This post is by Carol Andress, Economic Development Specialist at Environmental Defense.

Operation Climate Vote

This post is part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.

The U.S. House of Representatives is back in session this week, and they have some important work to do.

Last month, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (CSA) was passed out of committee in the Senate. This means that the bill now can be considered by the full Senate - an important step. But for a bill to become law in this country it has to be passed by both the House and Senate, and the House has not yet moved on climate legislation. (See our previous post for more on the legislative process.)

Before the break, the House was preoccupied with the energy bill, but that's now been passed. Next up should be climate legislation, and support is building for it. Here's what House members have been saying:

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Just before Christmas - after two years of stalling - the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied California's request to set its own, tougher vehicle-emissions standards. In denying the request, EPA Administrator Johnson said:

The Bush Administration is moving forward with a clear national solution - not a confusing patchwork of state rules - to reduce America's climate footprint from vehicles."

What's wrong with this statement? Well, among other things, the word "patchwork". Under the Clean Air Act, there are only two possible standards for motor vehicles:

1. Federal standards
2. California standards, which are tougher than federal standards and other states may adopt.

A choice between two options is hardly a "confusing patchwork". So where did this idea come from?

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This post is by James Wang, Ph.D., a climate scientist at Environmental Defense.

You may have heard about the persistent droughts in the western U.S., Australia, and other regions. The Upper Colorado River Basin is experiencing a protracted, multi-year drought that started in 1999. Australia's record drought is threatening the livelihood of traditional farmers and ranchers.

At what point does a passing drought become a permanent shift to desert conditions, and why would such a thing happen?

It can happen because of global warming. Climate change can alter global winds, the strength and location of high and low pressure systems, and other climate factors.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Yesterday, the New York Times ran a story about light bulbs. If you only read the beginning of the article, you might think it was saying that compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) have poor quality light. But in fact, its conclusion - after testing a wide array of bulbs - was that some are better than others.

It's true - some are better than others. For information on CFLs and how they differ, check out our online guide, How to Pick a Better Bulb.

This post is by Andy Darrell, Regional Director for the Living Cities program at Environmental Defense.

There are way too many cars in New York City - no question about that. Congestion pricing - charging a fee to cars entering the city - is a simple and effective solution.

But some people weren't so sure about this when Mayor Bloomberg first proposed the plan. So last summer, a commission - on which I serve - was formed to study the issue and make recommendations.

Today, after six months of intensive research, public hearings and debate, we released a draft of our recommendations. And we want your feedback.

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This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

When we first launched the Climate 411 blog, we posted a lot of useful articles on the basic science of climate change. I often want to link to them in other posts, but I have trouble finding them. If I have trouble finding them, you all certainly must, so here are the links, all in one place.

The Greenhouse Effect Explained
The Water Vapor Fallacy
Picturing a ton of CO2
Picturing 21 Million Barrels of Oil

How We Know Humans Cause Global Warming
1. A 175-year-old Puzzle
2. What Chemistry Tells Us
3. Causes of Past Climate Change
4. The Medieval Warming Period
5. The Only Explanation Left

Action Needed to Stop Global Warming
1. How Warm is Too Warm?
2. Worldwide Emissions Target
3. U.S. Emissions Target
4. Technologies to Get Us There

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

When you save water, you save energy - and vice versa. Carbon calculators can give you some idea of your carbon footprint, but most don't take into account your water usage. How much water do you use? Now you can find out.

A new Web site, H₂O Conserve, offers an H₂O Calculator. I tried it, and it said I used 479.88 gallons per day (I do?). The average American uses 1189.3 gallons of water per day, so I guess it's not as bad as it sounds.

The site also includes a comprehensive tips section for learning how to use less water.

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Site member border2 posted this idea to our Suggestion Box:

I think it could be useful/interesting to have some sort of a comparison or perspective of how much oil is being consumed by the U.S. and the world. … Like every x number of minutes the U.S. consumes x number of Olympic-size swimming pools of oil. I really don't have a concept of the massive amount of oil we are using - x barrels of oil doesn't translate into something I can plug into my world.

I put this question to one of our numbers experts, Noah Greenberg, and here's what he told me.

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This post is by James Wang, Ph.D., a climate scientist at Environmental Defense.

Climate change denier and U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla) published a report just before Christmas with the headline: "Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming Claims in 2007." Does that leave you surprised and wondering? It shouldn't. It's a shocker of a headline, but the report itself doesn't back up the claim.

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This post is by Eric Holst, Manager, Center for Conservation Incentives, Environmental Defense.

Everyone can do something to help stop global warming. Here's an example…

When California passed the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), California rice growers wanted to explore ways to lower their net emissions. But exactly how to go about doing this wasn't clear, so Environmental Defense teamed up with the California Rice Commission to work on the challenge.

As in other sectors of agriculture, rice farms both produce greenhouse gas emissions (mainly in the form of methane) and sequester carbon in field vegetation and soils. Our two-year project, launched in October, seeks to develop precise techniques - voluntarily implemented - to reduce emissions and increase sequestration, and to quantify emission benefits.

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