350 Thursday: Carbon-Free Electricity

I blogged last month about 350.org, the group determined to reduce the world’s carbon emissions ratio back down to less than 350 ppm — soon — in hopes of staving off irreparable environmental consequences. Al Gore was on this topic earlier this week, in his call for carbon-free electricity within the next ten years.

What can one person do? WeCanSolveIt.org has started a campaign to encourage utility companies to work faster toward renewable energy — not just as a special program, which many already offer and I know a bunch of us already utiilize, but for all customers. Find more information, including phone and email contact info for the country’s 25 largest utilities, as well as a form to include in your next bill, at Make Your Utility Carbon Free!

Today’s mitzvah: I’ll bug my power company, if you will, too!

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350.org Launches 350 Campaign

What’s 350? Dr. James Hansen, a NASA scientist, has calculated we need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to no more than 350 parts per million, if we want to to avoid catastrophic and irreparable harm to the planet. The good news: there’s still time. Just like high cholesterol or high blood pressure, a red flag number doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless but instead means it’s time to make changes. The 350 Campaign (which launched this week in eight languages) believes the first start is to get the number fixed in people’s heads (especially politicians’ heads), as a goal toward which to work — and at the same time working internationally to reduce dependence on coal and oil. (BTW, a reminder that today is “Dump the Pump” Day.)

Here’s a video from the 350 Campaign, intentionally using pictures and music instead of words, in order to be accessible transnationally:




Today’s mitzvah: What can you do this week, this month, this year to reduce coal and oil use? This doesn’t require going off the grid; small actions matter too. Daily Mitzvah will post periodic “350 Thursday” ideas: I’d love to hear yours!

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