Global Warming: We Have to Act Now

The Associated Press has released a story about President-Elect Obama's promise to act on reducing emissions as soon as he is in office — but is there enough time left?

Obama Left With Little Time to Curb Global Warming

By Seth Borenstein

WASHINGTON (AP) - When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.

Since Clinton's inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration. Global warming is accelerating. Time is close to running out, and Obama knows it.

"The time for delay is over; the time for denial is over," he said on Tuesday after meeting with former Vice President Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming. "We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be dealt with in a serious way." ... read more

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Growing and Greening New York: PlaNYC and the Future of the City Exhibit Opens at the Museum of the City of New York

The Eagle received this statement from Mayor Bloomberg:

"Congratulations to The Museum of the City of New York for the opening of their new exhibition on PlaNYC: "Growing and Greening New York." The Museum is a living museum — an institution that embraces the future as much as it cherishes and preserves the past — and sustainability has become more and more important to our quality of life. We launched PlaNYC in 2006 with a substantial public outreach campaign, and this great exhibit is just one more way of expanding the conversation and engaging New Yorkers on this issue. The exhibition takes visitors through the course of a typical day in 2030 — from 7:00 AM to 2:00 AM — and I encourage all New Yorkers to come out and view it.

"The Museum curators and the City agencies that cooperated with them have staged an exhibit that teaches, inspires, and entertains. And that's more important than ever — because in these tough economic times, our cultural community not only supports tourism and jobs in the City, it lifts our collective spirit."

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De Blasio Reiterates Strong Opposition to Drilling in the New York City Watershed

The Eagle received this press release:

On Friday, the Council's Environmental Protection Committee held an oversight hearing to examine the issue of drilling for natural gas in the New York City watershed. Councilmember Bill de Blasio strongly opposes this possibility, and stated:

"It is unconscionable to allow the toxic chemicals often involved in the gas drilling process to enter our New York city water supply at unsafe levels. Over fourteen million people rely on the New York City Watershed as their potable water source, and so it is our responsibility to fully protect this critical regional resource. We must choose the health and safety of New Yorkers over the short-term gains of increasing our natural gas supply."

De Blasio added, "Drilling in the City's watershed not only risks the health and well-being of millions of New Yorkers, but is fiscally irresponsible as well. In the event of contamination, filtering New York City's water supply would cost taxpayers in excess of ten billion dollars."

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Eco-Friendly ‘Progressive Dinner’

It started with the invitation. For this year’s third annual progressive dinner hosted by Brooklyn neighbors Caroline and James Koster, Landis and James Best and Susannah Drake and Stephen Culhane, the theme was eco-friendly.

To set the tone, their 60 invited guests received invitations printed on botanical seeded paper which sprouts into wildflowers when planted after the party is over. The invitation further encouraged “vintage, homespun, borrowed or handmade fashions.”

Plans were then made to host an eco-friendly cocktail party at the Bests’ home followed by a black tie seated dinner a few blocks away at the Kosters’ apartment.

“With guests able to walk to the events and to the Yuletide Ball after the dinner, we realized that it would just cost a few dollars to offset our carbon footprint for the event,” said organizer Caroline Koster. “So, we had to come up with some new ideas to make an eco-friendly event.” The trio decided to feature organic and local foods and beverages, environmental awareness and homemade ideas to make the party elegant, festive and green.

In addition to the cocktail party, which will feature organic and Long Island wines ... read more

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Students Learn About Composting

The Eagle received this press release:

Over a dozen third, fourth and fifth graders from PS 25 and PS 46 joined Partnership with Children's Environmental Group with their parents and teachers for a workshop with Luke Halligan. Halligan is from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and is the compost instructor of the Brooklyn Compost Project of Brooklyn Greenbridge. He is also a certified BBG master composter and Vice President/Education Chair at the Floyd Bennett Garden Association.

The children learned about indoor and outdoor composting; the workshop included an indoor worm bin with live worms and outdoor compost systems.

"Since Partnership with Children came to our school, we have seen improvements in the children socially and academically," said PS 46 Principal Brenda Hill. "Partnerships between nonprofits and community leaders — like ours with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden — are becoming increasingly important, especially when our children need additional educational resources. Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s work with our youth is a perfect example of one organization’s commitment to making a difference in the lives of at-risk children."

The following day at PS 25, Partnership with Children hosted a harvesting event for over 60 third graders and their parents and teachers, offering them an opportunity to celebrate the season. The group participated in face painting, pumpkin decorating, cookie decorating and frame making.

Partnership with Children is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the emotional, social and cognitive skills of at-risk public school children in order to help them succeed in school, in society and in their lives. Formerly Big Sisters, Inc., Partnership with Children was founded in 1908 and today serves over 12,000 children in 27 schools throughout all of the boroughs of New York through its various programs.

The photo above, courtesy of the school, is of Cesaly Sanchez, Orlanda Rivera, Kaliyah Jones, students at PS 25.

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Upcoming Greenway Cleanup

This Saturday, December 13, the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) is hosting a Greenway cleanup along Columbia Street, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. BGI, along with the Columbia Street Neighborhood Association, hosts monthly cleanups to keep trash and debris off the newest segment of the Greenway route, which, when finished, will stretch 14 miles along the Brooklyn Waterfront. To participate this weekend, RSVP to Brian McCormick at bmccormick@brooklyngreenway.org.



The photo above is of Brian McCormick, one of the founders of BGI, and a volunteer at August's greenway cleanup. The photo at right is of the Greenway in action.

Photos courtesy of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.

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A Germinating Holiday Card

The New York Observer posted in their real estate section an image of a "Holiday Green Card" given out by the New York City Housing Development Corporation. After putting the card in water for a few hours and then burying it in soil, it will turn into flowers!

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