Blog & news round-up 10/9: Infographics, scuba cabinet meetings, federal mandates on efficiencies, and more...

This was an interesting week for the climate change movement. The Maldives government announced a plan to go under the sea before the sea goes over them, responsible American businesses kept pushing the Obama administration to act, and the president came out with how the federal government will do its part. The week certainly ended with a bang as President Obama was announced as the 2009 Nobel Peace Laureate. For that see our earlier post, for the rest keep on reading.

There is little better way to understand information than to visualize it in clear, graphical form. And there are few better places to find such visualizations than the blog Information is Beautiful. Last Friday they came out with a simple and eye-catching infographic to show what countries are on target to reach their Kyoto Protocol targets. The United States never ratified the treaty, but we do have a second chance this December at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen. If you like that chart from Information is Beautiful, check out their map showing the surface area required to solar power the world.

With their country arguably the most in danger if serious action isn't taken against global warming, the Maldives cabinet ministers are going to display what a government literally under water looks like. On October 17, the ministers will get their scuba gear on and actually meet 20 feet under the ocean. The low lying islands of Maldives are only 7 feet above sea level on average, making them especially susceptible to rising sea levels. According to one of the Maldives president's officials,

The intention is to draw the attention of the world leaders to the issue of global warming and highlight how serious are the threats faced by Maldives as a result.

The last several weeks have shown that the move to stop the climate crisis is not just from environmental activists. The continuing exodus from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce due to their backwards views on climate change has continued with Apple leaving the group earlier this week. On Thursday, U.S. Energy Secretary and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu spoke out in praise of the groups who left the Chamber. As Reuters' Tom Doggett reported:

"I think it's wonderful," Chu told reporters at a solar energy event on the National Mall.
...
Chu said other companies should quit the group if the Chamber does not recognize the business opportunities presented by taking aggressive action against global warming.

1Sky ally Ceres has been hard at work with businesses who are ready to face the opportunities of a clean energy economy. Their BICEP project coordinated a letter from two dozen major brands to President Obama to "enact comprehensive legislation" on climate. Additionally 150 energy business leaders, members of the BICEP affiliated We Can Lead organization, traveled to Capitol Hill Tuesday to talk directly with administration officials.

Timberland President and CEO Jeff Swartz put it well:

[I want to know] what the facts are, and I’ll get around to innovating in order to make a profit against them. ... I’m a boot maker, and I just want a chance to get a clear signal from our government: This is the price of doing business. I think, ‘Terrific. I can get back to work.’ We didn’t have to have a minimum wage before; we didn’t have to have [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] regulations before. And guess what? CEOs figure out how to make a profit when you tell them what the cost structure is.

On Tuesday President Obama announced a requirement for all federal agencies to measure their greenhouse gas emissions and set targeted reductions for 2020 within 90 days. Chair of the House Democratic Livability Task Force Rep. Blumenauer (D-OR) said:

Taxpayers shouldn't be paying for Washington's inefficiencies, and I'm speaking of the incredible energy and fuel wasted in our government buildings and vehicle fleets. As the biggest landlord in the nation, we need to show leadership by reducing fuel use, cutting costs, and improving the operations of our agencies' fleets and buildings.

President Obama explicitly recommitted the U.S. to act on climate change soon in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech this morning. See our blog post for the quote and video of his speech.

Finally, as you saw in our blog last week, the Brita Climate Ride rolled into Washington, DC last Wednesday ending on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The Climate Ride Live blog posted a short video recapping the action from their trip.