I am choosing to have Hope, today.

[sarren]

I don't talk about this much, because, frankly, I don't know enough and also the thought of being preachy makes me cringe, especially since I am not exactly living sustainably myself.

When it finally sank in just how screwed the world is, I decided to go back to uni to learn Stuff. This semester both my units have been about sustainability, and the more I learn the more I can't believe that most of us are going about our lives ignorant of such frightening facts like the world currently using 20% more resources than it actually has.

I went to a lecture by Carmen Lawrence a few weeks ago, who said that politicians only make short term, unscary decisions, because they reckon they have to cling to power in order to be able to enact any policies at all.

I am trying to keep faith with Rudd, but he's not making it easy. If Obama's for real, my god, what can't the world do?


President-elect Obama - "a new chapter of American leadership on climate change."

Comments

[klia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for linking to that video.

Another huge step in the right direction happened Thursday, when Waxman was elected to replace Dingell as chairman of the House committee that handles all energy, climate change and health care legislation:

http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_11034912

Thank goodness, because that's *huge*.

[ravenclaw-harpy.livejournal.com]

He really is inspiring, isn't he? I'm just so glad he was voted in.

The slurping up of resources is totally scary. We are hoping to put on solar energy cells next July so we can help produce electricity. It is very expensive but there is a rebate system at present, but we aren't eligible for it in this financial year & we don't have a spare $8,000 (the amount of the rebate). There is also a new wind energy system (that is currently being tested & is about to come on the market), which is much, much cheaper - and we get lots of sea breeze here. WA invented & made too. Yay!

[sarren.livejournal.com]

I do not love solar cells. The most expensive ones last 25 years at the most, the cheap ones only last 5, and they’re toxic, so kids in factories in developing countries are dying, and then they still have to be disposed of afterwards. It is all very depressing.

Yay for wind energy system. Do you have a link to it?

[ravenclaw-harpy.livejournal.com]

Yikes! They didn't mention that at the seminar. (It was part of the great gardens seminar that I sent the link to.) Is there somewhere I could find out more about the negative impact? Are they all toxic, or is that the cheap ones?

They referred to it as the Wind Turbo, but I don't know if that is the name it is being marketed under, because it is still being tested. They didn't know the name of the company that picked it up either, unfortunately. Apparently it was shown on The Inventors. I had a quick look, but couldn't see it - and definitely not under that name, but I only looked back over the last year or so. :-( They did have a photo of one at the talk, but that isn't of much use to you. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.