Help with Passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, June, 2009

I sat in (with 600 others) on a conference call call on Wednesday, June 10 with Reps. Waxman and Markey. Both said that it was extremely important that we generate as many contacts as possible in the next two weeks to assist with passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act in the house. The urgency is even greater than I had imagined.

So - we need to let our Congressmen and women hear from us in the next two weeks that we are strongly in favor of passage of this bill. Chairman Waxman said that he is hoping to get it through the House basically as is and that any enhancements need to be made in the Senate. There were many questions about the concessions that had been made and the Representatives answered them and then left to go back to the floor, with their staffs fielding the questions for the last 20 minutes. Each concession had a plausible reason and there will be the ability to strengthen the the legislation in coming years in accordance with new science. As for the 17% CO2 reduction from 2005 by 2020 - Waxman said that with the other provisions, such as the renewable energy standard and the tropical forest protection that the true amount of decreased CO2 would actually be between 28-33% by 2020, which is a stronger statement to take to Copenhagen.

Some references to and analyses of the bill - note especially the stance of your congressperson and his or her contact information:
NPR Morning Edition: June 11, 2009
PowerShift09 Analysis
FTN Analysis
1SkyOverview
GRIST Summary
Your Congressperson's Contact Info
Your Congressperson's Stance on the Bill
1Sky Talking points
RePower America
350.org
Union of Concerned Scientists: Climate 2030

Alabama Boys State – June, 2009 Joyce Lanning

Actions to address global warming and climate change

1. Plan your global day of action, Oct. 24, 2009 - http://www.350.org/about
350.org is an international campaign with a mission to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis--to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet. The focus is on the number 350--as in parts per million, the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. This December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to craft a new global treaty on cutting emissions, but the treaty currently on the table doesn't meet the severity of the climate crisis--it doesn't pass the 350 test. They are working to unite the public, media, and our political leaders behind the 350 goal, and are harnessing the power of the internet to coordinate a planetary day of action on October 24, 2009, including one in your community. They want to send a clear message to world leaders: the solutions to climate change must be equitable, they must be grounded in science, and they must meet the scale of the crisis. You can join this effort at http://www.350.org/invitation and see what other youth groups all over the world have done at http://www.350.org/people/youth.

2. Create an education/action event for your school – National Wildlife Federation is a good resource – explore http://www.nwf.org/climateclassroom/teens/takeaction.cfm. Several options can be found at
http://www.nwf.org/climateclassroom/files/Action_projects-AITInTheClassroom.pdf or http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_classroom.asp

3. Expand your environment club to include climate change – or start a new one: See ‘Start a Group’ at the Earth Team Environmental Network, and explore their site for the many ideas and resources - http://www.earthteam.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=26&Itemid=64. Check out Kids vs. Global Warming - http://www.kids-vs-global-warming.com/Home.html or An Inconvenient Youth - http://www.inconvenientyouth.org/about/. Check out the helpful Cool School Challenge web site and take the challenge with the help of their 48-page booklet - http://coolschoolchallenge.org/take-the-challenge.aspx

4. Plan now for Earth Day 2010 – with a climate change focus. For 2009 activities see http://www.earthday.net/node/78, join the Green Generation at http://www.earthday.net/node/13475 and explore the other programs on the Earth Day Network web site.

5. Visit or contact your members of Congress: Get political - help convince our leaders to adopt climate change solutions by 2010 by sharing 1SKY’s agenda: CREATE 5 MILLION GREEN JOBS and pathways out of poverty by rebuilding and refueling America with a comprehensive energy efficiency mobilization including immediate investments in a clean-energy infrastructure. Reduce global Warming pollution at least 35% below current levels by 2020, and at least 80% by 2040, in line with the best science available. RE-POWER AMERICA by imposing a moratorium on new coal plants that emit global warming pollution and replacing dirty fuels with 100% renewable energy. http://action.1sky.org/t/4153/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1529

6. Link up with others for ideas and support at the new Alabama Climate Action Network and Sierra Club’s Climate Crossroads – join the new Alabama Climate Action Network by emailing alabama-climate-action-network@googlegroups.com or visiting http://groups.google.com/group/alabama-climate-action-network and join Climate Crossroads at http://climatecrossroads.sierraclub.org/index.html. Share your activities, ideas, questions and information you’ve discovered about getting involved at http://www.joyce4earthcare.blogspot.com/.

7. Have an assembly program at your school on climate change – you can contact Joyce Lanning (email address above) for possible speakers. Check out http://www.wecansolveit.org/ and click on ‘why join we’ to see her tell you why – then join that nonpartisan effort to build a movement that creates the political will to solve the climate crisis.

8. For responses to those who question the science of climate change, see http://www.skepticalscience.com/, and for a list of other reliable references, see http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/05/start-here/

An environmental plank in your platform and in your life.

For Alabama Boy's State 6/01/09 Joyce A. Lanning, Ph.D.

1. The environment of our cities, counties, state, nation and world is negatively impacted by the way we extract, manufacture, use and dispose of the stuff we enjoy, including the energy that moves us around and powers our lives. See http://www.storyofstuff.com/ and http://www.storyofstuff.com/resources.html

2. Since the environment provides more than stuff and energy – including many ‘ecosystem services’ like clean water & air, soil and pollination for growing food, habitats for us and other creatures, and more – we destroy it at our peril. Short term gain could be long term pain. http://www.umac.org/ocp/videos/ecosystemServices.html and for more information - http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html

3. A crucial and pressing issue that impacts almost everything in the environment is global warming – temperature increase as a result of burning fossil fuels and releasing other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere – and the changes in climate and ocean acidification that result. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/global-warming-environment/way-forward-climate.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification

4. Although the large majority of scientists and very many political leaders think that the situation is extremely serious, there are things that we can do to prevent the worst impacts of climate change by shifting our production and consumption patterns to slow the dangerous buildup of greenhouse gases that threaten the planetary systems we leave to future generations. We must also learn to help ourselves and others adapt to the changes we can’t avoid. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/index.html http://www.grida.no/_res/site/file/publications/ClimateInPeril.pdf

5. Current analyses of our economic crisis are also seeing economic opportunities by connecting jobs and financial recovery to energy and environmental changes in a push to create a new green economy. http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFPresitem11336.html

6. For examples of state actions on climate change, including emissions targets and action plans, see http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/Climate101-State-Jan09.pdf and http://www.seastudios.org/ahead2_video_qt.php Cut pollution and save cash -

a. Greenhouse Gas cap and trade programs involve all but 16 states
b. Renewable Portfolio (or Energy) Standards requiring a certain percentage of energy from renewables by a set date are in place in 29 states and DC.
c. Energy efficiency and productivity – all but two states produce and use energy
far more efficiently than Alabama – in buildings, vehicles and appliances. http://ert.rmi.org/files/documents/CGU.RMI.pdf. 19 states require electric utilities to meet energy efficiency resource standards.
d. Incentives – in half the states, public benefit funds from a small charge on energy bills provide money for low-income household energy assistance, weatherization programs, investment in renewable technologies, and subsidies for efficient appliances.

7. Local impacts of climate change will be the responsibility of cities, towns, and counties as the expected stronger hurricanes, heavier rainstorms, more frequent floods and possible drought-related wildfires directly threaten local infrastructure, including water supply. An extreme example is New Orleans’ response to Katrina. http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/Climate101-Local-Jan09.pdf . One local government resource is a program from ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability: Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Campaign http://www.icleiusa.org/programs/climate with 700 local governments participating worldwide. Cool Cities are cutting carbon emissions - http://www.coolcities.us/

8. Businesses, schools, churches and other institutions can get involved also. http://www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/Climate101-Business-Jan09.pdf http://ssc.sierraclub.org/get-involved/campaigns/campus-climate-challenge/index.html ; http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=small_business.sb_congregations ;

9. Pricing carbon to account for the full cost of emitting it is a national program now being debated – see a commentary on the Waxman-Markey bill at http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=9854 and the world faces a deadline in December, 2009 as parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (including the US) meet in Copenhagen to agree on international targets for reducing carbon emissions to take effect in 2012.

Each of us can take action now - continue or start one of the steps below.

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP ACTION ITEMS
adapted from Ten Things You Can Do to Help Save the Earth by Katie Lambert at http://science.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm/printable

Going green is easier than you think. There are little things you can do every day to help reduce greenhouse gases and make a less harmful impact on the environment. Taking care of the Earth is not just a responsibility -- it's a privilege. In that spirit, HowStuffWorks came up with 10 things you can do to help save the Earth. Note that links to web pages are underlined or shown in color.

1. Pay attention to how you use water. The little things can make a big difference. Every time you turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth, you're doing something good. Got a leaky toilet? You might be wasting 200 gallons of water a day [Source: EPA]. Try drinking tap water instead of bottled water, so you aren't wasting all that packaging as well. Wash your clothes in cold water when you can. Run full loads in wash machines and dishwashers. Upgrade to low flow toilets and other water-savers (http://www.epa.gov/watersense/). Run faucet water and water lawn only as needed. Set up sprinkler system moisture sensors. Better yet, replace lawn with drought resistant plants. Use grey water for watering non-edible flowers and plants. Try Alabama River Alliance’s Save and Share Campaign.

2. Leave your car at home. If you can stay off the road just two days a week, you'll reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds per year [Source: EPA]. Combine your errands -- hit the post office, grocery store and shoe repair place in one trip. It will save you gas and time. If you will be parked and sitting for 10 seconds or longer... turn off your car's engine.

3. Walk or ride your bike to work, school and anywhere you can. You can reduce greenhouse gases while burning some calories and improving your health. If you can't walk or bike, use mass transit or carpool. Every car not on the road makes a difference.

4. Recycle. You can help reduce pollution just by putting that soda can in a different bin. If you're trying to choose between two products, pick the one with the least packaging. If an office building of 7,000 workers recycled all of its office paper waste for a year, it would be the equivalent of taking almost 400 cars off the road [Source: EPA ]. Bring reusable bags when shopping.

5. Compost. Think about how much trash you make in a year. Reducing the amount of solid waste you produce in a year means taking up less space in landfills, so your tax dollars can work somewhere else. Compost makes a great natural fertilizer. Composting is easier than you think.

6. Change your light bulbs. Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) last 10 times longer than a standard bulb and use at least two-thirds less energy. If you're shopping for new appliances or even home electronics, look for ENERGY STAR products, which have met EPA and U.S. Department of Energy guidelines for energy efficiency. Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2007 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 27 million cars — all while saving $16 billion on their utility bills. [Source: EPA]. (Learn more about proper disposal of CFLs.)

7. Make your home more energy efficient (and save money). Clean your air filters so your system doesn't have to work overtime. Get a programmable thermostat so you aren't wasting energy when you aren't home. When you go to bed, reduce the thermostat setting -- you won't miss those extra degrees of heat or air conditioning while you're asleep.

8. Maintain your car. Underinflated tires decrease fuel economy by up to three percent and lead to increased pollution and higher greenhouse gas emissions [Source: EPA]. Underinflation also increases tire wear, so it will save you money in the long run if you're good about checking your tire pressure.

9. Drive smarter. Slow down -- driving 60 miles per hour instead of 70 mph on the highway will save you up to 4 miles per gallon. [Source: Consumer Guide Automotive]. Accelerating and braking too hard can actually reduce your fuel economy, so take it easy on the brakes and gas pedal.

10.Turn off lights when you're not in the room and unplug appliances when you're not using them. It only takes a second to be environmentally conscious.

A few more of the many available web sites on climate change:

Take Action - Go to http://www.wecansolveit.org/ or http://www.repoweramerica.org/, http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=820, http://www.worldwildlife.org/climate/index.html, http://www.nwf.org/globalwarming/, or search for climate change solutions!

Science of climate change:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ Excellent Environmental Protection Agency site
http://www.skepticalscience.com/ Responses to questions about climate change

International:
http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf Synthesis report 11/17/07
http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/ipccar4.cfm A review of the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – doesn’t include the 11/17/07 synthesis report
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change Wikipedia has been a useful reference on the IPCC and on climate change
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm European Union site - good references
http://www.wri.org/ World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank – action information

State and Local Governments:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/stateandlocalgov/index.html EPA’s review of state and local government action
http://usmayors.org/climateprotection/documents/mcpAgreement.pdf U.S Mayors Climate Protection Agreement - over 690 cities have pledged to reduce their carbon footprints
http://www.climatenortheast.org/ClimateNortheastCaseStudies.php Case studies of business activities to reduce emissions

Corporate and institutional activites:
http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/pdf/commitment.pdf American College & University President’s Climate Commitment
http://www.us-cap.org/ United States Climate Action Partnership
http://www.climatenortheast.org/ClimateNortheastCaseStudies.php Case studies of business action to address climate change

Individual opportunities for CO2 reduction:
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/index.html EPA information - what individuals can do
http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/lcd/ Low Carbon Diet – 30 day program to lose 5000 lbs
http://nwei.org/NWEI/Global_Warming.html Global Warming: Changing Co2urse - a workbook to explore values, science, and actions for individuals to curb global warming
http://www.genesisfund.org/greentips.htm Genesis Community Loan Fund Green Tips
http://www.biggreenpurse.com/ Green shopping tips and opportunities

Get off mailing lists:
http://www.catalogchoice.org/#welcome A free way to cancel your catalogs online
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm A good overall guide to stopping junk mail
https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/ Direct Marketing Association online do not mail list - $1

Energy Efficiency and Conservation:
http://www.energystar.gov/ Information on energy-efficient products
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls Compact fluorescent light bulbs - CFLs
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=small_business.sb_congregations An EPA site especially for congregations, with links to environmental efforts by faith-based organizations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_conservation Overview with good links

Ecological and Carbon Footprints:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/personal_footprint/Calculate your ecological footprint and learn how to lower it

http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/ - one of many carbon footprint calculators

Trip to Antarctica

1) From: Joyce Lanning, Cabin no: SP13, Thu 12/13/2007 4:17 PMSubject: We are in Paradise Bay
PASSENGER E-MAIL FROM Explorer II FOLLOWS...

Dear friends, This morning early we entered Paradise Bay, our first stop after the somewhat rocky Drake Passage experience. Neither Juanzetta nor I were seasick, but some of our fellow passengers were. We are 198 folks, with a staff and crew of almost 3/4 that number.
During the passage, the scientists on board provided lectures - 3 a day - to help us understand the history, geography and biology of the continent. About 30 of us are part of the Climate Change Challenge led by Jim McClintock from UAB. Tomorrow our small group will be delivering an underwater camera to Palmer Station, where Jim works. Henry Pollock, a geologist who helped Al Gore train us to give the Inconvenient Truth slide presentation, is here and gave a very good lecture on climate change. The reason he didn't train the January classes last year is that he was on this trip to Antarctica – but he did train Paul Valva from the Bay Area, the other Climate Project presenter on our trip. There will be no way to convey - either in words or pictures - the powerful experience of stepping on this white continent this morning after careful boot disinfection. Gentoo penguins have just laid their eggs in their rock nests. We must stay 15 feet from all wildlife, but they may not have the same rules and we don't have to back away should they approach us. Many of us climbed up a hill to get a view of the bay - and slid down on our fannies. We are encouraged to spend some time without our cameras, reflecting on Antarctica and its importance to our planet. We will all become Antarctic ambassadors in our own way. This one land area is dedicated to peaceful pursuit of science, and though some of it has been 'claimed' by various countries, it is one place that isn't divided, and all work in peace - a model for the rest of the world, perhaps. The Antarctic Peninsula is also warming much faster than the rest of the world. On our Zodiac (rubber raft) ride this morning we saw a small calving of the glacier - most of which are retreating, or breaking off into the sea. The continent is protected by the Antarctic convergence where the water temperature drops quickly and the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters do not mix. This, and the geographical isolation, has kept most species from migrating here, but a major large predator, the large spider crab, was pulled up in a trawling net in 2004. The thinner shells of marine creatures here are not adapted to the crushing claws or jaws of predators in other parts of the world. They are not sure how it arrived, or what its impact will be. Changing temperatures can also change the development of larvae for starfish, sea urchins, sponges and others, which take much longer to develop here. If the warmer water speeds their development and not their food supply, it will have a serious effect on their survival. There is a marked acceleration of glacial recession here, disintegration of coastal ice sheets like the Larson B, an area the size of Rhode Island which disintegrated over 35 days in 2002. There is a 30% decline in the extent of the annual sea ice around the peninsula, which may cause a decline of krill and a decline of this population of Adelie penguins. There are so many interconnections in our environment that we don't consider when making our choices about how to fuel our unsustainable growth. Lunch is served - more later. I think I can receive emails for free - but don't feel the need to answer this, which is as much for me as for you and those you send it to. I'm awed to be here and will not come back unchanged. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2) From: Joyce Lanning, Cabin no: SP13, Fri 12/14/2007 4:07 PMSubject: Neko Harbor and Palmer Station, AntarcticaPASSENGER E-MAIL FROM Explorer II FOLLOWS...
Dear friends and family,
I think I forgot to tell you about the wonderful sighting of humpbacked whales day before yesterday. Two of them were feeding in front of the ship. They seem to be attracted to the bulbous front of the bow, and moved from side to side, following the ship, which had stopped and moved backward. They even created their bubble net to move the krill into a smaller area then dove up through it to feed. They take in a lot of water and then use their huge tongue to push the water out through their baleen strainers and then swallow the krill caught on the fringes. They have long white pectoral flippers nearly a third of their body length, which can be 50 feet, and they can weigh 48 tons. Their backs have barnacles on them. My pictures are so poor that I'm buying the DVD a professional team aboard is producing. We also saw some Minke whales in the distance. After an extraordinary sunny morning at Paradise Bay, yesterday afternoon we arrived in Neko Harbor, after a trip through the Aguirre Passage. The harbor was named after the floating whaling factory, Neko, which operated in the area between 1911 and 1924. Ashore we saw mainly Gentoo penguins, which nest on rocks - which they try to steal from each other. Gentoos have only recently bred in this area, they think because of the more open sea as the ice has declined. Adelies, which have been predominant here, are declining, perhaps due to the sea ice changes and a resulting alteration in krill availability, but they aren't sure. I took the time for the solitary reflection they suggested and watched the penguins at play and exercise before they returned to relieve their partners at the nest - they've just laid eggs. They zip about with seemingly wild abandon underwater and make dolphin-like leaps above it, rolling now and then in a sea bath, Patricia, our resident bird scientist, said. Then they groom their feathers using the oil gland at the base of their brushy tails and make their trek back to the nest. The warmer air holds more moisture, so there is more snow here, and the Adelie penguins, who lay their eggs on rock, can be buried in the snowfall as they sit on their eggs, which don't survive, though they do. They come to the same spot to breed, even though the conditions may no longer be adequate. They think this is another sign of climate change. Last night I got up at 1 AM and walked a mile - 8 times around the promenade deck. The sky was still twilight or pre-dawn - sunrise is about 2:30 AM and sunset close to midnight. It was snowing very slightly with hazy conditions, so I couldn't see the passage on our way to Anvers Island where Palmer Station is located. It is one of 3 US stations on Antarctica funded by the National Science Foundation - others are at McMurdo Sound and the North Pole. This morning in the snow, we had an hour's tour around the area in the Zodiacs, seeing elephant seals, Gentoo penguins, chinstraps, and an occasional Adelie - but I couldn't tell. Too bumpy and rocking to use binoculars. We did see the cormorants, called blue-eyed shags. No leopard seals, I don't think - they are the big bad guys of the predatory food chain. You don't mess with them. Evidently a researcher diving for her work at another station was taken down by one, not mauled, but she drowned! They have special leopard seal warning signals for divers to get out of the water. Palmer Station staff came aboard to greet us and explain their research program. Those of us in the Climate Change Challenge presented the underwater camera to the research team, and later we all got to go aboard for a station visit. There is a long-term study of krill and they have them growing in tanks at the station, which had 45 people in the summer and 25 or so in winter. Maggie and Chuck Amsler are coming down from Birmingham in February to spend four months and will dedicate the newly-discovered island named in their honor. As the glacier has receded and ice melted, what was thought to be a point of land was found to be an island. Jim McClintock is continuing his polar marine biology research with another two-month trip next year. Tonight we are to move from here to the Lemaire channel, described as breathtaking, to see if the ice has gone to allow us through. Everything here is breathtaking, whether sunny or overcast. The people aboard are very interesting - 55 Australians, 6 Brazilians, 9 Canadians,3 from China, 1 Finland, 4 Germany, 25 Great Britain, 5 India, 2 Italy, 2 New Zealand, 4 South Africa, 5 Switzerland, and 76 USA. Our Expedition Leader, Larry Hobbs, leads vision quests when he's not creating Antarctic Ambassadors by leading these trips. He's also co-authored a paper on "Is Humanity Sustainable?" He says that humans contribute about 100 thousand times more 'greenhouse gases' than would be normal for an animal our size, and the impact of this much CO2 "is changing the ecosystem of which we are a part and upon which we are dependent in ways that are, undoubtedly, not conducive to life as we know it on the planet." He says that we need to fundamentally change the way we think about who we are and what we are doing here - which is the same message in the work of Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry and their book, “The Universe Story”; Sister Miriam McGillis' work at Genesis Farm; and Joanna Macy's "Work that Reconnects", all of which I've studied deeply in the past 6 years. I didn't expect to find that philosophy here, and it has been a very sobering reminder that holding actions and the development of alternatives to current practices are necessary but insufficient to create the changes we need. Didn't Einstein say that our problems can't be solved with the same level of thinking that created them? According to the current creation story provided by science, the only hydrogen that exists is constantly recycled and came into being 300,000 years or so after the singularity or big bang or inflation ... 13.7 or so billion years ago, and heavier metals were later forged in supernovas. So we humans are all starstuff, and thus are the Universe evolved to the point where it can contemplate itself. It is a rare privilege to be able to contemplate this particular part of our planet and our Universe. Our ship is staffed by an excellent crew and we are lucky to be here! Joyce+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


3) From: Joyce Lanning, Cabin no: SP13, Sat 12/15/2007 4:17 PMSubject: Lemaire Channel and Cuverville Island, Antarctica

PASSENGER E-MAIL FROM Explorer II FOLLOWS...

Dear folks at home, I hope Julie is sending this on to The Climate Project group. We get very little news - just a few pages each morning. This morning they said that at the 11th hour the US was showing a bit more flexibility in the talks in Bali, Indonesia about the next targets to lower the emissions of CO2 (and CO2 equivalents - Nitrous Oxide, Methane, and the Halocarbons). There is nothing I can do anyway, just curious about how the world is getting along. I'll get a distillation of the blow-by-blow when I get home. After Palmer Station, we had a bit of time so the Captain took us south to Lemaire Channel, which had been blocked by ice the last time he was there this season. We were treated to an incredible view in this narrow channel with high mountains on either side. Fortunately, we did a Uie, as the Australians say, just went in and back out, because I completely missed the trip in, conversing with 3 very nice widows, ages 69, 75 and 77, with 32 grandchildren among them. More about that conversation later. I can see why the channel is called Fuji Fjord or Kodak Alley! Of course, no pictures can capture what our eyes can, but hopefully, I've got them in my memory. We were like kids laughing delightedly on deck. The snow had stopped and the temperature was above freezing, as it is this afternoon (about 41 F). This morning we were at Cuverville Island, in the northern end of the Errera Channel just off the west coast of Graham Land. We had the option of a mile hike up to 850 feet, but it was overcast and I chose to stay down among the Gentoo penguin colony. I felt like an intruder, because we can't help but get in the way of their trek to the sea. Here they had primarily been eating krill - seen by the pink tinge to the snow. We found a broken empty egg - probably the result of skua predation. They nest on the rocky areas, and get a jump on things if they can nest on the higher areas that are first to melt. Some colonies are very high up on the slopes and you can see the pinkish pathways grooved into the snow for their trek to the beach and feeding. They alternate the landing times for our two groups. Juanzetta and I and 98 others are in the Endurance group - with a green dot on our pass cards. The Discovery group has a red one, and we have to keep our cards in the right pockets of our red parkas, which we must wear on land, and hand them to a crewmember who swipes them in the computer as we leave and enter the ship, evidently standard for cruise ships. We were first this morning - out at 8AM and back by about 9:30, and then this afternoon we go out at 5PM. The rules are – only 100 on the continent at a time. Cuverville Island has some luscious moss on it. I was delighted to see the green. The growing season is so very short here. On our zodiac ride back to the ship we saw a small leopard seal sleeping on a comfortable iceberg. Only the Orcas are above leopard seals in the food chain - and we probably won't see Orcas this trip. We picked up two people from Palmer Station to ride back to Ushuaia - Dan and Sandy. Dan works for Raytheon, which has the support contract for the three US stations on Antarctica. He's been supervising them for 3 months and is ready to go home. It is a very difficult job to supply everything the stations need, including the specific requirements of the scientists. He says that one of the most difficult problems is last minute changes in the scientist’s protocols which require readjustments that the cumbersome supply chain can't support. Since the science is the primary goal, they have to shift supplies around, shortchanging elsewhere. He has 4 staffing vacancies, and will be glad to get them filled. Last year, the person in charge of maintenance for Palmer Station made some error in the krill tanks and killed all the krill, losing 8 months of scientific data in the process! Chloe and Elanor, one of the things I got at Palmer Station is a card with all the birds and mammals that come to Antarctica. We need to plan a birthday party for them sometime after Christmas, and we'll add them to our birthday book! Back to the dinner conversation - one of the issues with the two women from Australia was the election of Rudd, who promptly signed the Kyoto Protocol, leaving the US as the only developed nation not committed to an international solution to the problem of greenhouse gas pollution. That brought up a discussion on climate change and what we might do about it. There were several opinions, one being that we needed to clean up our act, and another that possible extinctions from a warming planet is part of a natural cycle, such as the death of the dinosaurs. So here are these 32 grandchildren - 34 with my two - who will inherit the planet we leave behind us. Although there have been at least 5 mass extinctions before, all naturally caused, this time, humans are the force of nature, not a volcano or meteorite, and we have the ability to choose another path. After what we've seen there should be no doubt of the warming, but I find quite a few people who don't think that our very quick release of long-buried carbon is altering our 650,000 years of natural carbon cycle in an unprecedented way. The science of CO2 impact on heat retention by the atmosphere isn't in doubt. The disconnect comes because people look for other reasons than our own use of fossil fuels. I've even heard the argument here that Mars has warmed just as much as the Earth, so it is the sun. It isn't - this disregards the different climate systems on the two planets, the explanation of the decreased reflectivity on Mars absorbing more heat, and the short time series of data. But what blew me away is that, even when shown measurements of the very minor increased solar irradiance seen in satellite data over the last 20 years compared to the increased temperature due to the over 35% increase in CO2, disbelief in human causation persists. My goal is to enquire gently, with compassion and curiosity, and learn something from each of my shipmates who chooses to share his or her point of view. I think that I, too, would prefer not to believe that we have chosen to make future life on earth more difficult for plants and animals (not to mention future generations of humans). And the confounding facts are that I'm certainly part of the problem - spending my CO2 allotment liberally just to make the trip here and reflect on our profligacy. And there are many people in developing counties who wish to raise themselves from poverty, much less emulate the American way of life, and they need energy and fuel to do it. So I wonder what has happened at the meeting of the parties at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali!
Perplexed, but grateful to be here - got to dress for my zodiac ride! Joyce+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

4) From: Joyce Lanning, Cabin no: SP13, Mon 12/17/2007 5:57 AMSubject: Enterprise Island, Deception Island and Whalers Bay, The Shetlands

PASSENGER E-MAIL FROM Explorer II FOLLOWS...
What a day! It is almost over - 11:45PM my time and still light outside - and I was getting ready for bed when I realized I hadn't written today, so here I am, in the library, just outside the Verandah restaurant where I eat breakfast every morning. I woke up this morning at 6:30 and rushed to get outside to see us go through Neptune's Bellows into the harbor of Deception Island, the caldera of a still-active volcano. The freezing temperature had a biting edge with a 20 knot wind, but some of us stayed out anyway, watching as the captain took us in far to the right of the small opening to avoid the shallows on the left. It looks like a regular island from outside, except for this one narrow gap. Many sailors passed it by, never seeing the gap, but, once discovered, it became a center of whaling activity because of its large harbor. It is a young volcano, only 200,000 years old; the latest eruptions were in 1967, 69 and 70. All three stations there - British, Argentinean and I think Chilean? have now been abandoned, and the Spanish have installed sensors that give information about whether it is safe to enter. We saw the rusting remains of the bases and two crosses placed there by families of sailors long buried in a cemetery covered by the volcanic ash and cinders from the last eruption. I thought of the Art of Girlbuilding - some of that rusting metal was pretty awesome. The heat from the volcano makes the water warm enough to swim in on some occasions. This wasn't one of them; however, about 30 of us went in anyway - very briefly.

I forgot to take Elanor's floating penguins in with me and had to wade back in to give them a short ride in the frigid water just for fun.
Before lunch, we had a very nice champagne reception hosted by All Season's Travel (thank you, Jane) and all 16 or so of us went out on deck to have our group picture taken. After lunch we moved on to Half Moon Island to visit a Chinstrap penguin colony - in the blowing snow. We saw a skua fly by with a penguin egg in its beak, find a spot on the snow and proceed to dine. The penguins spend a lot of energy getting to and from the colony, and stop along the way to swallow snow for refreshment. Sometimes they flop on their white bellies and use their feet and flippers to surf along the top of the snow. Dinner was a lengthy conversation about the nature of living and dying, after which I was ready for some dancing. Fortunately, when I made it into the main lounge, the band was playing and the Australians had decided to break the record of numbers on the dance floor at one time (46, I think) so, of course, I had to help. We made it to over 50. I didn't quit dancing til the band stopped about an hour later! One of my favorite partners was a petite woman from Switzerland named Maria (fortunately male partners weren’t required). We got someone to take our picture and she has offered to guide me around should I come to her country. We are now on our way to Elephant Island and Clarence Island and hope to see the famous iceberg, B-15, which broke off the Ross shelf and later split in two in the Ross Sea, blocking McMurdo station and the Emperor penguins for a time. It has come all the way around the continent and become stuck. It is 27 miles long! There is another smaller one from the Weddell sea on the other side of Clarence Island! During dinner, the captain changed course to take us around another much smaller tabular iceberg which he said weighed 86,000 tons by their calculations. I'll have the size and height more correct next post - but it was taller than our ship and very much longer. Fortunately, there is a team aboard making an hour-long DVD of our adventure (I think they were off-duty for the iceberg), and I've signed up to buy a copy, even though it is fairly expensive. It will be hard to share the enormity of this experience with you, but I would love the opportunity to try. We saw a preview this afternoon and it looks great. Yesterday afternoon we had a zodiac ride at Enterprise Island. The ice there is fantastic, and there is the wreck of an old whaling ship that caught fire in January 1915 with a full load of whale oil. We got to see krill in the wild - which is pretty exciting now that we know how important those small shrimp-like creatures are in the food chain. We've seen Weddell seals, Crab eater seals and Leopard seals - and probably won't get to see the fur seal this trip. (I think I've got that straight). Tomorrow is an expedition day - we aren't sure just what we'll be doing - it depends on wind and wave conditions when we get to Elephant Island. Tomorrow night we start back across the Drake Passage, and some are already planning to spend the time carefully horizontal, if not well drugged! I hope this experience is as relatively comfortable for Juanzetta and me as that first crossing - was it less than a week ago? Whatever happened to end the Bali talks with what looks like a positive outcome (i.e. agreeing to negotiate), I'm glad of it.
It's way past time for bed, and I hope to sleep like one of those seals we see - maybe a Weddell seal. Good night! Joyce
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5) From: Joyce Lanning, Cabin no: SP13, Tue 12/18/2007 5:07 AMSubject: Icebergs and Elephant Island

PASSENGER E-MAIL FROM Explorer II FOLLOWS...
Dear family and friends, it is again after midnight and I'm late for bed. We're headed into the Drake Passage and back to Ushuaia. Jerry - sorry about the pine tree that fell into the courtyard and scraped the roof! That's the second one in less that a month. Maybe we should do a survey of threatening pines. Doug, thanks for some of the specifics on Bali. It's really pleasant not to have felt the responsibility to follow all the ins and outs! This morning we got to see one of the biggest icebergs any of us, including the captain, had ever seen. It is part of B15 that broke off of the Ross Ice Shelf in 2000 and closed off McMurdo Station in 2001 - now it is less than half the original size, but the captain measured it at roughly 30 miles long and 10.5 miles on one end and 41 meters high - a very big rectangle [I found it on the internet – it is B15d]. Remember that about 90% of it is underwater, making it a very big rectangular solid with over 115 billion tons of ice, at least 1000 times bigger than the one we saw last night. I'm not sure, but think you should be able to find satellite images of it online somewhere. The breakup of ice shelves is a regular process, and this one from the other side of the continent is probably not due to changes in average temperature, though the breakup of the Larson B ice shelf in 2002 is, according to a recent paper by the British Antarctic Survey. 90% of the world's ice is in glaciers in Antarctica. The Arctic glaciers are irregularly shaped, but here, they tend to be big, flat, and tabular, like a huge block of floating styrofoam. Our piece of B15 has floated almost half way around Antarctica, drifting north and then east into the Drake Passage and ending up lodged near Elephant and Clarence Islands. The second, smaller berg from the Weddell Sea was on the other side of Clarence Island. It had been about 15 miles across in the Captain’s satellite picture from Dec. 15, but must have further broken up in the last few weeks, allowing us to sail through it. I like to think it came from the Larson B ice shelf. [However I’ve discovered that it came from the Western Ross Sea and is named C21a – a satellite photo is located at http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/iceberg_images/jpeg/c21a_360.jpg] I have countless pictures of indistinguishable white blocks in the sea - and took them anyway though I know they won't capture the excitement of these immense pieces of ice, and the shadings of blue colors, turning to aquamarine just below the surface. Elephant Island is the northernmost island in the South Shetland chain, and is primarily grey-and-green metamorphic rock. The mountains are ice-covered with several large glaciers. Evidently it is rare to be able to see the top, since it's usually shrouded in clouds, but we had a glorious sunny zodiac trip this afternoon. The island is 24 by 12 miles - smaller than the Ross Shelf iceberg. We saw Point Wild, where Shackleton left Frank Wild and 22 men in April, 1916 after their ship, the Endurance, was crushed in the ice of the Weddell Sea. Shackleton and 5 others spent 16 days in an open boat getting to the South Georgia whaling stations, and, after 4 attempts, finally rescued his crew in August 1916. The crew of our ship are mostly from the Philippines, and are very talented, which we discovered tonight at the show they put on for us. Although there are restrictions about being on the bridge, the captain declared us all anti-terrorist assistants or something and we are usually allowed on the bridge between 6AM and 6PM. Since I'm always entranced with the way things work, I've really enjoyed that. Tomorrow we start our lecture series again, starting with Jim McClintock explaining polar diving techniques. The movie showing on our ship's channel tomorrow is "An Inconvenient Truth" but that won't be on my to-do list. I've neglected the flighted birds, and am going to go over the list of what I've seen. So far, my least favorite is the skua, and my most favorite the cape petrel. Should you have the desire to come to this fascinating place, I hope you will someday. I don't know just what I expected, but this has exceeded anything I could have imagined. The chair at the next computer has started rolling about in a gently Drakish manner, so now I'll let the ship rock me to sleep - must remember to latch the keyboard drawer so it doesn't open and close of its own accord during the night. Goodnight all - I read brief news of severe storms in the US and hope all are well.Joyce
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6) From: Joyce Lanning, Cabin no: SP13, Wed 12/19/2007 7:47 AMSubject: Drake Lake - not Drake Shake
PASSENGER E-MAIL FROM Explorer II FOLLOWS...

Well, we are homeward bound, and are truly delighted with this passage - it has been so calm that the dance floor was full of dancers tonight - no lurching at all. Juanzetta removed the patch she had applied prophylactically! The captain's farewell dinner was tonight and quite elegant. This time, the dining room was full; for the welcoming dinner, a good many were confined to their bunks. What a delightful end to a remarkable journey. We're even scheduled to arrive in Ushuaia early enough tomorrow night to go into town! We're back into lecture format, and Jim McClintock's description of diving in Antarctic waters was extremely interesting. The amount of life found in these cold waters is similar to the biomass in the Great Barrier Reef because the waters here are very nutrient rich. Jim and his colleagues study the chemical ecology of various species; 70% of the macro algae prevent predators from eating them by some kind of chemical defenses in their tissues, as do many of the other species. There is a glass sponge that grows so big that a scuba diver could fit in its vase. They aren't sure about the cause of this gigantism, which also occurs in the sea spiders, usually about the size of your fingernail, but here sometimes as big as dinner plates. There are no hard corals, but a great many soft corals with polyps to capture prey. The sea butterflies are a shell-less snail that is chemically defended, and a type of shrimp captures one and carries it around on its back for protection. There are certainly not as many fish as in the tropics, but those that do survive here have an antifreeze in their blood - something that gets between ice crystals and doesn't allow them to touch, thus keeping the blood moving. They are very sluggish. The UAB Antarctica web site is up even when the members aren't in residence at Palmer Station - it is www.antarctica.uab.edu. A sobering lecture from Marco Favero, assistant expedition leader, was developed by the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators to awaken people to the problems of conservation here. Seabirds are severely threatened by the long line bottom fishing for Patagonian Toothfish (known in the US as Chilean Sea Bass). He said it is OK to eat it now, if you know it is certified, because regulated vessels have weights to take the 10,000 to 30.000 baited hooks down much faster, and streamers behind the boat to deter the birds trying to get the bait, which can hook and drown them. The tuna and swordfish nets are pulled at about 50 meters or 150 feet, and also kill birds going after the fish caught in them - they also have bycatch which is discarded. The Wandering Albatross is the largest flying bird in the world, with an 11 foot wingspan. It and two other species are declining at about 4-5% per year. But the efforts to work with the fishermen to implement seabird-friendly fishing techniques are helping - night setting and moving fishing season from summer (breeding season) to winter has also helped. Certified boats have independent inspectors and albatross mortality has decreased, but there is still a large illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishery which is very lucrative. Henry Pollack explained the history of internationalism through the Antarctic Treaty, a voluntary system which has 28 voting members and 18 observers. Although some countries have made claims of ownership (though not Russia and the US), the claims are not enforceable. The continent is designated for peaceful purposes with no military presence, except for supply ships and planes. It is dedicated to science and is nuclear-free, except for power needs, but no nuclear power has been installed. There will be no exploration or exploitation of minerals or fuel for 50 years from the 1991 Madrid Protocol, which will expire in 2043. There is a freedom of inspection - any member can inspect any other at any time. As nations rush to lay claim to the ocean and its resources which lie under the disappearing Arctic ice, the Antarctic Treaty might be considered as a model for managing the 'land grab' there. Another major issue is the question of sustainable tourism, since there may be 38,000 visitors this year. Some studies have indicated that the visitors who do come onshore don't stress the penguins and seals, but there is a real concern about accidents creating environmental problems. The loss of the Explorer a few weeks before we left on Explorer II will no doubt increase the wariness. Rules for tourism are worked out at the Antarctic Treaty meetings; responsible tourism is an issue not totally resolved here - as it isn't in many other places. Sustainability has been a topic for consideration in many of the lectures, and parts of Planet Earth have been showing on our closed circuit TVs along with other sustainability documentaries. I'm not going to solve that one tonight for sure, and it is way past my bedtime. Goodnight - it is hard to believe that we'll be home soon! Joyce
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Awaiting Delta flight in Santiago Airport – and a cautionary tale, Dec. 20, 2007

Dear family – the trip has been an extraordinary experience, with the only hassle being the experience here in Santiago airport as we await news of our luggage and boarding passes … a test of patience here at the last. Oh well. I´m not frustrated, but am concerned for those who are.
Juanzetta´s been a delight as a roommate and travelling companion and is quite clear and vocal about the fact that she´s a hothouse flower (though she’s been quite spunky). That got me thinking about what kind of flower I might be. After our brief bus tour of the Argentinean Tierra del Fuego National Park today, I decided that I am a dandelion, and can really thrive most anywhere.
We saw a crested duck with three babies, many caracara, a pair of ashy headed geese, several pair of upland geese, a black-faced ibis and a black crowned night heron with a long white tuft, a pair of nesting great grebes in the middle of Green Lagoon - with the male bringing more nesting materials he had found. What a lush and verdant setting after the stark black and white of Antarctica!
A cautionary tale our guide told us was that the government had decided to create a fur trade, so they introduced beaver, rabbits, muskrats, and minks. Predictably, the rabbits got out of hand so they introduced the grey fox to hunt the rabbits, but the fox prefer sheep, which upsets the ranchers who try to kill the fox. In these warmer climes, the beaver fur grew too thin for the fur trade, and now they are building their dams, cutting down trees and destroying others with their flooded areas. The minks attack the protected birds - and I´m just not sure about the muskrats. Perhaps they should have done a life cycle analysis of their proposed changes before altering the ecology with the non-natives.
There may have a moral here for those who want to seed the oceans with iron to grow CO2-gobbling plankton or inject sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere to block the sun in order to cool the planet. Unintended consequences may be more dire than straightforward measures to reduce CO2 emissions.
I plan to arrive home safely tomorrow and will be delighted to see all of you!
Love, Joyce