- Sustainability - list.sfgreens.org

Re: [Sustain] [GPCA-Energy] Fwd: No Real Renaissance for Nuke Industry
by Lynda Hernandez 29 Nov '07

29 Nov '07

I was surprised to read a recent interview of James Lovelock (originator of Gaia theory)in Rolling Stone magazine. Lovelock believes that nuclear plants are key to slowing down global warming. Solar and wind are only a drop in the bucket. He also states that global warming is inevitable. The planet will survive but 6 billion people will be removed by 2100. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16956300/the_prophet_of_climate_… Lynda Hernandez ===================== From: Don Eichelberger <done7777(a)sbcglobal.net> Date: 2007/11/28 Wed PM 05:33:37 CST To: GPCA-Energy(a)yahoogroups.com Cc: sustainability(a)sfgreens.org Subject: [GPCA-Energy] Fwd: No Real Renaissance for Nuke Industry So, nukes want a renaissance, do they? >From: "Susan Swift" <vencejo(a)mindspring.com> >Subject: No Real Renaissance for Nuke Industry >Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:23:51 -0800 > >At least some scientists believe that nuclear power is a doomed industry! >Thanks to Roger Herried and Tom A. for forwarding this news... > ><http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/nuclear/mg19626313.300-nucl…>http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/nuclear/mg19626313.300-nucl… > >See article below for more details on the report. > > >Subject: [ >Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:11:07 +0900 >From: >To: > >http://www.greensefa.org/cms/pressreleases/dok/206/206845.nuclear_energy@en… > >Nuclear energy: New report highlights nuclear decline in spite of >industry talk of renaissance > > >The role of nuclear energy is in decline, according to a report >'World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2007' presented by the >Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament today. The report >outlines that the proportion of nuclear energy in power production >has decreased in 21 out of 31 countries, with five less functioning >nuclear reactors than five years ago. There are currently 32 nuclear >power plants under construction or in the pipeline, 20 fewer than at >the end of the 1990s. Commenting on the report and this nuclear >decline, German Green MEP and energy spokesperson Rebecca Harms >stated: > >"In stark contrast to the claims of the nuclear industry and its talk >of a renaissance, nuclear energy is in decline. The shrinking of >nuclear in Europe is particularly notable, with ten power plants >being permanently withdrawn from the network since the last report in >2004.With fewer plants being built and existing plants becoming more >decrepit, it seems clear that the grandiose ambitions of the nuclear >industry will remain in the realm of fantasy." > >False promises for a nuclear revival could lead to misplaced public >expenditure, delaying a more intelligent and sustainable approach to >energy supply. In addition, plans for building new reactors would be >in direct competition for the limited manufacturing capacity that is >already stretched by the maintenance costs for existing (aging) >reactors. > >"The gap between the expectations being promoted by the nuclear >industry and reality are perfectly highlighted by the bungled attempt >to build a new reactor at the Olkiluoto plant in Finland. This first >new nuclear project in 15 years has been blighted by problems.After >only two years of construction the project is already two years >delayed and the budget is set to be overrun by at least 50%, with 1.5 >billion euro in losses and shocking errors in key technical >specifications. Clearly, talk of a nuclear revival is divorced from >reality and political leaders must call the nuclear industry's >bluff," continued Rebecca Harms. > >"Nuclear energy is fraught with risk and these risks have in no way >diminished. Attempts to position nuclear power as the panacea for >climate change are misleading and dangerous. This report reveals that >a nuclear revival is unlikely. We must ignore the nuclear smokescreen >and focus on proven, clean technologies in response to the climate >crisis we are facing." > >(1) Click ><http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206749.the_world_nuclear_in…>http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206749.the_world_nuclear_in… >and ><http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206808.conclusions_world_nu…>http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206808.conclusions_world_nu… >ear_industry_statu(a)en.pdf > >Richard More O' Ferrall >Press Officer >The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament >Tel: Brussels +32 2 2841667 / Strasburg +33 3 88174375 >Mobile: +32-477-44-38-42 >Fax: 0032 2 2844944 ><mailto:richard.moreoferrall@europarl.europa.eu>rmoreoferrall(a)europarl.eu.int > >_______________________________________________ >CAN-talk Mailingliste >JPBerlin - Politischer Provider ><mailto:CAN-talk@listi.jpberlin.de>CAN-talk(a)listi.jpberlin.de >http://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/can-talk > > > >-- >Tom Athanasiou >EcoEquity: <http://www.ecoequity.org>www.ecoequity.org ><mailto:toma@ecoequity.org>toma(a)ecoequity.org > Don Eichelberger DJ Fix Independent Productions Green Uprising Blog www.greenuprising.blogspot.com My You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctRp5rGJoUc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iySwwyZfDgE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r9rK8nPREA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5UbnJ0kUqo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SktIYTyC1U Donny Fix del.icio.us book marks http://del.icio.us/donnyfix The Hegelian/Marxist goal is emancipation. Marx said it best in 1843: "Human emancipation wll only be complete when the real, individual man (sic) is absorbed into himself the abstract citizen; when as an individual man, in his every day life, in his work and in his relationships, he has become a species-being (politically accountabe to the whole); and when he recognizes and realizes his own power as social powers, so that he no longer separates this social power from himself as political power." __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group Real Food Group Share recipes, restaurant ratings and favorite meals. Yahoo! Groups Be a Better Planet Share with others Help the Planet. Free airline tickets Win a free trip home for the holidays from Yahoo! . __,_._,___

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[Sustain] Fwd: No Real Renaissance for Nuke Industry
by Don Eichelberger 28 Nov '07

28 Nov '07

So, nukes want a renaissance, do they? >From: "Susan Swift" <vencejo(a)mindspring.com> >Subject: No Real Renaissance for Nuke Industry >Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:23:51 -0800 > >At least some scientists believe that nuclear power is a doomed industry! >Thanks to Roger Herried and Tom A. for forwarding this news... > ><http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/nuclear/mg19626313.300-nucl…>http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/nuclear/mg19626313.300-nucl… > >See article below for more details on the report. > > >Subject: [ >Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:11:07 +0900 >From: >To: > >http://www.greensefa.org/cms/pressreleases/dok/206/206845.nuclear_energy@en… > >Nuclear energy: New report highlights nuclear decline in spite of >industry talk of renaissance > > >The role of nuclear energy is in decline, according to a report >'World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2007' presented by the >Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament today. The report >outlines that the proportion of nuclear energy in power production >has decreased in 21 out of 31 countries, with five less functioning >nuclear reactors than five years ago. There are currently 32 nuclear >power plants under construction or in the pipeline, 20 fewer than at >the end of the 1990s. Commenting on the report and this nuclear >decline, German Green MEP and energy spokesperson Rebecca Harms >stated: > >"In stark contrast to the claims of the nuclear industry and its talk >of a renaissance, nuclear energy is in decline. The shrinking of >nuclear in Europe is particularly notable, with ten power plants >being permanently withdrawn from the network since the last report in >2004.With fewer plants being built and existing plants becoming more >decrepit, it seems clear that the grandiose ambitions of the nuclear >industry will remain in the realm of fantasy." > >False promises for a nuclear revival could lead to misplaced public >expenditure, delaying a more intelligent and sustainable approach to >energy supply. In addition, plans for building new reactors would be >in direct competition for the limited manufacturing capacity that is >already stretched by the maintenance costs for existing (aging) >reactors. > >"The gap between the expectations being promoted by the nuclear >industry and reality are perfectly highlighted by the bungled attempt >to build a new reactor at the Olkiluoto plant in Finland. This first >new nuclear project in 15 years has been blighted by problems.After >only two years of construction the project is already two years >delayed and the budget is set to be overrun by at least 50%, with 1.5 >billion euro in losses and shocking errors in key technical >specifications. Clearly, talk of a nuclear revival is divorced from >reality and political leaders must call the nuclear industry's >bluff," continued Rebecca Harms. > >"Nuclear energy is fraught with risk and these risks have in no way >diminished. Attempts to position nuclear power as the panacea for >climate change are misleading and dangerous. This report reveals that >a nuclear revival is unlikely. We must ignore the nuclear smokescreen >and focus on proven, clean technologies in response to the climate >crisis we are facing." > >(1) Click ><http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206749.the_world_nuclear_in…>http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206749.the_world_nuclear_in… >and ><http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206808.conclusions_world_nu…>http://www.greens-efa.org/cms/topics/dokbin/206/206808.conclusions_world_nu… >ear_industry_statu(a)en.pdf > >Richard More O' Ferrall >Press Officer >The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament >Tel: Brussels +32 2 2841667 / Strasburg +33 3 88174375 >Mobile: +32-477-44-38-42 >Fax: 0032 2 2844944 ><mailto:richard.moreoferrall@europarl.europa.eu>rmoreoferrall(a)europarl.eu.int > >_______________________________________________ >CAN-talk Mailingliste >JPBerlin - Politischer Provider ><mailto:CAN-talk@listi.jpberlin.de>CAN-talk(a)listi.jpberlin.de >http://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/can-talk > > > >-- >Tom Athanasiou >EcoEquity: <http://www.ecoequity.org>www.ecoequity.org ><mailto:toma@ecoequity.org>toma(a)ecoequity.org > Don Eichelberger DJ Fix Independent Productions Green Uprising Blog www.greenuprising.blogspot.com My You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctRp5rGJoUc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iySwwyZfDgE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r9rK8nPREA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5UbnJ0kUqo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SktIYTyC1U Donny Fix del.icio.us book marks http://del.icio.us/donnyfix The Hegelian/Marxist goal is emancipation. Marx said it best in 1843: "Human emancipation wll only be complete when the real, individual man (sic) is absorbed into himself the abstract citizen; when as an individual man, in his every day life, in his work and in his relationships, he has become a species-being (politically accountabe to the whole); and when he recognizes and realizes his own power as social powers, so that he no longer separates this social power from himself as political power."

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[Sustain] Australia
by Jeanne 28 Nov '07

28 Nov '07

Did you notice that the Australian Greens got 7.6% of the vote, and according to E.L. Dionne, "played a role in Labor's victory"? I guess they will be part of the new center-left government. Jeanne -- Jeanne Rosenmeier 415 751-0901

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[Sustain] My Piece On Agro-fuels In Beyond Chron
by Eric Brooks 26 Nov '07

26 Nov '07

Hi all, I got a good guest editorial spot for a piece I wrote strongly criticising biodiesel and the agro-fuels industry. See below or: http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/Guest_Editorial_The_Terrible_Illusion_o… Guest Editorial: The Terrible Illusion of Biodiesel /by Eric Brooks, 2007-11-26/ I read with shocked and tired eyes E. "Doc" Smith's recent glowing article <http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=5132> about San Francisco's biodiesel program. As an environmental activist with over two decades experience, every time I see an article like this, I lose another little bit of precious life and hope. Smith and others like him, trumpeting the valor of biodiesel and other biofuels, need to knock it off immediately. Biodiesel does -not- produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum diesel, in fact it produces more. And the reality gets even worse than that. Biodiesel and other biofuels have suddenly become a huge booming industry which, because of the the nature of how those fuels are produced, is now destroying the planet and human civilization much faster than global warming. This needs to be repeated... The new biofuels boom is -worse- than global warming. And unwitting starry eyed supporters of it like Willie Nelson and E. "Doc" Smith are the keystone that is helping massive multi-national corporations get the planet's increasingly environmentally conscious public to become blindly hooked on a devastating, diseased, biofuels illusion. Those of us on the cutting edge of fighting the climate crisis have been struggling mightily to get people to wake up from this illusion for the last decade and we are beginning to get attention; but not nearly fast enough to stop corporations like ADM, Cargill, British Petroleum (BP), Monsanto, and many others from ramping up a massive explosion in biofuels, bioplastics, and biochemicals production which is already visibly and measurably increasing our already serious global environmental collapse at an almost exponential rate. The key problem of perception is french fry oil. When told of how some people are now running their cars on used vegetable oils that would have been thrown away, environmentally conscious people immediately get very excited by the idea. I myself long ago, got very excited about it. But then I started thinking about all of the work that the environmental movement has done to fight corporate monoculture agriculture's devastating impact on the the planet. I started to crunch numbers in my head, and I immediately realized that biofuels could not possibly be a good thing, and that soon they would present the worst environmental disaster we have ever faced. That grim realization is now becoming a reality. The problem is one of sheer scale. The amount of fuel that can be produced from recycling used cooking oil is only a tiny fraction of the total fuel used every day by diesel automobiles. What this means is that projects like San Francisco's waste oils biodiesel program will quickly run out of those waste oils long before even a small part of San Francisco's fleet of diesel cars, trucks and construction equipment is converted to biodiesel. At that point there is only one place to get the supposedly magical biodiesel; from massive corporate plantations of monocrops grown specifically to produce biodiesel. In fact, because of European requirements for biofuel use, this is already happening. As you read this article, huge amounts of both rainforest, and food crop land, are being cleared in order to produce automobile fuel crops, most prominently, biodiesel from palm oil. The impact is already staggering and is getting worse very rapidly. And as rainforest and cropland are being destroyed, some grain food prices are skyrocketing both because food crops have been replaced by fuel crops and because many former food crops themselves are being used to produce fuel -instead- of food. This process is devastating the global ecosystem and economies in the global South; the latter which are already staggering under the terrible weight of a global agriculture industry that is eating up lands which once produced local food, in order to grow and sell to the world market, higher priced export crops. Take one look at the world's insane love of the automobile, and at the booming production of new automobiles for countries like China, and it is easy to see that biofuels are the -ultimate- export crop; which will form the foundation of a planet and civilization killing industry, if we allow their production to proceed any further. And as this cropland and rainforest clearing rages forward, the process, because it is accompanied by realities like top soil disturbance (which releases CO2) and the burning of undesirable trees and plant wastes, is creating massively higher CO2 releases than even petroleum products produce. For example, biodiesel made from palm oil produces -ten- times more global warming gasses than petroleum diesel. To complete the grim cycle, every time someone like Smith, however noble and well intentioned, writes a smarmy smiling article about how great and progressive biofuel is, the big ag companies go to Congresses and Parliaments all over the world with an even further gleefully deceived public as back-up, to get increased subsidies for this new devastating biofuels industry. And biofuel is just the beginning. These companies are now branching out into bioplastics, biochemicals, and biopharmaceuticals. Companies like BP (with its new 500 million dollar labs at UC Berkeley) are literally making plans to manufacture everything we produce now from petroleum and natural gas, from plant crops instead. The result of such nonsense is easily predictable - a much more rapid planetary collapse which will be completed in our own lifetimes. This insanity must be stopped immediately, and the first step is to stop painting glowing images of biofuels and start painting the accurate, Bosch like nightmare panorama, of biofuels as a disaster, which is now eating our planet alive, faster than global warming. To start getting a sense of the nature and scale of this problem, I recommend reading a couple of articles by science writer and environmental activist George Monbiot at, http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/12/06/worse-than-fossil-fuel/ and http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2007/03/27/a-lethal-solution/ / Eric Brooks is Co-Chair of the San Francisco Green Party Sustainability Working Group./ -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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[Sustain] German Green speech
by Jeanne 21 Nov '07

21 Nov '07

I went Thursday to hear a talk on international cooperation re climate change by a Dr. Alfred Fuchs, a German Green who is in this country to assume the lead in a Washington-based foundation on climate change. It was a fairly standard "got to do something about climate change" talk, except that he emphasized government policies that would bring market forces to bear on the problem, an emphasis one doesn't often hear from American Greens. He also focussed more than I am used to on soil degradation. At the reception afterward, I got talking to Olof Hansen of the EPA, who has been working with the city on the biofuels from waste fats and oils project. So I asked him our question about toxins in the portion of the raw material that they intend to scrape out of the sewers. He was rather nonplussed, then asked what kind of toxins I had in mind. Well, I wasn't sure either, so I said, "How about heavy metals?" He replied that in general that was not a major issue in SF, because we don't do much manufacturing. He went on to say that restaurant waste would constitute the vast majority of the raw material, to the tune of 10 million gallons of oil per year. And since restaurants usually pay to have the stuff hauled away, they are happy to donate it to the city. FYI Jeanne -- Jeanne Rosenmeier 415 751-0901

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[Sustain] Groundbreaking Natural Oil Clean-Up Movement Launched In SF
by Eric Brooks 17 Nov '07

17 Nov '07

H all, By far, the most inspiring environmental news I have heard in over a decade was in an interview yesterday on KPFA Radio's Terra Verde environmental program. In that half hour show they describe a groundbreaking movement arising, right now, to use natural hair mats and oyster mushrooms to holistically clean-up and then compost into harmless organic material, the San Francisco Bay bunker fuel spill. What the program describes is a critical moment in time and human consciousness in which thousands of people have taken their deep frustration with our fossil-fuel/capitalist/war powered planet, and channeled it into a direct counter assault on our global crisis, clearly lighting a new beacon for a non-petroleum based world. listen at: http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=23320 -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

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Re: [Sustain] [Transpo] Fwd: Just thought you'd enjoy this, knowing, I believe, your position on carbon emissions and global warming, which I share with you . . .
by Eric Brooks 17 Nov '07

17 Nov '07

Lovelock is a moron. Here's a link to an article he wrote promoting nuclear power to solve the global warming problem he supposedly thinks we should do nothing about... http://www.ecolo.org/media/articles/articles.in.english/love-indep-24-05-04… Ann Garrison wrote: >> James Lovelock, author of the Gaia hypothesis, believes that >> reducing greenhouse gases will actually hasten global warming: >> >> http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/?p=396 >> >> >> ---Ann Garrison >> >> anniegarrison(a)mac.com >> (415) 285-7259 >> (415) 786-6839 >> >> "El-Baradei has as much chance of stopping proliferation as George >> Bush has of stopping the drug trade." >> --Craig Reishus, Nuclear Free Future Awards website manager, >> writer and editor >> >> >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Transpo mailing list > Transpo(a)sfgreens.org > https://list.sfgreens.org/mailman/listinfo/transpo > > -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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Re: [Sustain] [Transpo] Fwd: Just thought you'd enjoy this, knowing, I believe, your position on carbon emissions and global warming, which I share with you . . .
by Eric Brooks 17 Nov '07

17 Nov '07

Lovelock is a moron. Here's a link to an article he wrote promoting nuclear power to solve the global warming problem he supposedly thinks we should do nothing about... http://www.ecolo.org/media/articles/articles.in.english/love-indep-24-05-04… Ann Garrison wrote: >> James Lovelock, author of the Gaia hypothesis, believes that >> reducing greenhouse gases will actually hasten global warming: >> >> http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/?p=396 >> >> >> ---Ann Garrison >> >> anniegarrison(a)mac.com >> (415) 285-7259 >> (415) 786-6839 >> >> "El-Baradei has as much chance of stopping proliferation as George >> Bush has of stopping the drug trade." >> --Craig Reishus, Nuclear Free Future Awards website manager, >> writer and editor >> >> >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Transpo mailing list > Transpo(a)sfgreens.org > https://list.sfgreens.org/mailman/listinfo/transpo > > -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara

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[Sustain] Transportation/Sustainability -Joint- Meeting Thu, Nov 29, 6:30pm - 1028-A Howard St
by Eric Brooks 16 Nov '07

16 Nov '07

Hi again all, Because of the holiday, and to explore the possibility of holding ongoing joint organizing meetings for both the Transportation and Sustainability Working Groups, partly so that we can get more attendance and involvement in both groups, we are holding a joint meeting Thursday, November 29 beginning at 6:30pm. The groups remain autonomous, with their own platforms and guidelines, and the agenda will begin with Transportation items so that Sustainability members who have later night schedules will still be able to get their full agenda addressed. The Joint SFGP Transportation/Sustainability Working Group meeting will be: Thursday, November 29, 6:30pm at the Green Party 1028-A Howard St office. Discussion Items Transportation - TALC (Transportation And Land Use Coalition) Regional Transportation Platform Sustainability - Oil Spill - Critical Update (Possible Actions) On Fight To Stop Combustion Turbine Plant - Peak Oil Taskforce Update - Community Choice Energy Project Update cheers Eric

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[Sustain] Combustion Turbines: Dept. Of Water Resources Threat & Rescission
by Eric Brooks 15 Nov '07

15 Nov '07

Hi all, See attached both the Dept. of Water Resources (DWR) threat letter that was used to justify the Oct 30 Board vote to rush the approval of the JPower Combustion Turbine project; along with the subsequent DWR letter that rescinded that original threat. Note especially that DWR's original threat letter was produced only one week before the vote on the resolution; a resolution which proponents had already attempted (and failed) to similarly fast track in July, three months before DWR drafted the letter. Clearly DWR's week-before-the-vote maneuver was mere calculated political theater designed to help the SFPUC staff railroad the Board into a bad policy decision, to rubber stamp an unacceptable, no-bid, sole source contract with JPower, when we should instead take more time and send a legitimate project out for proper bids, which will produce much less or even no pollution when compared to the JPower deal. Ive also attached the terms of the proposed deal that the Mayor is crafting with Mirant so you can look it over. Note (in section 2-e) that it still allows Mirant to seek another 2 year extension on its water pollution permit to run the big Potrero natural gas boiler; which basically means that they are assuming the CTs won't be in place for another two years... cheers Eric Brooks Campaign Coordinator Our City 415-756-8844 http://our-city.org -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara

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