Tag: USA

US Congress Aims for Carbon Neutrality

The old saying “better late than never” comes to mind here as the United State’s Congress has decided to go carbon neutral by 2020. It is impressive that congress has decided to do this in a nation that has a leader that denies climate change. The fact that congress is trying to become green will hopefully send a message that being environmentally friendly is something that any institution can do.

What stands out for me is that they go beyond carbon neutrality and encourage a bike-to-work program. Good for your health and the environment!

Reducing energy usage is not all that is covered in the report, as it also calls for the use of non-toxic cleaning products, increasing water conservation, and significantly improving recycling, improving access to mass transit and car sharing for employees, changing the current fleet to hybrid vehicles, purchase locally and organically sourced food, changing to 100% recycled paper, and even implementing a bike-to-work program.

Green Docking at the Seattle Port

Seattle’s port is looking to save money and improve its reputation by becoming more environmentally friendly. Part of this plan is to encourage the use of real estate that is not primarily used for transport.

The Port of Seattle’s new goal is to be the cleanest, greenest and most energy-efficient port in the U.S., said its chief executive, Tay Yoshitani, who believes the move will help the port market itself to its customers and keep in good stead with the community.

Sicko Inspires Audience to Fight Injustices

After watching Sicko, an entire audience broke into conversation and grouped together to make their country better. If that’s not good enough, get this – it happened in Texas!

The talk gradually centered around a core of 10 or 12 strangers in a cluster while the rest of us stood around them listening intently to this thing that seemed to be happening out of nowhere. The black gentleman engaged by my redneck in the restroom shouted for everyone’s attention. The conversation stopped instantly as all eyes in this group of 30 or 40 people were now on him. “If we just see this and do nothing about it,” he said, “then what’s the point? Something has to change.” There was silence, then the redneck’s wife started calling for email addresses. Suddenly everyone was scribbling down everyone else’s email, promising to get together and do something… though no one seemed to know quite what.

Via boingboing.

SiCKO

I just watched Michael Moore’s new movie Sicko last night and let me tell you – it’s amazing! Sure, the movie is upsetting at points because you feel for all the poor people who suffer due to the American health care system. Granted, that isn’t good, but what is good is that Moore continuously reminds us that change is possible!

He shows us how the Canadian, English, Cuban, and French health care systems provide universal care for their citizens, and how great those systems are in comparison to the for-profit USA system. Being a Canadian, I was reminded about how good we have it in Canada, and makes me want to sign up on this site. Watch this movie, and get inspired to make a healthy change for this world.

Watch the movie below:

If the video above no longer works, just try this search. On a more cinematic note, this is Moore’s best film since Roger and Me (I found his last two lackluster).

Tidal Power for San Francisco

Golden gate
Readers of this site may remember that San Francisco spent some money investigating the feasibility of tidal power for the city last September. Well, things are definitely going good with that study has it’s entered a new phase. The San Francisco, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Golden Gate Energy Co. have agreed to further the study and invest $1.8 million into it. If this next phase goes well it may open up more opportunities for tidal power generation as the San Francisco project will have to take into consideration many factors that may deter other cities from trying such an initiative.

The $1.8 million study would seek to determine how much electricity could be generated, what kind of technology would work best and whether the project makes sense economically. It would also examine the project’s possible impacts on marine life and the environment.