04 Mar Digest 3/4: Climate Action that’s Good for $$, Chicago Quits Coal, Obama Against Oil, Worst Tornado Day Ever

This was a HUGE week in environmental history. Chicago announced near-term closure of two of the nation's dirtiest coal plants, Obama attacked oil subsidies during a campaign speech in New Hampshire, unusually widespread and numerous tornadoes took lives and destroyed property from Georgia to Illinios. Additionally, I dug up a 2009 interview with Kristen Sheerhan, exec. dir. of Economists for Equity and the Environment, in which Sheerhan says there's "no credible evidence" to support the idea that dramatically cutting greenhouse gas emissions would kill jobs or damage the US economy.

Climate Action that Won't Hurt the Economy
What kind of large-scale, super meaningful, structural changes can our economy take on to protect the planet from climate change? All of it, according to Economics for Equity and the Environment, a network of more than 200 independent economists… Read my brief here.

Chicago Quits Coal
A truely historic moment: America's first major metropolex quits coal. According to the NAACP, Chicago's two coal planets are the #1 and #3 worst environmental justice offenders in the United States. "The Fisk coal plant will shut down in 2012 and the Crawford coal plant will shut down by 2014…" Read my brief here. (To get involved in the Austin effort, which has considerable local momentum — check out Austin Beyond Coal or contact: <Ian.Davis at SierraClub dot org>.)

Obama Campaigning on Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Why Obama may be right about ending oil & gas subsidies.
Since 1955 more than 60% of America's Top 20 Companies have been either oil & gas companies (such as: Exxon, Texaco and Shell) or oil & gas dependent companies (such as: Ford, Goodyear and Boeing). Food, water, electricity, medicine, media? No — Oil. what's more the US Energy Information Administration shows since 1950 America's Oil & Gas industry has recv'd roughly 4x more federal subsidization than any other energy industry… Read my blog here.

Worst Tornado Outbreak in US History
Last week's tornado outbreak boggles the mind. For one thing, this is exactly the kind of activity predicted by the climate change books I read ten years ago. "There were 86 tornadoes reported today, normally there are 87 tornadoes during the month of March (nationwide)…" Read my blog here. 

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Tweets of the Week

: )  Lego Invests $539m in Wind Farm http://bit.ly/z8OaAA

: (  Austin's drought status reduced to "severe" !!! (this is good news) http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/monitor.html

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