When: Tomorrow, Monday October 6, 2008 from 11 to 1 (or 2)
Where: State Capitol Legislative Building Steps (North side of building)

The No LNG workshop at Traditions earlier tonight was informative. I learned that there are a number of good reasons to be opposed to a proposed LNG terminal on the banks of the Columbia River in Southern Washington State. The composition of the opposition is grass roots; it's a coalition of local stake-holders who would be affected by the Bradford Landing liquid natural gas terminal, as well as advocates for environmental justice.

Tomorrow's rally will call on Governor Gregoire to assist the peoples' opposition to this unnecessary and environmentally harmful project. The office of the Governor has made noises about even going so far as suing to stop the Houston based NorthernStar Energy Group's efforts to develop LNG terminals and pipelines - given the lack of appropriate state level input, environmental review, and oversight. The proposal has thus far been pushed and ferried through under authority of the 5 person Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), although one member of the Bush Administration appointed commission, Jon Wellinghoff, who is also the only one to have met with concerned stake-holders, has written a powerful and substantive dissent of the FERC position (to permit) the NorthernStar LNG endeavors. Find out more about that at tomorrow's rally! (More detailed information is available on the FERC website, as well.)

Jay Manning from the Dep. of Ecology will be among the speakers. There will be important information about what exactly is going down with proposals for pipelines and shipping terminals, the natural gas market, and the dangers and environmental pitfalls of the LNG trade.

No to global warming! No to LNG! Yes to renewable/sustainable energy! Yes to a better tomorrow!

More information: No LNG [http://nolng.net/]

[correction: It's the "NorthernStar Natural Gas" Energy Group that has proposed the Bradwood Landing LNG Terminal and associated pipelines, not the "Northstar Energy Group", as previously stated above, article amended to reflect correction.

Also for more information please see: River Vision: Renewable Energy Sources, Columbia River Vision.]

see photo

Liu Ning, a engineer, has been riding his bike to work along the waterfront for the past year during the morning commute in San Francisco, California. (Tony Avelar/ Special to the Christian Sceince Monitor)

Treading lightly: How to gauge my carbon footprint?

First, find out how big it is by using a free online calculator.

By The EDITORS OF E MAGAZINE| September 26, 2008 edition

Q: How can I measure – and then reduce – my overall “carbon footprint”? What are the major ­areas of one’s daily life that one measures?
– Andy Fusco, Passaic, N.J.

A: With global warming dominating so many headlines today, it’s no surprise that many of us are looking to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases our activities produce.

By assessing how much pollution each of your individual actions generates – be it setting your thermostat, shopping for groceries, commuting to work, or flying somewhere for vacation – you can begin to see how changing a few habits here and there may significantly reduce your overall carbon footprint. A number of free online carbon footprint calculators can help you figure out where to start.

One of the best, in our opinion, is the University of California at ...

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