The New Green World of Fossil Free Investing
As a reader of this blog there’s a good chance that you’re concerned about the climate. As an American, you’re probably also worried about retirement, given that fewer than half of us have any kind of retirement savings account or access to an employer-matched 401(k), while less than 13% have a traditional pension—down from 38% just a generation ago. The need to grow our meager savings through self-directed investments in order to survive a long old age has never been so urgent.
Ten Ways to Write a Better Letter To The Editor
A good letter to the newspaper can work wonders for climate action, influencing leaders in government or business you may have trouble reaching otherwise, and educating lots of local readers as well.
However, any letter published must compete for attention with everything around it, and opinion pages are busy places. Here’s how to make your letter stand out
Should We Call it a Crisis?
Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how we communicate about climate change. Note, this is not, a discussion about whether climate change is happening and whether, if we continue on our current trajectory, it will be catastrophic. Nor is it a discussion about whether this is an exaggeration. Anyone willing to confront the climate science will see that our current trajectory is catastrophic. No, what I’m interested in discussing is how we communicate about these rigorously established scientific claims and where we are presently headed.
Climate Books Worth Reading
There are a TON of great books out there that cover a variety of stories about the Climate Crisis. Here are a few recommendations from 350 Spokane
Climate Change and Inland Northwest Agriculture: Impacts and Possible Responses
Climate change is already affecting our lives in the Inland Northwest, especially in one of our largest economic sectors: agriculture.
We already see warmer temperatures, wetter winters, and different precipitation patterns. Overall, by the end of the century Inland Northwest temperatures are expected to increase between 5oF and 9oF and precipitation is expected to increase between 4.5 and 8.6%, resulting in still wetter winters and hotter, drier summers.
Spokane becomes the third city in Washington to commit to 100% renewable electricity
We did it! Before a packed room of supporters, the Spokane City Council adopted an Ordinance establishing a Sustainability Action Committee to plan for climate resilience, achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions, and support the goal of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. Spokane now joins 78 other U.S. cities in its commitment to the goal of 100 percent renewable electricity, including power from wind, hydroelectric, and solar.
Climate-Friendly Gardening: Some thoughts, and suggestions for reliable sources
My first real awakening to the importance of gardening came when we discovered a hummingbird nesting in our yard. After a rain, Mama hummingbird would roll around on rosebush leaves to take a bath in beads of water. The two eggs she laid were the size of tic-tacs, and I thought with babies smaller than a kidney bean, any chemical I sprayed on my yard might be picked up and carried to them.
On Biomass
Biomass is the burning of wood for electricity. Some claim this reduces carbon emissions because trees burned for energy eventually grow back, re-sequestering the carbon released by burning the fuel. For example, about half of the European Union’s renewable electricity now comes from biomass (and most of that wood comes from the American Southeast’s fast-growing pine farms).
Candidate Climate Conspiracy
The race for Mayor of Spokane has taken a strange turn. Not only have we learned that one candidate for Mayor refuses to believe the 97% of climate scientists whose research confirms that humans are the dominant cause of global warming, but in recent KXLY and KPBX interviews she advances the conspiracy theory that Avista has a secret, unrevealed “study” showing that Spokane’s 2018 climate ordinance and its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030 would cost each ratepayer “thousands of dollars”.
How To Go Solar In Spokane
What better place to capitalize on solar power than a city whose name translates to “Children of the Sun”?
And in Spokane there’s been no better time to go solar, with handsome state and federal incentives due to taper off over the next three years, but still going strong right now—they pay up to 80% of your system’s cost, and slash your utility bills for many years to come.
