Wish your friends and family happy holidays with this fun, animated e-card. In it, Rudolph gets a special gift from Santa — an energy-efficient upgrade!

It’s been a good month for right whales! The endangered species — numbering around 400 — have been taken care of in both political and scientific endeavors.

As of Dec. 9, a new law requires ships (of 65 feet or longer) to slow down to 11.5 miles per hour near East Coast ports that could have whales nearby. Nearly one-third of right whale deaths in the past 10 years were related to ships because the whales feed close to the sea surface. Evidence shows that if a right whale is hit by a ship moving 11.5 miles per hour or less, the chance of them dying drops to about 20 percent, compared to a greater than 80 percent chance if the ship is traveling 17 miles per hour.

Whale researchers also are attempting to find a way to avoid collisions between ships and right whales. To do this, they plan to listen to the whales’ baby talk off the coast of Georgia this calving season. According to an article in the Savannah Morning News, these animals vocalize to locate each other. (For an example of whales communicating, read Ocean Noise from our sister publication Utne Reader.) If scientists can track where the vocalizations are coming from, ships will be able to determine a right whales’ presence more accurately, even without actually spotting it. To find out how much the whales talk, researchers plan to attach temporary recording devices to 10 right whale cows that have calves. They suspect that they will be able to track the recorded calls between mother and calf and use it to their — and the whales’ — advantage.

For more information on whales, read Utne’s Deep Blue Dissonance.

In a teleconference on Dec. 11, Lester Brown (from the Earth Policy Institute) weighed in on the realities of a green economy. While experts in Washington are looking at the issue from a national perspective, the Earth Policy Institute is looking at it from a more global, long-term standpoint. Brown referred to it as “not just a stimulus package, but an opportunity to begin cutting carbon emissions and reducing oil imports.”

According to Brown, in order to avoid a 20-foot rise in sea level, emissions need to be cut 80 percent by 2020. “If we wait until 2050, it will be too late,” Brown says. “Time is the scarcest resource.” 

Through renewable energies such as wind power, solar cells, solar thermal and geothermal power there is a large opportunity for us to cut emissions and grow our economy in the near future. There are already 24,000 megawatts of wind generating capacity in production, and that number is expected to increase by another 8,000 by next month. Last year, 200 megawatts of solar cell generating capacity were installed, and the construction of another 800 megawatts is already contracted. Eighteen new solar thermal plants are in development stages, which will total over 4,000 megawatts of energy — a 12-fold increase from just a year ago. There are now 96 geothermal energy plants in the planning stages, with an 8-fold growth in the next few years. And all of these renewable energy opportunities are two to four times more labor intensive then coal.

Hybrid and battery-powered cars are also on the rise. While manufacturing is still quite minimal, President-elect Barack Obama wants 1 million of these vehicles on the road by 2015. Brown suggests a tax incentive of $10,000 for those citizens willing to switch over. The difference in gas prices would help cover the cost of the incentive, as a 20-mpg car burns about 5,000 gallons over a lifetime, compared to a 100-mpg car, which burns only 1,000.

Brown predicts that a large portion of the funding for these technologies will come from private investors. With 400 billion dollars from the private sector and 100 billion from the government, 600,000 jobs could quickly be available, lasting through 2020. The good news is everything can be done with existing technologies, and even those can be improved in the years ahead. Now, we just have to continue expanding the use of renewable energies. If we do this, the atmospheric carbon levels could stabilize by 2020. Then, we can start thinking about ways to reduce them.

On Dec. 15, President-elect Barack Obama announced his energy and environment team at a news conference in Chicago. Obama chose Carol Browner, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, as head of a new policy council for climate, environment and energy issues. The rest of the team consists of Steven Chu, a Noble-prize winning physicist, as his energy secretary; Lisa Jackson, former head of New Jersey’s environmental protection department, as national EPA head; and Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor of Los Angeles, as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

With the team in place, Obama is ready to start creating a new energy economy. He admitted that he didn’t know when the economy would start getting better, but he did say, “We know that we’re going to create jobs that wouldn’t otherwise be created.” According to Obama, those jobs should eventually add up to 2.5 million.

While Obama plans to make the United States a leader in climate change, he admits, “The solution to global climate change must be global.” The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland just finished on Dec. 13, claiming that there is “a clear commitment from governments to shift into full negotiating mode.” Hopefully, they’re right.

To learn more about Barack Obama’s energy and environmental policy watch the video below, or check out these articles:

Environmentalists Help Obama Create New Green Economy

Obama Addresses Fight Against Climate Change

Obama's Changing Climate Change

The 14^th Conference of Parties (COP 14) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) begun Dec. 1 and will continue into next week in Poznan, Poland. This marks the halfway point for the COP to decide on a climate change agreement that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The agreement process started last year in Bali, Indonesia and will hopefully end next year in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, many things have already changed since the COP met in 2007. This year has posed many economic challenges that will make it harder for the COP to come to an agreement. However, in order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, an agreement must be made.  

Today marks the 20^th annual World AIDS Day, created to provide various AIDS programs, governments and individuals the opportunity to come together to raise awareness of the global AIDS epidemic. Right now, about 33 million people in the world are living with HIV (the virus that eventually leads to AIDS). Of those 33 million, approximately two million of them are children under the age of 15. And many are in need of proper treatment.

According to an article in the New York Times, 5.5 million people live with the virus in South Africa alone. Of those, 800,000 need anti-AIDS drugs to survive; however, half of those people are not receiving the drugs they need. While the South African government agrees that something must be done, between 2000 and 2005 approximately 330,000 people died because the government refused to bring the necessary drugs into the country. Instead, the government promoted the use of lemons, garlic, beetroot and the African potato as ways to cope with the disease.

Because many victims in many countries lack the necessary drugs, it’s important for everyone to get involved and raise awareness about this epidemic. One way to support it is by joining the (RED) campaign. The (RED) campaign is launching its new digital music magazine, (RED) Wire, today. By subscribing to it, you can receive music from artists all over the world, and the proceeds will go to support the campaign. Another way to raise awareness is by wearing the Red Ribbon, the international symbol used to show support of those living with HIV. You can even get a virtual Red Ribbon (like the one above) to post on your personal blog or Web site. You can also give a donation to the National AIDS Trust or even host a fundraiser for the organization. Whether or not you donate to the cause, it’s important to bring awareness to the topic of AIDS because there are too many people that need help. And not just for today but every day.

Visit AIDS.gov to find World AIDS Day events as well as other awareness events related to fighting the AIDS epidemic.

Environmentalists are on President-elect Barack Obama’s side. Twenty-nine environmental and conservation groups recently provided Obama’s transition team with a 391-page plan for federal action on the economic, climate and environmental crises. Their plan coincides with many of Obama’s ideas about creating a green economy, but it’s their knowledge and expertise that will help the new administration overcome some of the challenges it faces. In a teleconference on Nov. 25, leaders from the groups spoke about the plan and the priorities that they believe must be addressed … and fast.

Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters, argued that “The solution to our problems is a new green economy. The last thing you want to do is delay it: It’s not just bad for the planet, it’s bad for the economy.”

While these environmentalists support Obama’s vision, they believe that at the center of his economic recovery strategy needs to be three specific goals: to cut carbon emissions, to create clean energy and to end America’s dependency on oil. In order to accomplish these goals, the group supports the cap and trade system that will put a price on carbon and limit emissions. They also support Obama’s push for clean renewable energy to cut oil dependency and create millions of paying green-collared jobs. And they agree with promoting hybrid cars and other fuel-efficient cars to create ways for Americans to travel further on a gallon of gas.

For this economic opportunity to be successful, though, the group believes certain initial actions must be taken. For example, the group states that in the first 100 days of Obama’s presidency, the new administration needs to stop any midnight policies made by the Bush administration before any more environmental damage is done. The Obama administration also needs to place strong environmental leaders with the same values of the president and the environmental community in the proper administrative positions. The group also believes that unbiased science should play a primary role in creating effective environmental policy.

The detailed plan includes many other ideas to help guide the Obama administration in environmental stewardship, including the restoration of natural resources. But after eight years of environmental neglect, the new administration will have a lot of cleaning up to do. The next four years should definitely be interesting, to say the least.

For more on Obama’s environmental policy, read Obama Addresses Fight Against Climate Change and Obama’s Changing Climate Change. Or share your thoughts or suggestions about how the Obama administration can improve the economy, climate and/or environment in the comment section below.