Last month was the hottest June ever on record, and scorching heat is often accompanied by sweat-inducing electricity bills. With air conditioning, fans and other summer necessities driving up energy consumption, it can be tough on both budgets and the environment.
If states plan ahead and invest in clean energy now, not only can they comply with the Clean Power Plan, they can actually get energy costs down for consumers in their states. Image credit: Synapse Energy Economics
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is close to announcing the finalized Clean Power Plan, which aims to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants by approximately 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. If states plan ahead and invest in clean energy now, not only can they comply with these rules, they can actually get energy costs down for consumers in their states. Early action brings long-lasting benefits, by creating deep cuts in future electricity bills with the added bonus of drastically reducing carbon pollution.
By investing in high levels of clean energy and energy efficiency, every state can see significant savings with a total of $40 billion saved nationwide in 2030, according to the new series of policy briefs developed by Synapse Energy Economics. However, consumers will typically see the largest savings in states that build renewable resources early. Under the Clean Power Plan, these first movers will profit by becoming net exporters of electricity to states that are slower to respond. States that keep operating coal plants well into the future will tend to become importers after those plants retire, and energy consumers in those states will miss out on substantial benefits of clean energy and energy efficiency.
Our analysis, which examined the impact of a clean energy future on electric bills and emissions in the lower 48 states, found that households that participate in energy efficiency programs would save money on bills in every state modeled. Image credit: Synapse Energy Economics
People living in states that have historically lagged in clean energy development don’t necessarily have to worry about being left behind in the future. There is currently a great opportunity for any state with the political will to become a leader in both renewable technology and energy efficiency programs. One specific way in which states can ensure consumer benefits is by increasing the rate of participation in energy efficiency programs. Our analysis, which examined the impact of a clean energy future on electric bills and emissions in the lower 48 states, found that households that participate in energy efficiency programs would save money on bills in every state modeled. On average, program participants will see monthly bills that are $35 lower in 2030 than they would be in the absence of clean energy and energy efficiency investments.
Yearly savings of $420 can make a big difference to households across the country.
The clean energy future scenario Synapse analyzed not only complies with the Clean Power Plan emissions standards nationwide, but it actually allows states to far surpass their individual targets. This is achieved in part by an increase in renewable resources, which would meet 70 percent of the nation’s electricity demand by 2040. In this money-saving scenario, the fact that many states independently over-comply with EPA’s target allows for inexpensive trading of renewable energy credits for those few states that would need to procure credits in order to comply. Again, states that build renewable resources sooner will be at an advantage.
The Clean Power Plan may be the catalyst states need to begin making these investments, but states that get the ball rolling sooner will save consumers more money in the long run. Why wait to start planning for a greener, more cost-effective future? By investing now in clean energy and energy efficiency, states can be proactive on Clean Power Plan compliance and save Americans money in the hot summer and cold winter months. The first of Synapse’s two published briefs demonstrated this idea at the national level. The results of the most recently published brief brings the message even closer to home: high levels of clean energy and efficiency investments can save money for a majority of households in every state.
Dr. Elizabeth A. Stanton is a principal economist at Synapse Energy Economics, where her work focuses on climate economics and environmental policy.
The founder and CEO of Synapse, Bruce Biewald brings more than 30 years of consulting experience on issues of energy economics and electric industry regulation.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
With Pope Francis at the Helm, World’s Mayors Pledge to Fight Climate Change
James Hansen: ‘Emergency Cooperation Among Nations’ Is Needed to Prevent Catastrophic Sea Level Rise
Arnold Schwarzenegger: ‘Climate Change Is Not Science Fiction’
This Popular Condiment Is Helping Save Sea Turtles From One of Israel’s Worst Oil Spills
12h
Animals
A sea turtle rescued from Israel's devastating oil spill. MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP via Getty Images
Rescue workers in Israel are using a surprising cure to save the sea turtles harmed by a devastating oil spill: mayonnaise!
<p>The condiment can both help break down the tar that has coated even the turtles' insides and clean out their system, Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Michmoret, explained to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mayonnaise-help-turtles-oil-spills-c5f679439e7a0f95fb79384978944cde" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p><p>"They came to us full of tar. All their trachea from inside and outside was full of tar," he said.</p>
<p>Tar from a mysterious oil spill began washing up on Israeli beaches last week, as EcoWatch reported previously. The spill is being called one of the worst ecological disasters in the nation's history, and has now covered most of Israel's 120 miles of coastline along the Mediterranean, according to The Associated Press. It has now also spread to the coastline of Lebanon.</p><p>The spill has generated around 1,000 tons of tar, which has seriously affected <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a>, including sea turtles. The injured turtles have been taken to the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center, which is north of Tel Aviv. Ivgy told The Associated Press Tuesday that the center was currently treating 11 turtles. Yaniv Levy, the center's founder and director, told <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-with-mayonnaise-and-q-tips-israelis-save-oil-drenched-turtles-1.9562907?v=1614269214502" target="_blank">Haaretz</a> the same day that the center was treating 27 turtles total and six for tar damage specifically.</p>
<p>The tar-coated turtles have to be cleaned both inside and out, Levy explained.</p><p>"They all got here with a coat of tar on their heads, and in their eyes, nostrils, mouth, digestive system and stomach," he said. "With this kind of damage they have no chance to survive without treatment. We removed the tar from their nostrils and eyes so they could breathe and see."</p><p>The mayonnaise helps clean the digestive system. First, volunteers use vegetable oil to thin the tar. Then, they use mayonnaise to dilute the tar and remove it from the stomach and intestinal lining. At the same time, the mayonnaise provides fats and proteins to the turtles while it is not safe for them to eat solid food.</p><p>"If they eat regular food, it turns into a lump with the tar and could cause blockages, which is why we don't give them solid foods during the first days," Levy said.</p>
<div id="69149" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5c72399c478551575fe4f92bdb8d25dc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364507790841180160" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">At this Israeli turtles hospital, oil spill victims are saved with Q-tips and mayonnaise
https://t.co/XrmHbKrmHu https://t.co/bmmlcY4wTJ</div> — Haaretz.com (@Haaretz.com)<a href="https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/statuses/1364507790841180160">1614158983.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>This isn't the first time mayonnaise has been used to treat sea turtles rescued from an oil spill. The Turtle Hospital in Florida also recommends it as a safe and effective treatment, according to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56194624" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.</p><p>Mayonnaise is an effective treatment because of its unique properties, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/mayonnaise-sea-turtle-treatment-after-isreal-oil-spill.html" target="_blank">Live Science explained</a>. That is because it is an emulsion, a mixture of two liquids that don't usually mix, in this case oil and water. The egg yolks in mayonnaise contain both water and lecithin, a molecule that is hydrophilic (water-attracting) on one side and hydrophobic (water-repelling) on the other. That means that, when the yolks are combined with acid (usually lemon juice or vinegar) and oil to make mayonnaise, the oil sticks to the hydrophobic sides of the lecithin molecules, and the hydrophilic sides stick out, sticking to the water and preventing it from separating from the oil.</p>
<p>Live Science explained why this is good news for tar-coated turtles:</p><blockquote>Because mayonnaise has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties, it can interact with both the oily, hydrophobic tar and hydrophilic molecules in a turtle's digestive tract. The hydrophobic oil can mix with the tar, making it thinner and less viscous; meanwhile, the hydrophobic ends of the lecithin molecules are also drawn towards the tar, with their hydrophilic ends facing out. This creates a barrier around the tar that better interacts with water, making the toxic substance less sticky.</blockquote><p>In Israel, the treatment appears to be working. Levy told Haaretz he thought the turtles in his care would be ready to be released in a month or two.</p><p>"A little more mayonnaise and they'll all recover and get back to natural food," he said.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Israeli Oil Spill Is a 'Severe Ecological Disaster' - EcoWatch ›
- Endangered Sea Turtles Recovering After 'Cold Stunning' Event ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
A "digital twin of Earth." European Space Agency
As the weather grows more severe, and its damages more expensive and fatal, current weather predictions fall short in providing reliable information on Earth's rapidly changing systems.
<p>That's why a team of European scientists and ETH Zurich computer scientists are putting their heads together to "marry" the earth sciences and computer sciences to create a "<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-00986-y?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nclimate%2Frss%2Fcurrent+%28Nature+Climate+Change+-+Issue%29" target="_blank">digital twin of Earth</a>." The simulation will provide an information system for scientists and policymakers to test scenarios with different sustainable development options, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/02/a-highly-accurate-digital-twin-of-our-planet.html" target="_blank">ETH Zurich reported</a>.</p><p>"If you are planning a two-metre high dike in The Netherlands, for example, I can run through the data in my digital twin and check whether the dike will in all likelihood still protect against expected extreme events in 2050," Peter Bauer, deputy director for Research at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and co-initiator of the project Destination Earth, told ETH Zurich.</p>
<p>Over the past 20 years, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a> events have been on the rise, according to a <a href="https://www.undrr.org/news/drrday-un-report-charts-huge-rise-climate-disasters" target="_blank">report by the United Nations</a>. From 2000 to 2019, 1.23 million people were killed by 7,348 major natural disasters. Twenty years before that, in comparison, there were 4,212 natural disasters, killing 1.19 million. This increase comes with a heavy price tag. Extreme natural weather cost $2.97 trillion in global economic losses in the past two decades, compared to the $1.63 trillion, two decades prior.</p><p>These numbers are expected to grow, urging researchers to design large-scale policy solutions across nations.</p><p>As part of their plans to become climate neutral by 2050, the European Union launched the Destination Earth initiative to track and plan for the future of extreme weather, monitor the health of the planet and support and inform EU environmental policy, according to a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/destination-earth-destine" target="_blank">EU policy report</a>.</p>
<p>In an effort to advance the "digital revolution of earth-system sciences" a team of scientists and researchers, including Bauer looked at the steady advancement of weather models since the 1940s, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/02/a-highly-accurate-digital-twin-of-our-planet.html" target="_blank">ETH Zurich reported</a>. Their <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-021-00023-0" target="_blank">paper</a> was published Monday in <em>Nature Computational Science.</em></p><p>The climate problem is a complex one, requiring weather predictors to cover more than just local regions, but encompass the "complex processes of the entire Earth system," ETH Zurich reported. Yet, while their findings are not meant to "invalidate the steady progress achieved in weather prediction over the past decades," the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-021-00023-0" target="_blank">authors stress</a> the urgent need to develop a "high resolution" and "more realistic representation" of Earth's changing atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, land surfaces and biosphere.</p>
<p>"We are willfully destructive," Mami Mizutori, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction <a href="https://www.undrr.org/news/drrday-un-report-charts-huge-rise-climate-disasters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a statement</a> about the UN report on natural disasters. "Disaster risk is becoming systemic with one event overlapping and influencing another in ways that are testing our resilience to the limit. The odds are being stacked against us when we fail to act on science and early warnings to invest in prevention, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction."</p><p>While the "digital twin of Earth" model is a bold step forward, it is necessary to ensure nations are prepared to handle the future of extreme weather, the authors wrote.</p><p>"The apparent effects of climate change on our environment — in particular on the frequency of occurrence and the intensity of environmental extremes — require urgent political response and much faster progress in delivering skillful predictions of future change," the authors wrote.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Are New Extreme Global Warming Projections Correct? - EcoWatch ›
- Are We Really Past the Point of No Return on Climate? Scientists ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Melting ice in places such as Greenland could stop a critical ocean current. Paul Souders / Getty Images
The climate crisis could push an important ocean current past a critical tipping point sooner than expected, new research suggests.
<p>The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) helps move heat from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere, and is one of the reasons why Europe has relatively mild winters, <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/a-major-ocean-current-might-be-on-the-verge-of-a-climate-change-tipping-point" target="_blank">Science Alert explained</a>. However, the current has begun slowing down in recent years, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> want to know what it would take for the current to stop. A study published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/9/e2017989118" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday</a> calculates that this moment could come sooner than expected.</p><p>"It is worrying news. Because if this is true, it reduces our safe operating space," Johannes Lohmann of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and study co-author said in a <a href="https://www.tipes.dk/steady-now-unfortunate-timing-and-rate-of-change-may-be-enough-to-tip-a-climate-system/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>Essentially, the new findings come down to timing. The AMOC is threatened by increasing freshwater into the North Atlantic as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenland" target="_self">Greenland</a> ice sheet melts. A certain amount of freshwater will cause the current to stop. But Lohmann wanted to test what would happen if that water were added quickly instead of gradually.</p><p>"These tipping points have been shown previously in climate models, where meltwater is very slowly introduced into the ocean," Lohmann told <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/a-major-ocean-current-may-be-hurtling-towards-collapse-1846337333" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a>. "In reality, increases in meltwater from Greenland are accelerating and cannot be considered slow."</p>
<p>So researchers used an ocean model called Veros to calculate when the current would stop if freshwater were gradually added, the press release explained. Researchers then added freshwater at increased rates and found that quickly added freshwater would stop currents before reaching the initial freshwater threshold.</p><p>This has serious implications for the AMOC current itself. If it were to completely halt, tropical monsoon patterns would shift, rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere would decrease and the North Atlantic would get stormier. It also raises concerns about other climate tipping points, such as polar ice sheets collapsing or the Amazon rainforest drying out. If the AMOC can stop before the previously calculated tipping point is reached, is the same true for other systems?</p><p>"The results show that the safe operating space of elements of the Earth system with respect to future emissions might be smaller than previously thought," the study authors wrote.</p>
<p>However, outside scientists urged caution. Dave Sutherland, an associate professor in Earth sciences at the University of Oregon, told Gizmodo that the findings were important and timely, but that the models did not take all details into account, such as the location of the meltwater entering the ocean from Greenland.</p><p>Lohmann agreed that more testing is needed, but also pressed the urgency of climate action.</p><p>"Due to the potentially increased risk of abrupt climate change in parts of the Earth system that we show in our research, it is important that policymakers keep pushing for ambitious short- and mid-term climate targets to slow down the pace of climate change, especially in vulnerable places like the Arctic," Lohmann told Gizmodo.</p>
<p><br/></p>
Read More
Show Less
Gavin Newsom Sued for 'Completely Unacceptable' Approval of Oil and Gas Projects in California
13h
Politics
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tours the Chevron oil field west of Bakersfield, where a spill of more than 900,000 gallons flowed into a dry creek bed, on July 24, 2019. Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
Accusing California regulators of "reckless disregard" for public "health and safety," the environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday sued the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom for approving thousands of oil and gas drilling and fracking projects without the required environmental review.
<p>The <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/Center-v-CalGEM-Complaint.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lawsuit</a> claims that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) failed to adequately analyze environmental and health risks before issuing fossil fuel extraction permits, as required by law. According to the suit, California regulators approved nearly 2,000 new oil and gas permits without proper environmental review.</p><p>"CalGEM routinely violates its duty to conduct an initial study and further environmental review for any new oil and gas well drilling, well stimulation, or injection permits and approvals," the suit alleges. "Instead, CalGEM repeatedly and consistently issues permits and approvals for oil and gas drilling, well stimulation, and injection projects without properly disclosing, analyzing, or mitigating the significant environmental impacts of these projects."</p>
<div id="18713" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2a09e4b10fa749c78e24fe406333d693"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364658901313060865" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We took Gov. Newsom to court for granting new oil and gas permits w/o environmental review.
"The governor is openl… https://t.co/AAShi3a1rm</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1364658901313060865">1614195010.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The center noted that "despite Gov. Newsom's progressive rhetoric on climate change, he has failed to curb California's dirty and carbon-intensive oil and gas production."</p><p>"His regulators continue to issue thousands of permits without review, and the governor has refused to act on his stated desire to ban fracking," the group said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/newsom-administration-sued-over-thousands-of-unlawful-oil-gas-projects-2021-02-24/" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Newsom's regulators also failed to meet the governor's deadline to publish a draft health-and-safety rule after vowing to do so before the end of 2020."</p><p>Last September, as deadly climate-driven wildfires <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/what-climate-crisis-looks-fires-have-now-burned-record-2-million-acres-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ravaged</a> large swaths of California and turned skies in the San Francisco Bay Area an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/green-new-deal-or-blood-red-apocalypse-your-choice-dems-urged-embrace-bold-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">apocalyptic shade of orange</a>, Newsom <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/ban-fracking-calif-now-not-2024-say-climate-groups-following-newsom-order-phase-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called on</a> the Democrat-controlled state legislature to stop issuing new fracking permits by 2024, drawing widespread rebuke from climate campaigners who argued that now is the time to act.</p>
<p>Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said Wednesday that "it is completely unacceptable for Gov. Newsom to continue to ignore our flagship environmental law that's meant to protect people from oil industry pollution."</p><p>"Newsom can't protect our health and climate while giving thousands of illegal permits each year to this dirty and dangerous industry," Kretzmann added. "We need the courts to step in and stop this."</p><p>Deborah Sivas, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford Law School and an attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity in the lawsuit, said that "state laws are designed to protect communities and minimize pollution."</p><p>"The state can't continue to pretend these fundamental protections don't apply to one of the most polluting and dangerous industries on the planet," added Sivas.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/24/avowed-climate-champion-gavin-newsom-sued-completely-unacceptable-approval-oil-and" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
- New Bill Seeks to Ban Fracking in California - EcoWatch ›
- Fracking Likely Triggered Earthquakes in California a Few Miles ... ›
- California Won't Buy From Automakers 'on the Wrong Side of History ... ›
- Chevron Has Spilled 800,000 Gallons of Crude Oil and Water Into a ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan professor Wangari Maathai poses during the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 15, 2009. Olivier Morin / AFP / Getty Images
By Kate Whiting
From Greta Thunberg to Sir David Attenborough, the headline-grabbing climate change activists and environmentalists of today are predominantly white. But like many areas of society, those whose voices are heard most often are not necessarily representative of the whole.
<p><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/8-black-environmentalists-need-know/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental issues are deeply interconnected with racial justice</a> as Black people have historically been disproportionately impacted by pollution, climate change and lack of access to green space.</p><p>In June 2020, 25 Black environmental leaders published an open letter calling for an end to the '<a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/Statement%20on%20systemic%20and%20pervasive%20racism%20within%20the%20environmental%20field.pdf" target="_blank">systemic and pervasive racism within the environmental field</a>.' They called for an end to negative narratives around Black people and their relationship with nature in the U.S., Europe and Africa and listed solutions to eradicate racism, from education to ensuring access to wildlife.</p><p>From environmental justice advocates to scientists and social entrepreneurs, here are just a handful of the many Black environmentalists who have contributed to our global understanding of the need to look after our planet.</p>
1. Wangari Maathai
<p>In 2004, Professor Maathai made history as the <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/Prize-winners/Prizewinner-documentation/Wangari-Maathai" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize</a> for her dedication to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She started the <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Belt Movement</a>, a community-based tree planting initiative that aims to reduce poverty and encourage conservation, in 1977. More than 51 million trees have been planted helping build climate resilience and empower communities, especially women and girls. Her environmental work is celebrated every year on <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/node/955" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wangari Maathai Day on 3 March</a>.</p>2. Robert Bullard
<p>Known as the 'father of environmental justice,' Dr Bullard has <a href="https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2020/robert-bullard" target="_blank">campaigned against harmful waste</a> being dumped in predominantly Black neighborhoods in the southern states of the U.S. since the 1970s. His first book, Dumping in Dixie, highlighted the link between systemic racism and environmental oppression, showing how the descendants of slaves were exposed to higher-than-average levels of pollutants. In 1994, his work led to the signing of the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/albert-huang/20th-anniversary-president-clintons-executive-order-12898-environmental-justice" target="_blank">Executive Order on Environmental Justice</a>, which the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/" target="_blank">Biden administration is building on</a>.<br></p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7983f54726debdd824f97f9ad3bdbb87"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T_VjSGk8s18?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4OTYxMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzA2NTg5MH0.Bo1gWG2ciWhbBFN5X0pX5h68T566FLm1eO_ulQYYjqg/img.png?width=980" id="31f4c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="685c35c43855fcf8319ac2edba5e4fd2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1696" data-height="1204" />
Pollution has a race problem. Elizabethwarren.com
3. John Francis
<p>Helping the clean-up operation after an oil spill in San Francisco Bay in January 1971 inspired Francis to <a href="https://planetwalk.org/about-john/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stop taking motorized transport</a>. Instead, for 22 years, he walked everywhere. He also took a vow of silence that lasted 17 years, so he could listen to others. He has walked the width of the U.S. and sailed and walked through South America, earning the nickname "Planetwalker," and raising awareness of how interconnected people are with the environment.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09b968e0e9964e31406954dcea45981d"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgQjL23_FoU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
4. Dr. Warren Washington
<p>A meteorology and climate pioneer, Dr. Washington was one of the first people to develop atmospheric computer models in the 1960s, which have helped scientists understand climate change. These models now also incorporate the oceans and sea ice, surface water and vegetation. In 2007, the <a href="https://www.cgd.ucar.edu/pcm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parallel Climate Model (PCM)</a> and <a href="https://www.cesm.ucar.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Community Earth System Model (CESM)</a>, earned Dr. Washington and his colleagues the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/summary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nobel Peace Prize</a>, as part of the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09fbf6dc37f275f438a0d53ec0fe1874"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bvJ4jTy2mTk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
5. Angelou Ezeilo
<p>Huge trees and hikes to pick berries during her childhood in upstate New York inspired Ezeilo to become an environmentalist and set up the <a href="https://gyfoundation.org/staff/Angelou-Ezeilo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greening Youth Foundation</a>, to educate future generations about the importance of preservation. Through its schools program and Youth Conservation Corps, the social enterprise provides access to nature to disadvantaged children and young people in the U.S. and West Africa. In 2019, Ezeilo published her book <em>Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders</em>, co-written by her Pulitzer Prize-winning brother Nick Chiles.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ce4547d4e5c0b9ad2927f19fd75bf4ab"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YojKMfUvJMs?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
From Your Site Articles
- Youth Climate Activists Want a Role in Biden's White House ... ›
- As Protests Rage, Climate Activists Embrace Racial Justice ... ›
- The Power of Inclusive, Intergenerational Climate Activism - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less