Global Warming 101: Politics, Economics, Culture, Action

Nearly every action we take on the average day, from cooking eggs for breakfast, to watching "Project Runway" after dinner, relies upon energy generated by burning fossil fuels, which are the primary cause of global warming. The U.S. is the world's leading polluter, but for nearly two decades has ignored and often obstructed global action to stop global warming. But that seems to be changing...

Can Offshore Drilling Lower Gas Prices, Make the U.S. Energy Independent?

Offshore oil drilling could bring a lot of royalty revenue to the federal government, and the states that allow drilling off their coastlines. It might employ a lot of people -- petroleum engineers and geologists, oil rig workers and more. Offshore oil drilling could also cause coastal oil spills and other environmental harms. All valid topics for discussion. But all we've been hearing from our political leaders is that offshore oil drilling is essential to American's "energy independence." Would offshore drilling lower the price of a gallon of gas, or liberate the U.S. from foreign oil?

Now Read This: Annotated Guide to Good Books, Articles About Climate

There are probably already enough good (even great) books, articles, and DVD'd tv shows and films about global warming to fill every one of the six large bookshelves in my apartment. Here are some toeholds on this mountain of information.

Communities on the Front Lines of an Unstable Climate

It's easy to feel like global warming is a problem for the future -- unless you're Dutch, and your entire country is below sea level. Or you live in the Arctic, where rising temperatures have already forced people to abandon their communities, or on a Pacific Island where intensifying storms and sea surges are eroding your land. Read about these places on the front lines of a destabilizing climate.

Global Warming by the Numbers

Manure Today, Electricity Tomorrow

Since 2005, Blue Spruce Farm's 1,500 Holsteins have been creating two streams of income: about 24 million pounds of milk a year, and over 1.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity. This Vermont farm and three others are part of the Cow Power program run by Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS). This program is proof that smart methods for generating significant amounts of clean energy already exist for those ready to take advantage of them.

When Good Gasses Go Bad: A primer on the causes of global warming

Our atmosphere is a mostly oxygen and nitrogen, and 1% other substances. That 1% includes the "greenhouse gasses" such as carbon dioxide and water vapor, which warm the planet by absorbing infrared light. Although these gases have made our home world a relatively comfortable place to live for eons past, human activity has increased their presence in the atmosphere to the point that the Earth is heating up, the climate is destabilizing, and the conditions of life on earth -- the weather, how we grow food, where we build our communities, and more -- are changing. How, exactly, does all this work?

Nonprofit Profile: 350.org meshes social networking, community organizing

350.org is combining online tools with classic community organizing to get out one simple message: lower the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million. The backbone of the group's efforts is its "open source" approach to organizing: Anyone is welcome to use the ideas documented on the site to spread the word in their own communities, and to share their own.

Welcome to globalwarming.change.org!

To Eat or Not to Eat Meat

Rajendra Pachauri would like you to eat less meat -- to eat meat-free at least one day a week, in fact -- to help stop global warming. And since he is the head of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, you might want to take him seriously.