Re: [greenyes] Global Warming and the Sounds of Silence

[<richard@no.address>]

I heard a commentary on the radio the other day (having missed the beginning
I don't know the presenter) where 'the environment' was described, not as an
issue but a concept, and that the specific issues were of serious concern,
but not widely discussed. A comparison was made with education as a concept,
and test scores as an issue.

Specific issues included mercury in our water, particulates in our air,
off-shore and ANWR oil drilling, the effects of melting ice caps.

To be effective we need to bring the discussion back to the specific issues,
and away from the general concepts - so that non-scientists can not say that
it needs more study.

Mercury is "harmful to kids and other living things" - to steal a phase from
the old anti-war movement. There is little dispute about the negative health
impacts of mercury poisoning, or lead poisoning.

Most people accept that breathing second hand smoke (from a power plant or
your neighbors cigarette) is bad for "kids and other living things" too.

Please tell your local elected officials that you want and expect them to do
something about the specific issues, and hold them accountable.

Thanks, Richard Gertman



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>
To: "GreenYes" <greenyes@no.address>
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2004 9:53 AM
Subject: [greenyes] Global Warming and the Sounds of Silence


> With reference to the CAPITALIZED sentence in the article excerpted below
> ("...WHO HAS DESCRIBED THE THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AS GREATER THAN GLOBAL
> TERRORISM"), I just cannot grasp how the Presidential campaign has been
all
> but devoid of any mention -- other than in one or at most two fleeting and
> passing asides from John Kerry when he is given the chance -- of what
quite
> likely will wind up being the defining issue for the increasingly
> inhospitable world that we are bequeathing to our children.
>
> To the nearest that I can understand, this moral abdication has occurred
> because polling showed that the environment didn't register above the
> cacophony of the war in Iraq and the war between the secular and
> fundamentalist worlds colliding here in America.
>
> But, to me, this has been a total and abject failure in imagination on our
> parts. To let ourselves be passive receptors of poll numbers, without
> strategizing on how to proactively redefine the national temper, for
example
> by the equation of threats from terrorism as from global warming, not to
> mention the growing shortage of potable water on a global scale, is
> inexcusable.
>
> As I look at my 7 year old boy in his Halloween costume, and playing
merrily
> with his Pokemon action figures, I kick myself for letting myself be
> consumed by the coming and going of our busy busy lives, while the single
> defining foul up of our generation (and the two that came before), ramps
up
> to levels which may have already entered a feedback loop from which there
is
> no turning back.
>
> I can no longer look at myself in the mirror as I shave without, for the
> first time in my life -- because I have always otherwise been so
concertedly
> optimistic about being a part of the beauty of being alive -- shaking with
> fear and anger, at myself as much as those horse's behinds in their
Hummers
> and SUV trucks.
>
> How can I have sat back and let the miracle of our lives ineluctably
unravel
> before our eyes is something I cannot answer because of what it says about
> me.
>
>
>                 Peter
>
>
>
> THE GUARDIAN
>  US must act over climate says Queen
>
> Mark Townsend and Gaby Hinsliff
> Sunday October 31, 2004
> The Observer
>
> The Queen has made a rare intervention in world politics to warn Tony
Blair
> of her grave concerns over the White House's stance on global warming.
> She is understood to have asked Downing Street to lobby the US after
> observing the alarming impact of Britain's changing weather on her estates
> at Balmoral in Scotland and Sandringham in Norfolk. The revelation gives
an
> unusual glimpse into the mind of the monarch, who normally strives to stay
> above politics.
> Further evidence of the Queen's views on global warming will be seen this
> week when she opens one of the most high-profile conferences ever staged
in
> Europe on the issue. She is keen for this to be interpreted as a symbolic
> and political statement.
>
> The Berlin summit will come a day after the US presidential elections and
> its outcome will dictate the tone of key climate talks. George Bush's
> administration has remained hostile to international attempts to reduce
> emissions of climate change gases.
>
> 'There has been dialogue between Downing Street and Buckingham Palace on
all
> issues relating to climate change including the US position and the latest
> science. She is very keen to get involved,' said one of the UK's most
> eminent experts on climate change, who agreed to speak to The Observer on
> condition of anonymity.
> He added: 'From her own observations on the climate she has become worried
> like the rest of us. She has made it clear she wants to raise the
importance
> of the issue.'
>
> In addition to her own fieldwork, the Queen was inspired by briefing
papers
> supplied by Blair's chief scientist, Sir David King - WHO HAS DESCRIBED
THE
> THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AS GREATER THAN GLOBAL TERRORISM  - and John
> Schellnhuber, research director of the Tyndall Centre, where Britain's
> pioneering work on global warming is conducted.
>
> "..."
> _________________________
> Peter Anderson, President
> RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING
> 4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
> Madison, WI 53705-4964
> Ph: (608) 231-1100
> Fax: (608) 233-0011
> Cell: (608) 698-1314
> eMail: anderson@no.address
> web: www.recycleworlds.net
>
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