Today, President Obama gave an energy-themed speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His speech is just ahead of hearings on the climate and energy legislation scheduled to be taken up by the Senate next week.

Here's a statement by Damon Moglen, Greenpeace’s Global Warming Campaign Director:

“President Obama’s speech comes at a critical moment in the national conversation about how our country must respond to the global warming crisis, and we welcome his renewed engagement in this critical debate.

“However, with negotiations stalled just six weeks before international climate talks in Copenhagen, the world needs President Obama to go beyond political speeches and make firm commitments based on science.

“The climate and energy legislation passed in the House and now the similar Senate bill have been a source of international disappointment. The bills’ weak targets for reducing emissions, and billions in wasted giveaways to the coal industry, handicaps America’s ability to build a clean energy future at home and to provide global leadership on this life and death matter.

"It is clear that Congress will not pass legislation this year that goes far enough and fast enough in addressing the demands of climate change. The President must get out of the back seat and take the wheel of America’s climate policy. At a domestic level, the President needs to assert executive authority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate decisive growth in the clean energy economy.

"At the international level, Mr Obama should be articulating ambitious vision and commitments for Copenhagen which are in-scale with the global need to address climate change.

"Tomorrow, the most widespread day of global political action the planet has ever seen will demand that world leaders secure a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty at Copenhagen capable of preventing the worst impacts of global warming. We hope President Obama will be listening because today the American plan to address the crisis falls short of this imperative.”

When you close your eyes and picture a polar bear, what do you see? A couple years ago, when I closed my eyes, I saw a mama polar bear with two adorable baby cubs playing in the snow. But, now when I close my eyes I have the sad imagery of a desperate polar bear, thin, shaking and clinging to a small piece of ice, stranded in the middle of a cold arctic sea.

Polar bears are the unfortunate victim of our dependence on oil. When decisions are being made, big oil wins out and polar bears are left to die. They just can’t catch a real break. Their habitat is quickly disappearing – melting ice from global warming. And, if that’s not enough, the land that is still solid is being drilled and polluted for oil exploration.

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to designate 200,000 square miles acres of coastal land and waters along the north coast of Alaska as critical habitat for polar bears. This proposal was in response to the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace.

But, just as the polar bears were about to celebrate we remembered that this week another Interior Department agency, the Minerals Management Service, approved oil-company plans for exploratory drilling in the polar bear’s habitat in the Beaufort Sea. And, the Interior is considering a similar drilling proposal in the Chukchi Sea.

How can polar bears survive when the agency with the power to protect them is schizophrenic?  The Department of Interior (DOI) declared its intent to protect polar bear habitat in the Arctic, and simultaneously sacrificed that same habitat to feed our unsustainable addiction to oil.

Having a hard time keeping up? Here are some cliff notes...

• May 2008 the DOI listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

• At the same time, the DOI issued a special rule exempting greenhouse gas emissions from certain provisions of the Act.

• May 2009, new Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reaffirmed this Bush-era exemption for the fossil-fuels industry.

• A court challenge to this regulation by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace is ongoing.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Interior has until June 30, 2010 to finalize critical habitat designation for the polar bear. Designating polar bear critical habitat is a good first step toward protecting this species, but as long as the Secretary of the Interior maintains that he can do nothing about greenhouse emissions and global warming, protections for the polar bear will ultimately be ineffective.

 

 

I gave my Macbook a hug last night after reading on Apple's website that it has cleared the last hurdle in eliminating toxic PVC plastic. Apple is now the first PC maker to completely eliminate hazardous brominated flame retardants and polyvinyl chloride plastic in its new iMac and Macbook.

Removing PVC from PC power cords was the last step in Apple’s industry leading position on toxics elimination. Apple was first with PCs virtually free of BFRs and PVC (except for the power cord) in March this year. While HP recently produced their first BFR/PVC free (except power cord) model, Apple has again moved further ahead of the competition.

While removing the last use of PVC might not sound like a big deal, it means Apple’s new products will be safer and easier to recycle and cause less pollution at the end of life. There were significant technical and safety certification barriers to finding PVC alternatives, but Apple has now proved it's now possible and has completed the phase out, while reducing product price and boosting profits.

Apple’s PVC free power cords are only available in certain markets currently but should be available more widely when safety certification is obtained.

This lays down the gauntlet to other major PC makers such as Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer to catch up with Apple again, and we’ll be keeping up our pressure on them to match Apple’s lead.

A bit of history

Back in 2006 we launched our Green my Apple campaign because we knew Apple had the potential to lead the industry towards greener, less toxic products. Huge numbers of Apple fans also called for a Greener Apple and the new iMac and MacBook are the final steps on the road Apple started down with Steve Jobs May 2007. This news marks an active few weeks for Apple’s environment team. Apple deserves credit for these positive moves but also big credit to all those Apple fans who helped make environment a top priority for Apple.

Thursday, dozens of activists gathered outside the Democratic fundraiser in San Francisco. Activists hoped to get a glimpse of President Obama as he approached the fundraiser to speak to his party.

 

 

San Francisco has long been a city that’s given President Obama strong support-- in part, this support hinged on his promise to lead on global warming. Unfortunately, Obama has so far allowed industry lobbyists to drive US climate policy, in spite of the billions of people whose lives are touched by climate change. Like many regions of the world experiencing the early effects of global warming, California has suffered from record wildfires and water shortages.

To make sure he'd get the message that more is required, activists stood on the street corner and used music players to broadcast samples of Obama’s statements committing to leadership in addressing climate change. The audio also included a challenge from activists to live up to his promises to lead the world toward a solution to the crisis.

Activists had a very simple message of the President, “please be the leader you vowed to be.”

President Obama needs to go to Copenhagen and push for a strong world treaty that does what science says will protect future generations. So far, he's let Congress take the lead, but they have fallen dramatically short of what science says is necessary. The world desperately needs the president to be the leader he promised he would be.

Take action

René Ngongo has been working closely with Greenpeace to save the Congo Basin Forests (the second largest tropical forest after the Amazon) since 2004. And, he is now being recognized for his good work.

René began his work for the Amazon first in his capacity as head of OCEAN and now as Political Advisor for Greenpeace Africa when he led the opening of our first office in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Right Livelihood Award is also known as the alternative Nobel Prize. It honors those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today. Several winners are announced every year and receive the prize in early December. We are beyond happy that René is one of them.

Congratulations René!!

 

Global warming is the challenge of our generation. And, while the issue may be daunting, it is inspiring to know that people everywhere are taking action to save the climate.

Our future depends on an ambitious global climate deal. Are you up for the challenge?

I'm always amazed at all the beautiful pictures Greenpeace captures. I wanted to share a slideshow of images from around the globe. Greenpeace is an international organization with offices in more than 30 countries. Take a visual tour with me and discover some amazing actions from around the world.

 

Hope you enjoy the pictures

-Michelle