GNN ISSUE: 15-December-2006

 
The Green News Network is free monthly newsletter that provides green news and views from the Gloucestershire Green party so that together we can create a better world.

QUOTES OF THE MONTH
1. GLOS GREEN WEBSITE CHANGES: NEW BLOG
2. GLOUCESTERSHIRES' CHRISTMAS ARRIVES IN FELIXTOWE AND A GREEN CHRISTMAS?
3. WAR AND PEACE: DREW VOTE ON IRAQ, LETTER TO ALL GLOS MAYORS AND RADIO BROADCASTS
4. COUNTRYFILE ASKS 'IS STROUD THE GREENEST TOWN IN THE WEST?'
5. CLIMATE CHANGE: KEEPING THE PRESSURE UP
6. FILE ON FOUR'S LOOK AT NUCLEAR
7. GREENS URGE SUPPORT FOR CAMPAIGN TO DECRIMINALISE HOMOSEXUALITY
8. THAMES WATER: GREENS URGE RETURN TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
9. GREEN SPEAKS AT INLAND WATERWAYS DEMO
10. GREENS SLAM JURIES WHO BLAME WOMEN FOR ‘DRUNK RAPE’
11. 'ABOLITION OF PARLIAMENT' BILL TAMED
12. COUNTY FARM SELL-OFF, SCHOOL DRUG TESTING, SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, GLOS GAS PIPELINE AND MORE
13. NEW ON 'BIG ISSUES'
14. WEBSITES THAT MIGHT INTEREST
15. NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING

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QUOTES OF THE MONTH

"It is shockingly easy for politicians, economists and planners to forget that the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment."
Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation

"We tried to do our best (in Iraq) but I think there is much room for criticism because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq,"
Alberto Fernandez senior US official at State Department

"Earth's Ten Commandments
Thou shalt love and honor the Earth for it blesses thy life and governs thy survival.
Thou shalt keep each day sacred to the Earth and celebrate the turning of its seasons.
Thou shalt not hold thyself above other living things nor drive them to extinction.
Thou shalt give thanks for thy food to the creatures and plants that nourish thee.
Thou shalt limit thy offspring for multitudes of people are a burden unto the Earth.
Thou shalt not kill nor waste Earth's riches upon weapons of war.
Thou shalt not pursue profit at the Earth's expense but strive to restore its damaged majesty.
Thou shalt not hide from thyself or others the consequences of thy actions upon the Earth.
Thou shalt not steal from future generations by impoverishing or poisoning the Earth.
Thou shalt consume material goods in moderation so all may share Earth's bounty."
Ernest Callenbach 1990 (author of novel 'Ecotopia')

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Gandhi

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1. GLOS GREEN WEBSITE CHANGES: NEW BLOG

A few changes - we've added another Blog: Stroud-based Dr Molly Scott Cato, Green Party economics speaker has a  brand new blog looking at Green Economics: Gaian Economics. This really brings alive Green economics and makes for a fascinating and thought-provoking read. Highlights include a look at capitalist mantras like there's no free lunch, what really is green economics, a look at inequality and a Parliament of all beings. Read and ENJOY!

Philip's Blog recently came 37th in a national Green Bloggers list:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1587&Itemid=2
The Blog continues to look at all things local to his ward plus Transition Towns, the Housing Needs Inquiry, Furniture recycling, the budget, 20 mph proposals, Gloucestershire's Safe Water Campaign, An Inconvienient Truth, Mark Purdey's death and much more.

The Coffee House has a more visible presence on the website and we even have the Christmas cake decorated with a Green party logo on the front page - special thanks to Rosie Reed for providing it for last weeks Green party Christmas party at Star Anise.

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2.  GLOUCESTERSHIRES' CHRISTMAS ARRIVES IN FELIXTOWE AND A GREEN CHRISTMAS?

The world's largest container ship - the Emma Maersk - docked at Felixtowe with 45,000 tonnes of Christmas gifts many of which are bound for Gloucestershire: this symbolises the increasing dominance of Chinese exports made cheap by poor labour and environmental standards.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1561&Itemid=115

Everyone knows that turkeys can’t fly very far, so you might be surprised to learn that your Christmas dinner may have travelled a staggering 30,000 miles before it gets to your table. From European fowl and African vegetables to Australian wine and American cranberry sauce, the ingredients of the traditional yuletide meal can notch up enough air miles to circumnavigate the globe. But if that is worrying for the growing number of us who want to do what we can to help prevent climate change...   

Here's a few ideas from Lewisham Greens to make your celebrations more carbon-neutral:
- Christmas dinner - Think local, think fair trade, think organic.  With all the money being spent at this time of year, it is a great opportunity to support your local community by buying from small shops and market.  Buying local produce also cuts down on those all-important ‘food miles’. 
- Presents - With UK households already owing more than £1 trillion, festive spending risks pushing thousands deeper into a spiral of debt - a terrible worry hanging over many people at Christmas, spoiling what should be a joyful time.  Giving Secret Santa presents means no one goes without, and adds some fun and mystery to Christmas morning.  Or why not give home-made or edible gifts instead of spending unnecessarily?  If you’re not the craft or baking kind, check out local flea markets and vintage clothing shops – you’ll be giving something beautiful and unique, and recycling without even realising it!
- The Christmas tree - Save money and save resources – use a tree with roots? Each year, 6 million trees end up in landfill sites.  So if you do go for a regular tree, check out the council’s tree recycling service – there should be a drop-off place close to your home.
- Cards and wrapping paper - Each year, 200,000 trees are cut down to supply the UK’s 1.7 billion Christmas cards, and enough wrapping paper is used to wrap the island of Guernsey.  So don’t forget to recycle yours!  Or, as your grandparents probably used to tell you, reusing is even less wasteful – why not help your children to show off their creative sides by turning those old cards into decorations for next year?  Learn more here: www.woodland-trust.org.uk/cards/.
- Christmas waste - When you go shopping, cut down on yet more waste by taking your own shopping bags with you - and avoiding presents with lots of unnecessary packaging. And when your clueless relative gives you that present you know you’ll never use, don’t throw it away – join your local Freecycle group and give it away to someone who will appreciate it. You never know what you yourself might get for free when you become a member – and it all helps to avoid adding to our bulging landfill sites.
- Going abroad for Christmas? Consider taking the train to destinations within Europe - it’s far less polluting than air travel, the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases. And if you know where to look – www.seat61.com is a great place to start – it can be cheaper and quicker than you think.  With no check-in, baggage reclaim, stale cabin air or cramped seating, avoiding the airport is really a Christmas present to yourself, and the amazing views from your train window are the best way to get know the continent on your doorstep.

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3. WAR AND PEACE: DREW VOTE ON IRAQ, LETTER TO ALL GLOS MAYORS AND RADIO BROADCASTS

The recent motion in parliament demanding an inquiry into the Iraq war was lost by 25 votes. Incredibly only 12 Labour MPs supported the call for an inquiry. David Drew was not amongst them. Was this a case of putting party loyalty over the interests of the people of Iraq and the vast majority of people in this country?
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1571&Itemid=116

Read John Marjoram's moving letter to the Stroud News and Journal:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1597&Itemid=116

Green Mayor Kevin Cranston recorded an interview for BBC Radio Glos about Remebrance Day and a piece on key Gloucestershire figures about how they spend their weekends - Kevin talked about farmers markets and local food. Also with help from other Green members we got a letter signed by him sent to all Gloucestershire Mayors asking them to sign up to Mayors for Peace. Read more about that and the campaign against Trident's renewal.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1589&Itemid=115

Sign Downing St online petition against Trident Renewal at:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/trident

Kevin Cranston was also on BBC Radio Glos as a 'former army head' saying the government is failing soldiers in time of war:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1603&Itemid=115

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4.  COUNTRYFILE ASKS 'IS STROUD THE GREENEST TOWN IN THE WEST?'

Cllr Martin Whiteside, the Green party Parliamentary candidate for Stroud has been showing the team of the BBC's flagship Sunday morning programme "Countryfile" around the local area after they contacted Greens asking: "Is Stroud the greenest town in the West?" Read more here:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1564&Itemid=115

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5. CLIMATE CHANGE: KEEPING THE PRESSURE UP

This last month sees Greens challenging the papers and others to take climate change more seriously. We cannot afford to let up now. This is the time to push for the radical changes in policy we need. Here are some of the news releases and letters:

The Queen's Speech should mean the end of the road for Bristols' airport expansion plans:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1578&Itemid=115

Greens also submitted another report arguing the airport's plans are uneconomic and an environmental disaster: 'Why should we in Gloucestershire have to make deeper emissions cuts just to allow profits at BIA to grow?'
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1602&Itemid=115

Meanwhile a whole front page of a local paper's Business section on Staverton airport expansion fails to even mention climate change:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1596&Itemid=116

Two letters responding to criticism of Greens: sadly neither printed:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1574&Itemid=116

Greens have sometimes been likened to Chicken Licken calling "The Sky is Falling" but now we are being heard - we mustn't let the sky fall in:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1588&Itemid=116

Climate change shouldn't be boring:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1592&Itemid=116

Tony Blair’s ‘hot air’ on climate change is exposed in the EU announcement that it plans to take the UK to court over our failure to implement a directive designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1565&Itemid=116

Stroud Greens visit Woking to see their successes:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1579&Itemid=115

Cllr Martin Whiteside attended the all-day Symposium organised by the County Council looking at the Severn Barrage:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1577&Itemid=115

Flimsy eco-taxes will line Treasury pockets, not change behaviour:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1598&Itemid=115

Green Party councillor Ricky Knight has been short-listed for a political award because of his vocal support for wind energy in North Devon:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1580&Itemid=2

Three petitions to sign:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1594&Itemid=115

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6.  FILE ON FOUR'S LOOK AT NUCLEAR

Stroud Greens helped the journalist put together info for the programme on nuclear. Kevin Cranston was also interviewed at length but dropped from the show at the last minute when they focussed on Hinkley nuclear reactors instead. Nevertheless the show raised many questions about the cracks and depletion in reactors:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1600&Itemid=116

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7.  GREENS URGE SUPPORT FOR CAMPAIGN TO DECRIMINALISE HOMOSEXUALITY

Stroud District Green party have signed a global petition organised by the Committee of the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) for a proposed United Nations resolution in favour of the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality - and have written to Councils to join them. Read more and sign:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1590&Itemid=115

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8.  THAMES WATER: GREENS URGE RETURN TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

Thames Water has just been sold to a consortium for £8bn. Severn Trent is also now seen as a target (i). Should we worry?
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1573&Itemid=116

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9. GREEN SPEAKS AT INLAND WATERWAYS DEMO

Green party members joined 50 boats and others at Gloucester Docks to protest at Defra cuts to inland waterways. Cllr Martin Whiteside,the Green party's Parliamentary spokesperson for Stroud addressed the crowd; read his speech and letter:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1586&Itemid=2
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1570&Itemid=116

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10. GREENS SLAM JURIES WHO BLAME WOMEN FOR ‘DRUNK RAPE’

Earlier this year Greens condemned rape prosecution figures in Gloucestershire which had the lowest prosecutions in England and Wales. Greens now speak out against the juries who blame women if they are raped whilst drunk, even if their drink has been spiked:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1599&Itemid=115

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11.  'ABOLITION OF PARLIAMENT' BILL TAMED

The Green Party condemned the government's Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill, and have severely criticised the opposition parties in Parliament for failing to speak out effectively against it. The Bill has now passed it's final reading, but was somewhat better than when originally proposed:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1576&Itemid=115

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12. COUNTY FARM SELL-OFF, SCHOOL DRUG TESTING, SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, GLOS GAS PIPELINE AND MORE

Don't sell County farms: land trusts are way forward:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1595&Itemid=116

Parmjit Dhanda has refused to rule out random drug testing in schools. But Head teachers like Lawrence Montagu of St Peter's Catholic High (Gloucester) are absolutely right that such testing is likely to lead to problems:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1582&Itemid=116

Greens gave a welcome to the move to look at Social Enterprise to run local Health and Social Care services in Stroud:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1569&Itemid=115

Unit up for prestigious Sustainability Award:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1572&Itemid=115

Glos Gas pipeline further delayed: read about the Welsh protest:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1593&Itemid=115

Stroud Town Council have agreed to fund a study into a radical new scheme to remove Stroud's traffic lights, signs, road markings and barriers in an effort to reduce accidents.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1604&Itemid=115

Cheltenham Woman who now lives in London leads Greens:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1584&Itemid=2

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13. NEW ON 'BIG ISSUES'

A selection of articles sent in my GNN readers over the last month. Find links to them under Big Issues or use key words in the search engine:

-  Business, stop moaning. These 'burdens' are what keep us civilised
-  Scottish Shrimps: 17,000-mile round trip
-  Nairobi: where did it all go wrong?
-  Zero waste - is it possible?
-  The limits of liberty: We’re all suspects now
-  Labour's massive road-building programme
-  MEPs, MPs urge caution in use of biofuels; call for ban on use of palm oil
-  EU: those Sunday Strasbourg moments
-  Is the Economist wrong on food?
-  Population: the great debate

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14. WEBSITES THAT MIGHT INTEREST

Wombat knows best:
http://www.global-mindshift.org/memes/wombat.swf

More Meatrix - if you've seen the others here is some more on the meat industry:
http://www.moremeatrix.com/

The Happy Planet Index is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives. The results are surprising, even shocking, but there is much to learn from what they show:
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/

Stroud's Community Magazine online:
http://www.stroudcommunitymagazine.com/

Bioneers is a forum for connecting the environment, health, social justice, and spirit within a broad progressive framework:
http://www.bioneers.org/

First radio show for councillors: available on line - rather too much chat and music but could develop into something interesting:
http://www.colourfulradio.com/

Great collection of articles:
http://oneworldcolumn.org/

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15. NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING

Friday 26th January: Image and Identity. Freedom to wear the veil, freedom not to wear the veil? Wearing religious or political symbols? Are dress codes oppressive? Open to anyone - 7.30 and 9.30pm at Star Anise Arts Cafe at the Painswick Inn, Gloucester Street, Stroud.

Read more about the previous coffee house discussions including last months hugely successful one on food at:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=606&Itemid=96

Details of other Gloucestershire Green party meetings including Stroud's AGM in January, West Gloucestershire Green plans for a meeting and the live music event in Stroud - can all be got from John Marjoram on 01453 751189

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More details about the Gloucestershire Green party, how to join and meeting times can be got from John Marjoram on 01453 751189.

GNN has grown out of a Green news service first established on 13th November 2001. To contribute to this news service (or to subscribe or unsubscribe) - contact the editor Philip Booth on  press@glosgreenparty.org.uk