NOAA Unveils New Climate Service
The federal government is taking some administrative strides on global warming, as this week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) unveiled a new Climate Service "dedicated to bringing together the agency's strong climate science and service delivery capabilities."
Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator, said the service will work closely with federal, regional, academic and other state and local government and private sector partners to build on NOAA’s success in transforming science into useable climate services.
"NOAA is committed to scientific integrity and transparency,” said Lubchenco. “We seek to advance science and strengthen product development and delivery through user engagement."
We've taken a look at the NOAA Climate Service website, and it's fantastic. Full of videos, climate data and charts and graphs and more -- check out www.climate.gov to get a glimpse of it all yourself.
Energy Efficiency Saves Money, Creates Jobs
Did you know that one of the fastest and cheapest ways to save money and fight global warming is to make our homes and offices more energy efficient? It's true -- and President Obama spoke of this important fact during his State of the Union.
In particular, he called for the creation of a program to enable Americans to retrofit their homes to save energy and create jobs. Not only will we save money and fight global warming through retrofitting our homes, but we’ll also create jobs.
Ask your legislators to support energy efficiency programs like the ones President Obama highlighted.
Climate Blockers of the Week
It's sad that there are so many to choose from when writing this segment, but the folks who took the prize this week are in the Alaska state legislature. How'd they win? Check it out.
"Seeking to protect the oil industry, the Alaska state legislature has appropriated $1.5 million to fund an astroturf campaign to weaken the Endangered Species Act and put on a conference questioning the listing of polar bears as a threatened species."
Yes, they want to help the oil industry (like an industry that spent $154 million lobbying Congress in 2009 needs any help) and keep taking on the poor polar bear, a creature already threatened by global warming.
For shame, Alaska state legislature!