01.29.14
Gemini version available ♊︎British Government is Cracking Down on Climate Activism, Japan is Nuked, Germany Turns to Renewable Energy
Summary: Oppression against those who want a clean world and more news about energy and climate (which have a strong correlation between them)
THE LARGE BRITISH companies (or their CEO) must be glad to know that the police is on their side [1], including privatised, Bill Gates-funded police/thugs like G4S. There are more and more of their vans around here, increasing in presence over time (I went past one today) and decreasing in accountability (privatised police can get away with almost everything). 5 miles from where I live women are being arrested for protesting against fracking. Today I heard a lot of nasty details from one who is involved, too. Why is the British government so eager to help fracking companies that inject toxins into our water? Who’s the real villain here?
It could be worse though; look at what happens in Japan [2-4] (where reporting is suppressed and cruelty to life is “normal” [5]). With radical climatic changes [6,7] we should be better aware of the harms of combustion-based fuels [8], then move to alternative, greener forms of energy (new example from Germany [9]). Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austria-born steroid-taking politician, is turning into a climate activist [10], so let’s hope that his endeavours are more successful than his political career. Given the spread of climate change denial, we really do need some “superheroes” if change is to occur. It’s depressing to see the criminalisation and infiltration into environmental groups, not just in the UK. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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Emails reveal UK helped shale gas industry manage fracking opposition
Government officials accused of cheerleading for fracking by sharing ‘lines to take’ and meeting for post-dinner drinks
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TV: “Many young people in Fukushima who are in high school have died suddenly”; Officials “ignore all the problems” — Former Mayor: People are always told “any disease they have is not caused by radiation” (VIDEO)
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Japan TV: It gets worse every minute at Fukushima plant, groundwater mixing with melted fuel — Gundersen: There’s no end in sight because the nuclear core is in contact with groundwater (VIDEO)
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Bloomberg: ‘Highly radioactive’ leak at Fukushima Unit 3 — NHK: Melted fuel coolant thought to be flowing from containment vessel for ‘unknown reason’ — 24 Million Bq/liter of strontium, other beta emitters (VIDEO) -
200 Bottlenose Dolphins Held a Fourth Night in Cove; 11 More Dolphins Taken Captive Yesterday
As we have witnessed the torture endured by 250+ dolphins in a cove in Taiji, Japan the past four days, as their families have been torn apart, and as our Cove Guardians continue to witness and show the world what is happening, we would like to share a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was a pioneer of human as well as animal rights, on the anniversary of his birthday:
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A Norwegian Bay Was So Cold That Thousands Of Fish Were Flash-Frozen
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The Great Lakes Go Dry: How One-Fifth Of The World’s Fresh Water Is Dwindling Away
The frozen opalescent lake and thin, gray sky fade together into white light where the horizon should be. Tall, skeletal grasses shiver on the beach in a wind that makes any sliver of exposed skin burn. The Arni J. Richter, an icebreaking ferry, is about to pull away from Northport Pier for its second and final trip of the day to Washington Island. It’s loaded with food and fuel for the more than 700 hardy residents who call the remote island, just north of Door County peninsula in Wisconsin, home.
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It’s time to stop investing in the fossil fuel industry
Earlier this month, the trustees of the city graveyard in Santa Monica, California (final resting place of actor Glenn Ford and tennis star May Sutton) announced they were selling their million dollars worth of stock in fossil fuel companies. As far as I know they were the first cemetery board to do so, but they join a gathering wave of universities, churches and synagogues, city governments and pension funds.
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Over Half of Germany’s Renewable Energy Owned By Citizens & Farmers, Not Utility Companies
Germany’s promotion of renewable energy rightly gets singled out for its effectiveness, most often by me as an example of how to do things well versus the fits and starts method of promotion common in the US. Over at Wind-Works, Paul Gipe points out another interesting facet of the German renewable energy saga: 51% of all renewable energy in Germany is owned by individual citizens or farms, totaling $100 billion worth of private investment in clean energy.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger has a new role: Activist
Arnold Schwarzenegger is tackling his newest role: Climate change activist.