Download December 2012 News - South Asian Dialogues on Ecological

GREEN FEATURES
Serial No. 6 (December 2012)
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES
Is Japan on the Cusp of a Renewable Energy Revolution?
Revolt – Worldwatch Institute, December 3
More than a year-and-a-half after the tsunami and resulting nuclear disaster at
Fukushima, Japanese policymakers are trying to figure out what to do about Japan’s
power-generation future. In September, the government released a document titled
“Revolutionary Energy and Environment Strategy,” which proposes to eliminate all
nuclear generation in Japan by 2040. While the general public continues to support a
transition away from nuclear power in Japan, business leaders have argued that such a
change would increase energy costs, thereby making Japanese companies less
competitive in an already increasingly competitive East Asian market…
Japan’s focus now should be on addressing the barriers to renewable energy
development, and the Fukushima tragedy could be the necessary catalyst to make Japan a
leader in renewable energy…
Source: http://blogs.worldwatch.org/revolt/is-japan-on-the-cusp-of-a-renewable-energyrevolution/
Fossil Fuel Subsidies Of Rich Nations 5 Times Climate Aid: Oil Change
International
The Economic Times
4 Dec. 2012, BLOOMBERG
LONDON: Rich countries spend five times more on fossil-fuel subsidies than on aid to
help developing nations cut their emissions and protect against the effects of climate
change, the Oil Change Internationalcampaign group said…
"Measures that encourage inefficient use of energy, such as fossil fuel subsidies, must be
eliminated," Maria van derBSE 0.60 % Hoeven, executive director of the International
Energy Agency, said in a statement released by her office in Paris on Monday.
"Carbon emissions must be dramatically reduced, and the energy sector must play a key
role in this." The subsidies enable consumers to fuel cars and heat their homes more
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Press clippings compiled by SADED, Delhi.
Acknowledgment and Copyright
We thankfully acknowledge the published articles, which have been taken from various sources, indicated
as ‘Source’ for reference. SADED does not claim copyright on the articles collected for non-commercial
purpose to generate awareness among the people.
(These articles do not reflect the official views of SADED. We are not responsible for the authenticity of
the contents.)
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cheaply…
Aid is a keystone of climate agreements, and developing nations from Barbados to China
have complained in Doha about the lack of transparency surrounding $30 billion of socalled fast- start finance that industrialised nations pledged to pay for the three-year
period ending in 2012. They're also calling for a "roadmap" setting out how the $100
billion goal will be met.
Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/fossilfuel-subsidies-of-rich-nations-5-times-climate-aid-oil-changeinternational/articleshow/17471475.cms
Muddying The Waters With NWO Conspiracy Theories Part Two:
Diversions And Deceptions
By Colin Todhunter, 04 December, 2012
Countercurrents.org
Part One on the Role Of New World Order Conspiracy Theories can be found
here:http://www.countercurrents.org/todhunter111112.htm
Conspiracy theories just can’t fail, no matter how ludicrous they are. Try to falsify them
as you may, the conspiracy theorist will just brush aside your evidence by asserting that
you are part of the conspiracy against them and their theories. A paid shill in fact.
Circular arguments and twisted logic are the order of the day.
While modern day conspiracy theories take many forms, the currently favoured ones
involve a secretive, authoritarian elite striving to impose totalitarian, one-world
government that will rule the world and serve the global elite’s interests. Sovereign
nation states will no longer matter and political and economic events are regarded as
being orchestrated by the elite through various organizations, such as the United Nations
(UN), the G8, the World Health Organisation and the Bilderberg Group, among a range
of other institutions. World events are portrayed as part of the on-going strategy to
institute this globalist agenda, which includes depopulating the planet, genetic
manipulation, thought control and many other strategies to secure mass compliance
and submission. While we should of course quite rightly be concerned with such
genuine issues, context is everything.
Although conspiracy theories have been around for centuries, some gained in popularity
during the 1960s and 70s as ‘post-modern disillusionment’ set in and people began to
question the very notion of ‘progress’. Modernity had not lived up to expectations. Living
under the constant threat of nuclear annihilation, environmental degradation, poverty
and the inability of science or politics to address such concerns, people began
moving towards ‘new age’ beliefs and concepts or embracing unconventional
theories that seemed to explain humanity’s plight.
This all occurred against a backdrop of (failed) proposals to collectively address
worldwide problems that went beyond the capacity of individual nation states acting
alone. The UN had been set up along with various other international institutions in order
to address global issues but also to cement US global hegemony…
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By ignoring this type of research and writing (maybe because it’s all part of the great
Zionist conspiracy), prominent proponents of conspiracy theories are happy to make
assumptions about world issues being the result of an Illuminati plot.
Unfortunately, such notions serve to divert attention away from the real nature of the
problem: capitalism. Furthermore, by wholly misrepresenting terms like 'socialism', a
genuine and radical alternative is cheaply and deceitfully discredited in the audience's
mind.
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/todhunter041212.htm
Could a 'triple energy trip' signal the end of the battery?
Green Futures Magazine
4th December, 2012 by Anonymous
MIT researchers are working on a chip that can harvest energy from the sun, heat
and movement. Will this make changing batteries a thing of the past?
Changing batteries in some electronics might be a thing of the past, if researchers at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have their way. They have developed a new
chip that can harvest energy from the sun, heat and movement. The breakthrough with
this chip is that it can get energy from all three sources at once, and use it in real time.
“Today, there are devices to scavenge energy from solar or vibration. This can replace
[them] to provide more power by combining several sources”, says Anantha
Chandrakasan, the MIT professor who led the chip’s development…
Source: http://www.forumforthefuture.org/greenfutures/articles/could-triple-energy-tripsignal-end-battery
Patrick J. Kiger
For National Geographic News
Published December 5, 2012
High-voltage DC transmission lines carry electricity from China's massive Three
Gorges dam, the largest power plant in the world. Advocates of HVDC think it has
an even greater role to play in bringing renewable energy to the grid.
Thomas Edison championed direct current, or DC, as a better mode for delivering
electricity than alternating current, or AC. But the inventor of the light bulb lost the War
of the Currents. Despite Edison's sometimes flamboyant efforts—at one point he
electrocuted a Coney Island zoo elephant in an attempt to show the technology's
hazards—AC is the primary way that electricity flows from power plants to homes and
businesses everywhere…
"If it works on a large scale and is economical to use, it could be a substantial asset."
Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.co.in/news/energy/2012/12/121206-high-voltagedc-breakthrough/
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Are we trading away our rights and environment?
December 6, 2012
By David Suzuki with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Communications
Manager Ian Hanington.
Global trade has advantages. For starters, it allows those of us who live through winter to
eat fresh produce year-round. And it provides economic benefits to farmers who grow
that food. That could change as oil, the world's main transport fuel, becomes increasingly
scarce, hard to obtain and costly, but we'll be trading with other nations for the
foreseeable future.
Because countries often have differing political and economic systems, agreements are
needed to protect those invested in trade. Canada has signed numerous deals, from the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to several Foreign Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreements (FIPA), and is subject to the rules of global trade
bodies, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO)…
The 31-year trade agreement between Canada and China is worrisome, with its 15-year
opt-out clause (compared to just six months for NAFTA), but the inclusion of the
mechanism in other agreements is also cause for concern…
Source:
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2012/12/are-we-tradingaway-our-rights-andenvironment/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+
davidsuzuki%2Fscience-matters+%28David+Suzuki+Foundation++Science+Matters%29
Corporate Push For GMO Food Puts Independent Science In Jeopardy
By Vandana Shiva
08 December, 2012
The Asian Age
Science is considered science when it is independent, when it has integrity and when it
speaks the truth about its search. It was the integrity, independence and sovereignty of
science that drew me and propelled me to study physics.
Today, independent science is threatened with extinction. While this is true in every field,
it is the field of food and agriculture that I am most concerned about.
At the heart of the food and agriculture debate are genetically modified organisms, also
referred to as GMOs. The agrochemical industry’s new avatar is as the GMO industry.
According to the industry, GMOs are necessary to remove hunger and are safe.
But evidence from all independent scientists has established that GMOs do not contribute
to food security. The UN-sponsored International Assessment of Agricultural Science
and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report — written by 400 scientists after a
research of three to four years — concluded that there is no evidence that GMOs increase
food security. The Union of Concerned scientists concluded in its report, “A Failure to
Yield”, that in the US, genetic engineering had not increased the yield. “The GMO
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Emperor Has No Clothes” — a Global Citizens’ report on the state of GMOs based on
field research across the world — also found that genetic engineering has not increased
yields. Yet, the propaganda continues that GMOs are the only solution to hunger because
GMOs increase yields.
The Supreme Court of India appointed an independent Technical Expert Committee
(TEC) to advise it on issues of biosafety. The committee has some of India’s most
eminent scientists, including Dr Imran Siddiqui, director of the Centre for Cellular and
Molecular Biology, and Dr P.S. Ramakrishnan, India’s leading biodiversity expert and
professor emeritus at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
One would have expected the government to accept the recommendations of this eminent
panel and to throw its weight behind the integrity and independence of science.
Instead, the government is throwing its weight behind the industry and its fraudulent
claims… eatened with extinction if we do not stop the GMO drone.
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/shiva081212.htm
Solar-powered bus shelters opened in Tiruchi
The Hindu - Tiruchi, December 9, 2012
Special Correspondent
MP sanctioned fund for about 21 modern bus shelters in the city
Two solar-powered bus shelters, established with funding from the Member of
Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), were declared open by
Collector Jayashree Muralidharan at Karumandapam on Saturday.
The Collector opened the shelters in the presence of P. Kumar, MP, who has sanctioned
fund for about 21 modern bus shelters in the city under his MPLADS, M.Paranjothi and
R.Manoharan, MLAs, and A. Jaya, Mayor.
The bus shelters are fitted with solar panels which will power the LED lights inside them,
mobile phone charger, and FM radio.
RS. 4.50 LAKH EACH
The two shelters have been established at a cost of Rs.4.50 lakh each.
Each shelter has six chairs for commuters and the solar lighting system will have an
automatic control mechanism.
Source:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/solarpowered-bus-sheltersopened-in-tiruchi/article4181614.ece
Solar LEDs, chips to power India's lighting future
The Economic Times – 10 December 2012
Neenu Abraham, E Bureau
While global lighting is relying on chips to control power, India turns to solar LEDs
BANGALORE: Streetlights in the city of Tilburg in Europe can detect the presence of
approaching pedestrians and vehicles and ramp up the brightness in front and behind the
person/vehicle as they pass by. The streetlights automatically dim when there is no one in
the street. This technology, called LumiMotion, developed by Philips, uses sensors to
make streetlights power efficient and cut carbon imprint.
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According to Indranil Goswami, head (controls), PhilipsLighting India, "different kinds
of sensors have been developed for intelligent public lighting management systems.
Photocells detect the presence of sunlight and turn on and off lights. This alone can save
up to 10% energy because of the difference in sunrise and sunset times in summer and
winter," says Goswami. He says the company has aggressive plans to deploy
technologies like this in India, reflecting a global trend where chips are playing a vital
role in power management.
"Lighting is a power hungry field, taking up about 20% of the world's electricity. A lot of
current is needed to light the arc. But if you control how the arc is lit, about 25% of the
power intake can be cut," says Warren East, the global CEO of ARM. Chips based on
ARM design, which are found in 95% of the smartphones, are now being used in
streetlighting, healthcare gadgets and even by farmers, because of its power efficient
design…
Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-byindustry/energy/power/solar-leds-chips-to-power-indias-lightingfuture/articleshow/17550690.cms
No Alternative To Atmospheric CO2 Draw-Down:
A Geological Perspective
Andrew Glikson
Earth And Paleo-Climate Science
Australian National University
The scale and rate of modern climate change have been underestimated.
The release to date of a total of over 500 billion ton (GtC) of carbon through emissions,
land clearing and fires, has raised CO2 levels to 397-400 ppm and near 470 ppm CO2-e..
These developments are shifting the Earth’s climate toward Pliocene-like (5.2 – 2.6
million years-ago [Ma]; +2-3oC) conditions and possibly mid-Miocene-like..
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/glikson131212.pdf
(Countercurrents mail dt. 13.12.12)
NBCNews.com Future Tech
A new, glowing plastic material could form bright, white, energy-efficient light bulbs in
various shapes, researchers have found.
Using the material, researchers are able to make everything from bulbs like the ones
people use in their houses to 2-foot-by-4-foot flat sheets that glow.
The glowing panels may be coming to stores soon. Wake Forest University, where many
of the light's creators are based, is working with a company to develop commercial
versions of the bulbs that may go on sale as early as 2013.
The new lights use as little electricity as LED bulbs — and half as much as fluorescent
lamps - while giving off a comfortable white light, the light's creators say…
Carroll and his team worked on making large pieces of the plastic, and ensuring the lights
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gave off white light similar to sunlight, which people usually find more comfortable.
Source:
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/glowing-plastic-lets-youmake-light-bulbs-any-shape-1C7393764
NBCNews.com Future Tech
Device Harvests Energy from Train Tracks
There are more than 140,000 miles of train track in the U.S., many of them laid across
lonely stretches of land with nary a power line in sight. Thankfully, there’s a new gadget
to harvest energy from vibrations generated in the track by passing trains to power signal
lights and other track-side devices.
The energy harvester could save more than $10 million in trackside power costs in New
York state alone, according to its inventor, Stony Brook University professor of
mechanical engineering Lei Zuo. It would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions there by
about 3,000 tons, he added.
The device converts the irregular up-and-down vibration of a train track to a
unidirectional rotation of a generator…
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/device-harvests-energy-traintracks-1C7333667
Everything I Need To Know I Learned In The Forest
By Vandana Shiva
14 December, 2012
Yes! Magazine
My ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. My father was a forest
conservator, and my mother became a farmer after fleeing the tragic partition of India and
Pakistan. It is from the Himalayan forests and ecosystems that I learned most of what I
know about ecology. The songs and poems our mother composed for us were about trees,
forests, and India’s forest civilizations.
My involvement in the contemporary ecology movement began with “Chipko,” a
nonviolent response to the large-scale deforestation that was taking place in the
Himalayan region…
Biodiversity has been my teacher of abundance and freedom, of cooperation and mutual
giving.
Rights of Nature On the Global Stage
When nature is a teacher, we co-create with her—we recognize her agency and her
rights…
The U.N. secretary general’s report, “Harmony with Nature,” issued in conjunction with
the conference, elaborates on the importance of reconnecting with nature: “Ultimately,
environmentally destructive behavior is the result of a failure to recognize that human
beings are an inseparable part of nature and that we cannot damage it without severely
damaging ourselves.”…
The Dead-Earth Worldview
The war against the Earth began with this idea of separateness. Its contemporary seeds
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were sown when the living Earth was transformed into dead matter to facilitate the
industrial revolution…
Today, at a time of multiple crises intensified by globalization, we need to move away
from the paradigm of nature as dead matter. We need to move to an ecological paradigm,
and for this, the best teacher is nature herself…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/shiva141212.htm
World Bank Hypocrisy:
Warn About global Warming And Then Finance Coal Plant
By Countercurrents.org
16 December, 2012
Countercurrents.org
The World Bank warned about global warming. Only days ago, the bank said 4C of
global warming 'simply must not be allowed to occur'. But, a recent report said the bank
is considering financing a new coal-fired power plant in Mongolia
In a report* Kate Sheppard for Mother Jones, part of the Guardian Environment Network
wrote:
Last month, the World Bank put out a devastating new report on why 4 degrees Celsius
of global warming "simply must not be allowed to occur." This month, the Bank is
considering whether to provide financing for a new coal-fired power plant in Mongolia.
The World Bank Group's private funding arm, International Finance Corporation, is
considering support for the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine project in the South Gobi
Desert, a project that also includes a 750 megawatt coal plant. Mining giant Rio Tinto is
behind the venture, which is expected to cost $13.2 billion. The power plant would be
used to run the mining and processing operations at what has been billed as the "world's
biggest new source of copper." As NPR has reported, mining is booming in Mongolia.
This plant would only intensify that trend…
The groups argue that, if this funding is approved, the World Bank would be violating its
own criteria for screening coal projects with regard to their climate impacts. It would also
violate IFC's performance standards on environmental and social sustainability, they
argue…
The World Bank has been criticized before for continuing to fund coal plants. The World
Resources Institute issued a report a few weeks ago about coal plants that are currently
proposed or under construction, and it notes that the World Bank "has actually increased
lending for fossil fuel projects and coal plants in recent years." …
*guardian.co.uk, “The World Bank's climate hypocrisy”, Dec. 14, 2012,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/14/worldbank-climate-change
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/cc161212C.htm
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY
SciDev.Net - 19 December 2012
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While the Earth's climate has always changed naturally, for the first time human activity
is now a major force affecting the process, with potentially drastic consequences.
Huge volumes of fossil fuels in the form of gasoline, oil, coal and natural gas are used
everyday, releasing carbon dioxide. This, together with other emissions generated by
human activity, such as methane and nitrous oxide, accentuate the natural 'greenhouse
effect' that makes the Earth habitable. Carbon dioxide is the most important
anthropogenic greenhouse gas, with annual emissions growing 80 per cent in 1970–2004.
The unprecedented speed of change is threatening social and environmental systems that
cannot adjust at the same pace…
Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/topic-introduction/climatechange-energy-introduction.htm
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
SciDev.Net -19 December 2012
In the not-too-distant past, a developing nation tended to be seen as a country that lacked
access to modern technology. Today, increasing globalisation means that rapid
communication, market forces and lower import restrictions can help make a new
technology available anywhere that it might be useful.
The picture is not entirely positive. Countries still vary in their ability to absorb new
technologies and a technology gap still exists between rich and poor countries. Even
within countries themselves the ownership, control and use of such technologies tend to
be concentrated in the hands of the rich rather than the poor…
As with any new technology, there are potential downsides, particularly when little is
known with certainty about the effects of long-term human exposure to 'nano-particles'.
No technology should be adopted uncritically. Governments need to encourage informed
public debate to avoid previous mistakes when science-based techniques, such as
chemical pesticides, have been introduced without sufficient attention to possible side
effects.
Nuclear technology is no stranger to controversy. Despite the major challenges of
keeping the technology safe and dealing with nuclear waste, it offers significant potential
for helping to meet the challenge of climate change.
With all such technologies, developing countries face a double challenge. The first is to
develop the mechanisms to ensure that the technology can be developed and diffused.
The second is to ensure that the technology is used imaginatively to benefit the poor…
This topic gateway seeks to inform decision-makers — and the public to whom they are
ultimately responsible — of both the promises and risks of new technologies, and how
these might be reconciled to ensure that the global technology divide becomes a distant
memory.
Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/new-technologies/topic-introduction/new-technologyintroduction.html
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SCIENCE AND INNOVATION POLICY
SciDev.Net - 19 December 2012
Science and technology are crucial for development. Properly harnessed, they can boost
growth and reduce poverty. But they are not sufficient in themselves.
Science and technology must be combined with several other factors that, grouped
together, determine the innovation process and can thus be described as an 'innovation
system'.
Many developing countries are recognising the importance of investing in science to
build their economies, but face a number of challenges to do this.
A sound infrastructure of research institutions, laboratories and hospitals is crucial to
building a strong science base…
Technology transfer from more developed countries also has a role in fuelling
development. But simply transferring technology is not enough — countries receiving the
knowledge must be able to usefully apply it and combine it with domestic technology
advances…
In developing countries, government policies for science and technology to encourage
growth must also be 'pro-poor' — that is, they must be designed in a way that allows the
poor to benefit and increase their incomes…
Source:http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/topicintroduction/science-innovation-policy-introduction.html
UN Climate Change Negotiations 2012: India, China must move to new lowemission development pathway
The Economic Times, 20 Dec. 2012, Urmi A Goswami, ET Bureau.
"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down." The line made famous by Mary
Poppins is true for an effective global climate regime required to keep humaninduced global warming at acceptable levels as well. Over the last 20 years, all countries
have repeatedly recognised the need and reaffirmed their commitment to tackling and
limiting climate change. But meaningful efforts that take a serious stab at ensuring this
global public good have not been adequate or even forthcoming.
In part, this is because there have been inadequate incentives. Incentive to be part of a
global climate change regime and to making it work is the crucial element that could
ensure its effectiveness. Implicit in any action to limit climate change is the notion of
firstmover disadvantage. This is because emission reduction, which is the central focus of
limiting climate change, has economic costs.
Countries that take on efforts to limit climate change have to contend with fallouts like
loss of economic competitiveness as compared to countries that are not taking similar
efforts. So, countries need to be incentivised to take measures to limit climate change, so
that no country is worse off than another for moving to a low-emission economy.
Current climate change is the impact of emissions that took place over a hundred-odd
years ago with the onset of the Industrial Revolution or its stock of emissions…
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What remains unaddressed is how to ensure that all countries participate in this global
response. Each country has to have a clearly-defined stake in making the system work.
Each country has to be reasonably sure that it will not be at a disadvantage. Over the last
five years, the focus has been increasingly on advanced developing countries
like India and China. These are countries with growing economies, which means a
growing emissions profile…
It is time to recognise that delivering a global public good like limiting climate change
can't be seen as an act of good faith but one that is beneficial to a country's current goals.
Source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/comments-analysis/un-climatechange-negotiations-2012-india-china-must-move-to-new-low-emission-developmentpathway/articleshow/17685899.cms
The Climate Deal Sham: Only Sharing Can Break The Deadlock
By Adam Parsons 21 December, 2012 Stwr.org
The recent climate talks in Doha were held as if in an alternative reality to distressing
developments across the world. But there still remains hope and optimism because there
is no possibility of preventing runaway climate change without global sharing and justice
The latest round of climate negotiations in Doha once again demonstrated the sheer lack
of cooperation, goodwill and willingness - or ability - of the world's governments to share
responsibility for tackling climate change. Since the epochal failure to reach a global deal
at Copenhagen in 2009, less and less attention is paid by the media and the general public
to these byzantine and shadowy UN climate talks…
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/prasons211212.htm
Ecosystems In Upheaval, Biodiversity In Collapse
By Andrea Germanos
21 December, 2012
CommonDreams.org
New study documenting climate change shows sweeping changes happening faster than
previously recorded and bringing 'cascading effects'
A new report documents how climate change is already causing rapid, massive changes
with "cascading effects" on ecosystems and biodiversity.
The report (pdf), led by the US Geological Survey, the National Wildlife Federation and
Arizona State University, foresees a global loss of biodiversity and major shifts in
ecosystems.
"These geographic range and timing changes are causing cascading effects that extend
through ecosystems, bringing together species that haven't previously interacted and
creating mismatches between animals and their food sources," states Nancy Grimm, a
scientist at ASU and a lead author of the report.
And these changes will have direct consequences on humans…
The USGS offers some of the key findings of the report:
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Changes in precipitation and extreme weather events can overwhelm the ability of
natural systems to reduce or prevent harm to people from these events. ..
Changes in winter have big and surprising effects on ecosystems and their services…
The ecosystem services provided by coastal habitats are especially vulnerable to sealevel rise and more severe storms.
Climate change adaptation strategies are vital for the conservation of diverse species
and effective natural resource policy and management.
Ecological monitoring needs to be improved and better coordinated among federal
and state agencies to ensure the impacts of climate change are adequately monitored
and to support ecological research, management, assessment and policy. Existing
tracking networks in the United States will need to improve coverage through time
and in geographic area to detect and track climate-induced shifts in ecosystems and
species.
Source: http://www.countercurrents.org/germanos211212.htm
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