Climate Blogs Exposed: Drilling, Renewables, and Green Patriots-- 8/8

Here are some of this week's hottest environmental blog posts!

• We have all been affected by the high gas prices this summer and now many Americans are turning to Congress to fix the problem. But as most of you have already seen, many of our leaders are promoting offshore drilling in order to reduce gas prices. Rob Perks from NRDC’s Switchboard reports: [1]

  It’s irresponsible at best and disingenuous at worst for our elected leaders to promote the false hope that somehow drilling off more of our beaches and in special places like the Arctic Refuge will make enough of a dent in oil supplies to lower prices at the pump. Without a doubt, the only ones who benefit from this gambit are the Big Oil companies already raking in obscene profits at our expense.

  Check out this video the NRDC made with the help of cartoonist Mark Fiore:

• There is one widespread problem when it comes to the implementation solar energy. When the sun sets, how are we supposed to get our energy? It appears that MIT professor Daniel Nocera may have solved our dilemma. Steven Crandell from the Huffington Post reports: [2]

  The new process mimics the photosynthesis performed by plants, using solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. These gases can later be recombined in a fuel cell. Then the fuel cell can power your home or charge your electric car -- any time you like.

Our society revolves around computers, but the fact of the matter is that computers consume a lot of energy. This week Dell Computers claimed it is now carbon neutral. [3] Although it is hard to be completely carbon neutral, at least they are taking a step in the right direction. Grist.org reports:

Dell now sources one-fifth of its power from renewable sources, buys renewable-energy credits for the rest, and is paying for forest preservation in Madagascar in order to offset 475,000 tons of emissions. Dell, which aims to be "the greenest technology company on the planet," has also installed energy-efficient lighting, heating, and computing systems in its offices -- which provide the handy side benefit of $3 million in savings each year.

• Rosie the Riveter gets a makeover. Well not exactly, but in an attempt to publicize the severity of global warming and convince citizens to take action the Canary Project is turning patriotic green advertisements. [4] Muara Judkis from the Huffington Post reports:

  The Green Patriot Posters project is beginning its campaign with a series of bus posters in Cleveland, Ohio, designed by local artist Michael Beirut. As the title implies, they address the tie between loving your planet and loving your country. The sides of the Cleveland buses read: "This bus is an assault vehicle in the fight against global warming. Be a green patriot," with a green silhouette of a rifle-toting Revolutionary War minuteman.

• In response to reducing energy consumption, many businesses are beginning to adopt a casual dress code in order to curb air conditioning use. [5] Andy Revkin for DOT Earth writes:

  Most discussions about adapting to inevitable climate change in a world with rising concentrations of greenhouse gases have focused on seawalls, drought-resistant crops and the like.

  But dress codes count, as well. You probably remember recent coverage of Japan’s “Cool Biz” push to cut air conditioning and toss neckties. And the United Nations has said it’s raising thermostats in summer to curb related carbon dioxide emissions.

• Although many of us already accept the science and the link between extreme weather and global warming [6], according to Climate Progress, Science has just published a new report, “Atmospheric Warming and the Amplification of Precipitation Extremes” [7] This report concludes:

  Here, we use satellite observations and model simulations to examine the response of tropical precipitation events to naturally driven changes in surface temperature and atmospheric moisture content. These observations reveal a distinct link between rainfall extremes and temperature, with heavy rain events increasing during warm periods and decreasing during cold periods. Furthermore, the observed amplification of rainfall extremes is found to be larger than predicted by models, implying that projections of future changes in rainfall extremes due to anthropogenic global warming may be underestimated.

• Just in case you missed Paris Hilton’s PR boost campaign ad addressing her connections to the 2008 candidates, here it is:
  
  

What did we miss? Tell us in the comments!