Is Your City On The List? Now What?

14 U.S. Cities That Could Disappear Over The Next Century, Thanks To Global Warming

Some of these cities are pretty progressive in their attempts to limit human induced climate change. We need to work harder and be louder in addressing our concerns about the impact of greenhouse gases on our childrens future health, quality of life and security. We need to also plan accordingly for impacts that are unavoidable. This means addressing  urban and suburban weather-smart planning, addressing gentrification caused by middle and upper income individuals increasingly desirous of  the amenities of walkable cities, supporting companies that are smart about reducing waste (of limited resources - do we even know if any resource is truly unlimited), supporting research that contributes to innovative and safe products and processes, eating sustainably produced food and demanding accessible green jobs from our elected officials. Think about how you will respond if asked 40 years from now about your role in creating the earth that our children will have inherited?

Frakenstorm Poses Risks for Coastal Cities

As I listen to the forecast of disasterous conditions for cities in the eastern coastal areas, I am reminded of a 2008 post I wrote for emPower Magazine on why African Americans should care about climate change. What was not considered at the time was the impact of rising tides and extreme weather on nuclear facilities in those areas. The short term solution is to check in with your local officials and/or FEMA to determine the best steps to take to protect you and your family/neighbors. Once this storm has passed, I urge you to make your local, state and federal officials accountible for solutions which address, prevent and/or mitigate risks associated with climate change. To get started, read this article from Sustainable Business on politicians that vote green or not and let them know that African Americans do care about climate change and it's negative impact on our communities. Kudos to publications like emPower Magazine for trying to keep these types of issues on the forefront of conversation in the black community!

Hershey stuns critics with commitment to source 100% certified cocoa by 2020

Hershey stuns critics with commitment to source 100% certified cocoa by 2020 

Growth in Fair Trade Chocolate Market Share in Brands like Divine

This is great news folks!!! Note that Hershey's was starting to fall behind it's competitors. Not sure if there is a causal relationship between this and people like you that were voting with their pocketbooks to not buy unethical chocolate, but it certainly had to be a factor. As much as we can feel that one person can't make a difference, the growth in organic, local, sustainable and fairly traded goods, demonstrate that change starts with you.

Say It Out Loud! I'm Green And I'm Conservative?

New Groups Make A Conservative Argument On Climate Change | WBUR & NPR
Good to see that greener living is being embraced by folks on both sides of the political spectrum. Guess folks are realizing that we only have one habitable planet.

Secret Green Job: Guerilla Grafter

In San Francisco, a secret project bears fruit - Page 2 - latimes.com

Cool Green Jobs: Environmental Attorney

Communities seek ways to override state control of oil and gas drilling boom - Local News Reading this article gave me a sense of hope in the ability of the everyday average citizen to retain some control over their environment, especially as my state has become the darling of the drilling and fracking industry. The legal profession is often derided for it's excesses and greed, but the attorneys that are fighting for a safe, clean and balanced future for all species should be exempt from this comtempt. Most are very bright and have many options in the legal field that pay significantly more in pure dollars, but find their reward in pursuing loftier outcomes. Now this is a cool green job. I haven't made any final decisions on natural gas drilling and fracking as I don't feel as informed on the issue as I should, but I do feel that drilling and fracking should be off limits in parks and minimized in neighborhoods, especially given concerns around earthquakes and water quality. Leave it to a group of mothers to say enough is enough and take a stand for their beliefs! I love it!

Black and Green Love: Ideas for Finding that Soulmate

Photo from www.bokiwallpapers.com Cool right?

Just came across a blog called AfroDaddy.com:The Black Man's Survival Guide when I was doing a search on black and into green (green as in liking to eat vegetables vs meat) dating sites. Why was I looking for this category? I noticed in my blog traffic that lots of folks seem to be looking for places to connect with like minded vegans and vegetarians on the internet, based on the popularity of a post I did a couple of years ago on dating sites. So I was thinking, give the people what they want and found this great post by AfroDaddy. So AfroDaddy, did a great job of compiling a list of African American centered sites in this category and one of them was a site called Napturals (cool right) - unfortunately, it is no longer in existence. So for now, for all of you crunchies looking for green love on the internet, you will have to stay with the tried and true as noted in my previous posts on the matter. My theory is that you should get out of the house and get involved with issues, organizations and activities that you care about, whether it be activism, community gardening, blogging, cycling, running, art - whatever. Travel via Megabus or carpool to conferences like Blogging While Brown , Black Ivy Alumni League and Urban Farming or events in other cities (Caribana, Taste of Chicago) to expand your horizons. Sell your art, pies, sauces, greens, personal care products at the neighborhood farmers market.  Another option is to create your own event or workshop in a marquee event and invite some eligibles to attend - sounds fun right? You may not find love right away, but life will love you back and you will feel great about all of the wonderful folks you will meet on the way. What are you doing to find that special someone? Your fellow Black and Into Green crunchies need to know!

Lisa P. Jackson: Call In Day on Clean Air Act

Feel free to join this call:


EPA Proposes First Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants

Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first Clean Air Act standard for carbon pollution from new power plants. EPA’s proposed standard reflects the ongoing trend in the power sector toward building cleaner plants that take advantage of modern technologies to limit harmful carbon pollution to help provide the critical health protections American families deserve.

EPA is taking another step to address greenhouse gas pollution from the largest uncontrolled sources. On Wednesday, March 27nd at 1:00 p.m., you are invited to participate in a special stakeholder briefing with Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air & Radiation, Gina McCarthy for this important Clean Air Act regulation announcement.

Please see the information below for joining this call.

Join Us…

Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT

Toll-Free Dial-In Number: (877) 290-8017

Conference ID: 66377125

Lego Builds the Green Economy with Wind Farm Investment

Remember Lego? It's Taking a Big Stake in Offshore Wind A few months ago my son, Michael, wrote a blog post about Greenpeace's efforts to encourage the iconic Denmark toymaker, Lego, to sever its ties with Asian Pulp and Paper Company. This company had been accused of contributing to the deforestation of the Indonesian rainforest. Apparently, Lego is really getting into the whole green economy concept, as it just made a $534 million investment into a wind farm. The energy from this farm will eventually power all of its operations through 2020. This is the first time that a corporation has taken such a large stake in a wind farm (32%). Check out the new LEGO Friends products which are tailored towards the interest of boys and girls. Now that's what I call building the green economy.

Green For All and Howard University Announce “Green is the New Black” a Symposium for Young African-American Adults and the Green Economy — Green For All

Green For All and Howard University Announce “Green is the New Black” a Symposium for Young African-American Adults and the Green Economy — Green For All I love the way that the eco-justice and eco-jobs organization, Green For All, is reaching out to HBCU's to spread the green love. Did anyone attend this event last night?

NRDC: Get Paid to Defend the Environment

NRDC: Working at NRDC Since I'm on this green job roll, I want to share one of my favorite environmental organizations, The Natural Resources Defense Council. Wow! What a concept, earning a living to defend God's earth. (We are supposed to do this without get paid, but that's another story). This organization was founded in the 70's and has offices in D.C., China, San Francisco, New York and Chicago. I would love to work there and/or for my son to work there, given his area of interest and Chicago location. Anyway, it was named as one of the top 50 non-profits to work for, has a huge budget (important if you work for a non-profit) and offers internships, externships and volunteer opportunities.

Available Positions | Jobs at Environment America

Available Positions Jobs at Environment America Green Jobapalooza this week!

Billionaires Plan to Fund Anti-Global Warming Curriculum for Elementary Schools

Koch-Funded Heritage Institute Developing Anti-Global Warming Curriculum for Elementary Schools Everyone recognizes the importance of cultivating values and opinions early in a child's formative years, especially billionaires. We know that our efforts as parents, mentors and aunts and uncles are the best weapons in instilling the values that WE deem to be true and important. So be sure to start at an early age, teaching your children to value this beautiful earth and its many gifts over "stuff" and processes which damage and pollute this gift that God has put under our care. You should also know that the Sierra Club offers a number of educational programs and curriculum guides for parents, communities and teachers that want to expose their children to science based concepts around climate change that even large corporations, municipalities and institutions are using in their business planning and practices.

Research Analyst, North America, Domini Social Investments

Research Analyst, North America, Domini Social Investments This is one of the first woman owned and founded socially responsible investment funds. It was founded by Amy Domini in 1990, when as a stockbroker in the 80's, she noticed that there were socially conscious clients like ourselves, that wanted to exclude specific types of companies from their investment portfolios. It took her ten years, but the first indexed stock funds of socially responsible companies was born! For more information on socially responsible investing, check out the Domini website, the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment and Ron Robins at Investing for the Soul. Personally, I have funds invested in a number of socially responsible funds and with the exception of the alternative energy fund, they did much better than the stock market in general last year. I used the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment as a resource.

MLK Day/Life of Service Ideas

Hello Friends! Happy Marting Luther King, Jr. Birthday! I hope that you have amazing plans to celebrate Dr. King's birthday and achievements in some manner today or this week - though I know that Black and Into Green readers are celebrating his legacy everyday through your actions. I was evaluating today's activities on the basis of what I thought would be Dr. King approved. While there are many offerings scheduled for today, most were just not that deep - in my humble opinion. The opportunities seemed to be more family centered entertainment activities with some educational offerings in the mix - which is great if you have young children, but my young child is a freshman in college and many of you don't even have kids!! So now what? Fortunately, I found some MLK Day of service activities through the All For Good and MLK Day websites, which provides information on a variety of service projects itemized by, your local area, statewide, virtual, micro and my favorite category - self-directed. I found a local area project cleaning, organizing and sorting items for the Kids In Need Resource Center. Serving meals, coat donation and a poverty simulation were some of the other options, but what really caught my eye were the self-directed projects. These projects are attractive for a number of reasons, 1) Variety 2) Action plan templates 3) Flexible 4) Environment and Community Garden Options and 5) Control. Some projects  (planting a community garden) require more planning than others (letter writing), but there is enough variety and flexibility for you to create something that fits your resource availability and constraints. I love the idea of the self-directed projects because it gives an individual or an organization an opportunity to extend the spirit of  MLK Day beyond a day or week  and I think Dr. King would approve. In fact, I love this idea so much that I am thinking about making a small contribution towards a project that I like in the form of a contest. Get back to you later this week on that one!

Green Gift Giving for the Holidays

Toxics Avenger | NRDC Green Gifts It's that time of the year. Every year, I become Scroogier as I listen to reports of people mauling each other over stuff at big box retailers and dred buying more stuff for people just because it is expected. I feel a little better this year, as I started volunteering at a national fair trade retailer, Ten Thousand Villages, so at least in addition to being thoughtful about what I'm giving, I'm also being thoughtful about the benefactors of my hard earned dollars - artisans from over 38 countries who really need the money and are putting it to work in their communities. Many of these gifts are also eco-friendly, women friendly and kid friendly. Apparently many of you and your parents feel the same and cited in this article about increasing demand for greener gifts and quality over quantiy. We are not alone! Yay! There are so many more options these days as retailers are getting the message, even discount retailers like TJ Maxx and Marshalls have dozens or organic and eco-friendly options for those of us shopping on a budget. I purchase some great soy and essential oil based candles from CVS and thrift stores/flea markets are awesome places to find authentic, unique, awesome and made in America gifts - especially this time of the year. If you are inclined to shop online checkout the great offerings made available by the Natural Resources Defense Council - the law firm for the earth.

These soy candles are wonderful! At $7.99 - a great gift!

This is one of NRDC's gift options - love the diversity.

Gift option from the NRDC for animal lovers. Gorgeous wolf!

Educating children - the NRDC let's you give knowledge. Nice.

Toxic Avenger - NRDC let's you give the gift of eco-justice!

The Environmental Side of Occupy Wall Street

The Environmental Side of Occupy Wall Street Green is good.

Lego Greens Up - A Post From My Son

I am reposting this as you may not have realized it was contributed by my son, Michael, who will be entering DePaul University (one of the greenest colleges in the U.S.) this fall:

As soon as I could hold my own head up and get to moving my baby fat riddled arms I’ve been stacking blocks of some sort. And I can definitively inform that the title for best building bricks around belong to LEGO. These colorful cubes can be attributed to some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Little did I know that when ripping apart the cardboard packaging, I was contributing to the deforestation of the Indonesian Rainforest. Up until recent events Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) had been LEGO’s packaging supplier. Thanks to recent action by Greenpeace kids can assemble their rocket ships and fantasy lands with a clean conscience with LEGO suspending relations with APP as well as declaring that their new products will be made with recycled materials and all paper products will. Mattel has even succumbed to pressure, from Greenpeace and LEGO’s newest statement, announcing that they too will cut their ties with APP. They even went so far as to have a banner with Ken telling Barbie “It’s over, I don’t date girls that are into deforestation.” Hopefully these recent policy changes are from an ideological shift in term of environmentally friendly practices and not just the clever PR responses to a gotcha moment by Greenpeace. As with any global conflict, solutions tend to not be so black and white. In APP’s response to the incident basically highlighted the fact that FSC certification is only applicable towards areas converted from forests after 1994, which automatically excludes a vast majority of plantations in the developing world and favours the North American and European manufacturers who have dominated the industry for 100 years. Though I am sure there is probably a reason for this rule it does raise a question of exclusionary practices in the green movement. Let’s hope that this movement continues as one of global inclusion and unity, uplifting the environment as much as the people inhabiting it.  

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics : Bath & Body Works Asked to Clean Up

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics : Get Involved Learn more about the petition to ask Bath & Body Works to eliminate unneccessary chemicals from its beauty products.

Wiki Environomics

Just discovered a new website which appears to still be in alpha or beta mode, but promises to allow you to share your ideas for sustaining and improving our environment and receive support from users whom may be interested. I just signed up for the "private launch", so I wll keep you posted. Check it out at http://www.earthtippingpoint.com/, if you are interested.