Why We Care About Earth Day

We've got Gaylord Nelson (and hundreds like Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold setting the stage way before 1970) to thank for getting together 40 years ago people in Washington, DC., to celebrate some of the achievements like clean water and air acts, wilderness designation, a stronger Environmental Protection Agency. Earth Day is a global day, and for us in the USA, we see this as the 40th Anniversary. The United Nations calls 2010 the 41st Earth Day. For youth, they are the Green Generation --way beyond labeling them the echo-, X-ers, Y-, Millennial-, Net- or i- generations. Green. As in reducing consumption, learning how to function with renewable energy, and reusing, recycling and relearning.

SPOKANE -- April 17, 11 AM to midnight -- On Main

Between Division and Browne -- In the Streets, On the Sidewalks


Saturday, March 27, 2010

April 17 is set to be a BIG Day -- Mayor and County Commissioner declare April 17 Earth Day Spokane/Spokane County and April 17-24 Earth Day Week




Mayor Verner supports Earth Day

Jon Snyder supports days of Earth

Bonnie Mager supports urban planning for earth

Kohl's is a supporter of Earth Day in the form of 300 Bird Houses to be built and given away

Doug Bradford is a supporter of birds and bats -- he's helping Kohl's associates prep the bird boxes for kids

Kauffman and Associates is all about supporting the land, water and air of our Pacific Northwest

Spokane Aquifer Joint Board supports conservation of water

Resourceful suports recycling for Earth Day -- gives 5 recyclers and bags to Earth Day

Charlie Gurche supports Earth with photographs

Diamond Parking supports Earth Day with the use of two parking lots on Main, April 17

Food -- Isabella's, The Scoop, Flatbread Pizza Company, One World Spokane, Rocket Bakery

All the musicians and performers are set for Earth Day 2010

More than 6 dozen booths and demos and hands on displays and people galore "talking earth"

For more supporters and participants, go to the previous blog --

http://earthdayspokane2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/ed-2010-taking-it-to-streets-spokane.html






















Saturday, March 13, 2010

Earth Day is About Stopping Corporate Take Over of Farms, Corporate Poisoning of Crops, Corporate Mutation of Life



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/business/12seed.html?ref=todayspaper

Who's crushing family farmers?
Farm Aid - ACTION ALERT

In Farmers We Trust - Take Action

http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ftIQI7PRJmKQIdI&s=itJYJbMNLhISK6MMJoH&m=miKVJ7POJqK6G

Dear Family Farm Supporter,

Did you know that just one company, Monsanto, controls more than 90%>> of the soybeans grown in the United States? And that they also control more than 80% of U.S. corn?

This extreme concentration of power is not unique to corn and soy. And it's a big problem --- not just for family farmers struggling to compete. Standing between you and the family farmer are a handful of corporations who control our entire food system from seed to plate.

Corporate concentration has many forms --- factory farms, the dairy>> crisis, genetically engineered food --- anything that puts the control of our food into the hands of a few companies and forces farmers out of business and off the land.

**Speak out now! Tell the government that you trust family farmers with your food!**



The issue of corporate concentration in agriculture is finally getting attention starting today with the first in a series of public workshops held by the Department of Justice and the US Department of Agriculture.

Farm Aid needs you to let Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack know that corporate concentration in agriculture is devastating for family farmers, bad for our health, and wrong for consumers like you and me!

This is an historic opportunity for farmers who have been marginalized by agribusiness giants. But it's just as important for all of us who eat (and who want to know who is controlling our food!). This is your chance to join family farmers in telling the government what is wrong with corporate concentration. The government needs to hear from people like you, people who trust the farmers who grow our food --- not corporations facing anti-trust investigation.

Please, take a moment right now to tell Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack how corporate control has created a food system that lines the pockets of a handful of companies while bankrupting family farmers and leaving the rest of us hungry for change.

Thanks so much for taking action today. We'll keep you updated on how things are going with the workshops and let you know more you can do in the coming weeks and months.

Sincerely,
Hilde Steffey
Program Director, Farm Aid

Friday, March 12, 2010

Spokane Earth Day is coming on STRONG





March 20
7 pm
Community Building
Sequel to Planet Earth
Potluck


This March 20, come to the Community Building and get a sneak peak at the movie, Life.



Part of pre-EARTH DAY SPOKANE: Which is April 17, 11-midnight, and all the information can be gathered on Facebook



(and) www.earthdayspokane.org and the blog, http://earthdayspokane2010.blogspot.com


added FUN -- Potluck, vegan o' vegetarian,
SATURDAY
Sierra Club's premiere sneak peak at the sequel to Planet Earth --
LIFE:
RSVP here, or paulha@spokanefalls.edu


MARCH 20, 7 p.m., Community Building -- potluck -- RSVP


What is the meaning of LIFE? Glad you asked. It's the Discovery Channel's follow-up to the wildly popular Planet Earth series. If you're interested in the spectacular, bizarre, and fascinating behaviors that creatures like fruit bats, Komodo dragons, and humpback whales have evolved in order to thrive, then you'll love this show -- narrated by Oprah Winfrey -- when it premieres later this month.

Want to be one of the first to see what LIFE has to offer? To help raise awareness of the need to protect all species and their habitat from the effects of climate change, the Sierra Club and Discovery Channel are teaming up to organize House Parties for WildLIFE in advance of the premiere

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Earth Hour -- March 27 -- Here, In Spokane, Turn Out the Lights at 8:30 p.m.

Symbolic gestures. Solidarity. Global action. Something to say you did for an hour. Now, turn off the lights, and try doing it all the time, at many points in the evening. Unplug chargers, TVs, stereos. Wow, let's be Earth Day every day.



Mary Verner, Mayor of Spokane, will issue a proclamation about Earth Hour and also is calling on City employees to participate as well.
People can sign up to join the Mayor in participating in Earth Hour by clicking this link https://www.myearthhour.org/home?invite=F2VAG8R3wq and signing up.

More information on Earth Hour is available at http://www.myearthhour.org/ .

The Earth's climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming. Many components of the climate system—including the temperatures of the atmosphere, land and ocean, the extent of sea ice and mountain glaciers, the sea level, the distribution of precipitation, and the length of seasons—are now changing at rates and in patterns that are not natural and are best explained by the increased atmospheric abundances of greenhouse gases and aerosols generated by human activity during the 20th century. Global average surface temperatures increased on average by about 0.6°C over the period 1956–2006. As of 2006, eleven of the previous twelve years were warmer than any others since 1850. The observed rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice is expected to continue and lead to the disappearance of summertime ice within this century. Evidence from most oceans and all continents except Antarctica shows warming attributable to human activities. Recent changes in many physical and biological systems are linked with this regional climate change. A sustained research effort, involving many AGU members and summarized in the 2007 assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, continues to improve our scientific understanding of the climate.




During recent millennia of relatively stable climate, civilization became established and populations have grown rapidly. In the next 50 years, even the lower limit of impending climate change—an additional global mean warming of 1°C above the last decade—is far beyond the range of climate variability experienced during the past thousand years and poses global problems in planning for and adapting to it. Warming greater than 2°C above 19th century levels is projected to be disruptive, reducing global agricultural productivity, causing widespread loss of biodiversity, and—if sustained over centuries—melting much of the Greenland ice sheet with ensuing rise in sea level of several meters. If this 2°C warming is to be avoided, then our net annual emissions of CO2 must be reduced by more than 50 percent within this century. With such projections, there are many sources of scientific uncertainty, but none are known that could make the impact of climate change inconsequential. Given the uncertainty in climate projections, there can be surprises that may cause more dramatic disruptions than anticipated from the most probable model projections.

With climate change, as with ozone depletion, the human footprint on Earth is apparent. The cause of disruptive climate change, unlike ozone depletion, is tied to energy use and runs through modern society. Solutions will necessarily involve all aspects of society. Mitigation strategies and adaptation responses will call for collaborations across science, technology, industry, and government. Members of the AGU, as part of the scientific community, collectively have special responsibilities: to pursue research needed to understand it; to educate the public on the causes, risks, and hazards; and to communicate clearly and objectively with those who can implement policies to shape future climate.