International Climate Action Day Storms into San Francisco

Saturday marked a day of unprecedented international climate actions by activists in 181 countries who are building momentum to inspire political leaders to take substantial steps towards climate reform at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.

In the Bay Area of California, cyclists from as far away as Arcadia descended upon Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco in the culmination of the kickoff. City Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, urged people to push their municipal and state legislatures to take aggressive action to reform climate regulation, regardless of what the international community does (or does not) do.  A consistent fighter for green legislation in one of the greenest cities in the country, Mirkarimi most notably initiated the anti-plastic bag initiative which has since spread internationally.

The international day was spearheaded by the group 350.org and supported by numerous environmental activist groups, including GreenPeace. The number 350 represents the parts per million of carbon dioxide emissions that the atmosphere can bear if we want to avoid runaway global warming.

Diverse Communities Team UP to Clean UP in San Francisco

On a uniquely beautiful August day in San Francisco, a handful of community , government, job training groups and neighborhood volunteers joined to tackle the grit on the urban face of the 5th district.

Festooned with rakes, brooms, shovels and garbage bags, over 300 people fanned across the widely dispersed neighborhoods of the most socially and economically diverse District 5. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi was on hand to celebrate and put some muscle in. A number of interviews help show the varying community threads that make up the fabric of San Francisco.

Vancouver’s 6 Acre Living Roof on Vimeo

The roof of the Vancouver BC Convention Centre is covered with over 2.5 hectares (6 acres) of native grassland. Usually closed to the public, we were able to get a tour and interview with the landscape architect of the project, Bruce Hemstock.

This is part 1 of the “Growing Cities” documentary series shot while traveling in the USA and Canada – June 2009. 2 person crew. Canon 5DmkII and Zoom H4n. Music is “Andvari” by Sigur Rós

Download the full 22 minute interview as an mp3 at children-of-dome.com/growing_cities/bruce_hemstock_interview.mp3

more about "Vancouver’s 6 Acre Living Roof on Vimeo", posted with vodpod

Consumers Put Ads to Greenwashing Test

Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Green ads from Chevrolet, Ozarka and Toyota Prius are among the first to be scrutinized by consumers on a new Web site launched today by EnviroMedia Social Marketing, in partnership with the advertising faculty of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). This online forum allows consumers to judge for themselves the green claims made by major advertisers.

The Web site — http://www.GreenwashingIndex.com — debuts from the nation’s capital one day before the Federal Trade Commission kicks off its first in a series of public workshops addressing environmental marketing claims. Ultimately, the FTC may update its “Green Guides,” which were originally established in 1992 as guidelines to avoid action by the agency against advertising with an environmental claim that is unfair or deceptive.

EnviroMedia principals Valerie Davis and Kevin Tuerff announced the Greenwashing Index(SM) from the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, Dec. 11 and called on consumers to submit ads. The first posts of real ads are now on the Web site, and consumers are invited to score those ads and post others.

“We’ve been witnessing a tidal wave of green advertising over the past year,” said EnviroMedia President Kevin Tuerff. “It’s our hope the Greenwashing Index(SM) will help eradicate bad environmental marketing claims and, at the same time, shine a positive light on companies making measurable reductions in carbon emissions related to climate change.”

What’s Greenwashing?

“Greenwashing,” a term that has been around for many years, is used to describe a company or organization that spends more time and money claiming to be green through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact.

“When an ad is posted and ranked on the Greenwashing Index(SM) site, it doesn’t necessarily mean a company or organization is not doing a good job with its environmental marketing claims,” said EnviroMedia CEO Valerie Davis.

“We’re providing a venue that educates consumers on what to look for in green
ads and an easy mechanism for evaluating them. Scores will range from ‘good,’
to ‘pushing it,’ to ‘total greenwashing.’”

GreenPeace of UK Greenwash of the Year Award Goes to…

United Kingdom’s Green Peace activists attempt to give the first annual Emerald Paintbrush Award to a company that has excelled in Greenwashing in this video. While the activists made it to the front desk of the award winner, British Petroleum (BP), they were hastily removed from the premises still holding the green award, the doors closed behind them.

The citation awarded BP for:

A multi-million dollar advertising campaign proclaiming its commitment to the earth, the sun and everything in between, and proudly announcing that the best way out of the energy “fix” is an energy “mix”.

In reality, the unnamed Tuxedo-clad activist said, BP had spent 93 per cent of its 2008 investment dollars in oil and gas exploration, drilling and distribution. Solar power received just $300 million dollar or just 1.3 per cent of BP’s total investment.

“So thanks must go to at this moment to BP senior staff, investment managers, strategists, and above all its advertising agency,” the jocular Green Peace representative concluded.

Michael Pollan Discusses Impact of Food Production Facing New Administration

In this video, Michael Pollan offers a new plan for America’s food production in this Web 2.0 2008 discussion held in San Francisco in early November. Pollan, gifted with a great sense of humor as he exposes hard truths about our food production and eating patterns, suggests that President-Elect Obama use the bully pulpit to:

• replace 5 acres of pristine Whitehouse lawn and replace it with organic crops, providing a backdrop for all those news segments that sends a new message to Americans;
• appoint someone like Alice Water, who values organic and sustainably grown food, as head chef;
• additionally, appoint an organic farmer to a Whitehouse post, in order to elevate the perceived value of farming.

Peter Camejo, Socialist Activist and Third Party Warrior Memorialized

Peter Camejo Memorial – Ralph Nader’s Speech from Polidoc on Vimeo.
Hundreds gathered in Berkeley to celebrate the life of political activist and unabashed Socialist Peter Camejo. Renown for his consistency of purpose in the battle to reform politics as usual, Camejo succumbed to a cancer, but not before he had finished his last book, an autobiography.

And while autobiographies have become a little more common place, Camejo was anything but common. He was a fiercely dedicated advocate for civil rights, a committed friend to many, and a relentlessly hopeful socialist. He fought tirelessly on behalf of third parties and made three gubernatorial runs in California. Ronald Reagan had called him the most dangerous man in politics. Laughable and true.

People attending the memorial where the event was held were alight with laughter as they listened to delightful stories of Camejo’s past and his vision for the future. He will be missed and condolences go to his family. Others speaking at the memorial included Camejo’s wife Morella, and brother Antonio Camejo; friend and former running mate, Ralph Nader; Cindy Sheehan; Matt Gonzalez; Gayle McLaughlin; Dr. Agha Saeed.

San Francisco Green Festival Exhibitors Talk about Seriously Green Matters

What does it take to be “Seriously GREEN”? Exhibitors at the San Francisco Green Festival help us wade through the greenwash to underlying issues like worker’s rights, human rights, ecology and interconnectedness in this five minute video.

West Virginia Mountain Party Gubernatorial Candidate Shakes Up Two Party System

Special by Babette Hogan

updated version

The West Virginia Gubernatorial race is heating up – and it’s coal powered.

Jesse Johnson, the West Virginia Mountain Party’s candidate for Governor, matches up against the incumbent (d) Joe Manchin and (R)Senator Russ Weeks in this Public Broadcasting Debate.

Johnson is the only gubernatorial candidate of the three who is against the coal mining practice of Mountain Top Removal (MTR) and espouses a citizens’ extraction dividend, universal health care and free education, amongst other policies deemed unfriendly to big business. He was denied entry to the West Virginia Broadcast Assn., the first and most widely broadcast statewide debate, which pre-empted programming on three network channels. The WVBA defended their choice to exclude the third party candiate on the grounds that the Republican and Democrat were having a “private news event”. Published polls fail to indicate that the ballot qualified third party is even in the race, despite an overwhelming number of people being against MTR, according to a recent poll cited in the Charleston Gazette.

A discerning listener may notice that Johnson has to wait a rather long spell to be invited into the conversation between Governor Manchin, who is widely perceived as a “Dixiecrat” with several scandals floating around him, and pro-unborn life Weeks, who is willing to face up to Manchin, yet remains skeptical of progressive ideals. (Weeks likens Mountain Top Removal to an ” act of Mother Nature”, satisfied that eventually good things will come of MTR, like golf courses, shopping malls and developed communities.)

The first question asked of Johnson has nothing to do with policy, but reads, instead, like a third grade test of state emblems.

The host attempts a gotcha moment. “Could you name three people who you would appoint to Cabinet if you were actually to be elected Governor and why you would pick those people.” Johnson’s response, “I believe I probably could name three people, but if I’m not mistaken, you’re not supposed to be making those decision prior to the election and it’s against protocol and against the law in West Virginia.”

“Let me take another tack on that. Can you name three of the state cabinet posts?” Now, the video of this “debate” is not posted, only the audio, but if you could have seen it, as I had, you would have noticed how remarkably calm and polite Johnson remained in the face of his intelligence being insulted. Curtly after, the host reengages Weeks and Manchin in a policy question.

I was in the press conference room and the two local stations reporters mouths dropped with astonishishment when they heard the obvious bias of the reporter. However, this may not be entirely the host’s own prejudice. Manchin, as the self-appointed head of Public Broadcasting in West Virginia, does have some control.

Earlier in the day, while walking to a local breakfast diner past a park smattered with homeless people, I happened upon a church where a town car sat, a state trooper pacing outside. It was Sunday and service had started. I waited until the service and feast ended for the appearance of what I suspected would be Governor Manchin. Indeed, he did appear and when I approached him he set his face in a practiced friendly public performance smile. I asked him as he walked firmly to his polished coal black car, “Governor, what do you think about the recent report of vote switching in the early voting booths.” He marched sternly on with a grimacing smile, “You should go inside (the Church) and try some baklava.”

While I admit that addressing someone about politics after they have come out of Church might appear disrespectful, it wasn’t his church; he was just polticking. So, I ask again Governor, “Those machines that you bought when you were Secretary of State, doesn’t it concern you that they are apparently switching the vote?”

We had a chance to interview Manchin and Weeks after the debate, but both candidates refused. Manchin then cornered Johnson in one side of the room, keeping his back to us enforcing his view that MTR was essential. Weeks, wearing the soft silver new-born feet pin of a pro-lifer/anti-choicer, refused because of his concern that “environmentalists” misrepresent him.