tagged w/ Environmental Politics
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Hey folks,
As you know, San Fran's Mayor, Gavin Newsom is running for Governor, and boy oh boy is he thumping on the green platform. Here's your chance to determine and shape the environmental issues that our political leaders discuss with the media. You can hit play, and listen to me chatter about how it works...or you can just read below.
Here's how it works
1. Submit your questions to Gavin Newsom about his green platform and run for Governor by Monday, 5pm PDT
2. Vote. Often. The six questions that make it to the top of the list are going to be asked by Current Green. Last chance to vote is 5pm PDT, Tuesday.
3. Come back and see what additional 5 questions the editors of Treehugger, Huffington Post Green, Good Magazine, Grist, and Chelsea Green select.
3. Watch and banter during the live stream and chat on Thursday, 12pm PDT, at www.current/green.
P.S. Want more info on Gavin Newsom's platform on the environment? HAVE more info to share? Check it and clip it.Hey folks,
As you know, San Fran's Mayor, Gavin Newsom is running for Governor,... more
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leahl
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2 years ago
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co2
The worst nightmare of the left is about to come true: The United States is about to achieve the carbon emissions goals set by the 1997 Kyoto Accords. Once seemingly beyond reach, the United States is already halfway toward meeting the stringent Kyoto goals for reduction in carbon emissions without a cap-and-trade law or a carbon tax or carbon dioxide being declared a pollutant.
Environmental nightmare? Yes. The goals of the climate-change crowd are not reduction in global warming but the enactment of a worldwide system of regulation that puts business under government control and transfers wealth from rich nations to poor ones under the guise of fighting climate change. Should the emissions come down on their own, as they are doing, the excuse for draconian legislation goes, well, up in smoke.
The facts are startling. In 1990, the year chosen as the global benchmark for carbon emissions, the United States emitted 5,007 million metric tons of carbon (mmts). Kyoto specified that emissions must be reduced to a level 6 percent lower than in 1990. For the U.S., that means 4,700 mmts.
American carbon emissions rose year after year until they peaked in 2007 at 5,967 mmts. But, in 2008, they dropped to 5,801. And, in 2009, the best estimate is for a reduction to 5,476. So, in two years, U.S. carbon emissions will have gone down by more than 500 mmts — a cut of over 8 percent.
President Obama has pledged to bring the U.S. carbon emissions down by 17 percent. He’s halfway there.
A combination of the recession and an increased emphasis on cutting emissions is working and may make onerous regulation unnecessary and even redundant.
How can we achieve the other half of the hoped for reduction?
If 60 percent of American cars were electric, the net savings in carbon would be 450 mmts (even counting the coal burned for the higher levels of electricity required).
And if one-third of the truck fleet ran on natural gas, the carbon savings would add another 150 to 200 mmts.
The point is that public education and increased environmental consciousness — the normal way we Americans respond to challenges — may suffice without the need for government regulation. And what persuasion fails to achieve, higher gasoline prices will do for us — move people to buy electric cars.
Good news huh?
Not if you are a socialist banking on climate change as the banner to regulate all utilities and industries in the world. Their game plan is to use the financial crisis to regulate white-collar businesses like banking, insurance and finance while using fears of climate change to extend government regulation to the blue-collar trades.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton calls cap-and-trade a “massive redistribution of wealth from the north to the south” (i.e., from the developed northern hemisphere to the less developed southern half of the globe). What the globalists and the one-world crowd had hoped to achieve by foreign aid, they now seek to bring about by cap-and-trade, forcing businesses and utilities to pay rural societies for the right to pollute with carbon.
But market forces are accomplishing what they are hoping only regulation can achieve. And the rationale for the global system of regulation being negotiated at Copenhagen is being made unnecessary even as the agreement is being hammered out.
There is a great deal of justified skepticism about the entire question of whether climate change is going on and, even more, how much human activity is contributing to it. But while the world divides into those who demand global regulation to fight climate change and those who say it isn’t happening, there is now an inconvenient truth: The market is taking care of the problem on its own.
http://frontpagemag.com/2009/12/10/capitalism-and-climate-change-by-dick-morris/
Posted by Dick Morris on Dec 10th, 2009 and filed under FrontPageMag .comco2
The worst nightmare of the left is about to come true: The United States is... more
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Over 65% of Third World citizens do not have access to safe sanitation systems… Water-borne sanitation it too expensive to install in low cost urban housing areas… Moreover, dense population together with corrupt governments lead to local bullies taking hold of such rare facilities… And every 15 seconds a child dies due to contaminated water.
So peepoople -working in close cooperation with SEC Soweto East in Kibera, Nairobi, Communication consultant LOWE Brindfors, Technical development consultant SemconCaran, Chemical company BASF, Bioplastic producer Tenova- came up with an idea called “peepoop bag” which is basically a plastic bag, “that sanitise the human excreta shortly after the defecation, preventing the faeces from contaminating the immediate as well as the larger environment”.
They seem to have many practical advantages. By means of the chemicals inside waste born pathogens are killed over a period of a couple hours to a few weeks. It is partly biodegradable ( made of 45% renewable materials at the moment). When degrade in the soil, the ammonia byproduct acts as a fertiliser. Moreover, it is way economical than establishing the infrastructure for wastemanagement and sanitary systems.
However, there is something that makes me feel uneasy about this product. And it is not just the culturally unacceptable idea of defecating in a 34 cm plastic bag.
This thing is simply not sustainable.
for full article: http://ecofuture.net/osquee/2009/08/12/peepoop-sanitation-for-the-third-world/Over 65% of Third World citizens do not have access to safe sanitation systems…... more
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The cement manufacturing process is engergy intensive, very large quantities of fuel are required to produce the high temperatures needed to turn limestone and other materials into cement. Cement manufacturing companies have not been required by the EPA to utilize pollution control equipment OR pollution monitoring systems. Some companies even go so far as to throw tires, auto battery casings, roofing tiles, diaper ends, and hazardous waste into the kilns...The cement manufacturers claim that the high temperaturatures destroy the organic compounds in the hazardous waste and burning "non-traditional" fuels such as tires reduces the amount of harmful substances in landfills. But are the cement companies (who, as I mentioned, go relatively unregulated) technologically capable of disposing of such hazardous material? I think not.
There are 23 waste-burning cement plants in the US. All 23 facilities frequently use terms such as "recycling", or "co-processing" and deem the waste to be supplemental fuel...instead of using all that coal...
Titan America/Carolinas Cement Company has stated that they want to seek permits to burn tires as fuel. The cement manufacturing process is engergy intensive, very large quantities of fuel... more
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How much is too much? After Titan America establishes the 4th largest cement producing plant in the US, what exactly will happen?
Titan cement claims that they are planning to produce 2.19 million pounds of clinker and emit 263lbs of mercury per year at the plant in Castle Hayne, NC. Titan also says that they will burn coal; the type of coal that will be used will come from the Appalachian and Gulf Coast regions and has an extremely high mercury content.
New Hanover County ranks 6th highest in the state for mercury emmission...the new cement plant will move New Hanover to the 4th highest. The cement plant will become the #1 mercury spewing establishment in the county...while 4 miles down the road a new public school is slated to be built.
North Carolina is also new to the cement production business, with no operating plants in existance today. There are no set laws or regulations on emmissions from cement plants. North Carolina will most likely become vulnerable and incapable of fighting such a large corporation such as Titan America.
What is most disturbing to me, is that EPA scientists estimate that 1 in 6 American women of childbearing age has enough mercury in her body to put her child at risk, should she become pregnant.
We do not need anymore polluting industries that harm the wildlife, land, and citizens. Every state that borders NC has operating cement plants, there are 7 within 400 miles...
There is no amount of savings that Titan or New Hanover County can gain that outweighs the necessity of preserving our wilflife, environment, and future generations.How much is too much? After Titan America establishes the 4th largest cement... more
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Titan Cement company is planning on creating a cement manufacturing plant on the Cape Fear River...a river that is already polluted. Cement processing and manufacturing creates many hazards- they spew dust, mercury, carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the air. The Cape Fear region of North Carolina is located near wetlands...do we really need more pollution for 160 jobs???Titan Cement company is planning on creating a cement manufacturing plant on the Cape... more
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IS ANYONE INVOLVED WITH CURRENT PRODUCING A POD ABOUT FOCUS THE NATION?
As just a humble Senior at Mount Holyoke College and advocate of active participant in society. I wanted to inform. There is an event "Focus the Nation" happening nation- wide on January 31. This movement needs Current TV on its side. I think there is trove of possibilities in conglomeration here! Focus the Nation would be really amped up if it had a little more than local news, and "my space" to broadcast. I think that Current TV and Focus The Nation needed to be properly introduced. And that ya'll organizers and producers should be engaged somehow.
This is what its all about: focusthenation.org
IS ANYONE INVOLVED WITH CURRENT PRODUCING A POD ABOUT FOCUS THE NATION?
As just a... more
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lynz92
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added this
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4 years ago
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IS ANYONE INVOLVED WITH CURRENT PRODUCING A POD ABOUT FOCUS THE NATION?
As just a humble Senior at Mount Holyoke College and advocate of active participant in society. I wanted to inform. There is an event "Focus the Nation" happening nation-wide on January 31. This movement needs Current TV on its side. I think there is trove of possibilities in conglomeration here! Focus the Nation would be really amped up if it had a little more than local news, and "my space" to broadcast. I think that Current TV and Focus The Nation needed to be properly introduced. And that ya'll organizers and producers should be engaged somehow.
This is what its all about: focusthenation.org
To The Greatest Generation,
Focus the Nation is changing history. Thank you. With your hard work, we have become the biggest national teach-in in US history. Still 90 days out, we have already blown by our goal of one thousand schools and other institutions signed on. Your leadership has created a powerful movement that is changing the direction of this country.
THE NATIONAL TEACH-IN: On January 31st , thousands of students on every campus, millions of students nationwide, participate in workshops and panels, brainstorming global warming solutions. Are you with us? Are your faculty supporting you? Ask ten, twenty, fifty faculty to stand up as educators on behalf of your future. They will say yes. To make this happen, start with the MODEL TEACH-IN.
GREEN DEMOCRACY: Campus to Congress. Tell top decision-makers in this country about solutions. Invite every US senator and congressperson to engage in person. If they cant be there physically, then they will face a student audience via a video-chat. Focus the Nation is working with leaders in the House of Representatives to make this happen, in conjunction with their efforts to green the congress. The face-to-face, intergenerational dialogue of Green Democracy will move America to confront this civilizational challenge.
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE: Vote on the top five solutions to global warming. Proposed solutions range from a coal moratorium, to large scale renewables investment, to initiatives to strengthen forests for carbon storage. Choose the Future is the place for serious discussion about how to achieve what science and justice demand. The week leading up to January 31st, you vote, and your Focus team delivers the results to your congressional office. Every political leader in the country will hear your voice. Join the discussion today!
THE 2% SOLUTION: A national, interactive webcast, airing live the evening of January 30th, featuring Stanford climate scientist Stephen Schneider, sustainability expert Hunter Lovins, and green jobs pioneer Van Jones. Show the webcast to launch your teach-in. Screen it at your high school, faith group, civic organization, or at a house party. Our goal10,000 screenings and a determination
TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING.
With these four components, together we will Focus the Nation.
© Copyright 2006-2007 Focus the Nation
!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">IS ANYONE INVOLVED WITH CURRENT PRODUCING A POD ABOUT FOCUS THE NATION?
As just a... more
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lynz92
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added this
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4 years ago
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