31
December
2007
Absolutely! We have the Vote and we have the Dollars/Euros. How we vote and how and where we spend our money has a significant effect on the world wide markets and trends. We can effect positive change in government thinking and policies.We can effect positive change in the way corporations operate. We can demand that governments and business become ETHICAL, and operate for the real benefit of all people.
We can encourage real education, education that lifts our spirit and the quality of our lives.
Education at the moment is based on creating workers for the good of the few and the destruction of self respect. Why should people be slaves to the corporations and governments in the name of profit. Who said that profit is success? I am happy to say, that I and many many people have left that paradigm behind, and look at what is right for both community and the individual. Believing and living with the ideals of a cause driven ethical enterprise over an unethical profit driven enterprise is a must for everyone. If we do not see that in the near future and combine our resources to effect change in global warming aka climate change, we are going to destroy this earth, our home. That also goes for these insane wars….we need to have all governments come to a consensus now, on how we can live together peacefully and economically productive, in an ethical and life sustaining manner.
The “force is with us” should we not use it for the highest good ?
Posted: Climate Change
31
December
2007
These latest headlines make me wonder what the real reason behind this change in the Bush administration position on climate change is. Since 1999, most governments in the the world have been working under the Kyoto protocol without the support of the USA, which per capita is the largest source of pollution in the world…China, although claiming to be on track with measures to reverse climate change are a close second and may soon surpass the United States as the number one polluter in the world.
Americans make up fewer than 5 percent of the world’s people, and contribute more than 20 percent of the world’s emissions of GHG, carbon dioxide.
We need the citizens of the USA to stand up and and vote for change and progress on climate change. The USA has the largest influence of any country on world matters and it is imperative that it gets the ball rolling, and starts to become part of the world community.
The Bush government have avoided the issues on climate change all this time by focusing on war and helping to escalate tension and disaster worldwide.
After being booed by the entire delegation in Bali, and having to rescind their negative response, and come out in support of positive change, there is no longer any where for the Bush government to hide on the issue of climate change.
The world knows that the real majority of people in the USA are doing something positive about changing their lifestyles. Locally and on a state level, change is top of the list, yet the Bushies are still lagging way behind.
I would like to encourage all of us to take a look at the way we live, the way our local, state and federal governments live, and to begin making changes and suggestions, not by condemnation but by positive coaching and respect.
I have always believed that when we respect ourselves, we can respect others…..
Posted: Climate Change
29
December
2007
At last, someone has come along with the passion and courage to face our flat world thinkers…
Updated Fri. Dec. 28 2007 9:05 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
It’s called “The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See” and while it’s not a horror movie, it is rather disturbing. And it’s sweeping the Internet.
The YouTube video is actually a 10-minute lecture on global warming, delivered by Oregon high school science teacher Greg Craven. It may sound preachy, but it’s hugely popular and has generated millions of hits on multiple websites.
Craven delivers the low-tech, video treatise from his home in Monmouth, Ore., armed with a black marker and a whiteboard.
He methodically argues that the debate over whether humans caused global warming is moot; instead, Craven says, “the risk of not acting far outweighs the risk of acting.”
The film bears plenty of similarities to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” but Craven argues that Gore didn’t go far enough in his film, noting that the way the globe is heading because of climate change will make “Gore look like a sissy Pollyanna with no guts who sugarcoated the bad news.”
Craven says at its worst, climate change could bring droughts, famine, floods, dust bowls, economic collapse and the displacement of millions. He concedes that the policy changes that are needed to counter global warming will be economically painful. But he insists that the costs of maintaining the status quo will be worse.
After Craven posted his homemade video on YouTube back in June, it did exactly what he hoped it would do: it went “viral.”
Thousands of people clicked on the catchy title then forwarded it on to their friends, until more than 4 million people had viewed it. It now ranks among the most popular videos in YouTube’s news and politics category.
Craven told Canada AM that he felt compelled to make the video after he learned how desperate the environmental situation is.
“I knew a lot of the science already, so it just took someone showing me how the puzzle pieces fit together for me to come out with this daunting sense of dread of how things are going to be different,” the soft-spoken teacher said.
“This is not just another environmental issue. This may eat our lunch. This is fundamentally different because in a complex system like the climate, there may be tipping points where irreversible damage is done, but you don’t see it until it’s too late to do something about it. That’s what really has motivated me.”
Not surprisingly, the video has also generated lots of reaction — and plenty of it is critical. Craven says he listened to those arguments and then prepared his rebuttal.
“I got 7,000 critical comments. I sorted through those and as a result of those refined my argument and produced ‘How It All Ends,’ which patches the holes in ‘The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See’,” he says.
“It’s a 10-minute video but it’s a complex issue.”
Craven says “How It All Ends” links to an additional six hours of explanatory videos to bolster his argument.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like that. It sort of exploded on me,” he laughs.
Posted: Climate Change
28
December
2007
AS Japanese ships continue to hunt for whales in the Southern Ocean, an ocean liner packed with Japanese activists opposed to “scientific” whaling has docked in Australia.
The Peace Boat - a vessel carrying 1000 Japanese passengers on a 110-day voyage to promote human rights and environmental issues - is demanding that Japan end its scientific whaling program.
Japan has abandoned plans to harpoon 50 threatened humpbacks, but still intends to kill 50 endangered fin whales and 935 minke whales in the Southern Ocean this summer.
“The fact our Government is killing whales in the name of so-called scientific research is very hard for us to accept and believe,” Peace Boat voyage director Inoue Nao said after arriving at Circular Quay in Sydney yesterday.
wow! what great news. It is really heart warming to see action coming from within the Japanese people themselves. I hope many millions of Japanese, witness these passengers and conscientious people on their local tv stations. What an eye opener it will be for so many the Japanese people, who perhaps for the first time, will see what is going on outside their country and in their name!
Yes, lets have more awareness and compassion, please and thank you!
Posted: Climate Change
28
December
2007
Why don’t humans spread life instead of destroying it. India has finally decided to do it, create a high-level panel to deal with IMPENDING climate change. How absurd is that! India is still talking about climate change as if it is not already happening, just like Howard and Bush. These people are in such denial, they would not know the difference between sweet and sour.
China has set up a new sea- air laboratory to study more closely the changes that are happening and hope to keep coming up with solutions that will benefit the world.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report on the phenomenon earlier this year. It warned the world’s average temperature, if left unchecked, could rise by as much as two to four degrees centigrade by 2080. This would probably trigger more natural disasters endangering human beings…..what an understatement and what about the rest of the flora and fauna on this planet!
And this from Munich Re: Natural disasters wrought by climate change have a staggering price tag, and it’s growing.
Total economic losses from natural catastrophes in 2007 rose to $75 billion from $50 billion the year before as extreme weather conditions driven by climate change wreaked havoc across the world.
At last some people are recognizing the fact that climate change is happening as we write, speak and breath, right now….so, lets act today, each and everyone of us. In our own little worlds, do something everyday to change our ways of living, and help our selves, our friends and families, our world. Lets celebrate by honoring the ground we stand on, the animals, insects and bacteria that we share this planet with. The time to grow is now, the time to destroy is past…we need to choose and walk a more nourishing and nurturing road.
How else can we effect any change that is supportive to our planet?
Posted: Climate Change
27
December
2007
“Each person can make a difference because one small positive act multiplied millions of times produces immense benefits.” says Patrick Gonzalez, a Nature Conservancy climate scientist who sits on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the scientific body assessing global climate change.
Here are some tips to help us change our lifestyles for a greener future.
Human Power : Walk, bike or use public transport instead of driving a car. Cars and trucks run on fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In the United States, automobiles produce over 20 percent of total carbon emissions. Walk or bike and we’ll save one pound of carbon for every mile we travel.
Teleconferencing : For office meetings, if we can telephone or videoconference, we will save time, money, and carbon emissions. Airplanes pump carbon emissions high into the atmosphere, producing 12 percent of transportation sector emissions.
Change Light Bulbs : Use compact fluorescent light bulbs. These energy-efficient bulbs help fight climate change because they reduce the amount of fossil fuels that utilities burn. We will save 100 pounds of carbon for each incandescent bulb that we replace with a compact fluorescent, over the life of the bulb.
Recycle : Products made from recycled paper, glass, metal and plastic reduce carbon emissions because they use less energy to manufacture than products made from completely new materials. For instance, we’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that we recycle. Recycling paper also saves trees and lets them continue to reduce climate change naturally as they remain in the forest, where they remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Inflate tires: Cars will get better gas mileage when the tires are fully inflated, so it will burn less gas and emit less carbon. Check monthly to ensure that the tires are fully inflated. Follow this tip and save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide for every 12,500 km we drive.
Plant trees(preferably native): Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air and use it as their energy source, producing oxygen for us to breathe. A tree in the temperate zone — found between the tropics and the polar circles—can remove and store 700 to 7,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime. A tree that shades a house can reduce the energy required to run the air conditioner and save an additional 200 to 2,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime.
Lower heat: Heating and air conditioning draw more than half of the energy that a home uses. Turn down the heat or air conditioning when you leave the house or go to bed. You can easily install a programmable thermostat that can save up money and carbon.
Switch to renewable energy: Electricity generation produces 40 percent of carbon emissions in the United States. A growing number of utilities/power companies generate electricity from renewable energy sources with solar panels, windmills and other technologies. If your utility/power company offers renewable energy, switch to it. If not, send them a message asking for clean energy.
Act globally, eat locally: If we shop at a supermarket, the food we buy may travel in a plane from the other side of the world, burning fossil fuels the entire trip. Shop at a local farmers’ markets and we will find fresh and healthy food, and help save our climate.
Ethical Business: Is our business ethical and serving humanity or is it only about how much money we can make? When we have a cause driven business rather than a profit driven business, then everyone wins, because we will not be destroying our resources and our planet, but rather supporting it.
If we all make the effort now, perhaps we will be able to effect a reverse in climate change before it is too late!
Posted: Climate Change
25
December
2007
So, today day at the beach, a friend unpacked his computer with the comment that there was only enough power for an hour of music. He was determined to listen to his favorite Neil Young album. Someone mentioned that we should all have our own solar panels and in fact, Australia should be exporting solar energy to the world. We have the ideal climate here for this amazing technology, and guess what. It is renewable. It is ethical, life supporting and helps the planet, rather than destroying it. The other part of this equation is that for the money minded, it is a golden opportunity to grow an eco friendly business. The more energy from the sun that we use, the less we will have to use dangerous and polluting sources.
Nuclear is the answer to annihilating the entire population of planet earth, yet presidents and prime ministers are still gung ho about this shortsighted technology, to the point of exporting uranium and other materials around the globe to get everyone involved.
Australia says it will not allow nuclear plants to be built on their soil, but they are willing to export their uranium to India and other blind customers.
When we elect governments to deal with the management of our countries, should we expect them to act in the best interests of every species on this planet?
Posted: Climate Change
24
December
2007
Just how urgent is climate change? The way the world is going about it, one might think it is not urgent at all. Scientific research is showing that if we have a window of about 8 years to get our act together and be living a sustainable lifestyle, and that means the large corporations doing ethical business and not solely looking to make huge profits to the detriment of everyone and everything else. Plus the end to all wars everywhere. The amount of energy and pollution given off by the explosion of bombs, artillery etc have to be quite large and also the amount of money and resources squandered on these childish games is preposterous. Could an Agreement on tactics to avert climate change, be the beginning or a world coexisting in peace ?
Posted: Climate Change
23
December
2007
Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO Steve Shallhorn said the protest letter from the Australian government, was a significant escalation of world opposition to Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, and would have influenced Japan’s decision to compromise.
The decision to spare the humpbacks is a significant backdown, but should not be interpreted as Japan softening its stance.
Here in Byron bay and on the Gold coast, there is huge support for the movement to stop the whaling disaster, being propogated by the Japanese government.
The Japanese people need to be educated about the value of whales and their coexistance with us humans, to avoid whale meat from landing up in the supermarkets and kids school lunches.
The only way to change anything, is through ethical education and understanding.
if the Japanese people themselves can see that what their government is doing is not in the interests of humanity and the whales, then they themselves will be able to regulate their own government.
So, while we put pressure on Japan, it is ever more important to educate the Japanese people as a whole. And while we are doing that, perhaps we should educate the American government that how much money we can accumulate is not what we are here for, but that is another matter for another time.
Posted: Climate Change
23
December
2007
So, it seems like there is still resistance to believe that the world, us, has a climate change problem. Some governments are still wanting to talk about making changes sometime in the future, or better still, perhaps this thing will go away by itself!
It reminds of being in grade school and my teacher telling us that at one time in the past, people believed the world was flat. What will it take for the disbelievers, the blind and the greedy, to open up their eyes and their hearts, and see what is really going on in our world. We need to be on a path of eco style living and thinking. We need to be thinking green. We need to find alternative and ethical ways to earn our income. It is time to think globally and act locally.
It is time to Be, to take action and move forward, to walk softly on our planet.
Posted: Climate Change
