We’ve put together these basic frequently asked questions to give you a starting point in your global warming education. When you’re done reading up on the basics, check out our site to learn more about how you can do your part to lower your contribution to global warming.

What causes global warming? Is it part of a natural cycle?

Global warming is caused by the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which form a sort of blanket over the Earth, trapping in heat that would normally escape the atmosphere. Most human-generated greenhouse gases come in the form of carbon dioxide, a pollutant emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas. While it is true that there has always been some natural climate variability, record levels of carbon dioxide are spurring far-reaching changes in our weather, sea levels, and climate. 

Throughout ice ages, higher concentrations of carbon dioxide have correlated with higher temperatures. Humans are exacerbating global temperatures through industrial activity which dramatically increases carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. In its recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that 2005 carbon dioxide levels significantly exceed average concentration levels over the past 650,000 years.

• Click here to read the report on global warming science by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s leading scientific body on global warming.

How can global warming affect our lives?

We do not yet fully know how radical climate change will affect our way of life, but we do know that the effects of growing carbon dioxide emissions already occurring are staggering: the eleven years ranging between 1995 and 2006 rank among the twelve warmest years recorded since 1850. Sea level rise will likely increase 20-50 inches (.5-1.4 meters) above 1990 levels by 2100, dramatically altering coastal communities and natural habitats.

Leading scientists assert that a rise of 2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial temperatures would leave hundreds of millions of people around the world “exposed to increased water stress,” decrease air quality in cities, increase ocean acidification leading to the destruction of calcifying marine life (including coral and dependent species), negatively impact farmers and fishers, increase the likelihood and severity of wildfires, and dramatically escalate mortality rates resulting from drought, floods, and heat waves. Few ecosystems could adapt to such a dramatic temperature change, potentially resulting in the extinction of 30% of species and the loss of 30% of coastal wetlands. In North America specifically, higher temperatures will decrease snow pack in the western mountains, reducing summer water supplies and exacerbating chances of drought.

To avoid such catastrophes, scientists say that we must reduce our carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2050 to prevent global temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial averages.

Read the IPCC’s definitive report on the possible impacts of global warming.

Does the rise in Earth’s temperature cause more intense storms and hurricanes? If so, how?

Yes. Hurricanes are powered by warm water on the surface of the ocean. As global warming heats the surface of the water, hurricanes will increase in speed, power, and severity.

In its most recent report, IPCC found that tropical storms have become more intense in the North Atlantic since 1970, during which time period carbon dioxide levels have increased by 80%. The report also found that future tropical typhoons and hurricanes will likely become more intense as measured by higher wind speeds and heavier precipitation. More powerful cyclones will lead to crop damage, power outages, increase risk of food and water-borne diseases, population migration, and property loss.

What are the largest sources of global warming pollution in the world and in the United States?

According to 2005 figures by the Department of Energy, the US produces 21.1% of all CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, at 5,957 million metric tons. While it was second to the U.S. in 2005, China took over first place in mid-2007, emitting roughly 28% of the world’s CO2. But that does mean that the U.S. emits more CO2 than India (4.1%), Russia (6%), Japan (4.4%), Australia (1.4%), and more than all of Europe (16.6%).

The U.S. emits roughly 30% of its carbon dioxide from the transportation sector and 40% from power plants. We burn coal and natural gas to produce electricity for our homes, businesses, and factories. Most of the oil is burned to power transportation–planes, buses, and cars. Unfortunately, nearly all of the technology that produces this energy is outdated and inefficient. We can continue to live our lives by putting more efficient technology to use, and by generating more energy from clean sources like wind, solar and fuel cells.

Can we curb our emissions of global warming pollution without hurting our economy?

Absolutely. America’s current energy policy is terribly expensive, requiring large subsidies while taking a heavy toll on consumers. Studies show that by investing in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency, we can reduce our greenhouse emissions the necessary 80% by 2050 while creating new jobs and saving consumers money, and we can do so without producing dangerous and expensive electricity from nuclear reactors.

While many countries in Europe and Asia are recognizing the need to curb emissions, America’s industries are falling behind. America needs policies and programs that will stimulate green power industries so we can ensure that America will once again lead the world in technology and manufacturing. And by making simple choices in the kinds of products we buy, such as compact florescent light bulbs and hybrid cars, we can all save money and protect the environment by consuming less energy.

• Read the latest report that proves we can curb global warming and create jobs.
• Read the Sierra Club’s official roadmap to achieving 80% carbon reductions by 2050 without nuclear power.
• Read Energy [R]evolution: a Blueprint for Solving Global Warming
• Read the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research’s Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap For U.S. Energy Policy

How is the international community addressing climate change?

Recognizing the urgency of the threat posed by climate change, developing countries agreed at recent UN climate change negotiations in Bali to complement developed-country mitigation targets with nationally appropriate mitigation actions of their own. This represents a significant change of position on the part of developing countries. The U.S. has the opportunity to capitalize on the momentum of Bali if we act quickly to put in place the necessary legislation to reduce domestic emissions.

• Read the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Bali Final Results

Is it too late to stop global warming?

While it is true that global warming is already occurring and affecting the way we live, we can prevent global temperatures from reaching dangerous levels if we take steps now to begin dramatically reducing our carbon emissions. If we do not begin to shift to clean energy, the heat waves and hurricanes that we have already suffered through will worsen. Thankfully, we have all the tools necessary to curb our emissions of greenhouse gases–tools like clean energy, energy efficiency, and cars that go farther on a gallon of gas. Click here to learn more about global warming solutions.

Times are tough, there’s no doubt about it. We’re facing a convergence of multiple crises, from a warming planet to dwindling fossil fuel reserves to a stumbling economy. Reducing our energy consumption won’t make all these problems disappear overnight, but it can make a big difference.

The key is to take action now. To fire you up, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite energy-saving tips, starting with ones that won’t cost you a penny.

Free Ways to Save

1. Flash your negawatt smile. A negawatt is any watt of electricity you don’t use. Listen to Mother Earth and turn off lights, TVs, and other gadgets when you don’t need them.
2. When does “off” not mean “off”? When you’re talking about TVs, DVD players, cordless phones, battery chargers and dozens of other home electronics. If a product has a digital clock, electronic display, “instant-on” feature, remote control, or external power adaptor, it still draws standby power even when the device itself is turned off. This “leaking” energy, also known as “phantom load” or “vampire power,” accounts for about 25% of the total energy used by home electronics. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution: unplug these devices from the wall outlet when you’re not using them (if they’re plugged into switched outlets, just turn off the switch), or plug them into power strips that you can easily switch on or off as needed. With the power strip switched off, no current flows to the electronic devices, so they don’t consume any electricity.
3. Dress for the occasion. In the winter, put on a cozy sweater and set your thermostat a notch lower—68°F is comfortable for most people, but you might feel fine with the temperature even lower. In the summer, turn on the air conditioning only when you really need it, and set it to 78°F or higher. Raising the thermostat by 1 degree in the summer can reduce your air conditioning costs by 3% to 5%. Get more hot tips and cool ideas from our “Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning” articles.
4. Be a smart cookie. When cooking smaller meals, save energy by using a microwave or toaster oven rather than heating up the full-size oven. On the stovetop, keep a lid on pots and don’t boil larger quantities of water than you need. For more energy-savvy cooking tips, check out our “Appliances” articles.
5. Let the sun shine in (or keep it out). Window coverings are more than just window dressing—they can actually help manage your heating and cooling bills. On hot summer days, close window coverings on the sunny side of your home to keep it cooler. If winters are cold where you live, thick insulating drapes or shades will help keep warmth in at night. On sunny winter days, open the window coverings so the sun’s rays can help heat your home. See our “Window Treatments” article for more ways to green up your windows.
6. Chill out. If you’ve got an extra fridge or freezer idling away in your garage or basement, it could be costing you $200 or more every year to keep it humming, depending on the model’s age and size. Spare your wallet and the planet by unplugging it. Many local utility companies will recycle your old refrigerator for free, and some will even send you a check after they take away the old watt-guzzler. Pick up more cool tips in our “Refrigerators and Freezers” article.
7. Hang up and dry. Take advantage of the sun’s free energy and dry your clothes on a line. If it’s raining or you don’t have space outside, hang clothes indoors on lines or racks. If you do use a dryer, clean out the lint trap before every load—a lint-laden trap makes the dryer work harder and can be a fire hazard. Read our “Washers and Dryers” article for more green cleaning ideas.

Spend a Little, Save a Lot

8. Time for a change. If you have a forced-air furnace (the most common heating system in the United States), inspect the filter once a month during the heating season. If it looks dark and clogged, replace it. A clogged filter means the furnace fan has to work harder, which wastes energy. You can buy a basic filter for a few dollars at home improvement stores, but for better indoor air quality, spend a bit more ($10 to $20) for a filter that’s designed to capture microscopic particles and allergens.
9. Tighten up. Unwanted air leaks in your home can add 20% to your heating and cooling bills. Many basic air tightening tasks are easy and inexpensive. These include caulking gaps around windows, putting weather stripping around windows and doors, sealing heating and cooling ducts, and installing door sweeps to keep air from sneaking in under exterior doors. Before you run out to the home improvement store, check out the article and how-to videos in our “Air Sealing and Weatherization” section for tips. Some air leaks can be tricky to spot, so you may want to hire an energy auditor who will use special devices like infrared cameras and blower doors to pinpoint energy leaks.
10. Lighten up. For nearly two decades, efficiency experts have been telling us to replace our conventional light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) because they reduce energy use by 75% and last 8 to 10 times longer. Despite all the talk, only about 6% of American households use CFLs. Now that the price of CFLs has plunged (with good quality bulbs to be had for less than $2) there’s no excuse not to switch. Not all CFLs are created equal, so read our article on “Fluorescent Light Bulbs” before you go shopping.
11. Set it and forget it. You may have the best of intentions, but it’s easy to forget to adjust heating and air conditioning systems before you go to work or to bed. Instead of relying on your memory, automate the process by installing a programmable thermostat. It ranges in cost from $40 to $200, but may save you as much as $180 per year. Read our “Programmable Thermostats” article and watch our video on how to install one.
12. Be a control freak. Lighting accounts for about 20% of a typical American home’s energy use, and much of that goes toward lights that are left on longer than necessary. With lighting control devices, you can avoid much of that waste. A motion sensor can switch off a closet light after you’ve closed the door. A stairway light switch can be wired to a timer that automatically turns off the light a certain number of minutes after you’ve switched it on. If you want a porch light to stay on all night but not burn during the day, you can wire it to a photocell so that it automatically comes on at dusk and goes off at dawn. You can install basic lighting controls yourself, if you’re handy; more sophisticated controls may require an electrician. Get illuminated by reading our “Lighting Controls” article.

Bigger Investments

13. Insulation: Out of sight but not out of mind. Think of insulation as your silent partner in saving money and energy, reducing your carbon footprint, and keeping you comfortable all year round. If your home is more than about 10 years old, adding insulation can pay for itself in a few years through reduced heating and cooling costs. Here’s a bonus: there’s a federal income tax credit available for 30% of the insulation’s cost, up to $1500. When assessing whether your home has adequate insulation, make the attic your top priority: more heat moves up and out through the attic than through the walls or floors. Get started by reading our “Insulation” article. To evaluate insulation in walls and other hard-to-access places, consider bringing in an energy auditor who can use an infrared device to locate hot or cold spots.
14. A new kind of cool. Refrigerators and freezers chill our food but heat up the planet. And the cost of running them day to day adds up; in fact, they account for about 9% to 15% of a typical household’s energy bills. If yours is nearing the end of a refrigerator’s expected 15-year life span, now’s a good time to replace it with a high-efficiency model. Consider forgoing energy-consuming bells and whistles like side-by-side doors and through-door water and ice dispensers. Most of all, don’t supersize: in general, the larger the capacity, the more watts the fridge consumes. When shopping, don’t just look for the Energy Star. Compare the actual electricity use of various models; it’s printed on the yellow and black EnergyGuide label. Many utility companies offer rebates for purchasing the highest-efficiency refrigerators. Find out more ways to be chill in our “Refrigerators and Freezers” article.
15. Lose the heating and cooling bill blues. Home heating takes a big bite out of our wallets, accounting for nearly 30% of the average U.S. home’s energy costs. If your gas or oil furnace is more than 20 years old, it may be time to replace it. Look for a model with an efficiency rating of 90% or higher and a variable speed motor. If you have a central air conditioner that’s more than 12 years old, replacing it with an Energy Star model can lower your cooling costs by 30%. Choose a central air conditioning system with a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER) of at least 15; the federal minimum requirement is now 13, but many older AC systems have a SEER of only 7 or 8. Federal tax credits of $300 or more are available when you purchase certain types of energy-efficient heating and cooling systems. Read our articles on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning for the scoop on improving the performance of older systems and choosing new equipment.

You’ve seen it in the news: Celebrities are flying all over the globe in private jets, then assuaging their guilty consciences by paying a fee to a company to “offset” their emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate-altering greenhouse gases. Or maybe you’ve passed a Hummer on the highway with a bumper sticker reading, “My vehicle is carbon neutral.” If that’s not galling enough, there are reports of some of the carbon-offset companies making obscene profits and contributing less than 20% of revenues to emissions-reduction projects. So are carbon offsets nothing but “greenwash”?

Not quite. But this new and booming industry deserves to be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism. The concept is a good one–carbon offsets give you a way to vote with your dollars. Problem is, right now it can be hard to tell whether your money is actually doing any good. While there are several organizations working to establish standards for offset quality, the industry is largely unregulated, and some offset providers are not delivering on their promises.

Read on to learn about what to look for–and what to look out for–when buying offsets.

What are carbon offsets?

The vendors who offer carbon offsets are middlemen. They take in payments from consumers and companies, take a cut for themselves, and direct the rest to green projects. Of course, when you send your money to an offset vendor, you’re not directly cutting your personal emissions–you’re just paying for emissions to be cut elsewhere. Greenhouse gases readily mix in the atmosphere, so in theory reducing emissions in another part of the world is as effective as reducing them in your backyard.

Most carbon offset programs are very accommodating, allowing you to offset emissions of a one-time event, like flying across country for your college roommate’s wedding, or ongoing emissions, like all the energy used annually by your home and vehicles. With a credit card number and a few clicks of the mouse, you can join the fast-growing world of carbon offsetting.

What types of projects do carbon offsets support?

You can buy carbon offsets that support domestic or international projects. The projects fall into two general categories: those that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and those that pull carbon from the atmosphere (also known as carbon “sequestration”).

Emissions-reduction projects include energy-efficiency upgrades at manufacturing plants, and large and small solar and wind power installations.

Carbon sequestration projects include capturing methane from coal mines, animal waste and landfills, as well as forest protection and restoration. Some experts suggest thinking twice about supporting forest-related offset projects because the emissions reductions are more difficult to monitor than energy efficiency or renewable energy projects. To offset emissions, a tree needs to survive for many decades, but the actual carbon savings from a reforestation project may be short-lived. Even if the forest isn’t logged, trees can be killed by disease and fire.

Some offsets support projects in developing countries, such as supplying efficient cooking stoves to replace polluting wood-burning stoves and providing hand-powered pumps to replace dirty diesel-powered pumps for irrigation.

How much do carbon offsets cost?

Carbon offset prices vary, depending on the assumptions built into the offset company’s calculator and how much it charges per ton of emissions. For a round-trip flight between San Francisco and New York, the cost of a carbon offset from three popular companies ranges from $10 to $36. The same three companies charge from $50 to $72 to offset the annual emissions of a mid-size car, and from $90 to $288 to offset the emissions of an average home.

Does spending less mean you’re getting a bargain, or not paying your fair share for emissions reductions? Does spending more mean you’re doing more good, or that the offset company is keeping a bigger piece of the pie? This is a new and largely unregulated market, so it’s tough to tell. Read on for more guidance.

How do I pick a carbon-offset company?

There aren’t yet any widely recognized standards or regulations to ensure that the emissions reductions you buy are real. A few organizations, such as Green-e Climate, are stepping up to screen carbon offsetting programs and certify that they are legitimate.

Once certification standards become more established and widely used, it will be easier for individuals to feel confident that their money is being well spent. For now, your best bet is to examine the websites of various offset companies. If a site doesn’t answer all your questions, give the company a call or look to another offset vendor.

Here are some questions that the carbon offset company should answer in detail:

• Are the offsets tied to specific projects? Are the projects and their expected results described in detail?
• How does the company demonstrate that the projects wouldn’t have happened anyway, without the contribution from the offsets? This is sometimes called the “additionality test.”
• What credible third-party standards are used to validate additionality, the quality of the emissions-reduction projects, and the company’s accounting procedures?
• How does the company demonstrate that the offsets aren’t double sold, in other words, that the same emissions reductions aren’t sold to multiple buyers?

Last words

No carbon offset program offers a “silver bullet” that will solve the global warming crisis. As responsible citizens, we first need to make difficult choices to reduce our personal carbon footprints by conserving, investing in efficiency, and cutting unnecessary consumption and travel. We also have to pressure our politicians to vote for real, far-reaching legislation that will reduce our dependence on “dirty” energy. Carbon offsets are merely a small part of the solution. The best approach to energy is of course “clean” energy, like solar, wind or fuel cells.

If you are interested in learning what you can around your home, please spend some time in our Carbon Center and measure your own Carbon Footprint. We can provide you lots of great advice to reduce your own carbon emissions–so you don’t feel compelled to purchase offsets.

So your home is a good place to start if you want to help slow global warming. It’s basically a two-step process. First, you figure out how to use less energy. That means choosing energy-saving light bulbs and appliances, insulating and air sealing, and taking other low- or no-cost steps to make your home energy efficient. The second step involves considering “renewable” energy. The Earth can provide a finite amount of fossil fuels such as oil and coal–and then they are gone. But if your home can harness the inexhaustible energy of the sun or the wind, you can help the United States transform the way it produces electricity and create a brighter future.

Solar electric systems, which are also called photovoltaic (PV) systems, convert the sun’s energy into electricity. PV systems are made up of semiconductor cells manufactured in thin layers and grouped into larger modules. They need to be installed in a south-facing location (typically on a roof) that’s not shaded by trees, buildings, or other structures.

When light hits a PV cell, it generates direct current (DC) electricity. The DC current runs through an inverter–a small box that transforms the DC current into AC current used to power your home.

Residential-scale wind turbines generate electricity from the wind’s kinetic energy–that’s the energy of motion. When wind moves the turbine’s blades, it turns a shaft connected to an electrical generator. The generator feeds electricity to your home. For a wind turbine to be cost effective, it needs to be in a location with ample, consistent wind. Most residential wind turbines don’t need a lot of space, but they are mounted on tall towers (typically 80 to 100 feet), so they’re best suited to properties of half an acre or more to avoid conflicts with neighbors.

Depending on its size, a PV system or wind turbine can provide a portion or all of your home’s electricity needs. Most installations are grid-connected, so that when they are producing more electricity than you need, you get a credit for the excess from the utility company. And when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, your home gets its power from the utility grid. Off-the-grid installations in rural areas rely on expensive banks of batteries to store electricity for use when the renewable energy system isn’t running.

Costs

The sun and wind are free, but harnessing their energy isn’t. After available state and federal incentives, the average cost of a solar electric installation is $15,000 to $30,000 for a typical 2 to 4 kilowatt system. A 3-kW wind turbine on a 60- to 80-foot tower would cost $15,000 to $21,000, including all components and installation. Unfortunately, even in areas with high electricity prices, it can take 15 years or more for a typical system to pay for itself. That’s still a 7% annual return on your investment–more than your bank pays you–but you must be willing to make the large up-front investment. As energy costs rise and the cost of renewables comes down, however, solar and wind power will become even more cost competitive. And in remote areas where it would be exorbitantly expensive to hook up to the electricity grid, a wind turbine or photovoltaic (PV) system may be the most economical choice.

Taking out a loan for a renewable energy installation often makes good sense. Depending on the situation, a homeowner’s monthly loan payments for a solar or wind system may be lower than their old monthly electric bill. After the loan is paid off, the electricity generated by the system is free.

Purchasing Green Power

If you can’t afford to generate your own solar or wind power, consider purchasing it from someone else. To do that, first check with your local electric company. They may offer a green power option from sources like solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas (such as methane), or low-impact hydro. When you buy green power you’re paying a small premium to support the utility’s renewable energy generation, but you’re not actually getting “green electrons” delivered to your home. Electrons are indistinguishable; those generated by renewable energy sources go into the grid and mix with electrons from all the utility’s other sources.

If your utility company doesn’t offer green power, don’t despair. You can purchase “green tags” (they’re also called renewable energy certificates, RECs, or green energy certificates). It’s similar to buying green power from your local utility, except that when you buy a green tag, you may be supporting green power generation in other parts of the country, not necessarily in your region. When you buy a green tag, you’re rewarding power suppliers that offer green power, but you’re not necessarily funding the development of new renewable energy sources. To find out more about green power and green tags, check out the U.S. EPA’s green power website.

Other Renewable Energy Sources

Most people mean sun and wind when they talk about home-scale renewable energy sources. But two other renewables are worth mentioning:

• For home heating, wood is a renewable source of energy if it’s harvested responsibly to balance the need for wood with protection of forest health and soil and water quality. Unlike burning fossil fuels, burning wood is not a net contributor of CO2 to the atmosphere. That’s because more CO2 is absorbed by a growing tree than is emitted when the wood is burned. Wood burning creates hazardous pollutants, however, including fine particles that can harm people’s lungs and cause asthma attacks and bronchitis. To learn more about the pros and cons of heating with wood, see our hearth products page.
• Some day, hydrogen fuel cells may be used to power our homes. They work by converting the chemical energy in hydrogen into electricity, producing water and heat as the only byproducts. This technology, although limited, is already available for commercial and residence use. To learn more visit ClearEdge Power. One challenge is extracting the hydrogen for use in the fuel cell, since in nature hydrogen is almost always bound with another element, such as oxygen. If fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, are used to produce the hydrogen, then hydrogen wouldn’t be considered a form of renewable energy. But if solar or wind energy is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, then the electricity produced is renewable.

Ground-source heat pumps (also called geothermal heat pumps) are sometimes referred to as renewable energy, but they’re actually an energy-efficient way of heating and cooling with electricity.

Big Benefits

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, producing 20% of our nation’s electricity with renewable energy by 2020 is both possible and affordable. When combined with strong energy-efficiency programs, meeting such a goal would

• Spur innovation
  The United States, once a leader in renewable energy development, has fallen behind other nations in pursuing clean energy solutions. By reinvigorating our commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency, we can develop the technologies of tomorrow and find solutions for today’s most pressing problems.
• Curb global warming
  Fossil-fuel power plants are a primary source of CO2 emissions in the United States. Boosting the country’s use of renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency could eliminate the need for nearly a thousand new fossil-fuel power plants over the next 20 years.
• Improve public health
  Pollution from existing power plants contributes to over 600,000 asthma attacks each year. Increasing energy efficiency and our use of renewable energy would take dangerous pollutants out of the air and let us all breathe a little easier.
• Cut energy bills
  Although it takes a while to recoup the initial cost, eventually the electricity generated by a solar or wind energy system saves you money. In addition, renewable energy systems give you a hedge against future energy price increases. They may even increase the value of your home by as much as $10 to $20 for every dollar in saved in annual energy costs.
• Enhance energy security
  Renewable energy allows communities and homes to generate their own decentralized power, which would make it difficult for terrorists to disrupt large portions of the electrical grid.
• Generate jobs, income, and revenue
  Renewable energy development can be a powerful economic support for rural areas. Some farmers and ranchers have received $2,000 a year in lease payments for each wind turbine operating on their land. Renewable energy projects also boost local tax revenues and generate local jobs.

In a recent press conference, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson said that in the next few months, carbon dioxide (CO2) will be declared a dangerous pollutant. As Jackson states it, a  formal “endangerment finding”will cause the government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, which will, undoubtedly, help move climate change legislation through Congress.

In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could regulate greenhouse gases that qualify as pollutants and threaten public health. Greenhouse gases, which trap heat within the earth, are major contributors to climate change. In April, the EPA found carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases to be pollutants that could possibly threaten public health.

Some powerful environmental forces, including President Obama and Jackson, would prefer if Congress implements the greenhouse gas limits because, according to Jackson, “it will combine the most efficient, most economy-wide, least costly and least disruptive way to deal with carbon dioxide pollution…We get further faster without top-down regulation.” The EPA is willing to handle the responsibility of regulating greenhouse gases given by the Supreme Court.  Jackson says, “Two years is a long time for this country to wait for us to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

This new regulation will continue to cause opposition from those who do not believe in the dangers of carbon dioxide or climate change.  However, CO2 is not just what we produce when we exhale — it is more complex and more damaging to the environment than most Americans really understand.

The issue with too much CO2

Carbon dioxide is required for plants to complete the process of photosynthesis, but too much can cause environmental problems. When CO2 is not captured by plants or other forms, it begins to accumulate in the atmosphere and the oceans. Since the Industrial Revolution, CO2 emissions have significantly increased due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other human activities. The Journal of Geophysical Research, even if we halt the emission of all future CO2, the environment will continue to experience climatic issues beyond the year 2100.

The main issue associated with CO2 is its natural ability to cause the Greenhouse Effect. The properties of CO2 allow it to maintain absorbed heat, thus the planet’s atmosphere begins to gradually heat up. As CO2 emissions increase, so does the overall temperature.

The oceans act like a large CO2 sponge. As they absorb the atmospheric trace gas, the gas’ solubility decreases and emits heat into the water. Thus, the oceans’ temperatures begin to rise. Many scientists believe this is the major cause of elevated water temperatures and the decreased sizes of snow compiles; like glaciers, ice patches, and icebergs.

Top Tips to Reducing your CO2 Emissions

• Walk whenever and wherever. You can even ride a bike or use another fuel-less device to get around.  Save the environment and get a work out!
• Consider public transportation as opposed to driving by yourself. Most cities have excellent transportation systems, be it by bus or subway and they’re very inexpensive.
• Carpool whenever you can. There is no sense in having multiple people drive in the same direction when you can easily organize a carpooling system.  Take turns driving – try this with your co-workers, classmates, family, or friends.
• Weatherization of your home can decrease your bills significantly with just a couple of easy adjustments within the home. Tiny cracks or old windows can let out your heat/cool air increasing the amount of energy you need to replace it. Follow our Sealing and Weatherization tips to get started.
• Eating smarter and locally, buying organic, or growing your own food eliminates the use of harmful pollutants. First get an idea of how and where to make improvements, you can calculate just how much carbon your dietary habits emit into the atmosphere. Use our low carbon diet calculator to get started.
• Use green cleaning products to reduce the amount of pollutants; such as CFC’s which deplete our ozone layer.
• Buy eco-friendly building supplies and build your project green. Lumber production is more often than not unsustainable. Taking down entire forest ecosystems has major effects on the environment from habitat destruction to direct consequences on the atmosphere. Forests act as the lungs for the Earth, inhaling all the CO2 and exhaling the oxygen we need. Protect them.
• Plant a tree or just get yourself a plant – they make wonderful companions, they look good in anyone’s home either inside or out and they willingly suck up all that excess CO2. If held indoors, plants will promote the circulation of good air quality.
• Recycle as much as humanly possible. Recycling or reusing existing products lessens the need to make more products which  use up precious resources. This will save resources like plastics and fuel.
• Reduce your overall consumption in your daily life. Buying less of everything means less factories, less trash, and less carbon in the air. Watch this video to get started: The Story of Stuff.

September 2009

Learn More
Home CO2 Calculator

Greenest White House

Home Recycling Advice

The Rubber Ducky Chemical

SCGH Recycling Center

The Bon Appétit Management Company Low Carbon Diet Calculator is designed to allow you to compare the relative carbon impacts of your food choices. Sierra Club Green Home is happy to partner with Bon Appétit Management Company to bring you this tool. Drag and drop menu items, ingredients or sample meals into your virtual pan and calculate the carbon emissions created by your meals. Start by making food choices that reduce your emissions by 25% and be part of the climate solution.

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In the face of a barrage of troubling news about the climate, energy, and other global crises, more people are searching for solutions. Some find ways to make immediate about-faces, like the pack-a-day smoker who goes cold turkey. Others make changes in small steps, trying out new approaches, gaining confidence, and then gradually letting go of old ways.

Small steps are vital–their impact really does add up. If every U.S. home replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an energy-saving compact fluorescent, the reduction in greenhouse gases would be equal to taking 800,000 cars off the road.

But will small steps be enough? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. Some credible economic studies have concluded that the planet’s ability to provide for humanity has been exceeded by our “ecological footprint.” That’s the amount of land and sea required to provide the resources for our food, shelter, and other goods–as well as the amount of land and sea needed to absorb the pollution and waste we produce in the process of creating those goods. Redefining Progress, an economic think tank that helped popularize the concept of ecological footprints, estimates that humanity’s ecological footprint is currently 39% bigger than the Earth can sustain. If we’ve exceeded the planet’s ability to provide for us, does that mean we’ve run out of raw materials? No. It means we are using more of the planet’s natural resources than can be regenerated each year, and we are creating more waste and pollution than can be safely absorbed. That’s what global climate change is all about–we’ve overtaxed Earth’s ability to absorb CO2 and other greenhouse gases and protect us from their effects.

Unless we figure out how to correct our course, our current path may be catastrophic for us, our descendants, and millions of other species. We’re already seeing signs of trouble in vital ecological systems around the world, from dying fisheries and coral reefs to disappearing and degraded agricultural soils. Estimated rates of species extinction are now 1,000 times what they would be without human impact.

Small steps are important, but given the magnitude of the problems, they are only part of the solution. We need to be looking ahead to major transformations of how we design and use everything from laundry soap to cars to houses. Zero-energy homes, for example, generate more energy than they use. Such sweeping solutions could reduce humanity’s ecological footprint by a factor of several hundred or more, says environmental scientist Dennis Meadows and his coauthors of Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Global Update. In the vanguard of helping businesses, governments, and individuals find the best solutions are energy guru Amory Lovins of Rocky Mountain Institute and eco-designer William McDonough, coauthor of the influential book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The goal: much smarter use of energy and resources to eliminate inefficiency and waste while improving quality of life for humans and all other species.

Getting to zero waste, zero pollution, and zero-energy homes isn’t going to be easy. Success hinges in large part on shifts in public policies and businesses practices. But there are also tremendous opportunities for individuals to make a difference, from small steps like changing a light bulb to giant leaps like trading in your car for a bike. Below are five principles that suggest large and small ideas for shrinking your individual ecological footprint.

1. Reduce the bad stuff.

Let’s start with “reduce.” If overconsumption is at the heart of most environmental crises, then the answer is to use less stuff, right? Not so fast.

Not all consumption is bad. The trick is to make smarter choices about what we buy–and what we do with stuff after we buy it. You shouldn’t avoid putting more insulation in your house just because it takes energy and natural resources to make it. The environmental impacts of the initial manufacturing will be dwarfed by your home’s reduced energy consumption year after year.

When reducing consumption:

• Focus on changes that make the biggest difference. Drive less. Drive a fuel-efficient car. Take fewer airplane trips. Eat less meat. Upgrade your home’s insulation, and choose energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment, lighting, and appliances. If you can afford it, reduce your dependence on fossil fuels with a solar water heater or solar electric system. Bringing your own bags to the grocery store is a fine small step, but pales in comparison to the bigger stuff, like whether you walked, biked, or drove a gas-guzzler to the store.
• Look for the most effective leverage points. The best opportunities for reducing your ecological footprint arise when you make a major change or purchase: a new job, a new home, a car, a heating system, a refrigerator. If you’re changing jobs or moving to a new home, can you reduce the distance between where you live and work, or choose a location with good public transit access? If you’re buying a new car, consider that it will likely be on the road for 100,000 miles or more; choosing a high-efficiency vehicle (or opting to go carless) will have a major impact on your carbon footprint–and on the footprint of whoever owns the car after you.
• Watch your weight. In general, heavier items have a larger environmental impact so you need to be smarter when buying the bigger stuff. A refrigerator has a vastly larger impact on energy use and CO2 emissions than a toaster, so when buying a fridge make energy efficiency the top priority. Compared with an MP3 player, a plasma screen TV requires more resources to make, uses more energy to run (as much energy as a refrigerator!), and will create a greater disposal burden.

2. Reuse what you’ve got.

Some people say you have to spend more to be green. The truth is, being frugal and living green have a lot in common. Using stuff that’s been around the block a few times is generally much easier on the planet–and on your wallet–than buying new products. One exception: when it comes to vehicles, equipment, or major appliances that use a lot of energy, it’s often wiser to replace them with a super-efficient new product.

There are infinite variations on the reuse theme.

Here’s the basic idea:

• Love the one you’re with. Advertisers keep up relentless pressure on us to buy the latest, greatest next-new-thing, whether it’s a dress with this season’s hem length or a laptop with a faster processor. New products are seductive–sometimes we really do need them, but sometimes we just long for them. Before falling for the shiny lure of the new, give the dresses in your closet or the computer on your desk a second chance–and remember that the happiness of owning something new is ephemeral.
• Cultivate second-hand style. Some things are better new, like underwear and mattresses. But for most other things you need to buy, consider giving a new home to a used product. You don’t have to be a Dumpster diver to be a reuser. “Previously owned” products come in every budget range, from thrift-store bargains to breathtaking antiques. Whether it’s a kitchen table, a crib, or a book you’ve been wanting to read, you can probably find it used. Borrowing is a good green option too, especially for tools and yard equipment that you use only occasionally.
• Support your local repairfolk. In many communities, the local cobbler has gone the way of the drive-in movie theater. These days, when the soles or heels of shoes wear out, people throw away the shoes and buy new ones. The same is true of blenders and hair dryers that fizzle out, clothes that need mending, and chairs with sagging seats. If you’re lucky enough to have people with repair skills in your community, keep them around and spare the planet by getting your stuff fixed rather than trashing it. Or repair it yourself if you’ve got the ability, and offer to teach your fix-it skills to the younger generations.
• Pass it forward. Put unwanted items back in circulation rather than letting them gather dust in your home. There’s someone out there who needs that high chair, baseball glove, or yoga DVD. Whether you sell your unwanted stuff, donate it for a tax deduction, or just give it away, you’ll be doing the environment a good turn by making used goods available to others. Exception: If you bring an old energy-guzzling refrigerator up from the basement, turn it in for recycling so it doesn’t continue its energy-wasting ways in someone else’s home.

3. Recycle the rest.

We’ve had it drilled into us that recycling is an environmental virtue–and it is a good step to take, as a last resort. But it’s almost always better to reduce or reuse rather than recycle.

Some materials, like glass, steel, and aluminum, can be endlessly recycled. But the process requires considerable industrial effort, with inputs of everything from energy to clean water to virgin materials.

And often when we think we’re recycling, we’re actually “downcycling,” which occurs when a material gets recycled only one time and then becomes unrecyclable. A plastic water bottle, for example, can be recycled into a polyester fleece jacket. That’s good because it means less demand for petroleum-based virgin fleece. But if that recycled fleece jacket isn’t itself recyclable, the jacket will be tossed when it’s no longer wearable. Downcycling merely extends a material’s life, whereas true recycling keeps the material in play, potentially forever.

Still, recycling and buying products with recycled content do help solve multiple environmental problems, including reducing demand for natural resources. Recycling a stack of newspapers only four feet high will save a good-sized tree.

Recycling also reduces energy, water, and pollution related to manufacturing. Producing new paper, glass, and metal products from recycled materials saves 70% to 90% of the energy and pollution, including CO2, that would result if the product came from virgin materials. Recycling also keeps materials out of landfills and incinerators.

Here are some tips:

• If your community offers curbside recycling, use it. Sorting recyclables from trash isn’t hard-it’s just a matter of getting in the habit. Make it easier on your household by keeping the recycling containers accessible, preferably next to the trash container so that it’s as easy to recycle as it is to throw stuff away.
• Go the extra mile. For items that can’t be recycled curbside, like batteries, fluorescent lights, electronics, motor oil, or foam packaging, contact your city’s recycling department or use Earth911’s widget located at the top of this page to find local drop-off sites.
• Favor products that can be recycled. If your city’s recycling program doesn’t accept certain types of plastic, try to avoid packaging made with that material.
• Buy recycled content. The recycling infrastructure needs markets for products made with recycled materials. In terms of appearance, performance, and cost, there’s usually little or no difference between recycled-content and virgin-content products. These days recycled products run the gamut from paper towels to carpet to outdoor furniture. By the way, if the label doesn’t mention recycled content, the item probably doesn’t have it. Many companies are still cutting down trees to make toilet paper that you use for a few seconds and then flush away.

4. Redirect your dollars.

Every dollar counts. When we buy a cup of coffee made with fair trade, organically grown beans, we’re telling the coffee shop that we support social justice and environmental protection–and we’re supporting efforts to create a healthier future. When we buy Forest Stewardhip Council-certified lumber, we’re standing up for the conservation of forests around the world–and we’re letting lumber companies know of the demand for greener forestry products. When we shop at a farmers’ market, we’re rewarding local farmers who are dedicated to growing healthy, delicious food.

Think of it as voting with your dollars. You can send a powerful message to companies by redirecting your spending to organizations and products that are doing good for the Earth, and withdrawing support from organizations and products that aren’t part of the solution. It’s the old carrot-and-stick strategy, and you can use it every time you open your wallet.

Sometimes it can feel overwhelming to be an environmentally conscious consumer. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t always make the best green purchasing decision–or if no good green options are available at the moment. Keep the 3Rs in mind and do the best you can.

And feel good when you are able to buy green products. Solar electric systems, solar water heaters, cars that get more than 40 miles per gallon, water-conserving toilets, organically grown food–products like these can make a big reduction in our ecological footprints.

5. Redesign our lives and how we make things.

Plastic soft drink bottles weigh 25% less than they did in 1977. With 7 billion two-liter bottles made annually, that packaging design change amounts to 250 million pounds of plastic that’s not produced each year.

“Lightweighting” is just one way to redesign a product. Often the corporate motivation is to beef up the bottom line, but companies are learning that it’s possible to do well and do good. Many businesses have retooled their manufacturing processes to use less water and energy and produce less waste. Some carpet companies have redesigned their products to be recyclable, and will take back their old carpet for recycling when you are ready to replace it.

Just as many companies are redesigning how they make things to be easier on the planet, we can redesign our lives. Some people have embraced the idea of voluntary simplicity–making the choice to slow down, buy less, and refocus on the values and activities they cherish the most, whether it’s spending time with family, gardening, volunteering in the community, deepening a spiritual practice, or developing a new skill.

Living more lightly on the planet doesn’t have to involve a radical upheaval. It can be as simple as organizing errands more efficiently to cut down on the number of car trips taken, carpooling a few days a week with a coworker, or starting a vegetable garden or compost pile. For others, it might mean tuning up the bike and using it to run errands around town (and getting some exercise to boot). Others might decide to vacation closer to home, both to save money on gas or air travel and to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

When it comes to the ways in which we can redesign our lives to live well and do good, the sky’s the limit.

IN FEBRUARY 1977, JIMMY CARTER donned a cardigan to encourage Americans, still reeling from the effects of the Arab oil embargo, to turn down their thermostats as a way of immediately reducing the country’s dependence on imported oil. The former nuclear engineer was parodied for what looked like a Mr. Rogers moment, and since then few politicians have dared suggest that we tighten our collective belts.

But the need for energy conservation has only accelerated. As in the 1970s, the country is wrestling with air-quality problems and a foreign policy and an economy beholden to oil-exporting nations. Global warming has added urgency.

The great come-to-conservation moment for many people, however, follows a slap to the wallet rather than to the head. Last summer, gasoline in the United States rose to more than $3 per gallon, its highest price in 25 years (adjusted for inflation). When Carter first called on Americans to conserve, gas cost just $1.50 per gallon (adjusted for inflation). Suddenly, a fuel-efficient hybrid is cooler than an SUV, and the fuel-oil savings gained from installing insulation, sealing drafty doors and windows, and, yes, putting on a sweater become obvious.

According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), steps to increase efficiency can reduce U.S. energy use–and related greenhouse-gas emissions–by at least 30 percent. And that’s being … conservative. The “2,000-Watt Society” program promoted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology claims it’s feasible to reduce average continuous per-capita power use in industrialized countries to 2,000 watts per day–that’s a two-thirds reduction in energy use for Europeans and a five-sixths decrease for spendthrift Americans–without crimping anyone’s standard of living.

More than 320 U.S. cities have begun to do their part through the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, an effort supported by the Sierra Club’s Cool Cities Campaign (coolcities.us). Many utilities and manufacturers have turned to conservation as well: A utility that helps customers reduce energy demand can avoid the cost of new power plants; a manufacturer that performs life-cycle assessments on its products can reduce energy consumption and the cost of raw materials.

In the past, some of the biggest efficiency gains followed new federal standards, regulations, tax incentives, and research funding. For example, today’s typical refrigerator (which accounts for 20 percent of a household’s utility costs) uses about one-fourth the energy of a 1972 model. Efficiency standards for appliances generally save consumers $2 to $3 in utility costs for every dollar increase in purchase price.

Despite the benefits, the Bush administration has failed to adopt congressionally mandated energy-saving standards for nearly two dozen appliances, prompting a lawsuit by 15 state attorneys general and New York City. Last August, the administration proposed federal standards for the 40 million electrical-distribution transformers in the United States. After assessing six possible levels of efficiency, the Department of Energy chose the second-weakest standard–one that will squander 12 billion kilowatt-hours per year and cost more over the transformers’ 30- to 50-year life span than would a more efficient standard. The good news: Even the weak Bush proposal will eliminate the need to build 15 new carbon-dioxide-spewing power plants.

According to the ACEEE, more-aggressive national policies that emphasize renewable energy sources and efficiency could save a typical American family at least $650 a year. That would buy plenty of cardigans–and the benefits to national security and the environment would be priceless.