Pimpin’ the G life

In a year when every major magazine has featured a green issue, and the world’s pop star elite gathered for Live Earth around the globe, those who have made it their life’s mission to acquire the celebrity zeitgeist are bound to take notice.

Just as the flower power days of the 1960’s, when it became fashionable to talk about revolution, the “man”, and fighting the power, we can now fast forward to 2007 to those re-dressed archetypes speaking refrains like: sustainability, organic and carbon footprint. How many of you have had an experience in the past year where you knew the person you were speaking with had no knowledge whatsoever regarding “green” issues, nonetheless, spouted greenthink slogans they think you want to hear?

But hey why be uptight, can’t hedonism and ecological activism mix? The revolution must not be devoid of pleasure.

But if this is an age crying out for authenticity, the only genuine article parlayed by Paris Hilton and Ron Jeremy et. al. is the art of the “put on”.

If they really wanted to work for change, shouldn’t they work within their realms of influence - develop an ecocondom, make a home permaculture video, or at least follow the example of this young, idealistic and very sex positive couple in giving to the green porn cause?

Instead they pose like a Jeff Koons tableaux of Hollywood glitterati struggling for tenancy in the garden of Eden, sculpted in green plaster of Paris that ages in real time.

It is precisely the aging part that gives one pause. If our celebrity-obsessed culture cannot accept the maturing of human flesh, how can it live in harmony with nature’s cyclical acceptance of decay and rebirth?

The Diesel clothing company’s campaign, “global warming ready” exemplifies this irony.

What is the message behind these images of the thin, mostly white and homogeneously beautiful in nonchalant repose amidst a flooded, world in crisis? What were the memos that must have been flying around ad-strategy boardrooms and marcom sticky pads? “Buyer persona - young, aspirationally affluent, environmentally “aware”, but loves the thought of rockin’ in an 07 Hummer limo. So why don’t we create an “aspirational” tableaux of a post-apocalypse that can be, well…. glamorous?”

cool…?

Are we flashing the ultimate cynical sign, a kind of “bling uber alles”?

We say nah. Make friends with reality. It is coming, and without a stylist in tow.

The signs do seem to read that a “tipping point” has been reached. The “Green” label will become something else, all the eco terms will fall away to be more about being a conscious and awake human being, whose green/eco status will be based simply on their actions.

The issues will still be there, in spades.

Keep it real.

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Fuel ecomony standards haven’t changed in approximately 30 years, but last Thursday night The Senate Energy legislation approved increases in automobile fuel economy requirements to a fleetwide average of 35 mpg by 2020 from the current requirements of 27. 5 mpg for cars and 22.2 mpg for sport utility vehicles and small trucks. The bill requires that half of the new cars manufactured by 2015 be capable of running on 85 percent ethanol or biodiesel fuels and other proposals outlined here . However, Senate Republicans halted a $32 billion package of tax breaks for renewable energy that would have been financed mostly by new taxes on Big Oil.

The new Energy Bill is challenged for being too little too late. The bill protects corporate interests by rejecting the proposed funding from Big Oil, making the shift to alternative energy seem prohibitively expensive and the extra 10mpg insignificant.

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Artist Eve S. Mosher is drawing a blue chalk line through Brooklyn marking a point 10 feet above sea level, a boundary now used by federal and state agencies and insurance companies to show where waters could rise after a major storm. She strives to draw attention to projections that the chance of flooding up to or beyond her line could increase significantly as a result of global warming. As her project winds through the city she is followed by a reporter, a photographer, a video documentary maker, a fellow activist, an intern and a man named Edward Morris, one of the founders of a Brooklyn-based environmental organization called the Canary Project, which is helping Mosher carry out and publicize her work, reports the New York Times. Attention is attracted by the chalk line and education follows in the form of “action packets” handed to neighborhood residents, encouraging them to compost, bike, buy local produce and write lots of letters to politicians as ways to promote sustainability.

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According to a group of scientists brought together by documentary-maker Martin Durkin, if the planet is heating up, it isn’t your fault and there’s nothing you can do about it.We’ve almost begun to take it for granted that climate change is a man-made phenomenon. But just as the environmental lobby think they’ve got our attention, a group of naysayers have emerged to slay the whole premise of global warming.

What do you think? Please post your comments, Root wants to hear what our readers have to say.

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Melting Ice is a hot topic. World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

The World Environment Day slogan selected for 2007 is Melting Ice – a Hot Topic? In support of International Polar Year, the WED theme selected for 2007 focuses on the effects that climate change is having on polar ecosystems and communities, and the ensuing consequences around the world.

The main international celebrations of the World Environment Day 2007 will be held in Norway. The City of Tromsø will be hosting this United Nations day.

The day’s agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership, which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future. World Environment Day is a people’s event with colourful activities such as street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, essays and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, as well as recycling and clean-up campaigns.

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As noted here, Sir Richard Branson is serious about carbon load reduction. The head of Virgin Airlines, arguably the most progressive global airline flying, Branson is offering $25 million dollars to the the person who comes up with the best way to remove significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Branson says humankind must realize the scale of the crisis it faces.

“The Earth cannot wait 60 years,” he said at the news conference. “I want a future for my children and my children’s children. The clock is ticking.” He said if the planet was to survive, it was vital to find a way of getting rid of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. He said he believed offering the $25m (£12.5m) Earth Challenge Prize was the best way of finding a solution. Mr. Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore will be a member of the judging panel.
Currently Carbon capture and storage is a key area of research. Scientists have been looking into removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and storing it in oil and gas fields, injecting it deep into the ocean, or chemically transforming it into solids or liquids that are thermodynamically stable. However, these methods have raised concerns, notably because of the possibility of leakage from the storage sites and fears that C02 dissolved in large quantities in the ocean might harm marine ecosystems. Other scientists are also looking at schemes that might “scrub” the air of CO2, collecting the gas for safe storage; but many critics say the energy required to achieve this would make such an approach self-defeating. Sir Richard Branson has already pledged to invest $3bn (£1.6bn) in profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, towards research into renewable energy technologies. Thanks to Treehugger for the headups and the BBC for the graphics below.

1. CO2 pumped into disused coal fields displaces methane which can be used as fuel
2. CO2 can be pumped into and stored safely in saline aquifers
3. CO2 pumped into oil fields helps maintain pressure, making extraction easier

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It is a bittersweet time for those of us who follow such things (and who isn’t these days?). But the most authoritative report on climate change is published. The conclusions in no uncertain terms declare that it is time for the world to get serious about curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The BBC’s Oliver Tickell, provides a fascinating outline of what the Kyoto Protocol recommends as a framework for the world to begin. “Fail to act at this decisive time and the Earth, its people and its whole panoply of life will face the most severe and adverse consequences.” So what now? As we have posted here in the past, we suggest daily actions, as well as continued pressure on the new Congress to push for adherence to the Protocol, as well as laws by local legislators for change. The upshot is that with a concerted effort, human beings can reverse our actions in this regard. The importance of this realization lies with each of us as we consider our own footprint. Measure our own actions as more work is required.
Photo: Jerry Jones via flickr.com

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PG&E, the largest utility in California, plans to offer a program for its customers to calculate and offset the amount of carbon dioxide their power supply produces. According to their website, the program becomes available in Spring, 2007. In previous posts and podcasts, Root has discussed the impact individuals have on our environment. This is one real time option for those of us who are on the PG&E grid to offset our impact. Check ClimateSmart out, and thanks to SFGate for their inspiration.

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The second episode of the RootCast features peak oil expert Richard Heinberg and Climate Protection Campaign director and co-founder Ann Hancock. Hosted by Michael Edo Keane and Dominique Pacheco.

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In preparing for our latest podcast on peak oil and climate change, Root came across AmericanForests.org’s climate change calculator. Try it, and examine the impact each of us has on our usage of precious resources…and whenever possible, plant trees.

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