Green Cities, Wind Guandong, Scottish Independence and Hugo Chavez
A friend from the US wrote to us saying: "A few weeks ago the Worldwatch Institute's Lester Brown spoke in Burlington. While his talk contained some important insights about water and energy politics in the global South, his talk about solutions was rather shallow. Toward the end he asked Prius owners to raise their hands, then those on the waiting list for a Prius. He almost sounded like a Toyota salesman! Brown was disappointed how few hands were raised; clearly this audience at St. Michael's College was not quite as affluent as his usual Beltway crowd."
Here's Richard Register, one of the founders of the Green Cities movement in the US, on why Prius won't save the world, and why we need to redesign cities so they're not centered around the automobile:
"Over the past century, our cities have been shaped — literally — for the benefit of the automobile and oil industries. Today, with global oil reserves headed toward irreversible decline, we need to face the challenges of the imminent post-oil reality. Seizing foreign oil fields (then “spinning” the story to make a prophet of Orwell) will not solve our environmental problems. Building Green Cities for people, not cars, will.
In their controversial essay, “The Death of Environmentalism,” Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus claim that the environmental movement has worked its way into historical irrelevance. These writers suggest that “the greatest tragedy of the 1990s is that, in the end, the environmental community had still not come up with an inspiring vision, much less a legislative proposal, that the majority of Americans could get excited about.”
I disagree, not only with these two green movement morticians but also with some of their critics. Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, has rightly scolded Shellenberger and Nordhaus for “failing to offer their own ideas,” a lapse that “rendered their report nihilistic – able to destroy but not create.” But what does Pope offer? The environmental movement, he says, “needs deeper, more robust, more sustained collaborations” and “a new economic order.” His action plan is focused on renewable energy. Does he see any alternative to tacking solar panels onto the past century’s exoskeleton of freeways, automobiles and sprawl? Not in his response. “As early as the Carter Administration,” Pope writes, “the Sierra Club sought an alliance with the United Auto Workers… to preserve and enhance the U.S. auto industry.” In their desire to deliver “what Mainstream America wants,” environmentalists discovered that people wanted cars. So the Sierra Club’s response has been to try and convince the auto industry that the environmental situation could be improved if Detroit simply built a “better” automobile. This won’t work and here’s why."
Full article here...
Contrary to the Indy's slightly apocalyptic headlines this morn: 'China Crisis' and as an interesting lesson to Scottish citizens interested in both power and Power (see also Peak Oil, thanks Graham), is this from Greenpeace:
"China could become the world leader in wind power" Hong Kong, Monday 17 October 2005 - China is in a prime position to become the world leader in wind power, according to a Greenpeace report released today.
Wind Guandong, a study of wind power potential in the heavily industrialised Guandong province in southern China, finds that the region could by 2020 alone, produce as much energy from wind power as Hong Kong’s total current electricity supply.
Greenpeace China’s Energy campaigner Robin Oakley said: "This report confirms that with political and industry will Guangdong's uptake of clean wind power could become a model for renewable energy development not only in China but for all of Asia."
"This would be a gigantic step forward in reducing the threat of climate change and powering the sustainable growth of the region's economies."
By 2020 enough wind power could feasibly be installed in Guangdong to cut carbon emissions by 29 million tonnes. Guangdong is the richest and most heavily populated province in China, and is one of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the country. Chinese scientists claim the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the region are among the highest in the world.
Li Junfeng, Director of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association said: "Every player in China is actively devoted to wind energy, including the Big Five Power Companies, some private companies and some provincial energy investment companies. Even companies like China Guangdong Nuclear Power, which has been investing in nuclear power, are paying attention to wind power."
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior is currently in Hong Kong leading the Asian Energy Revolution Tour of Hong Kong, The Philippines and Thailand. The ship will spend the next two days in the South China Sea measuring and recording wind in the region. More here and here...
Finally, and on a not unrelated topic, (power, Power and freedom) is this "What Hugo Chavez really meant re climate change, natural disasters and capitalism"
