Bike Guy Has a Global Warming Solution

Chris Alphin is a bicycle messenger in downtown Miami — easily one of the most dangerous jobs in Florida. Alphin often takes his breaks in the bayfront park adjoining the Hotel Inter-Continental. Between deliveries yesterday, he happened to wander into the vicinity of the Serve to Preserve global climate change summit convened by Gov. Charlie Crist.

But when he realized there was a conference on global warming going on, the Miami Beach resident decided to mount a one-man protest. He rode over to the CVS pharmacy, bought poster board and a marker and voilá — instant climate message with his “Human Powered, 0 Emissions” sign.

‘I just hope I can remind somebody about some other options.’
— Chris Alphin

“I didn’t even know this was going on,” said Alphin. “All these guys with their multi-million-dollar solutions, and there’s not a single bike path in downtown Miami. Riding your bike is not seen as an option.”

Alphin’s politics are currently “in flux,” he said: “I used to be a pretty harsh Republican, but lately I think the Republican Party has been taken over by big business. But it’s the same for the Democrats.” Hence, the flux.

This is his first-ever protest, he said, though he does participate in monthly Critical Mass rides where bicycle riders get together to “celebrate cycling,” Alphin said. He’s realistic about the potential impact of his protest, as he walks his bike back and forth across from the hotel’s portico, behind the hybrids, electric and hydrogen cars on display: “I just hope I can remind somebody about some other options.”

Alphin owns a car, but says while he puts 200 miles on his bike every week, he only drives 50 to 60 miles a month.

If he could say one thing to the politicians and attendees at the summit, Alphin says, “Cycling has got to be part of the solution, especially for trips that are three to four miles or less — if it was safe. But it’s not safe. I ride around the streets of Miami every day, so I’m used to the traffic. But it’s intimidating for someone who’s not used to it, and there are no bike paths, so they are forced to drive.”

With that, the Bike Guy continued his dogged one-man demonstration in the 100-degree heat.

We All Need to Pay to Support Green Energy Production

Sorry, Trish, but it looks like the right thing for you and me to do is pony up that extra $9.95 per month that Florida Power & Light says it will use to support more environmentally friendly energy production methods.

Trish and I have had a long-running discussion about whether we should pay the extra $9.95 per month so our electricity utility, Florida Power & Light Co. can invest in green energy production. We both have been reluctant, mainly because we don’t trust our big electricity supplier.

FPL has commited to a 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

I decided to ask around at the Serve to Preserve summit here in Miami.

Matt Banks of the World Wildlife Fund told me it’s our responsibility to do it to move us away from coal-powered power toward renewable resources like solar and wind. He said WWF has been working with FPL on a number of projects in its Power Switch Program and has actually gotten the energy company to publicly commit to a 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and to have 20 percent of its energy production based on renewable resources and to retire at least half of its least efficient coal-burning plants — all by 2020.

The company is under huge pressure to produce more electricity these days, said Banks. FPL is adding new customers at a rate of 100,000 every 10 days. That’s why the company recently tried to rig a deal to build a coal-burning power plant on the edge of the Everglades. Fortunately, the Florida Public Service Commission stopped that stupid plan, but you see why Trish and I are leery of trusting FPL.

Banks pointed out that through WWF’s efforts and pressure, FPL is under greater public scrutiny now, and is more likely to meet or exceed those goals and more likely to do the right thing rather than risk bad publicity.

But back to that extra $10 per month. I asked Banks whether I could trust FPL to really use that money to support greener energy production. His answer was an unequivocal Yes.

“We should all do our part and pay that extra monthly amount to support more environmentally friendly energy production,” Banks said. “Besides,” he added, “it’s the right thing to do.”

Depressing Global Warming Stats — Happy Friday the 13th!

Participants in the Serve to Preserve summit on global warming convened by Gov. Charlie Crist in Miami have been throwing around a lot of scary statistics about the environment. In the interest of helping everyone feel as terrified about the environment as I do, here are some stats to start your day:

  • There is a 90 percent chance that heat-trapping pollution is the main factor in warming since 1950.
  • The earth will warm an additional 4-11 degrees F during the 21st century if energy production remains fossil-fuel intensive (best estimate is 7 degrees).
  • The earth will warm an additional 3-8 degrees F during this century if emissions follow a mid-range forecast (best estimate 5 degrees)
  • Sea levels will rise seven to 23 inches during the 21st century, assuming no acceleration of ice flow in Greenland and Antarctica, but could rise 20 to 55 inches in this century if other bad stuff happens
  • Greenland and Antarctica are discharging 90 cubic miles of water per year
  • We have released a trillion tons of carbon into the atmosphere in the past 150 years; if we don’t change our ways, we’ll put another trillion tons of carbon into the atmosphere in the next 20 years

Happy Friday!

Robert Kennedy Jr.: Free Market Can Save the Environment

In a rousing and wide-ranging luncheon address at the Florida Summit on Global Climate Change in Miami, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reminded those of us old enough to remember his father and brother how much we miss those masters of the public address. Speaking without notes or a teleprompter, Kennedy fired up the audience with the power of his intellect and the depth of his passion — and drove a dozen or so conservative Republicans from the room.

Kennedy began by saying that environmental activism should not be a partisan issue, noting that Republicans like Theodore Roosevelt and Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have been strong proponents of environmental policy. “The worse thing that could happen to this issue,” he said, “is for it to become the provenance of one party.”

But he also noted that some Republicans have “taken the ‘conserve’ out of ‘conservatism.'”

Kennedy noted that the U.S. government has been the principal obstacle to change in environmental policy. He cited the $17 billion in direct subsidies and $834 billion in indirect subsidies the oil industry receives annually. He also pointed out that the Bush administration has rolled back every major piece of environmental legislation passed in the last 30 years.

“It is almost impossible to talk about the environment today without criticizing President Bush and his administration,” he said. “This is the worst environmental record of any presidential administration ever. They have put polluters in charge of every critical agency.”

Between subsidies and loading the administration with cronies and representatives of the worst of the polluters, the Bush administration has cheated Americans out of their birthrights to clean air and water, said Kennedy. But, he said, the solution is to end government subsidies and let the free market take care of the environment.

“I believe the free market is the best way to guarantee a clean environment,” he said. “A free market would free us to behave in a way that preserves the environment.

“Show me a polluter and I will show you a subsidy,” said Kennedy. “I’ll show you a fat cat who is abusing the environment at the expense of the public.”

Kennedy noted that the concept of the public trust — that we all share equal access to our natural resources — was encoded in the Magna Carta and is at the core of our national heritage and identity. And it is that public trust that polluters violate. “We’re not protecting the environment for the animals, fish and birds, we’re protecting it because it enriches us economically and spiritually,” he said. “When we destroy nature, we impoverish ourselves and deprive our children of their inheritance.

“My father used to say to me that our country was the first country in the world that was founded on an idea,” said Kennedy. “The current administration simply does not understand that idea.”

Crist Seems Sincere, But Don’t They All?


The air is thick with politics here at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Miami. Agendas are everywhere. Programs are being discussed, plans made and laid. And, appropriately, they have recycling bins in the press room.

Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist has been in office exactly six months and 11 days, and he has already set forth an environmental agenda that makes Jeb Bush look like the piker he was. Working with the state legislature, Crist has signed sweeping legislation that is set to fix problems with Lake Okeechobee and major rivers across Florida, as well as supporting the lagging Everglades restoration project.

When asked at the conference why no Bush administration officials were in attendance, Crist quipped, “I don’t know and I’m not sure why not. But we’re here.”

And, as was reported yesterday, he plans to sign executive orders tomorrow that will make Florida’s emissions standards look a lot like California’s. Of course, we thought that word of the executive order was released early to gin up attention for this conference, but, as Crist explained at a press conference this morning, because of Florida’s so-called “Sunshine Law,” it’s virtually impossible to keep a secret in Tallahassee, and word of the orders leaked yesterday.

Crist seemed genuinely disappointed, because he admittedly lost some of the potential media impact of the order due to the premature announcement.

Crist says he expects that a lot of the grass-roots work on the environmental front in Florida will be performed by volunteers — “children, adults and retirees,” he said. “Volunteers are a precious resource of renewable energy and enthusiasm,” he said. Hmmmm, sounds like, well, pie in the ozone layer.

More than 600 people — over 200 of them journalists — are attending the summit. When asked at the conference why no Bush administration officials were in attendance, Crist quipped, “I don’t know and I’m not sure why not. But we’re here.”

Asked whether such global matters as climate change might not be better served by working on a national level, Crist replied, “I’m governor of Florida. My opportunity, given to me by the people of Florida, is to try and make a difference in Florida.”

Crist lauded the state legislature and the Public Service Commission for their support of his environmental initiatives: “Somebody [Florida Power & Light] wanted to put a coal plant next to the Everglades — that’s just incredible. The Public Service Commission stepped in and stopped that.”

Crist seems to be sincere and committed and serious about this stuff. But then again, he is a Republican, so we remain skeptical, and like the man from Missouri, we say, Show me!

Live From Miami, It’s the Global Climate Change Summit

Today and tomorrow I will be posting “live” from “Serve to Preserve,” Florida’s summit on global climate change. Although typically, Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist has already announced that he is going to announce far-reaching emissions goals for the state tomorrow, we’re here to see what else is going on on the climate change scene and whether the Republicans can really hijack this issue.

Participants in this summit include Crist, Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Kennedy Jr., Teddy Roosevelt IV and a bunch of other suits. Conspiracy theorists, hold your breath …

Here are links to our complete coverage:

Tune in Live Earth 7/7/07

Take a break from whatever you’re doing tomorrow and check out Live Earth, the international music event to combat global warming.

Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

Live Earth will reach this worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms – TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels…

Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, the Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8, an event that brought together one of the largest audiences in history to combat poverty. Wall formed a partnership with Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection to ensure that Live Earth inspires behavioral changes long after 7/7/07.

Live Earth will stage official concerts at Giants Stadium in New York; Wembley Stadium in London; Aussie Stadium in Sydney; Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg; Makuhari Messe in Tokyo; the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai; and HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.

Live Earth concerts will be broadcast to a live worldwide audience by MSN at www.LiveEarth.MSN.com.

The newest artist to be added to the list of performers is Yusuf, formerly known as Cat Stevens.