Just two weeks before the the start of the international climate meetings in Copenhagen, both the US and China have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  President Obama pledged a provisional target, the first time that the U.S. has offered even a tentative promise on Wednesday.  Obama made a commitment to cut emissions by 17% of 2005 levels.

Today, the Chinese government announced that it had set a target to reduce "carbon intensity" by 40-45 % of 2005 levels. 

Kitsap County will be the 8th Puget Sound county to institute a volunteer "Beach Watcher" program with the help of the WSU Extension program.  Kitsap County hopes to train volunteers to lead beach walks, conduct research, and monitor fish and wildlife populations, according to an article in the Kitsap Sun. The project is sponsored by WSU Kitsap County Extension and Washington Sea Grant.

Libby, Montana, is one of those old mining towns that got the short stick environmentally after the logging and mining companies closed down, leaving severely polluted earth and air behind them.  It was designated as a Superfund site in 2000 as a result of the asbestos-contaminated soils left in the area when W.R. Grace closed down the last vermiculite mine.  Much has been written and chronicles about the asbestos dangers to the population of 2900 remaining folks.

Or, why sustainable, organic, local farming is not only good for you but good for the world.  David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell, says that transitioning to organic, local farming would cut energy inputs into the food system by 50%.  Currently, food grown in the U.S. depends heavily on the use of fossil fuels.  Pimental says, "United States agriculture is driven almost entirely by these non-renewable energy sources. Each person in the country on a per capita consumption basis requires approximately 2,000 liters per year in oil equivalents to supply his/her total food, which accounts for about 19 percent of the total national energy use."

There appears to be a very clear linkage between the increased severity of wildfires and a little as 1-degree of increase in global warming.  Kevin Drum writes at Mother Jones about why California's wildfires have been getting worse, larger, and more frequent.  It may be even worse in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.  Drum says that roughly half of the increase in western wildfire activity is due to land use issues - people building in undeveloped areas they ought not to build in, basically.  The other half is due to global warming.  Higher temperatures lead to reduced snowpack and an earlier melt, producing a longer and drier fire season. 

The White House has a YouTube up about the garden that First Lady Michelle Obama and Sam Kass, assistant WH chef, put together.  It's pretty cool.

Official White House Photo