Green Resolution

I've been meaning to put together a list of simple things we can do to reduce carbon emissions. My number one resolution for the new year is to curb my own carbon output (as well, predictably, as my caloric input). Of course this will be difficult since I will be doing a lot of air travel and since I do not currently have a home to make greener, but I will do the best I can.

There are some really good lists for carbon-reducing actions already on the Web, so rather than re-creating the wheel, I figured I'd highlight some of the better destinations. These include:

1. Undoit: Environmental Defense Fund's "20 Simple Steps to Undo Global Warming." This list mostly pertains to greening one's house, such as optimizing appliance performance and choosing the right lightbulbs, but is also includes some vehicular advice. Each item has an estimate for net carbon and cost savings.
2. Participate.net's Oil Change campaign, associated with the film Syriana, ask for participants to pledge to reduce their dependence on foreign oil by committing to actions that save oil by making cars more efficient and by saving oil at work.
3. Carbon Trust: a UK government funded NGO that advises businesses and publice sector organizations reduce emissions has a basic list of lighting, heating and energy management tips.
4. Greenpeace: has 12 steps to greater efficiency in the home. Good stuff, including a plea not to use electric heaters and boilers, which are extremely inefficient.
5. Environmental Defense: has a number of political actions to take, such as urging automakers to manufacture more efficient vehicles and pressuring congress to support
6. Offsetters: for those, like me, who must travel by air, the best we can do aside from reducing the number of trips we take, is to invest in carbon reducing activities which offset the enormous emissions associated with burning jet fuel. Offsetters has a handy flight-emissions calculator, so you can know exactly how guilty to feel when you plan your travel.
7. Terrapass: if clocking big miles in a big SUV is your vice, then please sell your damn SUV and get a reasonably sized car. If this isn't in the cards for you, then calculate your vehicular emissions and purchase offsets.

Please post more suggestions to help us with our green resolutions. Happy New Year!

Syriana

After much anticipation, I finally got to see Syriana. Though not without its faults, the film did not disappoint. I should say that I did a project for Participant Productions, so I came into the theatre with a lot of positive bias


The bad first. Yes, I agree with the moans of complexity, the groans of loose threads and unnecessary violence. The films' several concurrent story lines are fragmented, thinly unexplained and somewhat meandering.


But dismissing Syriana because it's hard to get is a bit of a cop out. The film is ambitious in its attempt to cover a lot of ground, from Washington to the "Persian Gulf" (presumably Saudi), to Spain and Geneva. More than its geographic expanse, Syriana hits some of the biggest issues of our time: big oil's massive political influence from Saudi to Kazakhstan to Washington, the seeds of Islamic terrorism (which lay, according to the film, in economic disparity), and the growing challenge to American economic superiority--China.


Yes, this may be more than most holiday movie-goers are willing to bite off. And it may be more than any film can pull off without difficulty. But director Stephan Gaghan and a cast that includes Clooney, Damon, Chris Cooper and William Hurt do a damn good job of it. I only wish that more films would help in covering some of the same important subject matter.


Participant has created an "Oil Change" campaign around the film, through partnerships with NRDC and Sierra Club. Check out the campaign and get involved: http://www.participate.net/oilchange.


Next on the list (should've been first) is to read Robert Baer's book from whence Syriana came, "See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism."