Prof Martin Green's report
<http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2008/2397054.htm>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Invitation to submit workshops for Australia's Climate Action Summit

Our climate.  Our future.  Our summit.

  From February January 31st to February 3rd, community climate action
groups from across the continent are joining together for Australia's
Climate Action Summit in Canberra, the weekend before the first day
of the 2009 Federal Parliament.

Australia's Climate Action Summit will have two distinct,
simultaneous parts: a weekend strategy meeting on Saturday January
31st and Sunday February 1st for delegates from climate change action
groups to build a unified national climate campaign, and a weekend
public conference on the urgent climate crisis.  On Monday February
2nd, there will be a day of dynamic training in climate campaigning
skills for taking action, facilitating climate action groups,
effective lobbying and more.  On Tuesday February 3rd, the first day
of the 2009 Federal Parliament, we will mobilise thousands of people
in a high profile demonstration for real action on climate change.

We are inviting submissions for workshops, skillshares and forums for
the weekend public conference of Australia's Climate Action Summit.

Workshops will be 90 minutes in length.  We are looking for workshops
on:
      * Campaign skills: workshops on campaign strategy, media,
lobbying, community engagement and outreach on climate change issues;
      * Group skills: workshops on facilitation, building and
maintaining a climate change group;
      * Action skills: workshops on how to organise a variety of
community action (non violent direct action on coal infrastructure,
rally, human sign, etc).
      * Informative and practical workshops on climate change myths
(nuclear, "clean coal") and solutions (Transition Towns, solar
technology, etc);
      * Workshops that explore social and environmental justice issues
and climate change;
      * Workshops specifically for children; and
      * Success stories and discussions on projects/campaigns that
have been successful, strong climate action groups, and great
workplace initiatives to show, learn from and celebrate what has
already been achieved!

If you or your group have a workshop you would like to hold, please
send a short description and your contact details to
program@... by December 30th, 2008.

If you haven't facilitated a workshop before and would like some
support, get in touch!  We can send you some resources, talk on the
phone, pair you up with an experienced facilitator, or send you a
variety of existing workshop plans to help you out:
program@...   Not all the workshops will fit on the
published program, but there will also be "open space" time
throughout the Summit where people can submit and create workshops
without organising beforehand.

For more information about Australia's Climate Action Summit, flyers
and posters for your group, or to get involved, please contact
info@... or call 0417 682 541.

www.climatesummit.org.au


jo lewis
rainbird@...







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This is wonderful !Benny Zable

Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:58:24 -0400
From: subscriptions@...
To: bennyzable@...
Subject: Newsflash from Peace Partnership International


        (Trouble reading this email? Access it on the Web at
http://www.peacepartintl.org/email/20081028_newsflash.html)
         October 28, 2008 Newsflash                 Dear Friends,

  Things are poppin' at PPI!

  1. Peace and Human Rights Workshop at the United Nations

  Led by Peace Partnership International's UN representative Anne Creter, the
Culture of Peace Working Group of the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and
Global Concerns at the United Nations organized a workshop entitled "Advancing
the Culture of Peace: Is Peace a Human Right?" that took place at the UN on 21
October. The workshop was part of the second annual week of Spirituality, Values
and Global Concerns at the UN, which this year was dedicated to celebrating the
60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The workshop
featured a keynote by Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., of the Philippines, a
panel moderated by Peace Partnership International's President and CEO Dot
Maver, and closing remarks by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Former
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations. Read
Anne's report here.

  2. Peace Day 2008 at the UN: Gabriela Posada Youth Speaker

  Peace Partnership International has participated in International Day of Peace
activities every year since 2005. In 2008 we also supported the nomination, and
eventual selection, of Gabriela Posada to speak at the UN's International Day of
Peace Youth Observance. In her speech, Gabriela encouraged youth from around the
globe to become peacemakers and peacekeepers. Juan Pacheco of Barrios Unidos
provides the profile of Gabriela that led to her being selected, as well as the
text of her speech. Click here to read the profile and speech.

  3. Colin Jury Donates Artwork to Peace Partnership International

  Depth Artist Colin Jury, who has won the highest awards in printing for six-
and seven-color lithography and advertising, has donated all rights to his work
"Fire of Love" to Peace Partnership International and will send us all net
proceeds from sales of prints. In addition he has promised to donate to us 15%
of profits from the sales of his other works for the next two years. Click here
to purchase "Fire of Love" and other artwork from Colin Jury!

  4. Peace Partnership International's Annual Program Report Now Available

  Peace Partnership International's latest Annual Program Report describes our
activities and accomplishments over the fiscal year August 2007-July 2008 in our
three strategic initiative areas: National Peace Academy, Structures in
Government Advancing a Culture of Peace, and Building Bridges of Peace. Read the
annual report here (PDF format).

  5. Peace Caravan Finds Peace on the Silk Road

  Marla Mossman travels the ancient Silk Road in search of her roots. Along the
way she finds peace. She says: "People involved in the culture of peace hold
notions of peace as practical and necessary. We don't have to be a perfected
deity in order to achieve a sense of enlightenment. We are already divine in the
moment. That's the kind of positive energy we should start from in our
institutions. That's what the culture of peace is about." Marla shares her
discoveries through her photography and writings at www.peacecaravan.com and
www.marla.net. And Robert M. Weir beautifully tells the story of Marla's Profile
of Peace.


  This email was sent by Peace Partnership, International, a 501c3 nonprofit
organization. Donations to Peace Partnership International are tax-deductible to
the extent allowed by law.

  Contact information:
  Peace Partnership International
  935 South B Street
  San Mateo CA 94401, USA
  Phone/Fax: 1-650-525-1297

  General correspondence: info@...

  Subscribe / unsubscribe / email address changes:
subscriptions@...






_________________________________________________________________



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Alternative Technology Association
<http://shop.ata.org.au/cart.php?target=category&category_id=302>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

this may be intresting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FozmG9PzTQ&feature=related

Solar energy received from the sun not only increases the heat of an
object but is also used to change the shape of form of an object or
living things. An example is the use of solar energy to make food by
plant and as a result plants grow. These plants are then food for
animals of which we eat some of them or are eaten by other animals.

In countries where there are four seasons, solar energy is
important, without it many creatures cannot survive.

Though, solar energy in non-living things is mainly in the form of
heat and may be absorbed or transfer to its environment, the heat
energy is also transformed into other types of energy such as from
liquid to gas or change in shapes and further convert to energies
such as wind and wave. Living things converts solar energy into
other form such as kinitic energy use by creature for movement and
as well as chemical form stored in animals for future use or for
slow release back into the environment such as wood from tree.

So, solar energy is very important to earth and not only to be used
by human. If we start using solar energy for other than what it is
indented for by Nature, we begin depriving the rightful users of
solar energy and the start of climate change.

Inconclusion, it is important that we, human do not waste the energy
that is available at the moment. Though, some of these energies may
seem plentiful, inconsiderate use of them that are wasteful will be
to the destruction of the earth and mankind! These energies are to
be used by all living and non living things on earth in a balanced
manner and should not be over used by only the humans. So it is time
that we become more considerate and start wasting energy, be it
solar or others type of resources including food!

Regards,
David

--- In ClimateChangeAction@..., hugh spencer
<Hugh@...> wrote:
>
> OK - there is a basic misconception here...
>
> All energy that falls upon the earth from the sun - excluding that
which is
> directly reflected back as visible light - is adsorbed, and causes
whatever
> it is that adsorbed it to heat up. All objects that are warmer than
> absolute zero (-273.15°C) radiate energy as infra-red radiation.
The warmer
> they are - the more energy in the radiation (and the shorter the
> wavelength).  An object that is warmer than its environment (say a
hot
> potato out of the fire) - will radiate infrared radiation (you can
feel
> that coming from the hot potato) - and this will continue until
such times
> the potato is the same temperature as its surroundings. At this
point, the
> radiation the potato emits is the same as that it receives from
the rest of
> the environment, all of which is radiating too, and it is then
in "thermal
> equilibrium with its environment" - and we say it has cooled to
ambient
> temperature.
>
> A piece of white-hot steel - is radiating in the visible region of
the
> spectrum (very hight radiant energy - loses a lot of heat very
fast) - and
> as it loses heat through radiation - it gets redder and darker -
and the
> wavelength of the energy emitted gets longer and longer - and the
radiant
> energy gets weaker and weaker.
>
> Conversely - any object that is cooler than its environment (a
bottle of
> coke left out of the fridge) will receive more radiation than it
emits -
> and will warm up - until it is in equilibrium.
>
> (you will notice that I have left out convection and conduction of
heat -
> we'll just concentrate on radiation - which operates everywhere -
even in a
> vacuum).
>
> It's this radiated infrared energy (from the earth's surface)
which is
> intercepted by CO2, water vapour and synthetic greenhouse gases -
and
> prevented from radiating back into space (so the earth's
temperature rises
> to a new higher equilibrium temperature - at which, again, energy
in =
> energy out. This is the basis of global warming..
>
> The energy collected by solar collectors obeys exactly the same
laws - the
> collectors heat up and re-radiate energy, the electricity that
they make
> generates, in the end, heat - which radiates. The captured energy
(by a
> solar collector) doesn't somehow become entrapped - (except very
briefly by
> charging batteries - or creating some high energy compounds - in
the end -
> the energy is released - and ends up as infrared radiation, same a
rock.
>
> The only exception to that has been the burning of fossil fuels -
where
> ancient trapped solar energy is being released - but the amount of
thermal
> energy we are speaking of is relatively miniscule - compared to
daily solar
> input. What IS causing the problem is the increase in CO2
released - and
> its shielding effect on radiated infrared energy from the earth's
surface.
>
> Hope this helps clarify things
>
> Hugh
>
>
>
>
>
> >Hugh,
> >
> >It is unfortunate that I do not have an understanding of basic
> >physics, nevertheless, you had answered the issue with your reply.
> >That we, humans had distorted the natural environment of the earth
> >and this is done through energy wastage resulting in an incomplete
> >natural transformation of the available energy on earth.
> >
> >It is not the amount of energy resources that is available but the
> >conversion of energy that creates an inbalance environment that
> >matters. Energy can be used naturally by the environment or
> >unnaturally by human.
> >
> >In simple term, if we are replacing fossil fuels with solar
energy,
> >it is estimated that 432.5EJ (energy used from fossil fuels in
2005:
> >from
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption)
> >is absorbed from the sun's ray on earth, which originally is
> >absorbed by the environment.
> >
> >With increasing energy usage by humans, more energy will be "taken
> >out" from the environment causing an inbalance situation and a
> >likely "climate change"
> >This is similar in concept with the displacement of fossil fuels
> >from under the ground into the earth's atmosphere.
> >
> >To avoid these situation, we should avoid excessive and wasteful
> >usage of these resources be it fossil fuels, solar or any other
> >alternaives.
> >
>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7664280.stm

Neanderthals in the forest
<http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2008/10/22/34071_tasmania-news.htm\
l>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Arctic scientists discover new global warming threat as melting
permafrost releases millions of tons of a gas 20 times more damaging
than carbon dioxide

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-the-methane-ti\
me-bomb-938932.html

The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times
more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere
from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists.

The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings
suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to
the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats.

Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe
their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid
increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and
even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship
that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have
discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100
times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of
square miles of the Siberian continental shelf.

In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming
with gas bubbling up through "methane chimneys" rising from the sea
floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has
acted like a "lid" to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away
to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the
last ice age.

They have warned that this is likely to be linked with the rapid
warming that the region has experienced in recent years.

Methane is about 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than
carbon dioxide and many scientists fear that its release could
accelerate global warming in a giant positive feedback where more
atmospheric methane causes higher temperatures, leading to further
permafrost melting and the release of yet more methane.

The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be
greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal
reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these
deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth.

Orjan Gustafsson of Stockholm University in Sweden, one of the leaders
of the expedition, described the scale of the methane emissions in an
email exchange sent from the Russian research ship Jacob Smirnitskyi.

"We had a hectic finishing of the sampling programme yesterday and
this past night," said Dr Gustafsson. "An extensive area of intense
methane release was found. At earlier sites we had found elevated
levels of dissolved methane. Yesterday, for the first time, we
documented a field where the release was so intense that the methane
did not have time to dissolve into the seawater but was rising as
methane bubbles to the sea surface. These 'methane chimneys' were
documented on echo sounder and with seismic [instruments]."

At some locations, methane concentrations reached 100 times background
levels. These anomalies have been seen in the East Siberian Sea and
the Laptev Sea, covering several tens of thousands of square
kilometres, amounting to millions of tons of methane, said Dr
Gustafsson. "This may be of the same magnitude as presently estimated
from the global ocean," he said. "Nobody knows how many more such
areas exist on the extensive East Siberian continental shelves.

"The conventional thought has been that the permafrost 'lid' on the
sub-sea sediments on the Siberian shelf should cap and hold the
massive reservoirs of shallow methane deposits in place. The growing
evidence for release of methane in this inaccessible region may
suggest that the permafrost lid is starting to get perforated and thus
leak methane... The permafrost now has small holes. We have found
elevated levels of methane above the water surface and even more in
the water just below. It is obvious that the source is the seabed."

The preliminary findings of the International Siberian Shelf Study
2008, being prepared for publication by the American Geophysical
Union, are being overseen by Igor Semiletov of the Far-Eastern branch
of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since 1994, he has led about 10
expeditions in the Laptev Sea but during the 1990s he did not detect
any elevated levels of methane. However, since 2003 he reported a
rising number of methane "hotspots", which have now been confirmed
using more sensitive instruments on board the Jacob Smirnitskyi.

Dr Semiletov has suggested several possible reasons why methane is now
being released from the Arctic, including the rising volume of
relatively warmer water being discharged from Siberia's rivers due to
the melting of the permafrost on the land.

The Arctic region as a whole has seen a 4C rise in average
temperatures over recent decades and a dramatic decline in the area of
the Arctic Ocean covered by summer sea ice. Many scientists fear that
the loss of sea ice could accelerate the warming trend because open
ocean soaks up more heat from the sun than the reflective surface of
an ice-covered sea.

From Rachel's #982

An excellent article - and while it is directed at the US situation -
things aren't all that much different here. We really need to raise our
game - and somehow we have to deal with another issue - that is the general
intolerance of environmental groups of the views/actions/objectives of
other environmental groups - How we learn to concentrate on the 'BIG
PICTURE' and not get distracted by the fact that members of a related group
don't see eye-to-eye with us on some detail or other, is a bit of a mystery
to me - but it must be done. Only with a 'big-picture' view of the
situation guiding all of us - will, I submit, we work together.

Cheers

Hugh





From: http://www.e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2075  Yale
Environment 360, Oct. 20, 2008
http://www.precaution.org/lib/08/prn_movement_failure.081101.htm
[Printer-friendly version]

ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURE: A CASE FOR A NEW GREEN POLITICS
By James Gustave Speth

A specter is haunting American environmentalism -- the specter of failure.

All of us who have been part of the environmental movement in the
United States must now face up to a deeply troubling paradox: Our
environmental organizations have grown in strength and sophistication,
but the environment has continued to go downhill, to the point that
the prospect of a ruined planet is now very real. How could this have
happened?

Before addressing this question and what can be done to correct it,
two points must be made. First, one shudders to think what the world
would look like today without the efforts of environmental groups and
their hard-won victories in recent decades.

However serious our environmental challenges, they would be much more
so had not these people taken a stand in countless ways. And second,
despite their limitations, the approaches of modern-day
environmentalism remain essential: Right now, they are the tools
readily at hand with which to address many pressing problems,
including global warming and climate disruption. Despite the critique
of American environmentalism that follows, these points remain valid.

Lost Ground

The need for appraisal would not be so urgent if environmental
conditions were not so dire. The mounting threats point to an emerging
environmental tragedy of unprecedented proportions.

Half the world's tropical and temperate forests are now gone. The rate
of deforestation in the tropics continues at about an acre a second,
and has for decades. Half the planet's wetlands are gone. An estimated
90 percent of the large predator fish are gone, and 75 percent of
marine fisheries are now overfished or fished to capacity. Almost half
of the corals are gone or are seriously threatened. Species are
disappearing at rates about 1,000 times faster than normal. The planet
has not seen such a spasm of extinction in 65 million years, since the
dinosaurs disappeared. Desertification claims a Nebraska-sized area of
productive capacity each year globally. Persistent toxic chemicals can
now be found by the dozens in essentially each and every one of us.
The earth's stratospheric ozone layer was severely depleted before its
loss was discovered. Human activities have pushed atmospheric carbon
dioxide up by more than a third and have started in earnest the most
dangerous change of all -- planetary warming and climate disruption.
Everywhere, earth's ice fields are melting. Industrial processes are
fixing nitrogen, making it biologically active, at a rate equal to
nature's; one result is the development of hundreds of documented dead
zones in the oceans due to overfertilization. Freshwater withdrawals
are now over half of accessible runoff, and water shortages are
multiplying here and abroad.

The United States, of course, is deeply complicit in these global
trends, including our responsibility for about 30 percent of the
carbon dioxide added thus far to the atmosphere. But even within the
United States itself, four decades of environmental effort have not
stemmed the tide of environmental decline. The country is losing 6,000
acres of open space every day, and 100,000 acres of wetlands every
year. About a third of U.S. plant and animal species are threatened
with extinction. Half of U.S. lakes and a third of its rivers still
fail to meet the standards that by law should have been met by 1983.
And we have done little to curb our wasteful energy habits or our huge
population growth.

Here is one measure of the problem: All we have to do to destroy the
planet's climate and biota and leave a ruined world to our children
and grandchildren is to keep doing exactly what we are doing today,
with no (further) growth in human population or the world economy.
Just continue to generate greenhouse gases at current rates, just
continue to impoverish ecosystems and release toxic chemicals at current
rates, and the world in the latter part of this century won't be fit to live
in. But human activities are not holding at current levels -- they are
accelerating, dramatically.

The size of the world economy has more than quadrupled since 1960 and
is projected to quadruple again by mid-century. It took all of human
history to grow the $7 trillion world economy of 1950. We now grow by
that amount in a decade.

The escalating processes of climate disruption, biotic impoverishment,
and toxification, which continue despite decades of warnings and
earnest effort, constitute a severe indictment of the system of
political economy in which we live and work. The pillars of today's
capitalism, as they are now constituted, work together to produce an
economic and political reality that is highly destructive
environmentally. An unquestioning society-wide commitment to economic
growth at any cost;

All we have to do to destroy the planet's climate and biota is to keep
doing exactly what we are doing today.

Powerful corporate interests whose overriding objective is to grow by
generating profit (including profit from avoiding the environmental
costs their companies create, amassing deep subsidies and benefits
from government, and continued deployment of technologies originally
designed with little or no regard for the environment); markets that
systematically fail to recognize environmental costs unless corrected
by government; government that is subservient to corporate interests
and the growth imperative; rampant consumerism spurred by
sophisticated advertising and marketing; economic activity now so
large in scale that its impacts alter the fundamental biophysical
operations of the planet -- all combine to deliver an ever-growing
world economy that is undermining the ability of the earth to sustain
life.

Are Environmentalists To Blame?

Today's environmentalism accepts compromises as part of the process.
It takes what it can get.

In assigning responsibility for environmental failure, there are many
places to lay blame: the rise of the modern, anti-government right in
American politics; a negligent media; the deadening complexity of
today's environmental issues and programs, to mention the most
notable. But a number of observers have placed much of the blame for
failure on the leading environmental organizations themselves.
For example, Mark Dowie in his 1995 book Losing Ground notes that the
national environmental organizations crafted an agenda and pursued a
strategy based on the civil authority and good faith of the federal
government. "Therein," he believes, "lies the inherent weakness and
vulnerability of the environmental movement. Civil authority and good
faith regarding the environment have proven to be chimeras in
Washington." Dowie argues that the national environmental groups also
"misread and underestimate[d] the fury of their antagonists."
The mainstream environmental organizations were challenged again in
2004 in the now-famous The Death of Environmentalism. In it, Michael
Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus write that America's mainstream
environmentalists are not "articulating a vision of the future commensurate
with the magnitude of the crisis. Instead they are promoting technical policy
fixes like pollution controls and higher vehicle mileage standards --
proposals that provide neither the popular inspiration nor the
political alliances the community needs to deal with the problem."

Shellenberger and Nordhaus believe environmentalists don't recognize
that they are in a culture war -- a war over core values and a vision
for the future.

These criticisms and others stem from the fundamental decision of
today's environmentalism to work within the system. This core decision
grew out of the successes of the environmental community in the 1970s,
which seemed to confirm the correctness of that approach. Our failure
to execute a dramatic mid-course correction when circumstances changed
can be seen in hindsight as a major blunder.

Here is what I mean by working within the system. When today's
environmentalism recognizes a problem, it believes it can solve that
problem by calling public attention to it, framing policy and program
responses for government and industry, lobbying for those actions, and
litigating for their enforcement. It believes in the efficacy of
environmental advocacy and government action. It believes that good-
faith compliance with the law will be the norm, and that corporations
can be made to behave and will increasingly weave environmental
objectives into their business strategies.

Today's environmentalism tends to be pragmatic and incrementalist --
its actions are aimed at solving problems and often doing so one at a
time. It is more comfortable proposing innovative policy solutions
than framing inspirational messages. These characteristics are closely
allied to a tendency to deal with effects rather than underlying
causes. Most of our major environmental laws and treaties, for
example, address the resulting environmental ills much more than their
causes. In the end, environmentalism accepts compromises as part of
the process. It takes what it can get.

Today's environmentalism also believes that problems can be solved at
acceptable economic costs -- and often with net economic benefit --
without significant lifestyle changes or threats to economic growth.
It will not hesitate to strike out at an environmentally damaging
facility or development, but it sees itself, on balance, as a positive
economic force.

Environmentalists see solutions coming largely from within the
environmental sector. They may worry about the flaws in and corruption
of our politics, for example, but that is not their professional
concern. That's what Common Cause or other groups do. Similarly,
environmentalists know that the prices for many things need to be
higher, and they are aware that environmentally honest prices would
create a huge burden on the half of American families that just get
by. But universal health care and other government action needed to
address America's gaping economic injustices are not seen as part of
the environmental agenda.

Today's environmentalism is also not focused strongly on political
activity or organizing a grassroots movement. Electoral politics and
mobilizing a green political movement have played second fiddle to
lobbying, litigating, and working with government agencies and
corporations.

A central precept, in short, is that the system can be made to work
for the environment. In this frame of action, scant attention is paid
to the corporate dominance of economic and political life, to
transcending our growth fetish, to promoting major lifestyle changes
and challenging the materialistic values that dominate our society, to
addressing the constraints on environmental action stemming from
America's vast social insecurity and hobbled democracy, to framing a
new American story, or to building a new environmental politics.
Not everything, of course, fits within these patterns. There have been
exceptions from the start, and recent trends reflect a broadening in
approaches. Greenpeace has certainly worked outside the system,
Organizations built to litigate and lobby are not necessarily the best
ones to mobilize a grassroots movement.

the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club have had a
sustained political presence, groups like the Natural Resources
Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund have developed
effective networks of activists around the country, the World
Resources Institute has augmented its policy work with on-the-ground
sustainable development projects, and environmental justice concerns
and the emerging climate crisis have spurred the proliferation of
grassroots efforts, student organizing, and community and state
initiatives.

But organizations that were built to litigate and lobby for
environmental causes or to do sophisticated policy studies are not
necessarily the best ones to mobilize a grassroots movement or build a
force for electoral politics or motivate the public with social
marketing campaigns. These things need to be done, and to get them
done it may be necessary to launch new organizations and initiatives
with special strengths in these areas.

The methods and style of today's environmentalism are not wrongheaded,
just far, far too restricted as an overall approach. The problem has
been the absence of a huge, complementary investment of time, energy,
and money in other, deeper approaches to change. And here, the leading
environmental organizations must be faulted for not doing nearly
enough to ensure these investments were made.

America has run a 40-year experiment on whether this mainstream
environmentalism can succeed, and the results are now in. The full
burden of managing accumulating environmental threats has fallen to
the environmental community, both those in government and outside. But
that burden is too great. The system of modern capitalism as it
operates today will continue to grow in size and complexity and will
generate ever-larger environmental consequences, outstripping efforts
to cope with them. Indeed, the system will seek to undermine those
efforts and constrain them within narrow limits. Working only within
the system will, in the end, not succeed -- what is needed is
transformative change in the system itself.

A New Environmental Politics
Environmental protection requires a new politics.

This new politics must, first of all, ensure that environmental
concern and advocacy extend to the full range of relevant issues. The
environmental agenda should expand to embrace a profound challenge to
consumerism and commercialism and the lifestyles they offer, a healthy
skepticism of growthmania and a redefinition of what society should be
striving to grow, a challenge to corporate dominance and a
redefinition of the corporation and its goals, a commitment to deep
change in both the functioning and the reach of the market, and a
powerful assault on the anthropocentric and contempocentric values
that currently dominate.

Environmentalists must also join with social progressives in
addressing the crisis of inequality now unraveling America's social
fabric and undermining its democracy. It is a crisis of soaring
executive pay, huge incomes, and increasingly concentrated wealth for
a small minority, occurring simultaneously with poverty near a 30-year
high, stagnant wages despite rising productivity, declining social
mobility and opportunity, record levels of people without health
insurance, failing schools, increased job insecurity, swelling jails,
shrinking safety nets, and the longest work hours among the rich
countries. In an America with such vast social insecurity, economic
arguments, even misleading ones, will routinely trump environmental
goals.

Similarly, environmentalists must join with those seeking to reform
politics and strengthen democracy. What we are seeing in the United
States is the emergence of a vicious circle: Income disparities shift
political access and influence to wealthy constituencies and large
businesses, which further imperils the potential of the democratic
process to act to correct the growing income disparities. Corporations
have been the principal economic actors for a long time; now they are
the principal political actors as well. Neither environment nor
society fares well under corporatocracy. Environmentalists need to
embrace public financing of elections, regulation of lobbying,
nonpartisan Congressional redistricting, and other political reform
measures as core to their agenda. Today's politics will never deliver
environmental sustainability.

The current financial crisis and, at this writing, the response to it,
reveal a system of political economy that is profoundly committed to
profits and growth and profoundly indifferent to people and society.
This system is at least as indifferent to its impacts on nature. Left
uncorrected, it is inherently ruthless and rapacious, and it is up to
citizens, acting mainly through government, to inject values of
fairness and sustainability into the system. But this effort commonly
fails because progressive politics are too enfeebled and Washington is
increasingly in the hands of powerful corporate interests and
concentrations of great wealth. The best hope for real change in
America is a fusion of those concerned about environment, social
justice, and strong democracy into one powerful progressive force.

The new environmentalism must work with this progressive coalition to
build a mighty force in electoral politics. This will require major
efforts at grassroots organizing; strengthening groups working at the
state and community levels; and developing motivational messages and
appeals -- indeed, writing a new American story, as Bill Moyers has
urged. Our environmental discourse has thus far been dominated by
lawyers, scientists, and economists. Now, we need to hear a lot more
from the poets, preachers, philosophers, and psychologists.

Above all, the new environmental politics must be broadly inclusive,
reaching out to embrace union members and working families, minorities
and people of color, religious organizations, the women's movement,
and other communities of complementary interest and shared fate. It is
unfortunate but true that stronger alliances are still needed to
overcome the "silo effect" that separates the environmental community
from those working on domestic political reforms, a progressive social
agenda, human rights, international peace, consumer issues, world
health and population concerns, and world poverty and underdevelopment.

The final watchword of the new environmental politics must be, "Build
the movement." We have had movements against slavery and many have
participated in movements for civil rights and against apartheid and
the Vietnam War. Environmentalists are often said to be part of "the
environmental movement." We need a real one -- networked together,
protesting, demanding action and accountability from governments and
corporations, and taking steps as consumers and communities to realize
sustainability and social justice in everyday life.

Can one see the beginnings of a new social movement in America?
Perhaps I am letting my hopes get the better of me, but I think we
can. Its green side is visible, I think, in the surge of campus
organizing and student mobilization occurring today, much of it
coordinated by the student-led Energy Action Coalition and by Power
Vote.

If there is a model within American memory of what must be done, it is
the civil rights revolution of the 1960s.

It's visible also in the increasing activism of religious
organizations, including many evangelical groups under the banner of
Creation Care, and in the rapid proliferation of community-based
environmental initiatives. It's there in the joining together of
organized labor, environmental groups, and progressive businesses in
the Apollo Alliance and there in the Sierra Club's collaboration with
the United Steelworkers, the largest industrial union in the United
States. It's visible too in the outpouring of effort to build on Al
Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and in the grassroots organizing of 1Sky
and others around climate change. It is visible in the green consumer
movement and in the consumer support for the efforts of the Rainforest
Action Network to green the policies of the major U.S. banks. It's
there in the increasing number of teach-ins, demonstrations, marches,
and protests, including the 1,400 events across the United States in
2007 inspired by Bill McKibben's "Step It Up!" campaign to stop global
warming. It is there in the constituency-building work of minority
environmental leaders and in the efforts of groups like Green for All
to link social and environmental goals. It's just beginning, but it's
there, and it will grow.

The welcome news is that the environmental community writ large is
moving in some of these directions. Local and state environmental
groups have grown in strength and number. There is more political
engagement through the League of Conservation Voters and a few other
groups, and more work to reach out to voters with overtly political
messages. The major national organizations have strengthened their
links to local and state groups and established activist networks to
support their lobbying activities. Still, there is a long, long way to
go to build a new and vital environmental politics in America.
American politics today is failing not only the environment but also
the American people and the world. As Richard Falk reminds us, only an
unremitting struggle will drive the changes that can sustain people
and nature. If there is a model within American memory for what must
be done, it is the civil rights revolution of the 1960s. It had
grievances, it knew what was causing them, and it also knew that the
existing order had no legitimacy and that, acting together, people
could redress those grievances. It was confrontational and
disobedient, but it was nonviolent. It had a dream. And it had Martin
Luther King Jr.

It is amazing what can be accomplished if citizens are ready to march,
in the footsteps of Dr. King. It is again time to give the world a
sense of hope.

==============
James Gustave "Gus" Speth is the dean of the School of Forestry and
Environmental Studies at Yale University. His most recent (and
important) book is
<http://www.precaution.org/lib/08/prn_bridge_intro.080301.htm>The Bridge at
the Edge of the World (Yale
University Press, 2008).
Copyright 2008 Yale University
<#Table_of_Contents>Return to Table of Contents

from  Rachel's #982


From: Telegraph (London, U.K.), Oct. 20, 2008

http://www.precaution.org/lib/08/prn_warming_outpaces_ipcc_forecasts.081020.htm
[Printer-friendly version]

CLIMATE CHANGE IS 'FASTER AND MORE EXTREME' THAN FEARED
By Paul Eccleston
'Extreme weather events' such as the hot summer of 2003, which caused
an extra 35,000 deaths across southern Europe from heat stress and
poor air quality, will happen more frequently.

Britain and the North Sea area will be hit more often by violent
cyclones and the predicted rise in sea level will double to more than
a metre, putting vast coastal areas at risk from flooding.

http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/index.cfm?uNewsID=14814
1

The bleak report from WWF -- formerly the World Wildlife Fund --
also predicts crops failures and the collapse of eco systems on both
land and sea.

And it calls on the EU to set an example to the rest of the world by
agreeing a package of challenging targets for cutting greenhouse gas
emissions to tackle the consequences of climate change and to keep any
increase in global temperatures below 2C.

The agency says that the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC) -- a study of global warming by 4,000
scientists from more than 150 countries which alerted the world to the
possible consequences of global warming -- is now out of date.
WWF's report, Climate Change: Faster, stronger, sooner, has updated
all the scientific data and concluded that global warming is
accelerating far beyond the IPCC's forecasts.

As an example it says the first 'tipping point' may have already been
reached in the Arctic, where sea ice is disappearing up to 30 years
ahead of IPCC predictions and may be gone completely within five years
- something that hasn't occurred for a million years.

It could result in rapid and abrupt climate change rather than the
gradual changes forecast by the IPCC.
The findings include:

* Global sea level rise could more than double from the IPCC's
estimate of 0.59m by the end of the century.

* Natural carbon sinks, such as forests and oceans, are losing their
ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere faster than expected.

* Rising temperatures have already led to a major reduction in food
crops resulting in losses of 40m tonnes of grain per year.

* Marine ecosystems in the North and Baltic Sea are being exposed to
the warmest temperatures measured since records began.

* The number and intensity of extreme cyclones over the UK and North
Sea are projected to increase, leading to increased wind speeds and
storm-related losses over Western and Central Europe.

The report was issued to coincide with a meeting of EU Environment
Ministers today to discuss new laws aimed at tackling climate change.
Some countries, including Italy and Poland, have already rejected
proposals for higher cuts in emissions claiming they are unaffordable
and unrealistic when many countries are facing recession.

The UK is the only country so far to commit to a legally binding 80
per cent cut in emissions by 2050 which the Government claims can be
achieved by a switch to renewable energy sources -- such as wind and
wave -- combined with a new generation of nuclear power stations.
In the report WWF urges the EU to commit to a reduction target of at
least 30 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 without relying on
offsetting overseas and to provide financial support so developing
countries can cut their own emissions and prepare for unavoidable
impacts of climate change.

WWF-UK's Head of Climate Change, Dr. Keith Allott, said: "Climate
change is a major challenge to the future of mankind and the
environment, and this sobering overview highlights just how critical
it is that EU environment ministers, who are meeting today to discuss
EU legislation to tackle climate change, commit to a strong climate
and energy package, in order to ensure a low carbon future.

"If the European Union wants to be seen as leader at UN talks in
Copenhagen next year, and to help secure a strong global deal to
tackle climate change after 2012, then it must stop shirking its
responsibilities and commit to real emissions cuts within Europe."
The report has been endorsed by Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele,
the newly elected Vice Chair of the IPCC, who said: "It is clear that
climate change is already having a greater impact than most scientists
had anticipated, so it's vital that international mitigation and
adaptation responses become swifter and more ambitious."

Science Show - ABC
<http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2008/2394289.htm>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

ABC discussion
<http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2008/2394293.htm>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In ClimateChangeAction@..., Dr Bob Rich
<bobrich@...> wrote:
>
>  >there is still a very real threat of an ice age even thoug many
> people don't believe or even know this . the previous webside I
> mailed was blocked right after try this one
> http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?cid=9986&pid=12455&tid=282
>
>
> Nothing new in this. It's standard, valid, well understood
science.
> He is not saying there may be a new ice age, but that some regions
> may suffer sudden, catastrophic cooling as a result of the current
> global changes. For example, if the Gulf Stream stops, moves far
out
> to sea or reverses, Western Europe will have the same climate as
> corresponding regions of Canada.
>
> :)First of all dr Bob the rest of the world will suffer droughts
and floods as you already found out and than there is this:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/20081016_arcticreport.html
> Bob
> --------------------------------------------------
> Dr Bob Rich
> http://bobswriting.com
> http://anxietyanddepression-help.com
> http://mudsmith.net
> Commit random acts of kindness
> ---------------------------------------------------
>

Wind energy info.
<http://www.worldofwindenergy.com/newsletter/october08wind.html>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>there is still a very real threat of an ice age even thoug many
people don't believe or even know this . the previous webside I
mailed was blocked right after try this one
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?cid=9986&pid=12455&tid=282


Nothing new in this. It's standard, valid, well understood science.
He is not saying there may be a new ice age, but that some regions
may suffer sudden, catastrophic cooling as a result of the current
global changes. For example, if the Gulf Stream stops, moves far out
to sea or reverses, Western Europe will have the same climate as
corresponding regions of Canada.

:)
Bob
--------------------------------------------------
Dr Bob Rich
http://bobswriting.com
http://anxietyanddepression-help.com
http://mudsmith.net
Commit random acts of kindness
---------------------------------------------------

The Greenland icecap is also melting fast and this is confirmed by NASA
this time
So it has warmed up signifficant more than what the IPCC is proposing
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/02/1624

the sweet water that slows down the gulfstream is increasing so a
further slowdown is inevidibel
http://www.motherjones.com/blue_marble_blog/archives/2008/08/9321_greenl
ands_ice.html

there is still a very real threat of an ice age even thoug many people
don't believe or even know this . the previous webside I mailed  was
blocked right after try this one
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?cid=9986&pid=12455&tid=282

Black silicon for solar modules
<http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&articl\
e_id=193>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

By *David Spratt*

October 10, 2008 -- A year ago I was researching what was intended to be
a short submission to the Garnaut review [commissioned to advise the
Australian federal government of Labor Party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd],
when events in the polar north turned the world of climate policy upside
down. It was found that eight million square kilometres of sea-ice — an
area the size of Australia — was melting, in the immortal words of one
glaciologist, "a hundred years ahead of schedule".

Yet the international policy debate carried on as if this had not
happened. Out-of-date scenarios, research and observations were being
used to propose emission reduction targets that would still lead to
catastrophe even if fully implemented.

full article at http://links.org.au/node/683

Subscribe free to /Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ -
at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373

OK - there is a basic misconception here...

All energy that falls upon the earth from the sun - excluding that which is
directly reflected back as visible light - is adsorbed, and causes whatever
it is that adsorbed it to heat up. All objects that are warmer than
absolute zero (-273.15°C) radiate energy as infra-red radiation. The warmer
they are - the more energy in the radiation (and the shorter the
wavelength).  An object that is warmer than its environment (say a hot
potato out of the fire) - will radiate infrared radiation (you can feel
that coming from the hot potato) - and this will continue until such times
the potato is the same temperature as its surroundings. At this point, the
radiation the potato emits is the same as that it receives from the rest of
the environment, all of which is radiating too, and it is then in "thermal
equilibrium with its environment" - and we say it has cooled to ambient
temperature.

A piece of white-hot steel - is radiating in the visible region of the
spectrum (very hight radiant energy - loses a lot of heat very fast) - and
as it loses heat through radiation - it gets redder and darker - and the
wavelength of the energy emitted gets longer and longer - and the radiant
energy gets weaker and weaker.

Conversely - any object that is cooler than its environment (a bottle of
coke left out of the fridge) will receive more radiation than it emits -
and will warm up - until it is in equilibrium.

(you will notice that I have left out convection and conduction of heat -
we'll just concentrate on radiation - which operates everywhere - even in a
vacuum).

It's this radiated infrared energy (from the earth's surface) which is
intercepted by CO2, water vapour and synthetic greenhouse gases - and
prevented from radiating back into space (so the earth's temperature rises
to a new higher equilibrium temperature - at which, again, energy in =
energy out. This is the basis of global warming..

The energy collected by solar collectors obeys exactly the same laws - the
collectors heat up and re-radiate energy, the electricity that they make
generates, in the end, heat - which radiates. The captured energy (by a
solar collector) doesn't somehow become entrapped - (except very briefly by
charging batteries - or creating some high energy compounds - in the end -
the energy is released - and ends up as infrared radiation, same a rock.

The only exception to that has been the burning of fossil fuels - where
ancient trapped solar energy is being released - but the amount of thermal
energy we are speaking of is relatively miniscule - compared to daily solar
input. What IS causing the problem is the increase in CO2 released - and
its shielding effect on radiated infrared energy from the earth's surface.

Hope this helps clarify things

Hugh





>Hugh,
>
>It is unfortunate that I do not have an understanding of basic
>physics, nevertheless, you had answered the issue with your reply.
>That we, humans had distorted the natural environment of the earth
>and this is done through energy wastage resulting in an incomplete
>natural transformation of the available energy on earth.
>
>It is not the amount of energy resources that is available but the
>conversion of energy that creates an inbalance environment that
>matters. Energy can be used naturally by the environment or
>unnaturally by human.
>
>In simple term, if we are replacing fossil fuels with solar energy,
>it is estimated that 432.5EJ (energy used from fossil fuels in 2005:
>from
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption)
>is absorbed from the sun's ray on earth, which originally is
>absorbed by the environment.
>
>With increasing energy usage by humans, more energy will be "taken
>out" from the environment causing an inbalance situation and a
>likely "climate change"
>This is similar in concept with the displacement of fossil fuels
>from under the ground into the earth's atmosphere.
>
>To avoid these situation, we should avoid excessive and wasteful
>usage of these resources be it fossil fuels, solar or any other
>alternaives.
>

--- In ClimateChangeAction@..., hugh spencer
<Hugh@...> wrote:
>
> "da_chee" <da_chee@...>  wrote
>
> >Hi All,
> >
> >I personally do not think that there are alternatives to the
current
> >energy source that will help us to combat climate change. Whatever
> >energy source/s that we use in future, be it sustainable or not,
it
> >will have side effects. The use of solar energy for the
production of
> >electricity will place the earth into a lower surface temperature.
> >
> >The root cause of our current climate change, in my personal
opinion
> >is a result of our wasteful habit that resulted in a incomplete
cycle
> >of energy resulting is an enivornmental inbalance.
> >
> >It is therefore important that we understand this and though solar
> >energy is prefer to oil, its must only be tapped as little as
possible
> >for the survival of the earth. There should not be any wastage.
> >
> >Regards.
>
> If only the use of solar energy had that effect!!
>
> Sorry da-chee - but I have no idea what you mean by 'incomplete
cycles' -
> and I would seriously suggest that you go and learn a bit of basic
physics!!
>
> The primary issue is far too many people, wanting far too many
goods and
> services, in a limited environment - a fairly intractable mix.
> Unfortunately the rest of the world CAN'T have the standard of
living that
> the 'developed' world has enjoyed - for the simple reason that
there are
> just NOT enough resources to provide it - and even if there were -
the
> global climatic impact would be such - that we would be fast
condemning
> everything (including us) to, if not extinction, then a fairly
brutish and
> nasty future.  Life isn't fair - and that's just the way it is,
and we
> better get used to it.
>
> The wonderful party many of us have been enjoying, has been purely
due to
> our discovery of a fantastic energy source ... fossil fuels.  We
are now
> half way through those reserves - and the party has to stop PDQ. We
> (humans) are behaving exactly like any other unregulated organism
given a
> sudden energy boost - population soars - and then there is a
crash. We are
> in no way exempted from this dynamic. 1 billion (1859) - 6.7
billion now -
> how many in 100 years???.  Makes a nice little curve that you can
> superimpose on the Peak Oil curve...
>
> Tighten your seat belts!  The cycle is about to be completed.
>
>
> Hugh
>

Hugh,

It is unfortunate that I do not have an understanding of basic
physics, nevertheless, you had answered the issue with your reply.
That we, humans had distorted the natural environment of the earth
and this is done through energy wastage resulting in an incomplete
natural transformation of the available energy on earth.

It is not the amount of energy resources that is available but the
conversion of energy that creates an inbalance environment that
matters. Energy can be used naturally by the environment or
unnaturally by human.

In simple term, if we are replacing fossil fuels with solar energy,
it is estimated that 432.5EJ (energy used from fossil fuels in 2005:
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption)
is absorbed from the sun's ray on earth, which originally is
absorbed by the environment.

With increasing energy usage by humans, more energy will be "taken
out" from the environment causing an inbalance situation and a
likely "climate change"
This is similar in concept with the displacement of fossil fuels
from under the ground into the earth's atmosphere.

To avoid these situation, we should avoid excessive and wasteful
usage of these resources be it fossil fuels, solar or any other
alternaives.

Wind power - the basics
<http://www.livescience.com/common/media/video.php?videoRef=LS_080929_Ch\
angeWind>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Forests invaluable
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7662565.stm>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

"da_chee" <da_chee@...>  wrote

>Hi All,
>
>I personally do not think that there are alternatives to the current
>energy source that will help us to combat climate change. Whatever
>energy source/s that we use in future, be it sustainable or not, it
>will have side effects. The use of solar energy for the production of
>electricity will place the earth into a lower surface temperature.
>
>The root cause of our current climate change, in my personal opinion
>is a result of our wasteful habit that resulted in a incomplete cycle
>of energy resulting is an enivornmental inbalance.
>
>It is therefore important that we understand this and though solar
>energy is prefer to oil, its must only be tapped as little as possible
>for the survival of the earth. There should not be any wastage.
>
>Regards.

If only the use of solar energy had that effect!!

Sorry da-chee - but I have no idea what you mean by 'incomplete cycles' -
and I would seriously suggest that you go and learn a bit of basic physics!!

The primary issue is far too many people, wanting far too many goods and
services, in a limited environment - a fairly intractable mix.
Unfortunately the rest of the world CAN'T have the standard of living that
the 'developed' world has enjoyed - for the simple reason that there are
just NOT enough resources to provide it - and even if there were - the
global climatic impact would be such - that we would be fast condemning
everything (including us) to, if not extinction, then a fairly brutish and
nasty future.  Life isn't fair - and that's just the way it is, and we
better get used to it.

The wonderful party many of us have been enjoying, has been purely due to
our discovery of a fantastic energy source ... fossil fuels.  We are now
half way through those reserves - and the party has to stop PDQ. We
(humans) are behaving exactly like any other unregulated organism given a
sudden energy boost - population soars - and then there is a crash. We are
in no way exempted from this dynamic. 1 billion (1859) - 6.7 billion now -
how many in 100 years???.  Makes a nice little curve that you can
superimpose on the Peak Oil curve...

Tighten your seat belts!  The cycle is about to be completed.


Hugh

Hi All,

I personally do not think that there are alternatives to the current
energy source that will help us to combat climate change. Whatever
energy source/s that we use in future, be it sustainable or not, it
will have side effects. The use of solar energy for the production of
electricity will place the earth into a lower surface temperature.

The root cause of our current climate change, in my personal opinion
is a result of our wasteful habit that resulted in a incomplete cycle
of energy resulting is an enivornmental inbalance.

It is therefore important that we understand this and though solar
energy is prefer to oil, its must only be tapped as little as possible
for the survival of the earth. There should not be any wastage.

Regards.

High on the Alantejo Plain, in Eastern Portugal, the world's biggest
solar photovoltaic farm is nearing completion. When the £250 million
farm is fully operational later this year, it will be twice as large
as any project of its kind in the world. It is expected to supply
45MW of electricity every year, enough to power 30,000 homes.

The farm, located in an area with the highest annual sunshine per
square meter in Europe, is made up of 2520 giant solar panels,
positioned at a 45 degrees angle, to track the sun through 240
degrees every day. Portugal, with no oil, coal or gas reserves and no
expertise in nuclear power, has some of the most ambitious targets
for renewables in Europe, and aims to become a leader in the European
clean-tech revolution. According to economics minister Manuel
Pinho, "We have to reduce our dependence on oil and gas. What seemed
extravagant in 2004 when we decided to go for renewables now seems to
have been a very good decision." By 2020, he expects Portugal to
generate 31% of its energy from renewables.

The rate of progress is certainly impressive. In less than three
years the country has trebled hydropower capacity, quadrupled wind
power and invested in flagship solar projects like the one at Mouro.
Crucially, this progress has been achieved on the back of a favorable
economic and political climate. The government has guaranteed price-
levels for the long-term and projects are not delayed by state
indecision or hold-ups in the planning system. By 2012, companies are
expected to invest £10 billion ($20 billion) in renewables, rising to
up to £100 billion ($200 billion) by 2020.

While this project is to be of record-holding size, it will be
overshadowed eventually by a plant in the US currently in the
planning stage, which is expected to produce 500MW - far more than
this plant. The current largest solar farm in the US is well below
Portugal's upcoming farm, sitting at 14MW. Of course, it seems as if
lots of "world's largest" solar farms are in the works, so it's nice
to see at least this one will be a reality.
		 Via The Guardian;

It seems that some countries are getting it right, and yet Australia
is well behind the eight ball on renewables, while the Government
thinks its priority is to tax us even more in order to make current
electricity prices rise to a point where it is just as economincal to
use Renewables????

Lets get this right, because we may not get a second chance. Start
renewable plans, convert to solar, at least Hotwater services ( these
account for up to 50% of our domestic electricity usage), and produce
plans to reduce our reliance on driving our cars especially CBD's and
sububan commuting.

To make any difference on the Emissions front, politicians need to
adopt 'Alternative Thinking' and not just keep theorising about the
future of society. The time to act is now, pollution levels are
increasing daily, and will continue until we see some increased
awareness about how to make real reductions in Carbon Emissions now,
instead of only paying lip service to this problem.

It appears there are 4 systems ready to roll out. They can be
installed today when the pollies pull their finger out.

1. Ultra PRT (U.K.). Installed at Heathrow Airport.
2. Skyweb Express PRT (U.S).
3. Magnemotion GRT.
4. Mister (Poland). Approved for rollout in Opole Poland.

The main obstacle is political will from both gov and the business
community. Much money can be made or lost on a PRT venture. The risk
of being first is the main barrier, but once people successfully
install systems, we will start seeing them here.

We need to think alternatives in energy including transportation,
however the Govt thinks alternate taxes are what renewables are all
about.

We have a PM who likes to talk it up overseas, but only to lift his
profile, when he is kicked out of office nothing will have been
achieved except a lucrative employment deal overseas for the PM. He
isists on flying overseas regularly, when teleconferencing and
podcasting would be a far better practice in this day and age for
most of the discussions.

As I said we need to think alternative, and the idea of emission
trading has a fundemental flaw, it is designed to raise the cost of
electricity etc to the level of alternatives in order to make
conversion more attractive. What we need is to have lower alternative
prices for conversion making them more attractive. When is the Govt
going to take their heads out of where the sun don't shine and stop
making life less affodable for all Australian households.

We need difinitive action by Government, we need them to look at how
to make the ensuing crisis easier on us and they need to lead the way
by cutting back on their own expenditure as well as their massive
travel budgets.

1. We need alternative power made affordable to households, saving in
ongoing electricity costs and reducing coal emissions.
2. We need alternate transport measures introduced and affordable to
households, cutting costs, reducing emissions and driving petrol
prices down.
3. We need to regulate on service prices, ensuring fair competition
and fair and affordable prices to consumers.
4. We need to stop wasting money on price watch schemes and put this
money into a productive area, like supplementing pensions.

Stand up Australia, this is OUR country and they are supposed to be
OUR government, lets make them listen by weight of numbers. We can't
change what is happening in the rest of the world, but we can do
something constructive in Australia

http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/renewable-energy-solutions-for-
australians.html
http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/closure-of-cbd-to-general-
traffic-during-9-5.html

Dear all,

Please see the invitation below for the Queensland Climate Movement
Summit. Please RSVP to Brad if you can make it (see below). Apologies
for cross-posting and please forward through your networks as you see
fit.

Warm regards,
John.

~~~~~~~~
Queensland Climate Movement Summit

Saturday, 25th October, 9am - 5pm
Dutton Park School Hall, Annerley Rd, Brisbane

We'd like to invite you to be a part of the inaugural Queensland
Climate Movement Summit - one of the most exciting grassroots
community convergences in Queensland of recent years.

The Summit is an opportunity for activists, thinkers and citizens to
meet to discuss ideas, issues, opportunities, campaigns and
strategies in response to the impacts of climate change.

The overall aim is to encourage discussion and co-operation between
groups and individuals who are working on (or interested in) climate
change in order to strengthen and build a movement for change.

The summit will be predominantly open-space discussions and
workshops.

If you want more info, contact Brad (ph 0413 280 006) or Shani (ph
0423050809) or check out www.climatemovement.org.au/groups/six-degrees

**Queensland Climate Movement Summit**
Saturday, October 25th, 9 am to 5 pm
at Dutton Park State School Hall, Annerley Rd

RSVP to bradley.r.smith@ gmail.com, ph 0413280006 by 20th October.

Dear All

Hopefully the world leaders are aware of the consequences of selling off the
worlds resources to private enterprise re greedy speculators.

We are all effected by this abuse of privilege afforded by governments of
plunder and wage enslavement.

Now it is time to buy back and make accountable those who have abused mother
earth.

We are all connected and part of the web of life.

Be part of the change.

This petition deserve your attention.

Your help are clicks away.

Check this out.

Benny Zable

I added my article at the end of this petition on what I perceive is currency
and who to reward, which I am reviving.No major changes have been made to
it.What about helping me put extra meat on this article ?
Thank you.

Yours Benny Zable

For the Earth

Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:21:52 -0700
From: avaaz@...
Subject: Buy In, Don't Bail Out
To: bennyzable@...

Avaaz.org - The World in Action















    								  Dear friends,






Over the next 48 hours, the world's leading finance ministers are meeting to
thrash out our response to the financial crisis. Instead of bailing out reckless
financiers again, we need a buy-in that gives us public ownership and strict new
regulations to fix this broken system for good! --

   Put your name here!

Watching the markets freefall, we know this crisis will utterly change our daily
lives -- we're not just spectators any more, and we’re seeing something new –-
people and governments directly intervening in the chaos that until now was
controlled by reckless and greedy financiers.



Today and all weekend, extraordinary choices will be made by the world’s most
powerful finance ministers, meeting to decide our response to the financial
crisis. Together, we must make sure that governments don’t just use our money to
bail out the banks, but claim a share of public ownership in these institutions
for our future, and oversight powers to fundamentally fix the wider system.



We'll deliver our call for a global buy-in package in 36 hours to G7 finance
ministers  and again to a bigger Global Crisis Summit planned for November --
please sign the petition at the link below, and forward this email to everyone
you know. The decisions made this week will shape our lives for years to come:




http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue




Three weeks ago our petition to regulate global finance was waved by Denmark's
former prime minister as the European Parliament voted.[1] Two weeks ago our US
members bombarded Congress with phone calls for a buy-in not a bailout --
investing in the banks so they stop choking off capital, while giving the public
a share for their money and the power to fix the system -- and yesterday, as
Britain launched a bold buy-in of its own, word is the United States might
finally change course.[2]



Only concerted action by the global community can build a better system, and we
can't leave it to the financiers -- so today, we're launching an emergency
campaign calling on leaders for a global public rescue to save all our
economies. This is what's needed -- a 'buy-in' to financial institutions not a
reckless 'bailout', massive public investment stimulus to stave off global
depression, temporary guarantee of loans/deposits, and strict new regulations to
fix this broken system once and for all.[3] It's a sensible and public-spirited
package supported by progressives and expert economists alike -- add your name
here:




http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue




Leading economists now agree that citizens and our governments are the only
force powerful enough to solve this crisis -- only the public can mobilise the
investment and oversight needed to fix the financiers' failings, get the economy
moving and revive things on a sounder basis. The Great Depression of the 1930s
teaches us that we cannot address this crisis with each acting alone -- only by
acting together can countries head off disaster.



How we respond to this crisis will shape our lives for years to come. We're
still a long way from tackling the fundamental problems of the global economy,
but the tide is moving in our direction. So let's take control of our future in
the interests of people not financiers, and raise a worldwide voice across
borders for a global public rescue. 3.4 million of us in every nation of the
world will get this email -- that's a start. Click below to sign, forward this
email to all your friends and family, and let's raise a voice our leaders can't
ignore:



http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_public_rescue



With hope and determination,



Paul, Ricken, Graziela, Pascal, Veronique, Iain, Brett, Milena and the whole
Avaaz team





PS Congratulations to all those who supported our phone and email campaign on
Europe's climate and energy package this week -- it was a stunning victory, we
won 95% of what we wanted and our sources say we made a big difference. More
soon!





Sources:






    1. Winning the vote on financial oversight and regulation in the European
Parliament with Denmark's Poul Rasmussen:


  http://www.pes.org/content/view/1401/1700098







Rasmussen's Parliament speech:

 
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+CRE+20080922+IT\
EMS+DOC+XML+V0//EN#creitem19







2. New York Times and NYU economist Paul Krugman on the UK plan and US shift:


  http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/doing-the-right-thing/







"This would essentially be the plan supported by most economists":



 
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/10/ny-times-recapitalization-plan-being.\
html




3. 18 leading economists from across the political spectrum and around the world
-- "Rescuing our jobs and savings: what G7/G8 leaders can do":

http://voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/2340




----------



ABOUT AVAAZ


Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that
works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global
decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no
money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in
Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Sydney and Geneva.



Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns.



Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace  and   Bebo pages!


You are getting this message because you signed "Climate Wake Up Call!" on
2006-11-26 using the email address bennyzable@....

To ensure that Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add avaaz@... to
your address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other
personal information,
https://secure.avaaz.org/act/index.php?r=profile&user=feeea675914cbc30ad7ade96f2\
d32923&lang=en, or simply go here to unsubscribe.

To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to
info@.... You can also send postal mail to our New York office: 857
Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10003 U.S.A.



If you have technical problems, please go to http://www.avaaz.org.







__________________________
CURRENCY STANDARDS REWARDING WORTH not GREED

Monetary rewards, are primary been built on the exploitation of stolen Natural
Resources, that is our Natural Capital.
The currency standard for worth of work is measured against the value of gold
and the US dollar.
These currency standards compound problems that effect life on Earth.
It ultimately rewards greed and power that sacrifices the well being of our
environment.
There
is a need for a standard/s that primary encourages people to live
lightly on the Earth, rewarding those in true consciousness who are
nurturing the well being of the living Earth:a standard that makes all
humans accountable for negatively impacting life on Earth, (mining and
weapon producing industries) that pollute.
The Lake Cowal gold mine, which a lot of us on the North Coast are protesting is
a symptom of this destructive culture. [1]
Here are some sources that I wish to share with you to help tackle this problem.
In
2003, an International Parliamentary network, launched an initiative,
Save the Earth Summit, to highlight 10 priorities that would help the
Johannesburg Conference produce concrete results for sustainable
development, including the installation of a Tobin type tax. [2] Tobin
Tax [3]
Global Warming is a sure indicator that the Earth cannot
take these assaults any more as graphically illustrated in 'An
Inconvenient Truth' a recent book and movie by Al Gore. [4]
Gaia theorist James Lovelock, brings this to light in his latest book 'the
revenge of gaia' He says:
'Gaia,
the living Earth is old and not as strong as she was 2 billion years
ago. She struggles to keep the earth cool enough for her myriad forms
of life against the ineluctable increase of the sun's heat. But to add
to her difficulties, one of those forms of life, humans, disputatious
tribal animals with dreams of conquest even of other planets, has tried
to rule the Earth for their own benefit alone.' [5]

Architect
visionary, Paolo Soleri which I had the privilege to meet, work and
play,in his designed and built arcology/ permaculture village
ARCOSANTI, calls out to "Miniaturize or die". Hyper-consumerism is
killing us, while every minute the worlds population increases by
several thousand hundred acres of land,forever defiled by human greed.
[6]
The Australian Greens have crafted policies that challenge mainstream the
conservative exploitation culture.
They are strategies for reversing this destruction. [7]
In
the Earth Charter,(a declaration of fundamental principles), seeks to
inspire in all peoples a new sense of global interdependence and shared
responsibility for the well-being of the human family with the larger
living world. [8]
The Global Solution Strategy one pager known as
the Earth Repair Charter, details a strategy for reclaiming the health
and well being of this planet.[9]?? LETS, (a Local Economic Trading
System) [10] and WOOFing (Willing Worker On Organic Farms [11] are
alternative means of exchange without having to use money.

Meditation
retreats are great for tuning into ones connectedness with the nature
within and around us. Insight Meditation teachers Christopher Titmus
and Subhana Barzaghi are leaders in this field. Check into their
programs. [12] [13]
John Seed and Joanna Macy developed a ritual,
THE COUNCIL OF ALL BEINGS whereby we play out and speak out for other
life forms so to challenge human centered thinking. [14]
The
Wittenberg Center in Woodstock, New York, have exercised Native
American transformative rituals to foster a spiritual connectedness
with nature.[15]
Aboriginal cultural lore, holds the essence for
spiritual connectedness, and stewardship for the earth. This lore
demands permanent protection of our living capital consisting of all
areas of sacred and significant values, places of archeological
significance: the remaining natural heritage of unique ecosystems,
including old growth native forests, grasslands, wetlands, water, and
high conservation value areas. It is our obligation to recognizing both
nationally and internationally Aboriginal Sovereignty and Aboriginal
Sovereign governance, over this ancient land and lands traditional
owners that have been dispossessed worldwide as an integral part for
healing the earth. One active group outreaching aboriginal justice is
ANTaR, an aboriginal support group in Victoria who played a major role
in the recent protests at the Stolenwealth Games.[16]
Reg Dodd,
Aboriginal elder and leader of the Arabanna community in Marree SA,
once told me that the Earth will sort us humans out if we continue
abusing her.
From an International Indian Treaty council report,
NGO (Non Government Organization) conference on Indigenous peoples and
land, 15th-18th September 1981 I painted on the Arabanna Centre :
"If
the transnational and colonialist governments continue to defy the
natural order of things in their quest for material wealth, mother
Earth will retaliate, the whole environment will retaliate and the
abusers will be eliminated Things come back full circle, back to where
they started".
History has shown that this fortress domineering
mentality (greed) leads to perpetual wars as we are experiencing now.
The slogan THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY; from Rene Dubos, advisor to the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, has helped
inspire the movement of global action for local healing. [17] We are
all part of this web of life and responsible for its health.
As Chief Seattle in his wisdom stated; HUMANKIND HAS NOT WOVEN THE WEB OF LIFE.
WE
ARE BUT ONE THREAD WITHIN IT. WHATEVER WE DO TO THE WEB, WE DO TO
OURSELVES. ALL THINGS ARE BOUND TOGETHER. ALL THINGS CONNECT. [18]
Hopi Prophecy states:
"When
the earth is dying, there shall arise a new tribe of all colours and
all creeds. This tribe shall be called the Warriors of the Rainbow, and
it will put its faith in actions not words". [19]
Web site references.
[1] <http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/gold/lakep.html>
[2] <http://tobintaxcall.free.fr>
[3] <http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/faculty/tobin.htm>
[4] <http://www.climatecrisis.net/>
[5] <http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/>
[6] <http://www.geocities.com/arcology_IT/chapter4.htm>
[7] <http://greens.org.au/>
[8] <http://www.earthcharter.org/innerpg.cfm?id_menu=19>
[9] <http://www.earthrepair.net>
[10] <http://www.pcug.org.au/~normc/lets/welcome.htm>
[11] <http://www.wwoof.com.au/overseas.html>
[12] <http://www.translucents.org/titmus.htm>
[13] <http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/subhana/>
[14] <http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/coab.htm>
[15] <http://www.wittenbergcenter.org/>
[16] <http://www.antarvictoria.org.au/BlackGST.html>
[17] <http://www.medicalecology.org/dubos.htm>
[18] <http://www.mountainman.com.au/thchief2.html>
[19] <http://www.manataka.org/page235.html#HOPI%20PROPHESY>
[20] <http//www.thestoryofstuff.com



_________________________________________________________________



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]