April 2010 - Sustainability - list.sfgreens.org

[Sustain] Key Moment! Join Anti-Drilling FaceBook Page
by Eric Brooks 30 Apr '10

30 Apr '10

Join the FaceBook page 1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling http://www.facebook.com/dontdrill Offshore Drilling is bad for the planet, bad for people and bad for the economy. Take action: Send a message to Obama: http://350.org/dont-drill Then join us as we get work on clean energy in our communities! http://350.org/Oct10

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[Sustain] Action: Stop U.S. plans to save whales by killing whales
by Eric Brooks 28 Apr '10

28 Apr '10

Latest news and action alert from Greenpeace Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=N-tlWeyri-l8GNApM-T3zA..> Tell Obama to keep his promise to save the whales. Add your name and a personal message <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=KaI4xf8OHSh4S7tVLnYIJg..> to the thousands we've already collected and we'll deliver it to the White House on June 3rd. Take Action button <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=Wqeah6jtT5yA-_9HtO2ayw..> The headline reads like a bad joke: "U.S. plans to save whales by killing whales." But it's no joke. In an altogether shocking move, President Obama's delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has decided to back a plan that would legalize commercial whaling -- including in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary -- for the first time since the international ban was passed over 20 years ago. We only have until the start of the IWC meetings in June to show the President that this plan is a horrible idea. And that's exactly what we're going to do. Take Action NOW: Tell Obama to keep his promise, save the whales. <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=EMQM0EEv-W__ZEB3YX0o5w..> We'll be delivering all the names and messages we collect to high-ranking officials in the White House on June 3rd. Back in 1975, Greenpeace launched the world's first-ever Save the Whales campaign. The images we brought back from our first voyage sparked an international outcry and moved a generation of environmentalists into action. Eventually, after a decade of intense activism, the IWC agreed to ban commercial whaling. That was 1986 and it was one of our greatest moments as an organization -- it was also one of the greatest moments for activists like you. We could lose it all this June unless we're able to change the President's mind. We've done it before. Now we need to do it again <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=hcPK1E-KUN9H29n6YWfAxg..>. Sincerely, Phil Kline Oceans & Whales Campaigner facebook <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=5JtCRJ0grF0OWMsYSstDiA..> myspace <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=hRT8v4Vz6s3Z4JEmDZZOmg..> twitter <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=l1LL7-QeNW_JK1W-gPkgJg..> youtube <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=mKEdCKS5jLhMaF96ojPFVA..> Greenpeace 702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 (800) 326-0959 Click here to forward this message. <http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=vN6KEJqUYESqY05vbaaRZw..>

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[Sustain] Action: Ask Chef Alice Waters To Take Stand On Sludge 'Compost'
by Eric Brooks 05 Apr '10

05 Apr '10

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=28… Sign the Petition to Chef Alice Waters *Please, Alice, Speak Out Against Growing Food in Toxic Sewage Sludge!* Legendary organic chef Alice Waters is an outspoken opponent of using genetically engineered foods. OCA has asked her to take the same strong stand opposing the use of toxic sewage sludge to grow food. The City of San Francisco in the Bay Area where she lives has been deceptively giving away toxic sludge to gardeners and farmers, calling this hazardous material "organic biosolids compost." We want Alice, as the founder of the famous Chez Panisse Restaurant, to add her powerful voice to the fight to stop using gardens and farms as dumps for toxic sewage sludge. It is especially important because the Executive Director of Alice Water's Chez Panisse Foundation is Francesca Vietor, who is also the Vice President of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the agency that has been giving away tons of toxic sludge and deceiving recipients. The Chez Panisse Foundation promotes Edible Schoolyard's organic gardens. Obviously its Executive Director, who was appointed to the PUC in 2008 by the Mayor of San Francisco, is conflicted on this issue. She is working for both Alice Waters' Foundation and for the Public Utilities Commission and the Mayor. Mayor Newsom calls the sewage sludge "very healthy and safe." Neither Alice Waters nor her foundation have ever made a public statement flatly opposing <http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_20534.cfm> the growing of any food in toxic sewage sludge. Join us in asking Alice Waters to publicly oppose growing food in toxic sewage sludge. Sign the petition at: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=28… -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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[Sustain] Action: Ask Chef Alice Waters To Take Stand On Sludge 'Compost'
by Eric Brooks 05 Apr '10

05 Apr '10

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=28… Sign the Petition to Chef Alice Waters *Please, Alice, Speak Out Against Growing Food in Toxic Sewage Sludge!* Legendary organic chef Alice Waters is an outspoken opponent of using genetically engineered foods. OCA has asked her to take the same strong stand opposing the use of toxic sewage sludge to grow food. The City of San Francisco in the Bay Area where she lives has been deceptively giving away toxic sludge to gardeners and farmers, calling this hazardous material "organic biosolids compost." We want Alice, as the founder of the famous Chez Panisse Restaurant, to add her powerful voice to the fight to stop using gardens and farms as dumps for toxic sewage sludge. It is especially important because the Executive Director of Alice Water's Chez Panisse Foundation is Francesca Vietor, who is also the Vice President of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the agency that has been giving away tons of toxic sludge and deceiving recipients. The Chez Panisse Foundation promotes Edible Schoolyard's organic gardens. Obviously its Executive Director, who was appointed to the PUC in 2008 by the Mayor of San Francisco, is conflicted on this issue. She is working for both Alice Waters' Foundation and for the Public Utilities Commission and the Mayor. Mayor Newsom calls the sewage sludge "very healthy and safe." Neither Alice Waters nor her foundation have ever made a public statement flatly opposing <http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_20534.cfm> the growing of any food in toxic sewage sludge. Join us in asking Alice Waters to publicly oppose growing food in toxic sewage sludge. Sign the petition at: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=28… -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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[Sustain] Action: Ask Chef Alice Waters To Take Stand On Sludge 'Compost'
by Eric Brooks 05 Apr '10

05 Apr '10

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=28… Sign the Petition to Chef Alice Waters *Please, Alice, Speak Out Against Growing Food in Toxic Sewage Sludge!* Legendary organic chef Alice Waters is an outspoken opponent of using genetically engineered foods. OCA has asked her to take the same strong stand opposing the use of toxic sewage sludge to grow food. The City of San Francisco in the Bay Area where she lives has been deceptively giving away toxic sludge to gardeners and farmers, calling this hazardous material "organic biosolids compost." We want Alice, as the founder of the famous Chez Panisse Restaurant, to add her powerful voice to the fight to stop using gardens and farms as dumps for toxic sewage sludge. It is especially important because the Executive Director of Alice Water's Chez Panisse Foundation is Francesca Vietor, who is also the Vice President of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the agency that has been giving away tons of toxic sludge and deceiving recipients. The Chez Panisse Foundation promotes Edible Schoolyard's organic gardens. Obviously its Executive Director, who was appointed to the PUC in 2008 by the Mayor of San Francisco, is conflicted on this issue. She is working for both Alice Waters' Foundation and for the Public Utilities Commission and the Mayor. Mayor Newsom calls the sewage sludge "very healthy and safe." Neither Alice Waters nor her foundation have ever made a public statement flatly opposing <http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_20534.cfm> the growing of any food in toxic sewage sludge. Join us in asking Alice Waters to publicly oppose growing food in toxic sewage sludge. Sign the petition at: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=28… -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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[Sustain] Fwd: Obama Administration Admits Looming Global Oil Shortage
by Eric Brooks 01 Apr '10

01 Apr '10

http://www.carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/1584/1/ OBAMA ADMINISTRATION COPS TO LIKELIHOOD OF LOOMING GLOBAL OIL SHORTAGE, By Todd Brilliant PDF <http://carolynbaker.net/site/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1584> Print <http://carolynbaker.net/site/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=158…> E-mail <http://carolynbaker.net/site/index2.php?option=com_content&task=emailform&i…> Wednesday, 31 March 2010 Reprinted from *POST CARBON INSTITUTE <http://carolynbaker.net/site/v>* In an exclusive interview published March 25 in /_Le Monde_/ <http://petrole.blog.lemonde.fr/2010/03/25/washington-considers-a-decline-of…>, Glen Sweetnam, the Obama administration’s official expert on the oil market, confirmed nearly every element of the “Peak Oil” scenario that many analysts both in and outside the oil industry have warned of for years: • A decline of world oil production could begin soon—perhaps next year, and • Only extraordinary levels of investment by the oil industry can maintain current rates of production much longer. After decades of ignoring the “Peak Oil” theory that predicts global oil production will peak and then rapidly decline, Sweetnam’s admission marks a profound shift in the U.S. government’s position on energy depletion. "I understand how difficult it must be for officials of the Department of Energy to acknowledge that the lifeblood of the industrial economy--cheap oil--is disappearing faster than they had previously forecast,” says Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at Post Carbon Institute. “But the American People deserve the truth." *Semantics Won’t Save Us* While Sweetnam and the Obama Administration prefer to use the term “undulating plateau” to “peak,” the terms are nearly identical. Lauren Mayne, responsible for liquid fuel prospects at the Department of Energy notes: “Once maximum world oil production is reached, that level will be approximately maintained for several years thereafter, creating an undulating plateau. After this plateau period, production will experience a decline.” “Approximately.” “Several years.” In other words, the Obama Administration is predicting declining oil flow rates in the near future. Also known as peak oil. With 2005 now standing as the record year for total world crude production, we are already five years into the "undulating plateau" forecast by the DoE. Regardless of the shape of the mountaintop--years-long plateau or sharp peak--there is wide consensus that we are about to head down the steep opposite slope. Asher Miller, Executive Director of Post Carbon Institute, calls on the Obama Administration and the DoE to be honest with the U.S. citizenry about pending oil shortages and what it could mean to our economy and way of life. “Since the DoE is as concerned, apparently, as we are about the implications of energy constraints, perhaps the Department could allocate just 1% of the money saved by terminating fossil fuel subsidies to conduct a thorough and timely study of the impacts of high oil prices and shortages, and what could be done to mitigate that impact. The likelihood is that we will never again see an increase in the availability of cheap oil. If we are honest about this, we would immediately shift our investments from highway expansion to public transit and rail.” *A Call for Honesty* Post Carbon Institute hereby issues a formal call for the U.S. Department of Energy to come forward with all possible clarity and directness on where the world stands with regard to future oil supplies. The American people have already paid for this information through their taxes and they will bear the brunt of higher oil prices if these are indeed in the offing. We also call for urgent updated studies on (1) what would be the economic impacts of high oil prices and shortages, and (2) what could be done mitigate those impacts. Independent analyses have so far suggested that building public transit and rail, rather than more highways, would give the nation more and better options in the event of a permanent decline in world oil production; however, that conclusion will carry far more weight if it bears the imprimatur of the DoE. If, as previous studies suggest, world oil production is at or close to its peak and the economic impacts will be severe, then it is incumbent upon government at all levels to begin preparations. The /Le Monde/ article follows upon three recent developments prominently reported in foreign news services: • On February 10, the UK Industry Task Force on Peak Oil and Energy Security, headed by Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines among other prominent industrialists, issued a report, “/_The Oil Crunch: A wake-up call for the UK economy_/ <http://peakoiltaskforce.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/final-report-uk-itpo…>,” which forecast that “oil shortages, insecurity of supply and price volatility will destabilise economic, political, and social activity potentially by 2015.” • On March 23, the British government convened a closed-door meeting between energy minister Lord Hunt and the British business leaders responsible for the headline-grabbing report. • On March 22, the British Government’s former chief scientist, Sir David King, reported that the world’s oil reserves have been exaggerated by up to a third, and warned of shortages and price spikes within years. A peer reviewed paper by Dr. King and others, soon to be published in Energy Policy, supports the conclusion that world oil production may soon go into decline, followed by shortages and price spikes. ABOUT POST CARBON INSTITUTE Post Carbon Institute provides individuals, communities, businesses, and governments with the resources needed to understand and respond to the interrelated economic, energy, and environmental crises that define the 21st century. PCI envisions a world of resilient communities and re-localized economies that thrive within ecological bounds. In addition to Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg, PCI Fellows include Bill McKibben, Majora Carter, Wes Jackson, David Orr and 24 others. _Full list of PCI Fellows_ <http://www.postcarbon.org/fellows/>. POST CARBON INSTITUTE Tel: +1.707.823.8700 • Fax: +1.866.797.5820 http://www.postcarbon.org • media(a)postcarbon.org <mailto:media@postcarbon.org> ____________________________ *EON* The Ecological Options Network /"Documenting Solutions"/ www.eon3.net <http://www.eon3.net> =

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