Sunday, January 27, 2008

Green Blogs and links

Design Related

Apartment Therapy
Changing the world, one apartment at a time.
Architecture for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1999 to promote architectural and design solutions to global, social and humanitarian crises.
Cool Hunting
Cool Hunting is a daily update on ideas and products in the intersection of art, design, culture and technology, and features weekly videos that get an inside look at the people who create them.
Design Addict
your resource for modern, post-modern and contemporary design of the 20th-21st centuries where you'll find information on designers and producers, on furniture, lighting, dinnerware and accessories.
DesignSponge
design*sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney.
Domino's Greenlist
The guide to living with style.
Ecofabulous
FunFurde
Funky furniture and design.
Future Feeder
Journal of Architecture and Computation Culture
GreenStrides.com
A daily website where you'll find news and information about green building and green furnishings for the home and office.
GreenandMore.com
House & Garden
Green design for the well-lived life.
ID Fuel
The fire to create.
ID Magazine
I.D. Magazine is America's leading critical magazine covering the art, business and culture of design.
Inhabitat
Future-forward design for the world you inhabit - your daily source for innovations in sustainable architecture and green design for the home.
Land+Living
Land+Living is dedicated to modern lifestyle and design. We believe the connection people have with the environment in which they live, both indoors and out, is of utmost importance and that good design affects the quality of life both through function and aesthetic pleasure.
MOLI - Fashion & Design
The latest hot fashion & design news, from MacBooks to prefab housing.
MetaEfficient
MetaEfficient reviews techniques and products based on their effectiveness. We are a group of specialists in the disciplines of efficiency. Some of our expertise is in architecture, energy production, water purification, heating, lighting, growing, transportation and optimal clothing materials.
MocoLoco
MoCo Loco is a web magazine featuring modern contemporary design news and views.
Product Dose
We aim to provide all the information a user will need to make an intelligent purchasing decision. productdose covers the style, design, and technology trends that interest our readers, and the magazine offers in-depth reviews of consumer products that will ensure our readers get what they pay for.
Reluct
Online design magazine featuring articles, news, and designer profiles.
Sensory Impact
Sensory Impact is a web magazine about the culture of objects for both design enthusiasts and designers that offers a smart mix of news, views and reviews served fresh daily in bite sized morsels.
TED
TED is an event like no other. It brings together more than 1000 thought-leaders, movers, and shakers. They hear not just the latest ideas in Technology, Entertainment, and Design, but also Business, Science, and The Arts... in fact ANY subject area offering something fresh and important.
The Pop!Tech Blog
Ideas, people, and technologies shaping the future.
We Make Money Not Art
The intersection between art, design and technology.
Enviro Related

Architype Review
Architype Review seeks to advance the discussion of design within specific building typologies and explore the influence that type has on the design process. Architype's primary goal is to honor those projects that are challenging the limits and redefining the norms of a certain building type. In addition, Architype promotes sustainable design and provides support to competitions and student travel abroad opportunities.
3r Blogging
3R Living sells the worlds highest quality eco-friendly, organic products and gifts. Visit our online retail store at www.3rliving.com or in person at 276L 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, New York. The posts on this site are writen by the owners of 3r Living and their staff and focus on the economic, social and political issues that effect our environment.
AIDG
The Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group promotes the use of appropriate technologies in developing countries through a combination of business incubation, education, training and outreach.
About My Planet
The name says it all...
Accidental Environmentalist Jolly Green Girl Confidential
Eco-friendly ideas for a green living : Embrace Eco-friendly products : respect the Earth : Live Organically
Adventures in Conservation
Blog for the environmental education organization Rare, featuring reports from staff around the world about conservation campaigns.
Agroblogger
Agroecology...Agroforestry...Agrorevolution.
Ailin
Official blog of Ailin.com, the most technically advanced and eco-sensitive brand on the market for accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers, surfers and explorers.
Alternative Energy Blog
news, views and strong opinions on alternative energy resources including wind power, solar energy, wave energy, geothermal & other alternate energy sources
An Inconvenient Truth
Official blog of An Inconvenient Truth
Another Green World
LA Weekly blog of environmental writer Judith Lewis.
Ask Pablo
Pablo Päster is an Sustainability Engineering Consultant with Euroconsult. He answers readers' questions with regards to such technical issues as energy consumption, efficiency, life cycle analysis, and environmental footprints of business
BIOconversion Blog
BioConversion, n., The conversion of biomass feedstock - such as agricultural, forestry, or urban waste - into renewable energy and/or other usable products via environmentally clean technologies. This Blog is home to news and comments about emerging BioEnergy technologies as the fossil fuel energy paradigm shifts to renewable energy. Direct links to information sites and breaking stories are provided from major publications, blogs, and associations.
BTC Elements Blog
Being the Change -- adventures in responsible consumerism.
Barking Crickets
Since small objects can leave a long impact trail in their wake, this overblown links-list is devoted to sustainable product design: the eco-architecture of small things.
Biodiesel and Ethanol Investing
Biodiesel stocks, ethanol stocks, biodiesel and ethanol plants, trends, and industry news.
Black Bear Speaks
Great Lakes Environmental News, Progressive Satire, Good Books, Inflamatory Rhetoric
BushGreenwatch
Daily news and reports about the Bush administration's actions and policies on environment and public health issues for journalists and activists.
Celsias
Welcome to the world's first online community for households and businesses to get paid for reducing the carbon emissions from their everyday energy usage. It pays to save the world!
Choose2BGreen - Green Mountain Power
CitizenGreen
Thoughts on Renewable Energy, Climate Change, Peak Oil, Energy Policy, and more...
CityHippy
We are dedicated to exploring how to live a greener and more ethical life.
Clean Edge - The Clean-Tech Market Authority
Clean Edge helps investors and innovators understand and profit from clean technology via its consulting services, market research, publications, and conferences. Track the latest developments in clean-energy, transportation, water, and materials.
Cleantech Investing
A news and commentary blog for those interested in venture capital in clean technologies.
Cleantech blog
Cleantechblog.com, the premier site for commentary on clean technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.
Climate Change Action
Campaigning Against Climate Change.
Club of Pioneers
The Club of Pioneers is a community that cares for the big environmental topics of our time: climate change, pollution. We are looking for indivduals and organisations interested in shaping the future in alternative and clean energy solutions with new ideas.
Cut Oil Imports
This blog is focused on boosting America's national security by reducing foreign oil imports. We promote US-based alternative energy (i.e. solar energy, wind power and ethanol).
Cycle Santa Monica!
Views from the Bicycle Saddle:Empowering Cyclists, Skaters, and Pedestrians - In Santa Monica and the Westside Using Environmentally Friendly Vehicles - Using Earth Friendly Renewable Fuels.
Daily Green, the Blog of GreenForGood.com
Welcome to the blog for GreenforGood.com, an e-commerce site providing alternative products aimed at encouraging a sustainable, healthy, ecologically robust planet. We believe that unless drastic steps are taken immediately and forthwith, the planet has no hope of surviving. But we also believe that humans are capable of great, positive change when faced with unmistakable crisis.
DeSmogBlog
Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science.
DesignNiche
NICHE is a modern design firm focused on creating beautiful contemporary interiors and furniture with an emphasis on sustainability.
Dropping Knowledge
Ask, answer, and discuss questions, download media, and use the searchable database to find social topics that matter most to you.
EQUITY GREEN
I would like to explore everything green as it relates to real estate. How green innovation influences our behavior? Well-being? Community? Business decisions? Balance Sheet? P&L? Public perception? Real estate investments? Overall growth? Initial investment? Operating Budget?
Earth Blog
Brief environmental commentary, analysis and links by Dr. Glen Barry.
Earth Friendly Gardening
Sustainable Gardening for a Healthy Planet
Earth Meanders
Insightful original Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues including peace and freedom. Thought-provoking, raw and frequently outrageous - but always Bright Green. These are the personal writings of Dr. Glen Barry.
Eco Investment Club
Where Green Dollars Fund the Green Movement
Eco-Chick
Because Mother Nature is a Woman.
Eco.PSFK
PSFK.com is a lens of changes in cultural behavior that influence all of us. In a world with unparalleled access to endless content, it's hard to know where to begin your search for insightful information. Beyond the algorithm of the search engine, the human touch makes a difference.
EcoGeek
EcoGeek - Bridging the Gap between Technology and Nature. Technology can be a force for evil, or for awesome. Those who shun the tech are just as guilty as those who ignore the environment. There's a safe balance, where the awesome can help nature as much as it helps us have a good time and live easier lives. EcoGeek devotes its pages to exploring the symbiosis between nature and technology. If you're interested in that, then stop by, and stop by often.
EcoSherpa
Realistic, Responsible Living.
EcoToolBox.com
There are many things each and everyone of us can do on a daily basis, that don't cost anything, even saves us money and does not require much effort and if we multiply those little steps each day and, many of us do so, it does make a big impact.
EcoWorrier
Anna Shepard writes the Eco-Worrier column in the Body & Soul, a magazine of The Times (UK) newspaper.
Ecofriend
Lead a �Green Life� with this guide to the latest information and reviews on eco-friendly products, alternative energy, solar, wind, wave, bio-fuels, gadgets, biodegradable products, hybrid vehicles, and more...
Ecostore
Ireland's newest online store for recycling, waste management and renewable sustainable products.
Ecotality Blog
Informing and challenging the world about energy solutions.
Endogenous preferences
Interdisciplinary approaches to environmental policy - Tools for teaching economics.
Enviroblog
Enviroblog is a project of Environmental Working Group, covering public health, environmental policy, and better consumer choices.
Environment Blog
For the environmentalist in you.
Environmental Action
Blog of activist organization Environmental Action.
Environmental Economics
Economists on Environmental and Natural Resources: News, Opinion, and Analysis
Environmental and Urban Economics
Green Economics
Fake Plastic Fish
Frankly CSR
Freedom Blog
Sustainability insights from two US Army officers.
Getcha Grub On
Blog of the book Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen
Gil Friend
Strategic Sustainability, and other worthy themes of our time -- from the the founder, president and CEO of Natural Logic
Global Warming Watch
Pull up a ringside seat and witness the catastrophe of the epoch.
Great Green Goods
A shopping site for the earth friendly consumer.
Green Car Congress
Energy, Technologies, Issues and Policies for Sustainable Mobility.
Green Fertility
GreenFertility.blogspot.com is concerned with fertility of self and earth.
Green Home Building and Sustainable Architecture
Sustainable architecture is an exciting and important field, with many people reviving traditional methods of building and others creating innovations to established practices. Kelly Hart, webmaster of the popular website www.greenhomebuilding.com, posts text and photos featuring what he discovers from around the world.
Green Is The New Red.com
The War on Terrorism has come home. Corporations and politicians are labeling activists "eco-terrorists" and national security threats. Think red-baiting, with a green twist. Here you'll find original reporting and analysis of the Green Scare, and history repeating itself.
Green RFID Guy
Sustainability through Radio Frequency
Green Trust Sustainability
Come here to discuss and learn about Renewable Energy (Solar, Wind, Hydro, & Biofuels), Permaculture, Conservation, Recycling, Organic Gardening, Rain Water Harvesting and Grey Water Recovery, and other methods of living cleanly, efficiently, and leaving lighter footprints on our earth. We give seminars and classes on renewable topics.
Green as a Thistle
Making one change every day to greenify my life (and hopefully not being too smug about it).
Green-Links
Green-Links is a community driven online resource for all things 'green' in New York City. From environmental events and jobs to articles, profiles, and more—Green-Links is the place to find out what's green and happening in the Big Apple.
Green.tv
green.tv is a United Nations Environment Programme supported IPTV channel for environmental films.
GreenBiz
A comprehensive free information resource for large and small companies seeking to align environmental business practices with business success. Includes environmental business news, job listings, career advice, tools, reports, mentor programs, awards, government resources, backgrounders, expert advice, and more.
GreenBlue
GreenBlue is a nonprofit institute that stimulates the creative redesign of industry by focusing the expertise of professional communities to create practical solutions, resources, and opportunities for implementing sustainability.
GreenCounsel
Using the Law to Promote Renewable Energy, Environmental Business and Sustainability.
GreenDrinks
Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up for a beer at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.
GreenMap
Green Map System is a global eco-cultural movement, energized by local knowledge, action and responsibility. Green Maps are locally created maps that chart the natural and cultural environment.
GreenShopper.com - Environmentally Friendly and Green Shopping Community
World's Largest Environmentally Friendly Super Store and Online Community for Green Shoppers
GreenThinkers
Welcome to the New Greenthinkers!
Greener Magazine
The green solutions magazine for American homes, gardens and families
Gristmill
Continuous news and commentary on matters earth-related.
Groovy Green
Giving you the groove on green sustainable living in Ithaca, NY and beyond.
Groovy Mind
Organic, Fair Trade, Eco-Friendly Goods.
Groxie
Groxie is a blog about living a simpler, greener life. It's about making, not buying; it's about information, not marketing; it's about getting more out of less. This is DIY environmentalism.
HAUTE*NATURE
Sustainable, renewable, recycled, repurposed, organic & childrens products--with an extra emphasis on creative D.I.Y. projects and art.
Hippyshopper
Ethical Consumerism in the UK.
How to Save the World
Dave Pollard's environmental philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays.
How to Save the World for Free
Green musings from Great Britain.
Hugg
Hugg is a new project by TreeHugger - asource for user-generated green news.
HybridBlog
Everything about Hybrids from the Experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Hypoallergenic House - The Prospects for Air Quality Design
Ideal Bite
Irreverent thoughts on being green.
IfEnergy
Relevant energy issues for a sustained energy future.
Inhabitat
Future-forward design for the world you inhabit - your daily source for innovations in sustainable architecture and green design for the home.
Inkling Magazine
Inkling is an often updated magazine on the web dedicated to science as we see it. Founded in late 2006, we cover the science that pervades our life, makes us laugh, and helps us choose our breakfast foods.
Inspired Protagonist
In an age when despairing doom and global gloom rule the wires and extinguish those inspired fires that could ignite the needed change, the Inspired Protagonist seeks to cut the cords of negativity that bind us and replace them with hopeful strands of thought and deed that weave new worlds of possibility.
It's the Environment, Stupid.
The world needs to wake up and realize that the environment is just as important as the economy, and the health of both are crucial to social-well being. This blog explores these connections.
It's the Planet, Stupid!
We humans needs to wake up and realise that we're plundering our home planet to destruction. What a legacy to leave our children!
It's Getting Hot In Here
Dispatches from the Global Youth Climate Movement
Ivan Enviroman
Sustainability, Business, Technology, and Spirit
Jen's Green Journal
Activism, Politics, Green Living
Jetson Green
Green building and architecture from Austin, TX.
Joel Makower
Sustainable Business. Clean Technology. Green Marketplace.
LA Green Living
Your online resource for healthy, conscious and sustainable resources in the Los Angeles area.
Lazy Environmentalist
Josh Dorfman introduces listeners to cutting-edge environmental trends and innovation in fashion, design, architecture, interiors, travel, transportation, and more.
Life Begins at 30
A weblog focusing on the importance of locally and sustainably grown food.
Lime
The latest news and how-to videos on renewable resources, recyclable products and recycling, alternative energy, eco-friendly and carbon-neutral living, climate change and global warming, greenhouse gasses, nature and wildlife conservation, sustainable goods, ozone depletion, and ideas for keeping your home and wardrobe eco-smart.
Lü
Lü is a green fashion magazine in the making. It means green in Chinese. What China does in the next few years will decide the fate of the earth.
M O B J E C T I V I S T
re: Facts on the inevitable world-wide energy transition
MOLI - Worthy Causes
Great features on worthy causes you should support.
Maria Energia
Highlighting companies of all shapes and sizes that are leading the world toward more efficient, reliable, and secure energy in the 21st century.
Marketing Green
Blog about Green Marketing.
Metropolis
The sustainability wing of Metropolis magazine.
Mitra - Natural Innovation
At the edges of Sustainability, Technology and Community.
NextBillion.net
NextBillion.net brings together the community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers, and academics who want to explore the connection between development and enterprise.
O2
For more than a decade, O2 has pioneered solutions to the central problem of the made environment: how to foster sustainability while having a good quality of life.
Odograph.com
Odograph - n. an instrument recording distance traveled, especially by a pedestrian
One Degree at Weather.com
Throughout the world, people are confused about climate change and global warming. For this reason, The Weather Channel created One Degree.
Organic Researcher
A blog about the leading edge of social science research into organic food and farming. If you are even vaguely interested in sustainable food and farming then this is the blog for you. Follow the debate as it progresses, with links to the latest research it will educate and inform you about the food you eat.
Our Greener Life
Our Greener Life is dedicated to spreading knowledge of living in a more sustainable and earth-friendly manner, through one couple's experiences.
Our Tomorrow
Another world is possible.
Path to Freedom Journal
Pioneering a Journey through Self-Suffiency... One Step at a Time.
Peak Energy
Peak oil ruminations from Big Gav.
Peak Oil Premonitions
For those that believe mankind needs to re-evaluate and change the role one plays in our ecosystem of finite resources and our impact on future generations and their way of life.
Practical Environmentalist
Practical steps to improving the environment.
Rainwater Harvesting Guide
Rainwater harvesting, rainwater collection, recycling and reuse.
RealClimate � Climate Science
Climate science commentary by actual climate scientists.
Renewable Energy Generation
Searching for Sustainable Energy Sources. (Renewable Energy News from the Philippines.)
Resource Insights
Independent Comment on Environmental and Natural Resource News
Runaway Now
A travel-based website offering the best travel tips from opinion-leaders and trend-setters worldwide.
SRB Marketing | CONSCIOUS CLICKS - The Blog
Blog News & Tips for environmental, social, organic & green organizations
SRO News
From the frontlines: Tracking the latest news, updates, and projects of Summer Rayne Oakes.
Shea Gunther
Shea Gunther is a hybrid entrepreneur, environmentalist, and all around big-thinker. He founded Zoom Culture in 1999 at the age of 20, Renewable Choice in 2001, Skye Creative in 2005, and is launching OffsetMyLife.com in March of 2006.
Sierra Blogging Post
Sierra Club Compass
Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.
SlowLab
A laboratory for the advancement of slow design thinking and practice, envisioning environmental sustainability, social harmony, and individual well-being as processes and products of good design.
Small Failures
This blog sets out to prove that living sustainably and living well are not mutually exclusive. You'll find quick tips for going green, info on green businesses and hopefully a little bit of inspiration.
Solar Kismet
energy*environment*earth
Strategies for Sustainability
Georges Dyer's running journal from the Masters in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability program at the Blekinege Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden.
SusHI
blogging sustainability with the latest science and best practices from a Hawaiian island perspective.
Sustainability Blog
Exploring sustainability from personal to global, using ecological footprint, green building, and transformative experience
Sustainable Steps
This blog was created to promote a sustainable lifestyle for all. We all have a shared responsibility to strive to reduce our impact on to this planet. This is my little piece of a very big pie. In order to make change, people need to be educated on why the change is needed. Through my entries I hope to sustain the discussion of sustainability and get others motivated to take action in their own lives.
Sustainable Style
look fabulous, live well, do good
Sustainable is Good
Sustainable is Good covers products, trends and developments in the green marketplace. Focusing on marketing, branding, PR and packaging & materials related to green products and services.
Sustainablog
Sustainablog is dedicated to news, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.
Switchboard
The environment is now open. Plug in. Switchboard features NRDC's policy analysts, scientists and lawyers responding to the day's news and commenting on policies to combat global warming and address America's energy needs.
Tempo
tempo is an unincorporated, not-for-profit, association of designers, other professionals, students and laypersons interested in how design can contribute to a sustainable future.
TerraBlog from TerraPass
TerraPass helps individuals easily and affordably balance the environmental impact of their driving, flying and home energy use by purchasing carbon offsets. Help fight climate change by reducing carbon dioxide air pollution. TerraPass is easy, effective, and affordable.
The Action Blog
Save endangered species. Stand up for human rights. Stop a forest from being clear-cut... all in a day's work.
The Compost Bin
Composters, Compost Bins and Compost Tumblers. Learn about Compost, Composting, Recycling and Reuse.
The Conscious Earth
Earth-centered news for the health of air, water and habitat, and the fight against global warming.
The Daily Score
The Sightline Institute's take on the news that really matters
The Eco Street Blog
raising green consciousness since 2005
The Energy Blog
The Energy Revolution has begun and will change your lifestyle!
The EnviroLink Network
The EnviroLink Network is a non-profit organization which has been providing access to thousands of online environmental resources since 1991.
The Evangelical Ecologist
The Evangelical Ecologist was started to meet the need for a conservative (sometimes libertarian) Christian voice in the environmental blogosphere today.
The Flaming Grasshopper
The Flaming Grasshopper is the new Chelsea Green company blog. The grasshopper has been our logo for the past 20 years, a symbol of potent life energy contained in a small "insignificant" exoskeletal package, capable of covering great distances in a single leap, and ancient symbol of good luck. Flaming grasshopper because we are a company "on fire" with a great mission to save the planet (among other things) and, perhaps like the dragons of old, to protect that which we hold precious from the onslaught of government/corporate/military forces currently on the march across the globe. We can guarantee you that this blog will be provocative, informative, funny, and interesting. We invite you to post and to become a part of our extended readership community. Just remember, one small book can change the world.
The Future is Green
Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature and the magnitude of the problems in the way; facing the reality that the present world's population has moved beyond the earth's carrying capacity, the looming peak in world oil production, green alternatives, and the least painful paths to a sustainable society.
The Green Giraffe
A corporate guide to being & marketing green
The Green Room - LIME
More green celebrities... from Lime.com.
The Hip and Zen Pen
Celebrating the ethos and aesthetic of Hip & Zen, modern lifestyle products that nurture body and soul.
The Oil Drum
A Community Discussion about Peak Oil
The Scientific Activist
An Oxford graduate student by day and a scientific activist by night, Nick Anthis isn't letting his Ph.D. research in protein structure get in the way of defending scientific and social progress.
The Weekly Green Planet
Eco Celebrity news, gossip and commentary ~ "Spotlighting Celebrities Who Shine Their Light Back On Our Planet"
The Worsted Witch
Hex and the City: Knitting, lit crit, illustration, design, environmentalism, and fair trade.
Tod Brilliant: The Anti-Hilton
Tod Brilliant utilizes the connections and media focus of his fame, bending the spotlight to illuminate social and evironmental issues.
Today's News
ENN is an environmental media company that publishes and broadcasts news commentary, and information about how we live on earth. Additionally, ENN provides comprehensive environmental marketing and communication solutions for both business and non-profit organizations.
Total Tactics
Activism for all. News and tips to mobilise communities.
TreeHuggerz.Blogspot.com
Updates about the TreeHuggerz website and general musings.
Triple Pundit
Serving people, planet and profit: An 'integrated bottom-line' approach to looking at business from the next generation of MBAs
Unplugged Living
Helping You to Freeload Off of Mother Nature.
Variety Presents Green Hollywood
Special feature on the greening of Hollywood by Variety.
Viridian Design Movement
Creating irresistible demand for a global atmosphere upgrade
WaterSANA
Water, health, imagination and living the green life.
WorldChanging
An online publication covering tools, models, and ideas for building a better future. Another world is here.
Z + Partners - Weblog
Pointers and commentary on emerging futures issues collected by Z + Partners
Zerofootprint
Zerofootprint's goal is to connect people who care about the environment for the purpose of reducing ecological footprint.
baloghblog
Dedicated to sustainable ideas, and progressive news items. Will link to anything that catches my interest.
be sustainable
Our Mission: To speed the rate of diffusion of sustainable thinking and to promote collaboration amongst groups and individuals and business towards sustainable action.
commonground
The Red, the Blue, and the Green
ecoIron
We provide reports and commentary on all aspects of green computing and sustainable technologies in IT.
ecorazzi.com
Celebrities caught green-handed: Ecorazzi is dedicated to rounding up all the best 'green' news on celebrities and notables making waves in support of the environment and humanitarian causes.
gDiapers: the early years...
Official blog of gDiapers.
green LA girl
it's not easy being green: fair trade coffee, local politics and ethical consumerism in Los Angeles.
greenbuildingsnyc.com
Green Design, Construction, and Real Estate in NYC and Beyond: I'm a former New York City construction professional now practicing construction and real estate law in Manhattan. I'm interested in both LEED and the green building movement from engineering, urban planning, and legal perspectives.
greenerMIAMI
...every little bit counts!
mongabay.com
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development .
organicARCHITECTblog
The latest information on the world of Architecture, Design and Sustainability brought to you by organicARCHITECT.
powering down
a discussion on peak oil with an emphasis on RELOCALIZATION as a reponse for north carolina and the greater southeast
sustainability theory dharma
understanding interconnectedness through the buddha and theory
sustainable style foundation
an international, member-supported nonprofit organization created to provide information, resources and innovative programs that promote sustainable living and sustainable design
sustenance
A place to explore the connections between community and sustainability.
the greener side
the perks and quirks of sustainable tech
theWatt
Daily Energy News and Discussion
urbanecoinc.com
A journal of sustainability for city dwellers.
Sponsors

American Apparel
American Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer and retailer of clothing for men, women, kids and dogs. Meaning, we've consolidated all stages of production under one roof at our downtown Los Angeles factory—from the cutting and sewing, right through to the photography and marketing.
Columbia University
Learn more about the Environmental MPA program. Visit, attend classes, and meet current students.
EnergyStar Light Fixtures from Lamps Plus
Save energy the smart way with ENERGY STAR certified lighting and lighting fixtures rated for energy conservation at LAMPS PLUS.
Freitag
Our F-Products are unique and made from original, used truck tarpulins, car seat belts, bicycle inner tubes, and used airbags.
Pair WebHosting
World class web hosting.
Simple Shoes
The nice little shoe company getting in touch with its inner hippie.
Suntechnics
What can solar do for you?
Vivavi
Vivavi offers modern style eco-friendly furniture & furnishings.
Wind Power
Deregulation in New York now enables consumers like you to help make a difference by choosing the type of power you purchase. Not only can you choose your own electricity supplier, but you can also help maintain a healthy environment for your children and the people of New York, by choosing GREEN Power or WIND Power.

http://www.treehugger.com/blogroll.php

http://snipurl.com/1ycs6

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Sir Edmund Hillary -Life to be celebrated.

featured: Edmund Hillary, Hero

Edmund Hillary, Second Only to Dalai Lama as a Hero
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 01.21.08
Take Action
email this article

hillary-and-norgay.jpg

Sir Edmund Hillary will have a New Zealand state funeral tomorrow. But he will be remembered not only for standing atop Mt Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, but also for his humanitarian efforts over the past fifty or so years.

In 1960 he created The Himalayan Trust to give back to the Sherpa people, who had helped him attain global recognition. The principles of the Himalayan Trust reflect the man, who TV NZ called ‘humble, hard-working and honest.’ The principles are that the Trust provide basic infrastructure needs that the Sherpas really want (education, health, forests, monastery repairs and response to natural disasters).

The principles also state that the Sherpas themselves to eagerly contribute time and effort to the projects- this "self help" confirming the importance and relevance of the work. The Trust to rely on voluntary workers and virtually eliminate overhead and that the donations to be transferred direct to the projects in Nepal; no money paid to middlemen or agents.

Apparently such donations have exceeded £500,000 ($ 980,000 USD), which may not seem like a lot of money, but for a poor mountain country and its people it has been made go a long way. Two hospitals, 13 health clinics, 30 schools built. 1 million trees planted. Monasteries built or rebuilt. National Parks created. Annual grants for 100 students to attend higher education. Literacy and educational programs for women. Teacher training and park ranger training. And the list goes on.

Is it any wonder that in a recent poll of Nepalese children Sir Edmund rated second behind the Dalai Lama as a hero. As one old Sherpa put it, “Because of him, we have access to schools and medicine. Without him, how could we have this? He climbed Everest, yes, but to us he did much more."

Imagine a world where the legacy of our passing was as rich as that of Sir Ed. As the captain of The Enterprise was heard to say, “Make it so.”

Robot Gliders Monitor Gulf Stream Health

UK Deploying Armada of Robot Submarines and Sensors to Monitor Gulf Stream
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 01.21.08
Science & Technology
email this article

ROV
Image courtesy of UNC

It's not often that you hear scientists cite the latest Hollywood fare as inspiration for their work. Yet Meric Srokosz of the Southampton Oceanographic Centre, explaining the purpose of the $31 million Rapid Watch system he is heading up, does just that, citing the plotline of "The Day After Tomorrow" - specifically the collapse of the Gulf Stream - as a potential occurrence that warrants further investigation. The Observer's Robin McKie lays out the relevant details:

"An armada of robot submarines and marine sensors are to be deployed across the Atlantic, from Florida to the Canary Islands, to provide early warning that the Gulf Stream might be failing, an event that would trigger cataclysmic freezing in Britain for decades."

Now while Srokosz doesn't actually believe that the Gulf Stream could collapse within the period of a few days - as suggested in the film - he doesn't put it beyond the pale that it could happen in "about 10 years." As McKie goes on to write, Rapid Watch will rely on underwater monitoring techniques to "check whether cold water pouring south from melting Arctic ice sheets is diverting the current's warm waters away from Britain."

The results of an initial study Srokosz and his colleagues carried out in 2004 suggested that the Gulf Stream "fluctuates in a highly unpredictable fashion." As such, he believes past measurements may not provide an ideal predictive indicator for what could happen in the near future; beginning later this year, Rapid Watch will monitor the Gulf Stream until 2014 with an armada of ocean-floor sensors - which will assess current flow, temperature and other variables - and robot gliders - which will monitor the current itself. This system shares many of the same features as the Hudson River environmental monitoring network we previously reported on.

The consequences of a freeze in the Gulf Stream could be drastic, as McKie outlines: "Without the Gulf Stream, the UK would be as cold as Canada in winter. Ports could freeze over and snowstorms and blizzards would paralyse the country."

Via ::Guardian Unlimited: Ocean floor sensors will warn of failing Gulf Stream (news website)

See also: ::Hudson River Environmental Monitoring Goes High-Tech, ::Gulf Stream's Tidal Energy Could Provide Up to a Third of Florida's Power

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/uk_deploying_armada.php

http://snipurl.com/1y2hn

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Greenpages - Australian Sustainability Magazine

The Australian equivalent in some ways to the USA based Treehugger...though it does focus on a broad range of magazine based approaches and not just purely on Green consumerism.Its less blog of course and has learnt a lot from magazines like New Internationalist and the likes of Treehugger and Gristmill online but with a unique Aussie Focus.A lot of focus is on the web based stuff and one wonders why or what would give incentive to buy their offline quarterly...though one could be tempted of course.With so much service and content available at their site it tends to create a disincentive to get the magazine...Anyway reasonable hub with a Aussie focus.

New book on Sustainable Cities launched by Professor Peter Newman

This book By Professor Peter Newman was launched in Hollywood USA on the 18th of January 2008.It was titled "Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems"

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Sustainability, I must remind my self is a matter of being able to sustain a lifestyle in a dynamic balance that is always looking for the positive, healthy and creative option.It is about acting and taking time to think and appraise and reflect before acting so as to enable the best and not always the most efficient in terms of time, but maybe in terms of impact can result.

It is not a concept to be 'technoligised' or be kidnapped by intellectuals and or scientists,business leaders or governement to justify projects...It is a concept that is available and needs promotion as a way of lifestyle choice and living that can be obtained and thought about in terms of thorough and just principle making for all people.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Recycle old PCS

Relevant to both sustainability and safety and health concerns is our continuuing hoarding and sub optimum use of recycleable and useable materials...PCs in this case.
http://onsitesafe.blogspot.com/2008/01/nation-of-hoarders-30-million-pcs-rot.html#links

The cited article is an important and scary reminder of how much resources we hoard and waste when pc materials are so recyclable and if not handled properly unsafe as well as polluting to our encvironment(let alone the waste of usability for people who need access to serviceable pc equipment).

some relevant links;
http://www.employment.greenpc.com.au/
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/hardware/soa/Australia-to-dump-e-waste-on-developing-nations-/0,130061702,339282651,00.htm

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Australian solar town

Australian Town Expects to Go Fully Solar in 2 Years

by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 11. 5.07

Science & Technology

Already the proud record holder for having Australia's hottest day - 53°C in 1889 (in the shade, to boot) - Cloncurry is vying to become one of the first towns to be fully powered by solar energy in 2 years. The Queensland state government plans on building a 10-MW solar thermal power station that will derive its energy from heat stored in Cloncurry's ubiquitous graphite blocks.

Eight thousand mirrors will be set up as part of the station to reflect sunlight onto the blocks - whose heat will then generate steam from the water pumped through. The steam will be harnessed to produce electricity via turbines. Graphite's superior ability to store heat for lengthy periods of time will enable the production of electricity even after the sun goes down.

The government estimates the station will be able to deliver close to 30 million kW hours of electricity per year when it starts operating in early 2010, which should be enough to supply the entire town. Granted, the town's small size certainly takes some of the edge off this ambitious statement; it is still, however, a laudable achievement (assuming it reaches completion) and hopefully only the beginning of what solar thermal power will accomplish.

Via ::Reuters: Australian town to run on solar power in 2 years (news website)

Tips on green lifestyle guides by Treehugger

Here's where the rubber meets the road, people.

We present below, a plethora of handy guides to help you green your lives with ease, while understanding why. Our aim is over 100+ guides so do come back to visit. And please tell your friends, family and colleagues! Most of us understand that we need to do something, some of us understand what to do but few of us are actually doing anything...Carpe diem kids!
Pick one and let's get started!

* How To Green Your Summer
* How to Green Your Carbon Offsets
* How to Green Your Book (for Publishers)
* How to Green Your Gardening
* How to Go Green: Back To Basics
* How to Green Your Outdoor Sports
* How to Green Your Book (for Authors)
* How to Green Your Kids' Toys
* How to Green Your Community
* How To Green Your Accessories
* How to Green Your Baby
* How To Green Your Wedding
* How To Green Your Electronics
* How to Green Your Pet
* How to Green Your Sex Life
* How to Green Your Coffee & Tea
* How To Green Your Dishwasher
* How to Green Your Recycling
* How to Green Your Cleaning
* How to Green Women's Personal Care
* How to Green Your Furniture
* How to Green Your Work
* How to Green Your Water
* TreeHugger's Green Gift Guide 2006
* How to Green Your Gifts
* How to Green Your Lighting
* How to Green Your Electricity
* How To Green Your Car
* How To Green Your Wardrobe
* How to Green Your Heating
* How to Green Your Meals
* How to Green Your Public Transportation

Ahhh...that feels better.

Thanks for reading! Please send feedback or tips to tips at treehugger dot com.
Team TreeHugger

http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

http://tinyurl.com/28aveb

Mower lower emissions

home + garden

Use Electric, Human-Powered Yard Tools

Photo credit: bert_m_b

A significant way of reducing global-warming pollution in your backyard is to avoid using gas-powered motorized yard tools such as lawnmowers and leaf blowers. More fuel is spilled each year filling up garden equipment than was lost in the entire Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, mowing an average 1 1/4-acre lawn produces more air pollution than driving a 1995 pickup truck from Washington D.C. to New York and back again.

Small engines also emit an inordinate amount of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides, all of which contribute health-damaging smog. Instead of adding to the air and noise pollution in your neighborhood, wield lower-emissions electric tools—or, better yet, zero-pollution manual tools, such as reel push mowers, hand trimmers, and rakes.

If you're fretting about the hassle, consider planting low-maintenance turf grasses that grow slowly and require mowing only a few times of year, as well as native wildflowers and plants that require little-to-no maintenance after planting. Tip: Check with your local agricultural service or lawn-and-garden center to find out what species are appropriate to your region.

Difficulty level: Easy to moderate

by Jasmin Malik Chua, Jersey City, USA
on 11. 5.07

Sustainability in the suburbs

My favourite and most worrying conundrum.How do I live a sustainble lifestyle within the context of the suburb that I live in and with the resources available to me including time,community and finances.What are the changes I want to make and based upon what premises.Is it to limit our consumption and production or contributing to the greenhouse gas problem through excessive use of carbon/co2/greenhouse gas based or produced electricity or goods?Or is it something bigger...important as this task is to tackle individually and as a suburb /conscious community.At what end to start and where do I want to end up?The amount of changes seem daunting and sometimes hard to put into a meaningful global context to see how they are working to lower emissions .Yet still I have to start somewhere with this lifestyle change (and journey with my partner as well)...which in many ways has many aspects and benefits that we dont ordinarily think of.I also realise that my simplification efforts and cost lowering and conscience relieving ,has already had a start with the way we try to limit and control our consumption for more spiritual and financial reasons...eg things like using hand mowers...recycling clothes,not being rabid consumerist buyers of everything new,buying spray free and organics....these all are an aspect of the sustainable life...its where they sit and piece together whcih is sometimes confusing.What about work?

Sustainability in the suburbs

Friday, September 21, 2007

Unions and Climate Change

Climate Change

CFMEU and ACF unite for action on climate change

Date: 11-Sep-2007

In a rare convergence of interests, the mining union and environmentalists have collaborated to call for urgent Government action on climate change.

With climate change set to be a critical federal election campaign issue, the CFMEU Mining and Energy division and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said strong, urgent action on climate change would be good for jobs, the economy and the environment.

ACF Executive Director Don Henry and General President of the CFMEU mining and energy division, Tony Maher, today called for Government and Opposition to commit to:

1 Set science-based, legislated targets to cut greenhouse emissions
2 Substantially increase the existing mandatory renewable energy target
3 Join the international effort by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol before the end of 2007

“It’s taken an issue as pressing and potentially devastating as climate change to get ACF and the CFMEU to stand together on the same platform,” said ACF’s Don Henry.

“Strong binding targets, guided by the best available science, are vital if we are going to protect future generations from dangerous climate change. Australia can show leadership by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol before the end of this year – and encouraging the USA to do the same. Australia is missing out on billions of dollars because it hasn’t ratified.”

“Emissions trading will not be enough on its own to drive the scale of investment that is necessary to clean up our energy economy and address the threat of dangerous climate change,” said the CFMEU’s Tony Maher.

“A regulatory mechanism is essential to secure sufficient investment. Substantially increasing the mandatory renewable energy target will lower average emissions – it’s critical and it’s supported by mineworkers.

“The Government’s decade of denial and inaction is the real threat to coal miners job security. The coal industry is going to have to clean up its act if it is going to have a future in a low carbon economy. That means billions of dollars of investment by mining companies in new technologies. We’re ten years behind where we should be.”

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Green News Links in Australia

It is often hard to focus on good green news in the general media and some of the suggested sites are good value especially in relation to Australian concerns and their impacts globally.

Another site worth a look in regard to news on many aspects of the climate change and sustainability issue is the following ; http://www.plantchange.com/au/

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Another Western Australian Family Company Bought

"In a move perhaps motivated by a realisation that the company needed greater perspective and better resourcing beyond just a localised base and parochial attitude TCC Group a predominantly family based company was sold to international oil and gas services provider Cape Plc.The changes that this will bring in regrd to change management/organisational change will be interesting to say the least.To have to have sold to an overseas company is perhaps sad in the sens e that it no longer is a purely western australian owned and operated company but one controlled and based ultimately in the UK.Implications for sustainability devlopment/approaches and health and safety perspectives and fit will be intertesting to see as well.The company goes from approximately 700 workers to connecting with a company that has 8000 workers in 24 countries.similarity in activities is one fit the company has ..but cultures will of course still have to be merged and evolve/be managed effectively to gain the best out of such a deal.Lets hope for the best."

[q url="http://www.wabusinessnews.com.au/en-story/1/56085/UK-s-Cape-buys-TCC-from-Iannello-family-for-85m"]Sunday August 26, 2007

Print Email

UK's Cape buys TCC from Iannello family for $85m

23-August-07 by Mark Pownall

Sunday, August 19, 2007

10 kinds of people: Sustainable practitioners and the guzzlers

An interesting article from Computing for Sustainability.It takes some interesting perspectives and reflections upon sustainbility as a lifestyle choice that at times needs focus and clarification.It cites also the importance of education.

url="http://computingforsustainability.wordpress.com/2007/07/26/10-kinds-of-people-sustainable-practitioners-and-the-guzzlers/"]10 kinds of people: Sustainable practitioners and the guzzlers

Posted by Samuel Mann under CfS_Agenda , CfS_Agenda4-CurrentStatus , Education for Sustainability , curriculum , sustainability , ethics , research

The world is made up of 10 kinds of people: those who are sustainable practitioners and those who aren’t (OK, old computing joke). Suggesting that there are only two groups is clearly far too simplistic, but we need to know where people are so that we can work with them for the better.

The fourth item on the CfS Agenda is to work towards an understanding of current levels of sustainability:

4. Develop an understanding of the current status of sustainability (values, awareness, knowledge, skills & behaviours) of all our stakeholders (students, intake, stakeholders, staff, graduates, professional/trade connections and our respective Iwi partners).

How might we describe people’s sustainabilityness as a basis for computing education for sustainability? What matters is both perceptions and actions. The Accountability21 report identified that the majority of people recognised the issue (in that case of climate change), but didn’t know what actions to take (my review).

In Integral Communications for Sustainability Barrett C. Brown describes five ecological selves. He then describes different methods of communicating with these groups. The “EcoGuardian”, for example can be described as:

Eco-Guardian, romantic ethos, respects Nature; return to lost ecological, paradise; “tribal”

their ‘hot buttons’ in successful communication are:

Refer to traditional rituals, ceremonies, icons; reference mystical elements, superstitions, magic; appeal to extended family, harmony, and safety; honor blood bonds, the folk, the group, taboos; rely little on written language and facts; use storytelling, emotions, drama, songs, dances, imaginative 2D images

The “Eco-Warrior” by contrast can be described as

Eco-Warrior heroic ethos, Conquer Nature; reject civilization; fight “the system”; macho

and is excited by:

Demonstrate “What’s in it for me, now?”; offer “Immediate gratification if…”; challenge and appeal to machismo/strength; point out heroic status and legendary potential; be flashy, unambiguous, reality-based, and strong; use simple language and fiery images/ graphics; appeal to narcissistic tendencies

In a different approach, although old, Dunlap and Van Liere’s (1978) New Environmental Paradigm is widely used. This environmental attitude survey essentially seeks to establish the extent to which people agree with this set of statements:

# We are approaching the limit of the number of people the earth can support.

# The balance of nature is very delicate and easily upset.

# Humans have the right to modify the natural environment.

# Humankind was created to rule over the rest of nature.

# When humans interfere with nature it often produces disastrous consequences.

# Plants and animals exist primarily to be used by humans.

# To maintain a healthy economy we will have to develop a “steady state” economy where industrial growth is controlled.

# Humans must live in harmony with nature in order to survive.

# The earth is like a spaceship with only limited room and resources.

# Humans need not adapt to the natural environment because they can remake it to suit their needs.

# There are limits to growth beyond which our industrialized society cannot expand.

# Mankind is severely abusing the environment.

What is not clear is how these attitudes are related to a person’s professional roles and actions.

We need to develop a measure that can be widely applied (to students and other stakeholders) in order to drive CfS curriculum planning. In addition to getting a scope of actual curriculum areas (Green RFPs, Energy management and so on), we need to come to an understanding of people’s perceptions regarding sustainability. Once we have a feel for the characteristics of groups of our student body we can sensibly address their learning.

This means we need a system to investigate understanding of sustainability, beliefs about sustainability, current actions and change agents, understanding about the role of sustainability in their future careers. As part of this, we need to consider current understandings of discipline specific areas - what, for example can we assume about naive understandings of ethical priorities.

What else do we need?

One Response to “10 kinds of people: Sustainable practitioners and the guzzlers”

1. c! Says:

August 5, 2007 at 9:14 am

> What else do we need?

We need educators themselves to take such an environmental attitude survey and consider what it means for their own ability to teach certain things. While sustainability as a concept may not be inherently pluralistic, there is a tremendous plurality of people pushing a huge variety of methods to reach sustainability. Some of these are undoubtedly mutually exclusive, and I would expect to see the same problems extend to education unless there is some serious soul-searching and consensus among educators at a large scale.

[/q]

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Sustainability Auditing,Coaching and definitions

In the ongoing discussions I have with many workers and employees,consultants working in the broadly catered for area of sustainability there is still much gettoising and narrow viewing of sustainability practices and indeed trying to not make transversalist connections and solidarities, but fragmenting artificially off sectors,industries and connections to green politics,art and other 'balanceing' and overall justice making activities.This is not helpful because the concept of sustainability though vague at times,covering and being used as a deceptive blanket at times for imperfect approaches...can be used as a unifying and solidarity/collaboration making banner to open and involve many conceptually linked root children and branches of the core striven values of sustainability..., if only the values can be seen expressed ,clarified and doors open to them in the various sectors.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Deep Green in the US elections?

''Who would have thought that in such a conservative state of politics that in the USA such a candidate would arise .I suppose the extreme state of USA politics can breed such responses. How popular a reading and support he will get will be interesting to follow.I have 'nt seen any equivalent statements by any of our local Australian politicians in the green arena made public as yet...though I am sure there are those with many sympathetic ears and eyes for this sort of belief.We will see what impact he has on USA politics and defacto Australia as this person gets more coverage."

Kucinich on the Record
An interview with Dennis Kucinich about his presidential platform on energy and the environment
By Amanda Griscom Little
01 Aug 2007
Read more about: climate | Dennis Kucinich | elections | energy | politics | presidential race 08 | all of these topics
Tools: print | email | discuss | write to the editor | subscribe | RSS | share/bookmark(less)
Share: digg | hugg | stumbleupon | reddit | newsvine | fark | facebook
Bookmark: del.icio.us | google | yahoo
Grist and Outside
This is part of a series of interviews with presidential candidates produced jointly by Grist and Outside.
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis Kucinich.
Photo: SEIU via flickr

He may be eating the front-runners' dust in the polls, but among deep-green voters, Dennis Kucinich is considered a trailblazer. A Democratic U.S. rep from Cleveland, Ohio, Kucinich is calling for a radical overhaul of the U.S. government and economy -- one that infuses every agency in the executive branch with a sustainability agenda, phases out coal and nuclear power entirely, and calls on every American to ratchet down their resource consumption and participate in a national conservation program.

A vegan who counts Ralph Nader among his heroes, Kucinich doesn't exactly embody the sensibility of the average American. He says his commitment to sustainability "extends to everything I am and do" -- from the food he eats and clothes he wears to the policies he espouses. It's the same progressive platform that made him a darling of the far left when he ran for president in 2004. Will it take him any further this time around?

I reached Kucinich by phone at his home in Ohio.

For more info on his platform and record, check out Grist's Kucinich fact sheet.

question Why should voters consider you the strongest green candidate?

answer Because mostly our candidates aren't going to be able to do anything about the underlying issues that threaten our environment. Many of the candidates -- Edwards, Obama, and Clinton -- are heavily funded by hedge funds on Wall Street, which are driven by a psychology of short-term profits and investments. And with candidates taking that kind of money from those interests, it defies belief that they're going to be in a position to take this country in the direction it needs to be taken.

question What sets your green platform apart from the rest?

answer As president of the United States, I'm going to shift the entire direction of America. We need to see the connection between global warring and global warming, and it's oil. Sustainability is the path to peace. And I'm the only true peace candidate in this election. So peace means being in harmony with nature. If you're in harmony with nature, you don't exploit nature. You don't ruin the land, you don't extract the oil, you don't take the coal out of the earth.

My underlying philosophy is a green philosophy. It means that I'm looking at a total reorganization of the federal government to create a cooperative and synergistic relationship between all departments and administrations for the purpose of greening America.

question You propose, for instance, the Works Green Administration.

answer The Works Green Administration harkens back to the days of Franklin Roosevelt and the Works Progress Administration, where he put millions of people back to work rebuilding America's infrastructure. I too have an infrastructure-rebuilding program which will put millions of people back to work. Picture this: You take every area of involvement in the federal government -- whether it's the Small Business Administration, or the Housing and Urban Development Department, or the Department of Agriculture, or the Department of Labor. Each would incorporate green goals. We'd have billions of dollars loaned to the states at zero interest for green development programs, we'd have programs furthering green housing, agricultural policies would relate to green.

question Do you think Americans are ready to answer the call to conserve?

answer Of course they are, they're just waiting for leadership, and it has to come from somebody who's not tied to any of these interest groups, or is worried about whether he's going to offend a contributor. And so, yes, I think people know that their future's at stake.

What I intend to do as president is to call for that instinct which is within every person for not just survival but to be able to thrive. We need to make the connection between prosperity and sustainability. And it also means we have to turn toward peace. We have to stop warring, because war is ecocide, war destroys the environment. And so I'm going to call forth the people of this country for a whole new direction. I think America's not just ready for it, it's overdue and people know that.

I will also ask the American people to participate in a grand and great conservation effort. Imagine if tens of millions of homes suddenly had an awareness that when you don't need the electricity, don't flip the switch. That you use only the water that you need and you don't use any more, you don't let the faucet run.

question Do you believe that we need a carbon tax in addition to a cap-and-trade program, or neither, or both?

answer We need to do whatever we can do to create disincentives for the use of carbon-based energy. But that's not enough. Carbon-based taxes alone won't cut it, because some people may be willing to pay an extra tax to use something that's bad for the environment. Inevitably we need a requirement to move away from all carbon-based technologies, and to fund fully all alternative-energy research that is in harmony with the environment.

question So you would propose a strict cap on carbon emissions, a carbon tax, and a massive government-supported plan to promote renewable technologies?

answer Yes, but I'd want to put the emphasis first on the government supporting renewable technologies. A tax could reflect the full cost to society of certain types of energy. But the answer is not simply punishing those people who are using carbons. You have to do everything you can to move people toward renewable energy.

question You've been calling for years for a renewable portfolio standard that would have the U.S. get 20 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2010. Now that 2010 is around the corner, what sort of RPS plan would you implement as president?

answer Well, obviously we've lost the advantage of that particular time frame. For the next time frame, I think we could set something by 2020 and look to 30 or 40 percent. But that means we're talking about a very sharp turnaround here.

question How would you shift the utility industry toward renewables, toward this whole new paradigm?

answer One of my proposals is to have millions of homes with wind and solar technologies, and people can sell energy back to the grid. The role of utilities will change dramatically because it's not going to be a centralized approach toward energy production. They'll have to figure out different ways that they might be able to provide support for green alternatives. I want to see, eventually, all the homes in this country have the option of that technology. In turn, you can create millions of jobs building alternative technologies.

question Would nuclear power play any role in your energy policy as president?

answer Nuclear has to be phased out. The hidden costs of nuclear are enormous -- of building these plants and storing the waste forever. It's not financially or environmentally sustainable.

question Nuclear makes up 20 percent of America's electricity supply. What would you replace this with?

answer You don't want to leave a gap in our energy needs, but at the same time, with a program of conservation and movement toward alternative energy, we can begin phasing out nuclear.

question What about coal, the source of more than half of our electricity supply? Would you phase that out, or do you believe in the promise of advanced coal technologies?

answer No, coal has to be phased out. In the same way that the Department of Agriculture for years was paying some farmers not to grow, I think we can get to the point of paying coal miners not to mine. Why should the miners have to suffer from the lack of foresight of our energy policies? That's something that I intend to address in my Works Green Administration.

question The electric utility industry would argue that such a massive shift would pass along huge rate hikes to consumers. How would you protect Americans from these expenses?

answer We do not need to be held hostage by the utility industry. I'm not someone who's going to roll over when these utility industries issue their threats. We're going to break up the monopolies in utilities, that's No. 1. No. 2, these utilities are going to be closely regulated for their activities. No. 3, they're going to be required to go green as license conditions. No. 4, they're going to be closely monitored and shut down if they violate the Clean Air Act. We're going to have a very aggressive EPA, and utilities are not going to be dictating energy costs. I don't mind working with them, I don't mind moving toward areas where they can be cooperative in protecting the environment, but they're not going to run energy policy.

question But such a transition would create huge costs. How would you pay for them?

answer It pays for itself. See, the whole idea about sustainability is that you conserve, you save, and then you use the savings for other things. However, where we need financial incentives, this is where the government can play a major role in putting money into circulation for the production of these [green] products, and to put people to work. Roosevelt understood in the '30s that there were things he had to do to move the economy. And I understand what we need to do to move the economy in a green direction.

question Do you support subsidies for ethanol or other gasoline alternatives, like biodiesel?

answer I don't know about subsidies. I think those technologies are transitional to fuel-cell technology. I wouldn't want to create incentives to lock us into usages that are not where we ultimately want to go. And there is a serious issue with ethanol and its impact on food supplies.

question Many argue that the U.S. shouldn't commit to a global greenhouse-gas reduction target that doesn't involve China and India. Do you agree, and how would you bring them to the table?

answer First of all, as president, I'm going to let the rest of the world know that the days of America trying to be a nation above nations is over. We have to quit trying to dominate other countries, and we have to step out of our isolation and into the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people. I think the world is ready for an American president who puts the sword down, so that nations won't have to spend a tremendous amount of their resources trying to prepare for war.

We have to be ready to take the lead, but we need to have harmony with other nations. As president, I intend to work with the leaders of China and India and other nations to promote an environmental consciousness and sustainable economies. I will use trade as a vehicle to try to raise the level of living for all people, and environmental sustainability must be the watchword. All of our trade agreements must have within them requirements for protecting the air and the water and the land of all the countries we do business with.

question After climate and energy, what do you think is the most important environmental issue facing the nation?

answer Agriculture -- the way we grow our food -- and we really need to make sure that we protect our water supply. These issues are closely tied to each other.

question Who is your environmental hero?

answer Oh, I have many. Thomas Berry, whose book The Great Work talked about how our great work in life is to achieve a real harmony with the environment. I think Lester Brown has done some incredible work on raising the consciousness of people. Amory Lovins has done some excellent work, and I think Ralph Nader has pointed to a lot of the environmental implications of corporate conduct and trade laws. And John Robbins has been so incredible in his awareness of the impact of the food we eat on our environment.

question What was your most memorable wilderness or outdoor adventure?

answer As a child, we lived in the city, we moved around a lot. But there was one place we lived, above railroad tracks, and on the other side of the tracks was this vast acreage called "the gulley" that was created with the blasting of the railroad. It had these huge rock piles and vegetation everywhere and it almost looked prehistoric. It was a place that I would go to often and find solitude and be able to just think. So much of my own life has been connected with a desire to be close to nature, to be close to the water, to be close to green.

question If you could spend a week in one natural area of the U.S., where would it be?

answer I would say somewhere in northern Maine. The whole state is beautiful, but northern Maine is just extraordinary, and I've seen all 50 states. I also love Maui.

question What do you do to lighten your environmental footprint?

answer My philosophy of life extends to everything I am and do. If I say I'm for peace, I'm for peace in the kind of products that I use, in the kind of shoes that I wear, and in terms of the clothes that I wear, in terms of my eating habits. I'm always thinking in terms of sustainability. That's the way I live. I live in a small house and we're very conscious of our energy usage. I drive an American car, a Ford Focus, but it's one of the highest fuel-economy cars.

I've been living an essentially vegan lifestyle since 1995, and that has led me to a condition of extraordinary health and clarity. Now, I'm not, as president, going to tell everyone what they have to eat, but I will share my own story about how the choices that I've made have meant, for myself, a better life, and a happier life. I'm 60 years old, but I'll bet that I'm in better physical shape than a lot of people a lot younger.

question If George Bush were a plant or an animal, what kind of plant or an animal would he be?

answer I don't want to go there.

question Fair enough. Would you spin it around on yourself? If you were a plant or animal, what kind would you be?

answer An eagle.

question How so? Truly American?

answer No. Keenness of vision.

Read more about: climate | Dennis Kucinich | elections | energy | politics | presidential race 08 | all of these topics

Amanda Griscom Little writes about environmental politics and interviews green luminaries for Grist. She is a contributing editor for Outside magazine, and her articles on energy and the environment have also appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to The New York Times Magazine.

http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2007/08/01/kucinich/index.html?source=daily

http://tinyurl.com/2yceqf

Monday, July 09, 2007

Desert dump is no answer to nuclear weapons problem

MEDIA RELEASE

July 2, 2007

Desert dump is no answer to nuclear weapons problem

The Arid Lands Environment Centre in Alice Springs says promoting Australia
as the world’s nuclear waste dump is not the answer to the problem of
nuclear weapons and terrorism.

The call follows reports in the Australian newspaper (2/7/07) that former US
ambassador Robert Gallucci is advocating Australia as a potential global
radioactive waste dump to address proliferation concerns.

“The best way to ensure nuclear materials do not end up in weapons is by
stopping the mining and exporting of uranium and getting serious about
nuclear disarmament,” said Natalie Wasley, the Beyond Nuclear Initiative
campaigner at ALEC.

“A desert dump cannot be touted as the answer to securing nuclear weapons
material when Australia is still exporting uranium to countries not
complying with their disarmament obligations under the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty”.

Ms Wasley says any plans for an international dump would be met with strong
resistance around the country. “The plan for a federal dump in the Territory
is strongly opposed by targeted communities, the NT Government, national
environment groups and many citizens”.

“The current waste dump plan is already failing due process in the search to
secure a site and there is little confidence that any international waste
dump would be based on community consultation or have any regard for
environmental, social and cultural concerns.

"Despite the rhetoric of Australia being the most geologically suitable
location for a dump one of the proposed sites , Muckaty station north of
Tennant Creek, is within a seismically active zone”.

“From the outset, the communities targeted for the Federal dump were
concerned that an NT dump would be expanded to host high level international
materials,” said Ms Wasley. “It is time for the government to come clean on
its full plans for radioactive waste.”

Opposition from Australian states to the federal radioactive dump means it
is highly unlikely they would welcome an international one. “Once again it
would be remote and indigenous communities in the Territory who are forced
to take the toxic waste – this time from around the world. The federal
government’s plan is the thin edge of a radioactive wedge and we will not
sit back and let this happen”.

Contact: Natalie Wasley 0429 900 774
------

Beyond Nuclear Initiative
Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC)
John Cumming Plaza, 67 Todd Mall
PO box 2796,
Alice Springs, NT
Australia 0871
ph: (61) 08 8952 2011
mobile : 0429 900 774
email: natwasley@alec.org.au

Sustainable Seafood – Towards an Ocean Wise Australia!

Marine

Sustainable Seafood – Towards an Ocean Wise Australia!

Canadian chef Robert Clark

+

Canadian chef Robert Clark

The Australian Conservation Foundation is developing a new and exciting sustainable living initiative called Ocean Wise Australia.

Based on the successful Canadian Ocean Wise program launched by Vancouver Aquarium, Ocean Wise Australia aims to increase the awareness of Australian seafood consumers regarding sustainable seafood.

Leading Canadian chef Robert Clark recently brought the sustainability message to Australia in March as guest of the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

As executive chef at Canada's leading seafood restaurant, C Restaurant in Vancouver, Robert Clark believes that he not only has to be responsible about the food choices he makes but that he can also inspire change in the industry. “As chefs, our job is not only about serving great tasting food, but encouraging our staff and our guests to learn how to get sustainably produced food to the table” said Clark.

Recent reports reveal the number of overfished Australian fish species has increased 8-fold over the past decade, highlighting the urgent need to better protect Australia’s oceans. “Unfortunately, overfished species like orange roughy and swordfish are still finding their way onto Australian dinner tables” said Chris Smyth, ACF’s Marine Campaign Coordinator.

International marine scientists predict that if current seafood practices continue, the world’s fisheries could collapse in less than 50 years. Couple this with the impacts from fisheries catching non targeted species (by-catch) and seabed trawling, water pollution, marine pests, habitat damage, ocean-based aquaculture and climate change – and a clear picture emerges that Australia’s ocean life is under increasing pressure.

However, Seafood that is sourced within the natural limits of the marine environment and with minimal damage to marine habitats can be called ‘sustainable seafood’. By working with restaurants and their diners, Ocean Wise will help maintain the variety and abundance of seafood in Australia and promote healthy oceans used in a sustainable way.

The Ocean Wise Australia program will provide the opportunity for the Australian restaurant industry to choose sustainable seafood menu items, while recognizing its ongoing commitment to excellence and progressive business practices.

The Ocean Wise Australia menu assessment program will also give restaurants the confidence to improve the sustainability of their menus, at a pace that suits the individual business, and will promote and reward their efforts in doing so.

“The decisions each of us make when we purchase seafood have a real impact on the health of our ocean life and fisheries. This is where the restaurant industry can play a vital leadership role and help reverse the trends” said Smyth.

Ocean Wise Australia is currently in the development stage as we are still seeking funding for this program. If you would like more information on how you could support this sustainable seafood initiative please contact Mark Thomas 03 9345 1148 or m.thomas@acfonline.org.au

Source: acfonline.org.au

Monday, June 25, 2007

Labour Policy and Water

'' An interesting article citing the new Australian labour party policy to encourage the use of and fund recycling of water initiatives as well as focussing on promoting the use of water tanks especially in the eastern states of Australia''

Rivers and Water
Rainwater tanks, greywater and recycling
Ecomanage tanks
+
Ecomanage tanks

Date: 25-Jun-2007

The Australian Conservation Foundation has welcomed the announcement by Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd that a federal Labor Government would subsidise the installation of rainwater tanks or greywater plumbing for up to 500,000 households.

“Rainwater tanks and better use of greywater are important pieces of any plan to secure urban water in Australia,” said ACF executive director Don Henry.

“Rainwater tanks are a cost-effective and efficient way of storing water – the water in rainwater tanks does not evaporate like it does from dams. Rainwater tanks don’t work everywhere, but they have great potential in many parts of Australia.

“While 38 per cent of Adelaide households have a rainwater tank, fewer than 6 per cent of the houses in Melbourne, Sydney and South-East Queensland do.

A study conducted for ACF earlier this year found 65 per cent of the houses in Sydney, 73 per cent of the houses in South-East Queensland and 72 per of the houses in Melbourne have potential for a rainwater tank.

Mr Henry also commended the Federal Government on its announcement of a water reclamation plant for Geelong, in Victoria, that should save 2,000 megalites of drinking water a year and reduce the amount of wastewater than runs out to the ocean.

“As climate change dries out many parts of Australia, governments must be looking at bold and innovate ways to help people catch the rainwater that falls on their roofs and make better use of greywater and recycled water.

“I would urge the Federal Government to engage much more strongly with the states on urban water solutions and I would urge bi-partisan support for a major federal initiative, in cooperation with the states, to dramatically cut energy and water waste and achieve sustainable cities.”
Print
Source: acfonline.org.au

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Links Of Interest

Monday, June 18, 2007

BHP Billiton Climate Change Policy

Leadership missing from BHP Billiton climate policy

by cazwaz | June 18, 2007 at 07:56 am | 13 views |

Whats new 1984 all over again!

"Here is another example of rubbery figures being used to appear to be doing something significant.The use of the term 'energy intensity reduction target' are fascinating and scarey in what they indicate a company is willing to do to distort understanding ,knowledge and opinion by using confusing,obtuse but definitely strategically deceptive concepts and technical wordings that aim to deflect criticismand analysis."

Climate Change
Leadership missing from BHP Billiton climate policy

Date: 18-Jun-2007

BHP Billiton’s long-awaited climate change policy, released today, is weaker than the commitments made by many other leading international companies, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.

“As a major international company BHP Billiton should be providing corporate and public leadership on climate change, not disappointingly weak policies,” said ACF executive director Don Henry.

“BHP Billiton has not adopted any targets for gross reductions in its emissions, putting it behind other international companies like BP, Alcoa and Dupont, which have all committed to absolute reductions of 10 per cent (BP), 25 per cent (Alcoa) and 65 per cent (Dupont) by 2010.

“Instead of setting a target to reduce emissions BHP Billiton has set an ‘energy intensity reduction target’ of 13 per cent, which allows the company’s emissions to continue to increase so long as the company continues to grow.

“The weak energy intensity target of 13 per cent puts the Big Australian well behind the Chinese Government, which has an energy intensity reduction target of 20 per cent for the period 2005 to 2010.

“We would urge BHP Billiton to play a more public and constructive role in the climate change policy debate in Australia,” Mr Henry said.

BHP Billiton’s submission to the Prime Minister’s emissions trading task group said of an Australian scheme: “ideally this would include participation in the CDM [the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism] market”.

“The only way for Australia to participate in the CDM market is for Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. BHP Billiton should be urging bi-partisan support for Kyoto ratification, not burying the idea in submissions," Mr Henry said.

“The $300 million over five years for low emissions technology development represents an investment of around half of one per cent of the company’s annual profit – not the level of commitment Australians would expect from one of the country’s major corporate players.”

Source: acfonline.org.au

Shaping A Sustainable Future

Shaping a Sustainable Future

by cazwaz | June 18, 2007 at 07:22 am | 7 views | add comment

Shaping a Sustainable Future

ACF President Professor Ian Lowe, AO

+

ACF President Professor Ian Lowe, AO

Professor Ian Lowe, Spirituality and Sustainability Forum – 6 June, 2007

I begin by thanking His Holiness the Dalai Lama for being in Australia to share with us his wisdom and unique insights, as well as for giving me the opportunity to share this occasion with him. I also acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, because a sustainable future has to be built on genuine reconciliation with the original Australians.

I’m delighted to speak here today as President of the Australian Conservation Foundation. For forty years, ACF has been a strong voice for the environment, promoting solutions through research, consultation, education and partnerships. Our members and supporters have played a key role in protecting outstanding natural areas and raising public awareness of the importance of our unique environment.

The most important question we face is: what sort of Australia do we want? The future is not somewhere we are going, but something we are creating. Will it be a clean, green sustainable future? Or will it leave our children a dreadful legacy of climate change, radioactive waste and derelict land? The Australian Conservation Foundation has analysed the growing threats to our continent. We have developed an ambitious strategy to inspire Australians to move to sustainable practices within a generation. To focus our attention on what that means, let me take you through an exercise called negative brainstorming. Imagine we have been asked to develop strategies to ensure an unsustainable future. How could we achieve this goal?

We would start with a population growing exponentially. No species can expand its numbers indefinitely in a closed system. If we don’t stabilise our population by socially acceptable means, they will be limited in time by starvation, disease and fighting among ourselves.

We could increase the impact of our growing population by increasing consumption per person, putting compounding pressure on resources and the natural environment. We could deplete important non-renewable resources, such as oil, and over-use renewable resources like water, forests and fisheries. We could do serious environmental damage, like causing a major loss of species or changing the global climate. To ensure our economic decline, we would adopt the trade pattern of a Third World country, exporting raw materials and importing value-added goods and services. To increase social instability, we could widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. As a moral foundation for this unsustainable society, we would embrace consumerism.

I don’t think I need to elaborate. The way we are currently living is not sustainable; it doesn’t satisfy any of the main criteria. Despite the evidence that our consumption is degrading our environment, we encourage both growing numbers and increasing consumption per person. If the optimists are right and we haven’t yet passed the peak of world oil production, we are certainly near it, and there is no prospect of scaling up production to meet the demand which has been stimulated. The evidence is overwhelming that we are over-using water and degrading our major river systems. We are changing the global climate, with serious economic and social consequences. We are in the middle of the sixth major extinction event in the history of the planet, with global warming adding to the driving forces of habitat loss, introduced species and chemical pollution. In economic terms, we have had more than 50 consecutive trade deficits, a trend that should have alarmed our leaders. Their only solution is to urge us to export even greater quantities of low-value commodities. The Australia I grew up in was one of the most equal nations in the world, but we are now the third least equal country in the entire OECD. Finally, consumerism is now our unofficial national religion, with ever larger shopping centres being built to allow us to worship at all hours. The policy settings in Australia would lead any outside observer to conclude that we just have not noticed that we are living unsustainably – or, even worse, we just don’t care.

We can achieve a sustainable future, but it will require fundamental changes to our technologies, our social institutions and our values, in our approach to the natural world and to each other. My message of hope is that human systems can change radically and quickly. The transition we need may be catalysed by growing community awareness of the problem. A serious obstacle is the dominant mind-set of our decision-makers and opinion-formers who still see no problem, or think potential solutions threaten their short-term interests.

We have a beautiful and unique environment and many aspects of it are in good condition by international standards. But several national reports have documented the scale and seriousness of our environmental problems: loss of biological diversity, degradation of inland waterways and destruction of the productive capacity of rural land. These problems are getting worse, because the pressures on natural systems are still increasing. Each year the Australian population grows by about 250 000 and our material expectations increase. Each year we use more resources, produce more waste – and put more pressure on natural systems.

The UN has published three reports on the Global Environmental Outlook. They show some successes, such as the concerted international effort to repair the ozone layer and “encouraging reductions in many countries” of urban air pollution. They also document “environmental challenges” – increasing emissions of greenhouse gases, over-exploitation of water, 1200 million people without clean drinking water and twice that number without sanitation, species being lost at an increasing rate, fisheries in decline, land degradation and a range of serious problems caused by our disruption of the natural cycles of the planet. Our activities are now affecting global systems in complex, interactive and accelerating ways.

The UN’s Millennium Assessment Report found that life has got better for many people in the last fifty years, but the overall level of human production is now using the Earth’s resources at an unsustainable rate. We need to move beyond the simplistic view that economic growth will solve our problems.

In societies like ours where most people have the essentials of a decent life and more, economic growth does not necessarily make people happier or more fulfilled, especially when we factor in the social and environmental costs. Yet we are constantly being urged, as Dr Clive Hamilton says, to use money we don’t have to buy things we don’t want to impress people we don’t like. Dr Richard Eckersley recently noted that the traditional seven deadly sins – pride, greed, envy, lust, laziness and so on – have been re-packaged as the marketing imperatives of the modern world! We need a different approach, one that recognises our responsibility to future generations. We should see the economy as a means of serving our needs within the limits of natural systems, rather than an end in itself, and focus on our quality of life. Australia ranks 23rd in the world in wealth per head, but I can’t think of any country in the top 22 I would rather live in. It wouldn’t make sense to destroy our quality of life to be slightly richer.

There is a growing awareness around the world that a sustainable future will involve significant change. Great advances could be made by policy reform, which could dramatically cut resource use and the environmental consequences of our lifestyle, but the political will to implement such a strategy is nowhere in sight. While politicians are more concerned about the next election than the next generation, the necessary reforms won’t happen.

Market-led wealth generation is necessary. So is technological change. But these must be supplemented and guided by a values-led move to an alternative vision of our future. So we need courage and real leadership at this critical juncture. We need a technological transition based on the principles of renewable resources, efficient use and “industrial ecology” – using the waste of one industrial process as the feedstock of another. Hunger could be eliminated if we stabilised our population and improved distribution systems; more generally, the UNDP recently estimated that the entire world could have adequate food, clean water, decent shelter, basic health care and education for 5% of the global military budget!

Above all, we need a future of genuine globalisation, recognising that we share a common fate with the whole human family, rather than the false globalisation that considers only economic issues.

We have known about the problems of peak oil and climate change for decades. But Australia still has no concerted response, no overall energy policy. We need a serious target based on the climate science that says global greenhouse pollution must be cut by at least 60 per cent. That requires us to do much more. We can’t afford to keep using old technologies that are changing the global climate – like coal-fired electricity. The natural energy flows like solar and wind are thousands of times greater than human energy needs. Renewable energy might cost a bit more than burning coal, but it won’t impose the large and growing costs of climate change. A recent study by the Australian Conservation Foundation and other NGOs found we could get 25 per cent of our power from renewables by 2020. It might cost a typical household about a dollar a week extra – a small price to save the planet.

Instead, some irresponsible politicians are canvassing the notion that nuclear power might be the answer. Nuclear energy is too expensive, too slow and inevitably creates a dreadful legacy of radioactive waste and the potential for nuclear weapons. Just as we no longer mine asbestos, we should reject all elements of the nuclear fuel cycle and develop clean energy alternatives. We should also recognise the benefits of turning energy more efficiently into the services we want. A government report four years ago concluded we could reduce energy use by up to 30 % using existing cost-effective technology. Several European countries now have a target of cutting energy use to a quarter of the present level by efficiency improvements.

The call for a new approach is now coming from the community, from local government, from the professions and from the business sector. The Australian Business Roundtable on Climate Change called for a long-term aspirational target for cutting greenhouse emissions, like the UK goal of 60 per cent reduction by 2050 or the California goal of 80 per cent, as well as a short-term binding target, like a 20 per cent reduction by 2020.

We also need a clear financial signal to drive investment. Putting a price on carbon will encourage industry to invest in cleaner technologies and help our economy become more efficient.

There will always be some who say we can’t afford to do things better. As the International Chemical Secretariat showed in its report, Cry Wolf, some vested interests always resist change by over-stating the costs and ignoring the benefits. When the catalytic converters that have dramatically cleaned up our urban air were proposed, some in the car industry claimed they would cost over $1000 each with a fuel consumption penalty on top, for no obvious benefit. In fact, they cost about $100 each, led to more sophisticated engines and improved fuel efficiency, and are estimated to have cut health care costs in the UK alone by about $5 billion a year.

Independent modelling by Allen Consulting shows that we can afford to take strong action to reduce greenhouse pollution. More importantly, that will be much better for the economy than inaction now, leading to a need for much more drastic measures in the future.

We won’t achieve a sustainable future unless we embrace new values. I like the idea that we should aim to become what has been called Globo sapiens, wise global citizens. Rather than the inevitably futile path of trying to dominate nature, we need to understand the limits of natural systems and live within those limits. Rather than continuing to erode the social fabric for short-term gain, we must develop social institutions that will let us work together to solve our difficult problems, help us to take the hard decisions we need for a sustainable future. Rather than seeing the level of material consumption as an end in itself, we should recognise that consumption is, at best, only a means to the end of greater satisfaction. As a wise colleague said, the trouble with the rat race is that even the winner is still a rat!

Let me give some specific goals we could achieve within 10 years. We could dramatically cut greenhouse pollution and assume a global leadership role in avoiding dangerous climate change, mainly by using and exporting renewable energy technology. We could enjoy sustainable cities with households using much less energy and water, producing much less waste. We could have the world’s best national park system with substantially increased protection for our forests, rivers, wetlands, tropical savannah and oceans. We should protect the great world-class landscapes of northern Australia, including the Kimberley and Cape York, working hand-in-hand with the traditional owners. We should help our neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region to protect their magnificent forests and coral reefs. And we could stabilise our population and consumption levels by concerted policies. Let this be the year we determine to work more effectively together to produce a sustainable way of life that will be better for all future Australians

You might think this vision is utopian, but that has been said about all the important reform movements. Those who opposed slavery two hundred years ago were told that no economy could function without slave labour. The suffragettes were persecuted when they demanded the vote for women a hundred years ago. Only forty years ago, Indigenous people did not count as Australian citizens. Twenty years ago it was still utopian to dream of Berlin without the Wall, or South Africa without apartheid – or even such modest social goals as good coffee in Queensland! Many of the reforms we now take for granted were initially denounced as utopian. They happened because determined people worked for a better world.

The US economist Lester Thurow said that it is hard to tell people the party is over, especially if they haven’t got to the bar yet! In those terms, I am telling you that one type of party is coming to an end: the party based on the delusions of unlimited resources and fulfilment through increasing consumption. But I am also telling you about a better party that is starting up. It is a better party because it won’t run out of food and drink. It is a better party because it won’t leave you with a very nasty hangover of radioactive waste or disrupted global climate or despoiled natural systems. It is a better party because it is based on quality of human experience rather than gluttonous consumption.

It is a better party because the neighbours won’t be enviously peering through the windows or throwing rocks on the roof, because they will all be invited. And it’s a better party because our children will be able to keep enjoying it after we are gone.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, reminded British voters before their 2005 election that there are always excuses for avoiding these important issues. Without a strong mandate for change, he said, we can’t be surprised or disappointed when courage fails and progress is limited. I have two postcards at home that inspire me. One says, in French, If it’s not you, my little one, who will begin to change the world? Who will do it? It reminds me that we should all do what we can to produce the sort of future we want, rather than waiting for others. The second says Prendre des chemins de courage – take the roads of courage. As Rowan Williams said, we all have a responsibility to help change popular views and give courage to our leaders – literally encourage them to take responsibility for our future.

This is a Federal election year. We must urge politicians and candidates for elected office to have the courage to move beyond short-term economics and base their election platforms on planning for a sustainable Australia, thinking about resource limits, about global environmental issues, about social equity: in other words, about sustainable futures. They might be surprised at the response if they involve us in serious discussion of our future – as the Swedish government did to develop with its people a plan for responding to the challenge of climate change.

It would be much easier to ignore these difficult issues, to enjoy our material comforts, the natural beauty of Australia and our wonderful lifestyle – but your presence here today means you are prepared to think about these important questions. A sustainable future is clearly a better future. It is better morally, it is better socially, it is better environmentally, and it is also better economically. But fundamentally, working for it is simply our moral duty to the countless millions of other species that we share this planet with, and the future generations for whom we hold it in trust.

Source: acfonline.org.au