A Hummer that gets 60 miles per gallon!!?? You must be joking!

No we aren't. This interesting tidbit comes from fastcompany.com and tells the tale of Johnathan Goodwin dubbed the "Motorhead Messiah" because he takes the largest, heaviest vehicles available and retrofits them to increase the gas mileage of these monstrous behemoths to match their physical size. LARGE.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/motorhead-messiah.html

Predictions for our warming planet are coming true

The recent increase in wildfires in California are just one of many predicted effects of a warming planet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-romm/global-warming-and-the-ca_b_69695.html

Industry goes after Leslie March

Clearcutting cypress cannot be justified

Timber industry spokesperson Buck Vandersteen's inaccurate data and personal attacks demand that I set the record straight ("Best practices used in managing our forests," Oct. 4). There is no justification for clearcutting cypress, our state tree, because nearly 80 percent of the trees will never regenerate once they are cut. Indeed, many cypress swamps logged up to 100 years ago have not regrown. These trusted data come from scientists and the U.S. Global Change Program. Big Timber often claims growth based on the controversial data that compared cypress "apples" in 1991 to "oranges" in 2005.

The Save Our Cypresses Coalition - of which Sierra Club is a member - supports conservation easements and other ways of compensating landowners for protecting cypress. Cypress forests are our best natural storm protection, and they are the natural legacy we will leave for future generations. Instead of mocking my passion, Vandersteen should help lead our state toward responsible stewardship of our cypress forests.

LESLIE MARCH
SIERRA CLUB
MANDEVILLE

The letter that started it all:
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071004/OPINION03/710040310/1014/OPINION

Dirty Power coming to a power plant near you

Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release For more information: Leslie March, Sierra Club, (985) 249-1160 John Atkeison, Alliance for Affordable Energy (504) 208-9761 or (302) 345-0607 Aaron Viles, Gulf Restoration Network, (225) 615-0346 Marylee Orr, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, (225) 928-1315 http://sayyestocleanenergy.org

Polluting $1.5 Billion Entergy Plan Challenged: Little Gypsy Project Will Mean Big Pain for Ratepayers BATON ROUGE - Today community groups rallied in opposition to Entergy's plan to pass the costs of its "Little Gypsy" re-powering project on to Louisiana's ratepayers. Entergy plans to replace its current power plant, which burns natural gas, with a plant that burns coal and petroleum coke, a refinery waste product. The Alliance for Affordable Energy, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Sierra Club, and Gulf Restoration Network challenged the proposal at a Louisiana Public Service Commission hearing in Baton Rouge. The groups are opposed to the plant's greatly increased contribution to global warming, its higher toxic load on the environment, and the high costs the plan will impose on ratepayers. "Burning coal produces twice as much greenhouse gas pollution as burning natural gas," says John Atkeison, director of Climate and Clean Energy Programs for the Alliance for Affordable Energy. "This means that Entergy will be imposing the hardship and costs of accelerating global warming on Louisiana and the world if they switch from natural gas to coal and coke." "Little Gypsy is already a financial boondoggle," says Karen Wimpleberg, chair of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, "$500 million more since the original estimate they gave the Public Service Commission. Yet they want ratepayers to prepay the bill. This is a terrible risk for ratepayers but a sweet deal for shareholders." While utilities normally can recover the costs of a plant after the project is complete, Entergy is seeking to pass the costs of Little Gypsy on to its customers before it even begins construction. In the months since Entergy's announcement of the project, the estimated cost has already increased by 50 percent. Long-term costs for the ratepayers will likely increase as well since the proposed fuel switch will increase the plant's emissions of the pollutants responsible for global warming - just as Congress prepares to penalize such pollution. Louisiana stands at particular risk from global warming; if such warming continues unchecked, rising sea levels are projected to increase flooding and accelerate the loss of the state's coastal wetlands. Such risks have prompted Florida's Public Service Commission to reject proposals for new coal-fired power plants. "Louisiana should follow Florida's lead," says Aaron Viles of the Gulf Restoration Network. "We've seen what global warming means for the Gulf; it should be clear we need action to address global warming, not more pollution to make the problem worse." Leslie March, chair of the Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club says, "The PSC is composed of elected officials, and it's time for them to consider the best interests of their constituents. We've jointly launched www.sayyestocleanenergy.org so the public can remind the PSC that South Louisiana is ground zero for climate change impacts, and it is time to shift away from dirty energy sources like coal." Coke and coal are vastly dirtier fuels than natural gas, contributing to smog and other pollution that causes asthma and a variety of other respiratory diseases. "Louisiana has cheaper, cleaner, better alternatives to satisfy its energy needs," says Marylee Orr of Louisiana Environmental Action Network, noting that simple, inexpensive measures to increase energy efficiency could sharply reduce Louisiana's need for electricity and that investment in renewable energy could boost the economy and create jobs. # # # Atchafalaya Basinkeeper Dean Wilson 225-692-4114 Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper Paul Orr 225-928-1315

Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper | P.O. Box 66323 | Baton Rouge | LA | 70809

Cypress Trees of the Gulf - are getting some press

More specifically the destruction of the Cypress Trees of the Gulf is getting some press. The following blog post is from the Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/agitpop/cypress-trees-of-the-gulf_b_62563.html

We can't argue with this great idea

How about a blog devoted solely to clean technology, electronic or otherwise? As our world gets more enamored with all things technological, we burn a lot more fuel to power it all. Good Clean Tech . com bills itself as "The Independent Guide to Ecotechnology" for a good reason. They "aim to provide you with news, tips, advice, and ideas about how to do more with less." Now that's an ideal that we ought to all aspire to.

http://www.goodcleantech.com/