There is an unspeakable tragedy going on in Japan right now. It will continue to unfold before our eyes in the days, weeks, months, years, and even decades ahead. It will reach the coast of America. This may sound alarmist, but it isn’t. As the New York Times reported this morning:

“The fast-moving developments at the Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, catapulted the 4-day-old nuclear crisis to an entirely new level, threatening to overshadow even the massive damage and loss of life spawned by a devastating earthquake and tsunami.”

Now nor ever is the right time for panic. The multiple stricken reactors might not melt down. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t continue to emit health-threatening levels of radiation. If the wind shifts, and that radiation heads inland, people will be migrating from their homes, villages, maybe even cities. To where?

What are we to do? What can we do?

First, of course, we have to do whatever we can to help Japan. It’s the third richest economy in the world, but every dollar, every package, every plane or ship that lands with relief supplies will be welcome, not just for the physical support, but for the moral support. If they want to send over exchange students, we should take them. If Japanese businesses need help, their competitors here in the United States should help. If you’re a person of faith, pray.

And here in America? The current nuclear disaster is in Japan, but we have our own problems. Would you light a lump of coal and put it on your kitchen table while your family was in the house? Why is there more air pollution in the Powder River Basin of Idaho than there is in Los Angeles? What are we going to do if hydraulic fracking many hundreds of feet underground releases gas and toxic chemicals that contaminate one of our rivers?

Coal and natural gas are no healthier than nuclear power. At the end of the day, across the planet and across what will be the couple centuries of world history of burning massive amounts of fossil fuels for power, fossil fuels will end up impacting far more people than nuclear power.

America needs to do what it has always, until recently, done best – lead. We need to get out of the dirty, dangerous, unhealthy fuels of the past and lead the way into a clean, healthy and prosperous new energy future. We need to support the people, the politicians, the companies and the organizations that are trying to get us there.

Image: Hogeasdf

Anyone who’s ever read the op-ed section of a newspaper or heard the word “Climategate” tossed around by a talking head shouldn’t be too surprised by the news that the US is actually losing ground in its Environmental Performance Index ranking. Planet Green has the full story analyzing the significance behind America’s failing environmental grades.

Last year, the U.S. ranked 39th on the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). This year, 61st.

Editor’s note: Article by Rachel Cernanksy. Originally published by our friends at Planet Green. Planet Green is an offshoot of Discovery that covers every aspect of green living, from tofu to tattoos. Be sure to visit them and say hi, and follow Planet Green on Twitter, too!

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A non-profit group of LA cyclists is trying to shut down the streets to cars once a week, allowing people to reclaim the streets.

If you live in Los Angeles, or have ever visited the city, you’ll be well aware that there’s no shortage of cars there. The city is the most car-heavy metropolis on the planet, with 1.8 cars for every person. And with all those cars on the road, residents tend to spend plenty of time stuck in traffic: they’re estimated to lose four days of every year stuck behind the wheel.

Now, imagine if every Sunday, major roads in urban areas were closed off to cars, and cyclists and pedestrians were invited to spend time wandering through their neighborhoods, without worrying about getting cut off or hit by distracted drivers chatting on cell phones while zooming along 20 miles over the speed limit.

It sounds like a lovely fantasy-but if a small group of activists, cicLAvia, is successful, this car-free day could become a reality.

“Air pollution is awful and childhood obesity is epidemic,” cicLAvia member Jonathan Parfrey told the Los Angeles Times. “But building new parks for people to get out of their cars and exercise can be prohibitively expensive. We want to create public space using the infrastructure we already have – our roads.”

While it may seem like a supreme challenge to block off the roads in such a car-centric city, it’s been done in other major metropolises for decades. The concept, known as a ciclovia, got its start in the sprawling city of Bogota, Colombia, 30 years ago. Now, Bogota blocks off the city’s major streets every Sunday and holiday, allowing cyclists and pedestrians to transform the area into a fun and festive community (see a video here). Similar events are held throughout Latin America, and even neighborhoods in New York City and San Francisco have recently gotten in on the act.

The members of cicLAvia are confident that the idea has a place in LA, and are taking steps to make it happen- including a recent meeting with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office. Romel Pascual, Associate Director of Energy and the Environment, is excited by the idea and is committed to seeing it come to life. “Making events like this happen is always in the details-what neighborhoods to start with, the routes involved,” he said. “But it’s definitely something we’re looking to explore in 2010.”

While the event will cost money, the charity group California Foundation has pledged $20,000 for a ciclovia in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, which could serve as a testing ground for the idea before it is rolled out through the rest of the city.

“If you start small in one neighborhood and put on a great event, other neighborhoods are hopefully going to take notice and say, “˜We want this too,’” said cicLAvia member Aaron Paley.

Editor’s note: Article by Kathryn Hawkins. Originally published by our friends at Gimundo.com, a website and daily newsletter featuring good news, positive stories, and videos about everyday heroes, amazing animals, eco-friendly advances, health news, and other inspiring facts.

Image: ItzaFineDay

Last year, USA Today ran a series of articles looking at the issue of  Toxic Air and America’s Schools. Working with researchers and scientists, they analyzed the extent of industrial pollution outside 128,000 schools across the nation. They have even created an easy search tool so that you can check out your child’s school for air toxicity.

What USA Today discovered is frightening. School children throughout the United States are breathing in extreme levels of toxic chemicals on a routine basis. And these are chemicals that can cause all sorts of health problems, from asthma to cancer, as well as trigger learning disabilities.

As a result of Today‘s investigative reporting, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the other day that it now plans to monitor the air that schoolchildren breathe at 62 schools in 22 states in an effort to determine exactly how toxic the air is.

Starting mid-April, the air surrounding chosen schools will be monitored for at least 60 days. The results will then be analyzed, allowing the EPA to evaluate the health risks students at each school might be facing.

You can find a list of the 62 schools to be tested here, and bookmark this post for timely updates in the future.

Image: duchamp