Lets start by covering what a cool roof is. Simply, a light or white colored surface on the roof. The reflective properties bounce heat back toward the sun reducing the need for cooling below. Less cooling demand reduces energy use and related pollution. Another factor is the warming effect on climate which is also reduced.

When the suns rays heat an object, there is a transition from the full spectrum light to infrared. The infrared, we typically refer to as radiant heat in laymans terms, is easily trapped by carbon dioxide. By reflecting more of the light before it heats up the roof, there is less radiant trapable heat. This means cool roofs help cut the warming effect too.

The US Department of Energy is already moving to put cool roofs on all of their buildings. This is a low cost and effective way to have an impact. To read more about the DOE plans, click_here.

Another source of information on this topic can be found by following the related link below.

Activities like hiking and biking are healthy and don't produce a lot of excess CO2. Doing these things locally is even better. So here are some websites to help you find great places to be outside.

Nature_Find
This is the National Wildlife Federation's map-based tool.

Local_Hikes
Solid information about specific trails so you can plan for a day outdoors.

Trails.com
A tool that allows you to browse and sort a good number of hiking, biking, and kayaking trails. Unfortunately, you have to pay for the slick presentation and database of hikes.

The_Nature_Conservancy
Lists hundreds of preserves in the U.S. and around the world.

The_Sierra_Club
A user-generated database of hikes and outdoor experiences.

Land_Trust_Alliance
A database of local land trusts, not established parks or trails. However, these spaces may be available for your exploration. You will have to check with informational links before proceeding to visit these spaces, there may be rules or the trust may be private.

Rather than paraphrase an entire article, this is the first segment:

As the U.S. energy industry inches away from reliance on fossil fuels, experts have heralded various greener technologies, such as ethanol, solar and geothermal power, as choice alternatives. And while each of those alternatives holds marked environmental advantages over dirty oil and coal, none match wind power's squeaky clean performance.

"Based on the review looking at the major energy technologies and environmental impact, wind came out on top," said Mark Z. Jacobson, an engineer at Stanford University.

To read the whole article, please follow the related link below.

_85 days, 16 hours and roughly 25 minutes: Number of days that oil gushed into the Gulf.

_184 million: Estimated number of gallons of oil released into the Gulf of Mexico since April 20.

_572: Miles of Gulf Coast shoreline currently oiled.

_2,700 square miles: Size of the visible slick of surface oil

_83,927 square miles: Size of the area still closed to fishing.

_31.8 million gallons: Amount of oil-water mix recovered.

_1.82 million gallons: Amount of dispersant chemicals applied to help break up the oil.

_$336 million: Current market value of the spilled oil.

_$3.5 billion: Amount that BP PLC has spent on the response.

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Sources: AP reporting; National Incident Command; SEC filings.

As of yesterday, the oil has stopped. For now. After 85 days and up to 184 million gallons, BP finally gained control over one of America's biggest environmental catastrophes Thursday by placing a carefully fitted cap over a runaway geyser that has been gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico since early spring.

Now if it holds, we only have to worry about the remaining clean up. This will have long term impacts on the surrounding areas that make up the Gulf of Mexico. I hope that the effort is high to clean everything up or the clean up could last years. We need to continue to watch this and make sure BP knows we're watching or the effort will fizzle out. We tend to forget too quickly how bad a situation is once a fix is recognized.

Keep your eye on this one.