carbon tax, eco theatre, bikes, Carlin, tar sands, nukes
angela bischoff
greenspi at web.ca
Mon Jun 30 11:29:21 EDT 2008
Greenspiration News
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“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly
you are doing the impossible.” ~ Francis of Assisi
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Liberals’ Carbon tax proposal unveiled
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion announced his much anticipated proposal for a
national carbon tax today. Environmental organizations welcomed the
announcement, arguing that carbon pricing is essential to reducing
emissions and that the plan, if implemented, would be an important step in
the right direction. Other components of a comprehensive strategy to fight
climate change must include, among other things, a massive scale-up in
support for renewable energy and energy efficiency and strong regulations
in key sectors.
For reactions, see:
* Pembina Institute Welcomes Dion’s Carbon Tax Proposal
<http://www.pembina.org/media-release/1657>http://www.pembina.org/media-release/1657
* Now is the Second-Best Time for a Carbon Tax (Sierra Club):
<http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/media/item.shtml?x=2768>http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/media/item.shtml?x=2768
* Le temps est venue pour une taxe sur le carbone au Canada (Sierra
Club):
http://sierraclub.ca/f/national/media/item.shtml?x=2769
* Greenpeace offers ‘qualified support’ for Liberal Carbon Tax
<http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/press/press-releases/greenpeace-offers-qualified-s>http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/press/press-releases/greenpeace-offers-qualified-s
For press coverage, see:
* Dion proposes shifting $15.4 billion tax burden off income and
onto carbon use
<http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hO7koorKO-iQxowdEcOyVis6pchw>http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hO7koorKO-iQxowdEcOyVis6pchw
* Liberals outline carbon tax plan
<http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCAN1848247320080619>http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCAN1848247320080619
See the plan at:
http://www.letournantvert.ca/default_f.aspx
http://www.thegreenshift.ca/default_e.aspx
For a backgrounder on carbon taxes, see: Carbon Taxes: Key Issues, Key
Questions:
http://climate.pembina.org/pub/1646
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Green Party Unveils Carbon Tax Proposal:
The Green Party of Canada unveiled its own carbon tax proposal this week.
The policy would tax carbon dioxide emissions at $50 a tonne, then
redirect the $40 billion collected into income-tax reductions.
Green Party Unveils National Carbon Tax Plan With Gas Levy
<>http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/18/green-party.html
See the plan at:
* Carbon Tax Shifting:
<>http://www.greenparty.ca/en/policy/carbontaxplan?origin=redirect
* Le virage fiscal vert:
<>http://www.greenparty.ca/fr/policy/carbontaxplan
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Tar Sands play coming to venues near you (Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto,
Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria)
CRUDE LOVE
An unlikely love story set in the near future in Alberta's Oil Sands
Performed and Written by Russell and Gillian Bennett
Directed and Dramaturged by Emelia Symington Fedy
Can love redeem us – personally and globally?
http://www.bigsmokeproductions.com/crudelove.htm
CRUDE LOVE is the story of Phyllis McCormack, a woman dump truck driver
from Newfoundland who falls in love with Abbie Waxman, a lone eco-warrior
in the harsh Alberta Tar Sands. The time is set in the near future, when
the US Military occupies their "interests" and when peak oil and peak love
collide.
Mtl June 14 - 20 - <http://www.montrealfringe.ca/>www.montrealfringe.ca
Ottawa June 22 - 29 - <http://www.ottawafringe.com/>www.ottawafringe.com
Toronto July 3 - 12 - <http://www.fringetoronto.com/>www.fringetoronto.com
Winnipeg July 16 - 27 -
<http://www.saskatoonfringe.org/>www.winnipegfringe.com
Saskatoon Aug. 1 - 9 -
<http://www.saskatoonfringe.org/>www.25thstreettheatre.org
<http://www.fringetheatreadventures.ca/>Edmonton -
www.fringetheatreadventures.ca
<http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/>Victoria - www.intrepidtheatre.com
Vancouver Sept. 4 - 14 -
<http://www.vancouverfringe.com/>www.vancouverfringe.com
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Fantastic online Bike Films here:
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/rab-ladies-repair/
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George Carlin on Pharmaceutical Drugs - 9 min. 35 sec.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eFBfh9iDDI&feature=related
R.I.P. George Carlin: May 12, 1937 - June 22, 2008
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<http://www.travelingalberta.com/>www.travelingalberta.com
Dear friends,
What comes to mind when you think about Alberta,Canada? Vast forests and
wilderness, towering mountains and ski hills, rodeos and cowboys? That
might have been true once, but not any more. Alberta is now home to the
largest and most environmentally destructive project on the planet, as
revealed in a new site dedicated to dispelling Alberta's clean image.
Traveling Alberta
(<http://www.travelingalberta.com/>www.travelingalberta.com)is a mock
travel site that pulls back the curtain on tar sands development and shows
the world what the province is desperately trying to hide: pools of toxic,
deadly water It tells the real story of what travelers will find in
Alberta: massive CO2 emissions,toxic water and the planet's dirtiest oil.
But waging a battle against Big Oil and exposing the world's largest and
most toxic industrial project is no small task, and we need your help. We
need you to <http://www.travelingalberta.com/>visit this site (the more
hits the better!!!!), to tell your friends and to spread the word. We need
to get our message to the Canadian and Albertan governments that the world
will not accept dirty oil extracted at the risk of environmental, social
and economic health. And we need to do it now.
The tar sands are the dirtiest source of oil known to man.Unlike
conventional oil operations, the tar sands are extracted by building huge
strip mines or deep in-situ wells. While the rest of the planet is finding
solutions to decrease their carbon footprint, Alberta is making ours
bigger. Already, greenhouse gases from the tar sands are roughly equal to
the emissions of all the cars on the road today in Canada. And they're
growing.
Water used from the tar sands is so contaminated with toxic chemicals it
must be stored in huge "tailings ponds" that are visible from outer space.
A city of two million people uses an amount of water equivalent to the tar
sands annually. And just this past week, about 500 birds perished after
they came in contact with the toxic water. They are typically scared away
by air cannons!
More than 147,000 square kilometers – an area the size of Florida – is at
risk to tar sands development. Yet instead of slowing down development,
this government has approved every single tar sands proposal that has come
across its desk.
This is the dirty image Alberta's Premier will try to address as he
travels throughout the United States and Europe, spending $25 million
dollars to beautify Alberta's image. We need your help to send a clear
message to Premier Ed Stelmach: Stop the Tar Sands and clean up your own
backyard.
If you want to tell the Premier and Prime Minister Stephen Harper that it
doesn't have to be this way. If you want to tell them to clean up their
act and make Alberta a great place to visit again. If you want to have
your voice heard as loud as big oil companies who are destroying the
environment,visit
<http://www.travelingalberta.com/>www.travelingalberta.comand tell a
friend.
Do your part to Stop the Tar Sands today.
<http://www.travelingalberta.com/>www.travelingalberta.com
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Scientists make climate plea to Harper
In an open letter sent to the prime minister, opposition leaders and
Canadian premiers, 130 climate scientists from the academic, public and
private sectors warned that the federal government’s climate change plan
will fail to address the dangerous impacts of global warming. They want to
see absolute emission caps and a price put on GHG emissions.
Read the story:
<http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=cec1bdbb-4818-40ab-98bd-255d8375331d>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=cec1bdbb-4818-40ab-98bd-255d8375331d
Read the letter:
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/issues/letter-climate-science-06-2008.html
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U.S. mayors join call for ban on oil sands-based gasoline:
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/06/23/us-mayors-oilsands.html?ref=rss>http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/06/23/us-mayors-oilsands.html?ref=rss
Obama's fight against 'dirty oil' could hurt oil sands:
<http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=610810>
http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=610810
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Put oil executives on trial, says leading climate change scientist
In a speech before Congress on Monday, leading climate scientist Jim
Hansen called for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies such
as ExxonMobil and Peabody Energy to be put on trial for high crimes
against humanity and nature, for their role in actively spreading
misinformation about global warming.
Read the story:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/23/fossilfuels.climatechange>http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/23/fossilfuels.climatechange
Read Hansen’s speech:
<http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2008/TwentyYearsLater_20080623.pdf>http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/2008/TwentyYearsLater_20080623.pdf
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Nuclear power spending concerns experts
June 27, 2008
The Kingston Whig-Standard
Some experts at an international wind energy conference in Kingston this
week are questioning Ontario’s commitment to “green” power when the
province plans to spend billions on nuclear power.
“I really fear that we’re losing the debate,” said Joyce McLean, who
oversees the provincially funded Community Power Fund.
Yesterday, she told delegates at the seventh annual World Wind Energy
Conference that it speaks volumes that the fund received $3 million in
provincial dollars to promote renewable projects when Ontario plans to
spend $26 billion on nuclear power. <snip>
But McLean said Ontario has the natural resources to rely 100 per cent on
renewable energy.
“We have superior wind and solar resources,” she said. “We have a land
area three times the size of Germany, the current leader in installed
renewable energy. Our peak demand [for electricity] in Ontario is about
26,000 megawatts. Germany is 100,000 megawatts.”
With Ontario poised to spend $60 billion on an electricity supply plan
over the next 20 years to improve, among other things, the grid and
distribution system, the time is now to focus on renewables.
Full article:
http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/ArticleDisplayGenContent.aspx?e=6657
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