politics

India Bans Shark Finning

- Adam Clare

Chinese demand for the fins of sharks (I have no idea what they are good for) has gone up over the past couple years. India is one of the largest exports of shark parts to China and the Indian government has decided to ban the act of removing fins from sharks.

Worldwide, sharks are in sharp decline, with some species’ numbers now 10 per cent of what they were three decades ago. Their demise threatens the health of ocean ecosystems, experts say, as the top predators are key to keeping fish and turtle populations in check. Tens of millions are caught every year.
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Conservationists applauded the ministry’s move as key to ending a cruel practice threatening to push some shark populations to the brink.

“Given the perilous status of many shark species, we urge the state governments to act quickly and work to enforce the policy,” said Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

More at the CBC.

Canadians: Stand Up for Science on Sept. 16

- Adam Clare

Previously on Things Are Good we’ve seen Canadians concerned about democracy mobilize to ensure that our political leaders make informed decisions. After a streak of attacks on knowledge, scientists and non-scientists alike are rallying in cities throughout Canada this coming Monday. If you’re in Canada you should join the rallies organized by Evidence for Democracy.

Here’s all the relevant information:

A year after gathering on Parliament Hill to mourn the ‘Death of Evidence’, scientists and their supporters are back. On September 16th, they will rally in Toronto and across the country to highlight the critical need to maintain evidence-based decision-making through the support of science in the public interest.

Rallies are set to take place in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Yellowknife, Fredericton and Halifax, along with numerous other communities.

“Science matters,” says Dr. Katie Gibbs, biologist and Executive Director of Evidence for Democracy. “Good science, when coupled with good decision making is what keeps our water and air clean, keeps us healthy, keeps our food safe and is the engine of economic development.”

In Toronto, Dr. John Polanyi, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Scientists for the Right to Know supporter says “Today… the freedom of our science is being constrained. Long-term goals are being sacrificed for short-term. The scientist’s freedom to explore and then debate are being restricted.” Dr. Margrit Eichler, Professor Emerita and President of Scientists for the Right to Know agrees, stating, “Public and accessible science has been at the forefront of Canadian social advancement and innovation. As we lose ground with the silencing of scientists and shutting down of organizations, our democracy is weakened. Science is the lifeline to a prosperous future – we need to keep it strong and independent of political influence”.

National events were initiated by Evidence for Democracy. Local events are organized by Scientists for the Right to Know (S4RK) – a new non-partisan organization advocating for science, in cooperation with the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union, and the University of Toronto Faculty Association. The rally is also endorsed by the York University Faculty Association.

As Prime Minister Harper and his cabinet prepare for the next parliamentary session, Evidence for Democracy, S4RK, its allies, and scientists across Canada call on them to demonstrate their commitment to science in the public interest by:

(1) Supporting the open communication of publicly funded science to the public.

(2) Using the best available science and evidence to make the best decisions.

(3) Funding scientific research from basic science through to applied.

WHAT: Stand up for Science Rally

WHEN: 12:00 pm (noon) September 16th

WHERE: Queen’s Park in front of the legislature and events across the country

WHO: Speakers for the Toronto rally include Dr. Scott Prudham, professor in the Department of Geography & Planning and President of the University of Toronto Faculty Association; Dr. Craig Heron, Professor of History at York University and Vice President of the York University Faculty Association; Dr. Margrit Eichler, Professor emerita of OISE/UT and President of Scientists for the Right to Know; and a statement from Dr. John Polanyi, Nobel laureate and professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto.

A complete list of Stand Up for Science events can be found here.

More Policies Support Renewable Energy Around the World

- Adam Clare

More countries than ever before now have policies that support renewable energy production. This is obviously a good thing as we are seeing the impact of climate change (like the recent tornados in Japan). We are now a seeing a global effort to slow climate change via policy over the last couple years with Asian and South American countries enacting polices, previously it was primarily only European nations.

The economic diversity of countries enacting support policies for renewable energy has also greatly expanded. High-income economies accounted for 69 percent of all policy support by mid-2005, but by early 2013 this had declined to 30 percent. The other economic groups each increased their share by more than 10 percent.

“As the renewable energy sector continues to mature, policymakers face a host of new challenges,” said Evan Musolino, trend author. “While the pace of countries adopting new renewable energy support policies has slowed somewhat in recent years, the sector has experienced a flurry of activity centered on revising existing policy mechanisms. Policy changes have been driven by a variety of factors, both positive and negative.”

Rapidly changing market conditions for technologies such as solar photovoltaics, where module costs declined by 80 percent since 2008 and by 20 percent in 2012 alone, have dramatically reduced the level of support needed to make projects attractive to investors and feasible for project developers. Simultaneously, the global economic slowdown left many countries with continuously tight national budgets, which has threatened support for the renewable energy sector. The combination of factors has led to a number of cuts to existing incentive programs.

Read more at Worldwatch.

A Protest Song About the NSA Reading Your Emails

- Adam Clare

The band YACHT has gone back to the glory days of Dylan and the like by writing a protest song. The song is about the NSA illegal spying the USA, which should bother pretty much anyone who cares about privacy. Until now, there was no good news to mention about the questionable actions revealed by Edward Snowden so hat tip to YACHT for singing what we all think.

“We claim full citizenship in the nation of Internet,” Evans told me over email, by way of explanation. “We wouldn’t be where we are if it weren’t for the existence of an open, free, and direct line to our fans–and to the world.” The idea that an intelligence agency could be listening-in struck Evans and Bechtolt as, well, creepy. “The analogy we’ve been using is that nobody wants to dance when there’s cops in the club,” says Evans.

The song came first, but soon after came the idea of putting it to work. The song became a pay-what-you-wish fundraising website for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the best-known advocacy groups pushing to keep the Internet free. Evans says the donations have rolled in “steadily” since the site launched, with the largest single donation coming in at $30.

Read more here.

As always, check out our the band of the month if you like music.

Evidence for Democracy: A Group Championing Fact-Based Policy

- Adam Clare

Evidence for Democracy is a new organization in Canada that wants government policy to based on reality. The federal Canadian Conservative government (which openly hates the environment) continually cuts finding to scientific research that can lead to a better understanding of the world around us. The constant cutbacks and denials of actual science pushed some scientists too far: now they are calling for the government to openly cite scientific research to back up their policy.

“I watched as the professors realized that they are the ones that have to stand up for science,” Dr. Gibbs said, “that they can’t expect someone else to make the case as to why it is important.”

At the behest of her colleagues, Dr. Gibbs helped organize the Death of Evidence protest in Ottawa, July 2012. Thousands of scientists and their supporters chanted, “No science, no evidence, no truth, no democracy,” as they carried a symbolic coffin to the steps of Parliament Hill.

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“Government policies affect every aspect of our daily lives,” Dr. Gibbs said. “Using the available evidence assures that we get policies that actually do what they are supposed to do. It’s a better use of tax dollars than just picking what seems to be a good idea at the time.”

Read more at the Vancouver Observer.

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