Climate Action Day 2009
Today, October 24, is Climate Action Day, and people around the world are gathering to show their support for reducing global warming. Check the 350.org site for lots of great international photos.
The problem is that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 387 parts per million, high enough to melt the Arctic. Climate scientists have said that a sustainable level is more like 350 ppm.
I wasn’t able to attend our biggest local event—a bike ride out to the coal-fired power plant east of Boulder, then a ride back to city center for a rally—but I did one small thing toward reducing the fossil fuel use that is spewing carbon dioxide into the air: I bought organic produce at the local farmers’ market.
Buying organic at farmers’ markets reduces fossil fuel use in at least two important ways:
- No fossil fuels are refined or manufactured into fertilizers to spread on organic fields.
- Less fossil fuel is used in transporting the food to market because it is grown nearby.
Possibly related posts:
- “From future threat to present emergency”: Boulder panel on climate change At a panel on climate change this morning at Chautauqua’s...
- Women, farming, and climate change Last spring First Lady Michelle Obama and local schoolkids started...
- Teaching about climate change With the eyes of the world on Copenhagen this week,...
- We, the Earth: ecological crisis as spiritual practice “There is no separate self,” say the Buddhists. Twenty-five years...
- Tweets from a talk by Susan Solomon One of our local treasures, Susan Solomon, gave a presentation...
