Recent studies have shown that seismic oil exploration has a negative effect on the life cycles of grey whales. The Sakhalin Energy Consortium has agreed to cease their seismic exploration so that the whales can breed successfully. The noise from the exploration drives the whales to deeper waters. The young calves have a difficult time feeding in these deeper waters. Therefore their survival rates are decreasing.

There are only about 130 grey whales left on the planet. Of these only 35 are breeding females. They are listed as “critically endangered” by Russia. This action by the Sakhalin is commendable. But it could be too little too late. Other companies in the area including BP, Exxon and Rosneft have made no commitment to quit exploring.

The good news is that their is precedent for these companies to make the right decision. The pressure this puts on the other companies to make the right choice is huge. The grey whales demise could be eminent so the blame could fall on those companies not taking action to prevent their extinction. That would be a public relations nightmare. Let’s hope that the pressure of the new media will get our desired results.

According to a Reuters article published yesterday (http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE53N12720090424the) Obama administration is attempting to take the lead with the United Nations on the issue of global warming.  It is about time. The Bush administration was not sensitive to this issue. Many believed the Bush team was never on board with the concept of global warming.

You can expect that to change with Obama at the helm. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will offer the opening remarks at the UN meeting this week. These actions are taking place in preparation for the meeting of international leaders in Copenhagen in December. This meeting is to extend and amend the Kyoto Protocol which is set to expire in 2012.

On the domestic front Al Gore is pushing for  U.S. climate legislation this year. Gore states that is the U.S. wants to be seen as a leader they must have the “moral courage” to act now. This will set the stage for the rest of the world to follow in Copenhagen.

It is time to stand up and take notice. The days of debating the existence of global warming should be behind us. Whether it is a man made event or whether it is natural is irrelevant if we don’t act now we are committing a crime against future generations.

Welcome to Learn Share Act!

This is your blog’s first post, where you can share your ideas for a better future, things that drive you crazy or anything else you happen to have on your mind.

Your blog will be your collection of posts on topics of your choosing. A post is kind of like an article, so you want to have separate posts for different ideas. A post might be a few sentences or quite lengthy – it’s your choice. Lots of people like to write a new post several times a week and we hope you will too.

Time Saving Tip: While you can create more than one blog if you are going to write tons of posts in separate subject areas, it is far easier to manage a single blog with posts sorted into categories.

What to write in your first posts? How about a “Top 10″ list of the people you would like to thank for the impact they had in your life? Or maybe share what are you doing for your personal growth. Or what is something you enjoy that you might want to share with others? You get the idea. Write a new post for each of your ideas

To get started, from the top navigation bar directly above this, Select “My Blogs” then select “Admin” and “Manage Posts.” Then simply edit or delete this sample post, then start sharing!

Questions? Be sure to click on the “Help” button at the upper right side of your screen and you’ll find FAQ’s and short Videos that show you how to write a post, add photos to your blog, and lots of other fun things. If you need help be sure to let us know, as you’ll always find us happy to lend a helping hand.

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An article in the New York Times yesterday, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/business/22food.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1, made it clear that politics and organic food are bedfellows.  The good news is that today’s political leadership is in favor of promoting organic foods as a healthy lifestyle.  Our first lady, Michelle Obama, is emphasizing the use of  locally grown organic food in the White House.

This is significant but what is more important is that national policy could be favoring the organic food movement.  In the past national farm policy favored agribusiness. This will not completely change but there may be suttle changes that will make it easier for the 100,000 new small farmers in this country to compete for a share of local markets. Right now the organic sector currently is about 3% of the market. This is small to be sure but growers and producers see it as an area of growth for the future. The new secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, is a proponent of organic foods citing the health benefits as the best reason for people to eat organincally.

What does this mean to you and me. It means it will be easier for us to live a healthier lifestyle. This will allow us to be more productive, happier and potentially live longer. Unfortunately, politics will always be a part of what we  eat. The good news is that it appears we are in for a healthy four years.

My family and I were lucky enough to take a week and spend some time in the Rockies over spring break. My daughter had a friend staying at the same resort and she got to ski in some of the best snow of the year. My wife and I took the time to relax. We worked out at the fitness facility, read and worked on our Internet interests. We  also took three trips to local hot springs to soak in the pools.

The reason I didn’t spend time on the slopes is that I suffer from joint pain caused by arthritis. I have committed to trying to stay in shape but I am continually dealing with pain as a result. The good news is this. The hot springs made a huge difference. I kept up my work out schedule and the pain has disappeared.  I am amazed.  I don’t expect this to be permanent but is great for now.

When I was a kid my great grandparents had a cabin in small town and my grandfather used to go there several times a year to soak in the hot springs. He was involved in a industrial accident when he was young and had permanent damage to his left leg.  He swore by the relief that he got from the hot springs. The recuperative powers of these springs is the subject of native American lore.

Sometimes the answers are right in front of you. I intend to spend time in natural springs throughout the year in order to get relief. But the real lesson is that nature provides and we can learn this lesson from generations before us.

My wife and I have been traveling in Europe this week. We have had the opportunity to use public transportation since we have arrived. In Venice we used a municipal bus from the airport to a waterbus stop. We took the waterbus from there to stop close by our hotel. We then wandered lost with our luggage until we asked for directions. Even though we are linguistically challenged we made to the check in desk with some help from the staff the last 100 yards/meters.

In the first few minutes of this adventure we bought a 48 hour bus pass for the municipal transportation system. Since Venice is a city that consists of over 100 islands you spend nearly 100 percent of travel time navigating the canals from point to point. They have an excellent waterbus system and after buying our pass almost by accident we found it invaluable. We not only became comfortable traveling to our points of interest we found it reassuring that we could recognize the bus routes knowing that we could always find our way back to the hotel. In addition we have several very pleasant conversations with fellow travelers and locals. So we are not only getting to see the sites we are meting the people of the region.

So no we are off to Rome using the Eurotrain. We bought the least expensive tickets and we are finding it more than reasonably comfortable. My wife and I are sitting facing each other with a small table between us. We have met a couple and there young son who are living in Paris while on sabbatical. They are taking advantage of school holiday to see Italy. We hope to have these memories for many years and the time we have spent meeting the people on the busses and trains are going to highlights.