DK GreenRoots

TOP STORY

• Senate Climate Markup Set for Tuesday but Will Any Republicans Show?

  All 7 Republicans plan to boycott to delay U.S. climate bill progress, and none have stated they would ultimately vote for bill.

  Boxer plans to move forward:

  For her part, Boxer insisted that she would not back down from the markup, and she even opened the door to alternative approaches for moving the bill, including the use of Senate Rule 14 that allows the majority to discharge legislation out of a committee and bring it directly to the floor.

  "We're going forward," Boxer said. "We're going to do our job. We're going to use every tool at our disposal to get this done."

Here's the Eco News Roundup, with an assist from Patriot Daily.

• Senator Barbara Boxer aims to pass climate bill as "early as next week". The Republicans have announced their alternative plan
  threatened to boycott.

• World’s Citizens to Politicians: Get Serious on Global Warming Now!

A historic worldwide deliberative survey represents a milestone in democracy at the global level and a challenge to pessimists who say it’s impossible to negotiate a new international climate change treaty this year.

Ultimately, electric cars are not the answer. Electricity is not the sun, it's not wind, the source is still problematic. However, they do represent a major step in the right direction.

The bankrupt shell of the old General Motors is making its first major asset sale, selling a Delaware manufacturing plant to Fisker Automotive, which will make plug-in hybrid electric cars beginning in 2012.

On the drawing board just a few years ago, Fisker will join the likes of GM, Ford Motor Co (F.N), Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and other brand-name car companies in operating a full-scale production facility in the United States.

[...]

Fisker, which has signed a letter of intent to pay $18 million for the 3.2 million square foot property on 142 acres, expects to produce 75,000 to 100,000 plug-in sedans per year. The plant is expected to create or support 2,000 factory jobs as production reaches full capacity in 2014. More than half the vehicles will be exported.

Fisker is using a $528 million U.S. government loan to overhaul the Boxwood Road plant.

Queue the electric car music.

President Obama has been working hard to restore U.S. moral leadership after 8 years of Bush's inhumanity and depravity. Effective climate change legislation would show the world our humanity and morality because the target of how much warming we will tolerate will determine who lives or dies. Our troops in Afghanistan understand that 350 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere should be the target.

There is the related moral issue of who pays for climate change damages. Rich nations are not only primarily responsible for climate change, but also reaped huge economic benefits from placing poorer nations in vulnerable positions that worsened the impacts. Yet, now rich countries bicker about providing monetary "assistance" to developing nations to adapt to climate change impacts as if the payments were charity. Proposed assistance in the millions will not cover the billions of average adaptation costs that is still less than the estimated trillions of ecological damages caused by rich nations. Treating adaptation measures as charity continues the injustice and immorality of not taking responsibility for those external costs never considered or paid by corporations and governments over the years.

This diary launches a blogathon in recognition of International Day of Climate Action, organized by 350.org. Throughout today, you will see a slew of climate themed diaries posted at Daily Kos, with several cross-posted here, to keep the topic front and center. I would be remiss should I not mention that Patriot Daily is the organizing force whose dedication and very good energy are the reason for today's coming cavalcade of climate diaries.

Of course, the impact of today's action will depend on a grand assist from you. Here are some ways you can help:

• When you see a 350 Climate Action post today, please read and join our discussion in the comments.
• Visit 350.org, sign their petition and see if any actions are happening in your neck of the woods via their interactive map which allows you to search for your community.
• Post/cross-post a diary today on the topic of climate change.

Leading organic watchdog the Cornucopia Institute has registered a formal complaint with the USDA against retail behemoth Target for falsely representing Silk brand soymilk as organic in newspaper advertisements. The allegation states the following (pdf):

Specifically, Target Corporation advertised Silk soymilk in newspapers with the term "organic" pictured on the carton’s label, when in fact the product’s manufacturer, Dean Foods’ WhiteWave division, has been sourcing this product line with conventional soybeans. The newspaper ads potentially reached millions of consumers in the Midwest, and possibly nationwide, with the false representation.

This is not the first time Target has been accused of organic mislabeling.

A major reason DK Greenroots exists.

Well lookie there, Sheldon Whitehouse and James Inhofe agree on an environmental issue, albeit for different reasons.

This is disappointing.

Toyota's Prius was a step in the right direction, but

So far over 700 Toyota car owners have submitted photos to MoveOn.org's campaign calling for Toyota to withdraw its membership from the US Chamber of Commerce.

[...]

If you take a look at the whole photo set you'll notice this isn't the bunch of "extreme environmentalists" that I am sure Toyota and the US Chamber would like to think they are. These are just normal, everyday people who are ticked off that on the one hand Toyota sells an environmentally friendly image while at the same time they continue to be a part of the US Chamber of Commerce, an industry lobby group that is fighting very hard to convince politicians in Washington, DC to oppose President Obama's clean energy and climate change plans.

This actually isn't the first such two-faced act by Toyota. For years they were involved in a lawsuit in California to fight stricter tailpipe standards for greenhouse gas emissions. All the while marketing their brand as eco-friendly. My personal favorite is still the Kermit the Frog"it's not easy being green" campaign Toyota ran a few years back.

Discuss amongst yerselves.

The White House sent a clear message to Bill McKibben: WE need to build the movement to pressure DC so that Obama can take effective climate change action not achievable within the current political forces.

Next Saturday, October 24th, is the International Day of Climate Action, when people around the world will make their voices heard to pressure world leaders to provide real climate change reform. Communities around the U.S. will be taking a variety of actions because ACES and international measures seek 450 ppm as the target goal. Problem is that we are experiencing climate change impacts now because we are at 390 ppm, which is consistent with a study showing the red line in the sands of our planet is 350 ppm, not 450 ppm.

350.org has a handy tool to find events planned for your community. DK GreenRoots is also organizing a blogathon for Saturday: Will you join us? Please sign up in the comments so that we can post a climate change diary every 20 minutes at Daily Kos.

The Obama administration is taking a step toward ending mountaintop removal mining (MTR mining). Last July, the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) proposed a new rule to eliminate quickie permits for valley fills that mining companies consider crucial to "economical" mining. The Corps is now holding public hearings on this proposed rule, and these comments must be considered before issuing a final rule.

If the final rule prohibits the use of quickie permits, then MTR will not be eliminated but greatly reduced because mining companies will have to obtain regular Clean Water Act (CWA) permits that require a more thorough review of environmental impacts. This review should include how MTR mining contributes to climate change, not just by the use of coal, but also because this mining process clear cuts forests that serve as carbon lungs. Moreover, the environmental review should also consider whether there are alternatives to a project, such as wind farms located on mountaintops.