President Obama Announces Climate Agreement

President Obama addressed the nation on the global agreement to combat climate change that was just reached in the Paris climate talks, December 12, 2015.

The Paris Agreement establishes a long term, durable global framework to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. For the first time, all countries commit to putting forward successive and ambitious, nationally determined climate targets and reporting on their progress towards them using a rigorous, standardized process of review.

Learn everything you need to know about how the agreement will work here.

"Chasing Ice" Documentary April 29th

Dear Friends of WATERSPIRIT,

Come and see Chasing Ice, an award winning documentary of the story of National Geographic photographer James Balog's mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of climate change. Using time-lapse cameras, his videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet. Enjoy the beauty of the photography and see the reality of the effects of climate change. Ice cream will be served!

April 29, 2014, 2:00 and 7:00 PM

Stella Maris Retreat Center, 981 Ocean Avenue, Elberon, NJ 07740.

Humbled

he following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter:

We are always humbled on Veterans Day to recognize that we, as a nation, cannot repay the debt we owe to those who served.  But we can at least honor and commemorate their service.  I was privileged on Monday to present tokens of gratitude to two of our local veterans.

George Scherer of Ewing graduated from Trenton State College in 1965 and was drafted into the Army.  He served in Vietnam as a Crew Chief and Door Gunner on a UH-1C Helicopter Gunship.  He earned seven medals that, because an administrative error, he never received during his service, including a Purple Heart.

William Boyle of Lawrence enlisted on May 6, 1943 in the Bronx as a Construction Machine Operator and served in the 628th Engineer Light Equipment Company.  He earned four medals that he never received during his service, including the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

Both veterans called me earlier this year to ask for help, and I intervened with the Army to obtain their long-overdue medals.  This week, I joined the community at a Ewing Veterans Day commemoration to present these decorations and express our deep gratitude for their service.

If you know a veteran who also is due a medal or award that he or she never received, please e-mail me or call me at 1-87-RUSH-HOLT so that our nation may properly honor our heroes. 

Adapting Together to the New Normal
When hurricanes strike, the federal government must play a key role in the response – but much of the day-to-day work of disaster prevention and mitigation is intensely local:  the coordination of first responders, the construction of levees and floodwalls across municipal boundaries, and so on.  It is critical that local, state, and federal officials collaborate to address natural disasters as effectively as possible.

Last week, I convened a roundtable with U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, federal and state emergency management officials, and representatives from local governments across Middlesex County – including Old Bridge, South River, Dunellen, East Brunswick, and Middlesex Boro.

Sandy was not the last superstorm that will strike New Jersey.  Stronger, more intense storms are becoming the new normal, and we must continue to work together across all levels of government to adapt, prepare, and serve our constituents.

The Quakers in New Jersey
Central New Jersey is full of diversity and home to many people of many different faiths.  Our state and country have benefited greatly from their many varied contributions.  From 1674 on, members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, have played a prominent role in the history of New Jersey and have been leaders in commerce, manufacturing, and the development of ideas for an emerging American democracy.

The 1676 document “Concessions and Agreements of the Proprietors, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the Province of West New Jersey in America” introduced into American law some of our most revered freedoms, principles, and institutions:  freedom of religion; democratic government through a predominant, powerful assembly elected “by all free men;” no taxation without the consent of the governed; trial by independent jury; sunshine laws; safeguards against bribery; restorative justice; and equal rights for native Americans.  Known as a “peaceable community,” Quakers have been active in abolishing slavery and inhuman practices and in seeking ways to avoid war.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

Holt Web Ad - Climate Change

Speaking of Climate Change

Rush Holt released his latest Campaign for U.S. Senate web ad today on the topic of Climate Change.

“The evidence is overwhelming: Climate change is real, and humans are to blame. Humans have dumped so much carbon dioxide into the air that concentrations are up 39 percent worldwide. And the consequences are exactly what physics predicts. Every single month since 1985 has been warmer than the historic average. All 12 of the warmest years on record have come in the last 15 years.", the video states.

"We have to stop treating climate change like there’s doubt about the science. We must cap greenhouse gas emissions and end the assault that corporate interests are waging on our planet.”, Holt adds on his campaign's web page.

We Have To Act

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter

Last week, I attended President Obama’s speech at Georgetown University where he outlined his Climate Action Plan. The crisis in not waning. We have to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. We have a moral obligation to act.

As the climate changes there will be stronger superstorms, worse floods, more withering droughts, and more intense wildfires. These natural disasters are already imposing horrific costs in dollars and lives.

The science is overwhelming, but many of my colleagues in Congress would prefer to deepen our dependence on fossil fuels. President Obama must do all he can administratively to reduce carbon pollution and mitigate the threats of global climate change while Congress fiddles. As a scientist and an elected leader I remain committed to even stronger legislative action in the fight against climate change.

One Step Forward, One Giant Leap Backwards

The Supreme Court finally overturned the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). As a founding member of the Equality Caucus, I have long supported marriage equality. The Courts ruling to end of DOMA is an important step in our nation’s efforts to extend the civil rights of all Americans. But we must go further. Last week, I joined my colleagues in the house in reintroducing the Respect for Marriage Act to ensure respect for State regulation of marriage. It is past time for Governor Christie to stop blocking same-sex marriage in New Jersey.

Sadly, while the Court overturned DOMA, it also struck down an essential part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which has helped guarantee the right to vote for every American regardless of their race.

By forbidding the Department of Justice from acting to prevent voter discrimination in America, the Supreme Court leaves no option but for Congress to act, if we are to be true to our founding values of liberty and justice for all. I look forward to working with Civil Rights icon Representative John Lewis to correct this decision and protect the voting rights all Americans.

Honoring Their Service

I was recently contacted by the spouse of a Marine Corps veteran who could not be buried with full military honors because of missing paperwork. After contacting the relevant officials to cut through the red tape the veteran was laid to rest with the dignity and respect he had earned.

If you need help to resolve a problem with a government agency please let me know so I can do everything possible to help. You can call 1-87-RUSH-HOLT or send an e-mail at http://holt.house.gov/contact.



Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

President Obama's Weekly Address 6/29/13: Confronting the Growing Threat of Climate Change

WASHINGTON, DC—In this week’s address, President Obama told the American people about a plan he unveiled a few days ago that confronts the growing threat of climate change, which will cut carbon pollution, protect our country from the impacts of climate change, and lead the world in a coordinated assault on a changing climate. The President’s plan recognizes that there is no contradiction between a sound environment and a strong economy, and he calls on all Americans to speak up about climate change in their communities and remind their elected officials that we must take action to protect our future generations from the ravages of climate change now.

Dangerous and Costly

The following is from Congressman Rush Holt's newsletter:

This past week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per million.

This is a milestone in human history in two senses. First, this level of carbon dioxide has never been seen by any human being. In fact, this level has not been achieved for millions of years.

But also, this is a milestone for humans because it is human activity, the way we produce and use energy, that is responsible for this high concentration. As scientists have made clear, this great concentration of greenhouse gas is changing our very climate in ways that are dangerous and costly in dollars and lives.


If we fail to change our ways, fail to change how we generate and use energy, then we will face worse and worse blistering wildfires, withering droughts, flooding events, and super-hurricanes.

As the earth goes barreling past 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, Congress should take action now, this year, to address climate change. As a member of the Safe Climate Caucus, I am committed to seeing that this moment is a turning point, not just a marker of inaction and environmental degradation.

Understanding Your Social Security Benefits

Did you know that many day-to-day transactions with the Social Security Administration can be completed online? You can apply online for retirement benefits, survivors benefits, or Medicare. If you aren’t yet ready to apply for benefits, you can estimate your retirement benefits or create a My Social Security account to view your earnings history online.

If you have questions that aren’t answered online, or if you’d just like to talk to an expert, you can also attend helpful presentations by the Social Security Administration in the community. The next session is scheduled for Wednesday, May 20:

Understanding Your Social Security Benefits
3:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 20, 2013
Hickory Corner Library
138 Hickory Corner Road
East Windsor, New Jersey

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

Is Climate Change A Sleeper Issue? Last Months Seminar Addressed The Issue

Back on September 20th, the Environmental Committee of the Middletown Democratic Party held a Seminar on Climate Change at the Middletown Library, I announced it but failed to follow up on its outcome.

It was a great event that was very informative and thought provoking; people walked away impressed with what they had heard, the video is posted below. If you're interested you should watch it.

But what jogged my memory about the event was an article posted on Mother Jones yesterday titled  "Is Climate Change the Sleeper Issue of 2012?" which says, according to recent polling data, swing voters are increasingly "green" voters, who are staring to become worried about extreme weather changes and think climate change needs to be further addressed.

According to  recent studies sited in the article, "...researchers conducted a survey in which respondents were broken into three groups, and then asked to support a hypothetical Senate candidate who either (1) denied the science of global warming and attacked cap and trade, (2) accepted the science and called for action, or (3) took no position on the issue. The result was clear: 77 percent of respondents supported the "green" candidate, 65 percent the neutral candidate, and only 48 percent the denier candidate. Both Democrats and independents strongly favored a green candidate over a neutral one, while for Republicans it was basically a wash—neither a pro- nor an anti-climate candidate moved them much. "By taking a green position on climate, candidates of either party can gain votes,"...

Their findings were reinforced earlier this year by researchers at Yale and George Mason University who, in a March 2012 survey, similarly found that taking a stand on climate has the potential to motivate Democratic and independent voters, without causing damage among Republicans. For instance, 82 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents agreed that the United States should undertake an either medium- or large-scale effort to cut down global warming...."

So, is climate change now a winning issue for politicians? Maybe, it depends on how the information is presented.

If it is presented in a way that is "relevant to their livelihoods, experiences in their states and localities.", people respond positively and are more likely to support politicians that believe something needs to be done about climate change.

Climate Change Seminar at the Middletown Library September 20th

(hosted by the Middletown Democratic Environment Committee)

The panel of experts:

Thomas L. Delworth is a Research Scientist and Group Leader in the Climate Change, Variability and Prediction Group at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL). He is also a Lecturer at Princeton University in the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Program.  Dr. Delworth has played a key role in the development of several generations of climate models at GFDL. His research largely focuses on decadal to centennial climate variability and change through the synthesis of climate models and observational data. On these time scales the behavior of the climate system is a mixture of natural variability and the response of the climate system to changing radiative forcing induced by changing greenhouse gases and aerosols. Understanding the natural variability of the climate system on decadal scales is critical to our ability to detect climate change, and to understand the processes responsible for observed change from the global to the regional scale. Dr. Delworth has served on a number of national and international committees, and is an author of more than 90 scientific papers.

Arun Chaddha:  I graduated in 1995 from Western New England College with a BSBA in Engineering Management.  In 2009, Shannon Martiak and I started Solar Mite Solutions with the goal of helping both residential and commercial clients lower their carbon footprint while reducing their electrical energy costs. Additionally, we have incorporated Energy Audits, Energy Management Systems and Lighting Solutions to help reduce the additional consumption of electrical and carbon fuel that is incurred by the structure, thus further reducing the overall effect on the environment.

Joseph Robertson is a visiting instructor in Spanish language and humanities at Villanova University, where he is also the creator and coordinator of GreenNOVA.org online community for environmentally sustainable projects, and organizer of the ClimateTalks.info roundtable discussion series. He is founder and director of the Hot Spring Network, a social-networking innovation project aimed at brainstorming paradigm-shift solutions, ProjectQuipu.net, a user-made global economic forum that seeks to find new ways to assess the real economic value of intangibles, and to propose generative policy solutions that empower individuals and communities.  Through his volunteer work with the non-partisan, non-profit organization Citizens Climate Lobby, he advocates for sustainable energy and climate policy on Capitol Hill. In September 2010, he produced the report Building a Green Economy: The Economics of Carbon-pricing and the Transition to Clean, Renewable Fuels for Citizens Climate Lobby. The report is available in print and online and is distributed to elected officials and to organizations across the United States. All of his projects can be accessed through the website - PoetEconomist.com.

Jan Dash has a PhD in theoretical physics from UC Berkeley, and has published over 50 papers in scientific journals. He was Directeur de Recherche at the Centre de Physique Théorique CNRS in Marseille, France. He is currently Visiting Research Scholar at Fordham University and Adjunct Professor at the Courant Institute NYU. Jan is the UU-UNO Climate Initiative Chair and Managing Editor of their Climate Portal at http://climate.uu-uno.org/.  He is a Matchmaker for the Climate Science Rapid Response Team whose goal is to provide authoritative scientific answers to media questions. Jan is the author of the popular “one-liner” responses to climate contrarian/denier/faux-skeptic fallacies. He was the Editor of the Climate Statement Summary and Recommendations to Governments of the UN Committee on Sustainable Development (Co-NGO, NY), delivered to leaders at the Copenhagen, Cancun, and Durban Climate Conferences. Relevant to the economic impacts of global warming, Jan has worked for 25 years in quantitative risk management at various financial institutions, and wrote a book on the subject.  

States In Northeast Cap And Trade Program Reduce CO2 20% Faster And Grow GDP At Twice The Rate of Other States

Just in time for Earth Day, Think Progress posted an article on Friday that gives credence Cap and Trade. Not only does the capping of carbon emissions and trading the credits work to reduce carbon polution, it has created $1.6 billion in real economic value and has not driven up electrical rates paid by consumers here in the Northeast.
Cap and Trade has also stimulated the investments in efficiency and renewable energy, which has lead to $1.1 billion savings for ratepayers.

Northeastern states participating in America’s first carbon cap and trade program have outperformed the rest of the country in GDP growth and reduction in global warming pollution.

That’s according to a new report from Environment New Jersey, which examined emissions data and economic growth indicators from 2000 to 2009.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a nine-state cap-and-trade market designed to reduce emissions in the utility sector 10% by 2018. A recent independent analysis showed that the program has already created $1.6 billion in economic value and set the stage for $1.1 billion in ratepayer savings through investments in efficiency and renewable energy. 

This latest report shows that states under the RGGI program saw a 20% greater reduction in per-capita carbon emissions than non-RGGI states — all while growing per-capita GDP at double the rate of the rest of the country....

Continue reading ....Here

Monday 3/5/12: Community Briefing with Environment New Jersey on Clean Air and Clean Energy in New Jersey

Environment New Jersey is holding a community briefing to educate residents on the benefits of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and what you can do to convince your elected officials to stop Governor Christie's attacks on this clean air program, tomorrow March 5th, 7:00 PM at Starbucks, 4 White St., Red Bank.

Your local legislators will soon cast a key vote that will determine whether New Jersey sticks with the program. Join us on Monday in asking them to stand up to Governor Christie on this issue, and stand with the people of New Jersey for cleaner air and clean energy.

You can also sign our online petition on this issue at: http://www.norollback.org to support on this issue. We need to continue this important program if we hope to clean our air, promote clean energy, and help fight climate change.

 Quick Facts:

RGGI caps power plant pollution and makes polluters pay for their emissions.
RGGI funds clean energy programs, including solar arrays and efficient buildings that grow the economy. RGGI is our only tool to directly control global warming and pollution from power plants.

Please RSVP or request more info: dderosa@environmentnewjersey.org

NJ Sen. Robert Menendez: A Letter to Santa Claus

I found the following Letter to Santa written by Senator Robert Menendez, posted over at the Huffington Post. The letter address his concerns over global warming. I think it is a cute and novel way to inform people of the problem that global warming presents.

In his letter Menendez lets Santa know that if he needs to relocate from the North Pole, due to the continuing melting of the polar ice cap, he would be happy to have him live here in the great State of NJ.

Senator Menendez also lets Santa (us) know that he is fighting to help put an end to global warming by supporting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.


Dear Santa Claus,

I am writing out of concern, because you may have to move from the North Pole due to the dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice. The Navy's chief oceanographer says that by the summer of 2020 the North Pole may not have summer ice and other scientists project that an ice-free Arctic is possible as soon as 2012!

Scientists overwhelmingly agree that polar ice is melting because of greenhouse gas pollution and I am working hard to reduce these emissions. But there is probably nothing we can do in time to save the North Pole. I am worried about your safety and your ability to deliver billions of Christmas gifts if the ice cap on the North Pole no longer stays frozen all year. What will happen to your house, your workshop, the elves' houses and your reindeer barns?

I want you to know that if you want to relocate to the beautiful state of New Jersey, I would be proud to assist you. But given the climate you are accustomed to, I will understand if you would like to relocate to the South Pole. Just be sure not to move to the Antarctic Peninsula or West Antarctic ice sheet, areas that are also experiencing rapid ice melt.

Please know that I will work to mobilize the U.S. federal government to assist when you relocate. I am sure we can both agree that on a warming planet, we need to do all we can to save Christmas.

Sincerely,
Robert Menendez
U.S. Senator

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Heatwave - Too Hot To Handle

It's a hot one out there today, is this heatwave a cause of global warming or something else?