No doubt this clip from a 1960s Amperican Petroleum Institute film will eliminate any concerns that you might have that oil spills could harm the environment.
(Public domain film clip via The Internet Archive)
(1999 advertisement)
Our latest YouTube video clip is a look at what our dependence on oil is doing to the Earth.
In case you were worried that the end of oil would mean the end of motor sport, here’s highlights of the TTXGP, claimed to be the first all-electric zero-emission motorcycle grand prix.
GreenBiz Cafe has a new video clip on YouTube - enjoy!
Climate change is threatening some of our favourite cliches. These are some that we will need to update:
Images from Wikimedia Commons: "CO2-Temp" by Hanno, "Richmond Flood" by Iridescent, "Running Hare" by Marlene Thyssen, "Black Sea Oil Spill" by Marine Photobank, "Dead Zone" by Jkeiser and "Flowers of Prunus Tomentosa in May" by Pauk
A British judge has ruled that deeply held environmental views are entitled to the same protection as religious convictions.
Until five years ago, Tim Nicholson, a British quantity surveyor, "flew abroad on holiday and for work, drove fast cars and had no knowledge of or concern about carbon emissions". But after a trip to New Zealand, he decided that he could no longer "continue to live in a way that would increase the already dangerous high levels of CO²" and took a job as head of sustainability for Grainger plc, a large property management company.
Mr Nicholson said that his environmental beliefs led to frequent clashes with other managers and that the firm’s chief executive, Rupert Dickinson, treated his views with contempt. For example, on a business trip to Ireland, Mr Dickinson realised that he had left his Blackberry in London and ordered one of his staff to fly to London to fetch it.
On the other hand, Mr Nicholson no longer travels by plane. He said that "I have eco-renovated my home, I try to buy local produce, I compost my food waste, I encourage others to reduce their carbon emissions and I fear very much for the future of the human race, given the failure to reduce carbon emissions on a global scale."
He claimed that his environmantal beliefs eventually led to his being laid off by the company.
In an appeals court, Justice Richard Burton ruled thah Mr Nicholson’s views on the environment were so deeply held that they were entitled to the same protection as religious convictions, and ruled that an employment tribunal should hear his claim that he was sacked because of his beliefs.
Legal experts say that the ruling could usher in future damages claims over the way firms handle environmental concerns but some argue that it opened doors for an even wider category of deeply held beliefs, such as feminism or vegetarianism to be given the same status as religios convictions.
(Based on sources including The Guardian)
Robert and Brenda Vale, two architects who specialise in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, have given a new meaning to the term "pet food" in their new book, "Time to Eat the Dog".
The book compares the ecological footprints of popular pets with those of various other lifestyle choices. New Scientist have added to the debate with research from John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Englend and David Mackay, the UK government’s energy adviser.
So what are the results?
The land required to feed the pet cat population of the top ten cat-owning countries is about one and a half times the area of New Zealand. And the land needed to feed the dogs in the top ten dog-owning countries is five times the area of New Zealand.
To put all this into perspective, the eco-footprint of a British human is about fifty times that of a cat.
We wouldn’t dare suggest what you should conclude from this but this is the Vale’s advice:
Do we finally have a worthy green anthem in the Time for Climate Justice campaign’s reworking of Midnignt Oil’s "Beds Are Burning"?
Fake Christmas trees may well be more convenient than real ones and they certainly last longer - but, considering that we throw away real trees after a couple of weeks but re-use fake ones, how do they compare in their impact on the environment?
A Canadian company called Ellipsos has released a study of the environmental impact of Christmas trees.The study found that the real Christmas trees which most people buy are about 15 years old. They are grown in a nursery and then on a plantation within a relatively short distance of where they are eventually sold. They are thrown away after a single use. The net effect is the production of an average of 3.1 kilograms of greenhouse gas.
Fake trees, on the other hand, are transported a long distance (often from China) and are used for an average of six Christmases. The net effect is the production of an average of 8.1 kilograms of greenhouse gases. Manufacturing fake trees also consumes a lot of oil and water and their disposal can release dioxins into the environment.
So, real Christmas trees are much better - or,at least, less bad - for the environment.
(The picture is "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree Shopping" by Kit via Flickr)
