Good Job Suits!

There never seems to be a shortage of depressing and alarming environmental news to report. So it's nice to be able to focus on some good news for a change. Ever heard of the Montreal Protocol? Twenty years ago, a bunch of suits got together in Montreal and put together an international agreement that actually had some teeth. Their agreement, called the Montreal Protocol made real headway in banning the production and release of chemicals that damage the ozone layer. That in itself was great news for the environment. But that was 20 years ago...why mention it today? Well, yesterday, a new bunch of suits got together in Montreal and cut a deal to strengthen and accelerate the plan set up in the original agreement. Read the full story here.

Now, it's not often that the suits do the right thing, (especially when it may not add up to front page press time or a deep pocket of campaign dollars.) And just like with my children, I believe it's important to effusively praise and reward good behavior. So, I would like to say "Good Job, Suits! I'm putting up a batch of cookies for you!"

Photo courtesy of www.freeimages.co.uk.

No Idling!

A recent Yale University study found that children who ride a school bus are exposed to up to 15 times more particulate pollution than average. That’s bad news for the 24 million American children who ride a school bus each day. Researchers estimate that this increased exposure is due to the idling and queuing of school buses. In other words, as school buses line up and wait in front of our kids’ schools, they are filling up harmful particulate pollution that will stay with our children throughout their ride.

What can you do abou it? Talk to your school administrators about the health and environmental implications of bus idling and propose a measure to ban it. Seventh grader Adam Martin from Jericho, VT , appeared earlier this year before Vermont’s House Natural Resources Committee to urge lawmakers to ban bus idling. If he can do it, so can you!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsors the "Clean School Bus" program in an effort to inform parents and school board officials about the need to ban bus idling. Check out http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/ for more info.