Monday, December 31, 2012

Russia won't renew Kyoto Protocol: Voice of Russia

Russia won't renew Kyoto Protocol: Voice of Russia: "Russia decided to discontinue its participation in the protocol because the world’s major producers of greenhouse gases – the United States, China and India – are still refusing to commit themselves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Robert Newman - The History of Oil

Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist | Do the Math

Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist | Do the Math: "Alright, the Earth has only one mechanism for releasing heat to space, and that’s via (infrared) radiation. We understand the phenomenon perfectly well, and can predict the surface temperature of the planet as a function of how much energy the human race produces. The upshot is that at a 2.3% growth rate (conveniently chosen to represent a 10× increase every century), we would reach boiling temperature in about 400 years. [Pained expression from economist.] And this statement is independent of technology. Even if we don’t have a name for the energy source yet, as long as it obeys thermodynamics, we cook ourselves with perpetual energy increase."

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Capitalist economists are lying left and right

From Capitalism To Democracy: "“The vocabulary of physics is amoral—not antimoral, but amoral. Mass, force, and velocity have no moral implications because the laws describing them have no alternatives. The vocabulary of economics, in contrast, abounds in ethical terms. It is impossible to define ‘good,’ ‘service,’ or even ‘utility’ without making ethical judgments. Every object has mass, but not every object has utility. Moreover, some people may consider a certain object a good while others do not, but there can be no disagreement about the equivalence and direction of action and reaction. There is no other or better way for a body to fall in a vacuum than v(t)=-gt+vo y(t)=-1/2gt^2+vot+yo; this is not because physicists don’t happen to be interested in making this a better world. There is no unchanging price for a bushel of wheat; and this is not because economists don’t happen to be interested in a stable universe. The price of wheat depends upon what people do, but bodies fall as they do regardless of what people do or think... Economics is not value free, and no amount of abstraction can make it value free. The econometricians’ search for equations that will explain the economy is forever doomed to frustration. It is often said that their models don’t work, because, on the one hand, the variables are too many and, on the other, the statistical data are too sparse. But the physical universe is as various as the economic universe (they are, to repeat, both infinite), and Newton had fewer data and less powerful means of calculation than are at the disposal of Jan Tinbergen and his econometrician followers. The difference is fundamental, and the failure to understand it reduces much of modern economics to a game that unfortunately has serious consequences.”
—George Brockway, 1995"

Economics is the publishing of political agendas that are hidden within known-false assumptions. If one accepts these assumptions, then one accepts the hidden agendas. This brilliant method for subliminal programming has been very effective in instilling libertarian ideals into university students for half a century. 
—Jay Hanson

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Campaign for free public transport spreads to Bulgaria

Hello this group will be initiated the creation of a wider organization fighting for free or public transport (GT) in Sofia. The main tool of G. T. to be accessible to all who need it. The current system of charging citizens that restricts access while revenue from the sale of cards and tickets are insignificant against the backdrop of subsidies and compensation to the Center for Urban Mobility (TSGM) receives.
Our alternative is available (free) public transport, funded entirely by the public - taxpayers, accessible to all citizens and guests of Sofia - no restrictions!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/122546727901866/

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Rio+20 Kari-Oca 2 Declaration: The Green Economy is a Crime Against Humanity and the Earth

Rio+20 Kari-Oca 2 Declaration: The Green Economy is a Crime Against Humanity and the Earth: "The Green Economy is nothing more than capitalism of nature; a perverse attempt by corporations, extractive industries and governments to cash in on Creation by privatizing, commodifying, and selling off the Sacred and all forms of life and the sky, including the air we breathe, the water we drink and all the genes, plants, traditional seeds, trees, animals, fish, biological and cultural diversity, ecosystems and traditional knowledge that make life on Earth possible and enjoyable.

...This inseparable relationship between humans and the Earth, inherent to Indigenous, Peoples must be respected for the sake of our future generations and all of humanity. We urge all humanity to join with us in transforming the social structures, institutions and power relations that underpin our deprivation, oppression and exploitation. Imperialist globalization exploits all that sustains life and damages the Earth. We need to fundamentally reorient production and consumption based on human needs rather than for the boundless accumulation of profit for a few. Society must take collective control of productive resources to meet the needs of sustainable social development and avoid overproduction, overconsumption and overexploitation of people and nature which are inevitable under the prevailing monopoly capitalist system. We must focus on sustainable communities based on indigenous knowledge, not on capitalist development."

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Cars sales breaking records

Car sales drive economy around the world | Marketplace.org: "Carmakers are nearing the finish line for 2012, and they're closing in on a record year in sales. Never before have annual sales surpassed 80 million vehicles around the world, but they're on track to reach that milepost by year's end."

'via Blog this'

Capitalism and fossil fuels, a deadly mix

Since the IPCC was founded in 1988, two things have risen steadily, talk about reducing carbon emissions, and carbon emissions.

There has been a lot of success in developing sustainable energy alternatives, but due to the nature of capitalism, the only purpose they have served has been to reduce the price pressure on fossil fuels.

There is a path we can take that can prepare us for the post capitalist era. We can start now by changing away from car culture.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Nothing is worse than sprawl for social fabric

New research confirms central-city comebacks | Kaid Benfield's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC: "Nothing has been worse for our environment or, I would argue, our social fabric than the unbridled suburban growth that sprawled across our landscape in the second half of the 20th century, sucking investment and life out of our cities."

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Monday, December 17, 2012

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Run Rampant at the State Level – EcoWatch: Uniting the Voice of the Grassroots Environmental Movement

Fossil Fuel Subsidies Run Rampant at the State Level – EcoWatch: Uniting the Voice of the Grassroots Environmental Movement: " in the aggregate, sub-national subsidies transfer billions of dollars per year to fossil fuel industries just like their federal counter-parts. They are additive to federal supports, further distorting the economics of specific projects and investment incentives across energy options. This review also illustrates that not only are subsidies purposefully targeted to oil, gas or coal large, but that the fossil energy sector captures a significant share of more general state incentive programs as well.    "

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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Controlled #degrowth is the only way to save the human race

You Can't Say That!: " the real choice we face, is not between climate protection on one hand and economic growth on the other. It’s between planned economic contraction (with government managing the post-carbon transition through infrastructure investment and useful make-work programs) as a possible but unlikely strategy, and unplanned, unmanaged economic and environmental collapse as our default scenario."

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The one chart about oil's future everyone should see | Energy Bulletin

The one chart about oil's future everyone should see | Energy Bulletin: "With high oil prices and the hottest new technique unable to move the needle on worldwide production of crude oil, we should look at Glen Sweetnam's chart with considerable concern. We should ask ourselves whether it is wise to base energy policy on the fantasies of industry and government forecasters. Perhaps we should focus instead on the trends and data we can verify and prepare ourselves and our economies for a world that may not have the copious amounts of oil that the industry is promising."

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Friday, December 14, 2012

Insurance industry, oil industry, interests diverge on #climate

Climate change taken seriously by insurance industry, study says - latimes.com: "Paying out billions of dollars here and billions of dollars there has made the global insurance industry a believer in climate change, according to a new study that shows insurance companies are staunch advocates for reducing carbon emissions and minimizing the risk posed by increasingly severe weather events."

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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Public Transportation Benefits

Public Transportation Benefits: "Public Transportation Saves Fuel, Reduces Congestion

  • Access to bus and rail lines reduces driving by 4,400 miles per household annually.
  • Americans living in areas served by public transportation save 796 million hours in travel time and 303 million gallons of fuel annually in congestion reduction alone.
  • Without public transportation, congestion costs would have been an additional $17 billion."

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The dirty secrets of "clean" energy

EconoMonitor : EconoMonitor » Green Illusions: The Limits of Alternative Energy: "Are solar, wind, and other alternatives the magic bullets that will solve the world’s environmental and energy problems? Take a closer look, says Ozzie Zehner in Green Illusions . Zehner not only argues that green energy has technological, environmental and economic limits, but also that without an appropriate policy context, some forms of alternative energy could do more harm than good."

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Democracy is not an option

Falling EROEI, combined with unfettered capitalist competition means that climate change will be ignored, and democracy is not an option that the 1% will seriously consider.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Bill McKibben: "Make mass transit free"

Bill McKibben: Think About the Transportation Sector: " Make mass transit free, or reduce its cost dramatically, by taking the money we waste now on fossil fuel subsidies and redirecting it towards our transit systems. Senator Bernie Sanders has identified more than $113 billion in fossil fuel subsidies that can be eliminated over the next decade; that could fill fareboxes, which in turn would fill our buses and trains."

'via Blog this'

Oil wars continue to escalate as Saudi Arabia is attacked

Saudi Arabia says cyber attack aimed to disrupt oil, gas flow - Technology on NBCNews.com: "Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Aramco, said on Sunday a cyber attack against it in August which damaged some 30,000 computers was aimed at stopping oil and gas production at the biggest OPEC exporter."

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Saturday, December 8, 2012

People in Egypt not fooled by U.S. tricks

Egypt’s Morsi annuls most of contested decree, stays firm on Dec. 15 referendum - The Washington Post: "CAIRO — Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi early Sunday annulled most of an extraordinary Nov. 22 decree that gave him near-absolute power and has plunged this nation into a deeply divisive political crisis."

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Pipelines are difficult to protect -- this is why the 1% needs totalitarian control

Yemen: 8 soldiers killed in militant ambush near oil pipeline - The Washington Post: "SANAA, Yemen — Eight Yemeni soldiers including a senior officer were killed in an ambush by militants while visiting a main oil pipeline that had been destroyed in an earlier attack, the defense ministry said."

'via Blog this'

Friday, December 7, 2012

Still struggling to understand the "war" in Afghanistan? This should help.

Pakistan, Iran likely to sign pact on gas pipeline - Tehran Times: "ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran are likely to sign an agreement on the construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project during the upcoming Iran visit of President Asif Ali Zardari, scheduled to start from December 7 (today)."

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

EROEI is falling. Capitalists plan to let millions starve and blame it on #climate.

Climate change will mean more malnourished children, experts warn | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "Food prices will more than double and the number of malnourished children spiral if climate change is not checked and developing countries are not helped to adapt their farming, food and water experts warned on Tuesday at the UN climate talks in Doha."

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Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Capitalism's mad, reckless race for the last drops of oil, as the #climate cooks

Vietnam state oil company says Chinese boats cut cables being laid by seismic survey vessel - The Washington Post: "HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam’s state-owned oil and gas company accused Chinese fishing boats on Monday of sabotaging one of its seismic survey ships in the South China Sea, adding to already high tensions over Beijing’s disputed territorial claims in the waters.

PetroVietnam said two Chinese fishing boats cut across cables being laid by the survey vessel Binh Minh 2 off the coast of central Vietnam on Friday."

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Monday, December 3, 2012

The link between #peakoil and #climate

Peak oil is real. Cheap oil has peaked, and capitalism will change personnel as EROEI drops. As one group of capitalists gets weaker, another will rise. Economic and financial collapse will not stop capitalism, they only change which capitalists will preside over our suffering. They will get around economic collapse by increasing debt and starvation.

Unfortunately unbridled competition is the very essence of capitalism and not negotiable. This means as oil runs out, the rush to squeeze the last drops of profit will become more reckless and frenetic. Even nuclear war is not ruled out. Carbon will be pushed into the atmosphere at a faster and faster rate.

Think this won't happen? It has been happening. It continues to happen.

What can we do? Don't wait for the federal government. Make public transit fare-free in your town. This will curtail the draining of wealth. Fewer cars makes urban life more attractive. As people see that cars are completely unnecessary, the subsidy for autosprawl will be seen as a burden. The culture will change gradually against energy-wasting lifestyles.

Moscow Investigates 190-km Traffic Jam on 'Russia' Highway - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency

Moscow Investigates 190-km Traffic Jam on 'Russia' Highway - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency: "The Russian government has launched an investigation into the causes of a shocking 190-km (118-mile) traffic jam.

The horror traffic jam paralyzed a key Russian highway over the weekend, international media reported. The traffic jam was caused by a heavy snowfall late on Friday and was further complicated when the authorities manoeuvred a snow plough through the vehicles to clear the road"

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