Thousands of Indigenous Farmers Chased Off Their Land to Make Room for Biofuel Companies
Not exactly what a green energy revolution is supposed to look like.
Not exactly what a green energy revolution is supposed to look like.
Wayback Machine: The Shuffle Demons On The Wonders Of Public Transit
As a bus returns to busy Spadina Avenue in Toronto, a reminder of the charms of a crowded, smelly and slow bus
Fukushima Disaster Declared ‘Manmade’ in Final Report
The final Japanese government report on the Fukushima nuclear disaster has some harsh words for TEPCO, the Japanese nuclear regulators, as well as the government body pushing nuclear power.
Stop the Frack Attack: Join Us July 28 in Washington DC
Come to Washington, DC, on July 28 for the huge "Stop the Frack Attack" Rally.
Wind Industry Losing Jobs But Planning for Big Growth in the U.S.
"When it comes to wind energy, we're making significant progress both onshore and offshore to diversify our nation's domestic energy portfolio and stand up a clean energy economy," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar earlier this week. His comments came on the same day that Spanish wind-turbine manufacturer Gamesa announced that it planned to furlough about 165 employees at two of its manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania in response to weak demand for turbines.
RWE Sees German Climate Goals Threatened by Offshore Grid Delays
RWE AG, Europe's biggest air polluter, won't reach clean-energy goals unless Germany ends delays linking offshore wind farms to the nation's transmission network.
The Future of Nuclear Power in California
It's not been a good year for nuclear power. A federal court recently found that local storage solutions for nuclear waste, kept currently at each power plant where the waste is produced, have not been shown to be safe. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that regulates nuclear power, must complete a full review or explain why one is not required.
Community Wind Arrives Stateside
What would you imagine to be the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. wind industry today? It might not be what you'd think. According to the American Wind Industry Association's (AWEA) annual market report, the community wind segment is growing at a faster pace than commercial wind, capturing 5.6 percent of the overall wind market at the end of 2010 and projected to have roughly the same market share in 2011.
Friends of coal: “Big Steamed Bun” and “Most Handsome Guy”
Here’s a cautionary tale about petitions–which are increasingly becoming a substitute for real political activity, thanks to social media.
Last fall, a group called Citizens for Recycling First submitted a petition to the White House website. These folks don’t focus on recycling bottles or newspapers; they support the recycling of coal ash, the waste left after coal is burned. Their petition asked the administration to “protect coal ash recycling” by enacting disposal rules that do not designate coal ash as a “hazardous waste.”
Soon after, the group collected 5,400 signatures and said on its blog:
Citizens for Recycling First has succeeded in gathering 5,000 signatures for its petition on a new White House website that promises a response from the Obama Administration.
Citizens for Recycling First is grateful to everyone who participated in getting friends, family and associates to sign the petition. The American Coal Ash Association and National Ready Mixed Concrete Association were particularly helpful in reaching out to their members.
The 5,000 signatures were particularly hard to gather because the White House website was frequently overloaded and unresponsive to people trying to sign.
Subsequently, a nonprofit called the Environmental Integrity Project took a closer look at the signatures and saw that about 2,000 of the names were in Mandarin. EIG hired a translator to dig a bit deeper and found that “the vast majority of the Chinese names in the petition are not authentic.” Many appeared to be generated by software, and they described food items or used other terms not commonly used as surnames.
Among them: Steamed Bun, Older Sister, Steamed Bun Little Sister, Small Steamed Bun, Big Steamed Bun, Big Bear, Big Grey Wolf, Little Duck, Little White Rabbit, Yellow Tiger, Come to China Big, Come to China Cat, Come to China Donkey, Come to China Little Girl, Handsome Six, Handsome Eight, Handsome Good Looking, Handsome Dragon and the Most Handsome Guy.
In a press release, Environmental Integrity Project Director Eric Schaeffer said:
If coal ash is so important to American jobs – as its Congressional supporters insist – why would the industry submit a petition with so many names in Chinese characters?
I called John Ward, chairman of Citizen for Recycling First, to ask him what was going on.
“I don’t know what happened,” he replied. “We put a petition on the White House website. We don’t have any control after that.”
“I have no idea how the Chinese characters showed up there. I’m starting to think that we got pranked.”
I have no idea what happened either. But I’m increasingly wary of so-called grass roots activities. Petitions? Letter-writing campaigns? Surveys? Polls?
Unless they come from reputable organizations–and even then–call me a skeptic.
