Write to Norwegian Environment Minister Erik Solheim to protest this repugnant idiocy.
(Information here: http://thorshammer.blogspot.com. Also, you may send a form letter here: http://forests.org/shared/alerts/sendsm.aspx?id=norway_wolves.
Please ask your favorite news agency (BBC, Der Spiegel, CNN, whatever) to cover the goings on in barbaric Norway.
For letter in Norwegian: http://tvburkey.org/documents/Solheim_brev.pdf)
"Whenever I see a photograph of some sportsman grinning over his kill, I am always impressed by the striking moral and esthetic superiority of the dead animal to the live one."
—Edward Abbey
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Yet another massacre
Norway is gearing up for yet another wolf massacre. Please contact your favorite/local/regional news organization and encourage them to cover the barbaric travesty playing itself out against a desperately persecuted, critically endangered species, the beautiful and intelligent grey wolf (Canis lupus) in the far northern reaches of Europe. Feel free to use the text below in your appeal for coverage of the Endlösung Norwegian authorities are unleashing on the once most widely ranging mammal species on Earth.
[Text]
Just as the last few wolves are dying in Sweden, Norway is gearing up for yet another massacre of the critically endangered wolf.
Sweden has raised international ire by repeating the stunt it started last year, in what now looks like an annual wolf massacre. Last year 28 wolves fell, and right now the last few are dying out of the 20 Swedish authorities have allowed more than 6,700 “hunters” to pursue this year, with the express goal of capping the population at 210 individuals.
Across the border, in Norway, the situation is much worse.
Local Norwegian “carnivore councils” have authorized the killing of eight wolves, out of the approximately 30-35 individuals in the country (annual surveys report the number of wolves tracked the previous winter, including wolves already known to have been killed or died naturally, but not including pups born the following summer and not including trans-border individuals). In the northern district of Finnmark, a natural corridor for migrants from the Finno-Russian wolf population into the desperately inbred population in southern Scandinavia, the hunt is already on for two wolves in a chase allowed to go on until March 31. In Oppland local forces have set about killing two wolves, and to the south of the country one was executed already in December. In Hedmark district, just outside the “wolf management zone” where national policy allows up to three wolf packs to persist, 1,300 “hunters” are set to begin the slaughter of three wolves on February 15.
The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Sweden for breach of European Environmental law, citing the unfavorable conservation status of the Swedish wolf population, lack of scientific backing for the cull of a critically endangered species, and other issues. EC criticism of Sweden, nor legal proceedings, wont keep Norway from killing eight of "their" approximately 30-35 wolves (>20%). Sweden is criticized for their arbitrary ceiling of 210 wolves set for the number of wolves in Sweden. Norway seeks to cap “their” wolf population at three breeding pairs or packs.
The Scandinavian wolf population was considered extinct until the discovery of a single re-established pair in the border region of southern Norway and Sweden in 1978. One additional immigrant managed to make it past the gauntlet of murderous reindeer herders in northern Scandianavia in 1991, and these three individuals formed the basis for the Scandinavian wolf population. That is, until recently the entire population was descended from just three individuals. It is consequently desperately inbred and in need of fresh immigrants from the adjacent Finno-Russian population.
In 2001, Norway sent Government “hunters” out to kill 10 of the 28 wolves in the country at the time, resorting at last to aerial killing from helicopters to get the job done. In 2005, the Government of Norway sanctioned the licensed persecution of five wolves out of an estimated 21-26 in the country the previous winter (a handful of which where already known to be dead), destroying three of the four established pairs/packs in the process. Now the Ministry for the Environment is poised to allow yet another slaughter. Population dynamicists and geneticists agree that the population needs to grow out of the current bottleneck as quickly as possibly. Clearly, these recurrent massacres are not helping.
National politicians find it difficult to muster the guts to stand up against a vociferous public in rural areas wielding a varying grab-bag of irrational, anti-scientific, and opportunistic arguments, and national authorities lack the scientific understanding and the mental capacity to withstand this pressure. It goes without saying that if the competence is lacking at national level, it is certainly lacking at local and regional levels, whence national politicians have seen fit to delegate responsibility for natural resource management and biodiversity.
For more background on the situation for wolves in Norway and Scandinavia, see: Science, law and politics in the case of the Norwegian wolf.
Sweden may weasel their way out of trouble with the EC, but Norway, having opted out of EU membership, is not subject to EU law or criticism from the European Commission. Nor, it seems, do they consider themselves bound by such arcane matters as science, morality, and decency.
[Text]
Just as the last few wolves are dying in Sweden, Norway is gearing up for yet another massacre of the critically endangered wolf.
Sweden has raised international ire by repeating the stunt it started last year, in what now looks like an annual wolf massacre. Last year 28 wolves fell, and right now the last few are dying out of the 20 Swedish authorities have allowed more than 6,700 “hunters” to pursue this year, with the express goal of capping the population at 210 individuals.
Across the border, in Norway, the situation is much worse.
Local Norwegian “carnivore councils” have authorized the killing of eight wolves, out of the approximately 30-35 individuals in the country (annual surveys report the number of wolves tracked the previous winter, including wolves already known to have been killed or died naturally, but not including pups born the following summer and not including trans-border individuals). In the northern district of Finnmark, a natural corridor for migrants from the Finno-Russian wolf population into the desperately inbred population in southern Scandinavia, the hunt is already on for two wolves in a chase allowed to go on until March 31. In Oppland local forces have set about killing two wolves, and to the south of the country one was executed already in December. In Hedmark district, just outside the “wolf management zone” where national policy allows up to three wolf packs to persist, 1,300 “hunters” are set to begin the slaughter of three wolves on February 15.
The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against Sweden for breach of European Environmental law, citing the unfavorable conservation status of the Swedish wolf population, lack of scientific backing for the cull of a critically endangered species, and other issues. EC criticism of Sweden, nor legal proceedings, wont keep Norway from killing eight of "their" approximately 30-35 wolves (>20%). Sweden is criticized for their arbitrary ceiling of 210 wolves set for the number of wolves in Sweden. Norway seeks to cap “their” wolf population at three breeding pairs or packs.
The Scandinavian wolf population was considered extinct until the discovery of a single re-established pair in the border region of southern Norway and Sweden in 1978. One additional immigrant managed to make it past the gauntlet of murderous reindeer herders in northern Scandianavia in 1991, and these three individuals formed the basis for the Scandinavian wolf population. That is, until recently the entire population was descended from just three individuals. It is consequently desperately inbred and in need of fresh immigrants from the adjacent Finno-Russian population.
In 2001, Norway sent Government “hunters” out to kill 10 of the 28 wolves in the country at the time, resorting at last to aerial killing from helicopters to get the job done. In 2005, the Government of Norway sanctioned the licensed persecution of five wolves out of an estimated 21-26 in the country the previous winter (a handful of which where already known to be dead), destroying three of the four established pairs/packs in the process. Now the Ministry for the Environment is poised to allow yet another slaughter. Population dynamicists and geneticists agree that the population needs to grow out of the current bottleneck as quickly as possibly. Clearly, these recurrent massacres are not helping.
National politicians find it difficult to muster the guts to stand up against a vociferous public in rural areas wielding a varying grab-bag of irrational, anti-scientific, and opportunistic arguments, and national authorities lack the scientific understanding and the mental capacity to withstand this pressure. It goes without saying that if the competence is lacking at national level, it is certainly lacking at local and regional levels, whence national politicians have seen fit to delegate responsibility for natural resource management and biodiversity.
For more background on the situation for wolves in Norway and Scandinavia, see: Science, law and politics in the case of the Norwegian wolf.
Sweden may weasel their way out of trouble with the EC, but Norway, having opted out of EU membership, is not subject to EU law or criticism from the European Commission. Nor, it seems, do they consider themselves bound by such arcane matters as science, morality, and decency.
Yet another wolf massacre: letter to Norway´s Minister for the Environment, Mr. Erik Solheim
Thor has sent a letter of complaint to Erik Solheim, Norway's Minister for the Environment, protesting the pending massacre of seven wolves in Norway. The pursuit of two wolves in Finnmark and two in Oppland is already underway, and the killing of three wolves in Hedmark district is set to begin February 15, just as the recent massacre of 20 wolves in Sweden is winding down. One wolf was executed in southern Norway already in December.
Please send your own letters to Minister Erik Solheim (miljovernministeren@md.dep.no, postmottak@md.dep.no), protesting this barbaric and anti-scientific massacre of a critically endangered wolf population. Feel free to copy text from the letter below if you wish; add your own personal touch if you have time. Please cc to Janne Sollie, Director, Norway's Directorate of Nature Management (Janne.Sollie@DIRNAT.NO) and Heidi Sørensen, Secretary, Ministry for the Environment (heidi.sorensen@md.dep.no). Letters may be accorded more weight if they manifest physically. If you can be bothered, send snail mail versions to
Erik Solheim, Minister for the Environment
Postboks 8013 Dep, N-0030 Oslo, Norway
Janne Sollie, Director, Directorate for Nature Management
Postboks 5672 Sluppen, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
Heidi Sørensen, State Secretary, Ministry for the Environment
Postboks 8013 Dep, N-0030 Oslo, Norway
Text:
Minister Solheim,
Please stop the imminent massacre of wolves, one of the most critically endangered species in Norway.
We know you Norwegians fancy yourselves big movers and shakers in the international environment arena, with your $3 billion promised for tropical forest conservation, your projected role in international negotiations, “your” Brundtland commission, etc., but that doesn’t count for much when you haven’t the wherewithal to ensure that allocated money brings actually results and you don’t deliver at home.
In 2001, one of your predecessors sent Government “hunters” out to kill 10 of the 28 wolves in the country at the time, resorting at last to arial killing from helicopters to get the job done. In 2005, the Government of Norway sanctioned the licensed persecution of five wolves out of an estimated 21-26 in the country the previous winter (a handful of which where already known to be dead), destroying three of the four established pairs/packs in the process. Now your ministry is poised to allow yet another slaughter of beautiful and innocent creatures, if you do not overturn local decisions to kill seven wolves in Hedmark (starting February 15), and in Oppland and Finnmark (already started, running until March 31)—in addition to the one executed in Vest-Agder in December. Eight wolves out of the approximately 30-35 individuals estimated in the country is more than twice as large a proportion of the Norwegian population as the situation in Sweden where the last few individuals are currently being shot down from a quota of 20—and for which Sweden has received such heavy criticism (including from the European Commission which has started infringement proceedings against Sweden under EU environmental law, and criticized Sweden for the arbitrary nature of this extermination policy and the obvious lack of a scientific basis for it).
Norwegian law may be weak on this issue, but not as weak as your bureaucracy choses to interpret it. Furthermore, you should make policy that clarifies these interpretations in a more precautionary direction, or simply issue better guidelines and decisions. It would be easy to use the precautionary principle, firmly established in Norwegian law, to overturn the current permits. One need only refer to the lack of scientific analysis justifying the killing of such a large proportion of such a critically endangered population since Norwegian law specifies that such killing can only proceed if it does not jeopardize the viability of the species. It would be easy to demand analyses that clearly demonstrate that these murders can proceed without jeopardizing further the viability of the population, both in Norway and the Scandinavian wolf population as a whole.
You could easily make the argument that current Norwegian law, your international commitments, and the intention of the Norwegian Parliament in its white paper on carnivore management (even though Parliament appears to have been misled due to the poor quality of information provided by the agencies for which you are responsible), preclude another massacre on this desperate, heavily persecuted population. We understand that there are political pressures on your Government to proceed with this massacre, but you could easily argue that current science and current law does not permit you to let political considerations trump sound management principles. You hardly need to be an expert in population dynamics or population genetics to understand that wiping out such a large proportion of such a small population—already critically endangered and suffering from severe inbreeding and founder effect—makes an already precarious situation significantly worse. This population needs to grow out of its current bottleneck as quickly as possible, away from its current state so close to extinction and it needs to be supplemented with fresh immigrants from outside the southern Scandinavian population.
Your Directorate for Nature Management is neglecting its job, by not informing you, or the Norwegian public, how much these massacres are increasing the extinction risk for the Norwegian and the southern Scandinavian wolf populations. For some incomprehensible reason they have neglected to carry out the necessary analysis. They do not have the competence to do such an analysis themselves, and for unknown reasons they have neglected to request such an analysis from someone who does. They either don’t want to or they don’t understand that they ought to. It seems like they do not understand that this is a quantitative issue that has to be simulated in iterative models, and that, particularly, if such an analysis is to conclude that such killings “do not jeopardize the viability of the population” (as they claim) then such a simulation model has to be very good indeed.
Your wolf “management” policy is more accurately described as your wolf extinction policy, involving as it does these frequent mass killings, limiting the wolf’s range to a narrow strip near the Swedish border in southern Norway, making successful immigration from Finland/Russia extremely difficult for the poor individuals that try it, and the de facto cap on the population at three breeding pairs/packs. By not making the likely population dynamic consequences of this policy clear to legislators and to the voting public, you are in clear violation of the Århus Convention (the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters). In order to do a responsible job on biodiversity protection and conservation of endangered species, you have to at least be capable enough to at least hire staff that are both competent and well-intentioned.
There is copious expertise internationally that could help you design responsible carnivore management regimes. IUCN, where you are a member, is just one example of an agency that may facilitate such an undertaking for you.
Please take this opportunity to overrule the local carnivore councils that have given permission for the pending massacre, based on the lack of a scientific basis for their rulings. Respond to the complaints you have received and overturn these horrific rulings to let these wolves live to contribute to the future fitness and viability of the population.
Sincerely,
Thor, God of Thunder
Please send your own letters to Minister Erik Solheim (miljovernministeren@md.dep.no, postmottak@md.dep.no), protesting this barbaric and anti-scientific massacre of a critically endangered wolf population. Feel free to copy text from the letter below if you wish; add your own personal touch if you have time. Please cc to Janne Sollie, Director, Norway's Directorate of Nature Management (Janne.Sollie@DIRNAT.NO) and Heidi Sørensen, Secretary, Ministry for the Environment (heidi.sorensen@md.dep.no). Letters may be accorded more weight if they manifest physically. If you can be bothered, send snail mail versions to
Erik Solheim, Minister for the Environment
Postboks 8013 Dep, N-0030 Oslo, Norway
Janne Sollie, Director, Directorate for Nature Management
Postboks 5672 Sluppen, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
Heidi Sørensen, State Secretary, Ministry for the Environment
Postboks 8013 Dep, N-0030 Oslo, Norway
Text:
Minister Solheim,
Please stop the imminent massacre of wolves, one of the most critically endangered species in Norway.
We know you Norwegians fancy yourselves big movers and shakers in the international environment arena, with your $3 billion promised for tropical forest conservation, your projected role in international negotiations, “your” Brundtland commission, etc., but that doesn’t count for much when you haven’t the wherewithal to ensure that allocated money brings actually results and you don’t deliver at home.
In 2001, one of your predecessors sent Government “hunters” out to kill 10 of the 28 wolves in the country at the time, resorting at last to arial killing from helicopters to get the job done. In 2005, the Government of Norway sanctioned the licensed persecution of five wolves out of an estimated 21-26 in the country the previous winter (a handful of which where already known to be dead), destroying three of the four established pairs/packs in the process. Now your ministry is poised to allow yet another slaughter of beautiful and innocent creatures, if you do not overturn local decisions to kill seven wolves in Hedmark (starting February 15), and in Oppland and Finnmark (already started, running until March 31)—in addition to the one executed in Vest-Agder in December. Eight wolves out of the approximately 30-35 individuals estimated in the country is more than twice as large a proportion of the Norwegian population as the situation in Sweden where the last few individuals are currently being shot down from a quota of 20—and for which Sweden has received such heavy criticism (including from the European Commission which has started infringement proceedings against Sweden under EU environmental law, and criticized Sweden for the arbitrary nature of this extermination policy and the obvious lack of a scientific basis for it).
Norwegian law may be weak on this issue, but not as weak as your bureaucracy choses to interpret it. Furthermore, you should make policy that clarifies these interpretations in a more precautionary direction, or simply issue better guidelines and decisions. It would be easy to use the precautionary principle, firmly established in Norwegian law, to overturn the current permits. One need only refer to the lack of scientific analysis justifying the killing of such a large proportion of such a critically endangered population since Norwegian law specifies that such killing can only proceed if it does not jeopardize the viability of the species. It would be easy to demand analyses that clearly demonstrate that these murders can proceed without jeopardizing further the viability of the population, both in Norway and the Scandinavian wolf population as a whole.
You could easily make the argument that current Norwegian law, your international commitments, and the intention of the Norwegian Parliament in its white paper on carnivore management (even though Parliament appears to have been misled due to the poor quality of information provided by the agencies for which you are responsible), preclude another massacre on this desperate, heavily persecuted population. We understand that there are political pressures on your Government to proceed with this massacre, but you could easily argue that current science and current law does not permit you to let political considerations trump sound management principles. You hardly need to be an expert in population dynamics or population genetics to understand that wiping out such a large proportion of such a small population—already critically endangered and suffering from severe inbreeding and founder effect—makes an already precarious situation significantly worse. This population needs to grow out of its current bottleneck as quickly as possible, away from its current state so close to extinction and it needs to be supplemented with fresh immigrants from outside the southern Scandinavian population.
Your Directorate for Nature Management is neglecting its job, by not informing you, or the Norwegian public, how much these massacres are increasing the extinction risk for the Norwegian and the southern Scandinavian wolf populations. For some incomprehensible reason they have neglected to carry out the necessary analysis. They do not have the competence to do such an analysis themselves, and for unknown reasons they have neglected to request such an analysis from someone who does. They either don’t want to or they don’t understand that they ought to. It seems like they do not understand that this is a quantitative issue that has to be simulated in iterative models, and that, particularly, if such an analysis is to conclude that such killings “do not jeopardize the viability of the population” (as they claim) then such a simulation model has to be very good indeed.
Your wolf “management” policy is more accurately described as your wolf extinction policy, involving as it does these frequent mass killings, limiting the wolf’s range to a narrow strip near the Swedish border in southern Norway, making successful immigration from Finland/Russia extremely difficult for the poor individuals that try it, and the de facto cap on the population at three breeding pairs/packs. By not making the likely population dynamic consequences of this policy clear to legislators and to the voting public, you are in clear violation of the Århus Convention (the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters). In order to do a responsible job on biodiversity protection and conservation of endangered species, you have to at least be capable enough to at least hire staff that are both competent and well-intentioned.
There is copious expertise internationally that could help you design responsible carnivore management regimes. IUCN, where you are a member, is just one example of an agency that may facilitate such an undertaking for you.
Please take this opportunity to overrule the local carnivore councils that have given permission for the pending massacre, based on the lack of a scientific basis for their rulings. Respond to the complaints you have received and overturn these horrific rulings to let these wolves live to contribute to the future fitness and viability of the population.
Sincerely,
Thor, God of Thunder
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Addicted to risk
The addiction to risk of which Naomi Kline speaks is also linked to the clinging to the frontier economy mindset against all reason. Taking outrageous risks to make a mint when the world is full and the room for profit is shrinking inexorably is the mark of a madman.
Furthemore, Thor has never seen any geoengineering "solutions" that also deal with the acidification of the world's oceans. Guess food and oxygen and coral reefs and fish life is not so important...
Furthemore, Thor has never seen any geoengineering "solutions" that also deal with the acidification of the world's oceans. Guess food and oxygen and coral reefs and fish life is not so important...
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Merchants of Doubt
Last year at about this time, Thor berated climate deniers as politically motivated charlatans who have taken a page from tobacco lobbyists´playbook to pollute the public discourse on global warming and ensure that no meaningful measures were taken to avoid disaster. Thor also blamed journalists for not having the knowledge required to withstand this cynical ploy. A somewhat heated debate ensued in Norwegian media.
Now, Naomi Oreske´s book "Merchants of Doubt" is out, and you can hear her lecture at University of New South Wales, explaining how a political campaign deliberately casting false doubts about the state of climate science managed to confuse an ignorant public and derail the historical opportunity to save the world: Merchants of Doubt
Naomi is Professor of the History of Science at UCSD.
Now, Naomi Oreske´s book "Merchants of Doubt" is out, and you can hear her lecture at University of New South Wales, explaining how a political campaign deliberately casting false doubts about the state of climate science managed to confuse an ignorant public and derail the historical opportunity to save the world: Merchants of Doubt
Naomi is Professor of the History of Science at UCSD.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Debtris
Play it here: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/debtris/
Happy New Year, Planet Earth!
Points given for creative ideas on switching some of those expenses from the negative column to the positive column...
Happy New Year, Planet Earth!
Points given for creative ideas on switching some of those expenses from the negative column to the positive column...
Friday, December 31, 2010
Slaying the Green Dragon...
Religion is an irrational passtime, so it should not surprise anyone that the religious wackos oppose science-based "environmentalism". But it is sad...
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/an-evangelical-backlash-against-environmentalism/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Actually, rather than "irrational" I should probably say "anti-rational"... Funny video though.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/an-evangelical-backlash-against-environmentalism/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Actually, rather than "irrational" I should probably say "anti-rational"... Funny video though.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
What chance for democracy to deal with global biodiversity meltdown or climate change?
From Harper's Index December 2010:
** Chances that an American believes that Jesus Christ will return to earth by 2050: 2 in 5
** Chance that a U.S. Protestant knows who Martin Luther was: 1 in 2
** Chance that an American believes Ramadan is the Jewish day of atonement: 1 in 10
From earlier Harper's Index:
** Percentage of Americans that cannot name a country that borders on the Pacific: 32
Never mind that 32 percent of Americans live in a state that borders on the Pacific... (Thor exaggerates sometimes)
Harper's Index December 2010
** Chances that an American believes that Jesus Christ will return to earth by 2050: 2 in 5
** Chance that a U.S. Protestant knows who Martin Luther was: 1 in 2
** Chance that an American believes Ramadan is the Jewish day of atonement: 1 in 10
From earlier Harper's Index:
** Percentage of Americans that cannot name a country that borders on the Pacific: 32
Never mind that 32 percent of Americans live in a state that borders on the Pacific... (Thor exaggerates sometimes)
Harper's Index December 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Let's build the New Economy
Joe Brewer at truthout: http://www.truth-out.org/lets-build-new-economy65322
Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) has just issued a fresh report on developing a better economic blueprint, entitled Enough is Enough: Ideas for a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources. Click here to download a free copy of the report (130 pages), as well as a summary (10 pages). You will also find links to videos of keynote presentations from the conference.
In addition to reading the report, please share it with colleagues, friends and kindred spirits to start the much-needed and urgent discussion/debate about the transition to a steady state economy, and get a jump on the work ahead.
Thor has recently been appointed Country Director (Norway) for CASSE, so any of you Vikings out there, get in tough if you are interested in working for a steady state economy.
Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE) has just issued a fresh report on developing a better economic blueprint, entitled Enough is Enough: Ideas for a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources. Click here to download a free copy of the report (130 pages), as well as a summary (10 pages). You will also find links to videos of keynote presentations from the conference.
In addition to reading the report, please share it with colleagues, friends and kindred spirits to start the much-needed and urgent discussion/debate about the transition to a steady state economy, and get a jump on the work ahead.
Thor has recently been appointed Country Director (Norway) for CASSE, so any of you Vikings out there, get in tough if you are interested in working for a steady state economy.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Subsidies suck
Daily Dose of Statistics: The 600 American rice farmers/firms, who received rice subsidies from the US government, received collectively 20 times the amount of money as that allocated for agricultural rehabilitation in Haiti after the earth quake. Subsidised American rice accounts for 95% of rice purchases in Haiti as the local farmers cannot compete with the subsidised imports. (BBC follow-up report on the situation in Haiti after the earth quake)
Your tax dollar at work. "Socialism" for the rich, capitalism for the poor. US loggers, ranchers, farmers and miners biggest welfare queens around.
Your tax dollar at work. "Socialism" for the rich, capitalism for the poor. US loggers, ranchers, farmers and miners biggest welfare queens around.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Carbon fees: tax and dividend, not cap and trade
Read James E. Hansen's "Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity.
And check out http://www.carbonfees.org
Video:
And check out http://www.carbonfees.org
Video:
Friday, October 1, 2010
One Day for Earth
Thor has taken the liberty of clipping from an e-mail from mere mortal Bill McKibben, since the events are so important to creation. Please attend or plan your own events for this "Earth Day":
Dear friends,
Wow. That was fast.
Apologies for sending multiple emails in one day, but I didn't want to keep the good news to myself.
About 15 minutes minutes ago, Biljana from Serbia registered an event for her local community in Belgrade. On 10/10/10, at 10:10 AM, they will take 2nd and 4th graders on an "eco field trip" to volunteer at an sustainable farm, participate in green workshops, and do a trash clean-up. Of course, they'll be finishing up their event by forming a big "350" for a group photo that they will send into 350.org after their event.
Biljana's event in Serbia was the 5249th event registered for 10/10/10, and it officially broke last year's record! To give you a sense of just how diverse this day promises to be, I've pasted a list of a few event highlights assembled by our grassroots media team just below this email.
The next 10 days will be a whirlwind of activity as friends from all over the world focus on making 10/10/10 as widespread, beautiful, and powerful as possible. If you don't yet know how you're plugging into 10/10/10, there's still lots of time to join or start an event in your community.
Me, I'll be giving everything I've got in this final push. I'm a bit tired, but am feeling completely recharged by today's milestone. It sure is nice to know that this movement is growing bigger all the time.
So many thanks,
Bill McKibben (@billmckibben on Twitter) for the 350.org Team
--
10/10/10 Event Highlights
Funniest: Sumo wrestlers cycling to practice in downtown Tokyo.
Most remote: An education center in the Namib Desert in Namibia installing six solar panels.
Smallest country taking part: Divers on the smallest island nation of the world, Nauru (8.1 square miles) will plunge into their coral reefs for an underwater clean-up. (Thor's comment: Nauro may be the smallest island nation, but Monaco and the Vatican State are smaller).
Most presidential: President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives is installing solar panels on his roof.
Most tipsy: Partiers in Edinburgh will be throwing a "Joycott" (a reverse boycott) at a local bar that agreed to put 20% of its extra revenues on 10/10/10 to making the bar more energy efficient. Attendees will try and drink as much as possible to raise money. Cheers!
Most poignant: In San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, students will hand out solar-powered lights to families who are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Alex this June, 2010.
Most cross-cultural: Over 100 cyclists from Jordan, Israel and Palestine taking part in a 3-day bicycle relay to carry water from the Yarmouk River and the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea to symbolize the need for cooperation to stop climate change and save precious water resources.
Most educational: 850 universities in China, India, and the United States are joining 10/10/10 as part of the Great Power Race campaign, a clean energy competition.
Most carbon cut: On 10/10/10 the Mayor of Mexico City will sign a commitment to reduce the city's emissions 10% in a single year. The city government will be directly responsible for 5% of the reductions and lead a public campaign to get citizens to cut the remaining 5%.
Most futuristic: Young people in Barbados will be demonstrating the viability of fuel cell technology in a hovercraft they have built themselves.
Most ?????: We want to know what's the most fascinating thing about your event. My more web-savvy colleagues tell me you can feature it as a comment on this popular Facebook post.
--
PS: Thanks to your help, there are only 14 countries currently missing from the wonderfully crowded map of 10/10/10 events!
Do you have any friends in: Cape Verde, Dominica, East Timor, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Micronesia, Monaco, Myanmar/Burma, Sao Tome and Principe, San Marino, or Suriname?
If you do know anyone in these countries, please try your best to recruit them to sign up an event at 350.org! There's a quick letter you can send at 350.org/missing.
You should join 350.org on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page at facebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by visiting twitter.com/350
To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit www.350.org/signup
350.org needs your help! To support our work, donate securely online at 350.org/donate
350.org is an international grassroots campaign that aims to mobilize a global climate movement united by a common call to action. By spreading an understanding of the science and a shared vision for a fair policy, we will ensure that the world creates bold and equitable solutions to the climate crisis. 350.org is an independent and not-for-profit project.
What is 350? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Scientists measure carbon dioxide in "parts per million" (ppm), so 350ppm is the number humanity needs to get below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. To get there, we need a different kind of PPM-a "people powered movement" that is made of people like you in every corner of the planet.
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