Jan 29 2009
No, it isn’t a clip of Gandhi. Nor of King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech.
No, it doesn’t tell the story of Mother Theresa. Nor of Florence Nightingale.
No, it’s not a re-enactment of part of Christ’s life. Nor an episode from Buddha’s.
And yet it’s possibly one of the most touching and inspiring things you’ll ever see.
Oct 23 2008
Well, it seems good news isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!
Why?
There’s so much doom and gloom everywhere at the moment, I figured I’d spread a little joy last week by delivering a batch of environmental success stories from around the globe.
Strangely, according to my blog stats, that post was one of the least popular posts I’ve ever produced! (As is immediately obvious to anyone by how few comments it received.)
I know many people love to revel in other people’s misery, not to mention it’s misery that the media force-feeds us all on a daily basis, but this was a really unexpected outcome.
Let’s see how this week’s bumper crop of good news stories fares as it finishes off the top 20 countdown.
However, I should warn you, there’ll be at least one story that makes your mouth gape in disbelief and another that will initially have you wondering why it’s listed.
Let all be revealed…
10 |
Desert Oasis |
| The Sahara Forest Project proposes combining Concentrated Solar Power and Seawater Greenhouses to produce renewable energy, water and food in one of the hottest places on earth. The project will create fresh water for crops and power cities both in Africa and Europe. As an added bonus, it will combat desertification. | |
9 |
Saving the Everglades |
| In one of the biggest environmental acquisitions in U.S. history, Florida will buy 187,000 acres of land for $1.75 billion. This land will be allowed to revert to marshes and waterways, returning the incredible Everglades ecosystem to its former glory. | |
8 |
Poorest Nation Builds Biggest Wind Farm |
| Okay, so it may not be the poorest economically, but you wouldn’t think that when you see it in the news. Ethiopia is only ever featured by the mainstream media when there are swathes of pot-bellied people lying in the dirt, dying of starvation. Well, now it’s building the biggest wind farm in Africa which will supply a full 15% of the its energy needs. Isn’t that a kick in the pants to rich Western nations - when poor countries can embrace green technology to such an extent, why are we taking our pretty time? |
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Oct 16 2008
There’s so much doom and gloom everywhere, I figured I’d spread a little joy by delivering good news of environmental triumphs from around the globe.
Why are these environmental projects important?
Simple.
The Political Economy Research Institute reported recently that a $100 billion investment in green initiatives could create two million jobs, lowering U.S. unemployment from 5.7 to 4.4%.
California’s Air Resources Board report states: “Taking strong measures to reduce greenhouse gasses… would result in 100,000 new jobs [in California and] boost the state economy by $27 billion.”
To build on this research, Google has proposed the Clean Energy 2030 plan. The problem is it will cost a mind-blowing $4.3 trillion dollars. (And we all thought $700 billion was a huge number!) There’s obviously no way we’ll ever afford it.
No?
By investing in more efficient systems, this plan will SAVE $5.4 trillion. You don’t need to be a mathematics genius to see 5.4 is bigger than 4.3! Is there any way we can’t NOT afford it?!
See, by pursuing greener lifestyles, not only do we get to keep a stunningly beautiful world to enjoy, but in doing so, it saves us money. So what exactly are we waiting for?
20 |
Wind Farms, Wind Farms, Everywhere… |
| New Jersey plans to install 96 wind turbines 16 miles offshore to produce enough electricity to power 125,000 homes. Likewise, Delaware will create an offshore farm of 150 turbines to power 100,000 homes. By creating wind farms miles out at see, planners hope to overcome that age-old objection to them - they’re just so damned ugly! If no one can see them, that old ‘not in my backyard’ argument simply evaporates. |
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19 |
Solar Thermal - Bigger is Better |
| Australia is set to create the world’s largest solar thermal plant capable of generating 100,000 homes by using the sun’s radiation to power steam turbines. Australia is aiming at producing a whopping 40% of it’s energy in this way by 2020. | |
18 |
Norway: A Rainforest’s Best Friend |
| Okay, strictly speaking this news came just a few days before Big Ben’s bells announced the arrival of 2008, but, hey, is good news ever too late or too early? Those wily Norwegians believe reducing deforestation in developing countries can quickly and inexpensively reduce climate change. To prove it, Norway is putting its money where its mouth is: it’s pledged $500 million per year to save the world’s rainforests. |
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Oct 09 2008
That’s a number so big you just can’t imagine it, can you? So let’s take the mystery out of it:
Laying 700 billion $1 bills end to end would reach two-thirds of the way to the Sun and weigh as much as seven American aircraft carriers.
You wouldn’t get much of a good night’s sleep with all that under your mattress, huh?
Or, to put it another way…
$700 billion! Just think of all the wondrous things you could do with that amount of money!
For a start, you could simply hand every last penny over to a bunch of banks that landed themselves in a tad of trouble through a couple of poor managerial decisions, couldn’t you? In fact, I can’t think of anything better to do with it.
Ooops, hold up… maybe I spoke too soon… Continue Reading »
Aug 14 2008
Serious question. When they constantly stick their noses into the entire world’s business, we deserve to know. What the hell is wrong with them?
Isn’t it a wonderful world? Lithuanians, Italians, Spanish helping the English and Polish. What a truly heavenly world community.
Except… Continue Reading »
May 15 2008
President Bush recently requested another $70 billion to fund the campaign in Iraq. Was Saddam a monster? Were there WMDs? Links to Al-Qaeda? Was it all about oil…? All excellent questions, but isn’t the question - Can’t $70 billion be better spent?
I don’t know about you but I like to fritter my hard-earned cash away on little luxuries like, oh, I don’t know, food, shelter, heating… So thanks to this voracious ‘shopping’ addiction of mine, it’s possible I’ll never see $70 billion in my bank account.
Of course, it might be different for you - the average wage in the U.S. is around $40,000 so you could see $70 billion in your account in just 1.75 million years.
Still, just in case you retire before you hit that landmark, here’s what $70 billion actually looks like - $70,000,000,000.00
Yep, that’s a whole lot of zeroes!
So, back to ‘the’ question - what could you spend all those zeroes on if not on killing people? Continue Reading »
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