The dreaded Fiscal Cliff is staring us down at the end of this month. And once again, President Obama has urged American citizens to contact Congressional leaders and urge them to reach a resolution.

This sort of thing happened in July 2011 with the debt-ceiling debacle. President Obama held a presser to specifically ask Americans to call and email members of Congress. The day after Obama's plea, the Capitol's switchboard was overwhelmed with 40,000 calls per hour and email traffic swamped congressional servers to a near halt. So we created the first-ever U.S. Congressional Twitter Directory.

Guess what, folks?

We've updated the entire directory to reflect Congressional officials who decided to join the Twitter party. The result is the most bad-ass U.S. Congressional Twitter Directory every created.

Click to read more ...

The amount of carbon pollution in our atmosphere keeps rising. We can see the impacts of climate change — from extreme weather to deepening droughts — right before our eyes.

But here’s the good news: There's a simple action that you can do about it right now. You can support the first limit on carbon pollution in the U.S.

Push button. Save planet.

www.ClimateReality.com/PushButton

Today's Meatless Monday recipe comes from Eating Well

Looking for a Spring-y dish? Crêpes aren't just for dessert—they make a quick and savory weeknight dinner. Here they're filled with ricotta cheese, green beans, zucchini and corn and topped with a chive-cream sauce. Don't skip the step of placing a piece of parchment or wax paper under each crêpe as you fill it—without it, the crêpes are tricky to roll. Serve with: A tossed salad.

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Today's special Meatless Monday treat comes from Rawified:

I can't even begin to describe how amazing these are.  No seriously, I'm not kidding around here - they're incredible. Dense, rich, chocolatey goodness... my self control kind of goes out the window. But it's okay, because they're good for you!

I think I've already talked a fair bit about the health benefits or raw cacao powder, but to put it in short it's packed with antioxidants and contains high amounts of  minerals such as magnesium, copper, potassium, sulfur, calcium, zinc, and iron. Dates are an excellent source of fiber, and contain high amounts of potassium,  magnesium, copper, and manganese.  If that's not enough, the walnuts in these brownies are a great source of omega 3 essential fatty acids - helping to reduce inflammation, improve brain function, and boost the immune system. All in all, I'll think you'll agree that that makes for a pretty healthy brownie!

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By leading climate scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Michael E. Mann, via The Costa Rica News:

As a climate scientist, I have seen my integrity perniciously attacked, politicians have demanded I be fired from my job, and I’ve been subject to congressional and criminal investigations. I’ve even had death threats made against me. And why? Because I study climate science and some people don’t like what my colleagues and I have discovered. Their attacks on scientists are part of a destructive public-relations campaign being waged in a cynical effort to discredit climate science.

My work first appeared on the world stage in the late 1990s with the publication of the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which featured what is now popularly known as the hockey-stick graph. Using what we call proxy data – information gathered from records in nature, like tree rings, corals, and ice cores – my co-authors and I pieced together the puzzle of climate variability over the past 1,000 years. What we found was that the recent warming, which coincides with the burning of fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution, sticks out like the blade of an upturned hockey stick.

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Vice President Al Gore discusses the reality of extreme weather as a result of carbon pollution and the powerful dirty energy lobbyists that influence Congress.

If you prefer believing that you live in an alternate universe where reality is whatever you want it to be, then you won't want to watch this video. But if you believe in science and you accept reality for what it is, you might be interested in watching this presentation that methodically debunks the talking points of climate change deniers. It was given by Chuck Kutscher of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and chair of the 2012 World Renewable Energy Forum. The talk was presented at the Colorado State Capitol in a January 2011 workshop for members of the state legislature.

Via Skeptical Science

Do you love bikes? Are you on Pinterest? If so, check out our Bike Love board. Let us know in the comments if you have any cool additions we should be aware of.

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The FearLess Force

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Lee Fang has a great piece at United Republic on how the Pink Slime industry -- like most other dirty, unhealthy industries -- buys influence in government:

Pink slime, the ammonia-treated filler substance made with beef scraps, was once reserved for dog food before corrupted regulators changed the rules. But a recent media firestorm has reignited the controversy, leaving many people asking why the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not require groceries, school cafeterias, or restaurants to disclose which products contain the mystery meat.

Read full article here.