Telling Denmark’s Story.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
1334 Longworth House Office Building

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Embassy of Denmark invite you to a briefing on how Denmark has transitioned to a low carbon economy and emerged as a global clean energy technology leader. Much of the debate over climate policy in the United States has focused on costs, job losses, and concern about international competitiveness.  However, multiple analyses and case studies show that addressing climate change can actually bring multiple benefits.  Indeed, from 1990 to 2007, Denmark reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 13 percent while at the same time growing its economy by more than 45 percent.  In addition, Denmark has gone from 99 percent dependence on foreign energy sources in the 1970s to energy independence today.

This briefing will explain how Denmark reduced its carbon footprint by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and how this strategy has translated into a thriving economy and a high quality of life for its residents.

Speakers for this event include:
Søren Jensen, Deputy Chief of Mission, Danish Embassy;  Adam Monroe, President, Novozymes North America;
Michael Davidsen, Washington Manager, COWI Group; Greg Towsley, Director for the Innovation Platform “Zero-Impact of Commercial Buildings in the USA”;  Grundfos Management A/S Copenhagen.

Denmark is the setting for the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations to establish an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As nations around the world look for ways to reduce emissions and grow their economies, the Danish story shows what is possible through investments in combined heat and power (CHP), district energy, public transport, electric vehicles, offshore and land-based wind turbines, bioenergy production, recycling, and more.  Renewable energy makes up more than 19 percent of the total energy supply and 28 percent of electricity in Denmark (despite almost no hydropower resources), compared to seven and nine percent, respectively, in the United States.  More than half of Denmark’s electricity is cogenerated with heat using highly efficient CHP technology, compared to eight percent in the United States.  Energy technology exports now account for more than nine percent of total Danish exports, and the country is among the most prosperous in the world.

This briefing is free and open to the public.  No RSVP required.
For more information, contact Laura Parsons at (202) 662-1884 or  lparsons at eesi.org.

Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Carol Werner, Executive Director
———-
EESI is a national nonprofit that works to advance a cleaner, more secure and sustainable energy path. EESI was established in 1984 by a bipartisan group of Congressional environmental and energy leaders to meet the critical need for rigorous, informed debate, independent analysis and innovative policy development related to energy and environmental issues.

This posting is very appropriately done on Halloween Day – but it is for real – and shows how contrite humans can be – AP Reports from the Turku shipyards, Finland, about “THE OASIS OF THE SEA” or the biggest floating contraption, four times the size of the Titanic, is fit to be a floating out-of-the-harbor resort with six neighborhoods. Despite many energy-saving devices, this is a slap to eco-tourism.
The ship’s first leg on its maiden trip to Port Everglades, Florida, will take it from nearby Helsinki to close to Copenhagen – pity this does not happen a month later so the climate convention minions will not have the chance to see it.
——————

Huge Cruise Ship Squeezes Under Bridge
MATTI HUUHTANEN of   AP News.
HELSINKI (Oct. 30) — It’s five times larger than the Titanic, has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. The world’s largest cruise ship is finally finished and Friday it began gliding toward its home port in Florida.
The Oasis of the Seas will meet its first obstacle Saturday when exits the Baltic Sea and must squeeze under the Great Belt Bridge, which is just 1 foot taller than the ship — even after its telescopic smokestacks are lowered.

To be on the safe side, the ship — which rises about 20 stories high — will speed up so that it sinks deeper into the water when it passes below the span, said Lene Gebauer Thomsen, a spokeswoman for the operator of the Great Belt Bridge.

Once home, the $1.5 billion floating extravaganza will have more, if less visible, obstacles to duck: a sagging U.S. economy, questions about the consumer appetite for luxury cruises and criticism that such sailing behemoths are damaging to the environment and diminish the experience of traveling.
Travel guide writer Arthur Frommer has railed against Oasis and other mega ships he calls “floating resorts,” suggesting that voyages on such large vessels are “a dumbing down of the cruise experience.”
Oasis of the Seas, which is nearly 40 percent larger than the industry’s next-biggest ship, was conceived years before the economic downturn caused desperate cruise lines to slash prices to fill vacant berths.
“Obviously we did not want or anticipate she’d be born into the most significant economic downturn since the Depression,” Royal Caribbean International President & CEO Adam Goldstein told The Associated Press in an interview earlier this month. “Even in this environment, we’re excited about her.”
It sets sail as cruise lines clamor to increase capacity, adding newer — and bigger — ships to their fleets.
The Oasis of the Seas has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members. Company officials are banking that its novelty will help guarantee its success.
The enormous ship features various “neighborhoods” — parks, squares and arenas with special themes. One of them will be a tropical environment, including palm trees and vines among the total 12,000 plants on board. They will be planted after the ship arrives in Fort Lauderdale.
In the stern, a 750-seat outdoor theater — modeled on an ancient Greek amphitheater — doubles as a swimming pool by day and an ocean front theater by night. The pool has a diving tower with spring boards and two 33-foot high-dive platforms. An indoor theater seats 1,300 guests.
Accommodations include loft cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and 1,600-square-foot luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades.
One of the “neighborhoods,” named Central Park, features a square with boutiques, restaurants and bars, including a bar that moves up and down three decks, allowing customers to get on and off at different levels.
The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.
Frommer suggests that such ships should never even leave port: “Who would know the difference?”
“If the life on ship were a vital one, then you might justify building a ship so large,” Frommer told the AP in an e-mail exchange. “But when the activities program consists largely of ziplines, surf-boarding, rock-climbing, a boxing ring, and imitations of Cirque de Soleil, when the lecture program deals with napkin-folding (the subject matter on other humongous ships operated by the same company), then there doesn’t seem much appeal to well-read, intellectually curious people.”
Paul Motter, editor of Cruisemates.com, has said that other critics have also complained that these huge ships flood ports of call, dumping 5,000 people all at once in an area.
Motter said suites are sold out for most of the sailings. Junior suites are mostly sold out and there is availability in inside, ocean view and balcony rooms.
He said ticket prices are still high for the Oasis, running $1,299 to $4,829, compared with $509 to $1,299 on the company’s next most popular ship, Freedom of the Seas.
While environmentalists have said that the ship does not do enough to reduce air pollution and burns more fuel than a land-based resort, engineers at shipbuilder STX Finland said environmental considerations played an important part in planning the vessel. It dumps no sewage into the sea, reuses its waste water and consumes 25 percent less power than similar, but smaller, cruise liners.
“I would say this is the most environmentally friendly cruise ship to date,” said Mikko Ilus, project engineer at the Turku yard. “It is much more efficient than other similar ships.”
The Oasis of the Seas is due to make its U.S. debut on Nov. 20 at its home port, Port Everglades in Florida.

ALL ABOARD THE UN KYOTO-COPENHAGEN EXPRESS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE. 

A one-time train link between Kyoto and Copenhagen opens up next week – a United Nations-sponsored one-month, 9,000-kilometre journey symbolically joining the site of the last global warming pact with what is hoped to be the birthplace of the next major, and stricter, treaty to combat climate change. 

Launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Union of Railways (UIC) and the global conservation organization WWF, the Train to Copenhagen – in fact a carriage – will roll across the globe through the vast wilds of Russian Siberia and into Europe as part of the UN Seal the Deal! campaign to galvanize political will and public support for reaching a comprehensive global climate agreement in December. 

Train operators from around the world will participate in the Train to Copenhagen, raising awareness of the impact of the transport sector, which already accounts for over one fifth of global CO2 greenhouse emissions. These emissions are projected to double within only 40 years and railways are crucial in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing sustainable transport systems. 

“We are on the road to nowhere if existing policies and economic models prevail with their over-emphasis on private cars and on shifting shipments of goods to the roads,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said. “The Train to Copenhagen project is a showcase of sustainable transport solutions that will be part and parcel of a resource-efficient, low-carbon Green Economy of the 21st Century. 

“By Sealing the Deal on an ambitious climate agreement in Copenhagen, governments will get into gear to propel the world to a low-carbon future so that societies may also finally embark on a journey to more sustainable transport.” 

During the journey, environmental experts and climate change campaigners will send eye-witness accounts of global warming signs under way. Siberia is a global climate change hotspot, where thawing permafrost and melting peat bogs could slowly release billions of tons of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over coming years. 

The Train will roll out of Kyoto station on 5 November – leaving behind the Japanese city where the Kyoto Protocol that sets binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Union (EU) was adopted on 11 December 1997 – and make its way by ferry to Daejeon, Republic of Korea (ROK). 

There it will board another ferry for Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East for that vast transcontinental journey to drum up support for a new compact with much stronger cuts to replace the Protocol on the expiration of the first commitment period at the end of 2012. 

Rumbling across Siberia, it will be hauled along the famous Trans-Siberian Railway and go by ferry across Lake Baikal, the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world, and stop in Moscow, the Polish city of Poznan and then Berlin before arriving on 5 December in Brussels, where it will join the Climate Express, which will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. 

This Express will take on board more than 400 climate change negotiators, campaigners and other high-profile personalities going to Copenhagen, for a 12-hour on-track conference focusing on how to solve the challenges posed by the transport sector with regard to global warming.  

On arrival, the Climate Express will remain at Copenhagen Central Station throughout the two-week conference, serving as a mobile exhibition open to the public about low-carbon transport solutions.  

“It is clear that business as usual is not an option if we want to reverse current trends and prevent catastrophic climate change,” UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said. “If we can really integrate the costs of pollution into the price of transportation, rail will be a big winner.” 

* * * 

“We cannot afford another period where the United States stands on the sidelines,” he emphasized, adding that an “indecisive or insufficiently engaged” US will result in unnecessary and unaffordable delays in tackling global warming. 

CLIMATE CHANGE COULD STEM GLOBAL TOURISM, UN CAUTIONS

Rising sea levels could inundate coastal holiday spots while melting snow caps could spell an end to ski resorts, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has warned, as climate change threatens tourism, a lucrative industry for the world’s poorest nations.

Tourism is what “fuels the economy and drives people” in poor countries, Geoffrey Lipman, Assistant Secretary-General of the UNWTO, told the UN News Centre.

Nearly one third of the $735 billion generated by tourism in 2006 went to developing nations, with the industry serving as one of the major export sectors for poor countries.

From 2000-2007, international tourism, the main source of foreign exchange in nearly all of the States classed as least developed countries (LDCs), recorded 110 per cent growth in these nations.

Although many people look at tourism as a “sort of flippant activity,” they often do not realize that the industry constitutes 5 per cent of economies, having a catalytic effect on a further 5 per cent, Mr. Lipman noted.

As a result, “anything which affects the industry has a big spin-off effect on the economy,” he said, pointing to the 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom where the “biggest hit came from the reduction in tourism revenues.”

Developing countries, Mr. Lipman underscored, are often “unspoiled and undeveloped,” pointing the way towards a new form of ‘green’ tourism.

The industry accounts for 5 per cent of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, most of which can be pinned on air, car, rail and other forms of transportation.

Air transport, in particular, has been targeted for its emissions, but, like other sectors, it has the potential to become more sustainable through implementation of more efficient engines and experimenting with biofuels, among others, Mr. Lipman said.

“You can’t walk to the Maldives,” he said. “We want more planes flying, not less.”

The solution, Mr. Lipman stressed, does not lie in curtailing long-haul flights which could hurt the economies of developing nations which rely heavily on tourism for income.

The UNWTO official recommends that people travel responsibly. “You can choose what you do and how you do it,” he said, calling on travellers to opt to stay in resorts that are identifiably trying to reduce their carbon footprints and to offset their flights by buying carbon credits.

For their part, governments must not consider taxes on travelling as a “cash cow” and must also not “cynically impose heavy taxes just so they can detract people from flying,” he said.

Climate-induced environmental changes – including water availability, biodiversity, and coastal erosion – will have an impact on tourism, according to a report produced last year by UNWTO, along with the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

For example, changes in agricultural production could hurt wine tourism, while increases in temperature are forecasted to hurt ski resorts in the European Alps, Eastern and Western North America, Australia and Japan.

As a result, adaptation to climate change is vital tourism, according to Mr. Lipman. Poorer nations must be provided with the necessary technology and financing “to create jobs, not just helping foreign tourists have a good time.”

Nations are expected to ‘seal the deal’ on a new climate change agreement – intended to go into effect after the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012 – this December in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Along with emissions reductions targets by industrialized nations, helping developing countries adapt to global warming’s effects is also a large component of the pact set to be reached in the Danish capital.

Tourism has reached a crossroads, but Mr. Lipman voiced optimism that the industry will rise to the climate challenge. In the face of the oil crisis and hijackings of previous decades, tourism “found ways to respond and overcome it. There is no reason why it can’t adopt now.”

from:

sfmbam@sfmbam.com

Lima and Washington DC.
The Campo Verde project in Peru became the first commercial reforestation endeavor with native species to be validated under the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) following the AFOLU guidelines for Afforestation and Reforestation. It was validated by TÜV SÜD.

The project has planted 919 ha to date, with a target of 18,900 ha. It uses a mix of native species within a 30-year cycle, with an initial validation of 101,982 credits for Emissions Reduction after the application of a 40% buffer.

The project breaks the cycle of deforestation in the Amazon in which extraction of high-value timber is followed by changes in land use through conversion to cattle ranching and subsequent land abandonment. The project reverses this inexorable trend by recovering heavily degraded soil prior to plantation of a mix of native species of high commercial value, in a process that resembles natural forest succession. “We are very pleased to be the first native commercial reforestation project to be recognized for carbon sequestration. We want to expand this model of sustainable forestry to other areas in Peru and adjacent countries” said Jorge Cantuarias, SFM-BAM’s Chief Executive Officer and the pioneering Peruvian entrepreneur behind this major accomplishment.

The project is also undergoing validation under the Carbon, Community, and Biodiversity Standard (CCB). “The ancillary biodiversity and social benefits generated represent a new promise for sustainable development, in which private capital can be a force of change in rural areas” said Gonzalo Castro de la Mata, a Washington-based businessman and ecologist responsible for the investments made by SFM in this project.

From a financial perspective, “this is ideal – the long-term value
generated by timber revenues is complemented by the ability to treat carbon as a market-based commodity, the future value of which can be more readily monetized,” said Richard Saettone, a businessman with an international financial background, and currently SFM-BAM’s Chief Financial Officer.

SFM-BAM is a Peruvian company specialized in forestry and environmental services. It employs over 250 people, and is in the process of developing several large REDD projects in various regions of the Peruvian Amazon. The VCS standard is widely accepted as the most accurate and rigorous approach for carbon projects in the voluntary markets.

For further information, please contact:

Jorge Cantuarias
SFM-BAM
jorge.cantuarias@sfmbam.com
www.sfmbam.com

Gonzalo Castro de la Mata
SFM Americas
gcastro@sfm.bm

UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
24 July, 2009 =========================================================================

BAN URGES CHINA TO SERVE AS MODEL FOR COMBATING IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

China can act as a model for developing countries and the wider world by investing in environmentally friendly growth and prioritizing the creation of cleaner energy, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging the leaders of the planet’s most populous nation to “serve as the vanguard of tomorrow’s economy.”

Addressing the launch in Beijing for a new energy-saving initiative known as the “Green Lights Project,” Mr. Ban said that China’s recent emergence as the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases meant it was vital for the international community that the country pursues sustainable environmental and economic policies.

“China has an opportunity to blaze a new trail for the world. It has the vision and leadership to create a new clean-energy path to prosperity,” he said, calling on the country to assume a global leadership role.

“By investing in green economy and green growth, your country has an opportunity to leapfrog over decades of traditional development based on high-polluting fuels. The key is prioritizing clean energy, which China has already begun to do, creating new jobs, spurring innovation, and ushering in a new era of global prosperity. In so doing, China can serve as the vanguard of tomorrow’s economy, today.”

The Green Lights Project, which has been jointly organized by the UN and the Chinese Government, is a $14 million programme aimed at promoting the use of energy-saving lamps and phasing out the sale and production of incandescent lamps. It could cut Chinese energy consumption by as much as 8 per cent.

Mr. Ban stressed that countries that take the lead on combating climate change “will reap rewards. They will be winners in the global marketplace. They will be winners at home as the whole of society benefits.”

He said China’s position as a global power meant it had additional responsibilities, particularly regarding the conference in December in Copenhagen, Denmark, convened to approve a global emissions pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

“Major emerging economies, including China, have taken great strides. I am impressed by China’s efforts. In the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, for example, remarkable progress is already being made. I urge you to build on this progress, including through energy and carbon intensity targets,” he said.

“Strong signals from China on mitigation actions announced before Copenhagen will help push the negotiating process forward. They can also direct responsibility to other key countries to do more.”

The Secretary-General noted also that trust between rich and poor countries will be essential if countries are to reach an agreed outcome in Copenhagen.

Later Mr. Ban discussed Copenhagen with Chinese President Hu Jintao, while in talks with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao he discussed the climate change mitigation efforts that developing countries can undertake and the role that China can play in helping sub-Saharan African countries achieve the socio-economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Mr. Ban also held extensive talks today with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, with the two men discussing climate change, UN reform, the MDGs, China’s efforts to reduce poverty, the global financial crisis, disarmament, peacekeeping and a series of regional issues, including the situation in Myanmar and recent developments in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

In addition, the Secretary-General addressed the alumni of the UN-China Advanced Leadership Programme, saying that China is making vital progress on the renewable energy front.

China’s renewable energy investments are now second only to that of Germany, Mr. Ban noted, adding that China is well placed to be a leader in what is shaping as one of the main global marketplaces of the future.
* * *

FINANCING FOR POORER COUNTRIES KEY TO SECURING NEW CLIMATE DEAL – TOP UN OFFICIAL

“Sealing the deal” on a climate change pact this December in Copenhagen, Denmark, hinges largely on securing the financing needed to help developing countries tackle global warming, the top United Nations climate change official said today.

With negotiations are expected to wrap up at the end of the year in the Danish capital on a new treaty on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, “I don’t think that there will be an agreement in Copenhagen without significant financial resources for both mitigation and adaptation,” said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Developing nations are experiencing the impacts of climate change, including rising sea levels and incidents of drought, he told UN Radio.

But, the official added, they are also focusing on boosting their economic growth to pull themselves out of poverty, requiring financial help to acquire ‘green’ technology.

Countries are currently mulling over a 200-page text, which “one would almost say unmanageable,” that must now be pared down to ensure that the main elements of the agreement are included, he said.

Mr. de Boer voiced optimism that an agreement will be reached in Copenhagen, noting that “the international community has been shocked by the messages coming from the scientific community,” with there being a “strong willingness to act on this issue.”
* * *

‘GREENING’ AGRICULTURE KEY TO FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE, BOOSTING FOOD SECURITY – UN

Environmentally-friendly farming practices hold the key to combating climate change and poverty, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said today, stressing that ‘green’ agriculture holds the key to dealing with the world’s rapidly growing population.

One-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, are attributable to agriculture, deforestation and other forms of land use.

The agricultural sector, argues UNEP, could be mostly carbon-neutral by 2030 and produce enough food to feed the projected global population of 9 billion by 2050 if it adopted methods such as agroforestry, reduced soil cultivation and the use of natural nutrients like fertilizer trees.

A study by the World Agroforestry Centre – which will hold its second annual World Congress of Agroforestry, sponsored by UNEP, in Nairobi, Kenya, next month – has found that using fertilizer trees, which trap nitrogen from the air and transfer it to soil, could decrease reliance on commercial fertilizers by up to 75 per cent while boosting crop yields.

Transitioning to a green economy will help tackle a wide range of issues, including the food and fuel crises as well as the scarcity of natural resources, said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“Farming will either be part of the problem or a big part of the solution,” he said. “The choice is straightforward: continuing to mine and degrade productive land and the planet’s multi-trillion dollar ecosystems or widely adopting creative and climate-friendly management systems of which agroforestry is fast emerging as a key shining example.”

At least one billion hectares of farmland in developing countries can be converted to carbon agroforestry projects, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Nobel Peace Prize-winning UN scientific body.

Mr. Steiner today underscored the need for nations to “seal the deal” on a “comprehensive and scientifically credible” pact when they meet this December in Copenhagen, Denmark, to wrap up talks on a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

“There is a lot at stake, not least the future of agriculture and farmers’ livelihoods,” he said.

* * *
UN-BACKED MEETING EXAMINES RECESSION’S IMPACT ON PACIFIC ISLAND NATIONS

With the effects of the current global economic turmoil being felt acutely in Pacific island nations, social policies placing an emphasis on dialogue, community ownership and human rights are essential to mitigate the impact of the crisis, participants at a United Nations-backed gathering have concluded.

Academics, authorities from nine Pacific Island countries, and representatives from development agencies wrapped up a two-day meeting in Fiji’s capital, Suva, calling for a social policy placing “people at the centre of the development process.”

These nations have seen exports, remittances and official development assistance (ODA) fall due to the financial crisis, resulting in drops in employment, household incomes, foreign exchange and government revenue.

“The current economic crisis gives impetus for the need to readdress social policy,” saidIosefa Maiava, who heads the Pacific Operations Centre of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Since the current crisis “is likely to exacerbate inequalities and risks that already exist in the Pacific, governments need to adopt and implement a social paradigm that is both inclusive and sustainable,” he added.

Participants at the meeting – organized by ESCAP, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), the University of the South Pacific and the Commonwealth Secretariat – came from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

* * *

Russia claims a sphere of influence over its “near abroad” – a message that involves Belarus and Kazachstan with whom Russia has special trade agreements and the GUAM States – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova that eye the European Union.

President Obama visited Moscow in order to “reset” US-Russia relations and coordinated a visit by Vice President Biden to Kiev and Tbilisi in order to reassure both Ukraine and Georgia that this reset will not sell out their interests.

For us what is of interest here is the talk in Kiev about the way the Ukraine is handling its energy sector, and we are in full agreement that the Ukrainians are totally forfeiting their independence of Russia, and by the way also endangering their own standing in their relations with Europe, all this by sticking with insane dependence on the pipelines of oil and gas – and mind you subsidizing this addiction on their own will.

The disparity between market prices and the cheap government-sold gas that arrives on the Russian pipeline, has in addition created a black market and vested interests that led to rampant corruption, economy distortions, and make it hard to solve the problem. These subsidies have strangled the economy by forcing Kiev to rely on below-market-price imports from Russia and submitted themselves to Russia’s direct influence on the Ukrainian economy, while at the same time making themselves into a handy tool for Russia disrupting supplies also  EU parts of Eastern and Central Europe.

Mr. Biden lectured publicly in Kiev: ” Your economic freedom depends more, on your energy freedom than on any other single factor,” he said. Energy efficiency will be a boon to your economy and an immeasurable benefit to your national security, he continued.

WOULD IT NOT BE NICE HAD Mr. BIDEN SAID THOSE THINGS ALSO ABOUT THE US IN WASHINGTON DC?

Further, Mr. Biden lectured that “Friendship requires honesty” and continued by saying that: “Mature democracies survive because they develop institutions such as free press, a truly independent court system, an effective legislature – all of which serve as a check on the corruption that fuels the cynicism and limits growth in any country, including yours.” How true! If above are looked at honestly, so will emerge the desire to decrease the dependence on outside supplies of energy by promotion of energy efficiency.

From: WISE Amsterdam

Summer School energy and climate

from: Zeeland, the Netherlands, August 2-7, 2009

What?
This summer WISE organizes a Summer School for young adults with an above average interest in the public debate on climate change and future energy supply. During one week, the participants will be educated on climate change and nuclear energy. You will talk and think actively about the problems and solutions. There will be input from reputable and interesting speakers.

Who?
One hundred young people from all over Europe (including fifty from the Netherlands): students, activists, young people of environmental and development organizations, and others who are interested in the subject matter.

Why?
Because climate change calls for action NOW. Because more and more people say that nuclear energy is a part of the solution. Because in December the Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, have to lead to a new treaty. And because with thirty of the participants we will go to Copenhagen to be close to the negotiations to create new ideas and influence them.

When?
From Sunday evening (arrival) August 2nd until Friday August 7th 2009.

Where?
In the out-door centre in Veere, Zeeland (the Netherlands). That way we have one day to go to the climate action camp (near Belgium), and a day to go to the nuclear reactor in Borssele.

What are the costs?
200 euros per person. But you’ll get an interesting program, accommodation and meals. Students will receive a discount. And there is travel re-imbursement up to 70% of your travel costs (unless you fly…)

Language?
English

What to do?
Sign up! Call +31 (0) 20-6126368, reply to this message ( wisemc at antenna.nl) or look for more information on http://www.tegenstroom.nl

————————————–
This email was sent to you by WISE Amsterdam.

From: Hassan Mansour
He says: There is now ample evidence of the ecological impacts of recent climate change from polar terrestrial to tropical marine environments. So on behalf of the Egyptian Society for Environmental Sciences (ESES) it is our pleasure to welcome you to the fourth international conference on “Impacts of Climate Change on Natural Resources” that will take place in Ismailia, Egypt on November 10-11, 2009.

As in the past three years, this conference will offer outstanding international speakers. There will be ample time for abstracts, posters, and the many informal discussions that have helped make past meetings successful.

Those of you who attended the past conferences of ESES already know that Ismailia is a vibrant modern city, and that Suez Canal University makes an outstanding venue for this meeting.

for more information, please feel free to contact:

Hassan Mansour
Representative of the Organising comittee
 hmansour at uga.edu,  man_griesh at yahoo.com
Or visit our website: www.eses-catrina.com

further, they say:

Recently, the environment has been the topic of the hour, the whole world started to pay a great attention to the environment as a strategic choice to conserve the natural resources which will ensure the continuity and sustainability of these resources in the future.

Sinai Peninsula and Suez Canal area are characterized by their geographical importance and their richness in natural resources which include plants, animals, geological structures and marine habitats.

The natural resources of Egypt, especially these of Sinai Peninsula are facing many threats such as over collection, overgrazing, habitat destruction and urbanization which in return change the wild life, distinction of some species, threat some other and rarity of others.

Also, the unique geological structure affected by many threats as the random quarrying and overexploitation for material resources. The underground water also affected by the pollutants.

—————

Management Committee:

President:

Prof. Abdel-Raouf A. Moustafa

Vice-Presidents:

Dr. Nabil N. El-Masry

Secretary:

Dr. Mohamed S. Zaghloul

Treasurer:

Dr. Raafat H. Abdel-Wahab

Members:

Prof. Samira R. Mansour

Dr. Wafaa M. Kamel

Dr. Samy A. Abdel-Malek

from:   Cicerone, Brett

BUSINESS STRATEGIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Location:
Lake Tahoe, California
Program Dates:
October 25-31, 2009
Application Deadline: September 14, 2009

Listen to Professor Bill Barnett describe the challenges facing executives in business, government, and nonprofit organizations with an environmental purpose. Preparing Environment Conscious Leaders.

As a friend of the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, we wanted to make sure you were aware of our pioneering executive education offering, Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability. Drawn from a multidisciplinary curriculum and delivering strategies to gain competitive advantage through environmentally sustainable practices, Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability is the first of its kind program designed to advance environmental responsibility across sectors.
Hosted at the Stanford Sierra Conference Center, Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability offers executives a camp-like retreat where they can explore what it means to turn sustainable business practices into competitive advantage. The program is designed to cover a range of issues that are central to those who are leading sustainability initiatives in their roles as leaders in business, government, public agencies, and environmental advocacy organizations. Key takeaways include: frameworks to understand how organizations can strike a balance between business and environmental objectives while managing complex stakeholder relationships, and leadership skills to enable action as an internal change agent.
If you or someone you know would benefit from this program, please visit us online at www.gsb.stanford.edu or contact Brett Cicerone directly.

At the UN the fackers managed to put in “the possible” before security implications of climate change.”

Do you think that such a body can do good?

The 192-member body, according to the UN, also asked all the major UN organs, including the Security Council, to intensify their efforts to address the challenge, and requested Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to submit a comprehensive report to the Assembly at its next session on “the possible security implications of climate change.” Here you have something for this year’s High Level event that will bring Heads-of-State to the opening of the General Assembly in September 2009 – the promoted second Heads-of-StateClimate Change meeting that UNSG Ban ki-moon is drumming up for New York this year.

Further, this from UNEP – an adventurer who plans to sail the Pacific in a boat made of plastic and a team of innovators trying to figure out how to take plastic out of the ocean are among “Climate Heroes” named today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Timed to mark World Environment Day, observed, today, June 5th, the nomination of the heroes is part of UNEP’s Adventure Activism for the Environment programme designed to raise public awareness of “hot topic” issues in advance of an environmental summit in Copenhagen in December.

“Climate heroes are people who take a special initiative, who go beyond the normal responsibilities that we have, who pioneer with unusual initiatives and ideas,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP’s Executive Director. “They show the kind of commitment, enthusiasm and understanding of how important it is that we all become heroes in order to address climate change.

Among the heroes are Roz Savage of the United Kingdom – known for her 2006 solo row across the Atlantic Ocean – who will row across the Pacific Ocean and walk from London to Copenhagen to encourage people to walk more, drive less and use less fuel.

Other heroes are David de Rothschild of the United Kingdom and his team, which plan to sail the Pacific in a catamaran made out of reclaimed plastic bottles, and Project Kaisei, a California based group which is studying how to capture plastic waste in the ocean, detoxify it, and recycle it into diesel fuel.

January 29, 2009

Contact: ATA Communications
Tel: (212) 447-1357
 info at africatravelassociation.org
www.africatravelassociation.org

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ELECTION SPARKS INTEREST IN TOURISM TO AFRICA

Africa Travel Association (ATA) Opens Registration for its Second Annual
U.S.-Africa Tourism Seminar in Washington, D.C. from February 19-20, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 29, 2009 – The recent inauguration of President Barack Obama is more than a landmark in America’s political history, it is also an opportunity for the travel and tourism industry to take a more focused approach to increasing visitors and investment in Africa from the U.S.

“All over Africa, we can see how excited everyone is about President Obama’s connection to the continent,” said Edward Bergman, ATA Executive Director. “We have already seen a surge in interest about travel specials to Africa not only to Kenya, where President Obama traces his roots, but also throughout East Africa.”

ATA, the world’s leading global travel trade organization, is gearing up for its Second Annual U.S.-Africa Tourism Seminar. The two-day event takes place at the Washington Convention Center from February 19-20, immediately prior to the Adventures in Travel Expo (ATE). The seminar’s timing and location affords ATA an opportunity to build on the recent historic events, including President Obama’s commitment to service.

With travel to Africa on the rise and an emerging interest in Africa as a culture and heritage destination, Africa is garnering more and more attention from American tourists as one of the world’s premier travel destinations.

Focusing on sports, adventure and diaspora travel and tourism, the seminar will showcase Africa as a top tourism destination from the U.S., as well as a site for investment and business opportunity in one of the world’s fastest growing tourism markets.

Manute Bol, former NBA star and Ethiopian Airlines official spokesperson, will speak about different possibilities for responsible tourism and sports tourism in Africa.

Stephen Hayes, President of the Corporate Council on Africa, and Edward Bergman, among other travel professionals, will speak about tourism policy choices at the opening plenary session.

Sthu Zungu, President of South African Tourism-USA, will speak about travel trends, relating to who is traveling to Africa, why they are going, and what can be improved on the travel front to increase tourism to the continent. Alongside experts in sports tourism in Africa, she will also address how mega sporting events, such as 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, can be leveraged to increase tourism to and within Africa.

The timely topic of responsible tourism and how the industry and the individual tourist can make a difference in local communities will be explored by senior representatives from the Center for Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, Africare, and the African Wildlife Foundation.

Senior representatives from the World Bank, IFC (International Finance Corporation), and US Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, will explore entrepreneurship, finance and investment opportunities, as well as travel trends in separate workshops.

South African Airways representatives will participate in a workshop on the growth and modernization of travel to Africa and the growth and modernization of intra-Africa air service. Representatives from other airlines serving Africa and Boeing will also participate in the seminar.

Another workshop on African diaspora tourism will examine the role of the diaspora in changing perceptions of Africa in the US market and emerging African diaspora tourism products, such as cultural and heritage tours. Panelists will also explore how the African diaspora and immigrant communities can serve as Africa’s tourism ambassadors in the U.S. tourism markets.

Panelists will also speak about branding and marketing Destination Africa and Africa’s newest travel products, particularly in the areas of sports tourism, and adventure travel.

Tourism experts and industry professionals from the U.S. and Africa, particularly travel agents and tour operators who market, sell and specialize in Africa, are expected to attend the seminar, as well as ministers of tourism, representatives from Washington D.C.’s diplomatic community, and Africa’s national tourism offices.

Representatives of the Spring Bank, Virginia Quanders family (1684), referred to as – America’s oldest documented African American family’ by Ebony and Jet magazines, will attend the event. Henderson Travel Services, the first African American travel agency in the U.S. to specialize in sending visitors to Africa, will also participate.

Public relations firms specializing in marketing Africa destinations, such as the Bradford Group, will participate in the seminar, alongside faculty and students from George Washington University.

ATA welcomes travel industry professionals to participate in the ATE expo immediately following the seminar. ATA members should contact ATA for discounts to exhibit.

To register and to find more information on the seminar, as well as sponsorship opportunities, visit http://www.africatravelassociation.org/a….

About the Africa Travel Association (ATA) The Africa Travel Association, a U.S.-based non-profit, is the world’s premier travel industry trade association promoting tourism to Africa and intra-Africa travel and partnership since 1975. ATA members include ministries of tourism and culture, national tourism boards, airlines, hoteliers, travel agents, tour operators, travel trade media, public relations firms, NGOs, and SME’s. For more on ATA, visit www.africatravelassociation.org.

 Uneven Predictions For World Tourism by UN World Tourism Organization. A Down For Travel to and from   Europe and the US, but increases for the Asia, Pacific, African, and Middle East Incoming Tourism – albeit at lower rate of increase.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC TURMOIL HALTS UPWARD TREND IN FOREIGN TRAVEL, WARNS UN AGENCY

The current global economic slowdown brought the growth of international tourism to a standstill in 2008 and threatens to reverse the historic four-year gains made by the industry in foreign travel, according to a report published today by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Although international tourist arrivals reached 924 million in 2008, up 16 million from 2007 or a two per cent overall increase on the year, growth stagnated in the second half of last year, hitting Europe the hardest.

The collapse of financial markets, sharp increases in commodity and oil prices and volatile exchange rate fluctuations combined to force a one per cent decline in international travel in the six months from July, a trend that is expected to continue in 2009.

A three per cent drop off in international arrivals across Europe after June meant the continent was the only region to experience stagnation over the whole year, reported the January 2009 issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

International travel to Asia also decreased by three per cent in the second half of 2008 after double-digit growth in 2007 and a six per cent increase in the first part of 2008.

On the other hand, the Americas, up one per cent overall; Africa, up four per cent; and the Middle East five per cent; had all posted positive results in the second half of the year, although with a significant slowdown compared with the period between January and June.

The UNWTO report forecasted continued stagnation or decline for this year and beyond, but noted that the high degree of economic uncertainty makes predictions of international travel difficult. If the economy starts to show signs of an early recovery, foreign travel might grow slightly in 2009, but if the economy deteriorates further, then the current forecast might be revised downwards.

As most of the travel to the Americas and Europe originates from countries already suffering from historically severe economic recession, UNWTO expects those two regions to be the most affected with a decline of up to two per cent.

Predictions for Asia and the Pacific, on the other hand, are positive, although growth will continue to be much slower compared with the region’s performance in recent years; the same applies to Africa and the Middle East.

The UNWTO report underscored the fact that the softening of international tourism growth follows four historically strong years, with seven per cent annual growth between 2004 and 2007.

Israel builds its first ‘eco-friendly’ town.
By David Shamah
October 05, 2008
 http://web.israel21c.net/bin/en.jsp?enDi…;

It’s one thing to adopt environmentally conscious behavior, such as recycling, taking public transportation, and saving water or electricity. But that’s not enough for the future residents of the now developing community of Nurit. They plan to live green.

That’s because the Mt. Gilboa town of Nurit is set to be the first planned, eco-friendly community in Israel, with infrastructure and services designed not just to encourage, but to actually enforce environmentally responsible behavior. If you’re planning on living in Nurit, says Danny Atar, chairman of the Gilboa Regional Council, you’re by definition willing to go out of your way to save water, avoid excess waste, and in general reduce your carbon footprint. “Otherwise, Nurit is not for you,” he says.

“We are also considering putting up a new town to attract more residents here from the center of the country, and the whole project just sort of made sense,” Atar tells ISRAEL21c. “Thus was Nurit born.”

***

First homes ready in a year:

And, after intense study and consultations with environmental experts around the world, the town is ready for prime time; work has begun on infrastructure, and the first 100 homes will be ready next year. By 2012, there will be 400 families living in Nurit, Atar says.

Located on Mt. Gilboa itself, Nurit will take advantage of the mountain’s wind and sun to generate power, and will install dozens of wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, enough to provide electricity for all the public buildings in Nurit – and then some.

“We recently got approved for a program by the Israel Electric Company, where residents and public buildings will be able to mount solar PV units on their roofs and sell the electricity to the IEC,” says Atar.

“Together with turbines to generate electricity from wind, we expect that the electricity we generate will be enough to light most of the schools, offices, streetlights, and park lights in Nurit – as well as save homeowners money on their energy bill, since they can get credits for the power their roof PV systems generate that they don’t use, selling it back to the IEC.” Atar says.

The regional council has a program that provides loans for residents to buy and install the PV panel setup, or residents can design the systems into their construction plans, he adds.

Trees as cooling canopy:

Residents will also be asked to grow tall, leafy trees around their homes, creating a natural “cooling canopy” that will help cut down on the need for artificial cooling and heating systems, “saving electricity and reducing pollutants in the atmosphere,” Atar says. And, residents will be asked to build their homes using effective insulation systems, to further reduce the need for air conditioners or heaters. “We hope to be able to limit the use of artificial heating and cooling solutions to the hottest or coldest days of the year,” Atar says.

Nurit residents will be required to save water – naturally. “In theory, Israel gets more than enough rainfall, but much of the rain is lost to evaporation or runs off to the sea,” Atar says. “We are requiring all residents to build rain collection systems and mini-reservoirs to store rainwater. The water will then be funneled into the town reservoir, allowing us to cut down significantly on our use of water from Mekorot, which is drawn from either the Kinneret or Israel’s underground aquifers.”

With the Kinneret [the Sea of Galilee] at an all time low, and Israel scrambling to build desalination plants to make up for projected water shortages, Nurit’s efforts could serve as a model for other, non eco-friendly communities as well.

Saving rainwater is important, but saving “gray water” is even more important, say many environmentalists – and Nurit is requiring all homeowners to install a gray water collection system, which will store waster water from dishwashing, bathing, and other non-sewage (“black water”) sources.

The storage of gray water entails building a separate drainage system, which funnels the water into a tank – and is then used for a variety of purposes, such as watering gardens, decorative fountains, etc. “No one in Nurit will be permitted to use fresh water to water his or her lawn,” Atar says. “Residents will use gray water to water their lawns and run watering systems for plants or orchards.”

Unfortunately, Nurit won’t be able to encourage its residents to trade in their cars for commuting by train, because there is no Israel Railways line in the area, at least for now. But the town will have a complete complement of local and inter-city bus service for those who need to travel. Actually, it is expected that most of Nurit’s residents will work in the area, either at home businesses, in tourist-oriented services such as bed and breakfasts or restaurants, or at one of the industrial zones in the area.

“Many of the homes have been zoned for use as businesses as well, so a resident can operate a small business in their backyard,” Atar says. “There is an industrial zone three minutes out of town, mostly with light manufacturing or agriculture industry allied services. And tourism in this region is expected to skyrocket when regular horse racing begins at the Afula Hippodrome, only a few minutes from here,” he adds.

Nurit is open to anyone willing to live by the town’s eco-friendly ethos – and many Israelis are willing, apparently, because there is already a long waiting list for lots.

Most applicants are from big cities – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and its suburbs. A few people from the kibbutzim in the area have signed up as well, but the majority are new to the lower Galilee. Which already makes Nurit a success, as far as Atar is concerned. “This is a beautiful part of the country to live in, and thanks to Nurit, hundreds of families are going to get the opportunity to find out just how beautiful it really is,” Atar says.

UNEP NEWS RELEASE – 2008/31

World Heritage Push for Garden of Eden: Italy Backs Bid to List Iraqi Marshlands Following Completion Of UNEP Restoration Project.

KYOTO/NAIROBI, 5 September 2008–A plan to list as a World Heritage Site an
area known as the Fertile Crescent, and thought by some to be the location
of the Biblical “Garden of Eden”, was unveiled today by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The initiative, to be supported by funding from the Government of Italy,
aims to further the protection and conservation of a significant wetland of
global cultural, natural and environmental importance.

The Marshlands, spawning grounds for Gulf fisheries and home to species
like the Sacred Ibis, were almost totally drained and destroyed by the
former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein during the 1990s and early 21st
century.

Dams upstream on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which feed the fabled
area, had also aggravated the decline. By 2002 the 9,000 square km of
permanent wetlands had dwindled to just 760 square km.

UNEP estimated then that these wetlands would be completely lost within
three to five years unless urgent action was taken.

The World Heritage management support plan, announced at the end of a
meeting in Kyoto, follows a four-year, $14 million UNEP project to restore
the ecological viability of the site, while bringing sustainable
livelihoods to the Marsh Arabs.

***

The Marsh Arabs, the 5,000 year-old heirs of the Babylonians and the
Sumerians, and their wetland home had been targeted by the former Iraqi
Government forcing an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 into exile or camps in
and outside Iraq.

With the collapse of the Saddam Hussein Government in mid-2003, local
residents began breaking the drainage embankments and opening the
floodgates to bring water back into the marshlands.,

The UNEP marshland management project, which commenced in 2004 with funding
from the UN Iraq Trust Fund, the Government of Japan and the Government of
Italy, has been working with the Iraqi Environment Ministry and local
communities to accelerate improvements.

These include environmentally-friendly methods that are providing safe
drinking water for up to 22,000 people, the planting of reed banks and beds
as natural pollution and sewage filters and the introduction of renewable
energies such as solar.

A Marshland Information Network has been established. Training in
satellite and field monitoring and wetland restoration and management has
also been part of project which today completed its final evaluation phase
at the Kyoto meeting.

During this meeting, the Iraqi Ministry of Environment also requested UNEP
to provide support for accession to multilateral environmental agreements
(MEAs) in order to take part in the international environmental challenges
but also opportunities facing the planet.

MEAs range from the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to the Convention of
Migratory Species and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Narmin Othman, the Iraqi Environment Minister who is in Japan for the
event, said: “I am very happy that we are now going to work towards making
the Marshlands a National Park and a globally important World Heritage
Site.”

“Because of what Saddam Hussein did, the marshlands were in danger of
completely disappearing as was the centuries-old culture of the Marsh
Arabs. It had become an ecological but also a human tragedy”, she said.

“Now we have 50 to 60 per cent of the marshlands back we can look forward
to further improvements and putting them on the map as Iraq’s first mixed,
natural and cultural World Heritage Site as befits an area of global
significance”, added Minister Othman.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director,
said: “I would like to thank the Governments of Japan and Italy for their
support and congratulate the Iraqi people on these extraordinary
achievements.”

“The work in the Iraqi marshlands may have been unique and challenging for
a whole variety of reasons. But the lessons we have learnt go beyond
Iraq’s border. They provide a blue print for the restoration for the many
other damaged, degraded and economically-important wetland ecosystems
across the world”, he added.

***

Mr. Steiner said he looked forward to working with the Iraqi Government and
cooperating with UNESCO on developing a comprehensive management plan en
route to securing a World Heritage Site listing and thanked the Government
of Italy for its invaluable support.

Chizuru Aoki of UNEP’s International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC)
in Japan, which has been coordinating the project, said today that the
Italian funds would be used to draw up and implement a sustainable
preservation and management plan.

This will include pilot projects on community-wide ecosystem management and
cultural preservation as well as capacity building, jointly with UNESCO and
the Iraqi authorities.

According to UNESCO, the earliest that Iraq could envisage a submission to
the World Heritage Committee might be 2010 which, if approved could see the
Marshlands of Mesopotamia listed as World Heritage in 2011.

“It is essential that we continue to work with the Iraqi partners, UNESCO,
as well as other relevant organizations to help Iraq move towards this
goal”, Ms. Aoki said.

***

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

The Iraqi Marshland Project:  http://marshlands.unep.or.jp/

UNEP’s Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch Iraq Reports:
 http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications…

Downloadable maps and images at www.unep.org?

For more information, please contact: Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and
Head of Media, +41-79-596-5737 or +254-733-632755, or
 nick.nuttall at unep.org“,

Yukio Yoshii, Senior Liaison Officer, UNEP International Environmental
Technology Centre, +81-6-915-4591, or  yukio.yoshii at unep.or.jp

Habib El-Habr, Director and Regional Representative, UNEP Regional Office
for West Asia, +973-178-12-777, or  habib.elhabr at unep.org.bh.

***********************************
Jim Sniffen
Programme Officer
UN Environment Programme
New York
tel: +1-212-963-8094/8210
 info at nyo.unep.org
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WIP – Starting Labor Day 2008 – Gustav – Just Three Years Later, On-the-Dot, and President Bush Overseas the Surge in KatRitaStan. Mr. McPathetic and the Queen-of-the-Fossil-Carbons, Will Get Anointed Without a Mention of Global Warming.

WIP on our website means WORK (WRITING) IN PROGRESS – or simply unfinished article. When finished the WIP will be taken off but the article will stay in place without the UPDATED designation. Nevertheless, theses introductory lines will remain as a reminder that the article had a long birth.

—————-

We are disgusted.

We happen, personally, to love Arizona, Alaska, Louisiana, Hawaii – those are to us the States of the Union that always were an inspiration to us. We took there on trips our young – real Americans – and imprinted lasting memories in their minds. We have been many times to those four States of the Union. I said inspiration because we regard those States as the remaining places were you can still find a Winetou – the figure Karl May wrote about, and who inflamed my imagination back then when I was a young boy in the Europe of the Nazis. Those were the days my own image of America was formed, and I still was not ready to cut lose from those dreams.

We do not shoot at caribous, We do not even smoke in the honky-tonk bar, we love the Amerindians, the Eskimos, and the native Hawaiians. We watched their love for the land and learned from it. We even visited the Vodoo lady of the spirits in New Orleans, and I was moved to look for her remaining sisters in many places of Latin America, Africa and Asia – even in Scandinavia.

We looked at the way nature was ruined because of oil and coal. Yes, we did not move to live there permanently. We still think that New York and California are the States we prefer to live in. But I can say that I did live for a year in Arizona, and spent the most memorable night of my life in Alaska.

The year in Arizona was with the American Graduate School for International Management (AGSIM or Thunderbird in short) when we developed personal relationship with Thomas Banyaka – the so called foreign minister of the Hopi Indians – the man who was let into Sweden on the basis of his home-made passport, that included an eagle feather, for the sake of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Environment.

But the that night I mentioned in Alaska (one night of many spent in that State) is even clearly of greater interest to me – really unforgettable.

Twenty years ago I made a wrong turn on the Matanuska Glacier (in between the towns of Wasila and Palmer). It was the young ladies of Wasila that spent the night with my wife who luckily was wiser, and did not descend from the parking lot when I went to take, very late afternoon, a picture of the glacier. I wanted also to finish the film, and asked another visitor to take a shot of me with the glacier – as the last shot on the film. An hour later that lady told my wife that “she took my last picture.” Those young Wasila ladies knew how to initiate my rescue and stayed with my wife while waiting for an army (or was it the National Guard?) helicopter to come with day break to search for me. I spent the night stuck behind an ice-rock throwing pieces at shadows to find out if those were not some animal. I literally owe my life to those ladies of Wasila. Was any of them a sister of Sarah Palin? I assume that by that time she was already out to college in Hawaii or Idaho, or was she back on summer vacation? Who knows by now? The Alaska newspapers wrote about my rescue the following day, and a month later I even got a letter from a local army official that wanted to make sure that I was OK and he can close the file on my rescue. I mention this just to say that there is nothing in my past to indicate anything but admiration to those energetic young ladies of Wasila that knew how to handle the situation and call for help from the right quarters, and to those that implemented that rescue. They saved my life, because, as they imagined I will do, I did indeed veer in the wrong direction believing I can reach a highway were I saw moving lights – but which was totally unreachable from where I was. 12 hours later I was rescued by being pulled up with ropes, by a helicopter crew that used body-heat sensors.

And those huge cauliflowers and cabbages, pumpkins of Wasila that grow there in the summer with all those extra light-hours the sun provides? Let me stop here please.

But then, we have a son that was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and who spent his first half year in a crib in Glendale, Arizona. He is now 34 years old and has done, and does, a lot for animals. He would never think of shooting at them. On the other hand, Sarah Palin went with her father to shoot caribou before breakfast.

—————-

We are disgusted because of all that talk of “YOU CANNOT CONTROL MOTHER NATURE.”

***

But we corrupted “Mother Nature.” This is not a nature catastrophe. WE DID IT.
We did it by putting all that CO2 into the atmosphere, and by destroying the barriers in front of the shores.

We caused global warming and Alaska ice is melting away. The Seas are rising.

We pulled oil out of the ground in the Gulf of Mexico and caused the land of Louisiana to sink further.

These misdeeds get their punishment while the GOP continues to march under the flag of enhancement of oil production and use.

Louisiana is just the first State to pay for these misdeeds. Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas are in line.

The Whole World will have to pay for US government’s insistence on avoiding to see the obvious realities.

————–

UNESCO WORLD HERTAGE SITES

SUN and BEACH – MAIN DESTINATIONS in BRAZIL:

Bauhaus-era plant to power Jordan Valley eco-tourism.
By Rachel Neiman, August 5, 2008.
 http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDi…;

Tel Aviv’s White City has the world’s largest concentration of Bauhaus-style buildings.

Less well known, however, are the many other projects built throughout the 1920s to 1950s in the International Style.

One of the most ambitious of these was the Rotenberg Power Plant, which from 1932 supplied both sides of the Jordan River valley with electricity up until 1948 when it was destroyed. In 1994, the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty turned the area into an international border crossing. Now, an equally ambitious Israeli-Jordanian initiative project, spearheaded by Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), aims to revive the area, and the Rotenberg compound along with it, as a unique eco-tourism site spanning both sides of the border.

The Jordan River Peace Park proposes to combine two adjacent areas; Naharayim/Baqura, where a small island was created at the junction of the Jordan and Yarmouk Rivers, and the Jeser Al Majama/Gesher site, known as “Three Bridges”, a historical crossing point of the Jordan River valley. Partners in the project include the Municipality of Muaz Bin Jabal (Jordan), the Jordan Valley Regional Council (Israel), and the Beit She’an Valley Regional Council (Israel), together with FoEME.

According to Gidon Bromberg, founder of FoEME and director of the Tel Aviv office, the initiative intends to provide new livelihood opportunities for the residents of the Jordan Valley. “The potential is tremendous,” he tells ISRAEL21c. “Unemployment right now on the Jordanian side is 40 percent, the only source of employment is agriculture and it’s very poorly paid – JD 80-100 per month, which is nothing – so the livelihood opportunities that the Peace Park presents are great.”

The project proposes to rehabilitate the lower Jordan River by re-flooding the wetlands and rebalancing the ecosystem, a matter that is of primary concern to FoEME.

‘This is 20th century industrial archeology.’

In May, a design workshop (also called a charrette) took place with the participation of faculty and students from Yale University and the Bezalel Academy of the Arts together with Jordanian and Palestinian architects. FoEME presented the results of the charrette in Jordan and Jerusalem, along with recommendations from pre-feasibility studies and business plans.

“Adjacent kibbutzim have already developed tourism industries,” says Plattas, who envisions a car-free compound surrounded by “reservoirs of parking, where people would leave their cars behind and convert to other modes of transport available at the park.”

A history interrupted:

The park will be developed in stages, with Phase 1 on the Jordanian side of what is a truly unique border. At Peace Island the charrette witnessed first-hand Israelis and Jordanians entering the site, without the need for visas and passports – due to terms of the 1994 treaty that took into account “the special circumstances of the Naharayim/Baqura area, which is under Jordanian sovereignty, with Israeli private ownership rights.”

The owners, in this case, include concessionaires Israel Electric Corporation, formerly the Palestine Electric Corporation, whose visionary founder, Pinchas Rotenberg, was awarded use of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers to supply hydroelectric power to Mandatory Palestine, by the British authorities. Rotenberg successfully negotiated with Jordan’s Emir Abdallah to use 1,500 acres of land that was under Transjordanian control. The station operated from 1933 until it was destroyed by the Arab Legion in 1948 and became part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

“The power station has a history of shared international cooperation that has been interrupted,” says Plattas. Travel itself has its own rhythms and the ongoing tension between Israel and its neighbors has blocked traditional traffic flow, says environmental consultant Aviad Sar Shalom. “Tourism in the area today is mainly on the Israeli side from north to south. This project will restore the natural tourism circulation of east to west.”

Picking up the threads of the past, in 2007, the King Abdullah II Fund for Development endorsed the King Abdullah I/Rotenberg Peace Park. This month, results of the pre-feasibility study and charrette will be presented to the Jordanian Prime Minister who will in turn present it to the King. On the Israeli side, the project was given the green light in principle by the Ministry of Tourism and the Water Authority, and will be presented by the Israeli mayors to President Shimon Peres.

Peace powered potential:

Bromberg says the next step will be for the Jordanian side to be declared a national park, and to link the Israeli sites of Naharayim and Gesher, “and then we’ll continue undertaking concrete investment in the infrastructure in a parallel fashion, preparing everything for the linkage into one cross-border Peace Park. If all goes well, we’ll have enough in place to be able to open in two and a half years time.”

It’s not just wishful thinking, Bromberg points out. “Certain aspects of the project already exist. The Israeli side [Gesher/Naharayim] is already open. And the Jordanians have already started to bring groups to the site; local students and teachers, entrepreneurs and potential investors. Northern Jordan is an area that is very poorly visited at the moment and with high unemployment. That’s why the authorities have shown such interest.”