Hot and Cold on Independence day

Here's some light relief to lift our hearts and celebrate independence, courtesy of the WE Campaign.

Happily it brings together two current themes as it just happens to feature a pig, along with a rather burnt looking pancake or tortilla and a fridge.

The main point, though, is a rather simplified account of how to resolve the thorny conundrum of averting damaging climate change whilst continuing with extraordinarily high energy lifestyles. That goes for all conventional inhabitants of developed nations, and quite a few others elsewhere too, of course, not just the dominant population of Turtle Island.

The WE Campaign successfully re-invented itself as Repower America last summer, and Al Gore has continued to exert unprecedented (seriously) influence via a thoroughly statesperson like performance at the helm of the Alliance for Climate Protection. This embodies both organisations and apparently some others too.

Repower America has no less an aim than to get the States off carbon entirely in just 10 years, whilst simultaneously rebooting the economy via the green stimulus and relieving the perceived strategic vulnerability of massive dependence on imported oil and astronomical overseas borrowings to pay for it. Here's a succinct summary of the campaign's objectives.

It is succeeding magnificently. At the end of last month the House of Representatives passed the Clean Energy Security Bill in a hard fought vote in which the dirty energy lobby exceeded themselves in greenwash and disinformation. According to the WE Campaign, the opposition

'stepped up a blatant distortion campaign on TV and behind closed doors to scare Congress from taking action.'

'Members of Congress who oppose clean energy paraded around a map that distorts the truth about curbing carbon pollution. Not only was the analysis misleading, the computer file still listed the original author -- the coal lobby.

'And another group, funded by the fossil-fuel industry, released targeted TV ads designed to drum up fear ahead of the vote.'

It is clear the efforts of Repower America were absolutely critical in swinging the vote. Not merely the shear political clout wielded by a campaign which has almost 2.3 million members - an extraordinary number - but by the pressure they have brought to bear by raising massive on-line petitions in days, donating for the advertising necessary to counter the greenwash, and sieging congresspeople by phone, mail and in person. People power or active democracy at its best, as you will. Most heartening stuff.

The bill has now passed to the Senate but it is expected that this sort of thing will be racheted up yet again in an all-out effort to defeat it. Al Gore said

'The American Clean Energy Security (ACES) Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation Congress will ever pass. This comprehensive legislation will make meaningful reductions in global warming pollution, spur investment in clean energy technology, create jobs and reduce our reliance on foreign oil.

The next step is passage of this legislation by the Senate to help restore America's leadership in the world and begin, at long last, to put in place a truly global solution to the climate crisis.

We are at an extraordinary moment, with an historic opportunity to confront one of the world’s most serious challenges. Our actions now will be remembered by this generation and all those to follow – in our own nation and others around the world.'

So much to celebrate on the day, and much to engage in.

Wherever you happen to be you are welcome in the We Campaign, and regardless of nationality. It's critical, it's interesting, and it takes but a few moments to join. So we all should be adding our weight to the critical mass. Two million is an extraordinary achievement, but Al is aiming for 10 million. That would make it the largest campaign in American history - and a truly irresistible force for the planet. You can join it here.

Yet there are are currently around 6.8 billions two legged monsters here on Earth, so where are the rest? And what can they be thinking? Of the mass of humanity 10 million is but a drop in the ocean, and we have known from the outset that if America goes down everything is lost.

Regardless, a great deal to celebrate universally, so have a happy day one and all. And better luck with the pancakes.

Pig Business: 2200 tomorrow

Excellent news. Tracy Worcester's documentary Pig Business has finally cleared the legal obstacles and should finally be shown on More 4 at 10.00 pm on Tuesday 30 June. It's going out as part of their 'Great British Food Fight', though it is relevant to food production everywhere, particularly in the USA and the EU.

Don't miss this one. It's vitally important for the pigs, sure, and that matters -tremendously. Just as important for humanity that it decisively rejects the mindset that embraces such indefensible, abject cruelty as a necessity, economic expedient, or even revels in it as a positive improvement in efficiency.

Yet this film is far more than just an expose horrors of factory pig farming. Along the way it questions our whole relationship to food and the environmental consequences arising from it at a most fundamental level. In essence, you get what you pay for - be it benign and enlightened, or utterly unacceptable. Here we get that message unequivocally and straight from the horse's mouth.

In that regard we learn of the attitude of one of the massive companies involved in this type of agribusiness, whilst under scrutiny gaping holes are revealed in European Union policy as we see the catastrophic effect it has had on Poland and its agricultural sector, one of the the most sustainable and environmentally benign in Europe, and the Polish diaspora that has resulted. Anyone interested in Poland will therefore find it essential viewing.

Absolutely not to be missed is Bobby Kennedy Jr, who has to be the epitome of an environmental lawyer and a lion amongst environmentalists. Just imagine a world where every environmental lawyer was as a unequivocal and committed. Here again he has been right in the thick of things opposing pig business from the beginning, and finishes the programme with some stirring and well-targetted oratory which we could all well heed.

All yours. Previous posting discussing the film and the legal obstacles it has had to surmount can be found here and here.

Update: Pig Business and Libel Laws

A big apology to those who tuned in to watch Pig Business on Tuesday night and found themselves watching True Stories - Who Killed the Electric Car? instead.

Little was it anticipated that what was intended as a quick announcement of this film would lead us deep into the sacred turf of freedom of speech - internationally - and to Britain's parlous libel laws.

What happened was that Channel 4 revised the schedules at short notice, announcing that a new broadcast date would be found for Pig Business. This was apparently done in order to assure the press that pulling the programme was merely postponing it, rather than abandoning it altogether. However the new slot is likely to be sometime in May, presumably to allow time for the perceived issues to be fully worked through.

Channel 4, like all UK media outlets attempting to report public interest information, has to do boot and braces when making sure all its legal boxes are ticked. This can be onerous, as UK libel laws might be considered to be corporate friendly - if not a major impediment to free speech. So much so that 'libel tourism' is now a serious problem, where foreign plaintiffs come to the UK to sue, even over material that was not published in the UK.

This is not a problem merely for Britain. It is considered to be a such a threat to the American First Amendment - freedom of speech and the press - that draft legislation to counter it is currently being laid before Congress with support on all sides. Here's the First Amendment in full:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

For an example of what is happening at its worst, here is a recent story from The Washington Post titled The Attack of the Libel Tourists which tells us:

'Plaintiffs with little or no connection to the country [UK] are filing libel suits there; British judges more often than not allow them to proceed on flimsy jurisdictional grounds'

while The Guardian reports the issue from the other side of the pond:

'American legislators told Congress that cases heard in London were causing "concrete and profound harm" to the American people.

'The Guardian has learned both the Ministry of Justice and the parliamentary committee on media, culture and sport are planning consultations on libel law reforms, as the US takes steps to protect Americans from the English courts.

'Earlier this month, an American congressional committee singled out "ridiculous lawsuits" permitted in London and heard that "foreign individuals are operating a scheme to intimidate authors and publishers".'

Putting the issue into context:

'The controversy surrounding English libel law is the requirement that authors of defamatory statements must prove the statement is true.

'By contrast, in the US, statements are presumed to be true unless the person bringing the claim can show it was false, there was "actual malice" or that the falsehood was intentional.'

So much for the cherished British notion of free expression, then.


Astonishingly - as she was not on the distribution for the postings and we had never been in contact - in the midst of all this Tracy Worcester somehow managed to get a message through in good time to alert us of the rescheduling in advance. Alas, her email arrived after the library had shut, just too late to pass it on to you in good time.

So whilst the rescheduling may therefore have come as a surprise, three potentially good things emerge from this:

it seems safe to assume that when a programme has to be re-edited under these circumstances we can be sure it has something very important to say

as more notice of the showing should now be possible, more folk will get a chance to learn what it is

while apparently True Stories - Who Killed the Electric Car? turned out to be an important documentary in its own right, described by one recipient as 'essential viewing'.

So a happy ending, at least for those who persevered. Here's what the Channel 4 website had to say about it:

'The curious story of the short life of one of the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built.

'It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles into landfill sites in the obscurity of the Arizona desert?

'Chris Paine's documentary investigates the events that led to the quiet destruction of an apparently promising product.

'Through interviews, ranging from enthusiastic owner Mel Gibson to ex-CIA boss R James Woolsey, the film paints a picture of an industrial culture whose aversion to change and reliance on oil may run deeper then its ability to embrace new, radical solutions.'

Stand by for news of the revised showing of Pig Business which will be circulated just as soon as the information reaches the pensive prognosticator.

Meanwhile for those who can't wait, here's the trailer. Plus there is plenty more graphic stuff on the Pig Business website.

Pig Business - More 4 tonight 2200

The flurry of important environmental events at short notice continues apace.

The latest is Pig Business, a film by Tracy Worcester, which is being shown tonight on More 4 at 2200.

Tracy did a brilliant job chairing the launch of the groundbreaking and quite possibly historic Wild Law research paper last Tuesday, by all accounts. More on that later.

While if all of us had her commitment to building a better world, just imagine how much better things would be. Here's what she does according to Wikipedia - amongst other things.

In 1989, Tracy Worcester began working with Friends of the Earth. Since then, she has been active in green politics as Patron of the International Society for Ecology and Culture, a Trustee of the Gaia Foundation, the Schumacher Society and the Bath Environment Centre, Patron of the UK's Soil Association, and as a member of the advisory board of The Ecologist magazine and a member of the International Forum on Globalisation.

And still has time for making movies!

Pig Business exposes the unconscionable costs of bringing home the bacon on four fronts:

- animal rights

- destroying small farmers - at an astonishing rate as the market is globalised by multi-national farming conglomerates

- polluting the environment - in a big way...

- jeopardising our lives


For example on the environment (my bolding throughout, other than titles)

'One-third of the world’s total cultivable land is dedicated to growing cereal and soya to feed livestock, while a further 7% is used for grazing animals. Eighty per cent of the world's soya beans and 60% of its maize and barley are grown for livestock feed.

'Much of this land is acquired by destroying forests, a major cause of CO2 emissions and loss of biodiversity. Between 2004 and 2005 around 1.2 million hectares of rainforest were cut down as a result of soya expansion, almost entirely for animal feed and livestock pastures.

'How livestock production contributes to 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions

Source: McMichael et al. (2007) Food, livestock production, energy, climate change, and health. The Lancet, 370(9594), 1253-1263

'In Latin America the land devoted to soya crops doubled between 1994 and 2004, and deforestation, particularly of the Amazon rainforest, now accounts for around 75% of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions. Soya cultivation in Brazil to date occupies an area of land the size of Great Britain.'

On the threat to our lives:

'Because of the crowded and unnatural conditions in which factory farmed animals live, they are frequently given antibiotics to prevent disease or bolster their weakened immune systems. Across the world half of all the antibiotics used are administered to livestock. Around 80-90% of all antibiotics used for humans and animals are not fully digested or broken down, leaving them to pass through the body and enter the environment intact through waste.

'Evidence suggests that this over-use of antibiotics is helping to spread drug-resistant strains of diseases such as MRSA and E. coli, which can cause humans serious illness and death. The transfer of MRSA from pigs to humans is already recognised in the Netherlands, and it is feared this new strain of MRSA affecting pigs in some countries will spread to the UK, exacerbating the existing problem.

'Workers at risk
'... at least a quarter of factory farm workers consistently suffer from respiratory diseases, including bronchitis, mucous membrane irritation, asthma-like syndrome, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

'A deadly environment
'Studies repeatedly show that air and water quality are threatened in and around factory farms. Noxious gases in the atmosphere from manure containing hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, and dangerous pathogens cause ill health not only to those working with the animals but those living nearby. Many local residents report unusually frequent headaches, eye irritation, excessive coughing, nausea and asthma. Hydrogen sulphide may cause nausea, blackout periods, headaches and vomiting, and breathing in too much ammonia can cause severe respiratory damage.

'Excessive spraying of faecal material onto fields results in run-off into nearby lakes and rivers, poisoning the water table, eco system and drinking water. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources has discovered that 1 in 10 drinking-water wells near factory pig farms contains unsafe levels of nitrates, which has been linked to risk of blue-baby syndrome. Six-month-old infants, pregnant women and adults with immunity deficiencies are especially vulnerable.

'President George W. Bush, in one of his last acts before he leaves office, has proposed to free industrial-scale pig and cattle farms from the Clean Water Act if they declare they are not dumping animal waste in lakes and rivers.

'Exploiting the poor
'In the US, intensive pig farms are clustered typically in non-white areas near low-income communities where people are extra vulnerable to the hazards of factory farms because of existing problems of poor health, poor housing, low income, and lack of access to medical care.

After all that, one may ask why not go the whole hog, keep the poor old hog whole, and just go vegan? George Monbiot came to that conclusion, at least intellectually, in this article last April:

Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger. And if you care, eat less meat A food recession is under way. Biofuels are a crime against humanity, but - take it from a flesh eater - flesh eating is worse

While there are some telling environmental arguments put forward by the Vegan Society here and in the side links dealing with land, water and energy.

Perhaps most telling, particularly for those inclined to blame climate change on the growing human population is this:

'World meat production has quadrupled in the past 50 years and livestock now outnumber people by more than 3 to 1. [2] In other words, the livestock population is expanding at a faster rate than the human population.'

And consuming a substantial proportion of the available resources, particularly land, food and water.

More than enough said.

Film Premier Crude 23 March

Along with the leaves and blossoms, it seems that spring is a profusion of premieres for some reason.

Monday 23 March sees the UK Premiere of CRUDE at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at the ICA in London.

'Filmmaker Joe Berlinger’s latest documentary focuses on the infamous “Amazon Chernobyl” case, a 13 year battle between indigenous communities in Ecuador nearly destroyed by oil drilling and Chevron, one of the world’s largest oil companies. In a sophisticated take on the classic David and Goliath story, Berlinger crafts a portrait of the incredible team in the US and Ecuador who have pursued this case against all odds. He is at pains, too, to show the case from all sides: the scientists and lawyers employed by Chevron, Ecuadoran judges, activists and humanitarian organizers, and the dramatic intervention of Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa. CRUDE looks beyond compassion for the disenfranchised and the corruption of power to ask how justice itself is being defined in the 21st century. *Official selection, Sundance Film Festival 2009'

The film stars Trudie Styler, married to Sting who

'...stunned fans at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah at the weekend
(18Jan09) when he showed up unannounced to support a pal's rainforest preservation documentary.The rocker and longtime rainforest activist stepped up to the stage at a Gibson Guitars-sponsored suite to perform hits with a house band.But he was keen to point out that he never intended to play at Sundance - the bearded star was there to back Joe Berlinger's movie Crude, which chronicles the plight of Ecuador residents who are battling the bosses of oil giant Chevron for allegedly contaminating water supplies around the headwaters of the Amazon River.Sting's wife Trudie Styler stars in the film, and the rock singer is
featured.

Obviously this will help everyone to understand what they are contributing to when they cruise the planet in their chosen form of haste, gas up the tank or whatever, so well worth seeing.

For those who like films called 'crude' about peak oil and the woes of the oil industry, googling this also turned up these offerings:

A Crude Awakening
http://www.oilcrashmovie.com/index2.html

Crude Impact (here reviewed and recommended by Transition Towns)
http://transitionculture.org/2006/12/12/review-new-peak-oil-film-crude-impact/


And The Age of Stupid was also going under the name Crude when previewed last year.

Popular kind of choice, then.


Be happy


PS Here are the URLs for plain text readers.


http://www.crudethemovie.com/

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/sting%20supports%20crude%20film%20with%20sundance%20show_1092250

The Age of Stupid premier Sunday 15 March

Very briefly this is something positive and vitally important. The Age of Stupid takes up the baton from An Inconvenient Truth. It promises to make the vital change perceptions to climate change on a grand scale. The film made a big impression when previewed in the House of Commons tea rooms packed to the limit. Here's what some famous people have already said.

Equally important is that Polly Higgins will be speaking at the premier to give The Trees Have Rights Too campaign its first large scale public airing. The campaign calls for a United Nations Universal Declaration of Planetary Rights to fundamentally repair our broken relationship with the planet, and is the best chance we have of salvaging something from our self-imposed predicament. More on this later.

Little time to say more, so below are some other folks' take on it.


From Wise Women

FIRST SOLAR POWERED PREMIERE LIGHTS UP LEICESTER SQUAREEveryone invited to world’s biggest film premiere!At 6pm on Sunday 15th March, London’s Leicester Square will be hosting the world’s first premiere in a solar cinema tent for the highly anticipated climate change film, The Age of Stupid.The Age of Stupid stars Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living alone in what is a devastated world of 2055, looking at “archive footage” from 2008, asking “why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?”. Directed by Franny Armstrong (McLibel) and produced by Oscar-winning John Battsek (One Day in September), the £450,000 budget for the film was raised entirely by “crowd-funding” whereby 228 people invested between £500 and £35,000.Held in a tent in the gardens of the square, the premiere also gives the British public an opportunity to be included in the events on the night. Green carpet arrivals and a post-film Q&A will be beamed around the UK via live satellite link-up to over 70 cinemas including the Eden Project in Cornwall, creating a truly exceptional experience and a “People’s Premiere”.Tickets now on sale. You can buy tickets at your local participating cinema for the record-breaking People's Premiere on March 15th (16,000 seats simultaneously at 64 cinemas across the UK!)


From Embercombe

The Age of Stupid has arrived!See the trailer at: http://www.gmx.com/fm07/cgi/derefer?TYPE=2&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ageofstupid.net%2Fvideo%2FtrailerHere’s the press release: FIRST SOLAR POWERED PREMIERE LIGHTS UP LEICESTER SQUAREEveryone invited to world’s biggest film premiere!At 6pm on Sunday 15th March, London’s Leicester Square will be hosting the world’s first premiere in a solar cinema tent for the highly anticipated climate change film, The Age of Stupid.The Age of Stupid stars Pete Postlethwaite as an old man living alone in what is a devastated world of 2055, looking at “archive footage” from 2008, asking “why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?”. Directed by Franny Armstrong (McLibel) and produced by Oscar-winning John Battsek (One Day in September), the £450,000 budget for the film was raised entirely by “crowd-funding” whereby 228 people invested between £500 and £35,000.The UK Film Council, which is keen to support new and groundbreaking methods of distribution, is supporting the film’s distributor Dogwoof with funding towards the live satellite transmission of the premiere and Q&A to cinemas across the UK. Oscar Nominee Pete Postlethwaite stars as the narrator of the film and will be joined on the “green” carpet by a glittering array of British talent all lending their support to the film and the climate action campaign, “Not Stupid”. Held in a tent in the gardens of the square, the premiere also gives the British public an opportunity to be included in the events on the night. Green carpet arrivals and a post-film Q&A will be beamed around the UK via live satellite link-up to over 70 cinemas including the Eden Project in Cornwall, creating a truly exceptional experience and a “People’s Premiere”. The public can buy tickets at their local participating cinema.With 16,000 expected attendees across the country, the Guinness Book of Records expect to confirm it’s the largest ever premiere.See the trailer at: http://www.gmx.com/fm07/cgi/derefer?TYPE=2&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ageofstupid.net%2Fvideo%2FtrailerTickets now on sale!1. For the record-breaking People's Premiere on March 15th (16,000 seats simultaneously at 64 cinemas across the UK!): http://www.gmx.com/fm07/cgi/derefer?TYPE=2&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ageofstupid.net%2Fpremiere2. For the national cinema release on March 20th (10 cinemas so far): http://www.gmx.com/fm07/cgi/derefer?TYPE=2&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ageofstupid.net%2Fweekone>>>



Aberdeen: THE BELMONT>>> Bath: THE LITTLE THEATRE>>> Birmingham: VUE>>> Blackburn: VUE>>> Bristol: VUE>>> Bury: VUE>>> Cambridge: VUE>>> Cardiff: THE CHAPTER CINEMA>>> Carlisle: VUE>>> Cheshire Oaks: VUE>>> Clones, Co. Monaghan: Clones Film Club>>> Croydon Purley Way: VUE>>> Edinburgh: VUE>>> Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh: FERMANAGH HOUSE>>> Exeter: EXETER PICTUREHOUSE with talk by Mac Macartney of Embercombe>>> Glasgow: GLASGOW FILM THEATRE>>> Glasgow: ODEON Braehead>>> Guilford: ODEON>>> Harrow: VUE>>> Hartlepool: VUE Hartlepool>>> Hatfield: ODEON>>> Hull: VUE>>> Inverness: VUE>>> Kingston: ODEON>>> Leeds Kirkstall: VUE>>> Leeds Light: VUE>>> Leicester: VUE>>> Lincoln: ODEON>>> Liverpool: FACT>>> Livingston: VUE>>> London: ODEON Greenwich>>> London: ODEON Wimbledon with talk by Suzy Edwards of Embercombe>>> London: SOLAR POWERED CINEMA TENT Leicester Square>>> London: VUE Acton>>> London: VUE Finchley Rd>>> London: VUE Fulham (Youth)>>> London: VUE Islington>>> London: VUE Shepherds Bush>>> Maidenhead: ODEON>>> Manchester-Lowry: VUE>>> Naul, Co. Dublin: THE SEAMUS ENNIS CENTRE>>> New Ross: ST. MICHAEL'S THEATRE>>> Newcastle West, Co. Limerick: DESMOND ABILITY RESOURCE CENTRE>>> Newcastle-under-Lyme: VUE>>> Newcastle: TYNESIDE CINEMA>>> Oxford: PHOENIX PICTUREHOUSE>>> Plymouth: VUE>>> Portlaoise, Co. Laois: DUNAMISE ARTS CENTRE>>> Portsmouth: VUE>>> Preston: VUE>>> Reading: VUE>>> Romford: VUE>>> Scunthorpe: VUE>>> Southport: VUE>>> Staines: VUE>>> Swindon: EMPIRE>>> Tinahely, Co. Wicklow: THE COURTHOUSE ARTS CENTRE>>> Tunbridge Wells: ODEON>>> Watford: VUE>>> Wigan: EMPIRE>>> York: VUE


Enjoy and be galvanised