Sound the alarm for Climate Change

by Paul Sat Dec 08, 2007 20:48

A brief report from today's Climate Change demonstration in Dublin
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by Glasgow & London Sun Dec 09, 2007 06:51

Meanwhile in Glasgow...
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/387373.html

Meanwhile in London...
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/387353.html

by OZ Sun Dec 09, 2007 07:24

Meanwhile in Australia, Peter Garrett former lead singer of lefty band "Midnight Oil" has ditched his green & peace politics to get the gig as Australia's new Environment Minister in the recently elected ALP government. Powering ahead with a huge pulp mill in Tasmania.

Check out this clip from "The Chaser" that says a lot about him and the Greens in Ireland....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIsJCR6w1Vg

by Satire Sun Dec 09, 2007 19:38

Dear friends,

Climate change is clearly the most important issue facing this state today.

As a small island nation, we are in a perfect position to show other countries in Europe and the wider world how seriously we take this threat to all of us, by investing in alternatives to finite carbon based resources which are adding to the greenhouse effect.

We have plentiful water, wind and solar power sources for our needs, but more importantly our long Atlantic coastline provides an ideal set-up for the one proven renewable resource- wave power.

It is clear that this country could provide one hundred percent of our electricity needs from wave power based sources within a decade.

We must also, of course, look carefully at the way we use energy. Public transport is essential for the nation to grow and develop, and we need to take on board the clear fact that expansion of the road network will simply lead to greater proliferation of private cars and more traffic, feeding the fire that is the climate crisis. Measures also have to be taken on waste management, recycling, and flaring of gases and heat into the air. Agriculture too must play its part in the country's response to this grave crisis, and we must seriously look at aspects of our economic growth such as heritage tourism which could reduce our reliance on dirty industries and farming for bringing money into the country.

Thankfully, I am in charge of the country's natural resources strategy, and my party leader is in charge of the Department of the Environment. The Minister for Food is also, thankfully, a Green Party member. Our numbers in the government are small, but our importance is large, since the government could clearly not survive a vote of confidence without us.

Therefore you will be happy to hear that I am fully in support of the construction (against the wishes of the local community) of a huge raw gas refinery in the middle of a number of special areas of conservation in Erris, County Mayo.

I will be presiding over the imposition of this facility which will include a flare tower over 40 metres high, which, combined with the high ground it is on, will be sure to pump waste gas into the whole North Mayo area. The refinery's slug catcher will clean impurities out of the gas and pump them into the local water, poisoning wildlife and effectively ending tourism in the region.

This refinery, placed at is on a site of over 400 acres, has ample room for expansion, and our friends in the energy multi-nationals already have plans for more and bigger installations along the same lines. I will be supporting them one hundred per cent.

My colleague, the Minister for the Environment , will be overseeing the expansion for the network of motorways around the country, starting with the M3 which is being ploughed through a world heritage site as we speak. He will also make sure that Fianna Fáil legislation is retained and expanded which will overpower local objections and speed up the planning process to suit our friends the big land developers, who have shown themselves such friends of the environment over the years.

I have no time to go into our plans for agriculture and recycling, but you'll be happy to hear that the giant incinerator in Dublin will be a star player in our earnest fight against climate chaos. Every time you see a big truck full of waste heading to Ringsend, remember that the environment is safe in our hands. I thank you and look forward to receiving your support in the upcoming Local and European elections.

****(note : I couldn't hear Eamon Ryan very clearly from where I was [in the pub] so I may have transcribed some of the details slightly incorrectly, but the gist is correct. I stand by the gist. )

by natural phen. Sun Dec 09, 2007 19:46

isn't climate change a natural phenomenon . It happened years ago and it;s happening again.

by hockey-stick Sun Dec 09, 2007 20:24

This graph shows to the best of our knowledge temperatures over the past 1000 years in the northern hemisphere. It is constructed from all available data including analysis of tree rings, ice cores, historical written accounts etc. People often say it was actually hotter in the middle ages than it is now, and that climate change is a scare story about what is actually a natural phenomenon.

Notice anything about the graph when the industrial age starts around the year 1800?

source- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

by . - . Mon Dec 10, 2007 09:38

What the hell is the story with a government minister being the first speaker at a demo?

Massive conflict of interest

by Realist Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:49

Within the next few months China is set to surpass US greenhouse gas emissions.
We are witnessing one of the greatest social transformations in the history of mankind.
Within the next few decades China will be THE global industrial superpower as hundreds of millions of Chinese will enjoy wealth and living standards comparable and superpassing that enjoyed by Americans and Europeans currently.
And right behind China is India.
This extraordinary industrial revolution will produce emissions of greenhouse gases that will be simply off the scale.
There is no power on earth that will be able to control this expansion.
Unless the earth is hit by a giant meteorite or a supergiant volcano explodes somewhere or a plague ravages humankind there little likelihood that this vast explosion of human population and industrialisation will be stopped.
By the middle of the 21st century fossil fuel supplies are expected to be seriously depleted at the current rate (the rate of consumption is accelerating exponentially) of consumption and shortages are sure to be the spark for global conflict, social upheaval and cataclysm that may killing countless millions before we can even mention the effects of climate change will have on mankind.

There is nothing we can do. This thing is just going to run its course.

by Chrissie Mon Dec 10, 2007 13:13

Whether or not climate change is a 'natural' phenomenon, we can still do our best to put the brakes on its dangerous acceleration, & reduce pollution & environmental damage at the same time. Our children & grandchildren will still need (free) clean air & water, despite corporate plans to privatise these resources!

by Pro-money Mon Dec 10, 2007 14:53

Yes, generally most people are aware of the environment and keeping it clean. Otherwise, if we dont, it costs money. It dosnt take the Grens how to tell us to clean up our act. Most of us would use bikes instead of cars to go to work/school ( but the oil companies ie. greens) much prefer we drive and there are no cycle lanes, therefore dangerous and unhealthy. and more money into their pockets..the same goes for packaging in shops. We dont have a choice there either. Christmas cards and wraping papera total waste of time and money and damaging to the environment. Christmas lights on trees . The Greens should be telling us Not to light up all over the place. Instead they are saying buy energy efficient Bulbs, how stupid.. At what cost and why buy those when they should be insisting every home should be built with as much solar light entering the homes to keep warm. Ie. Not to buy a house where there are small windows or where there are walls blocking the midday-evening sun. A private back garden and West facing should be the only options Lots of thing that we all would love to do, but we do NOT have any choice....

by maire - CHASE Mon Dec 10, 2007 17:27

Climate Change must be taken seriously, and maybe "Satire" will raise people's awareness to what is the core of the problem. We can go nowhere in making any sustainable improvemens to the system if Bertie Aherne or Brian Cowan don't get the picture. I don't think they do.
Their policies turn a blind eye to the health of the environment at every turn. They pontificate that they are following the "Green Brick Road" while the planning of this road is so flawed.
Before any development begins you must have meaningful consultation with the public, information given on time, and even then if the An Bord Pleanala's remit is not health or the environment, how can site selection have any credibility. It is critical that site selection is carefully and cautiously followed through, taking into account the truthful economics of any development that will harm the environment.
If you examine, Tara, Rossport, Ringaskiddy, Meath, and Ringsend you find the site selection is the problem, and all the shoring up to cover these facts still exposes where the problem occured.
We have no meaningful rules being applied to conform to EU directives. If these rules existed no developer would dare to materially contravene development Plans, Strategic Plans, ignore safety warnings, and risks of building hazardous installation on flooding plains.
While we have Ministers of the green persuasion in key positions now, that does not mean they can convert the ungreen. Be mindful of the last environment Ministers and their key role in the above site selection of Tara, Rossport, Ringaskiddy, Meath, and Ringsend. The use of such tools as Ibec, NRA , Strategic Infrastructure Act and spin to push and bully another agenda other than the health of the environment, was so invasive, that the "Dunne Deal" was accepted by many who had not the energy to confront the spin, climate change and its implications are opening their eyes.
If only the "Climate Change" could green this government who are in control at a critical time, then we could remain a country in Europe with the lowest dioxin levels. We could avoid paying for CO2 emissions from commercial incinerators. We might get a public transport system that would service people who live far away from their jobs. We might make a pro -active effort to avoid carbon taxes, we might even get the polluter to pay now would'nt that be a real climate change.

by macseamus Mon Dec 10, 2007 17:51

You don't think so?

have a read of this article from G. Monbiot, about the creation of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), - the tobacco industry's response to a report stating that passive smoking was dangerous:

Philip Morris, APCO said, needed to create the impression of a "grassroots" movement - one that had been formed spontaneously by concerned citizens to fight "overregulation". It should portray the danger of tobacco smoke as just one "unfounded fear" among others, such as concerns about pesticides and cellphones [.........] It was important, further letters stated, "to ensure that TASSC has a diverse group of contributors"; to "link the tobacco issue with other more 'politically correct' products"; and to associate scientific studies that cast smoking in a bad light with "broader questions about government research and regulations" - such as "global warming", "nuclear waste disposal" and "biotechnology".

Whatever may be your opinion of Monbiot, like the man says in his book, if you can disprove the existence of this "Doubt Industry" and the effect it has had on making you think that climate change is a natural phenomenon, then by all means, please, do humanity a huge favour go ahead and do so. (although maybe not here on this thread)

by greeneyedmonster - Greens to Sea Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:41

I almost went to this march, but decided not to, for two reasons:

1. It was held at least a week too late, because the Budget was already published, and therefore our carbon footprint for the year was already set in stone, a stone that had no trace of real progress on the issue. Spending on motorways up, tax breaks for builders, and feck all spending on public transport.

2. I saw pictures in the papers of representatives posing with Bertie, all smiles at the press launch, and knew there was something very fishy going on.

The fact that Eamon Ryan made the key speech has now exposed the whole sad affair. It is political hypocrisy of the highest order. These people have already failed us, fleeced us, and now they want us to march with them!!

Climate change demands urgent action. This was the least urgent effort I have ever seen,... Manufacturing dissent..... but not too much... Government approved dissent....

Will the real campaigners please stand up?

by marcellavee Wed Dec 12, 2007 00:56 anitagreg at gmail dot com Belfast

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We really shouldnt be needing Climate Change for it to be obvious that we should be becoming less instead of more dependant on fossil fuels .
As sooner or later they are running out .
In the meantime they distort and corrupt relationshops between countries
How different would the political map of the world be if it were not for our dependance on Oil ....?
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Biofuels are not the answer
Already they are competeing with food crops for limited available water and land
and people will be going hungry for the fuel we are putting in our tanks
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More land should not be under human cultivation than is absolutely nescesary as monocultures replace natural diversity and gradually the Earth loses her insulation against disease and disaster
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In the age of the Internet - much travelling and long distance commuting should be becoming obsolets
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Why are we closing local schools ...? when modern technology has made it possible to learn Russian or Higher Mathematics in any village
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Why are we closing local hospitals ? when it has just become possible to have a consultataion with a world expert over the web
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..........and why is there a motorway being pushed through the Tara valley - supposedly to help commuters - when there is already a railway lying disused which would destroy nothing and get commuters from Navan to Dublin more quickly - conveniently and with create less pollution and use less resources
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The situation regarding Tara is coming to a crisis very soon
a large stone has been found in the path of the motorway covered in megalithic carvings
It isnt in its original location but has been used to buils a souterrain as a defence probably from Viking raids
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but it has come from somewhere nearby
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we dont know where
or what it was originally a part of - but it proves beyond a doubt that the whole valley - not just the Hill - is a megalithic site
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and that it holds many secrets
which will be lost forever if the valley goes under a motorway
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this is an issue that brings together
our understanding of the past of our country and of the world - and our relationship with our ancestors
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the quality of life of people stuck in the daily grind of commuter traffic that this motorway will not help nearly as much as the railway would
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a vision of the future
Increasing fuel use - carbon emissions - isolation and loss of community
or using the technology now available to make it possible to relocalise -respecting and reconnecting to the land and build a BETTER Future
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The word " Tara " in Sanskrit - means " the Star "
" the Pupil of the Eye " and " the Way Across "
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perhaps Tara will mark the turning point - - the Way Across and we start to follow the Star -----
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ever hopeful : )
Anita Greg
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http://www.savetara.com/
http://www.tarataratara.net
http://www.tarapixie.net
http://www.sacredireland.org/ ( site down at time of writing but hopefully back soon - )
http://www.transitiontowns.org/
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ps/ I know this is mostly talking to the converted here - but need to get the hang of writing .....
...and there may be people here who dont know about the find of the stone -

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Tara: stone found as part of souterrain in path of M3