This week we saw alarming news about the current and potential effects of climate change, but also encouraging news in the fight to curb carbon emissions.

On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in southern Louisiana three years ago, Gulf Coast residents are bracing for another potential disaster as Tropical Storm Gustav moves steadily towards the Gulf region:

Today we observe a grim anniversary in our history. On the morning of August 28, 2005, at 6:10 a.m., Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the coast of Louisiana, packing devastating winds of up to 125 mph. Katrina affected communities from Florida to Mississippi, but it was in New Orleans that the storm left its cruelest footprint: 1,464 dead, more than 500,000 displaced (the largest population displacement in American history since the Civil War), over $22 billion in property damage, and an entire American city under water. The truly frightening prospect, however, is that thanks to global warming, Katrina may have been just a preview of things to come.

Following up on Eli's post, I would point out that it's not just individual Americans who are well ahead of the politicians on energy and climate change. American businesses are also realizing that there's no future in the dirty fossil fuel economy, that we need to move towards a green economy, and that this will require bold action from Washington.

Here's a good example: our campaign ally Greenpeace is hosting the Businesses for a Safe Climate petition, where businesses can declare their support for a bold climate agenda. As of today, over 3,300 businesses from all over the country have signed the petition. I've included the text of the petition below. If you own or represent a business and would like to sign the petition, click here.

Americans would love to do something about climate change but they are simply not willing to pay higher electricity bills. Right? … Right? Well that’s what many politicians would have us believe as they justify their continued inaction. Turns out it just isn’t true.

Here are a few of the week's biggest climate blog stories that didn't make it into the mainstream media.

It’s a little worrisome when Bill Gates and Warren Buffett (2 out of the 3 richest men in the world) tour the oil sands of Alberta and express their interest in investing in one of the world’s dirtiest sources of petroleum. Jake Brewer on It’s Getting Hot In Here reports:

Recently, we asked Nikos Spiridakis -- the 10-year-old director and creative force behind this compelling new PSA -- to write down for this blog some of his thoughts on climate change. Like his PSA, his response was short, to the point, crystal-clear and powerful:

People should try to get more efficient cars, and not use their cars as much. Ride a bike. Recycle. Don't waste paper. Save electricity. Take walks, and pick up trash! Litter is everywhere and it makes me mad. To stop global warming we'll need to get involved and talk about it with each other and our politicians.

-- Nikos Spiridakis

Bigger isn’t always better, but in China, bigger is never better, at least in terms of automobiles. China is raising taxes on big cars and reducing them for smaller cars, starting September 1st, to save energy and reduce pollution. With rising global prices of oil, this move is an attempt to alleviate the costs for China’s oil producers and refiners. Zhong Shi, a Beijing-based industrial analyst, said:

The tax move is a good first step for the country toward an energy efficient and environmentally friendly economy.

Here are some of this week's biggest climate blog stories that didn't make it into the mainstream media.

• There are two words that make every climate organizers cringe: clean coal. Thankfully, a new peer-reviewed study was released this week exposing the increased energy needed for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) so we can finally put this concept to rest…hopefully.

The following is another guest post from Geraldine Carter, Co-Founder and Director of Climate Ride, a multi-day bicycle ride to raise money and awareness of climate change. Click here for more details.

We're now just one short month away from beginning Climate Ride, and exciting new developments arise each week. The latest news? Two of our support vans and our luggage bus will be powered by veggie oil!

Are you tired of paying for gas and hard-pressed to find a decent parking space nowadays? Do you want to enjoy this unseasonably cool August weather while simultaneously reducing your green house gas emissions? Your wait is over! Today, history was made in the District of Columbia with the launching of the first public bike-sharing program in the United States.