The Climate Minute - Champions All Around...

We're back with another edition of the Climate Minute, and Ted and Rob are once again gloating about Massachusetts' continued dominance: the Red Sox are champions, and the state is number one in Energy Efficiency. Yes, we are unbearable... Now, the links Massachusetts "three-peats" on energy efficiency, securing a first place in the American Council for and Energy Efficient Economy's state rankings for the third year in a row. Have you had an energy assessment lately?  WHY NOT?!?  Go to the MassSave site and sign up for one right now!  Go on, we'll wait. For an interesting explanation of how Massachusetts came to adopt some of the strongest efficiency programs in the country, check out this article.  Worth it for the explanation of how the phrase "the rat gets the cheese" became emblematic of energy efficiency programs -- and how it stemmed from a utility executive volunteering that he was the rat... The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources is taking comments about the future of the Stretch Code, the state's alternative high efficiency building code in anticipation of developing a replacement code.  They recently ran a webinar talking about the code and giving the questions they are looking for answers to, which you can find here, or send comments to the state via the email address Stretchcode@state.ma.us. To check out the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan and read about the state's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, go here. Read about the President's Executive Order on Climate Preparedness here.  As the post suggests, this is a welcome addition to the federal climate change response and will focus efforts on strengthening climate resilience. As we mentioned, Dr. James Hansen, Dr. Kerry Emmanuel, and other eminent climate scientists have called for a re-examination of nuclear power as a bridge source away from fossil fuels to renewables. For more discussion on the connection between climate change and capitalism, here's a good place to start.  Do you think capitalism is a core cause of climate change, which is where Ted is, or do you lean toward Rob's opinion that climate change is an impact of human activity, capitalistic, communistic and other, and we need to drop the value judgements and work on solutions? Finally, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of the Philippines as they recover from Typhoon Haiyan, a "super typhoon" with sustained winds of 190 mph and peak winds of 230 mph.  We're not saying climate change is the cause of Typhoon Haiyan, but... Things to do "You Had Me at Pigovian..." is the alluring tagline of an event being held Tuesday, November 19th, at Babson University discussing the importance of a carbon tax.  See more information here. Remember, for more climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email.  You can even follow us on twitter @MassClimate , so there are lots of ways for you to listen and participate in the dialog. When you are on the website, please contribute to MCAN. Every dollar you give will be doubled by a generous backer, so long as we reach our fundraising goal.   So we will close the way we always close, by saying that because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions,  because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is a patriotic duty as citizens, we insist that the US put a price on carbon. Good bye and see you next week…