few days.

The Times reports "He said: 'I became aware of this when it was reported in the media about ten days ago. Before that, it was really not made known. Nobody brought it to my attention. There were statements, but we never looked at this 2035 number.'"

When pressed in that original interview, he insisted that he hadn't heard about the mistake prior to Copenhagen.

"However," the Times reports, "a prominent science journalist said that he had asked Dr Pachauri about the 2035 error last November. Pallava Bagla, who writes for Science journal, said he had asked Dr Pachauri about the error. He said that Dr Pachauri had replied: 'I don’t have anything to add on glaciers.'"

Dr. Pachauri, who now claims that he was preoccupied with a number of events surrounding the summit and that he inadvertently failed to mention the error, has been accused of potential conflicts of interest surrounding carbon emissions reductions and from "using the error to win grants worth hundreds of thousands of pounds," according to the Times.

Late last year, there was additional controversy generated around data used in the IPCC report and elsewhere when emails were discovered between climate scientists that raised questions about potential manipulation of data and climate modeling projections.

This latest controversy further erodes Dr. Pachauri's credibility at a time when public opinion about global warming continues to slip.

It is time for Dr. Pacahuri to resign as head of IPCC and for a full investigation and review of the IPCC reports.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Indian glaciologist criticised by IPCC chief joins calls for resignation (guardian.co.uk)
• Notes From a Quasi-Scandal: IPCC Chair Says He Won't Step Down + Glacier Error Not Politically Motivated (treehugger.com)
• Can Climate Forecasts Still Be Trusted? (abcnews.go.com)
• Canadian scientist says UN's global warming panel 'crossing the line' (canada.com)
• UK's top scientist urges care in presenting results of climate change (guardian.co.uk)
• UN climate control panel chief refuses to quit (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• I will not go, says climate chief (news.bbc.co.uk)
• IPCC Sucker Punches Itself, Again (thegreenskeptic.com)

January 29th's Tip

Toothbrushes: Replacing your toothbrush every 3 months (and, yes, it is every 3 months, if you follow dentist recommendations) ... [visit site to read more]

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I've never really thought about what happens to the scrap metal from the world's most coveted designers: CHANEL, PRADA, LV, DOLCE GABBANA etc.   It would be a shame for those to go to waste as I would love to get my hands on them, and now I have!

I was recently introduced to these gorgeous handmade recycled jewelry pieces. Michelle Croft, owner of  RMichelle managed to snag some of CHANEL's unused scrap metal. These earrings here are my favorite and ... [visit site to read more]

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Did President Obama pass or fail on energy in last night's State of the Union address?  I wasn't watching, but I've read the transcript.  Here are some of the choice bits:

"We can put Americans to work today building the infrastructure of tomorrow. From the first railroads to the Interstate Highway System, our nation has always been built to compete. There's no reason Europe or China should have the fastest trains, or the new factories that manufacture clean energy products."

Totally agree. We are already losing the clean energy race and need to do a lot to catch up.

"We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy-efficient, which supports clean energy jobs. And to encourage these and other businesses to stay within our borders, it is time to finally slash the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and give those tax breaks to companies that create jobs right here in the United States of America."

Okay. A little protectionism, a little nod to a giving something back to Americans for investing in efficiency.

"I am grateful to the House for passing such a bill last year. And this year I'm eager to help advance the bipartisan effort in the Senate. I know there have been questions about whether we can afford such changes in a tough economy. I know that there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change. But here's the thing, even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future, because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy. And America must be that nation."

I'm not sure passing the current Senate effort is the right thing to do. I think cap-and-trade is dead on arrival now and we need to shift the focus on innovation and investment. The important phrase in the above remark is

"...the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy."

Can we get there? I'm not convinced we have the political will or that Obama can carry the day. His approval rating sucks and new polls are pointing to a continuing decrease in belief among Americans in climate change. But I do agree that we can't afford to wait any longer, as the President put it last night

"China's not waiting to revamp its economy; Germany's not waiting; India's not waiting. These nations, they're not standing still. These nations aren't playing for second place. They're putting more emphasis on math and science. They're rebuilding their infrastructure. They're making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs."

The President also said he does not "accept second place for the United States of America." Second place? In many respects we are already in third and the leaders are pulling away.

And we're not going to get there without massive investment in innovation, as Bill Gates said in his blog last week, we need "a distributed system of R&D with economic rewards for innovators and strong government encouragement is the key. There just isn't enough work going on today to get us to where we need to go."

I disagree with Gates that it is either efficiency or innovation; this is a false dichotomy. We need to fire on all cylinders. Just as with the President's nods to nuclear, offshore drilling, and "clean coal" last night, which were not just bones to GOP dogs, we need to deploy all solutions --and now.

I'm just not sure whether President Obama, rhetorical skills aside, has the political capital to wrangle the support he needs to make the necessary bold steps.

As for the speech, I give him a B-.

This is one of the newest videos of what it is like in THERE!  So, what are you waiting for, sign-up and Join me in THERE! My avatar name is barbararae.  When you are registered, then please add me as a friend. Then you can go to my group page called goalforthegreen, directly and [...]

Swell Foop company sells 100% organic cotton t-shirts, available in baby onesies, toddler tees and in adult styles. Each t-shirt is made and printed in the USA and promotes a positive, environmentally aware lifestyle. The shirt designs feature endangered animals ... [visit site to read more]

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Dedicated to promoting fair trade, human dignity and environmental sustainability, Hovey Lee's designs are sourced from gemstone suppliers that adhere to Fair Trade sourcing standards, which ensure that these gifts of nature are brought to the customer in a safe, socially and environmentally responsible way. ... [visit site to read more]

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Relax, take a deep breath and enjoy the soothing music, and beautiful scenes of Nature captured by Thundralight!  I found this to be very calming and refreshing..kinda like a spiritual renewal,or cleansing effect!  Enjoy Share and Enjoy:

Consider the shower.  Consider your experience of a shower.

Is it merely a soapy, wash yourself clean tradition or more?  It is what you make of it.

Do you want to wash your body or your whole being?  Is it just an everyday task or is it a nourishing and sensual experience?  For some, it is far from sensual.  It is a ... [visit site to read more]

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Sharpie, Paper Mate and EXPO have formed a partnership with TerraCycle to repurpose used pens, markers and other writing instruments.

Terracycle is a New Jersey-based "upcycling" company that finds new ways to repurpose otherwise throwaway items like juice pouches, chip bags and the like.  According to the company, the partnership "will create the world's first program to collect and reuse pens, markers and other writing instruments while also helping raise funds for schools, charities, and non-profits nationwide."


Collection centers called "Writing Instrument Brigades" will be set up at participating locales, primarily in large corporations and schools where writing instruments are used most. For every writing instrument collected at a Writing Instrument Brigade collection center, two cents will be paid to a school, community group, charity or non-profit organization of the participant's choice. 


"Keeping one pen or marker out of a landfill may seem like a small contribution, but multiply that by the estimated $5 billion writing instruments sold in the U.S. each year and it is a big opportunity to reduce waste to landfills," said Ben Gadbois, President of Markers, Highlighters, Art and Office Essentials for Newell Rubbermaid Office Products, maker of Sharpie, EXPO and Paper Mate products.

The collected writing instruments will be dissembled and/or reprocessed to make new products.

TerraCycle is also working with other consumer goods manufacturers including 3M, Mars and OfficeMax, to collect and recycle their products.

Founded in 2001 by then 19 year old Princeton University freshman named Tom Szaky, TerraCycle started from Tom's dream to find way a new, more responsible way of doing business that would be good for the planet, good for people, and good for the bottom line.

The following is a guest post from KuleKat.

Most folk these days recognize that insulating their home can be at the same time environmentally sound and cost effective, but many nevertheless don't suppose to apply this realization to their garage. Any garage which is integrated with your house is usually ... [visit site to read more]

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I recently saw a commerical for a local beer company. At the very end they claim that their product is more environmentally friendly because it is in cans vs bottles. Their reasoning is that bottles are used (and washed) up to 16 times.

Colour me surprised. So...without using google or anything like that...which would you think is better for the environment? Beer in cans or beer in bottles.

It is obviously no contest in which tastes better!

In celebration of my 200th post, I am giving away a pair (2) of my GoalfortheGreen coffee mugs from my Cafe Press store.  Here is what they look like : To be able to win the pair of mugs, here is what you need to do. To Enter: 1.Visit Barbara’sLadybug and choose what your favorite item is.  Tell [...]

Helping The Environment On A Modest Budget In 1738 English architect John F. Brondel developed the first flush valve toilet. Brondel’s invention utilized a valve to control the amount of water flushed with the simple push of a lever, making toilets more hygienic and allowed “out-house” toilets to be incorporated inside the home itself. Brondel’s innovations [...]

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Be sure to Stumble the posts you like, or submit them to other social bookmarking services. Let's promote each other, as well as this ... [visit site to read more]

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We’ll Take This Texas T-Bone – Well Done – Not Rare The Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation (THSRTC) is a not-for-profit corporation consisting of local transportation and elected officials representing cities, counties, rail districts and seaports along the South Central High-Speed Rail Corridor which have come together in a grassroots, collaborative effort to...

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Thank you to everyone who entered! Our two winners have been randomly selected and they are comments number 17 (Amy) and number 39 (Roseann).

I will be contacting Amy and Roseann after posting this, and they will have 48 hours to get in touch with me, or new winner(s) will be selected. ... [visit site to read more]

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