By John Mott-Smith

Small motors contribute a significant amount of air pollution, and have traditionally been regulated for noise and air quality, and are only recently being looked at in relation to greenhouse gas emissions. This column examines the range of options for removing leaves and debris from lawns, gardens, sidewalks, and patios: from older model gas-powered leaf blowers, to newer, more efficient model gas blowers, to electric blowers, to the old-fashioned rake and broom. In the scheme of things, leaf blowers are not a major source of greenhouse gases, but they do contribute, and every little bit adds up.

1. Watch An Inconvenient Truth to get motivated
2. Vote for candidates who will do everything in their power to stop global warming
3. Vote with your wallet by buying from companies that have good environmental records (buy a copy of Better World Shopper at the Co-op)
4. Write letters to politicians and companies to tell them how you feel
5. Join the Stop Global Warming Virtual March (see www.stopglobalwarming.org)

By John Mott-Smith

I read that the average American home has 50 – 60 sockets, with light bulbs of different wattages, so I counted the ones at my house. I was surprised to find that we have 70 --- counting the obvious ones but also including outdoor lights, the long fluorescent tube lights in what I euphemistically refer to as my “workshop,” and the smaller lights in the refrigerator and oven.

By John Mott-Smith

This is the first of two columns on the subject of light bulbs. There is a lot to say; both about how they work and what role they play in reducing carbon emissions.

Light bulbs turn electricity into light. Every list of the “Ten Things Everyone Can Do to Reduce Global Warming” includes changing incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL’s). Why? It is worth understanding how a light bulb works to see why CFL’s are better.

By John Mott-Smith

What exactly are the greenhouse gases that cause global warming and where do they come from? The primary sources are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). There are other chemicals that contribute, either directly or indirectly, to global warming, but these are the big three.

By John Mott-Smith

Global warming is a global problem: there is no magic wand that any one individual can wave to solve it. Certainly not one of us in Davis, anyway. Our daily lives don’t generally offer us the opportunity to ratify international treaties, persuade China to not build coal-fired power plants, or redesign the automobile. We can indirectly influence some of these larger solutions. For example, we can support candidates who understand the issue and promise to take action, we can vote with our wallet as we make consumer choices, and we can write letters to our elected representatives. But, the “inconvenient truth” is that we have a limited ability to address this issue as individuals.

But this column is not about what we can’t do; it is about what we can do. And we can start with a little perspective on the scale of the problem, and our place in things. At first the numbers seem daunting, even paralyzing, but it turns out that our actions are more important than it may seem.

By John Mott-Smith

Some say we are at a “tipping point” in terms of public opinion about global warming --- almost everyone now agrees that we are putting too much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and that bad things will happen if we don’t cut it out. Acknowledging your problem is a big step, but it is only a first step. We have to move from there to solutions.

There is still argument and discussion about just how bad the problem is and how urgent we have to be in terms of solutions. The best case scenarios seem to say that we have a few years to get our act together and we will avoid the worst of it. Others say we are too late and that whatever we do will be in the nature of trying to minimize the disaster. In either case --- we had better get moving on this.