It's been one of those times recently. I feel like for days I've been reading nonstop about war, political infighting, bullies, violence, and general internets stupidity. Now, there are a lot of unhappy things going on, and many of them deserve -- need! -- attention. It's also true, however, that the onslaught can get overwhelming, and there is good news out there, even if sometimes you have to search to find it. It certainly makes me feel better to give some attention to uplifting stuff, so without further ado, a few recent stories that are, each in their own way, a nice break from a tough spate of news:
In the large-scale, saving the planet category we have a new, three-year, $300 million campaign to mobilize Americans on climate change. God dag! Led by Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection, the effort is reportedly one of the most ambitious and well-funded public advocacy operations in history. It will apparently attempt to match awareness with actual political/legislative action, and is being timed to coincide with the election. I don't write about climate very much because I simply am not an expert on the issues, but it affects just about everything -- including my pet issues of foreign policy and national security, eventually -- and this looks to be a great project.
In international news, last week Pakistan's parliament elected its first woman Speaker. Independent of the overall record of the role/treatment of women in the nation, it's always great to see barriers being broken, and for a country that has already had a female prime minister, this is another important milestone. Dr. Mizra is no token, either; a three-time rep, she was elected by an overwhelming margin -- 249 to 70.
The problem of skyrocketing foreclosures can hardly be spun as good news, but in the face of tragedy and difficulty, many organizations are stepping up to help, and it's in these under the radar circumstances that sometimes important efforts can get overlooked. Which is why the Humane Society effort to make sure that people who lose their homes don't lose their furry friends as well deserves a mention. With families struggling to keep and feed their pets in the face of increasing financial difficulty, this new grant program should do some real good. After my longtime canine companion passed earlier this year, I set up a recurring donation to HSUS, and I'm tremendously glad some of that contribution will go to this initiative.
Finally, in a hilarious "damn the man" vein, I include this for the ingenuity (and without any particular comment on the politics of makeup or schools or whatever): a creative -- and apparently scientifically brilliant -- group of high school girls were irritated with a school ban on nail polish, so they invented a kind that you can see outdoors but not indoors. Some chemical reaction far beyond my ability to comprehend makes the polish bright red outside and nearly invisible/transparent inside. I want some!
Obviously lots of news that sucks is still important to be aware of. I know -- I focus on Iraq, for goodness sake. And good stuff is hard to find; it took me a couple hours to find just these few nuggets! But there ya go. Every day is a new day, with new challenges but also new good, and all that. Hope y'all enjoy.
Al Gore just gets better and better. Raising capital to help raise awareness in a professional and cross party manner is such a great idea.
The Alliance for Climate Protection's "we" campaign will employ online organizing and television advertisements on shows ranging from "American Idol" to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." It highlights the extent to which Americans' growing awareness of global warming has yet to translate into national policy changes, Gore said in an hour-long phone interview last week. He said the campaign, which Gore is helping to fund, was undertaken in large part because of his fear that U.S. lawmakers are unwilling to curb the human-generated emissions linked to climate change.
Sure it's a small thing, but it's still a great idea.
The lights on the arch of Harbour Bridge were turned off at 8 p.m., followed shortly by the shells of the Opera House and other city landmarks. Most businesses and homes were already dark as Sydney residents embraced their second annual Earth Hour with candlelight dinners, beach bonfires and even a green-powered outdoor movie.
This is a brief video of Attenborough discussing the need for conservation incentives to help save the environment. The world and the way we view the environment and nature has changed so much over the course of his brilliant career. Fortunately he will still work on an occasional program but this is a person that was crucial for helping the Anglo world think more about the beautiful world around us. There are plenty other Attenborough videos on YouTube and once you start, it's impossible to stop.
In a posting on his GM blog on Thursday, Lutz said those "spewing virtual vitriol" at him for minimizing the threat of climate change were "missing the big picture."
"What they should be doing in earnest is forming opinions, not about me but about GM and what this company is doing that is ... hugely beneficial to the causes they so enthusiastically claim to support," he said in a posting titled, "Talk About a Crock."
Fine, let me tell you about how everyone I know hates the pieces of junk that GM has been selling for decades. The lousy gas mileage, the breaking down just after the warranty expired, the miserable resale value, the horrendous reliability and the butt ugly looks. The GM cars here in Europe (Opel) are just as lousy and it's a miracle they're still in business. Of course, let's not forget the tens of thousands of ruined households thanks to GM shutting down factory towns because people like Lutz were designing such massive pieces of junk. His designs helped millions of Americans turn away from Detroit and buy foreign cars. I mean, if that's what Lutz wants to talk about, why not?
Big Oil tries to play the green energy card but in reality, they invest very little in this non-core business. Meanwhile, smart business investors in the Middle East are re-investing their windfall profits and setting themselves up for the future. The Democrats (with the exception of Rep. Dingell) understand that change is needed but the GOP is all too willing to ignore any alternatives, because they think that any investment in alternative energies is giving in to the environmentalists. The only change they accepted was biofuels because that was a boondoggle for corporate farmers. Even the oil region millionaires get it, but the GOP can't grasp this simple point.
The next wave of oil wealth will go probably go into alternative energy, says D’Agostino. Middle East investors are comfortable with longer time frames and can weather the volatility of this sector. Specifically, solar & wind names are most likely to benefit.
Please. If Porsche and the rest of the German automakers would quit this attitude and start producing cars that polluted less it would be much better for everyone. Germany has already forced the EU to allow automakers to get away with heavy gas guzzlers and now the luxury car maker is whining about about gas guzzlers having to pay more money to drive in London.
Somehow it's hard to sympathize with drivers who are paying well over $100 to fill their tank (if not closer to $200) on top of the $100,000+ they pay for the SUV. We're not talking about people who have to buy a big truck out of necessity for work to pay their bills. Driving a beast like this is a luxury that they chose on their own. If they can afford those costs so easily, they can afford to pay for their pollution. Porsche ought to spend more money on building environmentally friendly cars and less money on lawyers and lobbyists who bully others into global warming.
The Brits have been much more interested in removing wasteful packaging compared to other countries so it's good to see Cadbury respond with their new environmentally friendly Easter eggs this year. It's a start...
The confectionary group hopes to sell 30-35m eggs in the run up to Easter, several million from the unboxed range.
Mark Barthel, of packaging campaign and consultancy group Wrap, said: "This is good news for both the consumer and the environment but also for Cadbury, as cutting waste also means cutting costs."
Last summer Cadbury announced a "Purple goes Green" pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 2020. It includes a pledge to cut packaging by 10%.
One can only wonder how many Bush people are going to moan about their regrets on climate change, torture, rule of law, failed economy and invading Iraq. The John Howard team is now voicing their regrets about how goofy they looked to voters for being aligned with Bush and against the rest of the world on climate change.
Another senior Cabinet minister in the former government, Tony Abbott, agreed with Costello that their Kyoto policy had been politically damaging.
"I don't think it helped us at all," Abbott, who is now an opposition lawmaker, told the ABC.
"There's nothing easy about changing your position on a totemic issue and I'm not saying that if we had changed it, it would necessarily have saved our bacon," he said of his coalition's crushing electoral defeat.
"But certainly as far as ... the voting public were concerned, I think our position looked odd," he added.
The "Velib" program in Paris has been an enormous success with 20,000 bikes stationed around Paris and more to come. Since the launch, big city mayors from around the world (including Bloomberg from New York) have visited Paris to check out the new system that allows people to cheaply rent bikes instead of driving or using other public transport. (They are priced more for point-to-point transport and less for casual riding around town.) Great idea.
