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April 21, 2008Orang-utans swing into action to stop Dove destroying rainforests for palm oil
Today, we're launching the next stage in our campaign to protect the rainforests of Indonesia from the expansion of the palm oil industry and direct actions are taking place in London, Rome and Rotterdam. Our volunteers, dressed as orang-utans, are currently climbing over the Italian, Dutch and UK headquarters of the company behind Dove, which uses palm oil as one of its ingredients. Our latest research shows that Unilever, the makers of Dove, is buying palm oil from companies that are destroying valuable rainforest and peatland areas, which is bad news not only for the millions of people who depend on them for their way of life and endangered species such as the orang-utan, but also for the global climate.
Al Gore talk at hyperspeed
I'll admit it. I never watched his movie, never saw the slideshow. Thought they were great for other people, but I already know how dangerous climate change is. Plus, I'm a busy busy person. (I mean, aren't we all?) Still... Always felt like I really should - what with the Oscar and the Nobel prize and all.
At last, someone has solved my plight. Thanks to George Spyros for this 2 minute condensed version of Gore's latest talk (given at the TED conference):
Found it via Treehugger where you can find the full 22 minute version, and a 30 second out take with the classic line...
"Junkies find veins in their toes when the ones in their arms and their legs collapse.... Developing tar sands and coal shale is the equivalent."
We're number 96!
A site named Wikio ranked, "influential blogs in the UK blogosphere". Believe it or not, we're number 96. Wooohoo!
Please link to us from your blog to help us reach our goal of 95th place. (Watch out Adrian, we're up and coming!)
Beware the 'consumer choice' excuse
In a long Guardian article from a couple of weeks back I noticed a fine example of the favourite "consumer choice" excuse of corporations under pressure to change their ways. The massive German car maker Volkswagen has more efficient versions (blue motion) of their popular models but doesn't sell very many:
The VW Polo BlueMotion gives off just 99g of CO2 per km. But this year VW envisages selling 5,000 BlueMotion Polos as against 36,000 conventional ones. Some of this is market reticence, but some is down to the increased price - an extra £500. Surely a company that takes the environment seriously would withdraw the old version or price the more environmentally friendly one equally?'We wouldn't be doing ourselves any favours if we withdrew customer choice or disguised the increased costs of BlueMotion cars,' says VW's UK press spokesman Paul Buckett.
Notice the weasel words of "consumer choice". VW definitely would be doing the planet a favour if they just sold the more efficient version. Also VW and all other car companies spend fortunes every day on adverts, billboards and marketing to create the very consumer demand (for large, fast, inefficient cars) they then use as an excuse not to act.
Greenpeace's big European cars petition
Last week journalists revealed that Merkel and Sarkozy are planning to water down EU legislation tackling CO2 emissions from cars. That's why we launched a petition on Friday, calling on other top European politicians to resist. The petition has been signed by almost 16,000 people at time of writing.
Jocelyn from Australia posted news of our cars petition on care2.com, early this morning, and now it's the top environmental story. It's clearly an international issue.
Many people look to Germany for leadership on tackling greenhouse gas emissions. Angela Merkel gets climate change, but the chemistry between Germany's government and the German luxury car industry is clouding her judgement.
Today we are all "banditi"
What happens when a cat, a dog, a mouse, a rabbit, a gorilla, a walrus and a snowman accuse themselves of being bandits?
The result is that a court throws out an injunction and states the right of demonstration for the environment and public health.
This is what happened. On the 30th of November last year, 12 Greenpeace activists entered the coal power station in Brindisi (Southern Italy), Italy's biggest coal power station and the biggest polluter with its 15 million tons of CO2 produced yearly. They wanted to highlight the plan of the biggest Italian energy company, ENEL, to increase the coal energy production by 5.000 MW. This would mean adding 20 million tons of CO2 in the atmosphere every year, making it impossible for Italy to cut the 100 million tons of CO2 necessary to meet the Kyoto protocol.
Video of the action in Brindisi
A few days after, our activists received an injunction from the Police Chief which described them as "a danger to society" which banned them from the local area for the next three years. It was effectively a "no public protest" injunction in a free society. Normally, criminals or mafia affiliates are considered a "danger to society". This was the first time that Italian police used such an injunction for a peaceful demonstration.
Renewable energy vs Nuclear power
We've been saying for years that nuclear power comes at a cost to renewable energy. Nice to hear someone in the nuclear industry agree. From the Guardian:
Industry recognises that nuclear power and renewables in Britain are mutually exclusive because they both need government support as well as the same national grid infrastructure to distribute electricity. Last week Carlo de Riva, chief executive of French state-owned nuclear company EDF, said British backing for renewables, would undermine nuclear power."If you provide incentives for renewables ... that will displace the incentives built into the carbon market. In effect, carbon gets cheaper. And if carbon gets cheaper, you depress the returns for all the other low-carbon technologies. [like nuclear power]."
While hunting around for this article, I came across some letters to the editor (about a previous nuclear power story). Form more information, check out our briefing (pdf) on why nuclear is not the answer. And if all this makes you think of sumo wrestling, you're a very strange person, click here.
New energy criteria for Greener Electronics Guide
Today we've published our latest quarterly ranking of the leading electronics companies environmental policies and practice. Often this generates a lot of online discussion so this time around we've added an in depth question and answer section to cover questions like why we only rank on public information, how we ensure companies are doing what they claim, why we don't suggest alternatives and many more.
Many of the companies are rising to the challenge on the existing chemicals and e-waste criteria - in the next edition these will become more stringent, and new criteria will be added on other chemicals and the use of recycled plastic. The biggest change will be the addition of criteria on climate and energy. Electronics products are very energy intensive to produce and the rapidly increasing amounts of home electronics are driving up electricity usage in many countries. Data centres that run Internet services use huge amounts of electricity. Many electronics companies are now making many claims about their energy saving products. But how do the companies claims, policies and practice on energy and response to global warming compare?
In the next edition of the guide we will be scoring the companies against the new criteria. All companies now have these new criteria and have several months to respond. We have published them in advance to be transparent about how the companies will be assessed.
Denial-a-palooza 2008
You know that saying, "denial ain't just a river in Egypt"? Well, there's a bunch of guys meeting in New York right now who make a living out of it. Denying climate change that is. From NY Times reporter Andrew Revkin's notebook:
Several hundred people sat in a fifth-floor ballroom at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square on Monday eating pasta and trying hard to prove that they had unraveled the established science showing that humans are warming the world in potentially disruptive ways.One challenge they faced was that even within their own ranks, the group — among them government and university scientists, antiregulatory campaigners and Congressional staff members — displayed a dizzying range of ideas on what was, or was not, influencing climate.
Our own Kert Davies is there, roaming the corridors and blogging about it on ExxonSecrets - being, in his words, "the skunk at the garden party". From Kert's blog:
We've done an ExxonSecrets deluxe map of those we know about. We have all the cosponsors on the left side, the 50 some odd speakers down the middle and the other organizations they are linked to down the right.We have data linking some $7.5 Million in Exxon funding (98-06) to many of the prominent cosponsors along with the Heartland Institute.
UK parliment exposed as aviation industry's second home
Great action and great pics from the folks at Plane Stupid who scaled the House of Parliament to lower a banner saying "BAA HQ". The consultation on Heathrow expansion ends today and BAA (who run 7 UK airports) actually wrote parts of the government consultation. Nothing like a 'consultation' where the result is already stitched up with big business.
This was a nice touch:
The protesters are making paper aeroplanes out of confidential Whitehall documents that reveal the process is fixed, and gliding the planes into the MPs' car park below.
Bulb changing in Italy
We're calling for governments around the world to ban the bulb, but we're not waiting for them. Here's Greenpeace Italy local group activists changing bulbs all over town.
Reminds me a little of this fantastic video.
Pacific Ocean may be nearing a tipping point
In a related story....
Peering into the murky depths, Jane Lubchenco searched for sea life, but all she saw were signs of death.Video images scanned from the seafloor revealed a boneyard of crab skeletons, dead fish and other marine life smothered under a white mat of bacteria. At times, the camera's unblinking eye revealed nothing at all -- a barren undersea desert in waters renowned for their bounty of Dungeness crabs and fat rockfish.
"We couldn't believe our eyes," Lubchenco said, recalling her initial impression of the carnage brought about by oxygen-starved waters. "It was so overwhelming and depressing. It appeared that everything that couldn't swim or scuttle away had died."
Upon further study, Lubchenco and other marine ecologists at Oregon State University concluded that that the undersea plague appears to be a symptom of global warming.
That's from today's LA times. Also a good story on it in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Ocean impacts mapped
Maps of the world usually have lots of lovely blue to show where the oceans are. This map, showing damage to our oceans, is all yellow, oranges and reds with only small bits of pristine blue. It's hardly the first warning from scientists about the state of the oceans, but it's the most thorough and graphical. From the Baltimore Sun:
In one of the most comprehensive looks yet at the oceans, researchers say that humans have "strongly" fouled 41 percent of the high seas with everything from storm water runoff to shipping waste and that only small polar regions are still untouched."Almost half of the oceans are in a fairly degraded state, based on what we found," said Benjamin Halpern, the report's lead author and a marine biologist at the California-based National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. "There isn't a spot on the planet that hasn't been touched by humans."
The report was published today in Science Magazine (subscription). There's a Google Earth layer for the map (and an animated flyover) here, and another animated flyover on NPR's website. See Science Daily for more info.
And as Benjamin Halpern, the report's lead author, says, "There are things people can do". Ask questions about where the fish you eat comes from, avoid fertilizers and pesticides (buy organic), cut down on your carbon footprint and sign our marine reserves petition.
Nuclear and CO2
Article in yesterday's business section of the Sydney Morning Herald about doubts that nuclear energy a good solution to climate change:
Nuclear power's claim to be the answer to global warming is being questioned by reports suggesting mining and processing of uranium is carbon intensive.While nuclear power produces only one 50th of the carbon produced by many fossil fuels, its carbon footprint is rising, making wind power and other renewable energies increasingly attractive, according to environmental groups and some official reports.
Just another reason why nuclear is a bad investment.
Monarchies for (Energy) Revolution
Prince Charles has joined those calling for a revolution in the way we use Energy. The Guardian reports that
"Prince Charles highlighted the rapid melting of the north polar ice cap as a wake-up call "as we sleepwalk our way towards the edge of catastrophe" and called for a "courageous and revolutionary" approach to tackling global warming."
Hat tip to Daily Kos
Reverse graffiti highlights dirty Heathrow plan
Here's a very cool guerilla campaign tactic - a new style of 'clean' graffiti, where a steam cleaner is used to write a message in street grime, one thing any city has a lot of! A great way to get the message out that airport expansion should be stopped.
First the source of the problem - cheap flights
Visit EfficienCity: a clean, green climate-friendly town
If a picture speaks a thousand words, a multimedia-packed, animation-filled interactive town must speak a million. Which is why on the Greenpeace UK website we've launched EfficienCity (like Sim City, but greener) to explain exactly what decentralised energy is and how it works in practice (which can otherwise be a wordy business).
If you believe our government, you'd think we need nuclear power and coal to stop climate change, but come and pay a visit to EfficienCity, which shows how pioneering, real world communities around the UK are using decentralised energy. As a result, they're enjoying lower greenhouse gas emissions, a more secure energy supply, cheaper electricity and heating bills and a whole new attitude towards energy.
We've been working with the incredible team at Biro Creative to build the town and we're pretty chuffed with the result. It's full of video case studies, animations and slideshows that explain exactly how a genuinely clean and efficient energy system works - from wave and tidal power to micro-hydro and anaerobic digestion.
And, most importantly, UK residents can find out how to make their own town climate friendly.
Anyway, enough of the words - just go and visit EfficienCity to discover a cleaner, greener energy future. Enjoy.
Ex Shell Chairman says ban gas guzzlers
My quote of the week, both because of who said it and how he said it. Mark Moody-Stuart, the ex-chairmen of Shell illustrated his point that the EU should ban gas guzzling luxury cars:
"It is a social thing. We don't say the wealthy can avoid doing what is needed by society."
"When we eliminated coal fires in London we didn't say to people in Chelsea you can pay a bit more and toast your crumpets in front of an open fire - we said nobody, but nobody, could have an open fire."
Here's the full story from the BBC and a little wider context from our UK site.
Queue multiple car industry responses (excuses) basically along the lines of "no, we need flexible (lax) regulation (if we must) and gas guzzlers owners (=big profits for us) are allowed to pollute because they pay a fraction of extra tax and a few cents extra when they fill up (see no problem, no need for pesky regulation)".
Government/coal love-in gets the Greenpeace treatment
Our volunteers in the UK have been busy this morning. Coal industry bigwigs are holding their annual jamboree at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, where energy minister Malcolm Wicks was to give the opening speech earlier today. But greeting him and other fossil fuel fans were two-metre high fences barricading the entrance with attendant volunteers protesting about the ongoing collusion between government and industry.
Follow the US candiates oil money
With the news is dominated today by 'Super Tuesday' in the US I saw this interesting graphic yesterday on which candidate gets the most money from oil companies. Who do you think, for instance, gets the most cash from climate trashing Exxon? Barack Obama.
The graphic from OilChange International definitely looks like it was inspired by our own Exxon Secrets website.
The oil info is interesting but after looking again at Grist's candidates comparison on climate, (notice how they all support dirty coal) it would be interesting to see which one the coal industry or coal dependant energy utilities are funding. Know a good source of this info? Post it in the comments.
Via New Scientist science blog
Polar bear arrested by man in hip waders
Yesterday, one of our activists was arrested outside the the US Department of Interior after a protest involving a polar bear suit and a paddle boat. Greenpeace US (along with other enviro groups) is pushing the Bush administration to face up to the fact that polar bears are endangered by climate change. Read the full story and watch the video.
I'm just trying to imagine the dialog, "You in the polar bear suit: We have you surrounded. Do not attempt to paddle away." But don't get me wrong. Those hip waders were a smart move. Pond water is mighty cold in Washington, DC this time of year. (larger photo)
Why do you think Adam and Eve were naked?
This isn't actually all that different to what the real President Bush said yesterday and it's much more fun to watch!
The Sun distributed 4m lightbulbs in a day
Matt Prescott's great environmental campaign website - banthebulb.org - reported on Friday that The Sun newspaper (Scotland) distributed four million energy saving lightbulbs in a single day. Yes, that Sun newspaper.
Just one month into the job as News International's new boss James Murdoch, son of youknowwho pledged to make the company carbon neutral.
The Guardian's mediaguardian.co.uk has more on the 4-million-bulbs-in-a-day newspaper distribution success story.
Meanwhile many of the companies behind the energy saving lightbulbs are still making the old wasteful type too. Seen in the context of climate change, and in light of all the green advertising from Philips, Osram and GE in particular -- it just stinks.
Wind power in Spain
In my inbox from a campaigner in Spain
"Yesterday wind power broke all previous records in Spain. Because of high wind conditions, we reached 9563 MW of generated power at 15:27 (from a total installed wind capacity of 13908 MW). Wind power met 25% of demand at that hour, well above coal (15%) and nuclear (16%). A new record may be expected today.
You can see the graph in the following press release from the grid operator REE: http://www.ree.es/sala_prensa/web/notas_detalle.aspx?id_nota=53
And real-time wind generation from the same source:
http://www.ree.es/sistema_electrico/detalle_curva_eolica.asp?grafico=&hoy=1
Now some sceptics will say that you can't rely on a power source that only works when the wind is blowing, and they'd be right. That's why a piece of research by German researchers is so important. They've shown how a portfolio of different renewable technologies can be combined to reliably meet Germany's entire energy demand. Read about it - and watch the YouTube explanation here"
Of lightbulb politics and aesthetics
Meanwhile, the Irish Government confirmed last week that they stand by their decision to outlaw inefficient lightbulbs by 2009. Italy began legislating to ban the bulb in December, and the European Commission are speeding up their energy efficiency standards-making process too.
Some lightbulb companies are still dragging their heels, but they haven't a leg to stand on. Legislators, activists and the general public heard their plea to "make the switch", and answered resoundingly: "Sure, we'll do that. But you have to stop making power crazy bulbs."
(Photo from Wikipedia Commons)
The Unchained Goddess
Here's an exerpt from a 1958 film introducing the dangers of global warming. Directed by none other than Frank Capra, with cartoons by Mel Blanc.
Oil breaks $100
Remember back in 2004 when this oil prices soared past first $40 and then $50 and people said 'don't worry, to be as bad as the previous oil shocks it would have to reach $100', well yesterday it did. Normally when prices go up demand goes down, but the world economy seems to be finding it hard to adjust. Here's a three step programme to help it kick the oil habit.
1. Adopt fuel efficiency standards
The 130g of CO2 / km standard proposed by the EU may not go far enough but higher fuel standards means lower fuel consumption.
2. Switch out of Oil and Diesel Generation
In 2003 Oil and Diesel accounted for 494 GW of power generation around the world. A bit more than half the amount produced by Gas and a bit less than half the amount produced by coal. The Energy Revolution Scenario describes how investments in wind power, small scale hydro power and increased use of combined heat and power plants could help cut that down to almost nothing by 2050.
3. Improve household efficiency
With all that oil going into power generation it's easy to see that using less power in the home will cut demand for oil. The world can make a good start by phasing out incandescent lightbulbs in favour of more efficient types.
Italy shares Ireland's bright idea
One by one the nations around the world are stepping up to the plate and banning incandescent lightbulbs. On December 10 Italy took the plunge after the budget committee voted in favour of a proposal from Green MP Angello Bonelli.
That adds to an Australian ban and the Irish ban, with plenty of other nations lining up similar moves all due to come in before 2011. Which makes the European Lamp Companies Federations plan for a phase out by 2019 look a little, well, dim.
Physics continuing to ignore Bush climate rhetoric
It's the final hours of the UN Bali climate conference, and it looks like delegates will be up all night. Hope remains that they can overcome the US government's obstructionism.
But no matter what they end up with in Bali, they canna' change the laws of physics. This week, two new scientific revelations brought that home again: 2007 was shockingly warm and the arctic could be virtually ice free by 2012.
This year has been one of the warmest since 1850, despite the cooling influence of La Nina conditions, according to scientists.The UK's Hadley Centre and University of East Anglia conclude that globally, this year ranks as the seventh warmest.
From ABC News:
"The Arctic is screaming," said Mark Serreze, senior scientist at the government's snow and ice data center in Boulder, Colo.Just last year, two top scientists surprised their colleagues by projecting that the Arctic sea ice was melting so rapidly that it could disappear entirely by the summer of 2040.
This week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: "At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions."
Our only chance is to stop dumping so much carbon dioxide into the air - less coal, less oil, more renewable energy and energy efficiency. We need a road map to binding cuts in CO2, and our team on the ground isn't going to sleep until it's done. Read their updates from the conference.
Boring conferences as bedtime stories: Episode one, Bali
From responses to our collaborative Message in a Bottle climate video one user submitted this:
Great idea, well made and the line - "what does that mean?" is perfect. I can see this spawning a series - Boring (but important) conferences as bedtime stories.....
A flower for Al Gore
From this morning's mailbag:
Oslo 9 Dec 2007
Little Håkon, the 3 year old son of a Greenpeace campaigner in Norway, Truls Gulowsen, delivered a wild wood anemone to Al Gore in Oslo today. Håkon and his father found the spring flower by the river blossoming in December. It should blossom in April!
Gulowsen sees a double meaning in this unusual phenomenon; It offers further evidence that climate and nature are severely disturbed. It can also be interpreted as a symbol of a new spring in our struggle against climate change.
With this simple flower Greenpeace congratulates Al Gore and IPCC for their Nobel Peace Prize.
The action's all in Bali
Right now, our team is in Bali for the UN climate conference. It's what I've heard described as, "probably the most important meeting about a meeting that will happen in your lifetime". :D
Ok, ok, joking aside, if we're going to beat this global warming thing, we need governments to get off their bottoms and take real action. And without a good outcome in Bali, that's not going to happen. Basically, governments need to ensure there's route map to agreeing deep cuts in global greenhouse emissions. And they need a good push to do so.
While doing some pushing, our political team in Bali is blogging from behind the PR firewall, read their updates on the climate blog. Here are a few of my favorite quotes...
Clair, on the Canadian government's admission that global temperature rise needs to be kept under 2°C:
Adopting a position that warming should stay as far below 2°C as possible is a definite champagne cork popping event, had it not been for the fact that Canada’s domestic climate policies seem to be 6 degrees of separation away from supporting this position.
Google aims for renewable power cheaper than coal
This one slipped by me until I saw it on eco-geek just now. As their press release says, Google is going to, "develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal".
Looks like wind, solar and "advanced geothermal" are likely initial technologies. Google plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on this plan, but as eco-geek points out - it's an investment, not charity:
It's important to point out that this, like all of Google's seemingly philanthropic efforts, is an investment scheme, not a giveaway. Google wants to turn its gold into more gold, and investing in these technologies is a fantastic way to do that. That's not to say that they aren't doing a "good" thing...in fact, this makes far more sense to me than purely philanthropic efforts.
Sounds good to me? How about you? Want to bet against Google when it comes to technological investment?
Dark forces at work against lightbulb stardards
Forbes.com reported the other day that a Californian electricity company is lobbying the US Congress not to ban energy-wasting incandescent lightbulbs. Southern California Edison were forced to reveal that they spent over half a million dollars, in only the first half of 2007, lobbying against proposed climate change regulations.
It just goes to show that for all the talk about "smart energy" and "switching to energy savers", some companies are still adamant to carry on business as usual.
We're calling on the Irish Government to announce a model lightbulbs law next week. That should bolster efforts in other countries, where some retailers are changing already, but manufacturers and politicians are still dragging their feet. Have you signed the petition yet?
Recycle, then revolt
Just stumbled across a good post about how that if all of us that really care about the future could just live a little more ethically - we'd still be doomed.
So many organizations put the focus on changing lightbulbs, recycling and other helpful, sensible things like that. Here at Greenpeace we also want you to change your lightbulbs, that's step 1... Then we want you to help us outlaw energy wasting lightbulbs, shut down coal plants and be part of a total energy revolution.
Over at WorldChanging, Alex explains why:
Why do good people keep advocating lifestyle change? Well, the hope is that small steps will lead to a big change of heart: that a tipping point will occur when the crucial can falls into the critical recycling bin, and people all around the world will awaken to the sustainability imperative, and then that, in some vague-but-direly-hoped-for way, this awakening will change everything and all will be well (and everyone gets a pony!). I think of this theory as betting the farm on the arrival of a Mythological Universal Conversion Event.Here's the biggest problem with this theory of social change: we've been at it for decades, it hasn't worked and it probably never will. Things are demonstrably worse than they were when we began advocating recycling and such, and they're getting much worse far faster than any lifestyle choices can make them better. In the absence of an unlikely change in the nature of humanity, buying bamboo shirts or sustainable furniture is like spitting at a forest fire.
Vote for worst EU greenwash and lobbying awards
You've only got one more day to help pick who gets the named as the lowest of the low. Vote here.
Oh but it is sooo hard to choose! Should I say ExxonMobile for, "purporting it is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions while in reality its emissions are increasing"; Shell for "an advert suggesting that their oil refineries emit flowers not smoke"; or the German Atomic Forum for, "abusing the public’s concern about climate change to promote nuclear energy".
Vote today for your least favorite.
Canadian polar bears hurt by ice loss
Life is hard for the world's largest land carnivore, and getting harder. Even though they're named Ursus maritimus for their swimming ability, a new study has confirmed that without the ice they're in trouble. From the latest Nature:
A census of polar bears in Canada’s Hudson Bay has lent some hard numbers to the long-held fear that retreating sea ice is causing some bears to starve or drown.Biologists have predicted that polar bears will struggle to survive as summer comes sooner to the Arctic. Less time spent on icy hunting platforms means the bears are slimming down before winter sets in. And there were anecdotal reports in 2005 of more bears found swimming far out at sea; a few were found floating dead, presumably drowned. But so far no evidence has directly linked the trend of melting sea ice associated with climate change to bear deaths.
Solar powered radio from 1956
Modern Mechanix (slogan - "Yesterday's tomorrow, today") found this ad in a 1956 copy of Popular Electronics:
Sun-Powered ReceiverAn experimental pocket-sized radio receiver, powered by energy from the sun, weighs only 10 ounces and will work more than eight months in total darkness without recharging. Developed by General Electric, the set uses a miniature storage battery, four transistors, and seven solar cells. During the day, light rays hit the solar cells which convert the sun’s energy to electrical current. This current powers the transistors and, at the same time, charges the storage battery which takes over at night. Artificial light, such as an ordinary 100-watt bulb, may be substituted for sunlight.
How cool is that? Hmmm, makes you wonder... What about a solar powered iPod (green, of course)?
(Via Treehugger, where the headline is much more clever.)
Getting there
Reading my favourite technology website I find a piece on Gordon Brown's energy policy, his recent speech on climate change and what may be a commitment to a broader target on renewables.
I also know that our UK office has been heavily engaged with the UK government in pushing for meaningful change. While there have been some public signs that this discussion was ongoing it's nice to see that it's starting to generate policy results. Of course the real crunch will come in Bali when we'll be looking to European leaders to set the standard for the rest of the world in environmental responsibility.
Palm oil blockade's end
© Greenpeace / Christian Aslund
This is actually from an email Sue sent yesterday from on board the Rainbow Warrior. I think it gives a good wrap up of their palm oil tanker blockade, and she was nice enough to let me post it:
We have now moved away from the wharf after being forced out of the way by tugs while the [palm oil tanker] Westama crept out of its berth.You would have seen the press release from this morning stating that our blockade of the Westama is now over. The Westama tried to leave last night at midnight but due to our proximity it was deemed unsafe for it to proceed. We were served with an official notice to leave and the shipping agent had kindly ordered a pilot for us - who came on board around 11pm. We kindly declined the pilot's services and sent him off happily with a "Damming Crew" T-shirt, and continued to hold position. The tugs didn't turn up.
Life on the Rainbow Warrior
Lesley is the ship's medic on board the Rainbow Warrior right now, and she sent me an update about how things are going on the "road to Bali" - that's what we've been calling all this lead up work (actions against coal, nuclear power and deforestation around the world, plus tons of behind the scenes political work).
This all culminates with the United Nations Climate Change Conference - Bali, 3 - 14 December, when governments meet to decide the fate of our world (literally).
But as Lesley explains, the work is never as 'glamorous' as it looks from the outside:
The ‘Road to Bali’ has an exotic sound to it and while the Rainbow Warrior is on this road there are interesting and challenging sidetracks, some of which are less than exotic. India and Singapore are now behind us and this is day 6 at anchor in Dumai Port.
Some of these less exotic highlights of our time in Dumai port include:
An unusual anchoring system, which held the ship on the bow and the stern so that she did not swing around as the tide changed. Changing position and retrieving the anchors meant that some of us got to spend time laying the anchor chain in the chain lockers (several times!) These chain lockers are like small dark sweatboxes with rust dust and danger added. The person inside eventually exits with damp, blackened overalls and fascinating dark streaky features.
IPCC latest - climate change evidance "unequivocal"
Last night in Valencia, the IPCC approved its Fourth Assessment Synthesis report, which sums up the key points from the three major reports published this year on climate change science, its impacts and the mitigation options. It will be the key reference document for policymakers in the coming years. (Should be anyway, unfortunately not all politicians like 'fact based' decision making.)
The IPCC is a pretty careful, conservative body, so there were no big surprises. (Our press release is here.) But the message behind these reports is becoming increasingly blunt. From the New York Times:
Members of the panel said their review of the data led them to conclude as a group and individually that reductions in greenhouse gasses had to start immediately to avert a global climate disaster that could leave island states submerged and abandoned, African crop yields decreased by 50 percent, and cause over a 5 percent decrease in global gross domestic product.The panel, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month, said the world would have to reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2015 to avert major problems.
"If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late," said Rajendra Pachauri, a scientist and economist who heads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment."
He said that since the panel began its work five years ago, scientists have recorded "much stronger trends in climate change,” like a recent melting of polar ice that had not been predicted. "That means you better start with intervention much earlier."
Clear enough for you?
Captain's blog - palm oil tanker blockade
That's Mike, current captain of the Rainbow Warrior, seen through the bridge window. As I write, the Warrior is still in position - blocking the palm oil tanker from leaving port. This morning activists added to the pressure by climbing on palm oil holding tanks with banners. [ Photo here. ]
We've never done this kind of action in Indonesia before so this is all pretty intense for people on the ground there. Full story here.
Here's captain Mike's account from yesterday:
Both main engines fed into the one spinning propeller. The old girl was alive with power and her anchor clear of the mud. The tide was swift - 3 knots - a spring tide. Cautiously at first - not wanting to be detected - I edged the Rainbow Warrior out of the anchorage. But once clear of the other ships I put the engines on full astern. A shudder came up through the steel deck beneath my feet. The old girl leaped backwards: two knots, three, five knots. We were abeam of the Westema, a motor tanker loading 30 000 tonnes of Palm Oil Product. We were just fifty meters off.
BBC followup - skeptical about bias
About a year ago, BBC environmental correspondent, Richard Black, asked climate change skeptics to send him evidence that scientific institutions are biased against them, and promised to look into any concrete claims. As he says, "Given the fury evidenced by sceptical commentators, I was expecting a deluge."
What he got was, well, not much. From his story today:
No-one said they had been refused a place on the IPCC, the central global body in climate change, or denied a job or turned down for promotion or sacked or refused access to a conference platform, or indeed anything else.If there is an anti-sceptic bias running through the institutions of science, it is evidently keeping itself well hidden.
Remote control banner
We had another surprise for the World Energy Congress today - four remote controlled banners that unrolled from the ceiling of the conference hall with the slogan "ENEL: Do Not Export Nuclear Risk". [ Large photo. ]
ENEL is an Italian company currently completing two old Soviet-designed reactors at Mochovce, Slovakia. Their designs date from the 1970s and miss crucial safety components incorporated elsewhere following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. The most glaring inadequacy is the plant's lack of “containment” - the solid structure above the reactor intended to prevent radioactivity escaping to the environment and to protect the reactor from external accidents such as an aeroplane crash.
Here's a report from the scene by Jan, one of our energy campaigners:
"Be the change you want to see in the world" - that is the quote that appeared on huge screen during opening of the last day at the World Energy Congress. Well then, we will try to follow this wise advice.During the speech of Fulvio Conti, director of ENEL utility, a banner suddenly dropped out from the ceiling, saying "ENEL: do not export nuclear risk". Police immediately surrounded my colleague Francesco and I, asking us to leave the hall.
We decided not to, because we had paid for registration and had not do anything bad or illegal. When the first wave of alarm cooled down, an ordinary rank and file policeman tried to explain me in Italian that he is happy that we raised our message, repeating " grazie, grazie!".
How are we doing Al?
A while ago Al Gore asked why more young people weren't out protesting about coal power stations in an effort to save the climate.
Australia
Greenpeace has shut down the Munmorah coal power station, about 110 km north of Sydney. Fifteen arrested.
Spain
Greenpeace blocks the unloading of coal in the harbour of Tarragona. Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise detained.
More later...
An Environment Minister blogs our Rome action
[If you missed this story, info and slideshow are here.]
Well here's something you don't see every day. Apparently, the Icelandic Minister for the Environment, Mr. Oessur Skarphedinsson, is an ardent blogger, which is cool enough right there. Skarphedinsson was at the opening ceremony of the World Energy Congress in Rome when Greenpeace activists unexpectedly 'dropped in', and he's blogged about it!
Here's a (very rough) translation of the ministers update:
Greenpeace stal senunni! [Greenpeace stole the scene!]Prodi, the Italian PM, lost the spotlight totally yesterday while he addressed four thousand people at the World Energy Council in the eternal city of Rome. The Council is held in the gigantic hall, reminiscent of many interconnected, hangars for airplanes
In the midst of Prodi’s speech, two men, dressed as mountain climbers, with helmets, appeared from the rooftop. Both had heavy rug sacks as if they were climbing down the glacier after having camped on the roof for several days in order to avoid police and security guards.
While this went on I sat in the front row together with a few Italian Ministers and other Ministers of other nations, and listened to Prodi as I detected the shadows of the two fellows above my head.
Oil addiction
Just posted a story about the Kerch oil spill. Was checking around for news coverage and noticed a few good stories about our oil addiction. From the BBC:
Oil is the poison in the diplomatic mix. The need to buy it means that energy-hungry giants like China will find another reason not to side with the US at the UN Security Council.Vladimir Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran, 16 Oct 2007 Russia and Iran have more sway because of their big oil reserves The need to sell it means that countries like Venezuela and Russia can replace the stagger of poverty with the swagger of wealth without reforming their economies.
We are addicted to oil and so are they. The addict and the pusher are equally doomed.
(Oh yeah, and we're still at war in Iraq - partly thanks to our oil addiction.)
New Eurostar terminal opens in London to confetti and balloons
It was a small action that happened in London this morning, but in the interests of the entente cordial I thought it was worth a mention, not least because the title for the press release chosen by our media officer made me laugh: 'Greenpeace says 'yes' to something shocker'.
The shiny new rail terminal at St Pancras station opened today to much fanfare, including balloons and biodegradable confetti from the climbers hanging a banner from the ramparts. Not only is it the new home of Eurostar, it sees the start of high-speed services between our parochial little island and the rest of the world. Well, Paris and Brussels but it's a start.
There is, however, a caveat. While everyone is basking in the glory of this technological and architectural achievement, we need to remember that our government is still hell-bent on building a new runway at Heathrow airport, making a nonsense of any attempts to reduce climate change emissions.
Opinion polls regularly put figures of over 60 per cent on the number of UK people opposed to further airport expansion (a recent one pushed it as high as 70 per cent), so to visualise that opposition, we've launched the Stop Heathrow Expansion video wall. If you're incandescent with rage about the unfettered growth of aviation, feel free to add your own short video.