Category: politics

Carbon Output Shrinking as Economies Grow

Some odd people think that environmental policies and mandated efficiencies ruin economies, well, now there is another reason why those people are wrong. A report just released will hopefully have an impact on the climate talks in Poland happening this month shows the disconnect between economic growth and destroying the planet. Their findings buck the trend of wastefulness being associated with economic growth, which means that in all likelihood pro-environemnt polices of the past decade are having a very positive effect!

“The small increase in emissions [of 2012]… may be the first sign of a more permanent slowdown in the increase of global CO2 emissions, and ultimately of declining global emissions,” declares the Trends in Global CO2 Emissions: 2013 Report, published by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) last week. It analyses the latest emissions data, right up to 2012.
…
The data show that global carbon dioxide emissions rose by 1.4 per cent in 2012. Allowing for it being a leap year, the underlying increase was just 1.1 per cent, says the report, compared with an average of 2.9 per cent since 2000.

Importantly, the emissions rise is considerably less than the increase in global GDP of 3.5 per cent. “We see a decoupling of CO2 emissions from global economic growth,” says Greet Janssens-Maenhout of the JRC in Ispra, Italy, a co-author on the report.

Read more here.

A Soap Company That Fights For a Better America

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps are known for their cleaning power, but are increasingly getting known for their political power. The CEO of the company is a good example of a leader that practices what he believes – and leverages the company to ensure his thoughts are shared. In one example, David Bronner, has capped all executive pay at his company to be five times the lowest paid employee.

He’s in getting news right now for his support of labelling genetically modified organisms sold in stores. In the past, he also took the government to court over their insane anti-hemp laws. One interesting fellow and company!

Limiting executive pay and spending virtually nothing on advertising left a lot of extra cash for improving the products and funding social campaigns—which have often gone hand-in-hand. For years, the soap had included an undisclosed ingredient, caramel coloring. As the new CEO, Bronner wanted to remove it for the sake of purity, but feared that die-hard customers would assume the new guy was watering down the product. So he decided to incorporate hemp oil, which added a caramel color while also achieving a smoother lather. But there was a hitch: A few months after he’d acquired a huge stockpile of Canadian hemp oil, the Bush administration outlawed most hemp products. “Technically, we were sitting on tens of thousands of pounds of Schedule I narcotics,” Bronner recalls.

Rather than destroy the inventory, he sued the Drug Enforcement Agency to change its stance on hemp, which comes from a nonpsychoactive strain of cannabis. Adam Eidinger, who now heads the company’s activism efforts in Washington, DC, served DEA agents at agency HQ bagels covered with poppy seeds (which, in theory, could be used to make heroin) and orange juice (which naturally contains trace amounts of alcohol). In 2004, a federal court handed Bronner a victory, striking down the ban and allowing him to keep his stores of hemp oil.

Read more at Mother Jones.

A Turkish Hotel Wins Hospitality Innovation Award for Accommodating Protestors

During the Taksim Square protests in Turkey earlier this year, Divan Hotels’ flagship property in Istanbul opened their doors to the protestors. Not a bad place to get support after suffering police brutality and tear gassing.

The hotel is adjacent to Gezi Park’s Taksim Square, the site of protests last May and June. During some of the most tense moments, the Divan Hotel’s management took in people protesting against the government of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to the chagrin of officials.
+
Adding insult to injury, the hotel staff rebuffed police forces by asking whether they had a reservation at the hotel, according to Han Le, an American who observed the protests. Unsurprisingly, the police did not, and the staff—at least temporarily—prevented them from entering and arresting protesters camping out inside. The Financial Times reports (paywall) that the decision to take in protesters was initially made by the hotel’s management, but supported by the hotel’s parent company.

Read more at Quartz.

India Bans Shark Finning

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.
…
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

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.