The Green Parent
Raising kids with conscience
5 Feb 2009
94 months and counting
In August last year, scientists calculated that the tipping point for climate change would occur in 100 months. We now have 94 months left to act before we reach the point of no return. Here is a call to arms from the One Hundred Months Crew.
The heaviest snow in 18 years brought the UK to a standstill. And it’s saved a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Planes have been grounded and millions of cars have been kept off the roads. Everyone has been forced to slow down and people seem friendlier too. Nature works.
The Government has other plans…
JOIN THE PLOT – Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decided to give the go-ahead to expand the UK’s largest airport – Heathrow – which is now set to become the UK’s biggest source of emissions. For a Government who has just passed a law to reduce emissions by 80%, this is madness. If Heathrow ever gets built, it will eat up over 20% of the UK’s emissions target on its own. And if UK airports are allowed to expand as the Government intends, they will eat up the UK’s entire emissions target. Watch actress Emma Thompson’s Oscar winning reaction.
ACTION – Here is a chance for people all over the world to oppose aviation expansion. OneHundredMonths partner – Greenpeace – have a plot to stop the expansion of Heathrow. Sign-up to be part of it.
OBAMA VS. THE DINOSAURS – As Obama pushes forward to repower America with clean energy, George Bush’s good friends ExxonMobil were the first to pour doubt on his ambitions. And in their next breath Exxon announced a new world record profit of $45billion. Exxon’s CEO Rex (as in Tyranosaurus Rex – a dinosaur) said, “Let’s be realistic about timeframes. Let’s not fool ourselves”. Our interpretation of this is, “Let’s keep the world hooked up on a fossil fuel dialysis machine for as long as possible and bleed every last cent out of our investments”. Let’s hope Obama keeps good on his call for a windfall tax on oil company profits, and uses that money to repower America too.
ACTION – Take your money away from the problem. Don’t buy anything with the Exxon, Mobil or Esso brand on it. Invest in the future, not the past. Raise a glass to ExxonMobil.
Take a look inside the the mind of big oil. Shell, have also just reported their profits – $27.6billion, almost $3million an hour – the highest corporate profit in British history. Watch George Monbiot interview the boss of Shell.
REPOWER THE PLANET – Meanwhile, world leaders are latching onto Obama’s plan to repower America’s economic recovery by creating jobs from investment in clean energy and energy efficiency. Around the world, there are proposals calling for hundreds of billions of dollars in low carbon investments, aimed at saving and creating millions of new jobs. This is the race into the next industrial revolution. Obama knows that tackling climate change is an economic opportunity, not a burden. Japan has already earmarked over $1trillion (a thousand billion) to increase the energy efficiency of household electric appliances and vehicles.
BIG PUSH – This year is critical for our climate. World leaders meet in December to negotiate the world’s response. We must all come together for this time.
ACTION – If you haven’t done so already, please go to onehundredmonths.org and take action 2) – Tell The World.
Melissa Corkhill is the editor of The Green Parent magazine, mother of two and author of the book Green Parenting
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The Green Parent is the UK's leading green lifestyle and natural parenting magazine. A truly inspiring read, TGP is like nothing else on the newsstand, with insightful intelligent journalism covering topics from babywearing and attachment parenting to home-education and alternative medicine. Each issue features regular columns on Organic Gardening, Seasonal Food and Drink, Green Travel, Ethical Fashion and lots more.
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