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Author Topic: Future Earth  (Read 36721 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #60 on: December 25, 2014, 02:17:47 pm »
Agelbert NOTE: This news is something that the fossil fuel industry was QUITE aware of at least 4 DECADES ago. Hence all their wagon circling, disinformation and politician buying ethics free behavior. These polluters ONLY think about THEMSELVES, not the biosphere.

To Lord Browne's credit, he has enough sense to realize the GAME IS UP and dirty energy promoters can no longer pretend they have a competitive product.

Burning fossil fuels is THEIR ticket to bankruptcy, not "just" (from a fossil fueler's egocentric point of view) a ticket to a degraded biosphere, misery and death to thousands of species, including Homo SAP.

The fossil fuelers are FINALLY figuring out that they are shooting themselves in the foot FACE. I hope it's not too late.

We will know that they are serious about that when they STOP spending billions in exploration for fossil fuels and, instead, spend those billions to transition to Renewable Energy Technology. The data indicates they have NOT done that yet. And MKing refuses to sell his SLB stock! 



Ex-BP Chief: Warming poses "existential threat" to big oil and big coal

Energy groups face ‘existential’ climate threat, says ex-BP chief

Financial Times, Nov. 20, 2014

Energy and mining companies are ignoring the “existential threat” from climate change and must change the way they operate, the former head of BP warns.

The intervention by Lord Browne, one of the energy world’s most influential voices, comes as coal, oil and gas companies face mounting investor  criticism that they are too complacent about the risk of tougher  action to curb global warming.

He told a seminar in London on Wednesday that the scientific evidence of global warming should be treated as settled but “this conclusion is not accepted by many in our industry, because they do not want to acknowledge an existential threat to their business”.

Expectations have grown that a global climate agreement will be sealed in Paris next year, which could lead to more stringent regulation of the energy sector. Some financial analysts have warned that it could end up devaluing oil and mining companies’ assets worth billions of dollars.

Big oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell have dismissed such a threat, arguing that the global demand for the oil they produce will only grow.

The latest news and analysis on the world’s changing climate and the political moves afoot to tackle the problem

Resource companies are also being targeted by a growing grassroots campaign aimed at making fossil fuels as unpopular as tobacco. It has prompted both Stanford University and the family foundation built on the riches of John D Rockefeller’s Standard Oil fortune to announce plans this year to cut their hydrocarbon investments.

The risk of more energy regulation was underlined by last week’s unexpected joint announcement by the US and China of plans to curb fossil fuel pollution, said Lord Browne, who promoted renewable energy and climate action during his time at BP.

“The targets agreed by President Obama and President Xi will not be achieved with the policies currently in place,” he told the seminar, hosted by Critical Resource, an industry advisory group he supports that encourages extractive companies to reshape their business models to address environmental and political risks.

“They will therefore require new policies, which could reduce the two countries’ cumulative oil demand by more than 17bn barrels of oil over the next 15 years.

“But many operators remain largely insensitive to the potential consequences of such policies,” he said, adding “very few” small and medium sized companies in North America “publicly accept the science behind climate change and even fewer think of climate change as a risk to their business”.

In a thinly veiled rebuke to companies such as US coal giant, Peabody Energy, whose chief executive recently called for an end to “climate alarmism”, Lord Browne said today’s energy leaders had been “somewhat absent” from the climate change debate, or were trying to resist progress. “Signals of resistance do not help because they place you firmly in the past,” he said.

Possible remedies for companies seeking to address the climate challenge include moving into renewable energy and ending the funding of lobby groups trying to weaken climate change policies, said Daniel Litvin, managing director of Critical Resource.

Lord Browne still has interests in the energy sector himself, and is on the board of Cuadrilla, a shale gas exploration company that is set to drill wells in the UK. He said some energy company leaders had an ideological opposition to regulation, while others believed “a CEO whose tenure will last for less than a decade will not be held accountable for their company’s fortunes many decades into the future”. But both were wrong, he added

While Lord Browne said he was reluctant to spell out precisely how energy companies should adapt, the peer said they should accept the conclusions of scientists about climate change and look at “the opportunities presented by low carbon energy systems”.

These technologies were developing at an impressive pace, he said, pointing to how the cost of a wind turbine had fallen more than 20 per cent in five years and the cost of a solar panel had fallen 80 per cent over the same time.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/697dc8de-7016-11e4-bc6a-00144feabdc0.html
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #61 on: December 31, 2014, 03:19:51 pm »
 
Ending 2014 With Hope

SustainableBusiness.com News

Since there's more than enough to be depressed about in the world today, we're ending the year with some projects that give us hope.

 In September, more than 30 countries signed the NY Declaration on Forests, which for the first time, puts a hard deadline on eliminating deforestation. The US, Canada and the EU are among the signatories, agreeing to cut deforestation in half by 2020 and fully by 2030. They also agreed to restore 1 million acres of degraded land over that time.

Africa is leading, assisted by the World Bank, UK government and nonprofits like Oxfam. Tanzania has restored 1.2 million acres, and efforts have been so successful in Ethiopia, that they pledge to restore 37 million acres by 2030. Other countries' pledges: Democratic Republic of the Congo (20 million); Uganda (6.2 million acres); Colombia (2.5 million); Guatemala (3 million hectares); and Chile (247,000).

Read our article, Namibia Models Economy Benefits And Wildlife Protection.

 In Indonesia, 10 years after the tsunami, villagers are restoring the very mangrove forests and coastal ecosystems that could have prevented much of the disaster that killed over 200,000 people.

 So far, 70,000 mangroves have been planted in the "Green Coast" project using microcredit finance. Birds have returned and the surrounding water is home to shrimp and crabs. Even green turtles are slowly returning. The country's new President,  Joko Widodo, campaigned on a commitment to reforest 2 million hectares of degraded land a year.

At this month's Climate Summit in Peru, Initiative 20x20 launched - an effort to restore 50 million acres of land in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2020. It's part of the Bonn Challenge, a global commitment to restore 370 million acres of land around the world by 2020, led by the World Resources Institute.

In the US, food companies are joining to improve agricultural practices on 50 million acres of farmland by 2020, preserving wild habitats and lowering emissions from agriculture.

In other words, more people understand that we've got to restore the earth's land (and water). 

Over the past 20 years, protected zones have expanded substantially and as of 2010, take up 12.7% of the earth's land - the size of Russia.

After traveling the world for eight years, photojournalist Sebastião Salgado captured the most remote, pristine places left on earth, to show people that despite the havoc, "some 46% of our planet is still as it was in the time of Genesis." His book Genesis, is a compilation of the photos - a photographic homage to our planet in its natural state.   


Here are some of the photos:
 

Website: www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/16/sebastiao-salgado-genesis-untouched-places_n_5832150.html

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26072



In 2015, let your Faith be Stronger than your Fear.


 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER1PGYe9UZA&feature=player_embedded
2015, HERE WE COME!  

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #62 on: January 04, 2015, 01:55:15 pm »
10 Animal Species That Could Vanish in 2015 if We Don’t Act Now

Anastasia Pantsios | January 3, 2015 10:33 am

Anyone who has ever visited a zoo has probably seen the charts depicting how this or that animal’s habitat has shrunk, thanks to human encroachment, climate change or both. And while some animal rights activists oppose zoos and animal captivity, if we don’t address the disappearance of their territory, many animals themselves could disappear from the face of the Earth—many of them as early as this year.

Habitat destruction in rapidly developing areas has threatened animals such as the South China tiger. Photo credit: Shutterstock

The Center for Biological Diversity says there’s an “extinction crisis” underway that threatens our planet’s biodiversity.

“Our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals—the sixth wave of extinctions in the past half-billion years,” says Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural ‘background’ rate of about one to five species per year. Scientists estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day. It could be a scary future indeed, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species possibly heading toward extinction by mid-century.”

And the reason for species extinction has been upended.

“Unlike past mass extinctions, caused by events like asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions and natural climate shifts, the current crisis is almost entirely caused by us—humans,” says Center for Biological Diversity. “In fact, 99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species and global warming.”

The disappearing species include mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds and invertebrates such as corals, earthworms and butterflies.

Here are some of the species that may not live to see 2016, thanks to humans. The World Wildlife Fund rates all of these species “critically endangered.”



1. Black Rhino. Recently a white rhino died at the San Diego Zoo, leaving only five in the world. But the black rhino is also threatened. With fewer than 5,000 left in the wild in the grasslands and deserts of coastal east Africa, they’re sometimes killed for food but their double horns are a valuable product in this impoverished area. Ninety-six percent of their population was destroyed from 1970 to 1992. Conflict in countries like Sudan, Rawanda and Somalia has hampered conservation efforts.




2. Javan Rhino.
Indonesia’s Javan rhino is even more threatened than the black rhino, with possibly only 35 remaining. They’re dying of disease and an invasive species that has destroyed their food source. Poaching already wiped out a subspecies of this rhino in Vietnam in 2010 and threatens this one as well. They also face threats from reduced genetic diversity and natural disasters such as volcanos and tsunamis.




3. Hawksbill Turtle. Found in tropical oceans, especially coral reefs, they feed on sponges, sea anemone and jellyfish and are essential to the health of coral reefs. They’re fighting threats from every direction, including habitat disruption, pollution, poor fishery practices and illegal trade in their prized shells.




4. Soala. Often called the Asian unicorn, this previously unknown mammal was discovered in Vietnam in 1992. It’s unclear how many there are since they tend to elude human contact, with estimates ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred. The forests of Vietnam and Laos where they live are being cut down to expand agriculture, forcing them into ever-smaller territory. Closer contact with humans means they’re more hunted as well.





5. South China Tiger. This species of tiger hasn’t been seen in the wild for 25 years, existing only in zoos. Although hunting them was outlawed in China in 1979 and its survival made a conservation priority there in 1995, the country’s rapid development has meant that their habitat is fragmented into areas too small to support a population.




6. Yangtze Finless Porpoise. The Yangtze River was once home to two porpoise species, but one, the Baiji dolphin, was declared extinct in 2006, the first time human activity wiped a dolphin species off the planet. The Yangtze finless porpoise has a remaining population of less than 2,000 individuals and could go the same way as the Baiji if its food supply, threatened by overfishing, continues to dwindle. It’s also threatened by pollution and ship movement.




7. Western Lowland Gorilla. This small gorilla, found in the dense rain forests of west central Africa, was once one of the most numerous but its population has been decimated by ebola. And while hunting them for bushmeat is illegal, timber and other companies making forays into distant forests have also made poaching and bushmeat trade easier—and facilitated the transfer of ebola to humans.




8. Vaquita.
There are probably less than 100 of these rare marine animals left in the wild. They’re often caught in gillnets from the illegal fishing  trade in protected areas in Mexico’s Gulf of California. Half the population has disappeared in the last three years, with one in five drowned as bycatch. They’re one of the most critically threatened species.




9. Sumatran Elephant. There are only 2,400-2,800 Sumatran elephants left on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with half their population gone in one generation due to habitat loss through deforestation by the paper, pulp and palm oil industries. In addition, they’re often killed in “human-elephant conflict” when they trample homes and crops—another result of destroying their natural feeding grounds.




10. Mountain Gorilla. This gorilla, which lives in the mountainous forests of central Africa, is jeopardized by human encroachment forcing them into more dangerous territory, as well as by poaching and civil conflicts. They number less than 1,000 but the good news is that, thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers are growing. So they could dodge the extinction bullet.
http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/03/animal-species-extinction/


Jeff Comment:
Quote

Acting now must include reducing human population to a sustainable 2 billion or preferably below by coercing or dissuading from procreating. China is now sending people to Africa to **** that continent to alleviate the fact that it can't support all of its citizens. It already can't feed itself and has been leasing land in other countries to grow its food. That has burdened natives and destroys wildlife habitat. People are THE problem and not discussing our overpopulation, deluding ourselves that we can do what we want and save wildlife will lead only to disaster. It isn't that a species disappears but that those we don't value suffer and that must end.

Agelbert reply:

Yes, Humans are THE problem. But your emphasis on ALL humans is blame the victim logic when you leave out the subset of humans with the most gigantic, humongous, war profiteering, biosphere destroying, profit over people and planet carbon footprint.

You made a very valid point when you said, "those who we don't value suffer and that must end". That applies to the overwhelming majority of  humanity with a low carbon footprint as well. THEY have ALWAYS suffered at the hands of the human predators along with thousands of species in nature.

Comment on an article on non-human  predators and the public attitude towards them:
Quote

"Predators have undergone a remarkable transformation in the public consciousness in the last century. While certainly not universally admired they certainly get more favorable press than in years past."

Agelbert reply:

Especially the human ones... See News Media, CEOs and Wall Street...

The non-human predators get a bum rap while the human ones that stupidly do not limit their predation to what they need to live and eat, thereby endangering ALL of the biosphere, get the ALPHA MALE moniker in a truly Orwellian distortion of reality in nature.

I blame the deliberate ignoring of the massive levels of cooperation, nurturing and symbiotic interdependent caring observed in nature and the hyping of the relatively TINY, though important, role that predation plays in the perpetuation of species.

The biomass of the trophic levels that eat SUNLIGHT far exceeds that of the higher order trophics. In fact, without the phototrophic life forms, no high order intelligence or predator can exist in our biosphere. We ALL indirectly are eating SUNLIGHT! That does not make us parasitic of, commensal or symbiotic with the sun. The sun is NOT our "prey"; it is what gives us LIFE with no sweat off its back, period. But that is glossed over in scientific studies.

The mistaken  view  taught to all of us that in nature EVERY life form (when the reality is a small minority of the total biosphere biomass!) is in a 24/7 competitive life or death struggle in a predation pecking order totem pole where only the top position (apex predator) is the "crown" of evolution is duplicitous and ignorant. 

I blame a massive fail in the proper interpretation of the Theory of Evolution FROM THE START!. Our society has become a culture that HONORS and CELEBRATES the ability to KILL as proof of viability in nature when that is EXACTLY backwards.

But Wall Street likes it. The DISTORTION of Evolutionary Principles through propaganda justifying rampant, unchecked predation as the sine qua non of an "Apex Predator" (not!) is DRILLED into every child's mind by the SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY. 

And that's why no kid in high school gives a second though to cutting a frog open and killing him in the name of "science".   >:(

Nature is, and always was, about LIFE, not DEATH.  
Quote

"A society that loses the capacity for the sacred, that lacks the power of human imagination, that cannot practice empathy, ultimately ensures its own destruction" - Chris Hedges

If you think the scientific community does not contribute to this mindset with all the KILLING they do for "science" and "the good of society", I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.



We need a paradigm shift in science. Science should not be for sale to justify human cruelty against other humans and other earthlings, PERIOD.


The Fossil Fuel Industry and Wall Street mindset exemplifies a FAILED PREDATOR Evolutionary DEAD END

The 1%'s Responsibility to Shoulder 80% of the COST of a 100% Renewable Energy World with a VIABLE BIOSPHERE for ALL EARTHLINGS.
« Last Edit: January 04, 2015, 03:10:46 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #63 on: January 06, 2015, 02:55:13 pm »
It's time for all of us to get real about the fact that burning fossil fuels is suicidal. The degradation of the biosphere AND our democracy has been the result of over a century of profit over people and planet used to buy politicians AND the courts so these conscience free polluters can literally get away with murder of, not just humans, but thousands of other species VITAL to our continued existence, as well.

A brief account of the predatory capitalist modus operandi in ALL industries, not just fossil fuel dirty energy industries:

A perfect example of how predatory capitalist corporations keep their "losses" at a minimum when they cause massive injury and death.

The Fossil Fuel Industry and Wall Street mindset exemplifies a FAILED PREDATOR Evolutionary DEAD END

The propaganda these murdering crooks and liars push to justify their profit over planet:

The "Welfare" of Society has always been the alibi of Tryrants

The TRUTH!:

Renewable Energy PROVEN to be CHEAPER than Fossil Fuels and other facts on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy

A study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance showed that the cost of renewable energy is now $80/MWh versus the cost of new build coal fired generation of $143/Mwh and new build gas fired generation of $116/MWh.

Myth Busters: the top 4 myths about renewable energy debunked!

The solution:

Trophic Pyramid Respecting Plan to Save Humanity From Itself

The reason we MUST vanquish the profit over planet suicidal mindset from our species FOREVER!:

The Corporate Business Model is Psychopathic (ONE MINUTE):

http://viewrz.com/video/the-corporate-business-model-is-psychopathic

Watch this one minute clip to learn why Natural Capitalism is the only REAL Capitalism. Modern so-called "Capitalism" (i.e. Crapitalism!) actually SHRINKS,  DEGRADES and DESTROYS  Capital!

http://viewrz.com/video/real-money

Please pass it on. Your children will thank you.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #64 on: January 28, 2015, 11:14:04 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZesRAo5PBg&x-yt-cl=84924572&feature=player_embedded

"The Guitar Is Mightier Than The Bomb"
 

 Folk music icon and activist Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) performed with the great minstrel Woody Guthrie in his younger days and marched with Occupy Wall Street protesters in his 90s, leaning on two canes. He wrote or co-wrote "If I Had a Hammer," "Turn, Turn, Turn," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine." He lent his voice against Hitler and nuclear power.

 Just as the "pen is mightier than the sword", Seeger believed "The guitar is mightier than the bomb".

 In this video Pete Seeger performs the brilliant Earth Day anthem titled "Garbage".

Every word is just as poignant and relevant today though the song was written in 1969. 

 Folk musician Bill Steele wrote the song, but Seeger added the powerful 4th verse (beginning with "In Mister Thompson's factory, they're making plastic Christmas trees ...") and a new chorus, decrying the effects of corporations and capitalism.

 Note to all songwriters...and everyone else: Look at this man's life. He urges you to use your voice to inspire, to influence, to stand up, and be part of changing your generation's course!

Garbage

 Mister Thompson calls the waiter, orders steak and baked potato
 Then he leaves the bone and gristle and he never eats the skins;
 The busboy comes and takes it, with a cough contaminates it
 And puts it in a can with coffee grinds and sardine tins;
 The truck comes by on Friday and carts it all away; And a thousand trucks just like it are converging on the Bay, oh,

 Garbage (garbage, garbage, garbage) Garbage!
 We’re filling up the sea with garbage (garbage. . .)
 What will we do when there’s no place left
 To put all the garbage? (garbage. . .)

 Mr. Thompson starts his Cadillac and winds it down the freeway track
 Leaving friends and neighbors in a hydro-carbon haze;
 He’s joined by lots of smaller cars all sending gases to the stars.

 There they form a seething cloud that hangs for thirty days. 
 And the sun licks down into it with an ultraviolet tongue.
 Till it turns to smog and settles down and ends up in our lungs, oh,

 Garbage (garbage. . .) Garbage!
 We’re filling up the sky with garbage (garbage. . .)
 What will we do
 When there’s nothing left to breathe but garbage
(garbage. . .)

 Getting home and taking off his shoes he settles down with the evening news,
 While the kids do homework with the TV in one ear
 While Superman for the thousandth time sells talking dolls and conquers crime
 Dutifully they learn the date of birth of Paul Revere.
 In the paper there’s a piece about the mayor’s middle name,
 And he gets it done in time to watch the all-star bingo game, oh,

 Garbage (garbage. . .)
 We’re filling up our minds with garbage
 Garbage (garbage. . .)
 What will we do when there’s nothing left to read
 And there’s nothing left to need
 And there’s nothing left to watch
 And there’s nothing left to touch
 And there’s nothing left to walk upon
 And there’s nothing left to talk upon
 Nothing left to see
 And there’s nothing left to be but
 Garbage (garbage. . .)

 In Mister Thompson’s factory, they’re making plastic Christmas trees
 Complete with silver tinsel and a geodesic stand
 The plastic’s mixed in giant vats from some conglomeration
 That’s been piped from deep within the earth or strip-mined from the land.
 And if you question anything, they say, “Why, don’t you see?
 It’s absolutely needed for the economy,” oh,

 Oh, Garbage! Garbage! Garbage! Garbage!
 There stocks and their bonds — all garbage!
 Garbage! Garbage! Garbage! Garbage!
 What will they do when their system goes to smash  :emthup:
There’s no value to their cash
 There’s no money to be made
 But there’s a world to be repaid 
 Their kids will read in history books
 About financiers and other crooks
 And feudalism, and slavery
 And nukes and all their knavery
To history’s dustbin they’re consigned
 Along with many other kinds of garbage.
 Garbage! Garbage! Garbage! Garbage!
   

 Words and Music by Bill Steele; 4th verse by Pete Seeger and Mike Agranoff (1977)
 (c) William Steele. Copyright assigned 1992 to the Rainbow Collection, Ltd.
- See more at: http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/inspiration-1/pete-seeger-performs-garbage.html#sthash.wCVarBE0.dpuf
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Racing Extinction (trailer)
« Reply #65 on: January 31, 2015, 09:19:47 pm »

Racing Extinction: A Must-See Documentary of 2015, World Premier at Sundance

Cole Mellino
January 30, 2015 11:50 am

Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah is one of the largest independent film festivals in the world, attracting some 50,000 attendees. This year’s festival, its 31st anniversary, runs from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1. Robert Redford, founder of Sundance and a longtime environmental activist, sat down with Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman yesterday to discuss this year’s festival and pressing environmental issues, including the Keystone XL pipeline. The festival always has a solid showing of environmental films and this year is no different.

One of the standouts premiering at the festival is Racing Extinction. There have been five mass extinctions in the history of our planet and we may be in the midst of a sixth. We could lose up to half the world’s species and humans are to blame.


Every year, some 100 million sharks are killed to make shark fin soup. Photo credit: Racing Extinction’s Facebook Page

Academy award-winning director, Louie Psihoyos, who also directed The Cove, joins forces with activists, scientists, nature photographers and inventors to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at black markets where endangered species are sold. With hidden cameras on, these activists uncover highly endangered species being sold at markets all over Asia. Psihoyos says, “the more endangered it is, the more you have to go to the backrooms. Wildlife trade is second only to the drug trade.” The film goes beyond the black market trade to highlight humans’ devastating impact on other species with greenhouse gas emissions.

Racing Extinction, is produced by Psihoyos’s Ocean Preservation Society, who together with the United Nations, Obscura Digital, producer Fisher Stevens and musical score composer J. Ralph created illUmiNations. During this 11-minute event, images and statistics of the extinction crisis in our midst were displayed at the United Nations headquarters in New York City in September—the day before the People’s Climate March and two days before the UN Climate Summit.

Jane Goodall’s voice broadcasted at the event, imploring the world: “In 200 years, people will look back on this particular period and say to themselves how did those people at that time just allow all those amazing creatures to vanish. But it would be very little use in me or anybody else exerting all this energy to save these wild places if people are not being educated into be better stewards than we’ve been. If we all lose hope, there is no hope. Without hope, people fall into apathy. There’s still a lot left that’s worth fighting for.”

That’s the take away message from this film. We can do something about this. Sundance says, “With stakes as high as the survival of life on the planet, Racing Extinction dispenses with apathy or fatalism to emerge as an urgent, affirming call to action to stem the tide before it’s too late.” Psihoyos says, “When you’re talking about losing all of nature, it’s not a spectator sport anymore. Everybody has to become active somehow.”

Invoking a Chinese proverb, one activist says, “Better to light a candle than curse the darkness. There’s so many people who sit back and say we’re screwed, but you know what, with that one candle maybe someone else with a candle will find you, and I think that’s where movements are started.”

http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/30/racing-extinction-sundance/

Agelbert NOTE:
So, do you want to light a (BRIGHT but flameless, of course!    ) candle?  Here's something you can do to help RIGHT WHERE YOU LIVE! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JpLR2hpfSk&x-yt-cl=85114404&feature=player_embedded

Monarch Way Stations For Dummies Smart People --> PLANT MILKWEED!

To avoid harming bees and other helpful pollinators that visit your garden, swap out toxic pesticide and lawn chemicals for organic weed and pest control alternatives. Even some organic formulations can be harmful to beneficial insects, so be sure to vet your products carefully. Better yet, get rid of your lawn altogether and plant an edible organic garden. Both flower and vegetable gardens provide good honeybee habitats. It's also recommended to keep a small basin of fresh water in your garden or backyard, as bees actually do get thirsty.

In order to support the Monarch butterflies, consider planting a locally appropriate species of milkweed in your garden, on your farm, or wherever you manage habitat. You can use the Milkweed Seed Finder to locate seeds in your area.

Asclepias syriaca (Common Milkweed)


Monarchs love Backyard milkweeds

Whatever you choose to grow, please avoid purchasing pesticide-treated plants.  Cut flower growers are among the heaviest users of toxic agricultural chemicals, including pesticides, so if you must buy cut flowers, make sure you select only organically-grown and/or fair trade bouquets.

Ideally, you'll want to grow your own pollinator-friendly plants from organic, untreated seed, but if you opt to purchase starter plants, make sure to ask whether or not they've been pre-treated with pesticides. Keep in mind that you also help protect the welfare of all pollinators every time you shop organic and grassfed, as you are actually “voting” for less pesticides and herbicides with every organic and pastured food and consumer product you buy.

You can take bee preservation a step further by trying your hand at amateur beekeeping. Maintaining a hive in your garden requires only about an hour of your time each week, benefits your local ecosystem—and you get to enjoy your own homegrown honey!


DETAILED article revealing how Monsanto and Dow Chemical are FIGHTING TO PREVENT butterfly friendly milkweed planting   ??? >:( and much more:


Killing Off the Monarchs
January 31, 2015 | 111,886 views
« Last Edit: February 01, 2015, 03:36:00 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #66 on: February 10, 2015, 02:03:40 am »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #67 on: February 15, 2015, 08:55:51 pm »
Behind the Great Western Firewall Is the Ugly Truth
Surly,
EXCELLENT article.   


I just have a couple of things to point out.

The author has hope. This statement and others are true. But it (and others) posit the possibility that there is some Selma and Louise cliff that we have not departed.
Quote

Yes, the United States is delusional and megalomaniac, but it’s frightening to know that if carried to its logical conclusion, it will mean the end of humanity as we know it.

His claim that TPTB originally felt threatened by the Communist Revolution in Russia is also a bit on the wishful thinking side, although said revolution did, as he states, get TPTB to marshal their forces against it.

The original  THREAT was the creation of a non-central bank operated government in the USA. You know all about Jackson's war with them and that article I posted from the "What Really Happened" web sight. The MINDSET of people from the robber barons to Teddy Roosevelt to Hillary Clinton has NOT changed whatsoever.

Our ENTIRE foreign policy has been OWNED by the Rockefeller Standard Oil foreign office network established BEFORE we had an active foreign policy.

The banks and the polluting industries work hand in glove to plunder, despoil, exploit and dominate. That has not changed since the Western world became industrialized. He does not see that.

It's been TOO LATE since the Spanish American War, as far the USA is concerned. THAT is when the banks got our government to go into DEBT for WARS OF CONQUEST for the purpose, never admitted to the public, of the bank and polluting industries "profit" (welfare queenery) gravy train.

It has been downhill and snowballing with improvements in surveillance technology and propaganda dispersal tools ever since.

It WAS OVER before you and I were BORN!

But this idea that, "we must wake up BEFORE it's TOO LATE" ignores reality. THAT reality is that  ethics free monstrous, plundering, exploiting and ruthless domination of everybody and everything in our biosphere is an UNSUSTAINABLE MODUS OPERANDI.

The author is bothered by the resignation he sees in people. He mentions a string of famous names that challenged the system and got wasted for their efforts. Here he is mixing apples with oranges when he talks about the pressure to conform as a tool of coercion.

That people WANT to conform (see "long train of abuses" in the Declaration of Independence about how people will do all they can to see their government in a positive light until it becomes impossible to do so) is a GOOD human trait that leads to social cohesion and support networks. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the innate desire for peer group acceptance.

If you want see it as an 'evolutionary' mechanism, you can see how staying in herd helps you survive.

Ambitious and evil people in TPTB use that in propaganda to dominate us. They use it to threaten to black list people and destroy careers for people that don't accept the bullshit. No ****! They know how we tick so they go all out to turn our strengths into weaknesses.  :emthdown:

TPTB are made of arrogant, rigid personality type humans. They don't change easily. That TOO is human nature for people on the top of the pecking order.

The experience of Confucious is a perfect example:

Confucious (Kung Fu-tzu or Kung the Master) 551 B.C. - 479 B.C.


A failure as a politician, Confucious is undoubtedly one of the world's greates teachers. Prepared to instruct in virtually all the disciplines of his day, he was a one-man university.   



With his death began his glorification.  ;) Twenty years prior to his death, when he was 53, he had gone on a 13 year trek from state to state proffering unsolicited advice to rulers on how to improve their governing and seeking always a chance to put his ideas in practice.

The opportunity never came. State after year state disregarded his counsels, and only a small band of faithful disciples stood by him through rebuff, discouragement and near starvation.
Source: Google it (I would, of course, never engage in copyright violations of printed material.)

TPTB have a habit of allowing the glorification of people that tell it like it is AFTER they die. That seems to be par for course in Homo SAP "civilization" throughout the ages. 


In short, warning us that we must ACT before it's too late is quixotic. He may not see it, but a LOT is going on that is going to FORCE the top dogs here, AND in the rest of human civilization too, that megalomania is suicidal. We-the-victims know what to do and we are DOING IT NON-VIOLENTLY (hello there, friends at the NSA!  :icon_mrgreen:). But there is another mechanism out there in operation that will CONVINCE TPTB that they are suicidal.

And yeah, it's TOO LATE for we humans to change the evil=stupid thinking of TPTB. So the hope the author has in his fellow man is totally out of place and thoroughly quixotic.


For you to picture where I am coming from when I claim there IS hope, but not from we victims, let me relate an anecdote from November of 1964.

After the Army-Navy game cadets were given an opportunity to see a show at a hotel in Philadelphia before taking the train back to West Point. Not many were interested in seeing a black comedian (only about 30 of a class of over 800!) do a show so I was just a few chairs from Bill Cosby doing his Noah and God routine. I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

Here's the part of the routine that I think applies to our planetary situation;

Quote
GOD: Noah, I'm gonna destroy the world and everyone in it!

Noah: Right. Uh, how are You going to do that?

GOD: I'm gonna let it rain for a thousand days and drown all the evil people like rats!

Noah:  I've got a better idea; let it rain for 40 days and 40 nights and wait for the sewers to back up!

GOD: RIGHT!

Surly, the sewers are backing up for the megalomaniac evil=stupid biosphere math challenged overlords. They BEGAN backing up as soon as the industrial revolution began. We-the-people have been on death row for over a century. TPTB are the only ones that need to GET IT before it's too late for THEM. If they don't, ALL OF US go extinct.

The biosphere does not DO propaganda or delusional wishful thinking predatory wet dreams. God set up the equation of species life interaction so that any species that breaks the rules DIES.   






He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #68 on: February 15, 2015, 09:10:36 pm »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #69 on: February 16, 2015, 09:00:35 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2EGuajQxXI&feature=player_embedded
What we have all been taught, programmed to accept as true, and brainwashed into believing is earth's past and how we humans became successful=apex predators through war=COMPETITION for resources. NOWHERE on this film is COOPERATION even hinted at. The MESSAGE is that MIGHT is RIGHT! :( The above short video is a requiem for mankind, not evidence of intelligence or success.   :(
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #70 on: February 23, 2015, 09:24:11 pm »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LXiSPpfM54&feature=player_embedded
A Voice from 1970 that describes our PATH to EXTINCTION and why we are on it.   :(

The wisdom of Alan Watts 

 Could it be a general mental structure that humans have imposed on themselves which leads to our species' constant self-ruin?

 He starts with the fascinating story of some of the greatest minds of the 70s coming together in an organized effort to propose solutions, and reveals that even some of the greatest among us didn't seem to know what to do at the time.

 Alan Watts has his own view of what’s wrong with the world, and proposes a beautiful and simple way we can do something about it.

- See more at: http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/enlightened-simplicity/a-voice-of-the-future-from-1970.html#sthash.AxPnUzeU.dpuf
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #71 on: February 27, 2015, 07:35:12 pm »
Quote

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Alvin Toffler   



The “Pay As You Feel” cafe model asks customers to pay what they see fit for perfectly good food that would have otherwise been thrown out.

3 Young Entrepreneurs Find Revolutionary Way to Cut Out Food Waste  ;D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tcg7vgdU6g&feature=player_embedded

Article at link:

http://ecowatch.com/2015/02/25/entrepreneurs-reduce-food-waste/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #72 on: March 04, 2015, 09:09:21 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spNSFuEeIQ8&feature=player_embedded
Evidence of a Planet in turmoil. Is this a taste of worse events yet to come?  ???
Does a wild bear go poop in the woods?  :(
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #73 on: March 05, 2015, 01:17:42 pm »

If mankind survives, it will be because of Women like these:  

Moms Fight Colorado Roll Back of Renewable Energy

Posted on March 5, 2015  by  John Davis   
 
CO_MomsKnowsBest1A group of moms in Colorado are fighting proposed changes in that state’s legislature to Colorado’s renewable energy standards. The group, Colorado Moms Know Best, say they oppose the changes that would rollback from 30 percent down to 15 percent of the energy produced and consumed in the state.

“Moms believe we have a moral obligation to protect children’s health and future, ensuring they have clean air is one of the very basics,” said Data Gutwein with Colorado Moms Know Best. “The reality is that chopping the state’s renewable energy standard in half would mean relying more on coal-fired plants and more kids dealing with asthma and other respiratory problems.”


Colorado has been a leader in renewable energy. In 2004, Coloradans passed the first state ballot initiative to establish a renewable energy standards; 29 states and the District of Columbia have since adopted similar standards. In the years since, Colorado has added tens of thousands of clean tech jobs with an average salary of $78,000, according to the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 Energy Cluster report.

“Renewable energy is not only good for kids’ health, it’s also great for their future career options,” said Colorado Moms Know Best’s Dana Gutwein. “If Colorado can remain on the cutting edge of the renewable energy industry, our children will be able to prepare for plentiful high-paying, clean tech job opportunities.”

The group has previously helped influence Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission to adopt stricter air quality standards for oil and gas operations in the state of Colorado.  


http://domesticfuel.com/2015/03/05/moms-fight-colorado-roll-back-of-renewable-energy/

If mankind does not survive, it will be because of the profit over planet fossil fuel tools.  



He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Future Earth
« Reply #74 on: March 06, 2015, 01:21:19 pm »
Colorado House kills Senate bill to rollback renewable energy standard      

By Joey Bunch
The Denver Post
Posted:   03/02/2015 05:54:23 PM MST21 Comments | Updated:   3 days ago

(Andy Cross, Denver Post file)

A House committee on Monday killed legislation  that would have cut in half the requirement that the state's largest utilities get 30 percent of their power from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2020.

Senate Bill 44 also would have reduced the standard for rural electricity associations from 20 percent to 15 percent starting in 2020. img]http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183404.bmp[/img]

The bill died on a party-line 6-5 vote, with Democrats in opposition to the rollback. 

The Republican-led Senate passed the measure last month on a party-line 18-17 vote. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ray Scott  , R-Grand Junction, said he was concerned the standard went too far, hurting utility ratepayers, especially those in rural areas.

The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Dan Thurlow, R-Grand Junction, said electricity prices have been rising in comparison to other states, which also could deter companies from locating in Colorado.  

Opponents to the rollback testified that Colorado is a national leader in renewable energy growth, while creating more than 22,000 jobs in clean-energy technology.

"Taking a step back now makes no sense," Pete Maysmith, executive director of Conservation Colorado, said at a rally for renewable energy supporters Monday.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27627209/colorado-house-kill-senate-bill-rollback-renewable-energy

Agelbert NOTE: I am CERTAIN that these ladies had something to do with that victory for CFS:


Moms Fight Colorado Roll Back of Renewable Energy


Planetary Polluters in the service of Predatory Capitalist Profit, the ORCHI WOMAN has plans for you if you don't get with the RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAM NOW...   






He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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