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Editorial: What Is Activism?

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By Bart King For the last six months I’ve been working as a guest curator at a local non-profit art gallery, preparing an exhibit called “Running on Empty: the fossil fuel addiction.” The exhibit opens to the public Saturday night, and earlier this week I was interviewed by a reporter who asked me, “What do you hope to gain from the exhibit?” I gave a truthful, if somewhat boring answer about wanting to raise awareness of decreasing oil supplies and the environmental consequences of falling back on coal and natural gas reserves instead of aggressively developing renewable energy and efficiency measures. I explained that I hoped the paintings, photographs, prints and other pieces of art would encourage community members to reduce their energy consumption and to insist that our political and business leaders take the difficult steps to secure a low-carbon future. I explained to her that I believe burning the lights in the gallery (newly installed CFLs), shipping of art work and drawing a parking lot full of cars is worth the carbon emissions, if the message hits home with a group of people and starts a ripple effect. Unless the vast majority of the public and politicians are […]

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: January 28, 2009

President Obama Issues Orders on Fuel Economy & GHG Regulations 75 Nations Join New International Renewable Energy Agency New American Home Demonstrates Energy-Saving Technologies Surging Utility Investment in Smart Grid Technologies Energy Star Labels for Energy-Wasting Set-Top Boxes Wind Power Provided the Majority of Added Capacity in 2007 President Obama Issues Orders on Fuel Economy & GHG Regulations President Barack Obama issued a pair of memoranda on Monday to address the fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions of our nation’s automobiles. The president directed the Secretary of Transportation to publish higher fuel economy standards for model year 2011 cars and light trucks by the end of March and to reevaluate the proposed standards for future model years. Automakers will generally begin selling model year 2011 vehicles in the fall of 2010. President Obama also directed the U.S. EPA to revisit the California waiver request that would allow that state to implement its own greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rules for vehicles. The federal Clean Air Act only allows California to set emission standards that deviate from federal rules, and any California standards require a waiver from the EPA. But once California enacts its own standards, the act allows other states to […]

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