My buddies at Free Range Studios created this fantastic viral video that was featured at Bioneers last October. While lambasted in the mainstream media, the Story of Stuff has been a fave of left-leaning environmental activists and educators.

Why? Because it makes you think about where our stuff comes from and where it is going, and the part we all play in this consumption oriented system.

What makes the Story of Stuff successful?

In a similar style to CommonCraft’s In Plain English video series, the Story of Stuff uses simple animations to illustrate complex concepts. Video animation is a great medium to tell a complex story in a simple, yet compelling way. The message is easily digestible by kids as well as adults.

Imagine trying to explain the Story of Stuff in text, with, maybe a few diagrams. The message would probably be lost. The relationships between consumers, government, and corporations a little too complex to grok in words. The text version of the Story of Stuff would never go viral.

The Story of Stuff is a must see for anyone wanting to create an education campaign using social media, in order to raise awareness of sustainability issues.

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Borneo, located in Southeast Asia, is the world’s third largest island. Borneo is also divided into three different nations, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The island of Borneo is rich in biodiversity; Borneo’s rainforests are the home to world’s largest flower, the world’s largest carnivorous plants, the world’s largest orchid, and the world’s last orangutans. Not long ago, Borneo had an extensive rainforest that covered the majority of the island. However, the ever increasing demand for timber in the international markets, coupled with government corruption,  has turned the green lungs of Asia into the world’s biggest exporter of tropical timber.  According to the World Wildlife Fund, the rate of environmental destruction in Borneo is now faster than in the Amazon Basin.

In the early 1990s, a surge in the demand for palm oil as an ingredient in processed foods, as well as for biofuel production, was seen as an economic opportunity in the region. Oil palm became much more lucrative traditional crops, like bananas, and resulted in the decimation of 86% of Malaysia’s rainforests for the development of oil palm plantations. In fact, environmentalists have been alarmed at the rate in which oil palm plantations have been replacing tropical rainforests. But the numbers are hard to beat. Compared to soybeans and corn, which yield only 446 and 172 liters of crude oil per hectare, a hectare of oil palm may yield nearly 6,000 liters of crude oil.

While the palm oil devastation is far reaching, reforestation efforts by the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation are promising. Their Samboja Lestari Reforestation project demonstrated that it was indeed possible to transform a 2000 hectare wasteland into a thriving forest with 1800 native species of plants in only a few short years.  The end result was the return of hundreds of species of wildlife, from butterflies and beetles to hornbills and gibbons. Furthermore, with its high concentration of fruiting trees, Samboja Lestari is a sanctuary for the rehabilitation of rescued orangutans.

BOS is currently looking after more than 1000 displaced young and adult orangutans, and are looking for ways to release them into safe forests.
The EcoPreservation Society is partnerring with BOS on land acquisition, for the purposes of reforestation and orangutan rehabilitation. Check out their Borneo Reforestation Project for more information.

Related posts:

1. Saving the Jaguars of Belize
2. Powerful Images of the Amazon Rainforest by Photographer Daniel Beltrá
3. What Is Sustainable Rainforest Management?

Image Source: Prospero973

When one thinks of Belize, images of coral reefs, white sand beaches, and lush green jungles teeming with wildlife come to mind. Unfortunately, Belize’s tropical rainforests are under siege, as logging companies from China, Indonesia and Japan continue to clear cut vast swaths of forested land in order to supply valuable timber to international markets.

Even more rainforest territory is being destroyed to make way for cattle ranches and plantations. Many of these properties are then sold off to unsuspecting American and European retirees with the promise of huge returns. While ranch owners might initially reap rewards in the first couple years of ownership, eventually, many of these ranches and plantations fail, due to the poor soil quality upon which they were founded, thereby resulting in bankruptcies or huge losses for the owners.

Rainforest soil is ill suited to agriculture.  The soil underneath the dense rainforest canopy is fragile and thin; without the protective cover of trees and the wide network of roots, the thin layer of soil erodes quickly with the rain and wind, which wash away what little nutrients there are. Because the soil is low in nutrition, it cannot support healthy pasture for cattle or intense agriculture for much more than two years. In the southwestern parts of Belize, especially in the mountainous Cayo district, which was once covered by dense rainforests and home to jaguars, most of these ranches are now up for sale. Owners that have experienced the sudden economic collapse of their ranches are now looking to sell of their properties for whatever price that they can get.

The desperation of ranch owners to sell to sell off their properties has resulted in plummeting real estate prices, making it an opportune time to purchase land for reforestation and jaguar conservation. Jaguars are the largest wild cats that currently roam in the jungles of Belize. Uncontrolled logging has severely reduced the size of the jaguars’ natural habitat and decreased their food supply. Due to increased scarcity of their natural prey, jaguars come into conflict with humans and prey on the cattle that now occupy their former habitat. In a bid to protect their property and cattle, ranchers attack and kill the jaguars. While nobody knows how many jaguars have been killed, some conservative estimates claim that more than 15000 jaguars have died due to their conflict with humans.

The Rainforest Trust and the Eco-Preservation Society are currently raising funds for to buy out bankrupt ranches for the purposes of reforestation. Cattle ranches are great locations to begin reforestation, as they already possess the basic infrastructure necessary for these kinds of projects. The houses provide good quality shelter for the volunteers, as well as for the local Mayan people participating in the conservation program. Furthermore, by acquiring these ranches, conservation dollars would be spent primarily on jaguar conservation and not on constructing houses for the volunteers.

You can help support jaguar conservation through your donation to Eco-Preservation Society’s Belize Reforestation Project.

Related posts:

1. What Is Sustainable Rainforest Management?
2. Saving The Orangutans Of Borneo
3. Powerful Images of the Amazon Rainforest by Photographer Daniel Beltrá

Last week’s Net Tuesday in San Francisco featured Maryrose Dunton, the Head of User Experience at YouTube,, who spoke about YouTube’s Nonprofit Program.The YouTube Nonprofit Program, is an in-kind donation by YouTube to the nonprofit sector that’s worth about $20 million. Currently available to established 501(c)(3)s, YouTube offers participating nonprofits:

• A premium branded channel – some environmental nonprofits that have done a good job with this include Friends of the Earth and Defenders of Wildlife. The ability to upload videos of any length. Currently the limit on video length is 10 minutes.

• Rotation into the “Promoted Videos” section on YouTube’s homepage.
• Listing in the Nonprofit Channels and Nonprofit Video areas
• The ability to collect donations using Google Checkout (with no processing fee).
• The option to participate in the user partner program, which allows you to show partner ads on video – and share the ad revenue. However, there is currently no way to filter ads, which may not work for some organizations.

YouTube has 30 million visitors daily and over 100 million videos are viewed each day. By connecting nonprofits to the world’s largest online video community, the YouTube Nonprofit program will allow these organizations tap into a significant pool of potential small donors. While large nonprofits are able to receive 10-15% of donations from online fundraising, smaller organizations have the most difficulty establishing a web presence. By offering a dedicated channel on YouTube, YouTube’s Nonprofit Program hopes to empower smaller organizations to significantly expand their reach. Now its just the matter of these, often, short-staffed nonprofits finding the manpower to manage their YouTube presence.

YouTube Best Practices for Nonprofits

Maryrose recommended these tips to help nonprofits engage successfully with the YouTube community:

1. Keep it fresh, keep it short. Best not longer than 10 minutes

2. Be genuine, no public service announcements (PSAs)

3. Engage and interact with the community – have a dialogue, allow people to post video comments, be sure to respond to comments
4. Create a call to action

5. Invest in your channel – update content, make sure links and videos work

7. Do not fear comments, ratings, related videos – while you can moderate user engagement, do not disable the commenting or rating features as this tends to upset the community

New Plans for Nonprofits on YouTube

New developments coming down the pipeline include:

1. Extending the program to include international nonprofits.

2. Incorporating more calls to action that are important to nonprofits, petitions, signup forms.

3. Improving nonprofit discovery on YouTube’s website.

[tags]maryrose dunton, net tuesday, net2, youtube nonprofit program, youtube nonprofit channel, lorna li[/tags]

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3. The State of the Internet

Starbucks Ideas has been live for about 2 weeks and already customers have had plenty to say about what they expect from the world’s largest chain of coffee shops.

The move to launch a website that allows anyone to post ideas about how Starbucks can improve its service offering is part of an increasing trend by companies to use social networking applications to better improve communication with their customers. This move may be the best way for the struggling coffee maker to quickly turn its business around.

Starbucks Ideas is not a true social network play, rather is an an interactive forum where people can vet their best ideas in a manner much like Digg. Starbucks Ideas is powered by Salesforce.com and is the same social platform that powers Dell’s Ideastorm which won PR Innovation of the Year 2008.

Already, Starbucks has moved to implement the top two customer requests: free coffee for frequent buyers and universal free wi-fi, which is finally (woot, woot!) coming soon in Spring 2008. The thought that a multinational global corporation like Starbucks would be so responsive to the voice of its customers is encouraging indeed.

Can Customers Make Starbucks Become More Environmentally Responsible?

As I surfed through several pages of Starbucks Ideas I was struck by the number of requests for a Greener Starbucks. Below is a list of suggestions and comments that would Starbucks make a better environmental citizen, all of which I voted on:

Stop Trashing Empty Cards

We don’t need any more plastic in the trash. Rather than suggesting trashing an empty starbucks card, give people a 25 cent credit…for refilling it. To make it affordable, how about….

Re-fill your card…at $20 level…get $20.25 on the card.

Re fill at the $50 level…get $51.00 on the card.

Re fill at the $100 level…get $103.oo on the card, or get the $100…and your current single drink order free.

More on the plastic…less plastic in the trash.

Sell Reusable Sleeves

I have recently had customers who come in with their own rubber sleeves for their cups. They tell me they purchased them from Bed Bath and Beyond. They prefer to use them as the grip is more secure and they are helping preserve the trees. Starbucks should have these manufatured with the company logo and sell them for a really reasonable price point so we could also help save the trees etc

Recycle!

Recycle! Become greener!

Recycle In Stores

It concerns me that we do not have recycle bins in our stores. In Seattle, and in most large cities the opportunity to help the environment by recycling is readily available in our homes and many business. I would like to see Starbucks stores embrace this as well by providing Glass, plastice and compost waste in containers in all stores.

Recycle the Waste in the Back of Your Stores

I don’t think Starbucks has shown a real connection between environmental health and human health. Here is why: My local Starbucks produces a tremendous amount of garbage everyday and nearly none of it is recycled. Nearly all the store waste is thrown out and put in the garbage and taken to the landfill. Recycle the waste in the back end of ALL your stores. It goes beyond the polish of the front end and sales. Make it a real effort to connect environmental health and human health. Thank you.

Reusable Cups

I use my Starbucks reusable travel mug almost every time I order and this is what I often see:

- 99% of the time I don’t get the mug discount,

- some baristas have no real clue what to do with it,

- they stick a disposable cup inside it to take down the order and then throw the disposable cup away (I’ve seen stickers but they seem to be out of them a lot).

We need more people to use the mugs and reduce the number of disposable cups used. Push the sale of them (make them cheaper – why not just $5?) and then train staff on how to handle the cups!

Locally sourced (organic) baked goods

Offer locally sourced (organic or not) high quality baked goods similar to some of the baked goods Whole Foods offers, instead of the nationally consistent scones, cookies, pastries, cakes, and breads offered now. This sacrifices some of the national consistency now in place (though there is some variance already) but brings better quality, better tasting food to Starbucks, supports the local community, and elevates Starbucks above other coffee outlets (national outlets now also serving coffee) by cranking up the quality level and local community/local business tie ins. As a result, Starbucks will feel more like a local coffee store again rather than some big national chain.

Biodegradable drink and food containers – Yeah!

Replace plastic containers for cold drinks, straws, salads etc. with those made of biodegradable polylactic acid or polylactide (PLA). These are readily available and currently in use by forward-thinking entities like Paul Newman’s “Newman’s Own” products.

Fair Trade Coffee

I think that Starbucks should switch to only selling and brewing coffee, lattes … with only fair trade coffee. Fair trade coffee costs the consumer no more than regular coffee and still gives the coffee grower a fair price for their coffee. In return these coffee growers use organic means to grow their coffee making it environmentally friendly. That is why I would like to see Starbucks switch to only selling fair trade coffee.

Real Fruit Smoothies

real fruit smoothies

Porcelain Cups

When I first started going to Starbucks, they used to ask here or to go, and if “here” you’d get a porcelain mug of various sizes. Would that be cheaper than buying all those paper cups. Too much washing dishes?

Corporate Social Responsibility at Starbucks

I’ve seen Starbucks come a long way. Since 1999, when it was assailed by numerous activist groups upset with the company’s fair-trade policies, labor relations, and environmental impact during the WTO talks in Seattle, Starbucks has evolved with a commendable corporate social responsibility program.

The mission of Starbucks’ CSR program is to work daily with partners (employees), suppliers and farmers to help create a more sustainable approach to high-quality coffee production, to help build stronger local communities, to minimize their environmental footprint and to be responsive to customers health and wellness needs.

In 2005, Starbucks received The World Environment Center’s 21st Annual Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development, where it was recognized for its leadership in sustainable development within the specialty coffee industry.

In particular, WEC commends the company’s development of Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, a set of environmentally, socially and economically responsible coffee buying guidelines created in conjunction with Conservation International that are designed to contribute positively to the livelihoods of coffee farmers while placing an emphasis on environmental conservation and supply chain transparency.

According to Calvert Funds’ December 2007 edition of Socially Responsible Investing News, in “Calvert’s view, Starbucks Corp. remains an industry leader with significant and progressive programs on renewable energy and the environment as well as workplace diversity and safety.”

While many love to hate Starbucks, I would point out that, over the past decade, Starbucks has proved to be more socially responsible than many other multinational corporations of equal reach and caliber. My Starbucks Idea is simply another way in which the company has demonstrated a willingness to address public opinion, even if its primary motivation is maintaining competitive advantage.

The power of social media for social innovation is evident. If consumers are vocal enough about Starbucks’ environmental impact, Starbucks Ideas may indeed be the catalyst to a Greener, more earth-friendly Starbucks.

[tags]starbucks, starbucks ideas, web 2.0, salesforce.com, corporate social responsibility, csr, social innovation, social media, social networking, green business, environmental sustainability, lorna li[/tags]

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by Christophe Poizat

This article was submitted to me by Christophe Poizat, the founder of the International Network of Social Entrepreneurs, who, using the social web and guerrilla marketing tactics, has single-handedly created the word’s largest Web 2.0 network of social entrepreneurs.

We Won’t Be Doing Much Business On A Dead Planet

It is a sad but true fact: we won’t be doing much business on a dead planet. The pristine beauty of our planet is at risk of being destroyed. What has taken hundreds of millions of years to elaborate could be forever gone within a few decades because of the negative impact of the human species has on planet Earth.

Because we have been cumulatively oblivious in responding appropriately to the harsh impact our way of living has had on our environments, we now find ourselves in the middle of a crisis where our survival is at stake. Never before has the planet been in greater danger. Never before has an immediate remediation been so critically needed and so vital for our future.

All the global issues we are facing must be immediately and collectively addressed. Even if it costs a few points of economic growth, we ought to find new ways of producing goods, new ways of consuming goods, new ways of conceiving and conducting our business activities and new ways of recycling waste in larger quantities. We must act together, as one family! If we don’t act now, we will soon face the risk of extinction. It is not being pessimistic, it is simply being realistic.

Fortunately, there has been a shift of consciousness in the last few years and many people now realize something must be done to urgently address all the global issues we are facing. We know we must eliminate extreme poverty. We know we must provide education on a larger scale. We know we must use natural resources more wisely. We know we must reduce our carbon footprint. We know we must work together in our everyday lives toward building a more sustainable model. We must act on the largest possible scale and in the shortest amount of time for maximum efficiency.

Today is the day! We must act now!

The world is in dire need of a new paradigm to bring more happiness to the largest possible number of people. We need to find and make more peace within ourselves before the world will be at peace. We must stop admiring values that are vacuous and people that propound and profit from them. Enough of those false values that lead to the delusion and destruction of entire generations. We must restore a community of shared values.

We don’t need to invent anything, only rediscover and rejuvenate what assured the survival of our ancestors, what provided a true, shared joy. We must evolve spiritually. We can’t afford to stagnate at this stage of the evolutionary process much longer. Sainthood for a handful of people is not what we are after. What we are after is a global shift of consciousness. It will happen when more people awaken and unite their hearts and spirits.

It will happen when people regardless of creed, color, religion walk hand-in-hand knowing that we are one family – the human family. It will happen when more people realize that when something negative happens on the planet or to a community or in our daily life we all suffer from the consequences. It will happen when we consciously reconnect with the core of our human nature and exercise our birth rights which makes us co-creators of our destiny.

191 countries, members of the United Nations, signed the UN Millennium Resolution in 2002 which aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. However, there is still an incredible amount of money spent on war around the world. Today is the time to transcend our differences and unite our energies to solve our many challenging issues.

Does it really matter to become the number one company in any given market at the expense of our common wealth and the well-being of the world?

Every day, more than 1,000 children die because they didn’t get a 15-cent measles vaccine. Almost 3 billion people around the world live on less than $2 per day. This is not acceptable. Have we really tried our very best? Governments play their myopic power games while millions of people die of malnutrition, curable diseases, lack of water and the consequences of greed, avarice and ignorance.

The solutions will not come and have not come from governments alone (if at all). The solutions will come from entrepreneurs – social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change that is sustainable and for the highest good of humanity. (adapted from Wikipedia’s definition).

Social entrepreneurs have the collective power to make a real difference in today’s world and can have a decisive impact for generations to come. Social entrepreneurs have the collective responsibility to take on – one by one – all the challenges humanity faces.

When the performance of traditional entrepreneurs is measured in terms of profitability, the performance of social entrepreneurs is measured in terms of the positive impact they have on society. Social entrepreneurs measure their success in terms of the contribution made toward resolving all the global issues currently threatening the planet and humanity as a whole – one by one.

It is imperative to encourage social entrepreneurship and to inspire younger generations by instilling the spirit of social entrepreneurship worldwide. As long as we keep measuring our progress in terms of financial and geographic profitability alone, we will continue to miss our essential imperatives. We will continue to fail collectively with consequences that are seriously threatening the survival of our planet and the future of humanity.

Social Entrepreneurship can change the world and can provide a better world for generations to come. Today is the day! We are one – one family, the human family. Now is the time to join in and do good works. Not convinced? Always remember, we won’t be doing much business on a dead planet.

About Christophe Poizat

Christophe Poizat is a professional dreamer, a social entrepreneur, guerrilla marketer, mentor, business coach, speaker, author with 20+ years of international consulting experience who has lived on four continents; for more details, visit: http://christophepoizat.com

Christophe is also the founder and administrator of the International Network of Social Entrepreneurs, a global Web 2.0 community for Social Entrepreneurs to connect, share, collaborate and promote social entrepreneurship worldwide. For more details, visit: http://inse.collectivex.com

[tags]christophe poizat, international network for social entrepreneurs, inse, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, sustainability, web 2.0[/tags]

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As environmental and student groups rally for Congress to adopt strong fuel efficiency and renewable electricity standards in 2007’s New Energy Bill, the Big Three Auto Makers in America – General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler – are spending millions to convince Congress and the public that 35 mpg by 2020 is simply not achievable.

Auto industry workers say, “Bollocks!”

A large group of auto workers and dealers have broken from the industry in order to support the 35 mpg by 2020 fuel efficiency standard. As members of the American auto industry who have designed, built and sold automobiles in this country for decades, they state that 35 mpg can be achieved, will create jobs, and can help the U.S. end its foreign oil addiction.

Spearheading the movement are Adam Lee, president of Lee Auto Malls in Maine, Gary Muenzhuber, representing Autoworkers of Minnesota, Inc, Chicago-based Chuck Frank, owner of one of the nation’s largest Chevy dealerships and Kentucky-based Karen Bowen, a former Ford executive.

Adam Lee, third generation autodealer, makes this personal plea to the public to tell Congress that 35 mpg by 2020 is necessary for the survival of the auto industry.

“My family has been selling American made cars since 1936. My livelihood and the livelihood of over 350 employees who work for us depend upon the success of the automobile industry. Today that strength is severely compromised by the lack of fuel-efficient cars and trucks customers want to buy. …

Without a 35 mile-per-gallon mandate, I’m afraid, global warming and our dependence on foreign oil will continue to get much worse in the long run. And, in the short run, I’m afraid I’ll be stuck with a lot full of cars that no one wants to buy or even worse: This country will no longer have an American auto industry.”

In their report titled Energy Bill Must Guarantee Real Oil Savings, the Union of Concerned Scientists calculated the difference between the 35 mpg by 2020 and 32 mpg by 2022. Here is what they found:

Barrels of Oil Saved Per Day:
- 500,000 Auto Lobby Proposal
- 1.2 Million Senate CAFE Compromise

Consumer Savings at the Pump:
- $11 Billion Auto Lobby Proposal
- $25 Billion Senate CAFE Compromise

Emissions Reductions
- 85mmt CO2 Auto Lobby Proposal
- 206 mmt CO2 Senate CAFE Compromise

As environmental organizations and student groups are lobbying for stronger legislation to deal with climate change and global warming, auto industry workers are lobbying for their livelihoods.

The math is simple.

As gas prices continue to rise, unless American auto manufacturers produce more efficient cars, they will continue to lose market share to international auto manufacturers. This will mean lots of downsizing down the road.

Rather than choose to innovate now, which will benefit both American consumers and the U.S. auto industry as a whole, the Auto Lobby would rather spend $ millions in a PR campaign that could sway the public and take this country a step backwards, all in a bid for maximum short-term profits.

As Adam Lee states, if fuel efficiency is not a long-term priority, in the short run, we may not have an auto industry.

[tags]2007 energy bill, new energy bill, 35 mpg by 2020, 35mpgby2020, 32 mpg by 2022, Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standard, CAFE standard, auto lobby, fuel efficiency, adam lee, lorna li[/tags]

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This weekend, students were up in arms about climate change. Saturday, November 3rd, was the National Day of Climate Action, which saw hundreds of student rallies raising a ruckus on climate change legislation on campuses across the United States.

To drive the message home, today, on Monday, November 5th, 3,000 students will descend upon Capitol Hill for the largest youth lobby on global warming ever – Power Shift 2007. Today, students will demand of Congress a bold and comprehensive climate change legislation that steer America towards a clean and just energy future.

On this day, these students will deliver an action-oriented, concrete proposal to move the nation forward, based on the comprehensive priorities of the 1Sky Campaign:

1. GREEN JOBS NOW!
Create 5 million green jobs conserving 20% of our energy by 2015
2. CUT CARBON 80% BY 2050
Freeze carbon pollution levels now and cut at least 30% by 2020
3. NO NEW COAL
Enact an immediate moratorium on new coal-fired power plants

In addition, the Power Shift team will highlight the most important bills on climate change that are currently on the table in Congress, such as the:

Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act

Senate Energy Bill

Waxman Safe Climate Act

House Energy Bill

Powershift 2007 is an initiative of the Energy Action Coalition, a coalition of more than 40 youth-led organizations from across the US and Canada with the intention to support and strengthen the student and youth clean energy movement in North America.

With hundreds of workshops, dozens of panels, and leading experts and advocates, Power Shift 2007 intends to arm a generation of young people to ensure that by 2009, the U.S. passes a powerful, national plan to stop global warming. The goals of this plan include a strong, clean energy economy, achieve energy independence, create millions of green jobs, increase global equity, and revitalize the American economy.

Support the Youth of Power Shift 2007

A great way to rally behind the students rallying on Capitol Hill today is to send this petition to Congress asking for a 2007 Energy Bill that includes the highest standards of fuel efficiency and more renewable energy.

[tags]national day of climate action, power shift 2007, 2007 energy bill, new energy bill, energy action coalition, 1sky, climate change, global warming, lorna li[/tags]

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At the urging of the nuclear power industry, a one-sentence provision buried deep in the Senate’s recently passed energy bill can essentially make builders of new nuclear plants eligible for tens of billions of dollars in government loan guarantees.

Under current law, the government is only allowed to guarantee a volume of loans authorized each year by Congress, which amounted to $4 billion in loan guarantees for clean energy projects in 2007. This new provision is a huge change that could significantly expand the nuclear industry (considered to be a clean energy industry), which already plans to build 28 new reactors at a cost of approximately $4-5 billion each.

Opponents of the provision say that the loan guarantees that could serve as a “virtual blank check from taxpayers” to help build more nuclear plants. A nuclear power provision of this magnitude mars an otherwise attractive bill that supports renewable energy and improved fuel efficiency. Should Congress even adopt the 35 mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard and 15% Renewable Energy Standard, the nuclear provision would obliterate any environmental gains made by CAFE and RES.

Nuclear Power is Not A Solution for Global Warming

After decades of opposition from environmental groups and other organizations, the nuclear industry is enjoying growing political support as society has grown increasingly concerned about global warming and foreign oil dependence. Nuclear power is being touted as a viable energy alternative to greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels. Under legislation enacted in 2005, nuclear power qualifies as a “clean technology” because it does not emit carbon gases that contribute to global warming.However, nuclear power is far from clean.

According to Michele Boyd, legislative director of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen:

“None of these so-called ‘advanced’ nuclear reactors deal with the fundamental flaws of nuclear power, such as dangerous radioactive waste, vulnerabilities to air attack and excessive cost,” said Ms. Boyd, whose staff began investigating the provision shortly after the Senate passed the bill last month.

Support a Strong, Clean, Nuke-Free Energy Bill

Nuclear power generates a lot of bang for the buck now, but its byproduct, radioactive waste, creates huge environmental risks that future generations will be forced to face.

Here’s what you can do to let Congress know you favor an energy bill that truly supports environmental sustainability.

• Lobby Congress by signing the 2007 Energy Bill Petition for Strong Fuel Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Sign the Nuke Free Energy Bill Petition

[tags] new energy bill, 2007 energy bill, nuclear provision, nuclear subsidy, nuclear loan gaurantee, CAFE, corporate average fuel economy, renewable electricity standard, renewable energy, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, YouTube[/tags]

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Currently, Congress is debating, behind closed doors, the adoption of 2 provisions to the 2007 Energy Bill that can greatly impact our ability to make America more energy independent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollution, save consumers money, create jobs and spark economic growth.

The first is the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) Standard of 35 mpg for cars and trucks by 2020. The second is the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which calls for 15% of the nation’s electricity to be generated by renewable resources by 2020.

Why support the Renewable Electricity Standard?According to a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, renewable energy solutions are both sustainable environmentally and economically. The RES provision has the potential to jump-start new clean energy economy and create tens of thousands of new, good-paying jobs in things like wind and solar manufacturing and installation. For this reason, it has the strong support of the United Steelworkers.

RES will create thousands of megawatts of new clean renewable electricity generation, decreasing the amount of natural gas we use—lowering prices for consumers on their home heating bills and also benefiting industrial users.

Furthermore, RES is doable – two dozen states that have already put their own Renewable Electricity Standard into place. In fact, many states have moved to establish standards of 30 percent or more—demonstrating that the 15 percent plan proposed in this bill is an achievable compromise that all states can meet.

Why is supporting the 35 mpg CAFE standard important?

Supporting the 35 mpg CAFE standard will help us curb our addition to a fossil-fuel based source that is increasingly expensive, causes pollution, and is also from highly volatile areas such as the Persian Gulf. This dependence is both unstable and unsustainable.

Furthermore, improving CAFE standards to 35 mpg by 2020 – 13 years from now – will give us better gas mileage, thus, more bang for the buck. This way we can keep more money in our wallets, drive cleaner cars, and thus become less dependent on war and pollution causing oil.

According to the UCS study on Clean Vehicles and Fuel Economy, far from destroying auto jobs, CAFE would create 22,300 jobs in the auto industry alone by 2020—and a total of 170,800 jobs by 2020. The CAFE provision would also save consumers nearly $25 billion at the pump in 2020, according to UCS.

Auto-Industry Lies – Et Tu Toyota?

The Big Three automakers and Toyota are lobbying to kill the Senate version and replace it with a loophole-laden compromise called the Hill-Terry bill that calls for 32 to 35 m.p.g. by 2022. Rather than innovate their fleets to become more fuel efficient, they would rather spend $ millions in advertising to convince the public that attaining the 35 mpg standard is bad for consumers and the environment, and that CAFE kills.

While the auto industry has argued for years that fuel-efficiency would compromise public safety due to the need to build smaller, lighter vehicles, according to an October 2007 article in Scientific American, new engine and transmission technologies could enable manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency without significantly cutting vehicle weights.

In spite of the fact that Toyota currently has the technology to make cars that achieve 55 mpg, Toyota’s refusal to step up to the plate and support the 35 mpg CAFE standard has evoked the wrath of environmentalist groups like the NRDC who now question “How Green is Toyota?” That the maker of the Prius could support the Hill-Terry compromise, which according to UCS, would actually cause us to use 700,000 more barrels each day, feels like sheer betrayal.

Is the auto industry genuinely concerned about the economic well-being of American consumers and our ability to get around as cheaply as possible? Hmmm.

In 1922, General Motors dismantled mass transit across the U.S., bought up trolley systems through its subsidiary National City lines, gutted them and tore up all the tracks. GM joined tire manufacturers, construction companies, and oil companies to lobby for Congress for development of a national highway system, which has defined urban development over the last 90 years. It helped that GM’s president Charles Wilson became secretary of defense and Frances DuPont became the federal highway administrator. Thus America became a oil-addicted, nation of drivers.

With Bush and his Big Oil cohorts in power threatening veto, ordinary Americans may be up for another round of seriously getting screwed. Therefore, it’s up to us to take action and DEMAND a clean, energy future NOW.

Take Action and Support a Strong, Clean Energy Bill for 2007

Instead of making the richest companies in the world richer, this energy bill will benefit consumers and working Americans, make us less dependent on foreign oil and better global citizens. Here are simple actions you can take to lobby Congress for a cleaner, greener future:

1. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Sign this petition and pass it on: Energy Bill 2007
2. Meet other clean energy activists online: Energy Bill 2007 Group on Facebook
3. Tell Toyota, “Shame On You” and get your friends to tell Toyota to support 35 mpg now.

By lobbying Congress to adopt strong energy efficiency measures in the 2007 Energy Bill, we can lower emissions and use less energy in the years to come —saving governments, businesses, schools, and consumers money. Energy efficiency is an energy resource just like anything else and is much cheaper than even coal-fired power generation. We must look to energy efficiency as another solution for our energy needs, while at the same time ramping up the amount of electricity we get from renewables. This is our only way we can guarantee a clean, green future for ourselves and future generations.

[tags]new energy bill, energy bill 2007, cafe, cafe standard, corporate average fuel economy, renewable electricity standard, res, hill-terry, clean tech, fuel efficiency, fuel economy, global warming [/tags]

Related posts:

1. The 2007 Energy Bill’s Scary Nuclear Provision – Rockers Protest On YouTube
2. 35 mpg by 2020 – Auto Industry Workers Say It Can Be Done
3. Power Shift 2007 – Students Demand a Clean Energy Future