Robert Newman, a British stand-up comedian, author and political activist, urges for a “major” social political change to combat global warming. Newman says that “our economic system is unsustainable by its very nature.” And he believes that “the only response to climate chaos and peak oil is major social change.”

There is no meaningful response to climate change without massive social change. A cap on this and a quota on the other won’t do it. Tinker at the edges as we may, we cannot sustain earth’s life-support systems within the present economic system.

Capitalism is not sustainable by its very nature. It is predicated on infinitely expanding markets, faster consumption and bigger production in a finite planet. And yet this ideological model remains the central organising principle of our lives, and as long as it continues to be so it will automatically undo (with its invisible hand) every single green initiative anybody cares to come up with.

Read the whole article over at the Guardian.

The following touching text is a letter written by a fireman, some months after the one thousand fires Greece endured last summer, and addresses to people all over the world.

“I would like to forget:
- Those 3-4 sheeps we didn’t make it to save and heard them terrified as the flames reached them.
- Those birds that didn’t make it to leave their trees as the flames circled them, and were falling all over us like leaves in autumn…
- The terrified faces of my colleges when we saw 50-metres-high all around us.
- The panicked voices of other firemen on the phone, telling people got burnt in their houses…

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Today the Swedish parliamentary climate commission failed to set up tough emissions reduction goals to combat climate change.

The Swedish climate commission was created to set up guidelines, emissions reduction goals and to create unanimity between all the major political parties in Sweden regarding climate change. Even though the opposition, as well as the currently ruling right-wing alliance government called for “tough” emission reduction targets the commission failed to create unanimity.

Hans Jonsson, chairman of the climate commission, said during a press conference today that “we are in agreement on 300 pages worth of text. There is a half-page left on which we cannot find agreement. It has to do with Sweden’s emissions targets for 2020.”

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We all know that politicians try to flatter everyone to vote for them. They promise and they promise but it’s not every time that their promises come to reality. Cause in the end they have usually promised too much than they can handle in their quest for power.

For the right-wing opposition in Spain, this should have been crystal clear before they launched their climate saving plans.

The Spanish political party, Partido Popular, have started their election campaign by promising to plant 500 million trees to combat climate change and stop the devastating effects it will have on Spain.

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Yesterday George Bush had his final State of the Union as the president of the United States of America. If you are interested, the Washington Post has fact checked key statements in the speech.

This video is not from that speech. And it is completely not unrelated: (more…)

The USA recently passed its energy bill for 2008. The new energy bill has a section where it’s states that incandescent light bulbs will be banned for traditional use. The ban will begin in 2012 and, as planned, be fully in power by 2014.

The energy wasting light bulbs will be replaced with either CFLs or LEDs.

According to the US congress the incandescent light bulb ban will save around $40 billion and USA would need about 14 fewer coal-fired power plants, thus reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 million tons.

Image credit: Cabezadeturco. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.

The European Commissioner for energy policy, Andris Piebalgs, said yesterday during the press conference where the EU unveiled its plan of action against climate change:

In a time of growing oil prices and climate change concerns, renewable energy sources is an opportunity that we cannot miss. They will help us to reduce our CO2 emissions, strengthen our security of supply and develop jobs and growth in a high tech developing sector. If we do the effort now, Europe will be the leader in the race towards the low carbon economy that the planet so desperately needs.

Press Release: Boosting growth and jobs by meeting our climate change commitments

Yesterday the European Union agreed on a plan of action against climate change. The aim is a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 from the European countries. But the aim could be increased to 30% if other countries follow suite.

To be able to reach the 20% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by year 2020 the European Commission have outlined four measures that will help them achieve the goal:

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The European market for carbon dioxide emissions rights increased with 30% during January and September last year. Currently one ton of carbon dioxide emissions rights will cost you €24 (about $35).

The price for the same ton of emission rights during the period of 2005 and 2007 is currently €1 (about $1,46). This is due to the fact that the European Union has, as planned, lowered the number of emissions rights, and thus the demands on the market have increased the price for the emission rights.

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This is the final part of Climate Emergency and Sustainability Emergency, a two part article.

A few days ago at a social function I was asked by a top US atmosphere scientist - in Australia to work with top Australian atmospheric scientists - what would I do NOW. My answer in short was as follows: Australia has 50 Gigawatt (50 billion watt) electricity generating capacity (85% fossil fuel-driven at present); it currently spends about A$10 billion pa on fossil fuel subsidies; the installation cost for large-scale wind farms is about A$2 per watt of installed capacity; simply diverting this unconscionable fossil fuel subsidy to wind farm installation would yield A$10 billion pa /A$2 per watt = 5 billion watt capacity pa = 50 billion watt (50 Gigawatt) wind power electricity capacity in a mere 10 years, i.e. by 2017.

As detailed below, stated and committed Rudd Government policy means that it will INCREASE Australia’s fossil annual fuel-derived per capita CO2 pollution (already over 10 times higher than the world average if you include our fossil fuel exports) by about 50% by 2050. Every year is important. We must act urgently NOW. “Waiting for Godot” or, with the utmost respect, “waiting for Garnaut” is not an option.

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