No,
really: THANK YOU, George Bush - 06 January
2009 - International — Thanks to President
George Bush three national monuments in
the Pacific will be created to protect the
largest amount of ocean in the world to
date. This is a truly rare opportunity for
us to applaud the Bush administration!
A total of 505,775 square
kilometres [195,280 square miles], containing
some of the most ecologically-rich areas
of the world's oceans, will be protected.
This outstanding decision,
together with his protection of a large
area of the Hawaiian islands in 2006, means
Bush will have protected more ocean than
any person in history, before he leaves
office in just two weeks time. The decision
was made under the Antiquities Act, which
gives presidents the right to single-handedly
create protection areas and Bush has only
used this once before.
Bush will save whales,
sharks and corals
Two of the marine reserves
that Bush will create include the Line Islands,
an isolated and uninhabited archipelago
in the central Pacific. The third marine
reserve will be in the western Pacific,
encompassing a few of the northern Marianas
islands and the Mariana Trench, the deepest
submerged canyon in the world.
Both regions boast a
rich array of marine life including sharks,
rare whales, birds and many other top predators
along with unique corals and intricate deep
sea ecosystems. Nearly 60 percent of the
total area protected will be subject to
prohibitions on fishing and other extractive
activities.
Marine reserves are
critical to preserving the diversity of
marine life that keeps valuable ocean ecosystems
functioning. As overfishing has expanded
to the farthest reaches of the planet, 90
percent of the largest fish have already
been removed from our oceans and marine
ecosystems are on the brink of collapse.
That's why we have been campaigning for
a global network of marine reserves since
2004.
This is why the word
"irony" was invented
Bush has threatened our entire planet's
future by dragging his feet on climate change,
and has previously given less attention
to environmental conservation than any US
president in history. If he is trying to
make amends with these huge marine sanctuaries
- he needs to realise that ocean protection
is a two-sided coin.
Protecting sea life
from dredging and fishing is a very good
thing, but what the oceans need protection
from just as much, if not more so, is climate
change. Global warming will have catastrophic
impacts on our oceans including mass coral
death due to rising sea temperatures and
loss of species from ocean acidificication.
And while marine reserves
will not stop climate change, they will
reduce the amount of environmental stress
on marine ecosystems - giving them a better
chance to adapt to the changes brought about
by global warming.
While the Bush administration
has raised the bar with these new monuments,
we will be calling upon President-elect
Obama to take much bolder actions, in line
with the best available science.
Are we there yet?
In order for our oceans
to stand a chance with rising global temperatures
and ongoing overfishing we need to set aside
40 percent of our oceans as marine reserves.
The total amount of ocean that will be fully
protected by the Bush administration amounts
to a mere tenth of one percent of what scientists
recommend.
The lesson in this development?
In the game of environmental sin and sainthood,
nobody is beyond redemption. Other world
leaders who might be feeling guilty for
not doing enough environmentally may also
be looking for ways to atone for their sins.
Perhaps if they all took this one leaf out
Bush's book, we'd be a lot further along
in reaching our goal - to save our seas
- before it's too late.
+ More
EU flag and climate
warnings beamed on Prague
07 January 2009 - Prague,
Czech Republic — As the Czech Republic takes
the helm of the EU for six months, President
Václav Klaus, a well-known sceptic
on climate change and the European Union,
refused to fly the EU flag on Prague Castle
(a seat of the Czech president). So, our
Czech activists beamed the flag onto the
castle instead and illuminated the urgent
need for the EU to act on climate change.
They projected the flag
and a series of slogans onto Prague Castle
and the iconic Charles Bridge as members
of European Commission visited the historic
capital. The slogans pointed to the forthcoming
international climate conference in Copenhagen
later this year and read: “Copenhagen –333
days” and “Time to lead”.
Later on, Greenpeace
climbers began asending the flag mast at
Prague Castle to physically hang an EU flag
on it but were stopped by police. Watch
the video.
Despite the evidence
to the contrary, Klaus believes climate
change is a dangerous myth. Thankfully he
is mainly a ceremonial figure and the Czech
government is determined to keep him as
far away as possible from the EU Presidency,
which it recently took over from France.
Europe must lead on
clean energy and forest protection
We are reminding Czech politicians that
they need to make the best use of the Czech
Presidency of the European Union to improve
the EU position in favour of radical cuts
in greenhouse gas emissions. The Czech Presidency
must play its part to secure an ambitious
successor to the Kyoto climate treaty in
Copenhagen later this year. There is no
time for dilly-dallying since climate change
is happening much faster than we previously
expected.
We have drawn up a list
of five key tests that we will use to judge
the success or failure of the Czech EU Presidency
in six months’ time. These include funding
for clean energy and forest protection in
developing countries. At a time when a number
of European countries are concerned with
unreliable gas supplies from Russia, we're
also calling on the Czech EU Presidency
to ensure the implementation of measures
under the EU’s recently adopted climate
and energy package.
Renewables will fuel
the economy and provide energy security
The recent spat between
Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies reinforces
the need for the Czech EU Presidency to
make climate protection, along with energy
security, the highest priorities of its
Presidency. Fighting climate change is the
best way to reduce dependency on expensive
fossil fuels, create millions of new jobs
and ensure a stable and efficient economy
to counter the economic recession.
+ More
Green gadgets - The
search continues
08 January 2009 International
— The latest survey of greener electronics
products has revealed that the greenest
consumer electronic products on the market
today may have a smaller environmental footprint
than those sold a year ago, but the industry
still has a way to go before they can claim
a truly green product.
Our second greener products
survey, “Green Electronics: the search continues”
assesses the progress made over the last
year by consumer electronic companies on
their commitments to green their products.
Fifteen major electronics brands submitted
50 of their most environmentally friendly
new products - mobile and smart phones,
televisions, computer monitors, notebook
and desktop computers, and game consoles
for evaluation. The survey assesses the
products on their use of hazardous chemicals,
energy efficiency, overall product lifecycle
(recyclability and upgradeability) and other
factors such as the promotion of environmental
friendliness and innovation.
The green news
This year’s survey had companies scoring
higher and more competitively than last
year. We found that fewer products on the
market contain PVC plastic and that fewer
hazardous chemicals are being used in products
in general. LED displays, which save energy
and avoid the use of mercury in backlights,
can be found in more products today and
manufacturers are using more post-consumer
recycled plastic in TVs and monitors. Most
companies have established better voluntary
take-back and recycling programmes and adapted
quickly to the new requirements of Energy
Star. But not everyone was happy to have
their products evaluated. Companies that
were asked but declined to submit products
were: Apple, Asus, Microsoft, Nintendo,
Palm and Philips.
The Lenovo L2440x wide
computer monitor scored highest with 6.9
points(on a 10 point scale)and is far ahead
of the competition in the monitor category.
Other product category leaders include the
Sharp LC-52GX5 television (5.92), the Samsung
F268 mobile phone (5.45), the Nokia 6210
Smart phone (5.2) the Toshiba Portege R600
Notebook (5.57) and the Lenovo ThinkCentre
M58 Desktop (5.88).
However no product scored
high enough across all areas to deserve
the accolade of a truly 'green product'.
Unfortunately if you are in the market for
a new electronics product it's still a choice
between a product that is green in one area
but not in another. To show we is possible
right now if all current green innovations
were combined we took the top scores of
each product category to make a composite
score for the industry. These ‘best practice’
scores, ranging as high as 8.6, demonstrate
that there is environmental know-how available
now to produce electronics that are significantly
greener than anything on the shelves today.
The electronics industry
is heading in the right direction. To stay
in the race to a green product, every company
needs to put its foot on the accelerator.
It’s time to take the progress made with
their greenest products and apply that standard
across the board to all of its product lines.
A few expensive niche products is not enough.
The electronics industry is one of the most
innovative industry on the planet. It’s
time these companies step up and give the
green gadgets we are all looking for.
This week, electronics
companies will gather at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas, Nevada to introduce their
latest products.
Want to know more? Our
team at the CES is twittering and blogging
as we present the new survey and check out
the latest gadgets.
