Month: August 2008

Both Hillary and Bill have delivered speeches well beyond what duty required of them. Losing the primary was undoubtedly a bitter pill to swallow but it barely showed in Hilary's speech, and Bill once again reminded us of his incredible skills as a political communicator.

Certainly there's plenty of Democratic policy I find too timid, but they're fighting a different election to a very different audience to the one I'm used to here. Bill Clinton's speech is concise, exquisitely timed and summarises positions with a rare clarity and simplicity.

You can watch it in its entirety (not the hatchet edits news sites are showing) on the Convention's own site.

UPDATE: Jon Naughton adds his own thoughts in a similarly complimentary vein citing Dave Winer's praise also (and Mr Winer was there).

If you aren't already convinced by the arguments for organic farming then the news of ocean 'dead zones' is pretty persuasive…

The International Herald Tribune reports that nitrogen-rich run-off from crop fertilisers is the main culprit in an expanding number of marine dead zones. The number of zones has doubled every decade since the 1960s:

About 400 coastal areas now have periodically or perpetually oxygen-starved bottom waters, many of them growing in size and intensity […] While the size of dead zones is small relative to the total surface of the oceans, scientists say they account for a significant part of ocean waters that support commercial fish and shellfish species.

The article goes on:

Many dead zones are cyclical, recurring each year in the summer months. But over time, they can permanently kill off entire species within the zone. They have also prevented the rebounding of species that are under protection after overfishing, like the Baltic Sea's cod […]

Once dead zones recur, “they are very hard to reverse,” said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, adding that “they have major consequences for the ability of fish populations to renew themselves.”

Organic agriculture can provide excellent yields is better for the health of farmers, consumers and the wider environment… as well as the oceans. We need to stop looking at issues in isolation – artificial fertilisers stay in our ecosystem and have lasting effects. The good news is that organic alternatives are viable, but they taste better too!

Just in case you were in any doubt, our green house gas emissions are going up [according to two detailed reports]. The increase is 18% between 1992 and 2004 according to one government report.

As my brother-in-law who drives lorries for a logistics company likes to remind me 'everything goes by road' so if the economy grows, so do emissions. Despite claims from ministers, we have not broken the link between economic security and our impact on the climate.

Andrew Simms had an excellent piece in The Guardian on Friday, “The final countdown”. It superbly summarises the basis on which we are fast approaching an irreversible climate crisis before detailing the ways in which we can climb out of the hole we have dug ourselves into. Even without global warming driven climate change there are other imperatives to change: oil is fast running out, air quality remains a serious problem (as Olympic athletes will soon recount I'm sure), cancer rates are soaring and the global population is bigger than ever.

What always strikes me when looking at alternatives to the current 'business as usual' approach is how viable they are. There's nothing impossible about them… the technology is there, the ideas are there, what we are lacking is the leadership and collective willpower. Why aren't we insulating all homes or subsidising alternative sources of energy? Why have we privatised our limited water supplies? Why is our train system so expensive and slow? Why is so much effort being put into expanding Heathrow airport?

The existing political establishment have had their chance to prove their commitment to these issues. But again and again they've failed, whilst delivering extremely fine words of intent — but the last thing we need is more hot air. A greener, low carbon world isn't one of deprivation it's a future with a higher quality of life for all.