NYC Climate Coalition Blog

Time is short to stop a disastrous, climate-wrecking energy project from running roughshod over the American heartland. We need your help to convince the Obama Administration to stand firm in its opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.

Last November, the Obama Administration pushed the deadline on its final pipeline decision into early 2013, determining that current impact studies on the proposed pipeline were insufficient to make a final decision.

A fair and measured period of scrutiny for the proposed pipeline is exactly what Big Oil and Republicans in Congress don’t want, because this project fails on every score. It’s bad for the environment, human health, climate change, and our economy. That’s why Congressional Republicans pushed legislation in December designed to force a presidential decision on the pipeline sooner – by February 2012.

In these tough economic times, to whip up support for the pipeline, the oil industry and many Republicans falsely claim that we need the Keystone XL for job creation. Jobs estimates for the pipeline, however, have been wildly exaggerated and bring only false hope. Far more jobs – and enduring ones at that – would be created by building our domestic renewable energy sector. In fact, investment in clean energy generates 3-4 times as many jobs as investments in fossil fuels.

President Obama needs to hear from the public that the Keystone XL pipeline is wrong for our country. Please contact the White House TODAY to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline and to support investment in the US clean energy sector.

Call the White House public comment line at: 202-456-1111

Or e-mail the White House here.

Together, last fall, we demanded that this project be fully vetted, even though Big Oil wanted it fast-tracked, and we WON. With Congress pressuring the president to provide a final answer by February, it is imperative that once again, together, we send the strongest message possible that his answer must be a resounding NO to dirty tar-sands crude.

From Keystone XL.

 U.S. Schools Compete to Slash Energy Use in 2012 “Green Cup Challenge®”

116 Schools in 22 States Participating

New York, NY –  Students in more than 116 schools across the U.S. are competing to reduce their electricity consumption by participating in the 2012 national Green Cup Challenge® (GCC) during peak winter energy usage, January 18 to February 15.  (New York City and Chicago will launch separate Challenges on March 2nd).  The national Challenge, now in its fifth year, is a project of the non-profitGreen Schools Alliance (GSA), and is designed to raise awareness about energy conservation and provide concrete action towards reduction.

“Experts agree that the best way to save energy is to use less,” says Peg Watson, GSA’s Founder and President.  “You can’t manage what you don’t measure. The GCC teaches students that they have the power to save energy in their schools and homes, and that their actions can translate into positive change in the world,” she says.

According to Energystar.gov, America’s K – 12 schools spend more than $7.5 billion annually on energy, but as much as 30% of that energy ($2.25 billion) is used inefficiently or unnecessarily.  The GCC has shown that, through awareness and small behavior changes, those wasteful patterns can be reversed.

During the Challenge, students and school staff work together to implement energy-saving strategies; they take weekly readings of school electric meters, and compare the usage to a baseline from previous years’ consumption.  Data are entered weekly into spreadsheets on the GCC website, providing students with hands-on learning opportunities. The annual GCC video contest has also become a popular showcase for students’ talent and environmental passions.

“By participating in the Challenge,” says Katy Perry, GCC Program Director, “students and staff learn that simple things like turning off lights, powering down computers, unplugging electronic gadgets and machines when not in use, and setting thermostats to 68 degrees Fahrenheit add up to huge energy and cost-savings for schools.”

In 2011, such simple actions allowed 121 GCC participating schools to reduce their electricity consumption by an average of 4.5% from the baseline. Collectively that was a total reduction of 1,036,816 kilowatt hours and $124,418 saved from their electric bills; and because behavioral changes typically endure, the actual savings continue into the future, long after the GCC is over.

The schools also collectively prevented 1,576,178 pounds of climate warming carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere by power plants. That’s the equivalent of taking 140 passenger vehicles off the road for one year, or the amount of carbon that would be sequestered annually by 152 acres of pine forest.

Multiply all this by 139,207 schools in the US alone, and one can quickly start to see the positive impact schools could have together.

Perry hopes that the knowledge students gain about energy conservation during the GCC will ripple outwards from schools, to households and beyond.

“A majority of Americans now believe that man-made climate change is real. The scientific consensus is undeniable; but some still continue to gamble with our children’s future,” says Watson. “Studentsmust be given the tools today to become tomorrow’s leaders and problem-solvers, in order to protect our shared future.  The GCC gives them the opportunity to start making a difference.”

From The Green Schools Alliance. CONTACT: Katy Perry, 860-578-0174, Emily Fano, 917-301-8830

As part of Climate Week NYC, The Human Impacts Institute is organizing Ten Days of Climate Action!

Climate Week NYC is an annual summit attended by the world’s leading businesses and governments and an array of events focused on driving a clean industrial revolution. During Climate Week, artists, musicians, and other performers will put on exhibits and performances about climate change all over NYC for Ten Days of Climate Action.

On each of our Ten Days of Climate Action, we counted down our top ten climate change facts an here is our top climate change fact!

1. For half the cost of a new nuclear power plant, 1,600,000 homes can be retrofitted for energy efficiency, saving the same amount of energy and creating 90 times more jobs.