The draft of the 5th U.S. Climate Action Report was recently posted  for public comment by the U.S. Department of State at http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/rpts/car5/index.htm.  It concludes that “Global warming is unequivocally and primarily human-induced.”

In some of the strongest language yet, the report uses scientific data to show how the rise in global temperature is shrinking glaciers and sea ice, increasing sea levels and droughts, expanding tropical diseases, and stressing water resources.

Already, climate deniers are swarming in on the public comment period. “The idea that man-made emissions are primarily responsible for global warming is scientifically illogical,” says one. “The Climate Action Report is based on data known to be fraudulent and represents a willful and intentional effort to defraud the American people,” says another.

The government is forced to consider all comments before releasing a final version of this critical document.  Those who understand what’s at stake here must speak up and counter the ignorant.

The deadline for comments is Thursday, May 6.  Please go to the U.S. Dept of State website noted above and submit your comments at the e-mail address given in the first paragraph on the page.  You don’t need to read the whole report or write a treatise.  Just let them know you support strong science and the need to break our addiction to fossil fuels, the truly horrific result of which is now flooding our coastline.

Speak up!  Let our government know the deniers don’t speak for the majority!

Skagit County Commissioners, by unanimous vote, have adopted the 2010 Climate Action Plan.

Back in the Fall of 2007, Skagit Beat the Heat’s political action committee worked to jumpstart this effort, bringing a petition before the commissioners in January 2008.  Thanks to those Beat the Heat folks who helped to make the plan a reality, to Ryan Walters (now Skagit Sustainability Director) who drove it through, and to the climate task force volunteers who gave so many hours of their time crafting the plan.

A PDF of the plan is available at www.skagitcounty.net/sustainability

After nearly a year of work by county staff and the Climate Action and Sustainability Taskforce, a draft of the proposed 2010 Climate Action Plan is ready for public comment.  Submit comments on the plan to Ryan Walters, Sustainability Administrator,  via e-mail by 5 PM Monday, Dec. 21 (ryanw@co.skagit.wa.us).  The Taskforce will hold a public meeting to receive oral comments on Monday, Dec. 14, 6 PM, in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room at 1800 Continental Place, Mt. Vernon.  To download the plan, visit www.skagitcounty.net/sustainability.

The Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733) made it out of committee on Nov. 5 but other committees must still weigh in on a bill that for the first time would set mandatory limits on heat-trapping gases.  Contrary to alarmist reports, the EPA has found this bill would cost households only between $80-$111 per year, or 22-30 cents per day.  And as we well know, the costs of inaction on climate change would be staggering.

There’s a lot wrong with this bill but we need it going in to the international conference at Copenhagen to show the world we’re willing to act on climate change.  Please call, toll-free, Senator Murray 1-866-481-9186 and Senator Cantwell 1-888-648-7328 and tell them to fight to make and keep this bill as strong as possible!  Tell them we need steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, provisions to crack down on coal power plants, and to ensure that the $$ generated by a cap on emissions are invested in clean technologies, green job training, and avoiding deforestation.  Tell them the U.S. needs to go to the Copenhagen conference with a strong bill in hand.  A phone call is worth a thousand e-mails, and very easy to do, so please don’t delay!

Our Senators are back to work in Washington, and they’ve just announced that they’ll be introducing their version of a clean energy and climate bill before the end of the month.   To ensure passage of a strong climate and energy bill, it’s going to take all of us being very loud and very clear that we must have a cap on our global warming pollution prior to the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December. Call and leave a message for your senators that you want them to be a strong leader in passing a comprehensive science-based climate and clean energy bill before December. Toll free # for Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell: 1-800-828-0498 .  Thank you!

A comprehensive climate and energy bill sponsored by Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) is moving through House committees and should reach the full House for a vote by the end of this month orthe beginning of July. It passed in the Energy and Commerce Committee on May 21, and has won praise from President Obama and Al Gore, though many in the environmental community believe the bill MUST be strengthened. The bill would use a cap-and-trade program to cut planet-warming emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050. It would also require as much as 20 percent of electricity to be produced from renewable sources, and would set tougher energy-efficiency standards. For more on ACES, check out <http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-03-waxman-markey-bill-breakdown/> and then write your representative.  For those in the 2nd district, that’s Rep. Rick Larson at 2930 Wetmore Ave, Ste. 9F, Everett, WA 98201.  Let him know we need a strong climate bill NOW!