The Long March from Cancún: Steps Toward a Global Uprising
By Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association, Dec 9, 2010
After his brief on-the-ground report from the Cancún climate negotiations, Cummins offers a compelling outline of the geo-agro-reforms we need to fight for now. - Ed.
On a beautiful sunny morning, marching down the Avenida Tulúm, our five thousand strong brigade of climate change activists, armed with colorful flags, hats, signs, and banners, supercharged with lively music and drummers, are making our voices heard: "Cambie el sistema, no la clima" (Change the System, not the climate), "El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido" (The people united will never be defeated) and "Obama, Obama respete Cochabamba" (Obama, Obama, respect the Cochabamba Declaration--on the Rights of Mother Earth). One of two simultaneous street demonstrations this morning, we are heading toward the Moon Palace, 15 miles away, where hundreds of heavily armed riot police are lined up behind enormous steel barricades to prevent us from getting within earshot of the Palace, the official headquarters for the United Nation's COP 16 (Congress of the Parties 16) global climate summit.
With black military helicopters (courtesy of the USA) circling overhead, our message to the "business as usual" elite in the Palace is simple: get off your bureaucratic asses and do something. Stop allowing large corporations to use our common atmosphere as an open sewer. Stop cutting down our forests, spraying poisonous pesticides, killing our oceans, and destroying our living soils. Stand aside and let the world's 1.5 billion small farmers, ranchers, and indigenous communities cool off the planet with organic soil management and sustainable grazing and forestry practices. Tax the rich, nationalize the banks, and do whatever is necessary to pay for millions of Green Jobs and public works programs to rebuild our soils and our economic infrastructure. Stop the delaying tactics. Join hands with the global grassroots to retrofit our buildings, our utilities, and our transportation sectors and move away from fossil fuels, or get the hell out of our way.
December 11, 2010
November 22, 2010
Thorium: Energy Cheaper than Coal
Energy cheaper than from coal
Published on July 11th, 2010
When economic well-being measured by the gross domestic product exceeds a threshold, birthrate drops sharply.
Global warming now threatens irreversible climate damage, ending glacial water flows needed to sustain food production for hundreds of millions of people, and shrinking the polar cold water regions of the ocean where algae start the ocean food chain. Atmospheric CO2 dissolving into the ocean acidifies it, killing corals and stressing ocean life. Demand for biofuels increases destruction of CO2 absorbing forests and jungles.
Burning coal for power is the largest source of atmospheric CO2, which drives global warming. Airborne coal soot causes 24,000 annual deaths in the US and 400,000 in China. We seek alternatives such as burying CO2, or substituting wind, solar, and nuclear power.
November 07, 2010
Financial Transaction Tax Spawns an Advocacy Movement
Suggestions for a minuscule but highly productive levy on currency trading and/or financial transactions have been around since the Tobin Tax proposal in the Seventies, but have been effectively stifled by the brokerage and banking worlds ever since. Recently, however, the public's energetic animosity toward the speculation-driven economic meltdown and bailout antics have birthed fresh revivals of the concept such as the following UK movement for a "Robin Hood tax"
An overview of the proposal: "An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Adopt a Financial Transactions Tax" (pdf file) by John Dillon, May 2010
October 26, 2010
October 05, 2010
Green Taxes and Ecologically Sustainable Communities
Ingenious tax and policy algorithms for miniaturizing, localizing and democratizing mega-corporate entities - Ed.A green tax policy for sustaining Australia, its citizens and communities
A “green” tax policy could be used to increase the reported profits of business while localizing its ownership and control. By this means local communities would obtain the power to protect their environment. Also, the income of local voters would increase while introducing corporate democracy. The whole nation would become richer as profits to foreigners are phased out.
A green tax could be introduced on a voluntary basis. A lower tax rate could be made available to any investor who registered a contract to transfer ownership of their investments at the same rate that they recovered the cost of their investment from depreciation tax deductions. There would no limit on the profits obtained by investors while they got their money back.
More foreign investment could be obtained while eliminating alien ownership and control of national resources. “Boomerang ownership” would eliminate what Professor Penrose described as “unlimited, unknown and uncontrolled foreign liabilities” for the nation. Because profit-maximizing investors discount the future so much only a small preferential tax1 is required for fiduciary investors in listed corporations to approve a change in corporate constitutions to create a new class of “stakeholder” shares to acquire residual ownership of corporate investments2.
A green tax could be introduced on a voluntary basis. A lower tax rate could be made available to any investor who registered a contract to transfer ownership of their investments at the same rate that they recovered the cost of their investment from depreciation tax deductions. There would no limit on the profits obtained by investors while they got their money back.
More foreign investment could be obtained while eliminating alien ownership and control of national resources. “Boomerang ownership” would eliminate what Professor Penrose described as “unlimited, unknown and uncontrolled foreign liabilities” for the nation. Because profit-maximizing investors discount the future so much only a small preferential tax1 is required for fiduciary investors in listed corporations to approve a change in corporate constitutions to create a new class of “stakeholder” shares to acquire residual ownership of corporate investments2.
September 26, 2010
The Credit Meltdown and the Shadow Banking System: What Basel III Missed
"While we're waiting for the Cavalry to swoop down from Washington and save us -- something that could take a while -- we might consider setting up some state-owned banks. The Bank of North Dakota, currently the country's only state-owned bank, is very stable and very profitable, returning a 26% dividend to the state. A bank of that sort could be an attractive investment for all those state and local rainy day funds, pension funds and other local government funds looking for greater returns from the low-risk investments allowed by their legislative mandates. We need to set up some banks that serve the needs of the real economy rather than those of Wall Street bankers, brokers and their super-rich clients for yet more bonuses, bailouts and paper profits. State-owned banks could fill the role the Wall Street banks have declined to fill, providing an effective credit engine for state and local economies."
THE FULL MONTY: http://snipurl.com/16ekqe
THE FULL MONTY: http://snipurl.com/16ekqe
September 23, 2010
September 20, 2010
A Vision of a New American Dream
A promising site...
For generations of Americans, the American dream stood for opportunity. The dream was rooted in the belief that, in a peaceful and democratic society, citizens were free to pursue their goals, and honest effort would result in a satisfactory degree of material comfort. The idealistic notion that in America one might reasonably aspire to a better life for oneself and one's family was a powerful symbol. It spoke not merely to personal aspirations but to our aim as a society as well.
Unfortunately, in recent decades the traditional American dream has been displaced by a "more is better" focus that promotes not quality of life, but rather the unbridled production and consumption of stuff. While this simplified version of the dream succeeded in boosting the US economy—now the biggest in the world in terms of material production and consumption—it has failed in more important ways. According to studies, all this material wealth isn't making us any happier than we were before the boom. Worse yet, shifting the prize from well-being to acquisition actually endangers some of the very things we cherish. The "more is better" dream is unsustainable personally, as it draws American families into a work-and-spend treadmill that depletes savings and clutters lives. It is unsustainable environmentally, as it fuels a level of resource consumption that the planet cannot keep up with. The "more is better" dream, in fact, is denying our children their fair opportunity for comfort, security and a healthy environment.
The Center for a New American Dream envisions a society that values more of what matters – not just "more." New American Dream is dedicated to helping support and nurture an American dream that revives the spirit of the traditional dream—but with a new emphasis on non-material values like financial security, fairness, community, health, time, nature, and fun. We see both a nation and a world in which a healthy global ecosystem anchors a just society offering all citizens the freedom, the resources and the personal security necessary to pursue their dreams, connect with the natural world, and enjoy a high quality of life. Some key elements of this new American dream are as follows:
A Higher Quality of Life
We envision a society in which citizens are able to meet material needs and pursue their dreams; where there is broad recognition that quality of life includes not just material wealth but also non-material values, relationships, and experiences; where there is more time for families, leisure, community service; where progress is measured not simply by changes in gross domestic product, but rather by indicators that more truly reflect improvements to quality of life, environmental sustainability, and social and economic fairness.
A Healthy Environment
We envision a society whose ecological footprint is in step with Earth's capacity, so that we are living in balance with what the natural world has to offer and we protect the resource base for future generations. Everyone should have access to clean air, clean water, healthy food, and adequate resources.
More Fairness
We envision a world that works for all; a world in which everyone has the opportunity to achieve a high quality of life; a world in which wealthy nations and individuals do not overconsume natural resources while the poor do without; a world in which workers at all parts of the supply chain are provided with safe working conditions and just compensation; a world where no one is denied access to basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, safety; a world where citizen influence over government policies is elevated over moneyed influence.
Strong Communities
We envision strong, tightly woven, participatory communities; more direct relationships between local producers and consumers; livable, walkable neighborhoods connected via accessible and affordable transportation systems with natural areas, parks, and open spaces available to all.
Healthy Economy and Marketplace
We envision a vibrant economy that operates in deference to both citizen needs and ecological limits; where advertising informs rather than manipulates, overwhelms, and preys upon insecurities; where citizens can choose not to receive commercial messages and no advertising is targeted at young children; where energy production and industrial processes do not exacerbate climate change nor degrade important biological communities; where materials are continuously recycled back into the manufacturing process and nothing is wasted; where environmentally and socially preferable products are widely available and competitively priced; where consumers have easy access to information that allows them to make informed choices—information about the economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with the entire life cycle of available products.
http://www.newdream.org/about/vision.php
For generations of Americans, the American dream stood for opportunity. The dream was rooted in the belief that, in a peaceful and democratic society, citizens were free to pursue their goals, and honest effort would result in a satisfactory degree of material comfort. The idealistic notion that in America one might reasonably aspire to a better life for oneself and one's family was a powerful symbol. It spoke not merely to personal aspirations but to our aim as a society as well.
Unfortunately, in recent decades the traditional American dream has been displaced by a "more is better" focus that promotes not quality of life, but rather the unbridled production and consumption of stuff. While this simplified version of the dream succeeded in boosting the US economy—now the biggest in the world in terms of material production and consumption—it has failed in more important ways. According to studies, all this material wealth isn't making us any happier than we were before the boom. Worse yet, shifting the prize from well-being to acquisition actually endangers some of the very things we cherish. The "more is better" dream is unsustainable personally, as it draws American families into a work-and-spend treadmill that depletes savings and clutters lives. It is unsustainable environmentally, as it fuels a level of resource consumption that the planet cannot keep up with. The "more is better" dream, in fact, is denying our children their fair opportunity for comfort, security and a healthy environment.
The Center for a New American Dream envisions a society that values more of what matters – not just "more." New American Dream is dedicated to helping support and nurture an American dream that revives the spirit of the traditional dream—but with a new emphasis on non-material values like financial security, fairness, community, health, time, nature, and fun. We see both a nation and a world in which a healthy global ecosystem anchors a just society offering all citizens the freedom, the resources and the personal security necessary to pursue their dreams, connect with the natural world, and enjoy a high quality of life. Some key elements of this new American dream are as follows:
A Higher Quality of Life
We envision a society in which citizens are able to meet material needs and pursue their dreams; where there is broad recognition that quality of life includes not just material wealth but also non-material values, relationships, and experiences; where there is more time for families, leisure, community service; where progress is measured not simply by changes in gross domestic product, but rather by indicators that more truly reflect improvements to quality of life, environmental sustainability, and social and economic fairness.
A Healthy Environment
We envision a society whose ecological footprint is in step with Earth's capacity, so that we are living in balance with what the natural world has to offer and we protect the resource base for future generations. Everyone should have access to clean air, clean water, healthy food, and adequate resources.
More Fairness
We envision a world that works for all; a world in which everyone has the opportunity to achieve a high quality of life; a world in which wealthy nations and individuals do not overconsume natural resources while the poor do without; a world in which workers at all parts of the supply chain are provided with safe working conditions and just compensation; a world where no one is denied access to basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, safety; a world where citizen influence over government policies is elevated over moneyed influence.
Strong Communities
We envision strong, tightly woven, participatory communities; more direct relationships between local producers and consumers; livable, walkable neighborhoods connected via accessible and affordable transportation systems with natural areas, parks, and open spaces available to all.
Healthy Economy and Marketplace
We envision a vibrant economy that operates in deference to both citizen needs and ecological limits; where advertising informs rather than manipulates, overwhelms, and preys upon insecurities; where citizens can choose not to receive commercial messages and no advertising is targeted at young children; where energy production and industrial processes do not exacerbate climate change nor degrade important biological communities; where materials are continuously recycled back into the manufacturing process and nothing is wasted; where environmentally and socially preferable products are widely available and competitively priced; where consumers have easy access to information that allows them to make informed choices—information about the economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with the entire life cycle of available products.
http://www.newdream.org/about/vision.php
September 18, 2010
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