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Comment by Chris on September 8, 2012 at 1:18pm

A Massive Ray of Hope on Climate

By Avaaz.org

07 September 12

 

limate change is accelerating, but there’s a massive ray of hope: clean energy is booming, producing nearly 20% of the world's electricity! Incredibly, the US and EU are threatening to stifle this breakthrough - but together we can stop them.

In the last decade the Chinese government has invested billions in solar, sending panel prices plummeting and making clean green tech almost as cheap as dirty fossil fuels. But the US and EU, who give billions in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil and Coal, are about to drive solar prices back up by putting tariffs on China, and now China is threatening to retaliate. A full on trade war is brewing that could kill the crucial green energy revolution.

The EU and US are deciding right now. Most of the solar industry is against tariffs - and now massive public support could tip the balance. Sign the urgent petition to save solar – if we build a 500,000 strong petition, Avaaz will make a formal submission to the US International Trade Commission and EU trade Commissioner calling for talks not tariffs:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_ray_of_hope_on_climate/?bYIwnbb&v=17644

China has a poor human rights and environmental record, and its strategy of flooding the global market with subsidised goods could be found to be too aggressive. But the right response to this is not tariffs, it is investment. While China, the EU, and the US all funnel billions into Big Coal and Oil to destroy our planet, China is also providing huge loans and subsidies to the solar industry. And that's exactly what other governments have failed to do.

Following the bankruptcy of a handful of US and EU solar manufacturers, some lobbyists are pushing politicians to blame China, instead of their own insufficient and inappropriate subsidies. Some claim that domestic jobs are threatened by low cost Chinese panels, but the truth is the opposite - experts predict that tariffs could cost 60,000 jobs in the US alone. The vast majority of jobs in the solar sector outside of China are in installing and servicing panels, not manufacturing them, so cheaper panels now means more work, and more jobs. And less climate change.

The EU trade Commissioner initiated the investigation into tariffs today and the US ITC proceedings are about to kick off. Written statements to both must be submitted in days to be considered. We're in a race against the clock to green our economies and prevent catastrophic climate change, and Chinese success in green tech could be the perfect catalyst for the rest of the world to scale up the technology and sustainably bring down prices. Let's make sure the EU and the US don't kill our ray of hope:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_ray_of_hope_on_climate/?bYIwnbb&v=17644

In the world most of us everywhere want, our governments would incentivise clean energy, and not hand out our tax money to polluters making record profits from dirtying our land, air and water and destroying our planet. Today, we can save solar, and take one step closer to that future.

Comment by Neal on July 6, 2012 at 7:20am

Cool.

Comment by Michel on July 3, 2012 at 12:49pm

Seen last night in San Francisco:

Comment by Neal on July 2, 2012 at 10:04am

As far as I can tell from the main media outlets, there are no protests going on anywhere worth covering. Nice photo.

Comment by doone on July 1, 2012 at 8:14pm

Watching sports maybe

Football More Important Than Protecting Boys From Being Raped

Just wanted to put it simply.

Comment by Chris on July 1, 2012 at 8:13pm

Great composite picture. Was America silent that week?

Comment by Michel on June 30, 2012 at 1:38pm

One of those weeks:

Comment by Chris on June 23, 2012 at 3:33am

Keely I signed the RGBT petition and read your other post that mentioned Pussy Riot which lead me to the following.

You should sign this petition to drop all charges and Free Pussy Riot because Russia doesn't have a 1st amendment.

7 years for Blasphemy!

Amnesty Press Release: Several members of a music group called "Pussy Riot," with their faces covered in balaclavas, sang a protest song entitled, "Virgin Mary, Redeem Us of Putin," on Feb. 21 at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.  The song criticizes the support shown by some representatives of the Orthodox Church to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and calls on the Virgin Mary to become a feminist and banish Putin.

The Russian authorities subsequently arrested Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova on March 4, and Ekaterina Samusevich on March 15, claiming that they were the masked singers. Although the women admit to being members of the group, they deny any involvement in the protest in the cathedral.

Amnesty International said the charges against the women should be dropped, saying Russian authorities were wrong to charge the women with the serious criminal charge of hooliganism, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.
 
The three women are currently in pre-trial detention until April 25.

A video montage of the song available on the internet has led to a wide debate surrounding the protest. Prime Minister Putin's press secretary called the protest "despicable" and said it would be followed "with all the necessary consequences."

Although a representative of the Orthodox Church initially called for mercy for the protestors, subsequent statements by representatives of the Church have called for harsh punishment, including for the women to be prosecuted for inciting hatred on the grounds of religion.

more info is available at http://www.freepussyriot.org/

Comment by Chris on June 16, 2012 at 2:45am

It's difficult to believe the House passed the Propaganda section of the NDAA. 

Defense Bill Legalizes US Propaganda

A new feature in the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act would legalize U.S. government propaganda directed at the American people, with the belief that successful wars require domestic acceptance, writes Lawrence Davidson.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is misnamed, since it has less to do with defense than offense. The offensive it wages is not just against a growing list of alleged enemies of the United States but also, from a constitutional perspective, against the rights of American citizens and residents.

Major parts of the legislation are based on the assumption that key legal protections for individuals are incompatible with the requirements of national security. The result is that Americans are now caught between “the terrorists” and the authoritarian propensities of their own government.

more here

Comment by Chris on June 16, 2012 at 12:41am

I signed the petition. If they start allowing homosexuals in another 50 years they might start allowing atheists.

I always feel bad about not supporting a boy scout in the neighborhood I live in by taking my car to car washes they have and etc. I don't because I see the boy scouts as a religious order like an arm of the Catholic Church.

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