What can we do about global warming?

We each contribute to greenhouse gas emissions in nearly everything that we do. But once we understand where the emissions come from, we can make choices to reduce them and everyone can be part of the solution. Here are some places to start:

1. Transportation:

- When buying a car, choose a fuel-efficient one. Visit www.fueleconomy.gov for help.

- Minimize driving: take advantage of local shopping, dining, and recreation options, and carpool whenever possible. Take public transportation, walk or ride a bike when you can.

- Fly less. In one round-trip flight from San Francisco to Paris, a single passenger generates roughly as much CO2 as a typical U.S. car releases in six months’ worth of driving. In general, vacations in which multiple people travel together in one car release much less CO2 than trips where everyone flies.

2. Household energy use:

- Turn off lights, TV, computers, and appliances when not using them.

- Save energy by not overheating or overcooling your living space.

- When buying new appliances, choose energy efficient ones. (www.energystar.gov)

- When building a new home or remodeling, build for energy efficiency. (www.builditgreen.org)

3. Consumer choices:

- Buy locally grown foods as much as possible. The more local the product, the less energy used to transport it.

- Organic meats from locally raised livestock are a more climate-friendly choice than imported. Vast tropical forests are being cleared to graze cattle and grow livestock feeds (such as soybeans).

- Use sustainably grown wood products (www.fsc.org) and salvaged wood products (www.builditgreen.org).

- Buy recycled, and recycle what you buy. Products made from recycled materials usually require less energy to make than new. By recycling household paper, metal, glass, plastic, etc, and buying products made from post-consumer materials, you are saving energy.

4. Local, national, and global energy, and land-use policies:

- Let your elected officials know that you support strong steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

- Make global warming a campaign issue. Consider each candidate’s platform to address global warming, and the strength of his or her positions on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and land conservation.

- Learn about efforts to address economic development, poverty, and population: www.unfpa.org. Greenhouse gas emissions are related to these issues too.

- Find out about how to make your own community more climate friendly at: www.iclei.org and www.coolcities.us

5. Some recommended reading:

- Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man Nature and Climate Change, by Elizabeth Kolbert, Bloomsbury 2006.

- An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, by Al Gore (or see the film which is now on DVD).

And finally, support your local land trust!