Ben And Jerrys Climate College

Interesting short video, I applied for this college and made some progress but didnt get through to the final stages. Greentv is just getting started but the content is slowly building, it will be an interesting resource given time.

http://www.green.tv/ben_jerry_climate_change_college

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Climate Change Photography Competition

© Alex Webb/Magnum Photos
THIS CHILD, IN JOHANNESBURG’S ECOCITY, HAS THE LUXURY OF TURNING ON A TAP AND DRINKING CLEAN WATER. THIS IS A CRITICAL ISSUE IN SOUTH AFRICA WHERE MANY CHILDREN DIE FROM WATER-BORNE DISEASES AND WHERE CLIMATE CHANGE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THE FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY OF DROUGHTS. THE WATER IN ECOCITY IS HARVESTED FROM THE RAIN, USED, RECYCLED AND CLEANED BY NATURAL PROCESSES ON SITE. AS WELL AS MAKING SURE THEY ARE EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, THE RESIDENTS OF ECOCITY ARE ALSO REDUCING THEIR OWN CO2 EMISSIONS BY IMPLEMENTING A RANGE OF SIMPLE TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE BUILDING PRACTICES

Photographers Yann Arthus-Bertrand, world renowned aerial photographer of the planet’s ecosystems, and Pal Hermansen, winner of the second prize of the prestigious 2006 World Press Photo (nature category), have joined the jury of Friends of the Earth International's Climate Justice Photo Competition.

The deadline for entries is 15 July 2006.

In May, Friends of the Earth International launched its first-ever photo competition, which will gather photos on the theme of climate justice from around the globe. The best shots will feature in a 2007 wall calendar and in a traveling photo exhibit.

Our global photo competition is free of charge, and both professional and amateur photographers are invited to submit photos. We particularly encourage young people, women and people living in the developing world to take part.

We are looking for imaginative, striking photos that illustrate the impacts that the changing climate is having on people and the environment; that show who is responsible for dangerous climate change; and that show the way forward towards climate justice.

For more information and competition rules see: http://www.foei.org/photo

Yann Arthur-Bertrand’s website is http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com
Pal Hermansen’s website is http://www.palhermansen.com

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Video of the Week: Biomass CHP

Watch this Video

View the Report

The future landscape of European energy supply and demand will have to make much greater use of new renewable energy sources and focus more upon energy-efficient methods. Today, we can be proud of the fact that Europe is already a leading advocate in the fight to halt the depletion of natural resources and prevent climate change. Our task is now to persuade both consumers and key decision-makers of the benefits of sustainable energy production and use.

The Sustainable Energy Europe 2005-2008 Campaign is a European Commission initiative in the framework of the Intelligent Energy - Europe (2003-2006) programme, which aims to raise public awareness and promote sustainable energy production and use among individuals and organisations, private companies and public authorities, professional and energy agencies, industry associations and NGOs across Europe.

Postscript; ClimateChange; VideoA; RenewablesA

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The Threat to The Planet: Our Precarious State

Some time ago I managed to find myself on the general mailing list of Dr James Hansen and nobody calls him--Jim is top scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Institute. I`m quite happy to be on this list as I receive regular updates on Jim's work, amazing how he manages to write so many articles and do his scientific work. I think we should all thank him for this; taking the science to the people is a difficult but important taks in today's world. As Carl Sagan said, science is as a candle in the dark, and if we ever needed a guiding light it is now!

The Threat to The Planet

A review of our situation through 3 recent books; The Weather Makers, Field Notes From Catastrophe and An Inconvenient Truth.

The first thing to say is that this 4 page review for "The New York Review" is available to download here and is well worth the time.

1. Species extinction and the extreme nature of anthropogenic climate change.

"If we continue along this path a large fraction of specieson earth, as many
as 50% or more , may become extinct"

2. Sea level rise and its potential effects.

Business as usuall scenarios lead to predictions of more than 5 degrees of warming; last time temperature where this warm was 3 million years ago and sea levels where eighty feet higher!

"The earths history reveals cases in which sea levels, once ice sheets begin to
collapse , rose one meter every twenty years for centuries"

"The area if greenland in which summer melting takes place has increased more
than 50% in the last twenty-five years."

3. The moral obligation upon the US to act.


4. The opportunities that this offers and the rate of progress that is possible purely on current technologies.

"The US is still only half as efficient in its energy usage as Western-Europe i.e the US emmits twice as much per unit GNP"

5. The importance of car efficiencies and powerplants having carbon capture and storage compatibility.

"The Californian legislature has passed a regulation requiring a 30% reduction in automobile greenhouse gas emmissions by 2016. If addopted nationwide this regulation would save more than 150 billon dollars in oil imports"

6. The threat of positive feedbacks or vicious cycles that threan to increase the rate of climate change.


7. The continuing poor state of the media and the perpetual search for balance. We need someone to say the earth is flat for everyone who says it is round.


8. Possible policies to address climate change.


9. The impact of 'An Inconveneint Truth' a modern day 'Silent Spring' ?

"Al Gore may have done for global warming what Silent Spring did for pesticides.
He will be attacked, but the public will have the information needed to
distinguish our long term needs from short-term special interests"

Some significant points:

It had previously been my belief that species extinctions would largely be due to barriers to 'migration' such as mountain ranges, oceans, cities etc. It turns out that a far more fundamental cause of extinction may begin to kick in soon, particularly under business as usual scenarios.

"Studies of more than a thousand species if plants, animals and
insects...found an average migration rate...[poleward] of 4 miles per
decade fro the second half of the twentieth century"

This doesn't seem to disastrous--the wildlife is following the thermal regime. But:

"During the past thirty years isotherms have been moving poleward at the rate of about 35 miles per decade"

This mismatch doesn't effect extinction rates whilst the distance that isotherms have moved is relatively small in comparison to the range of various habitats but as climate change accelerates and continues over time there will be huge numbers of extinctions simply because species cant relocate rapidly enough.

"If human beings follow a Business-as-usual course...the eventual effects of climate change may be comparable to those at the time of mass extinctions [such as at the CT boundary when the dinosaurs died out]."

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Vote for the climate outreach and information network: help them win funding.

APPEAL TO CO-OP CUSTOMERS TO HELP SUPPORT THE CLIMATE OUTREACH INFORMATION NETWORK

Co-Op customers are being asked to vote for climate change charities to receive funding - the more votes they receive, the more funding they can receive.

The Climate Outreach Information Network is a new charity and still finding it hard to find funding. If you are a Co-Op customer your vote could be a great help for our work.

We run speaker events, action groups, workshops and actively empower people to take personal action on climate change. We are strongly committed to building a movement for action on climate change and support many other small organisations working in this area with free speakers and workshops, advice, contacts, and funding. In the past two years we have supported over 25 other organisations in this way.
There is more information on COIN and our work on www.coinet.org.uk

We will use the Co-Op funding to build and promote the first national network for people taking the practical steps in their lives to reduce their carbon emissions.

Please support us by visiting
www.co-operativebank.co.uk/vote
and voting for us before the end of July.

Thank you

George Marshall, Richard Sexton, Matt Sellwood, Mim Saxl, Matthew Carroll and all at COIN

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Video of the Week: Why are we waiting? (for a new approach to energy).

This weeks video of the week is a short but superbly effective video from Greenpeace.

One of my favourite reports on renewable energy is "Decenteralising Energy", a report that sets out an entirely new energy model based largley on existing technologies.

Bearing in mind that our current centralised energy system wastes upto two thirds of the primary energy input it is quite clear that technologies are not the key focus, a new method for utilising more of this energy is they key to sustainable low carbon energy production.

Renewables absoloutely can fill the requirements that we have for a modern day lifestyle. This is seen as optomistic by some environmentalists, but it is the case never the less, it is not however an easy state to obtain; we need a revoloution in energy production.

What are we waiting for? (Video)

Postscript; Climate Change, RenewablesA, VideoA

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Pole to Pole Leadership

We (at Campaign against Climate Change) just had a visit from Ammanda Gomm of Pole to Pole Leadership. The meeting started from quite a broad brief, Ammanda, who is from Canada came by to 'touch base' and let us know about what the group is upto, which it turns out is a very interesting project.

The project has taken around three years to organise, the details are on their very nice website but the main points are:

1. There is going to be a trek from the north pole to the south pole; this journey will be completed by atleast 3 people but far more will be involved in the two legs of the journey to Mt Kilamanjaro and onward from Mt Kilamanjaro.

2. The journey will be frequently paused or diverted into local projects and there will be a great deal of activist training and motivation for local youth groups.

The expidition is a great mechanism to motivate activists and to build a movement around; sounds like a very exciting idea.
They still looking for UK applicants so if you live in the UK and want one hell of an adventure then check ou the website and fill in the application form.

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EMERGENCY DEFENCE FUND FOR ANTI-ROADS GROUP

*****************************************************************
M74: EMERGENCY LEGAL DEFENCE FUND - CAN YOU HELP?*****************************************************************

In an unprecedented move Friends of the Earth Scotland has just launched anemergency Legal Defence Fund appeal. The launch of the Defence Fund formspart of Friends of the Earth's attempt to halt Britain's biggest motorwaybuilding project - the £500 million Glasgow M74 Northern Extension.Friends of the Earth is taking the Scottish Executive to court to challengetheir decision to build the M74 extension - despite the scheme being roundlyrejected by an independent public inquiry.That court hearing will begin on 27 June. Next week!!!Friends of the Earth urgently needs to secure at least £25,000 in donationsor loans. The Legal Defence Fund is needed because the group could face amassive legal bill if the case is lost, putting jobs and importantenvironmental and community projects at risk.

*****Please give your support at: Http://www.STOPtheM74.org*********

If we are successful, then all the money raised will be available to use in the campaign or to return to you. For this is not simply an appeal for funds, but a plea for you to either lend or donate your money to our Legal Defence Fund. Of course, in the event of us losing the M74 case and having to pay costs to the Scottish Executive, then your loans could not be repaid.

To mark this special, urgent, appeal Friends of the Earth Scotland is producing a unique gold enamel badge. This will be sent to all those who give £35 or more to the Legal Defence Fund. These badges will not be available anywhere else. Those making a donation or loan of £125 or more will also receive a signed, limited edition 'Stop the M74' cartoon print by Scottish 'Cartoonist of the Year' Frank Boyle.

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London Climate Activist Update (Blog Post 200)

Well, time is rushing by and my level of dedication to this site is being questioned thanks to a busy life here in London; i`m also mising home and worrying about getting a job. These are all things that distract me from the vitally important blog!

I thought it was time I posted another article, and it just so happens that this is my 200th post.

On Saturday i attended the MedAct agm and climate conference. This was an event i had to be at due to the unusuall aspect of it; a medical charity taking climate change seriously. I also knew Marion Birch, the woman in charge of the organisation from some time back and its always nice to catch up with old contacts-marion had actually just spoken at the June 3rd climate conference also. I mentioned the conference to Aubrey Meyer (GCI) who had, it turns out, been invited, but he couldnt make it so i took along some materials and helped to promote C&C. This wasnt actually much of an effort, due largely to Robin Stott, another old contact who i had previously met at the launch of Stop Climate Chaos. Overall a very interesting day, the two highlights of which would have to be the presentations on what we can do personally to tackle climate change and why nuclear isnt the answer. Note this second presentation addresses a previous comment made about my lack of support for nuclear i.e it addresses the issue of just how much nuclear costs and how climate friendly it realy is.

On sunday i went down to the West London Green Festival which turned out to be quite a small event, but a very relaxing one and with the help of Sarah Joyce, and with brief appearences by Richard Travan i had quite a calming day, albeit one when i should have been doing other things. Interesting events included almost getting punched by a guy who looked so like a bulldog it was unreal...an impression only amplified by the fact he was stooping low trying to get his bike through a barrier as Richard T barged passed. I also recieved a totally unnecissary peace offering from the daily mail reading neighbouring stall as they felt awqward for asking me to move richards irrish hippy friends; who obiviously freeked them out. Sarah was very helpful and seems increasingly likely to be an active member of the group.

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Inbox Updates: IF Energy, Carbon Markets, WISIONS, Essay Competition, OIES,Tiempo, 5 New Reports, Architechture 2030

Here are the links from a few emails i have recieved recently but dont have time to say more about. They are an interesting bunch. I`m more than happy to recieve emails about climate related topics; i will link to a site or document if i believe it will be of interest to my readers; if i`m not to busy i may also write an article about it or even pass it around my online contacts.

1. http://www.ifenergy.com/ An interesting energy website run by Michael Olivo of Chicago.
2. Tendances Carbone A monthly newsletter with information about the EU carbon Markets.
3. WISIONS A website created by the Wuppertal institute

Background to WISIONS

Sustainable development is possible. Numerous innovative and valuable
contributions, from different countries, fields and institutions, have shown
that an appropriate reconciliation of economic, ecological and social factors is
not unrealistic utopia. We have made a promising start, but the greatest
challenge facing us in the 21st century is to learn how to use the world's
resources more efficiently, and in an ecologically sound and socially balanced
way.Yes, progress is being made, but a dozen years after the UN Conference on
Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, many people and developing
countries still lack access to resources and clean technologies. At the same
time, people continue to live using unsustainable ways of consumption and
production.

To meet global challenges like climate change, water scarcity and
poverty, it is necessary to foster projects of potential strategic global
importance. We can do this by supporting them so they can be implemented
locally. Also examples of good practice need to be actively promoted to a wider
audience.

4. http://www.greenlightloans.com Essay Competition: Why its Good to Live Green

Greenlight is inviting consumers to write about why it's "Good To Live
Green" as it relates to protecting the environment in the home, office, school
or auto. Entries of 500 words or less will be judged on creativity, articulation
and strength of theme. The essays must be submitted through
www.greenlightloans.com by July 20, 2006, and winners will be announced the week of August 7, 2006

5.Oxford Institute for Energy Studies: Two New Articles by Benito Muller
6. Tiempo Climate Newswatch: Latest Newsletter
7. Annex 1 Working Group on Climate Change: 5 New Reports

The site includes five new reports released by the Annex I Expert Group in May 2006.

• Adaption to Climate Change Key Terms, OECD/IEA, Levina, E. and Tirpak, D. (2006)
• Domestic Policy Frameworks for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Water Sector, Part I: Annex I Countries, OECD/IEA, Levina, E. and Adams, H. (2006)
• Issues Related to a Programme of Activities under the CDM, OECD/IEA, Ellis, J. (2006)
  
• Sectoral Crediting Mechanisms for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation: Institutional and
  Operational Issues, OECD/IEA, Baron, R. and Ellis, J. (2006):
  
• The Developing CDM Market: May 2006 Update, OECD/IEA, Ellis, J. and Karousakis, K. (2006)
  

8. Arcitechture 2030 First US City Signs up to the pledge, well done Santa Fe!

Cities across America have just taken an historic step in addressing the issue of global warming. The US Conference of Mayors has made a commitment to reduce global warming pollution from buildings in order to protect the world for future generations.On Monday, June 5, 2006, the US Conference of Mayors adopted the "2030 Challenge" (Resolution #50) for ALL buildings. The resolution was put forward by the mayors' of cities from the 4 corners of the continental U.S. - Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez, Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.As buildings are responsible for emitting half of the green house gas emissions that cause global warming, cities are committing to implement an immediate 50% fossil fuel greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction standard for all new and renovated buildings (50% below the national average for each building type) and setting benchmarks and timelines to increase the reduction standard for new buildings to carbon-neutral by 2030 -meaning they will use no fossil fuel, GHG emitting energy to operate.

Last week on May 31, 2006 the City of Santa Fe became the first city in the US to formally adopt the "2030 Challenge". This means that all new city buildings, starting immediately, will be built to use 50% less fossil fuel, GHG emitting energy. By year 2030 all new city buildings in Santa Fe will be built to operate without emitting any greenhouse gases.Additionally, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson issued his first executive order this year requiring that all new state buildings and major renovations meet the 50% fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions reduction standard called for by Architecture 2030. This is another important step in the "2030" initiative to address major greenhouse gas reductions in the Building Sector. The 78,000 member American Institute of
Architects formally adopted the "2030 Challenge" in January 2006. As this initiative spreads across the country and around the globe, it will be the most significant movement to influence architecture and building design since the industrial revolution.

Please stay tuned...Architecture 2030

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Book Review: Big Coal--The dirty secret behind Americas' energy future.

This is my first book review. I was approached by Houghton Mifflin Company about reviewing the book...In general this is an interesting development; from my experience it seems that bloggers are increasingly being taken seriously as small scale media outlets.

Big Coal

The Dirty secret Behind America's Energy Future

by Jeff Goodell

In 'Big Coal' the author, Jeff Goodell, takes a critical look at coal power. The book is divided into three stages; getting coal out of the ground and to the power station, burning that coal and finally, the consequences of this carbon in the atmosphere. Looking at coal power generation Jeff shows quite clearly that besides greenhouse gases and electricity the biggest output from this form of generation is political power--power that is not constrained by wires.

Destroying the Myths of Clean Coal

"There are an estimated one trillion tones of recoverable coal in the world,
by far the largest reserves of fossil fuel left on the planet"

Later we are informed that coal produces over twice the carbon dioxide emissions of natural gas per unit energy--taken with the previous statement this is not a good combination. In the first section of the book many of coals' most potent myths are crushed. Chief amongst these myths is that 'clean coal' technology is clean. People are dying in there thousands, landscapes are being decimated by mountain top removal, climate change is being accelerated at an alarming rate.

A few things to consider when listening to a debate about 'clean coal' (clean doesn't usually imply carbon capture and storage).

• Coal doesn't bring wealth to a region. Over the last 150 years 13 Billion tones of coal have been carried out of West Virginia. The state isn't wealthy because of this, in fact it has the lowest median household income in the country!
• Coal isn't a small health problem. During the last three years--incidentally 3 of the 4 hottest years on record--72'000 people died prematurely as a result of coal fired power pollution, that is more than died from Aids, murder or drug overdose.
• Carbon Dioxide is pollution. No technology that emits huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere can legitimately be called clean. Destabilisation of the global climate is already killing tens of thousands and will have an increasingly severe toll on the worlds people and environment.
• Coal is't a secure form of energy. Centralized energy generation is never going to be secure against terrorist attack, one large generating unit is much easier to take out than millions of small wind turbines, solar panels and biomass boilers. This is particularly the case when the only way to get fuel in is on one railroad that traverses half the country!

The main reasons for reading this book would have to be the superb short stories; tales of valiant efforts by republicans who actually care to put in place strong regulations, tales of industrious scientists working out the links between particulate pollution and deaths, tales of very many smart people being hampered by very many highly resourced people with vested interests. This is a fascinating and enlightening book, despite the darkness of its subject matter.

For an interview with Jeff Goodel head over to global public media and hear more about this book from the man himself.

Postscript; Climate Change; ReviewA;

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Congratulations ExxonMobil; Winner of the Award for "Biggest Lie on an Oil Company Website"

I`m thinking about doing Climate Change Action awards. Anyone interested in that? I would need some suggested catagories and nominations, if i get any interest i will go ahead.

An example is award for "Biggest Lie on an oil company website".

For this the winner would have to be ExxonMobil, legendary for theire funding of right wing thinktanks and corrupt sceintists. Never has a company done more to confuse the publics perception of the state of science.

"For more than two decades, ExxonMobil scientists have carefully studied and worked to increase understanding of the issue of global climate change."

Unfortunately i can't do anything about thier lies apart from highlighting them to a few. I wish they would take legal action against me, but they won't because unlike them i speak the truth and they dont want the bad publicity. Scumbags.

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Audio of The Week: Interviews Of--Lester Brown, Elizabeth Klobert and Tim Flannery

A couple of weeks back I pointed out 3 good books that where being reviewed on treehugger. Books by Lester Brown, Elizabeth Kloebert and Tim Flannery.

Here are three audio interviews, one with each of the authors along with brief book reviews via amazon:

Lester Brown

"Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute, believes that "we can build an economy that does not destroy its natural support systems, a global community where the basic needs of all the earth's people are satisfied, and a world that will allow us to think of ourselves as civilized." Brown (Eco-Economy) backs up his argument with clear and well-reasoned text that outlines how to solve the world's severe environmental problems. According to Brown, the earth's populations are currently living in a bubble economy based on reckless consumption of natural resources. Because of water shortages, soil erosion and rising temperatures, grain production has seriously fallen off. If this situation continues, especially in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent, hunger and disease will prevail and lead to disastrous consequences for the entire world. Drawing on careful research, Brown outlines the details of Plan B, a committed global cooperative effort to raise water and land productivity, cut carbon emissions and stabilize population growth before time runs out. He provides many individual success stories, such as the Netherlands' embrace of the bicycle for transportation instead of the environmentally poisonous automobile. Since 1989, Iran has cut its spiraling population growth through education and access to contraception. In this measured plea, Brown points out that for Plan B to be adopted worldwide, it desperately needs the leadership of the U.S., as the wealthiest nation on earth, to change its focus and resources from a military presence to one that fosters a global economy that will sustain generations to come. "

Elizabeth Kloebert

"on the burgeoning shelf of cautionary but occasionally alarmist books warning about the consequences of dramatic climate change, Kolbert's calmly persuasive reporting stands out for its sobering clarity. Expanding on a three-part series for the New Yorker, Kolbert (The Prophet of Love) lets facts rather than polemics tell the story: in essence, it's that Earth is now nearly as warm as it has been at any time in the last 420,000 years and is on the precipice of an unprecedented "climate regime, one with which modern humans have had no prior experience." An inexorable increase in the world's average temperature means that butterflies, which typically restrict themselves to well-defined climate zones, are now flitting where they've never been found before; that nearly every major glacier in the world is melting rapidly; and that the prescient Dutch are already preparing to let rising oceans reclaim some of their land. In her most pointed chapter, Kolbert chides the U.S. for refusing to sign on to the Kyoto Accord. In her most upbeat chapter, Kolbert singles out Burlington, Vt., for its impressive energy-saving campaign, which ought to be a model for the rest of the nation—just as this unbiased overview is a model for writing about an urgent environmental crisis."

Tim Flannery

"Mammologist and paleontologist Flannery (The Eternal Frontier), who in recent years has become well known for his controversial ideas on conservation, the environment and population control, presents a straightforward and powerfully written look at the connection between climate change and global warming. It's destined to become required reading following Hurricane Katrina as the focus shifts to the natural forces that may have produced such a devastating event. Much of the book's success is rooted in Flannery's succinct and fascinating insights into related topics, such as the differences between the terms greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change, and how the El Niño cycle of extreme climatic events "had a profound re-organising effect on nature." But the heart of the book is Flannery's impassioned look at the earth's "colossal" carbon dioxide pollution problem and his argument for how we can shift from our current global reliance on fossil fuels [...]. Flannery consistently produces the hard goods related to his main message that our environmental behavior makes us all "weather makers" who "already possess all the tools required to avoid catastrophic climate change."

Thanks to radio ecoshock for these.

postscript: climate change; scieceA; audioA

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Mikail Gorbachev warns of nuclear power's danger and the importance of renewables.

Mikail Gorbachev was in London representing his charity Green Cross International. He spoke to a group of 60-70 MP's Journalists and members of the public. The talk was given in Portcullice House, a building i`ve never been in before; nice to see where our taxes are going!

"I would like to commend your all party group, because this is a problem that affects all of us, we should regret that to much time is spent on infighting....there are problems that should be addressed by everyone."

Gorbachev identified 3 key issues:
Security& Terrorism
Poverty and Underdevelopment
Environmental Problems and Climate Change

Articles on this speach where carried by The Scotsman, The Times, Reuters and Others.

A couple of interesting digs at Bush & Co.,

"And the united states has to recognise a very unplesant fact, that there goal to be energy indiependat is increasingly indepandant is increasingly at variance with the policies"

"I`m going to tell you a joke that we have in russia...a us military geologist has found an arab country over significant reserves of american oil"

And the main point that Gorbachev is trying to make is that a global energy fund is required for developing new renewables.

"We need to work together on this problem of energy security...i am going to be very frank, when there is a threat of a military attack it is always easy to find 50 billion dollars, 7o billion dollars, 80 billion dollars...we at green cross international want to spend money on something different, we want to spend 50 billion dollars on renewable energy development."

postscript: climate change; PoliticsA; RenewablesA; NewsA

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Contraction and Convergence, Mikhail Gorbachev and Climate Policy.

So the 8th of June goes down as the most interesting day since I`ve been down here in London.

Not quite as exciting as the 3rd, when I was at the centre of a storm of activity but far more random.

I had asked Aubrey Meyer if he needed any help at GCI but there isn't any funding for this at the moment. He did however invite me to a fascinating meeting at Parliment; a strategy meeting for discussing the future of Contraction and Convergence, both in Parliment and on the international stage. After this meeting Colin Challen invited us all along to watch Mikhail Gorbachev talking about renewable energy, climate change and water shortages.

This was a relatively small meeting with 9 people present: Myself; Colin Challen MP, chair of the All Party Climate Change Group; Aubrey Meyer, Founder GCI; Dr Andrew Dlugolecki, Visiting Research Fellow at UEA; Sean Egan, Director of b-live entertainment; Dr Julian E Salt, director of Climate solutions; Michael Hutchinson and Peter Clarke of Tangent Films; and either Adam or Terry (I`m a business card short so cant say with confidence which).

The rough agenda of the meeting was as follows:

• Planned Second Reading of C&C Bill and external launch.
• Update and pre-Launch of Kite Mark and Pledge.
• Details of how the kite mark and c&c-pledge for launch later in the year.
• Details of C&C documentary.
• brief on post-Bonn/SBSTA progress in Kenya (or lack thereof).
• C&C as Africas Voice + Concert.
• Calvin Jones CaCC (ok that's me)
• AOB

"If the debate about the politics of future activity is governed by a concentration target one kind of debate emerges...That hasn't yet happened, what is happening is a whole complicated debate where no concentration target has been adopted, no concentration target has been posited, the positing of it is not foreseen either. This is good intel that comes from someone who is one to one with Tony Blair-- it's exactly this point-- with a concentration target we've got a thing, without a concentration target we got nothing go get me that concentration target"

Aubrey Meyer

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Video of the Week: Panorama - Climate chaos; Bush's climate of fear

This weeks video of the week is one for those of you who live outside the UK.

As part of the BBC's 'Climate Chaos' series Panorama--the UK's premier news documentary show--has investigated what has been described as the Republican War on Science and what is more accurately called the most destructive campaign of mis-information that the American people have ever been exposed to.

I`m not saying everyone in the US believed the propaganda I`m just saying that many did, and many more where caused to doubt the science.The whole debate was successfully shifted from 'what can we do' to 'should we do something' of if you watch Fox News to 'are we sure this climate change thing isn't just some plot being concocted by anti American environmentalists and liberals'.

If you are interested in the real reason that there isn't progress on reducing emissions in the US then watch this. Here is a clue, it is nothing to do with science and a lot to do with who stands to loose out and how well they are connected or actually part of the Bush administration. The BBC website for this program is here.

Thanks to Oisin from http://www.climatechangenews.org for this link.

postscript; VideoA, Climate Change, PoliticsA

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June 3rd Climate Conference was Huge Success

Well it has been an exciting but very busy few days for me.

The climate conference that i was involved in organising ( as part of Campaign against Climate Change) was a huge success. Around 400 people turned up and attended the 16 workshops we had organised. I chaired the meeting on contraction and convergence and climate justice; Aubrey Meyer and Saleemul Huq where the speakers in this session. It was an interesting experiance with such eminent speakers, never having chaired a meeting before!

Welcoming remarks where made by professor Yvonne Rydin who also chaired the plenary; an introduction to the event was given by Philip Thornhill, National co-ordinator of Campaign against Climate Change.

Plenary speakers on the day were:

Michael Meacher MP (former UK minister for the environment); Caroline Lucas MEP; Norman Barker MP; Goksen, Campaign against Climate Change partner from Istanbul; Lucy Pearce, Campaigns Director of Stop Climate Chaos; Mark Lynas, Author and journalist; George Marshall, co-director of COIN.

The logistics of 16 workshops, devided between two sessions are not simple. It worked brilliantly thanks to all the volunteers on the day, the efforts of the group as a whole and perticularly the efforts of the LSE sustainability officer Victoria Hands--thanks Victoria!

The full programme of days events is to be found here and to get involved with campaign against climate change you can visit the website and sign up for updates or donate to the cause. Photos from the event can be found here.

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