Libel Reform Campaign- free speech needs protecting

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http://www.libelreform.org/

“To Index on Censorship and English PEN it has become increasingly clear that English libel law and the use of ‘super-injunctions’ are having a profoundly negative impact on freedom of expression, both in the UK and abroad. Writers such as Simon Singh, and respected current affairs programme Newsnight, have found themselves facing defamation suits, whilst human rights campaigners are often forced to edit and retract articles in the face of potential libel action.

We need to persuade politicians from all the political parties to commit to reform of our unjust libel laws”

 

 

The importance of the commons in tackling climate change

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From David Bollier’s blog

Planning for the Rio+20 Conference: Enter the Commons?

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Rio+20 conference in Rio de Janeiro this June will be a major event in the world’s ecological history.  The event, officially the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, will provide an opportunity for the world’s nations to take stock of what has happened to the environment since an earlier, landmark conference in Rio in 1992 – climate change, loss of biodiversity, species extinctions, desertification, etc., etc. – and to plot ambitious strategies to save the planet in the coming decades.

But don’t hold your breath.  The world’s governments are not likely to come up with anything significant.  The G-20 nations, which have been described as the “executive board of the world,” have little interest in bold political and institutional reform.  That would only disrupt the desperate search for economic growth.  An open, candid inquiry into the growth economy, consumerism and the finite carrying capacity of Earth’s biophysical systems would be far too politically explosive.  It is far easier to talk about a “green economy,” as if greater efficiencies alone will save the planet.
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Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media

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Interesting website I just came across.  Public access to climate change information is vital, if there’s to be any possibility of popular political action to deal with human-caused climate change- which will mean, among other things:

  • switching from fossil fuels to clean energy and
  • improving energy efficiency so we use less energy to achieve the same results.

So this website looks at climate change science, and at the way that the media report it.

 

User-testing report

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Many thanks to the handful of people who’ve user-tested the Energy Royd website over the last two months.

The results aren’t statistically significant – but the fact that everyone said more or less the same things suggests that the comments are more than random.

None of the people who tested the website identified themselves as green, or involved in climate change and energy issues. I did know all of them though – no-one came in off the street, as I’d been hoping, so they were predisposed to be nice. But I think the mix of positive and critical feedback shows that they were able to be honest.

Summary of what people said

Website content

All comments were that the content is “good” and “interesting”.

Website design

All comments were that the website design is clear, clean and easy to navigate. Someone also added that the banner photo clearly shows what the website’s about.

Writing style

Everyone said that it would be better if the writing style was lighter. Someone also asked if I could inject a bit more humour. Everyone said that the writing style was “a bit heavy” and one person asked if I was trying to give a lecture. Someone said a glossary would be useful.

Tagline (Changing more than lightbulbs)

Everyone who commented on this thought it was funny and appropriate.

My response

I’m obviously glad that people liked the content, design and tagline. I agree with the comments about my writing style on the website.  So far, writing it has felt like quite a laborious process and this shows in the way I’ve been writing.

I take the point about writing in a lighter, more humorous way and I hope I’ll be able to do this as I write more of the website. It’d be good if people read Energy Royd for pleasure as well as for information, and use it for enjoyable discussions, online or in the real world.

I think a glossary is a good idea and I’ve started one.

 

 

New report says biofuels policy would increase carbon emissions, not reduce them

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http://www.rtcc.org/energy/new-report-says-biofuels-will-add-100bn-to-fuel-bills/

The EU Climate Commissioner says EU policy that requires European transport fuel to include 10% sourced from biofuels is out of date, based on now-discredited information. Using biofuels for transport is likely to damage  people living in the South, where biofuel crops compete for land with food production, forcing up food prices and depriving people of access to land for farming.

Using biofuels in transport will also increase carbon emissions, not reduce them. The report says that it would be better for people and the environment to spend the money that would have been spent on biofuels, on improving public transport, making cars cleaner and making it easier and safer to cycle.

Micro hydro for Sowerby Bridge? Update

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Calderdale Community Energy is working with people in Sowerby Bridge to develop a potential micro hydro scheme.

Update 26th November 2012

Following the various comments on this story (see comments box, below), I asked Emma Appleton, the Carbon Partnership Officer for Calderdale MBC, if she could clarify the situation further. Emma recently emailed that,
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Criticism of UN Environmental Programme proposals for so-called Green Economy

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http://www.tni.org/report/green-economy-wolf-sheeps-clothing

The fundamental flaw at the heart of UNEP’s report “Towards a Green Economy” is its failure to take account of the extremely unequal power relations in the world today and how these play out in the global economy.