Katherine Gregor writes about Austin350 in the Austin Chronicle article “Groundwork: Active Austinites.”

…creative energy for climate action is also rising from the community. Austinites Jon Lebkowsky and Randy Jewart (of Austin Green Art) caught the fever from Bill McKibben at South by Southwest 07, then got involved with McKibben’s nonprofit, 350.org. With Austinites David Armistead, Lauren Maples, and others established the Austin350.org website (350 parts per million of atmospheric carbon is the maximum limit recommended by NASA climate scientist James Hansen to avoid catastrophic global change). “Our goal is to build a community conversation about sustainability, starting with the 350 focus,” said Lebkowsky, who’s also involved with www.worldchanging.com. “People and businesses can sign up at Austin350.org, make a commitment to work at lowering their emissions, and say a bit about what they’re already doing.” For the International Day of Climate Action, Oct. 24, the Austin350 group is planning an “unconference” and a weeklong Commute-a-Thon event.

October 24 is International Climate Action Day. In Austin, we’ll be having a 350Camp (details forthcoming). Here’s a video from 350.org:

Katie Sternberg suggested greengroove as a site complementary to Austin350. The site promises “a phased withdrawal on catastrophic climate change,” meaning that it presents a set of actions you can take over time to reduce your carbon footprint.

The site offers a process where you first pick whether you’re taking action just for you, or for your family, then you decide on a duration for your phased withdrawal: one, two, or three months. Finally you choose a level of difficulty: “Easy Does It,” “Weekend Warrior,” or “Green Machine.” After you’ve make all the selections, you get a checklist of weekly goals based on your choices. Then you can put your goals in order, and initialize your plan (which requires signup). The site offers goal tracking widgets for PC or Mac.

If you’re trying greengroove and have an opinion, please comment!

Gas flares worldwide burn continuously, wasting natural gas. A post at the Google Earth blog focuses on the wasted energy resources, but a comment also notes via Wikipedia that “flaring and venting of natural gas in oil wells is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.” [Link]

Heads up: 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action is October 24, and Austin350 is planning 350Camp as our own local Climate Action event. 350Camp will be an unconference about sustainability and climate protection. It will be preceded by a week-long Commute-A-Thon. Watch Austin350.org for more information about these events.