Kenya Becomes First African Nation to Pass Legislation Tackling Climate Change

Whether it will make a difference remains to be seen, but in April Kenya became the first African country to pass a law aimed at fighting against climate change.

The new law actually is but a first step toward passing a more comprehensive law aimed at reducing the country’s carbon emissions. If passed, this more comprehensive law would lead a push toward greater energy efficiency. It also would create a registry of how much carbon dioxide Kenyan businesses generate.

The goal of this preliminary law is to raise public awareness about climate change, in the process creating support for the more comprehensive law.

It will be interesting to see whether Kenya, like other countries including the US, fails to follow through on that more comprehensive law.

To learn more, read this All Africa article.

Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus: Why US Needs Climate Change Law

Did you know that in 2010 President Obama discussed global warming in a total of 73 speeches, but that in 2011 he did so in only one speech?

That was just one of the points Harvard law professor Richard Lazarus wove into his recent speech intended to urge Harvard students to put the pressure on elected leaders to pass a national climate change law before it’s too late.

In his speech – which you can watch by going to the link at the end of this story – Mr. Lazarus said the warnings are clear but that short-sighted political leaders still can’t see them.

He made an appeal to Harvard students to turn Wall Street green. “Don’t just occupy Wall Street,” he said, referring to the recent public protests against the financial community. “Become Wall Street.”

He then made a simple-sounding statement that, when you really think about it, could change the world if enough people come to believe in it. He said, “Real profits can be made by going green.”

Do you agree?

Listen to the speach from Harvard Law School.

New York City Planning to Green the Great Indoors

In its ongoing quest to go green, New York City is planning to change local building codes that have the force of law in order to ban a number of environmentally-harmful products that are used in city buildings.

The changes reportedly would eliminate the use of a number of paints, cleaning products, paper supplies and carpeting.

Specifically, the city would use only chlorine-free paper. It would use only “Green Seal”-approved cleaning products. And it would use only paints and carpeting that gave off very limited fumes.

Sad to say, the new rules would not take effect in New York City schools, which are under the direction the state, not the city.

If you go to school in New York City, you might want to look into that. Maybe you can make a difference!

To learn more, read this WNYC Radio story.

Tennessee Give Legal Protection to Teachers Who Don’t Believe in Climate Change

Here’s a story your science teacher definitely is going to want to see.

It may soon be the law in Tennessee that a teacher can openly challenge the science behind evolution and climate change without being reprimanded.

Lots of scientists are angry. They say that this going to undermine the teaching of science in public schools.

The politicians who passed the bill say they’re just trying to further “critical thinking” in the classroom.

You may be hearing about all this on the TV news, given that Tennessee is where the so-called Scopes “monkey trial” occurred back in 1925. That case resulted in a teacher being convicted for teaching evolution, which, under this new law, presumably could again be openly challenged in Tennessee classrooms, along with climate change.

To learn more, there's one article from Education Week, and another from the Times Free Press.

Some Want a New Law to Punish Companies for Crime of ‘Ecocide’

If a company causes extensive damage to the environment, is it right to accuse it of “killing” the environment?

That’s what some environmentalists believe. They want the United Nations to make “ecocide” a law.

Last fall in England, activists held a mock ecocide trial, with the chief executives of two hypothetical corporations on trial. Their crimes? A big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the mining of tar sands in Canada.

It should be noted that these two “crimes” either did occur or are occurring as we speak.

Not surprisingly, the CEOs were convicted.

Could it ever happen in real life? What do you think?

To learn more, check out this Guardian article.