From time to time we need to be reminded that only “we” can make the difference on climate change. Bill McKibben has a great way doing that. This recent speech to 10,000 350.org supporters in Washington D.C. is one of those reminders.

Find out why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying organization on Capitol Hill, is not the earth’s friend (but is the best of friends with the largest corporations in America).

Find out why 350 is the most important number for us all to know.

Warmer winters lead to pine bark beetles never dying off in Yellowstone. With more pines dying, bears already in a fragile ecosystem lose another food source. This has resulted in two tragic bear maulings this year, concludes writer Paul Solotaroff, interviewed by NPR. Powerful story how we really will not be able to anticipate the various ways that global warming will affect us and our environment.

Remember our post about fracking? Now some congressional heavy weights have issued a report. Among the findings:

Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005-2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday.

The report said 29 of the chemicals injected were known-or-suspected human carcinogens. They either were regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act as risks to human health or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

Also, check out this Huffington Post article.

The Big Thirst examines the future of a natural resource that, author David Fishman says, we can no longer take for granted. “The last 100 years has been the golden age of water in the developed world: water that has been safe, unlimited and essentially free,” he tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “But that era is over. We will not, going forward, have water that has all three of those qualities at the same time: unlimited, unthinkingly inexpensive and safe.” Take a half hour to listen to this important, fascinating, fact intensive interview. For example, Fishman explains that in the U.S., we spend $21 billion a year buying bottled water, and we spend $29 billion a year maintaining the entire water system — pipes, treatment plants, pumps. We spend almost as much on crushable plastic bottles of water as we do maintaining the water system.”

Recently on a trip back from Molokai, in waning light, I was able to capture some photos of the numerous fish ponds along the coastline. These ancient artifacts speak for themselves — and they are an inspiration as we look toward Earth Day. Continue reading →

One of the nation’s only open-ocean fish farms (Kona Blue) is close to getting the OK for an innovative project off the Kona coast. But not without some controversy. HPR’s Ben Markus reports. Whether you are for or against, you need to include in your assessment the state of our natural fisheries, which are near collapse. On that subject, make sure to check out the documentary End of the Line, which you can find on our documentaries page. To us a fish farm makes sense if it can be done right. We know the Hawaiians successfully did it. On that note, I’ll upload tomorrow a cool shot taken from the plane coming back from Molokai recently.

Check out Maui No Ka Oi Magazine’s online edition featuring a story about Hawaii environmental heroes for 2011. They  are: Paul Higashino (Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve Commission); Lori Buchanan (Maui Invasive Species Committee); Iokepa Nae‘ole (Neighborhood Place of Wailuku); Lehn Huff (Maui School Garden Network); Walter Enomoto (Maui Bicycle Alliance). The article describes some interesting life journeys, and illuminates some inspiring work.

Today the National Radio Project featured an in depth story (“Still Fracking”) about a natural gas drilling method called “hydraulic fracturing” or “fracking.” You’ve probably heard about this controversial extraction technique. But this story, which uses the recent documentary, Gasland, as a spring board, persuasively identifies the risks to our drinking water. The lack of regulatory oversight is disturbing and many states are taking action since Congress has not. The above link to the story also includes a multitude of other links on the subject of fracking.

Since we are on the subject of trees, this is a good time to tell you about Plant A Wish, which brings local communities together by holding hands-on native tree planting ceremonies in all 50 states. A documentary of the project is also in the works. This project was started by Maui’s own Sara Tekula and Joe Imhoff. Sara runs Noni Films and Media. Good luck to Sara and Joe who are on the mainland right now planting trees!