Greenspiration News: vids, climate, nukes, auto-bailout
Angela Bischoff
greenspi at web.ca
Wed Dec 17 11:37:08 EST 2008
Greenspiration News
"The best way to find yourself is to loose yourself in service of
others"
-Mahatma Gandhi
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Looking for that perfect gift for your favourite 2-wheeled friend?
Why not buy her/him a 2009 Bicycle Calendar
It's full color, bilingual, Canadian, with images of cyclists in
lesser developed countries.
http://www.cyclonordsud.org/voir.php?id=507
Send $10 plus $2 postage to:
Tooker Gomberg Activist Fund
214 Macdonell Ave, Toronto, ON M6R 2A8
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Watch this 2 minute video about big cars and climate:
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=4eOMcU5cVMk
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UN CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS WRAP-UP IN POZNAN
The Poznan United Nations climate negotiations ended at 4am on Saturday
morning. The results were disappointing. The meeting failed to reach
agreement on key issues and Canada was one of the key spoilers at the
talks.
In many ways, Poznan was the meeting between the meetings. At last
year’s
Bali conference governments launched negotiations on the second phase
of the
Kyoto Protocol, which is expected to be completed at next year’s
climate
conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. Negotiators now need to
make up
for their lackluster performance in Poznan if they hope to complete a
deal
by the end-2009. The Countdown to Copenhagen has begun!
Here are some of the reactions to the outcome of the Poznan conference:
Climate Action Network Canada’s news release:
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2008/cop14-canada-
blocker-2008-12-
13.html
Globe and Mail Editorial:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.
20081215.EENVIRONMENT15/TPS
tory/Opinion/editorials
Toronto Star Editorial:
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/553212
News Release from the Union of Concerned Scientists:
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/little-progress-at-
poland-0173.html
UN News Release:
http://unfccc.int/files/press/news_room/press_releases_and_advisories/
applic
ation/pdf/081213_pressrel_cop14.pdf
Or listen to Friday’s episode of The Current, where Environment
Minister
Prentice and the Pembina Institute’s Matthew Bramley provided
competing
perspectives on Canada’s role in Poznan:
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2008/200812/20081212.html
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STUCK IN THE TAR SANDS AT THE UN CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS:
Alberta Environment Minister raised a lot of eyebrows during his
visit to
the UN climate negotiations. When youth groups put up a photo display
of the
tar sands under a banner that read “Canada’s Dirty Secret”, the
federal
government complained to the United Nations and demanded that it be torn
down. See the Canadian Youth Delegation’s reaction - Government
orders
youth to tear down oil sands display at climate negotiations
(December 10) –
at: http://www.cydpoznan.org/en/media.html
Also see: Youth group confronts AB minister at UN climate change
meeting in
Poland: http://www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/LocalNews/story.aspx?
ID=1045907
And view letter from Climate Action Network Canada and other groups
at the
negotiations to Alberta’s Environment Minister:
http://www.cydpoznan.org/files/International%20Tar%20Sands%
20Statement.pdf
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Nuke pursuit anything but PowerWise
by David Suzuki
Dec. 15, Op Ed, Toronto Star
Building new plants will be incredibly costly. Every nuclear power
plant built in Ontario so far has had huge cost overruns, has been
behind schedule, has failed to deliver the amount of electricity
promised, and has had a shorter lifespan than promised.
It gets worse. About half of Ontario's power plants have had serious
problems that have led to shutdowns. So taxpayers paid even more to
repair the plants and to purchase electricity from other regions
during the shutdowns. Nuclear energy has turned out to be the most
expensive form of electricity in Ontario by far. (And that's not even
mentioning the usual concerns, such as terrorism risks and
radioactive waste!)
If Ontario's nuclear power plants were any other kind of high-priced
product, customers would demand a refund and complain to the Better
Business Bureau. And you can bet they wouldn't be hoodwinked into
making the same purchase again.
Yet, that's exactly what's happening.
http://www.thestar.com/article/553283
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Child psychiatry is sick with hidden conflicts of interest
December 14th 2008
When I first began writing prescriptions for children 22 years ago,
it was
unusual for a child to be taking powerful psychiatric drugs. Today it's
common. How did we get here?
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/
2008/12/14/2008-12-14_child_psychiatry_i
s_sick_with_hidden_con.html
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CHICAGO FACTORY OCCUPATION
The decision by hundreds of union members to occupy the Republic
Windows and Door factory in Chicago is the kind of labour news story
that even breaks into the mainstream media. For comprehensive
coverage of this and all US labour news, make sure to visit our US
news page regularly:
http://www.labourstart.org/usa
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/us/13factory.html?_r=1
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Bush's Final F.U.
The Bush administration isn't about to let democracy or the will of
the people stop them from further ruining this country before they
leave office. Knowing he can't get his long list of favors to his
Republican cronies through Congress, Bush is doing a last minute end-
run, jamming as many rules through the executive branch as he can
during his waning days in power. These so-called "midnight
regulations" will allow factories to pollute more, further restrict
women's access to abortion services, cut off aid to needy families in
the middle of a recession, and much more -- all without Congress'
oversight or approval. It's wrong, it's antidemocratic, but, sadly,
it's legal.
When given the opportunity to be "naughty or nice" this holiday
season, Bush has clearly opted to go down as one of the naughtest,
most sinister presidents in our nation's history. We've created a
satirical spin on the famous poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,
in order to show President Bush crafting his last-minute agenda for
health care, the environment, civil liberties, and labor practices --
rules that will affect everyone and will be difficult for the next
administration to overturn. We are using humor here in the hopes that
it both commands people's attention and enables us to shine a light
on these all-too-serious midnight regulations.
Watch the 2 min. video: http://santabush.com/
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