The #1 thing us homo-sapiens can do to help wildlife today and here on out is reduce our global warming pollution. Knowing this, the National Wildlife Federation just introduced a pretty sweet new program to show you how easy it is to conserve energy in your own home. (It saves you money too!)

It's amazing to think that what light bulbs you choose may impact your favorite endangered species, but the interconnectedness of life knows no bounds.

Check out the Good Neighbor-hood...

The program is cool because it shows you what you may already be doing in your house and also gives you more things you can pledge to do. When you rack up a certain number of points based on these actions and commitments, you qualify to be a "Good Neighbor." What does that mean? A certificate of course, as well as some nifty other perks to keep you on the power-saving path. 

I signed up for the pledge the other day and am very happy about getting my reminder stickers for the light switches in my house. Sometimes it just takes a little reminder for me and my roommates to do something that seems so obvious.

Living as a Good Neighbor is an important step to being part of a community united to mitigate global warming. By taking the pledge you are agreeing to take steps to reduce your impact! Once you complete the pledge, NWF will reward you with our exclusive Good Neighbor Pledge Kit.  For just $15, you'll get some really "cool" benefits.

Top Five Easiest Things to Do to Conserve Energy

• Change the filter in your furnace: Keep heating and cooling systems running efficiently.

• Change to fluorescent light bulbs: They use far less energy than incandescents.

• Combine trips: Plan your errands to reduce transportation time.

• Lower the temperature on your water heater: You’ll still have hot water, but it means the heater uses less energy when you are not using hot water.

• Check your car’s tire pressure: Poorly inflated tires wastes gas and causes more pollution.

Have questions? Here's some background Information:

Every day, we make choices that affect the earth and the future of our world. From the cars that we drive, to the lights we use, to the things we keep plugged in, all of these choices have a direct and lasting impact on the environment. Many scientists agree that human created carbon pollution, like a coal-burning power plant or the exhaust from a car, is making global temperatures rise and causing climate change.

Scientists say that a temperature increase of just 2°F could result in the irreversible damage
to the environment, we need to act fast. Luckily we can avoid this end, because the
we just need to reduce carbon pollution by at least 2 percent every year or 30 percent
by the year 2020.

If you're still not convinced that making a few changes around the house will help check out these facts: 
Source

1. "The U.S. EPA ranks the major greenhouse gas contributing end-user sectors in the following order: industrial, transportation, residential, commercial and agricultural^[8]."

2. "Major sources of an individual's greenhouse gases include home heating and cooling, electricity consumption, and transportation."

3. "Corresponding conservation measures are improving home building insulation, compact fluorescent lamps and choosing high miles per gallon vehicles."

It's important to recognize the impact of lifestyle on the environment. Changing a few things within the home is a huge step toward being a good neighbor to wildlife and others.

On Capitol Hill today, the National Wildlife Federation showed its support for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in the fight for strong climate legislation. As chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Boxer has played a key role in bringing the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act to the Senate floor, where it’s expected to be debated in June.

National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger joined with the heads of a dozen other conservation groups, pledging to work together to identify the best opportunities to strengthen the bill moving forward.

"Global warming is the single biggest threat to wildlife, and every year we wait to address it creates a bigger problem for our children and the future of America's natural resources," said Schweiger. "Congress must pass legislation that starts us on the path to cut global warming pollution by at least two percent a year, protects consumers as we transition to a new energy future and defends America's natural resources from the climate changes already underway."

Other organizations joining today's event:

• Center for International Law
• Clean Water Action
• Environment America
• Environmental Defense
• League of Conservation Voters
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Pew Environment Group
• Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Sierra Club
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• The Wilderness Society

While I'm blogging from inside the Heartland Institute's global warming denier conference today, I spent the first two hours of the event on the outside looking in.

When I went to register on Friday, the event's website said that the conference was full and registration was closed. I emailed the Heartland Institute's events manager asking, "Is there any way to participate in the event or am I out of luck?" Her response:

I am so sorry but we are sold out, I have no extra space, in fact I am over my limit hoping some people will cancel. The entire conference will be on our website about two weeks after the event.

Sorry.

I thought I'd stop by the conference anyway in case there were opportunities to participate without being registered. But security agents (on the left in the photo) were posted at each main conference entrance checking badges.

I set up my laptop in the lobby by an elevator and started writing my first blog post of the day. Eventually, a couple of reporters noticed me and wanted to interview me about not being allowed inside.

As a crew from the BBC was talking to me, the Heartland Institute's events manager approached us with a security agent by her side. I asked the events manager if there was a problem. The crew continued to film as she told us that due to increased security with the president of the Czech Republic in attendance, only registered participants were allowed on the conference floors.

I thought it was pretty extreme that they were about to have security escort me out. "I don't to cause any trouble. If you want me to leave, that's fine, I'll go" I said. "But am I really a security risk?"

The events manager turned to the camera and put her hand up. "Stop filming!" she said.

The BBC cameraman was taken aback, but since the Marriott is private property, he had to do as asked.

The events manager turned back to me and said, "I never said you couldn't register. I said you could register as media."

I told her that sounded great and picked up a press credential. I've been inside the conference ever since.

Later, I bumped into the BBC crew and we all shared a laugh. It's amazing what can happen when the cameras are rolling. Press credentials appear out of thin air!

Elected officials spotted in attendance at the Heartland Institute's global warming denier conference:

Connecticut State Rep. John Harkins
Minnesota State Sen. Mike Jungbauer
Montanta State Rep. John Sinrud 

I went to a session yesterday called "Climate Change Politics." Guess what didn't come up until the Q&A? Politics.

So what did the panelists talk about? Those reliable conservative bogeymen, the liberal media, pop culture and Hollywood elites.

They all started with one liners Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio and Barbra Streisand. The audience ate it up.

In fact, the communications director for Sen. James Inhofe spent virtually his entire presentation mocking celebrities and journalists who'd expressed support for or reported on climate action.

Then panelists moved on to attacking that liberal media for reporting all that science from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For some reason, a favorite target was Ann Curry. I mean, I expected the potshots at MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and CNN's Miles O'Brien, but even Ann Curry is controversial to these people?

The more I've listened to these speakers, the more I've realized that for most of these deniers, it's not about the science. They can only see the world in terms of left and right, so they've absorbed global warming into that broader paradigm of partisan politics and culture wars.

But as National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger says, "Confronting global warming is not an issue of left and right. It's a matter of right and wrong." We have a moral responsibility to confront climate change now to protect our children's future.

Fortunately, while attacking the liberal media, pop culture, and Hollywood elites may play well on Rush Limbaugh, it's falling flat in the halls of Congress. U.S. Senators like John Warner, Norm Coleman, and Elizabeth Dole recognize that climate action is not a partisan issue. They're joining a bipartisan coalition supporting the Climate Security Act, a bill that would establish a cap-and-trade system to cut our carbon emissions.

And while President Bush has stonewalled on climate action, every one of the leading presidential contenders has expressed support for mandatory cuts in carbon emissions.

So maybe the deniers should keep playing to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Pretty soon, those may be the only allies they'll have left.

Desperately underfunded and hopelessly outgunned.

There's a real underdog in this climate fight. Think 1980 US hockey team. Think Rocky.

It's ExxonMobil. That's the consensus here at the Heartland Institute's global warming denier conference.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making this up. They would have you believe the most profitable company in the history of Planet Earth is as helpless as a newborn doe against those bullies Al Gore and James Hansen.

Don't believe me? Peep this:

[I]n this David and Goliath battle, it is American industry that is the David and the environmental activists, with their vast resources, who are the Goliath.

Keep in mind they're saying all this in a conference that's sprawled over parts of half a dozen floors of the Marriott Grand Marquis Times Square, where martinis in the lounge start at $15. There's big money behind this event.

ExxonSecrets.org reports it's found data linking $7.5 Million in Exxon funding from 1998-2006 to the Heartland Institute and many of the event's cosponsors. This year, the coal industry alone plans to drop $35 million on a campaign to stop climate action, namely the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act.

Look, you don't need me to detail how silly it is to call ExxonMobil an underdog. But it's a reflection on the credibility of this conference that speaker after speaker can say it without getting laughed out of the room.

And we're back! It's the second and final day of sessions here at the Heartland Institute's global warming denial conference. You can check out all the posts from day one at Wildlife Promise. I'm just getting settled in here at the first session at the ginormous Marriott Grand Marquis Times Square. Given that I'm used to going to sportsmen's meetings at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg, this is quite a different experience.

While I get warmed up, check out Andy Revkin's write-up of the event in this morning's New York Times. He saves the best for last:

The meeting was largely framed around science, but after the luncheon, when an organizer made an announcement asking all of the scientists in the large hall to move to the front for a group picture, 19 men did so.

There are nearly 600 conference attendees.

Global warming deniers spare no expense. The Heartland Institute's "2008 International Conference on Climate Change" is being held at the Marriott Grand Marquis Times Square. The seminars are spread over several floors and there are two sprawling suites reserved for media on the 44th floor. Here's a look at one media suite:

Where does all the money come from? While the Heartland Institute no longer discloses its funders, ExxonSecrets.org reports Heartland received $561,500 (unadjusted for inflation) from ExxonMobil between 1998 and 2005. Sourcewatch also reports Heartland receives major funding from the tobacco industry, receiving $240,000 from Philip Morris (a.k.a. Altria) from 1993-1998 alone.

DeSmogBlog reports the global warming denier-tobacco connections don't stop there. Click through their exhaustive research on the conference's speakers and you'll find plenty of tobacco ties.

Tobacco campaigns paid off doctors and scientists, successfully confusing the public for decades. Now the energy industry is trying to muddy the waters on global warming.

Don't let them get away with it again. Learn the facts on global warming and tell your member of Congress you want them to support strong climate action.

Talking to speakers here at the Heartland Institute's "2008 International Conference on Climate Change," I'm finding they're loosely sorted into three categories based on their views:

1. Those who say global warming is not happening at all
2. Those who say global warming is happening, but it's not due to human activity
3. Those who say global warming is happening and it is due to human activity, but climate action will surely destroy our economy

The one thing everyone here agrees on is that we must not do anything to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Quite convenient for the oil industry, which has provided major funding to the conference's organizer. But it's not exactly a positive, forward-looking message, is it?

Experts at the National Wildlife Federation have a different view. They tell us the best climate scientists in the world not only believe global warming is happening and it's due to human activity, but that there's a way to curb its worst effects before it's too late. In fact, they believe it's inaction that's the biggest risk.

It's called the 2% Solution. It provides a safe, sensible path to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050, the amount scientists say is needed to avoid the most devastating impacts of global warming. Along the way, many of the same solutions that will ease our planet's fever -- renewable energy, more efficient vehicles, green homes and offices -- will create millions of green collar jobs, make America more energy independent, and clean our air and water.

With prices at the pump expected to push towards $4 a gallon this summer, it's a solution whose time has come.