'Earth Mother getting angry'

White Mountains

'Earth Mother getting angry'
American Indians fight climate change


From New Hampshire to California, American Indian leaders are speaking out more forcefully about the danger of climate change.
Members of six tribes recently gathered near the Baker River in the White Mountains for a sacred ceremony honoring "Earth Mother." Talking Hawk, a Mohawk Indian who asked to be identified by his Indian name, pointed to the river's tea-colored water as proof that the overwhelming amount of pollution humans have produced has caused changes around the globe.
"It's August color. It's not normal," he said.
"Earth Mother is fighting back - not only from the four winds, but also from underneath," he said. "Scientists call it global warming. We call it Earth Mother getting angry."
At a United Nations meeting last month, several American Indian leaders spoke at a session called "Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change." Also in May, tribal representatives from Alaska and northern Canada - where pack ice has vanished earlier and earlier each spring - traveled to Washington to press their case.
In California, Minnesota, New Mexico, and elsewhere, tribes have used some of their casino profits to start alternative or renewable energy projects, including biomass-fueled power plants. In New Hampshire, where American Indians have become integrated in the broader society, some have questioned the effect of local development.
Jan Osgood, an Abenaki Indian who lives in Lincoln, said she worries about several proposals that would clear acres of national forest on Loon Mountain for luxury homes.
"It breaks my heart," said Osgood, who attended the sacred ceremony.
She approached Ted Sutton, Lincoln's town manager, and gave him a collection of writings by North American Indians detailing the history of the U.S. government's unfulfilled promises to their trips.
After reading the book, Sutton said he agrees with the American Indian philosophy of life: Use nature respectfully, never taking more than is needed.
"American Natives have been telling us all along that this was going to happen to the earth," Sutton said. "They were telling us hundreds of years ago that what we were doing (to the environment) would come back and haunt us. They have been proven right. But hopefully we've started to listen to them and move back to some better management of our lives."
Those who study American Indian culture believe their presence in the debate could be influential. They point to "The Crying Indian," one of the country's most influential public-service TV ads.
In the spot, actor Iron Eyes Cody, in a buckskin suit, paddles a canoe up a trash-strewn urban creek and then stands by a busy highway cluttered with litter. The ad, which aired in the 1970s, ends with a close-up of Cody, shedding a single tear after a passing motorist throws trash at his feet.
"Within the last six months, there's just been a loss of faith in the insistence (by some politicians) that global warming isn't happening and that we have nothing to do with it," said Shepard Krech III, an anthropology and environmental studies professor at Brown University.
Krech is the author of The Ecological Indian, which examines the relationship between American Indians and nature.
Though many people will look for "a consensus in the scientific community" to convince them of climate change, Krech said, others will seek "perspectives from Indian society. . . . Native Americans have a rich tradition that springs from this belief they have always been close to the land and always treated the land well."
The New Hampshire ceremony was attended by members of the Passamaquoddy, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Micmac, Lakota Sioux and Abenaki tribes.
Thunderbull, a Lakota Sioux, offered a prayer for people who had suffered from recent flooding in the Midwest. Talking Hawk prayed for those who would suffer from natural disasters ahead.
"Think of the people who will die in the cleansing of Earth Mother, all around the world," he said. "Think of their spirits."

In fact, there is no need to stop at OTEC as the sole technology

Could sea power solve the energy crisis?
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 08/01/2008

As Gordon Brown steers Britain towards a nuclear future, Dominic Michaelis, Alex Michaelis and Trevor Cooper-Chadwick suggest we turn to the oceans instead
The French inventor Georges Claude is largely forgotten today; if he is remembered at all, it is as the creator of the neon lamp. Yet one of his projects from the 1920s could resolve the global energy crisis - by harnessing the power of the oceans.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/01/08/scienergy108.xml

Psyklus said...
A clear view to anything but fosile generated power is our way to go. Newclear power with enriched uranium contain a posibilty for leaks of radiactivity. There are however, this stuff called "thorium" that can be used instead of uranium. This contain a very different way to generatte power and there are no chance of pollution what so ever. For example, Norway, has enough thorium to supply the nation for 10.000 years (estimated by scientists working with this issue. There are no risk of leaks, meltdown or other fears that we think of with uranium powerplants. So why is this apparently not on any agenda? The scientists in Zern that is developing a layout for future use of this technology fails to get the long-time-thinking activists and goverments to concider this possibility to get rid of coal and uranium powerplants. There is simply not enough engagement for saving our childrens future. I am very positive to thorium as fuel for powering up the needs of the future.
January 10, 2008 2:22 PM

PV Solar Cells

In Rizhao City, China, 99 percent of households in the central districts use solar water heaters, and most traffic signals, street and park lights are powered by PV solar cells.
Credit: rz.gov.cn

Trigging A Positiv Circle!

22. mai 2007
China's Solar-Powered City
by Xuemei Bai
Buildings in Rizhao, a coastal city of nearly three million on the Shandong Peninsula in northern China, have a common yet unique appearance: most rooftops and walls are covered with small panels. They are solar heat collectors.
A combination of regulations and public education spurred the broad adoption of solar heaters. The city mandates all new buildings to incorporate solar panels, and it oversees the construction process to ensure proper installation. To raise awareness, the city held open seminars and ran public advertising on television.
In RIZHAO CITY, which means City of Sunshine in Chinese, 99 PERCENT of HOUSHOLDS in the central districts use SOLAR AND WATER HEATERS, and most traffic signals, street and park lights are powered by photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. In the suburbs and villages, more than 30 percent of households use solar water heaters, and over 6,000 households have solar cooking facilities. More than 60,000 greenhouses are heated by solar panels, reducing overhead costs for farmers in nearby areas.In total, the city has over a half-million square meters of solar water heating panels, the equivalent of about 0.5 megawatts of electric water heaters.The fact that Rizhao is a small, ordinary Chinese city with per capita incomes even lower than in most other cities in the region makes the story even more remarkable. The achievement was the result of an unusual convergence of three key factors: a government policy that encourages solar energy use and financially supports research and development, local solar panel industries that seized the opportunity and improved their products, and the strong political will of the city's leadership to adopt it.As is the case in industrial countries that promote solar power, the Shandong provincial government provided subsidies. Instead of funding the end users, however, the government funded the research and development activities of the solar water heater industry.Mayor Li Zhaoqian explained: "It is not realistic to subsidize end users as we don't have sufficient financial capacity." Instead, the provincial government invested in the industry to achieve technological breakthroughs, which increased efficiency and lowered the unit cost.The cost of a solar water heater was brought down to the same level as an electric one: about $190, which is about 4-5 percent of the annual income of an average household in town and about 8-10 percent of a rural household's income. Also, the panels could be simply attached to the exterior of a building. Using a solar water heater for 15 years costs about 15,000 Yuan less than running a conventional electric heater, which equates to saving $120 per year.A combination of regulations and public education spurred the broad adoption of solar heaters. The city mandates all new buildings to incorporate solar panels, and it oversees the construction process to ensure proper installation. To raise awareness, the city held open seminars and ran public advertising on television. Government buildings and the homes of city leaders were the first to have the panels installed. Some government bodies and businesses provided free installation for employees, although the users pay for repairs and replacement. After 15 years of effort, it seems the merit of using a solar heater has become common sense in Rizhao, and "you don't need to persuade people anymore to make the choice," according to Wang Shuguang, a government official.Widespread use of solar energy reduced the use of coal and help improve the environmental quality of Rizhao, which has consistently been listed in the top 10 cities for air quality in China. In 2006, the State Environmental Protection Agency designated Rizhao as the Environmental Protection Model City.Rizhao's leaders believe that an enhanced environment will in turn help the city's social, economic, and cultural development in the long run, and they see solar energy as a starting point to trigger this positive cycle. Some recent statistics show Rizhao is on track. The city is attracting a rapidly increasing amount of foreign direct investment, and according to city officials, environment is one of the key factors bringing these investors to Rizhao.The travel industry in the city is also booming. In the last two years, the number of visitors increased by 48 and 30 percent respectively. Since 2002, the city has successfully hosted a series of domestic and international water sports events, including the International Sailing Federation's Grade W 470 World Sailing Championship.The favorable environmental profile of Rizhao is changing its cultural profile as well, by attracting high-profile universities and professors to the city. Peking University, the most prestigious one in China, is building a residential complex in Rizhao, for example. More than 300 professors have bought their second or retirement homes in the city, working and living in this new complex at least part of the year. Qufu Normal University and Shandong Institute of Athletics have also chosen Rizhao for new campuses.Xuemei Bai is a Scientist in the Urban Systems Program for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization in Australia. This article was adapted from an article that first appeared in the recently released report State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future, and was reprinted with permission from the Worldwatch Institute.