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.

If Facebook existed years ago..

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:

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

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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.

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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.