Australia Grumbles From Down Under

Are Australians Too Proud?

Australians have the biggest ecological footprint out of any people on the planet, cause the extinction of more mammals than any other country.

Recently overheard a loud whining response from an Australian when asked why they celebrate Australia Day – (note it’s interesting that there is no reference to the landing of the British near Sydney)

We have pride in our nation, we have pride in our sporting teams, we have significantly better hospitals, government, court system, safety net, pension system, banking system than the UK. We never went into recession our unemployment only rose to 5.6%. political correctness does not rule here, plus we have the best two major citys in the universe Sydney and Melbourne. And surrounded by the warm blue pacific ocean as we are sinking to nothing our tiny carbon footprint we are the lucky country, none better. We pity you Brits having to shell out loads of money for flights to Australia just to grab a few weeks of paradise.

Don’t listen to the Aussies talking themselves up – it’s what they do best. In reality their country is likely to be seeing environmental refugees fleeing the place before long: for ’sun-drenched’ read dangerously high UV readings with the highest skin cancer rate in the world’. 80% of the country is inhospitable and its economic strength is built on digging huge wounds out of the earth and selling the rocks to the Chinese.

G’day

Economic Growth Vs Climate Change

One of the main arguments in politics about climate change is the potential cost of acting to prevent it. Changing the way we get our power, the way we travel and the way we build and manufacture things is far from cheap. Thanks to some of the richest people in the world trying to get richer at our expense, our economies are not exactly rolling in money right now.

For politicians, the appeal of spending billions on acting on climate change is not great at a time when most of their economies are still shrinking. This is perhaps the key subtext as to why the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference was a complete failure. Now the New Economics Foundation (Nef) has released a new report claiming that global economic growth “is not possible” if nations are to tackle climate change. The report also claims that only “unprecedented and probably impossible” carbon reductions would be needed to hold temperature rises below 2C.

“We urgently need to change our economy to live within its environmental budget. There is no global, environmental central bank to bail us out if we become ecologically bankrupt.”

As bleak as it sounds, it does not mean we are all doomed. It simply means that if we carry on as the way things are, we are doomed. This is a fact. Western economies are built on a lie, that you can consume the worlds recourse as much as you like for as long as you like. The blueprints of our economies are unsustainable: fact. Continuing to ignore this fact will be the end of us, but seems to be the number one priority for politicians and business leaders. Our economies simply cannot keep growing forever. We are trapped in a cycle of boom and bust and sooner or later the busts will become too big to fix.

The report concluded that for a economic growth rate of just 3%, the carbon emissions of the global economy would need to fall by 95% by 2050 from 2002 levels. This would require an average annual reduction of 6.5%. “Magic bullets – such as carbon capture and storage, nuclear or even geo-engineering – are potentially dangerous distractions from more human-scale solutions”

The only way to prevent dangerous climate change is to fix our broken economic system. We could have economic growth whilst preventing climate change, but with the current system we can have only neither. It may well be in most individuals personal interests to continue to ignore these facts but it is in humanities best interest that we go back to the drawing board and design a system that works for everybody and our planet.

Haiti earthquake shocks world.

Three days ago the Republic of Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere, was rocked by a fierce and devastating earthquake. The first tremor measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck at 21:53 GMT south of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince causing untold amounts of damage. Shortly afterwards two aftershocks measuring 5.9 and 5.5 hit the island causing further damage throughout the city. Several of Haiti’s most important buildings, including the presidential palace and UN headquarters, were destroyed by the quake; reports coming in from the country suggest that over 200 UN personnel are still missing.

The world’s response was virtually immediate, within a matter of hours international institutions began to organise and collect donations for the Haiti earthquake appeal. In the UK, the magnitude of the disaster in Haiti and the increasing number of fraudulent appeal websites being set up led to the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) taking control over the Haitian fundraising campaign. The DEC comprises of 13 UK based charities and a number of public and corporate companies, including a variety of media and broadcasting outlets. In times of great natural disaster the DEC is tasked with uniting and coordinating Britain’s fundraising efforts in a way that will help maximize funds and ensuring that they are spent in an ‘effective and fully accountable way’.

A number of international organizations are already on the ground and relief efforts throughout the island began almost immediately. Despite the valiant work of hundreds of volunteers, the Red Cross estimates that over 3 million remain injured and homeless, and nearly 50,000 people were killed in the Haiti earthquake. President Obama has pledged $100m in aid as well as a contingent of 2,000 US Marines and a further 3,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to help with the relief efforts. Over 300 medical personnel are also being sent to Haiti, in a speech in Washington President Obama stated that “every element of our national capacity, our diplomacy, and development assistance, the power of our military and most importantly, the compassion of our country will be used to aid the relief efforts – To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction, you will not be forsaken, you will not be forgotten.”

Please help the appeal

Green Spring Cleaning Tips

In the current cold snap that is causing havoc over a lot of the northern hemisphere, you would be forgiven for thinking that spring is a long way off. But whilst you are snowed in and stuck in your house, why not get the spring cleaning done and out of the way?

Singing birds, budding flowers and April Showers. Spring brings all these things and the joy of spring cleaning. So here are 5 tips on how to be green when you are spring cleaning:

1: Sustainable Sweeping

Don’t use a vacuum cleaner if you don’t need to. Spring brings in pollen, buds and other wonders from flowers in the spring. Don’t waste energy if on a vacuum if you can use a broom to sweep out the dust back outside.

2: Use Cloths Instead of Paper

Reduce your paper waste by using a cloth, rag or a piece of old clothing to clean your surfaces. These are reusable unlike paper towels.

3: Vinegar

Vinegar can be a powerful weapon in the fight against dirt and germs in your home. This acidic liquid can be added to baking soda to make a natural drain cleaner, and it can be added with salt to make a pasty chrome sink cleaner.

4: Recycled Furniture

Furniture production is cause for a lot of consumption of the earths resources. If you do decide to throw out and old tatty sofa, don’t just take it to the tip. There are plenty of places that will take in old furniture to clean and resell. Also if you are looking for new storage to pack away stuff that was previously cluttering up your home, you can organize what’s inside your home with a recycled storage unit. Companies such as Way Basics offers completely recycled and easy to put together storage units. The best part about the company, besides its cool creations, is that its employees work towards helping victims of natural disasters obtain the furniture that they desperately need.

5: Use Your Windows

No not the operating system, the ones on your house. Open them up and give them a good clean. Clean windows can even help reduce the need for heating and cooling of your home.

Detroit Motor Show goes green…

For decades the Detroit Motor Show, the seminal automotive event of the year, has been a rip-roaring 100bhp petrol heads dream, but all of that is coming to an end; the days of the SUV and the gas-guzzling 4X4 are well and truly over – enter 2010: The year of the electric vehicle.

This year electric cars and vans are due to take Detroit by storm. All the major manufacturers, including GM, Chrysler and Ford, are set to display a variety of low CO2 emitting vehicles that will use a mixture of electric and hybrid petrol technologies. The shift towards ‘greener vehicles’ and a more eco-friendly automotive sector is a strategy currently being developed by both the Obama administration and the ‘big three’ in order to revive the US’ ailing car industry. The idea behind the initiative is to reinvigorate the sector, while at the same time, securing renewed investment and helping to tackle CO2 emissions responsible for global climate change.

The government’s participation in the automotive industry has not been without controversy however. Many Americans have become increasingly sceptical about the $80bn that the Obama White House has pumped into Detroit. Unemployment within the Detroit and Michigan area still stands at around the 15% mark and there has been no real positive sign of this changing, even after the American government stepped in with an unprecedented bailout. The show itself is reportedly costing $10m to host; critics have denounced this outlay as a further extravagance on the already overburdened tax-payer.

Aside from the $80bn bailout, the Obama administration has also invested millions in the ‘cash for clunkers scheme’; a programme designed to boost the auto industry by allowing consumers to trade in old vehicles and used vans for newer models. On the CARS website the US government proudly boasts that within a few short weeks “nearly 680,000 older vehicles were replaced by new, more fuel-efficient vehicles.”

President Obama has taken a huge gamble on this matter, his hope, along with many other Democrats, is that the new style Detroit Motor Show and its ‘Electric Avenue’ will be enough to return Detroit to its rightful place as the car capital of the world.

Vroom vroom

Unusual Dubai Flights – Base Jumping from Burj Tower

Back in November we commented that it would be pretty dumb to attempt base jumping from the Burj Dubai. In todays Times a badly researched article informs us that two chaps have already taken the leap.  After securing their flights to Dubai the adrenaline junkies got permission to go ahead with their record breaking leap from the top of the Burj Tower to make unusual flights in Dubai which lasted for 90 seconds.

Dubai as an emirate remains fixated with ‘the biggest and tallest’.  For example, on the then Abu Dhabi Road – The World Trade Centre was the tallest structure in the Middle East for years.  The driving force in all things Dubai however, remains the perhaps manic desire to make as much money as possible by whatever means.  Superlatives (technical and ambitious) attributed to the Burj Dubai are all very well, however its success and resulting appreciation is measured by its owners solely in how much cash it can earn.

The Burj Dubai Tower is an incredible feat of engineering and architecture and fits into ‘green’ standards for masterplanned communities. There is not time enough to explain the principles of that however. Anyway over the top, ostentatious fireworks and lasers were part of the opening ceremony to which VIP along with the builders were invited.

Video of base jump from Burj Dubai

The base jumpers are keen supporters of charity events and have said that any funds raised from this event will go to fund office space withinn the building for non profit organisations.