Petition against the US missile shield plans

The U.S. government, with Poland and the Czech Republic, is very close to sealing a deal for a "defensive missile shield." As noted on this blog before Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar (pictured in Prague), have been on a hunger strike for over three weeks. Their actions have highlighted the truth of what is going on around this missile shield to a much wider audience. I hope others will feel able to at the least sign the petition below.

Jan Tamas, kindly sent a message to this blog - and I now hear that Bednar has been hospitalized once and diagnosed with liver failure.

A recent poll shows two-thirds of Czechs against U.S. missile shield plans. Greenpeace have set up a tent city, "Spot Height 718" on the site and we have news that the missile defense systems "tests have failed roughly half the time."

Read more re "the militarization of space is already a fact of life... -the weaponization of space has not happened" [Yet]:
www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/17839

Here is a petition that deserves serious consideration for support of nonviolent action against US bases in the Czech Republic (already 112,000 signed): http://petice.nenasili.cz/?lang=en

Here Giorgio Schultze's comment: "In a moment of global economic crisis where the cost of food is growing incredibly and education and health-care are being dangerously privatized, it is madness to spend millions of Euros on war and the production of new weapon systems. In such a difficult moment of global history, Europe must not support any policy that pushes the planet towards catastrophe: the lives of millions of people are at stake. We cannot allow our politicians to support the absurd intentions of the United States to transform Europe into the theatre of a possible nuclear war". Read the rest here:
http://nenasili.cz/en/990_europe-says-no-to-the-star-wars-project

The protest is spreading all over Europe. In many cities there are permanent demonstrations and other activities of support. The Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, of which Stroud is one of the 2,277 cities signed up, sends its solidarity and support to the two young Czechs, Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar. See Noam Chomsky's words of support here and good 10 minute video here.

Czech hunger strikers try to stop US base

I've just read about the Czech activists Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar, who are currently carrying out a hunger strike in protest against plans for the installation of the US missile defence radar at Brdy - I've emailed my thanks to them for raising this issue.

Photo below: Greens Caroline Lucas MEP and Shahrar Ali at Trident march

It is tragic that the Czech Government is intent on agreeing such a destabilising scheme despite the overwhelming level of popular opposition from the Czech people. It looks like the plan may be pushed through the Chamber of Deputies by the most slender of margins, lacking anything of the consensus essential for such a significant long-term strategic decision.

US missile defence threatens to spark off a new Cold War; one in which the US strives to be able to strike at will, without any fear of retaliation. Given that, it is not surprising that the concerns of the Czech people are also shared by the majority of the UK population: 54% of Britons think that hosting the missile defence system makes Europe less safe, whilst less than a quarter disagree. Read more and send your support from here.

Trident: Labour misled parliament

While we are on nukes - see last blog - I have to mention my anger at news that Ministry of Defence documents obtained by CND reveal the Government plans to replace Britain's nuclear warheads, despite Ministers repeatedly telling MPs that no decision would be taken until after the next election.

The shocking revelation came to light in a private speech to arms industry executives by a senior defence official. Whilst the Commons voted last year to replace the submarines that carry the UK's nuclear warheads on Trident missiles, the revelation that officials have been secretly telling the arms industry that the warheads will be replaced suggests that Parliament has been misled.

Words almost fail me - what does this Labour Government take us for? Where has democracy gone? While I have huge respect for David Drew who has opposed Trident's renewal I find it very hard to understand how he can remain a supporter of this Government? The Ministry of Defence has since denied it has agreed to spend £3bn on new nuclear warheads yet the documents clearly reveal a senior official told the arms industry a decision had already been made. And £3bn!!!! Think of what could be done to tackle climate change and fuel poverty with that....

Kate Hudson, Chair of CND, said: "Staffing at the Atomic Weapons Establishment has grown by a third in the last five years, with billions spent on new facilities, yet throughout this the Government has been telling MPs and the public that it would be years before any decision was needed. It is a disgrace that the MoD is secretly telling the defence industry one thing, whilst Ministers are saying quite the opposite to Parliament."

Anyhow talking of nukes - regular blog readers will know I have had contact from hunger strikers protesting in Prague at support for the US defence shield...see more here and here below is an update from CND:

On a recent visit to Prague, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a treaty agreeing a US Missile Defence radar base in the Czech Republic. However the Treaty will be subject to ratification in the Czech Parliament after the Summer, with the government only able to rely on 100 of the 200 seats. However of those 100, six are members of the Green Party who want to wait until the US elects a new President.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has recently met with US under-secretary of State, Daniel Fried in Warsaw for more talks on the US Missile Defence system.

Recently a transcript of a heated discussion between the President Kaczynski and Foreign Minister Sikorski appeared in a Polish newspaper, where Kaczynski accused the government of holding secret talks with Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama. Kaczynski believes that the tough stand the government is taking over the shield is a delaying tactic until after George Bush steps down as president. Negotiations have yet to be concluded as, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, his government is not convinced that the terms of the deal will make Poland more secure. Among other requests, Warsaw is demanding the permanent stationing of Patriot missiles in Poland. Despite recent speculation it has been denied by a spokesperson of Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus that Lithuania had agreed to have elements of the U.S. missile defence system deployed on its territory after talks stalled between Washington and Warsaw last month.

Climate change: local talk, march, 'Coalfinger', petition and more

This post is jam packed with info re climate change - including the talk in Stroud, the wonderful Greenpeace video Coalfinger, the London march plus a petition to sign.

Photo: taken from The Ecologist

2007 CO2 emissions exceed direst expectations

News that the world's carbon dioxide emissions in 2007 exceeded even some of the direst predictions of climate scientists is pretty gloomy to say the least - emissions grew 3 percent from 2006 according to the annual report from the Global Carbon Project. The climb in overall emissions last year was especially surprising to many given the economic downturn that was expected to help curb emissions. Plus for the first time, developing nations took the lead in overall CO2 emissions, accounting for some 53 percent of the total. China was also officially reconfirmed as the world's largest CO2 polluter; it alone accounted for some 60 percent of the rise in worldwide emissions in 2007. The report also found that the world's natural carbon sinks, such as oceans and forests that lock away carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere, have been absorbing some 3 percent less CO2 pollution since 2000 than they did in the first half of the 20th century. Richard Moss of the World Wildlife Fund said: "We should be worried, really worried. This is happening in the context of trying to reduce emissions. We're already locked into more warming than we thought."

Methane dangers

Indeed the national press picked up on news that studies this summer of methane release from thawing underwater permafrost off the northern coast of Russia has led to prediction of an abrupt release of 50Gt of methane at any time. I think this is 100 times the current annual methane emissions (if my figures are right).

Indeed hundreds more methane plumes have been discovered in the Arctic raising fresh fears about it's contribution to global warming - see here and here.

Climate talk in Stroud

Climate Change and Stroud, a talk and more being put on by David Drew is now fixed for 5 December at 7.00 p.m. at the Cotswold Playhouse. Sadly I am already committed to organising something else that night but would strongly urge others to support this.

Coalfinger - great short film from Greenpeace

Just in time for the latest Bond film, they've unleashed their own special agent on the world. Graverson Green is on a mission: to expose the dastardly plot of supervillain Coalfinger and his carbon cronies, who plan to cover the world in coal-fired power stations and destroy the climate in Operation Browncloud. Along with his dopey sidekick Dr. Anthracite, Coalfinger (played by Brian Blessed) plans to cover the world in coal-fired power stations and destroy the climate. Can Green (David Mitchell) stop him? Is a top secret hideout involved? Are there plenty of double entendres?

Watch the film to find out - see here. Greenpeace write: "It may be an animation, but I'm sure you recognise the inspiration for the film. Like Coalfinger, E.on and other energy companies around the world are trying to bring about a coal resurgence, despite the evidence of the impact burning coal has on our climate and our planet. Green on the other hand, reminds us that we need to work together to stop dirty coal plants and fight for clean and renewable energy."

Good and bad news on Obama

Al Gore has said that one of Obama's first acts as US president should be to demand a move to 100% renewable energy within 10 years. During his presidential campaign, Obama promised to invest $150bn (£96bn) in renewables over 10 years as part of the plan to increase US energy security amid fear of oil shortages, while also cutting carbon emissions. Many hope to see those policies enacted with a far-reaching climate-change bill that would bring the US back into the global environment fold. "

Sadly hopes for US president-elect Barack Obama to change tact on missile defence look less likely - he has told Polish President Lech Kaczynski that he will go ahead with plans to build a missile defense shield in eastern Europe despite threats from Russia. See more on previous blogs on this issue here including correspondence with the hunger strikers. See also moves in UK parliament to debate on British involvement in US Missile Defence rather than just accept it - see more at: www.cnduk.org/

Stop EU's Climate Package from being watered down - sign petition

The European Union is currently finalising its so-called "Climate Package" - a set of laws designed to fight climate change and achieve the EU's goal of CO2-reductions. The European Parliament and the 27 Member States will have to agree to a common text within the next month but many fear this is being watered down - see local Green party comment here.

You can help. Write to the leaders of your country and urge them to take the lead in fighting climate change. Major environmental NGO-networks have designed a common website, via which you can send emails easily and quick to MEPs, ministers and heads of states. Go to http://www.timetolead.eu and help keep the temperature low - by putting the heat on the politicians !!!

Local Green party on the new Climate Change Bill

See also here the local Green party welcome the Government’s announcement on its amended Climate Change Bill, but warns that its commitment to expanding aviation and to ‘buying in’ emissions reductions from abroad amount to a ‘double blunder’.

London march on Parliament for the climate

Jonathan Whittaker is organising a coach which will start in The Forest and go through Gloucester, Cheltenham and Cirencester. Details here. Stroud maybe organising a coach but I hope to already be in London for that day.

The march this year goes to Parliament Squareto demand that the government act now on climate. Starts at 12 noon at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park. Climate protest bike ride starts from Lincoln's Inn Fields at 10.30 am: and joins start of march later. See www.campaigncc.org/bikeride.shtml

Speakers will include Nick Clegg MP (leader, Liberal Democrat Party), Michael Meacher MP(ex-environment minister) Caroline Lucas MEP (leader, Green party), and George Monbiot.

To download the leaflet for the National March go to: www.campaigncc.org/resources.shtml

The March on Parliament has four main themes -
1) NO to a 3rd runway at Heathrow and the runaway expansion in aviation expansion.
2) NO new coal - no new coal-fired power stations as planned at eg Kingsnorth in Kent
3) NO to the expansion of agrofuels - with negative impacts on forests, the climate and world food supply.
4) YES to a renewable energy revolution and green jobs

The March on Parliament for the Climate marks the Saturday midway through the UN Climate Talks in Poznan, Poland and we make our demands on the UK government in solidarity with the world's poorest and most vulnerable communities that will suffer worst and most immediately from climate change caused overwhelmingly by the rich long-industrialised countries. We need the government to act now on climate, to stop building coal-fired power stations and new runways - and to begin the renewable energy revolution. We need a tidal wave of people outside parliament to make them act to stop climate catastrophe now! Be part of that tidal wave, be there ! Next year may be too late.

Why so critical now? See: www.campaigncc.org/whynow.shtml

New Zealand elections

Despite their Government coalition partner losing control, the Green Party (with 6.4% of the vote) has increased its tally of seats from 6 to 8, all on the top-up list part of the ballot - it is the third-largest party in the parliament. PR was introduced there in 1996. This canb only be good for raising the awareness and actions to tackle climate change.

22nd June International Day of Hunger Strike against “Star Wars”

Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar, after 21 days, suspended their hunger strike on the 2nd June but it continues in relay form in the Czech Republic with the participation of politicians, scientists and artists, etc. See previous blogs on this topic and message from Jan Tamas to readers of Ruscombe Green. Here is the latest video message by Jan Tamas.

To give even more force to this great nonviolent protest, a Worldwide 1-Day Hunger Strike on June 22nd is proposed for everyone able to participate - a simple but significant gesture - as one campaigner said: “Stop feeding the war machine and start feeding the people!”

It’s scandalous that one thousand million dollars are destined to military spending, when with different choices this money could solve the problems of hunger, lack of education and the environment. See the site:
http://nenasili.cz/en/1494_worldwide-hunger-strike-22th-june-2008

Meanwhile Peter Pollard is now camping on the grass verge of the Kettlesing layby (A59) opposite the Black Bull pub. On Saturday he started a week long fast in support of Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar, other hunger strikers and the 70% of the people in the Czech Republic who oppose the siting of the radar facilities for the American Missile Defense system in their country. Pete also aims to focus on the role of Menwith Hill and Fylingdales with Missile Defense.

Elsewhere there are other strikers - for example in Italy, Giorgio Schultze started a hunger strike on the 1st of June and suspended it on the 13th of June in Brussels where, together with Jan Tamas, he met with Luisa Morgantini – Vice-President of the European Parliament and many other MEPs (members of the European Parliament). On the 9th of July, there will be a meeting and press conference in Strasbourg with MEPs opposed to the Star Wars project, he will present the signatures gathered by the on-line petition. A great opportunity to redouble efforts and reach 200,000 signatures!

Four parties in Stroud debate defence

On Thursday Bruce Kent was in Stroud - see here with links to actions on Trident - this was followed on Friday night by a debate sponsored by the Green party in The Space in Stroud with spokespeople from all four parties.

Photos: Panel from left to right: MP David Drew for Labour, Parliamentary spokespersons Cllr. Martin Whiteside for the Greens, Chair Jane Mace, Lib Dem spokesperson Cllr. Dennis Andrewartha and Neil Carmichael for the Tories. Plus other pics from the evening.

But before I get to that please email Miliband before 1st October here on arms control. While Governments talk, over 2 million people have died from armed violence. As the campaign Control Arms website says: "Irresponsible arms transfers fuel conflict, poverty and human rights abuses. In the past, David Miliband and the UK Government have shown leadership in promoting a strong Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) at the United Nations. But right now the Treaty is stuck in the slow lane – governments have been discussing the ATT since 2006, meanwhile over 2 million people have died from armed violence. The UK Government needs to finish what it started, it's time to get down to business."

Anyway to the evening of discussion - a turnout of around 80 people with most engaging in challenging and informative discussion on topics including the replacement of the Trident missile system and the military alliance of England and America.

All four parties were represented and spoke from the platform: MP David Drew for Labour, Parliamentary spokespersons Cllr. Martin Whiteside for the Greens, Neil Carmichael for the Tories and Lib Dem spokesperson Cllr. Dennis Andrewartha. This was the first meeting of party spokespeople ahead of the elections that will take place before May 2010.

During the course of the evening Green Party Parliamentary candidate Cllr. Martin Whiteside – who has wide ranging experience of poverty and war - been to Afghanistan 5 times - found support for his views on non-proliferation and democratic solutions to international problems. Perhaps not so surprising being so many Greens in the audience - only the Conservative spokesperson spoke in favour of the need to retain Trident. Anyway there is now a more full report on the evening here.

Next month the Coffee House discussion returns to Star Anise cafe and looks at planning locally: Where should housing go? Where should wind turbines go? And more - but before signing off this blog wanted to quote Stop the War Coalition, of which the Green party is a member -- they said today: Much is being made of UN calls for nuclear disarmament this week. Every missile nuclear or otherwise that is scrapped is welcome. Anything which reduces tension between big powers is to be applauded. But the cuts proposed will leave enough nuclear weapons in play to destroy the planet many times over and the changes taking place amount to a shift to new military priorities not a move away from intervention.

Long range nuclear weapons, even aircraft carriers and big tanks may be de-prioritised because of the kind of wars the west will be fighting. The new British Chief of staff General Richards outlined the new thinking last week. Afghanistan was a "signpost" indicating the nature of wars in the future - "asymmetric" conflicts with less need for traditional military hardware like tanks and warplanes.

"Future conflicts are more likely to involve non-state actors and failed states, like Afghanistan, rather than traditional wars between states... How we deal with the threat posed by violent extremism, often embedded in dangerously radicalised states, will be an issue that will dominate our professional lives." In reality the big powers will keep enough nuclear weapons and hi-tech hardware to continue to intimidate potential rivals, but they are clearing the way to spend more on targeted, infantry-led interventions round the world. General Richards also made clear the military sees no choice but to fight to the end in Afghanistan - whatever that is - and he explained why defeat is not an option. Imagine he said, the "enduring grand strategic impact on the UK's authority and reputation in the world of the defeat of the British Armed Forces, and its impact on public sentiment here in the UK." The war in Afghanistan is not about the well being of the Afghan people, economic, social or political, it is about the projection of American and British power abroad.

We can also remember that there is a national Bring the Troops Home demonstration on Saturday 24 October at Hyde Park at midday. It will be lead by anti-war military families, army veterans and soldiers and will march to Trafalgar Square for a mass rally. Unfortunately this clashes with the 350 Internatioonal Climate Day when here in Stroud we will be planting 350 trees and finishing 350 beehouses.

Biggest march in human history?

The Czech Foreign Minister, Schwarzenberg, is on his way to visit Hilary Clinton to discuss the US missile base in his country among other issues. Some will remember I have had an interest in this topic and corresponded with the hunger strikers in the Czech Republic - see here and here more stuff re background - anyhow I've recently had an update from them and they also sent news re the march - see below...

Greens have blocked the final ratification of the missile defence treaty in the Czech Parliament while they wait to see what the Obama administration intends to do. Protests continue. In Brussels, on the 18th of February 2009, there will be a meeting in the European Parliament among various MEPs and 20 Mayors of the Czech Republic and many protest groups will be present. The demonstration will be called “the invisibles”, because the 70% of the Czech population that is against the US radar base are invisible for the media, as are the 95% of the world’s population that are against wars.

World March for Peace and Nonviolence

This is planned to be the biggest march ever organised in human history - it will start in New Zealand on the 2nd of October 2009, proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Day of Nonviolence. It will pass through a hundred countries on five continents and will end in the Argentinean Andes on the 2nd of January 2010. We will no doubt hear much more of this - and hopefully have a chance to get involved.

Hundreds of organisations and personalities have already endorsed the March, like Michelle Bachelet, Chilean President, the Dalai Lama, the Italian football club Inter Milan, the actor Viggo Mortensen (from “the Lord of the Rings”) and many others.

Participate and join us in this March to say “no” decisively to wars and violence: www.worldmarchforpeace.org

More re Czech Republic

Video of the demonstration already held in Prague: http://www.europeforpeace.eu/news.php?id=1036&country=
Brief presentation about the Space Shield, useful to inform institutions, friends and groups in a simple way:
http://www.europeforpeace.eu/documents.php?country=&keyword=documents
Video with Noam Chomsky about the Space Shield in Europe:
http://www.europeforpeace.eu/video-detail.php?id=1027&country=
Video interview with Noam Chomsky about the possible role of Europe in order to avoid a nuclear catastrophe:
http://www.europeforpeace.eu/video-detail.php?id=1029&country=

War costs reach astonishing £3.297bn: march on Saturday

In the same week when the UK sees a major anti-war demo (15th March in London) the Commons reports on the financial costs of such exercises.

Photo: Banksy message

This is, of course, only one of the costs of the war - others include collateral damage, the death and maiming of thousands both here and abroad etc. But it is thought provoking when the same government is driving through cuts in the welfare and health budgets, how much these foreign adventures cost.

The Commons defence committee said operational costs for this financial year were now forecast to reach an amazing £3.297bn - a 94% increase on last year. See BBC report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7287525.stm

Kate Hudson, the chair of CND, is quoted as saying, "The human cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are clear with an estimated 655,000 dead in Iraq alone, but the opportunities lost by spending these billions on further destruction rather than on humanitarian reconstruction adds to the long list of tragedies unleashed by Bush's wars."

Joseph Stiglitz, the former chief economist for the World Bank and a Nobel laureate, recently estimated that the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would be somewhere between $5 trillion (£2.5 trillion) and $7 trillion for the US alone - with another estimated $6 trillion being spent by other countries.

Join the march

The World Against War demonstration in London will be on Saturday 15 March - called by Stop the War Coalition (of which the Green party is part of), CND and British Muslim Initiative to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion - sadly it is so necessary - especially as the problems seem to be growing.

- Six years of war in Afghanistan has brought ever increasing levels of death, destruction and chaos to its people - a top intelligence officer in the US military blurted out the truth: the war is a disaster and the invading forces are facing defeat. (See http://tinyurl.com/26wraq)

- Despite British troops being effectively confined to barracks, the death of another British soldier in Iraq reminded us that Gordon Brown continues to sacrifice people's lives to bolster his political support for George Bush's "war on terror". Meanwhile, Bush's poll rating in the US has sunk to 19 per cent, the lowest ever recorded for an American president. Read more from Paul Rogers here including re the virtually unreported missile attacks on Somalia.

- It was also extraordinary to read the Government getting the High Court to issue a gagging
order on ex-SAS officer Ben Griffin, who revealed how extensively involved Britain is in the kidnapping and torture policies used by the US in secret prisons around the world. (SEE video of Ben explaining why he has spoken out: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/)

I would strongly urge support for this march on the 15 March to ensure that the voice of the
majority is heard, specifically in the call to bring all troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan now and for an end to the atrocities that Israel inflicts every day on the Palestinian people.

Business as usual for the arms trade?

Here below is what the Campaign Against the Arms Trade write about the day of action next Tuesday to highlight the Arms Fair and a mention of the Campaign for Accountability of American Bases:

Despite widespread horror that UK weapons have been turned on protesters in the Arab Spring, it is business as usual for the arms companies - and for the government. Next week the ugly face of that business will be obvious: 25,000 buyers and sellers will arrive in London for the massive arms-selling jamboree that is the DSEi arms fair.

If you want to know what an arms fair is all about, consider this abhorrent pre-DSEi event: "Middle East: a vast market for UK Defence & Security Companies." Due to take place this Thursday, speakers from the government will offer arms companies a "detailed update on opportunities" for sales to repressive regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

But our actions are having an impact - click read more to see more

Will it really be 14 days until we have water?

'Water, water, everywhere, But not a drop to drink.'

That quote comes from the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - when the Ancient Mariner is stuck in the middle
of the sea but seemed to fit with all these floods.

Our MP David Drew has rightly been calling for some answers. Here is what he said yesterday before Gordon Brown visited:
"I thank my right hon. Friend and all the other Ministers for the interest that they have taken in Gloucestershire. I pay due regard to the emergency services for the superb work that they have undertaken, and I pass on my commiserations to my colleagues in the county and all their constituents. However, can it be right that we are told that it will take 14 days to get back our main drinking supplies? There is much misinformation about who is off the mains supply and who is likely to be off. All the businesses, farms and individual households want some certainty. It cannot be the case that we must wait so long in this day and age because of the present crisis. For some time Severn Trent has needed to understand that it must act more quickly. I hope my right hon. Friend will make sure that that happens."

Gordon Brown replied: "Let me join my hon. Friend in expressing my sympathy to all the people in the Gloucester, Tewkesbury and related areas who have suffered an enormous amount of inconvenience as a result of the storms and then the floods. I also pay tribute to the emergency services—the police, the fire services, the Army and all those who have worked to try to get supplies into the areas and to make sure that the utilities are back serving the people. My hon. Friend is right that Mythe water station failed. He is right that we would like it back in use as quickly as possible. He is also right that all the civil engineering capacity that can be brought to bear is being brought to bear. The water works were polluted. There is, therefore, a danger that the water pouring out from there would contaminate local people. We have made it clear to the Severn water company that it has to provide the bowsers for the area. Nine hundred have already been provided, and 900 will be provided within the next day. Drinking water is being provided through the retail stores. I think that the company has discharged its duty in ensuring that that water is available. Obviously we want Mythe water station back as quickly as possible. I will visit the area later today, and I have invited the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) and Gloucestershire Members on both sides of the House to join me on that visit, when we will see at first hand how things are progressing. I think that the House owes a debt of gratitude to all the emergency services, and we will do everything we can to get supplies restored as quickly as possible."

While it does appear that our Government is starting to take the floods seriously I can't say this has been the case in the past - it has ignored advice about building on flood plains and has failed to take Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) seriously (see my extensive correspondence on this - most recent 20th June 2007) - both these measures would have gone a long way to protecting properties and water supplies - although I'm not for one moment saying there would not have still been serious problems. Even the governments' latest Code for Sustainable Buildings fails to compel builders to provide 'gray water' recycling for flushing toilets and chemical farming is subsidised when organic farming uses less water. Infact on Stroud District Council I must have raised the issue of SUDS at least 40 times in connection with planning applications.

"The Government does not want to connect the floods to global warming for fear of being exposed in the itsy-bitsy bikini of its own half-hearted policy."
Writer Will Self

It is also time to take flood defences more seriously - funding was cut last year although that has now been reversed but no increase until year 3 - a country planning to spend a minimum of £30bn on a missile system conceived as defence against the Soviet Union can afford to spend serious money against endemic flooding. This will mean some tough decisions about which areas to prioritise and how we can start to use flood plains in the ways they used to be used - to soak up excess water. Plus putting in place ways to 'bleed' rivers further up so that not all the water comes down at once.

And what about compensation for floods? Again big numbers get talked about but the reality is that compensation is unlikely to be sufficient. How much bigger will Glos tax payers Council tax bills be as a result of the floods?

And what about power? I and 599,000 others have been threatened with the loss of power if the substation floods. This is yet another case for decentralised power sources and local grids that Greens have been pushing for years. Denmark already has 50% supplied like this - sadly our government has so far not been supportive of this. I am not convinced this will make them understand? The massive power cuts a few years ago in US cities that left 50 million without power did not seem to wake them up either...

....Anyway the Government are right to look now to better coordination with the Environment Agency - but they were planning funding cuts to the EA - in fact the Tories at the last election were openly talking of cut backs to the EA. We need to remove such threats and reinvest in the EA. David Cameron didn't go that far but did say yesterday: "Looking to the future and how we minimise the risk of future flooding, at least five times in the past decade the House has been told that co-ordination between the Environment Agency and local councils needs to improve. I welcome the review that the Prime Minister has set up. Can he confirm that it will look into co-ordination to ensure that this time it really is delivered, and will he ensure that we do everything possible to protect key infrastructure in the future?"

I'm still in bed but couldn't resist a rant - flu is probably not making me so coherent - it is not really any point seeking to put blame on one body or person - basically we are not in control and nevre really have been - It was nobody's fault, and yet it was everybody's.....

The solutions - or at least part of the solutions - to these problems Greens have been talking about for years - hey and I haven't even got onto the lack of action to tackle climate change - this Government has been great on the rhetoric but completely failing when it comes to policies - emissions are up in the last 10 years yet we have to cut by 90% by 2050. Let us hope this wake up call does just that and really wakes everyone up to the realities of the future.

Anyhow all this has got my temperature up - and no shower for 14 days.....at least communities are pulling together in wonderful ways and I've had many phonecalls from people with ideas and/or offers of help - even a call from Spain wanting confirmation of news reports they were getting - hopefully pointed some in various directions - but it highlights the need for us to build stronger communities so that we can face such events in the future - do we really know who in our communities need help? And if we need help are we able to ask? And ask who? By all accounts hearing a scientist yesterday this will not be a freak event there will be many of these as climate change takes hold.

Hey and Puckshole is still closed and I have no news of when it might open - have contacted Highways but understandably they are slightly busy....

BP: Beyond Preposterous

OK time to look at BP again. The more I read the more I am angered by what has gone on - the worst environmental disaster in US history that is really only just beginning - although I suspect other oil companies are doing just the same....

....anyhow this blog developed into a much longer ramble than I had intended - it starts with the issue of arts sponsorship and includes videos of direct action (see more re photo below) and one not to be missed - BP clearing up a coffee spill!

See blog re rebranding BP here - and Greenpeace now have on their site the results - 2000 entries here - plus see here Greenpeace action at BP HQ. See my first blog on spill regarding BP and Government being too close plus Caroline Lucas quote and the gallons leaked monitor here. See here a blog from 2008 about how it was going back to it's roots as a dirty oil company.

So where to begin....or rather catch up on what has been going on...

Sponsorship: arts wouldn't accept tobacco sponsorship so it's time they say no to oil

Well previously I've blogged on Shell sponsoring wildlife art exhibitions - see here - total greenwash - an oil company trying to promote a green image by sponsorship while they massively pollute communities, ignore climate change and damage wildlife. Well BP are also at it and are getting more attention recently - on Monday 171 arts folk signed a letter to The Guardian condemning sponsorship - - they have refused to say how much money they give the arts in Britain but it is thought, along with Shell, to be one of the most generous. BP is a major sponsor of the British Museum, the Tate galleries, the Royal Opera House, the National Portrait Gallery, the Almeida theatre, the National Maritime Museum, and the Science and Natural History Museums.

Well activists have been busy at the Tate Britain, which was holding a party to celebrate 20 years of BP sponsorship. The art/activist group Liberate Tate dressed all in black with black veils over their faces dumped barrels of molasses and feathers over the entrance steps. See the direct action in this great video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPpWPbEPspY&feature=related

The Guardian also reported the action - photo above pinched from their article here.

Platform (who produced this map of oil sponsorship of arts in London) recently published a short report, 'Licence to Spill' that outlines some of the issues around oil sponsorship, including a number of voices speaking out against it from within the arts world. It covers the key reasons why BP sponsorship of arts is unacceptable. You can download it from here:
http://www.carbonweb.org/showitem.asp?article=381&parent=39

Organisations like the Tate and National Portrait Gallery help shape public attitudes towards the big issues of the day and if the Gallery is serious about climate change then the sponsorship deal with BP has got to end.

More about BP

A colleague in the Green party prepared some useful background info re BP that included some of what this next bit is based on...

BP is the third largest oil company in the world, after ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, with 80,000 employees worldwide as of last December, sales of $239 billion in 2009 and a market value — even after the recent losses — of more than $100 billion - although dropped recently. BP has extensive holdings in the United States. It merged with Amoco, the former Standard Oil of Indiana, in 1998, and about 40 percent of its shares are held by American investors.

At a time when Britain is desperate to reduce its deficit, BP is a huge contributor to British tax revenue, paying nearly £6 billion a year in tax. BP’s share price has lost a quarter since the environmental catastrophe in April, and some analysts say the crisis could lead to takeover or even bankruptcy. It employs over 10,000 people in the UK, its shares are owned - directly or through pension funds - by 18million Britons, and its dividends amount to £1 in every £7 paid by British firms. Individual investors all over the USA own 14 per cent of BP. It is not just the immediate economic victims of the oil spill who are suffering in the US, but all of those
who are exposed to BP's financial fortunes.

You can join me in sending a letter to Steve Webb in the Coalition re fair pensions and the call for better regulation - see campaign here.

In addition to shouldering the clean-up costs, the Obama administration has said that BP should pay unemployment benefits to any oil workers who might be laid off during a moratorium
on deep-sea drilling. This is just a little bit of hypocrisy - what about the non-compensation from US multinationals over the 25,000 Indians who died in the Bhopal disaster caused by US-owned Union Carbide or the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster when 167 workers died on a US-owned platform in the North Sea (see my recent blog on that here)?

We should also not forget the major Chevron incident - see my blog here - infact Chevron should follow BP's lead - see here - BP has at least accepted blame whereas Chevron's strategy has been to blame anyone but itself for the extensive oil contamination it caused to Ecuador's rainforest. Let's not forget that many commentators still accept that Chevron has caused much greater contamination!

Disregard for safety

I only recently learnt that the BP were involved in the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska - despite Exxon having its name on the tanker, it was actually BP who disastrously failed to contain the toxic sludge that spewed into pristine wilderness. But it is the whole oil industry that has poured billions of dollars into riskier deep-water drilling but not invested in responses to the leaks and disasters that have increased four fold in the last decade. It is also reported that BP failed to test the strength of the cement in the well, despite knowing that the casing was 'the riskier of two options' and that it 'might collapse under pressure'!

BP has had over 8,000 minor and major recorded spills since 1990 alone. Indeed in late May their Alaskan Pipeline burst spewing 100,000 gallons of oil into the environment. State inspectors say this occurred because 'procedures weren't properly implemented'.

In the Gulf clean up one million tonnes of the Corexit oil dispersant has been used so far - it is a neuro toxin pesticide banned in the UK and arguably as harmful as the oil itself. Of course we've heard all the news items about the threats to the environment, health and jobs...

Indeed on this blog I have covered the concerns that the oil canals cut through the wetlands to transport drilling equipment and oil contributed to the effects of Katrina being much worse - see here. The canals allowed more salt water to seep in to the wetlands, which killed the freshwater plants' roots leading to further soil erosion. These wetlands act as a natural defence against hurricane storm surges - see my blog here. The more they are destroyed the more vulnerable coastal towns become. We should not forget that that storm surge from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 flooded 80% of the city and killed over 2,000 people. Now we have oil pumping into the gulf for what could well be months with hurricanes predicted - not a good recipe.

Of course all this and I could be talking about the end of cheap oil and how this is surely a wake up call?? But hey look at Obama's speech - not as bad as some pundits have said - see DocRichard on his blog here about Obama talking green. And talking of Obama there is a petition to sign to encourage him to stick with clean green energy:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergysplash/

News that Lord Browne is also leading a review of student tuition fees: we can expect a few spills!

Caroline Lucas is quoted responding to this news: “We should be very concerned about this. When Browne was in charge at BP there was a major explosion that killed or injured almost 200 people, as well as a major oil spill in Alaska. In fact some people have blamed BP’s ongoing catastrophe in the Gulf on the culture of cost-cutting associated with Browne’s time in charge there. The last thing the government needs is advice on how to cut corners at all costs.

“In fact what Britain most needs isn’t someone good at axeing jobs but someone good at saving them. Instead of being tough of government departments that are doing their best to spend wisely, we should be getting tough on people who evade or avoid their taxes, because we need that revenue to keep public services up to scratch. And we need a government prepared to be tough on the kind of outmoded, entrenched thinking that would waste hundreds of billions of pounds on pointless nuclear missile systems and new motorways we don’t need. That’s where we should be getting tough. We should be trying to save the patient, not work out how best to carve up the body."

Videos worth a look

BP try to clean up a coffee spill:
www.eco-tube.com/v/FUN/BP_tries_to_clean_up_coffee_spill.aspx

Robert Redford film about the Oil Spill
www.eco-tube.com/v/ENERGY/Robert_Redford_talks_oil_spill.aspx

Added 7/07/10: BP oil disaster good for the environment.

“For decades, we have talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels,” said President Obama during his first national address since his election victory. He offers the development of clean energy technology as the way out. But you can't heal addiction with technology, it's much harder than that.

The defining stage of dealing with addiction is when the addict hits "rock bottom". This is usually when the reality of the effects of their behaviour - on themselves or on the people they love - becomes so extreme, so obvious, that it can no longer be effectively denied. Even the drug itself isn't enough to mask the truth. The BP oil disaster is this undeniable reality lapping, literally, on the shoreline of the world's largest 'user'. See more here.