Connecticut Green Living

Earlier today, Apr. 25, the National Audubon Society released a press release regarding President Trump's impending signing of an order to review the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act was enacted by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, and was intended to allow the president to set aside public natural areas as park and conservation land. The Bears Ears National Monument , established last December by President Obama, is threatened by this signing. It sits on 1.35 million acres of federal land in southeastern Utah , a state whose tourism industry has benefitted by promoting its Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Capitol Reef parks. Bears Ears is so named for its pair of mesas, a hallmark in this part of the country, where rugged red geography dazzles at every turn. According to Audubon, "reversing monument designations is a dangerous game." And they go on to say: “Blowing up more than 100 years of bipartisan tradition to rob our kids of their natural legacy is s...

On Earth Day there's no better time to watch a gripping documentary called "Tomorrow" . It shines a light on how both overconsumption and overpopulation have dovetailed at a time when climate change is threatening the planet. The film, first released in France at the end of 2015, stars French actress Mélanie Laurent ("Inglorious Basterds") and Paris-based activist Cyril Dion, whose message highlights a need to make the planet more livable not only now, but yes, tomorrow. Dion, who's also a director, co-wrote the film with Laurent. "Tomorrow" has won awards abroad, including France's equivalent of the Oscar, the Cesar, in 2016. Laurent as narrator explains how worried she is about her children's future following the 2012 publication of a Nature study from 20 researchers who show just how threatened planet Earth including we humans are. Stanford and U.C. Berkeley -based paleoecologist Anthony Barnosky , one of the lead researchers, ...

Connecticut recently ranked fifth in the country for greenness — so why aren't we always acting green? We're particularly lax when it comes to giving up our one-person-per-auto mindset. This reporter wholly believes that the greatest impediment to getting more folks to share a ride, or get on the bus or train is reversing a stigma. Being a bus rider is even fodder for comic effect in movies. Women walking to the bus in the 'burbs sometimes get propositioned as ladies of the evening! It's the bus, people, not a meth deal. The reason to reverse the stigma is clear and urgent: we are on a collision course with climate change and the planet isn't winning. From coral bleaching to cites choking on air pollution, climate change -- a laughed-off topic by Donald Trump -- is the plague that keeps on giving. Thought last summer was too warm? Just wait till the next hurricane hits us and everyone's remarking how severe the weather "suddenly" is. So here are ...

WalletHub, a personal finance website, has lauded our state with green praise once again. We've ranked fifth in the union overall for environmental practices, even tops for water quality. Analysts culled data on everything from rate of waste recycling to soil, air, and water quality. While we weren't high on every criterion, our overall rating was superb. Rankings in order were: #1 Vermont, #2 Massachusetts , #3 Oregon, #4 Washington, and #5 the Nutmeg State . The worst rating on the green scale was Wyoming. I got a chance to send some questions to one of their analysts, Jill Gonzalez. Following is a transcript of that discussion: Jill, explain to me, please, what methods you all used to determine these scores and can you quantify them? We compared the states across three quantifiable categories: 1. Environmental Quality, 2. Eco-Friendly Behaviors and 3. Climate-Change Contributions. These categories were evaluated using 20 relevant key metrics. We then calculated the o...

This week, most of us adults are wishing we were kids again because the Children's Museum in West Hartford is inviting children to come explore, learn, and get their hands messy. Following is the schedule : Today, April 10: Animal Science . The science center asks: "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to study animals?" Campers will have a chance to conduct animal experiments, observe wee animals microscopically, and learn about animal bones and teeth. (Better not leave your dentures there that day, Pops!) Tues., April 11: Experiments . Come to the museum hungry for what's being billed as "a day filled to bursting with experiments that you can eat! We will make liquid nitrogen ice cream, experiment with candy, and learn about the science of making food." Weds., April 12: Desert Animals . "Campers will meet an incredibly diverse group of desert animals including gila monsters and fennec foxes. We will learn about the special adaptations t...

A four-part documentary series called "The Crowd & The Cloud", showcasing the power of "Citizen Science in the Digital Age", airs this month on public television and is available online. Hosted by former NASA chief scientist Waleed Abdalati, now director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, the series shows how citizens can cull data to augment the work of professional scientists. Everyday people can and are acting in ways leaders cannot - a timely message during a time of political upheaval on the scientific and environmental front. Whether one's concerned with Alzheimer's, fracking, weather, climate change, or epidemics like Zika, the documentary shows how citizens using smartphones and computers are harnessing the power of the digital age. Not only that, through mobile and other technologies people are helping scientists do their jobs. In the documentary trailer Abdala...