Global Warming -- What You Can Do
“The average American generates about 15,000 pounds of carbon
dioxide every year from personal transportation, home energy use and from the energy used to produce all of the
products and services we consume.” www.climatecrisis.net

Calculate your personal carbon impact at www.safeclimate.net/calculator/ or
www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/ (among many on line resources).
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Reduce your carbon pollution footprint. For dozens of personal steps you can take,
see www.stopglobalwarming.org, www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction, and
www.theclimateproject.org, among many other on line resources. A sampling:

Do an energy audit of your home, workplace, place of worship and transportation:
www.pge.com or www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/energy_audits/
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Replace all your light bulbs this week with compact fluorescents – 3 bulbs save 300
lbs. of carbon dioxide (CO2) and $60 per year. Buy products with less packaging.
Recycle paper, plastic and glass. Bring your own canvass bags to shop. Buy
organic and buy locally. Save another 1,000 lbs. per year. www.resuablebags.com

Unplug un-used electronics. Even when electronic devices are turned off, they use
energy. Save over 1,000 lbs of CO2 and $256 per year.

Drive 20 miles less per week and save 1,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per year.
Walk or ride your bike to work or school; use mass transit, carpool & rideshare.
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Caulk & weather-strip doorways & windows. Save 1,700 lbs. of CO2 & $274/yr.
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Switch to double pane windows and save 10,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $436
per year. Replace old appliances (e.g., refrigerators) with energy efficient ones.
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Purchase renewable energy. Green your power: www.green-e.org.
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Drive a hybrid car, biodiesel car or a car that gets more than 40 miles to the gallon
and save ~16,000 lbs. of CO2 and $3,750 per year: www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/

Invest in healthy ecosystems and renewable energy—support conservation
organizations directly; also see ecosystemmarketplace.com & nativeenergy.com.

Organize your workplace, school, religious center or neighborhood. Set up car
shares, go solar, educate and activate. Contact www.climateprotectioncampaign.org.

Call, write and make in person visits to your elected officials: local, state and
federal. Demand a commitment to kicking the oil habit entirely by 2020 as Sweden has
pledged; demand major investments in ecosystem conservation and renewable energy.

Donate to conservation organizations to ensure clean water, timber, healthy
fisheries, pollination, flood control, nature watching and other services nature provides
that we all depend on, to:
o conduct sound science to understand the impacts of climate change, protect
ecosystems and to secure the most from our conservation investments;
o inform policymakers and the public on impacts of-- and solutions to-- the
climate crisis.
Global Warming- What You Can Do Compiled by Ellie M. Cohen July 2007 Page 1
PRBO Conservation Science, 3820 Cypress Dr., #11 Petaluma, CA 94954 707-781-2555 www.prbo.org

Support organizations working to stop greenhouse gas pollution including those
highlighted in this handout.

Keep informed and stay involved. Our future depends on it.
o Sign up at www.climatecrisiscoalition.org for daily and weekly global warming news
updates. Check out their excellent news archives for the latest scientific findings.
o For state and federal action alerts & extensive background information, including
climate change impacts on California, see www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/ (Union of
Concerned Scientists), www.fightglobalwarming.org (Environmental Defense),
www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/default.asp (Natural Resources Defense Council), and
www.environmentcalifornia.org/global-warming (Environment California).
o See www.realclimate.org, an excellent, up-to-date climate science web site for
“climate science by real scientists.” Visit www.prbo.org for more on conservation.
o See http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/ for a summary of climate change impact
projections on California- Our Changing Climate: Assessing the Risks to California (2006).
o See NASA’s Earth Observatory to view satellite imagery and scientific information
about earth’s climate and environmental change: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
o For the latest from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, www.ipcc.ch/.
o For federal climate change policy, legislation, and innovative programs and
partnerships, see Pew Center on Global Climate Change at www.pewclimate.org:
Other Recommended Resources:
Bowen, Mark. Thin Ice: Unlocking the Secrets of Climate in the World’s Highest Mountains. 2005. Henry Holt.
Conor, Steve. A New Study Led by Jim Hansen Makes Unambiguous Warning that the Earth is in 'Imminent Peril'. The
London Independent, June 19, 2007. (free online)
Flannery, Tim. The Weather Makers, How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth.
2005. Atlantic Monthly Press, NY.
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth, The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It.
2006. Rodale.
Hansen, James, et. al. Climate Change and Trace Gases. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, May
18, 2007 http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2007/2007_Hansen_etal_2.pdf (free online)
Lean, Geoffrey. New Studies Reveal Accelerated Global Warming. The Independent (UK). June 3, 2007. (free online)
Linden, Eugene. The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather & the Destruction of Civilizations. 2006. Simon & Schuster.
McKibben, Bill. Voices: A Deeper Shade of Green, National Geographic, August 2006. (free online)
Paine, Chris. Who Killed the Electric Car? A Lack of Consumer Confidence or Conspiracy? Documentary film. 2006.
Parmesan, Camille. Ecological & Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate Change. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution &
Systematics. October 17, 2006. (free online)
Stix, Gary. A Climate Repair Manual. Scientific American. September, 2006. (intro free online) See articles on
energy conservation, coal, nuclear, biofuels & renewables in this special issue, Energy’s Future: Beyond Carbon,
How to Power the Economy & Still Fight Global Warming,
Williams, Louise. Emission Possible: Sweden Sets the Standard. The Age (Australia), June 17, 2007 (free online)
Wilson, E.O. The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth. 2006. W. W. Norton, N.Y.
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a [person]
stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others…[s/he] sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and
crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which
can sweep down the mightiest walls of…resistance.”
-Robert F. Kennedy, South Africa, 1966
Global Warming- What You Can Do Compiled by Ellie M. Cohen July 2007 Page 2
PRBO Conservation Science, 3820 Cypress Dr., #11 Petaluma, CA 94954 707-781-2555 www.prbo.org