After passing a municipal law in June 2008 requiring all newly built or renovated buildings to install solar panels, an epic debate over this renewable energy law is now taking place in the City of Marburg.
Germany is aiming to slash their national greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.
Agropolis is available online for your reading pleasure care of the International Development Research Centre.
Joey Cheek, an American Olympic gold medallist who has been leading a campaign to stop China from trading arms with the Sudan, has been refused entry to the Beijing Games.
Cheek, who won gold in the men’s 500 metre speed skating event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, has recruited nearly 400 Olympians and former Olympians worldwide to his cause, called Team Darfur, and was refused a visa at the Chinese embassy in Washington yesterday.
“Despite the fact that I’ve always spoken positively of the Olympic ideal, and never called for a boycott or asked an athlete to break an IOC rule, my visa was revoked less than 24 hours before my scheduled departure,” Cheek said. “The denial of my visa is a part of a systemic effort by the Chinese government to coerce and threaten athletes who are speaking out on behalf of the innocent people of Darfur.”
As Canadian athletes prepare themselves for competition (in which I wish them good luck), I am continuing my personal boycott of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. Following the most recent embarrassing statement from International Olympic Committee Chair Jacques Rogge regarding previous statements on freedom of the press in the People’s Republic of China, I was pleased to see Canadian IOC delegate Dick Pound raise some overdue criticism of China and the distant international committee. But Pound’s criticisms only touched the surface of a larger issue which the IOC has chosen to ignore — the dire state of human rights and political freedoms in China.
In 1999, as recently quoted by Ken Silverstein, Condoleezza Rice stated that: “Economic liberalization in China is ultimately going to lead to political liberalization. That’s an iron law.” Nine years later, the “iron law” of economic liberalization seems to have come along with iron shackles, rather than the political liberalization Rice may have had in mind.
A March 2008 report from the U.S. Department of State describes the People’s Republic of China as “an authoritarian state” with a poor human rights record which has seen“tightening restrictions on freedom of speech and the press” including “increased efforts to control and censor the Internet.” The report also accuses Chinese authorities of other human rights abuses including “extrajudicial killings, torture and coerced confessions of prisoners, and the use of forced labor, including prison labor. The government continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison journalists, writers, activists, and defense lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under law.”
The Chinese Government has also been unwavered in its military and diplomatic support of the brutal regimes in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Burma, and North Korea.
So, I’m left with a couple of questions: Why did the IOC believe that it was appropriate to reward an authoritarian regime such as China’s with the international prestige of the Olympic Games? And will the international attention for the games force China into the “political liberalization” that Rice predicted?
For more information, both Amnesty International and Reporters Sans Frontières are good sources.
Klein: “Jean, welcome to The House.”
Chretien: “I’m happy to be in your house Ralph, but happy to be out of the other House (of Commons). There is a good life after politics.”
Klein: “Yeah, I’m doing a lot less and making a lot more money.”
Chretien: “Same for me Ralph, but when we were in politics we weren’t in it for the money, but for the fun of it.” It would be hard to imagine the personality-challenged antagonists of today — specifically Stephen Harper, Stephane Dion, Alberta’s Ed Stelmach or Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty — engaging in respectful chummy talk now or even a few years after they leave office.
Campaign expenses from Alberta’s March 3, 2008 Provincial Election were released a couple of weeks ago, here’s a look at expenses by constituency from Alberta’s two main political parties, and some lists of the expenses by the numbers (and the ridiculous amount of money that was spent in an election that produced a record low voter turnout):
Biggest Spenders
1) Sherwood Park – Iris Evans (PC) – $146,664.14
2) Edmonton-Mill Creek – Gene Zwozdesky (PC) – $140.283.18
3) Edmonton-Whitemud – Dave Hancock (PC) – $133,040.37
4) Calgary-McCall – Darshan Kang (Lib) – $117,137.44
5) Calgary-Glenmore – Ron Stevens (PC) – $110,979.96
6) Edmonton-Manning – Peter Sandhu (PC) – $90,853.23
7) Calgary-Elbow – Alison Redford (PC) – $87,846.02
8) Edmonton-Mill Woods – Carl Benito (PC) – $85,950.53
9) Calgary-McCall – Shiraz Shariff (PC) – $75,166.79
10) Lac La Biche-St. Paul – Ray Danyluk (PC) – $74,158.21
Biggest Liberal Spenders
1) Calgary-McCall – Darshan Kang – $117,137.44
2) Edmonton-Mill Creek – Aman Gill – $62,638.66
3) Calgary-Buffalo – Kent Hehr – $61,984.13
4) Edmonton-Ellerslie – Bharat Agnihotri – $57,496.63
5) Calgary-Elbow – Craig Cheffins – $56,109.10
6) Edmonton-Whitemud – Nancy Cavanaugh – $45,055.83
7) Sherwood Park – Louise Rogers – $44,461.28
8) Calgary-Bow – Greg Flanagan – $42,144.24
9) Calgary-Mountain View – David Swann – $40,522.36
10) Calgary-Currie – Dave Taylor – $36,891.07
Biggest bang for their buck (elected MLAs & cost per vote)
1) Battle River-Wainwright – Doug Griffiths (PC) – $2.65 per vote
2) Drumheller-Stettler – Jack Hayden (PC) – $2.43 per vote
3) Rocky Mountain House – Ty Lund (PC) – $3.07 per vote
4) Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills – Richard Marz (PC) – $3.16 per vote
5) Little Bow – Barry McFarland (PC) – $3.31 per vote
6) Strathmore-Brooks – Arno Doerksen (PC) – $3.48 per vote
7) Calgary-Hays – Art Johnston (PC) – $3.54 per vote
8) Lacombe-Ponoka – Ray Prins (PC) – $3.60 per vote
9) Edmonton-Riverview – Kevin Taft (Lib) – $3.88 per vote
10) Drayton Valley-Calmar – Diana McQueen (PC) – $3.99 per vote
Biggest Spender per vote
1) Calgary-McCall – Darshan Kang (Lib) – $27.48 per vote
2) Edmonton-Manning – Peter Sandhu (PC) – $22.11 per vote
3) Drayton Valley-Calmar – Norma Block (Lib) – $21.59 per vote
4) Lesser Slave Lake – Pearl Calahasen (PC) – $20.87 per vote
5) Edmonton-Mill Creek – Gene Zwozdesky (PC) – $20.44 per vote
6) Calgary-Buffalo – Sean Chu (PC) $19.58 per vote
7) Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview – Dawit Isaac (Lib) – $18.40 per vote
8) Edmonton-Mill Woods – Carl Benito (PC) – $18.09 per vote
9) Calgary-McCall – Shiraz Shariff (PC) – $18.05 per vote
10) Calgary-Glenmore – Ron Stevens (PC) – $17.23 per vote
PC v. Liberal – Biggest Spending Margin
1) Sherwood Park – Iris Evans (PC) +$102,203
2) Calgary-Glenmore – Ron Stevens (PC) +$88,029
3) Edmonton-Whitemud – Dave Hancock (PC) +$87,985
4) Edmonton-Mill Creek – Gene Zwozdesky (PC) +$77,645
5) Lac La Biche-St. Paul – Ray Danyluk (PC) +$66,245
6) Foothills-Rockyview – Ted Morton (PC) +$60,835
7) Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville – Ed Stelmach (PC) +$59,636
8) Edmonton-Mill Woods – Carl Benito (PC) +$59,381
9) Dunvegan-Central Peace – Hector Goudreau (PC) +$55,720
10) Airdrie-Chestermere – Rob Anderson (PC) +$55,276
It shouldn’t be a surprise that a lot of money drives politics in Alberta, but for those of you familiar/appalled with the City of Calgary’s “no rules” municipal campaign financing mantra should find Naheed Nenshi‘s latest Calgary Herald column interesting.
As someone who is earning a living through ‘freelance‘ contract work, I appreciated this list: 101 Reasons Freelancers Do It Better.
After my last couple of posts on the dangers of nuclear waste and growing wind power sector, I received more than a couple of emails from readers ranging from fairly positive to the predictable “no, we can’t, we can’t, we can’t” from those who’s thoughts continue to float in an unmarked antiquated box somewhere.
With Ontario-based Bruce Power announcing that over 2,700 jobs would be created with the construction of a nuclear power plant in Alberta’s Peace Country, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at a county that is rejecting nuclear energy, and as a result has seen its renewable energy sector flourish.
In 2002, German legislators turned their backs on nuclear power when they passed of the “Act on the structured phase-out of the utilisation of nuclear energy for the commercial generation of electricity.” Since taking power in 2005, Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s government is continuing plans to phase out nuclear power by 2020.
German renewable energy sector jobs almost doubled from 160,500 in 2004 to 249,300 in 2007, leading some to suggest that as many as 400,000 jobs could exist in this sector by 2020 (over 100,000 more than some previous studies had predicted). In 2007, renewable energy sources in Germany generated 8.5% of that country’s total energy consumption, and saved 114 million tons in carbon dioxide.
Sigmar Gabriel, German Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety was quoted as saying:
“The systematic expansion of renewable energy is not only good from the environmental and climate policy point of view but also for innovation, growth and employment in Germany.”
Gabriel has also announced that Germany, the world’s sixth largest greenhouse gas emitter, will expand its environmentally friendly energy production target to 27% by 2020.
A recent NASA report (h/t DSB) has reported that Canada’s coastal areas have the wind power density to produced intense amounts of wind energy through offshore wind farms. The construction of offshore coastal wind farms on Canada’s coasts would be a smarter way to meet our energy needs (and maybe make a couple bucks after selling surplus energy south of the 49th parallel).
As our provincial government continues its rosey-eyed high school-style relationship with nuclear power, we as citizens have a responsibility to understand that there are plenty ways to moving forward in filling our energy needs beyond nuclear power. There is a growing need for a larger energy supply, but we have a responsibility to ensure that the effects of our developments do not adversely affect the lives and well-being of the current population, as well as generations to come.
Maybe having antiquated thinkers drive our debate isn’t the smartest idea in the first place?
Care of the good folks at the DeSmogBlog.
What began as a colorful Internet fluke has blossomed into a full-fledged political movement – one that Republicans and Democrats alike are reluctantly having to acknowledge — Cournoyer mania.
It’s not hard to believe that being an opposition party leader in Alberta contains as much of a political future as white bread does nutrition, but that’s not going to stop some brave citizens from believing that they can turn the Alberta Liberal Party into a multi-grain political experience (wow, that was bad…).
The first contender to step up after outgoing leader Kevin Taft announced his stepping down is Calgary-Currie MLA Dave Taylor. Deputy Leader since he was first elected in 2004, it’s probably been about just as long since I’ve heard rumours of the former talk radio star’s impending leadership run. AGRDT, PTIMHB and Calgary Grit have some initial reactions to Taylor’s announcement.
As a special nutritious treat for daveberta.ca readers, over the coming months I will be providing some uniquely davebertan insight into my experiences with some of the candidates over the years — including during my time as Communications Coordinator for the Alberta Liberals — which could possibly kill my chances of getting a job in the next Liberal leader’s office, but should have some nutritional value to it….
UPDATE: Former Edmonton-McClung MLA Mo Elsalhy is planning to kick off his campaign in the next few days.
Consider this notice, music fans, because the best new amazing banjo-riddled three piece alternative country band — Elliott Brood — will be gracing Edmonton with their presence on September 17 at the Pawn Shop.
For the uninitiated, here’s Elliott Brood’s tribute to Wild Rose country… Oh Alberta!:
(I should also note, for my Calgary readers, that Elliott Brood will be playing in Cowtown on September 18 at The Warehouse)
If it is intellectual stimuli you seek, look no further!
I recently discovered the incredibly intellectually-packed audio/video section of the 2008 Aspen Festival of Ideas held in Aspen, Colorado (the festival was recently featured on Studio 360). The 2008 annual event featured speakers such as Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Tobias Wolff, Thomas Friedman, Paul Hawken, Sandra Day O’Connor, and Charlie Rose among many others.
On the topic of ideas and festivals, as part of its 2008 Centenary Celebration (which includes a birthday party), the University of Alberta will be hosting its own Festival of Ideas from November 13 to 16, 2008. The Festival will feature leading thinkers including Salman Rushdie, William Alsop, Barbara Coloroso, Alta Charo, and Nelofer Pazira to name a few.
ADDITION: Make sure to take a listen to Sean Wilentz and Joseph Nye‘s fascinating takes on the Internet, the media, and the political centre.
Following my post from last Monday on the Hanford nuclear waste storage facility along the Columbia River Basin, a couple of stories caught my eye this week.
A lot of money flows through the slots and poker tables in Las Vegas, and $9 billion probably isn’t a ton of money when you’re talking about nuclear research (which is how much has been spent on researching the nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada), but the United States Department of Energy is now estimating that it will cost over $90 billion to open and operate that country’s first nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. With a Federal Debt of $9.5 trillion, I get the feeling that $90 billion may not be as easy to come by as it may once have…
Southeast of Nevada, utility authorities in Texas have preliminarily approved a $4.9 billion project to construct new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from West Texas to cities like Dallas. From the Washington Post:
Texas is the national leader in wind power, generating about 5,000 megawatts. But wind-energy advocates say the lack of transmission lines has kept a lot of that power from being put to use and has hindered the building of more turbines.
Most of Texas’s wind-energy production is in petroleum-producing West Texas, where nearly 4,000 wind turbines tower over oil pump jacks. The new plan would not build a slew of new turbines but would add transmission lines capable of moving about 18,000 megawatts.
Final approval of this project will lead the Lone Star State to produce more wind energy than the next closest 14 states combined. Following a $9 billion investment in wind power capacity in 2007, United States wind power capacity increased by 46% leading to March 2008, when wind power capacity had grown large enough to serve 4.9 million average households.
On the topic of the growing role of wind power in the United States, in a recent interview, Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Institute co-founder Hunter Lovins gave some interesting insights into this growing sector:
Again, wind last year came on—we brought on fifteen gigawatts. A gigawatt is roughly a nuclear-sized chunk of electricity. Fifteen gigawatts. If we’d have built fifteen nukes, you would have noticed. Nobody noticed. Wind is simply sweeping the market. It is either the first- or second-fastest growing energy supply, followed or led by solar photovoltaics, which are coming on equally rapidly.
According to Alberta Intergovernmental Affairs (pdf), Texas is “a priority state for Alberta.” So, as Alberta’s government continues its charge towards nuclear power, our political leaders would be savvy to take note of this move in energy diversification by Texas, rather than continuing to take our cues from States like Idaho and Montana.
