Green jobs, food, tar sands, depression, nukes, oil, bikes

Thu Jul 31 22:04:29 EDT 2008

Greenspiration News

p.s. Thanks Ed. W. for the donation!

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New Jobs in the Wind

U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory
As wind energy expands across the U.S. heartland, rural America is likely
to experience a revitalization not experienced since the homestead land
grabs of the 19th century. Local revenues from wind development are
helping to revitalize roads, schools, and other infrastructure in
once-depressed regions. But the recent growth in green jobs has only just
begun, as areas with the most wind have yet to be developed.

Read:
<http://www.elabs5.com/c.html?rtr=on&s=lizj,2psx,db,7kq1,cr0j,cdbq,7xpq>In
Windy West Texas, an Economic Boom

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The Future of Food

Did you know that the pesticide industry bought the seed industry
during the 1990s. Monsanto and Dow Chemical owns the future of your food.

Check out this 9 min. short cut from the longer video called The Future of
Food:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/380.html

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World's Dirtiest Oil: Stop the Tar Sands

This week, a dozen Greenpeace activists infiltrated one of the world's
largest tar sand's operations, to shine a warning light to the world on
just some of the destruction taking place in Alberta's northern boreal.
The activists went right to the scene of the crime, to the same toxic
Syncrude tailings lake that earlier this year killed 500 ducks —
delivering a clear message to government and industry: end the
destruction, clean up your mess and stop polluting our water.

Our activists hung a giant skull and crossbones banner over the opening of
the pipe that led from Syncrude's operation into the lake. The skull was
an ominous sign of the toxic and deadly nature of the water and presented
a horrific image as the toxic sludge continued to spew directly from the
skull's mouth into the tailings lake. The activists also successfully
blocked a pipe preventing it from releasing any more toxins into the
atmosphere while others deployed a massive banner along the bank of the
pond that read "World's Dirtiest Oil: Stop the Tar Sands." This all
occurred on Syncrude Canada's Aurora North site, just north of Fort
McMurray, Alberta.

For more info, and to send a letter to Premier Stelmach and Prime Minister
Harper, go to:
http://newsletter.greenpeace.ca/alerts/2008-07-24-stop-the-tar-sands/

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Death in a Bottle
Turning Depression into Violence
8 min. video

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/379.html

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Dead Zones: How Agricultural Fertilizers are Killing our Rivers, Lakes and
Oceans
08 July 2008.
<http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/documents-and-links/publications/dead-zones>http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/documents-and-links/publications/dead-zones#

Fertilizer run-off from industrial agriculture is choking the planet’s
oceans, rivers and lakes. Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution feed explosive
algae blooms that suck the oxygen from the water as they grow. These algae
blooms result in dead zones that have become a recurrent feature in every
ocean and on every continent.

As global warming heats our oceans, these problems will only worsen.
Unless measures are put in place to control fertilizer usage, losses to
biodiversity will continue to mount, coastal and inland fisheries will
suffer and summer beaches could become toxic no-go zones devoid of life.

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We lie and bluster about our nukes 
- and then wag our fingers at Iran

By failing to disarm and breaking the rules 
when it suits, nuclear states are driving 
proliferation as much as Ahmadinejad

by George Monbiot
The Guardian
July 29, 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/29/nuclear.defence

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	•
Oil: Campaigners seek an end to production of CO2-intensive
'unconventional fuels'

Ethical investment groups try to halt tar sand projects
Oil firms to spend $125bn to exploit new sources

The Guardian, Tuesday July 29 2008

Shell, BP and other oil companies at the centre of the tar sands
revolution in Canada are facing a backlash from the Co-operative and other
members of the ethical investment community determined to bring a halt to
these operations for environmental reasons.

The tar sands business, by which crude oil is produced through highly
carbon and water-intensive extraction and treatment procedures, risks
tipping the world into an irreversible process of global warming, critics
claim.

Full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/29/oilandgascompanies.royaldutchshell

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Prescription Drug Addictions Rise
July 30, 2008  Reuters

Federal US data also show nearly 7 million Americans abused prescription
drugs in 2007 - more than cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, ecstasy and
inhalants such as marijuana combined. The figure is up 80% more than 2000.

<http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2341486620080730?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews>http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2341486620080730?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

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Polar Race
Monday 28 July 2008
by: Guy Taillefer, Le Devoir

    Four hundred and twelve billion barrels of oil. A third of the
planet's proven reserves. That's what the depths of the Arctic contain,
according to the US Geological Survey's most recent evaluation. One may
count on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take advantage of the
opportunity to reassert Canada's "unquestionable" sovereignty over the
North - and to reduce the debate over the development of the circumpolar
world to a war of flags and icebreakers.

Full article: http://www.truthout.org/article/polar-race

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Wow -- Tooker would be doing back flips!
-a
----

Bike plan confronts city's cycling future
Edm. Journal, July 29, Editorial

City planners have unveiled a plan that proposes to build an integrated
system of marked lanes and trails, improved signage and mandated bicycle
parking in all new developments.

The scheme would create nearly 500 kilometres of high-volume bike routes
along major roads by 2018 that would link up with local connectors, and it
would see all 906 ETS buses fitted with bike racks, as opposed to the
current 100.

The plan would also launch additional rider-safety education programs.
Wider curb lanes would be built, and new equipment would be installed to
make crossing busy intersections safer. <snip>

In fact, given talk of 40-year plans for the future, a sensible -- and
complete, not piecemeal -- bicycle transportation plan should be front and
centre in any progressive city's agenda, as has been duly recognized
throughout the world.

The current scheme is simply an effort to make up for past mistakes.

Full editorial:
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/opinion/story.html?id=06314929-658f-4360-be57-cd0379a7e078&k=22237

------

Here's a letter to the editor that was sent in response, written by
Geoffrey Pounder:

Tooker Trail: Edmonton's New Bicycle Network

The Journal editorial "Bike plan confronts city's cycling future" (The
Journal, July 29, 2008) laments, "For years, Edmonton city planners and
successive councils have ragged the puck on getting more of us to stop
using our cars so much."

Let us not forget Tooker Gomberg, who served as City Councillor from 1992
to 1995. Gomberg brought issues of urban sustainability to the fore.

More and more Edmontonians rely on bicycles to get around. Gomberg would
have been thrilled that people from all walks of life are "voting with
their pedals".

Gomberg brought forward innovative solutions to our environmental
challenges. He was a man ahead of his time.

Edmonton remains a city behind the times, but plans for a bicycle trail
network bring new hope.

Sadly, Gomberg is no longer with us, but his vision continues to inspire.
More than a decade after he left office, the city is adopting more and
more of his ideas.

"A sensible--and complete, not piecemeal--bicycle transportation plan
should be front and centre in any progressive city's agenda, as has been
duly recognized throughout the world. The current scheme is simply an
effort to make up for past mistakes."

Let us strive to live sustainably. Let us also strive to be gracious. At
last, we are recognizing the wisdom of Gomberg's ideas; now it is time to
recognize the man.

Let the bicycle network that Tooker Gomberg envisioned bear his name.

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