A free monthly email newsletter that provides green news and views so that together we can create a better world.
 
GNN celebrates 4 years of Green news on 13th November.
 
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Today is the ten-year anniversary of the tragic death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight. Thousands of people around the world will pause today to recall their sacrifice. The justice that Saro-Wiwa sought is still elusive, but his vision is now shared by millions. Read more at:
www.November10th.com

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CONTENTS - Each section starts with news from Gloucestershire Greens
 
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
1. CLIMATE CHANGE: LATEST NEWS PLUS DETAILS RE GLOS COACHES TO DEMO
2. NUCLEAR UPDATES
3. RAINFORESTS
4. ANIMAL RIGHTS
5. WAR AND PEACE INCLUDES NEW CALL FOR IRAQ INQUIRY
6. DEVELOPING WORLD: GOLD, WESTERN SAHARA AND PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE
7. PUBLIC SERVICES AND LOCAL PLANS
8. ANTI-TERRORISM, ID CARDS AND CRIME
9. OTHER GLOS NEWS:TESCO, GAS PIPELINE, ASPARTAME, BIRD FLU, BREAST CANCER AND MORE
10. GREEN PARTY NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING GOES NUCLEAR
 
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QUOTES OF THE MONTH
 
"The superior man seeks what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable."
- Confucius
 
"If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat. That's the single most important thing you could do. It's staggering when you think about it. Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: Ecology, famine, cruelty."
- Sir Paul McCartney
 
"There is no greater power than a community discovering what it cares about. Ask 'What's possible?' not 'What's wrong?' Keep asking. Notice what you care about. Assume that many others share your dreams. Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters."
 - Margaret Wheatley

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1. CLIMATE CHANGE: LATEST NEWS PLUS DETAILS RE GLOS COACHES TO DEMO

- Book place on coach to demo on 3rd December:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=823&Itemid=70

- Labour's legal challenge to allow companies to pollute:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=803&Itemid=70
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=799&Itemid=2
 
- Cautious welcome to Lib Dem/Tory climate change consensus:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=788&Itemid=2

- No to Bristol airport:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=820&Itemid=71

- The Little Pledge campaign:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=800&Itemid=70

- Call for end to stand-by culture:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=806&Itemid=70

- Verdict re Greenpeace action to instal solar panels on Prescott's roof:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=822&Itemid=70

- New renewables fund shows lack of vision:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=824&Itemid=70


In the news:
 
 - From an environmental perspective Woking Borough Council is widely  recognised as being the most energy efficient local authority in the  country:
http://www.woking.gov.uk/html/climate/

- Developers join climate of change. Green rules are spreading out of London, says Terry Slavin. The Mayor of London has seen the city's future, and it's green. Ken Livingstone's radical energy strategy, which requires all planning applications for developments referrable to him to generate at least 10 per cent of their energy needs from renewable sources, is having a far-reaching impact on property developers as they are forced to get up to speed with wind turbines, solar panels and borehole cooling - and take the cost of installing the new technologies on the chin.
 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1604405,00.html
 
- 'The Prince of Wales says climate change is mankind's greatest  challenge': Greens welcomed the comments saying "As future King, his  opinion will hopefully prove harder for our government to ignore":
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2285
 
- 'Africa aid at risk': President of the Royal Society Lord May said  extra aid for Africa, agreed at the G8 Summit, could be cancelled out  by global warming. He wrote: "In effect the Gleneagles communiqué gave  hope to Africa with one hand ... but took that hope away with the other  through its failure to address adequately the threat of climate change."  Green Party Principal Speaker Keith Taylor said: "Lord May  recognises that climate change will absorb the pittance promised to  developing countries. The situation will only get worse without a shift  in attitude, and not just for those countries receiving aid. Tackling   climate change now also makes economic sense. If the US were to adhere to the Kyoto Treaty restrictions on carbon emissions, it would cost  just one percent of their GDP. Dealing with the aftermath of extreme  weather events such Hurricane Katrina alone will cost almost double  this - a staggering 1.7 percent, as Lord May points out.":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4370598.stm
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2277
 
- Cautious welcome to Lib Dem/Tory climate change consensus:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=788&Itemid=2
 
- 2005 shaping up to be the warmest year on record
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202498.html
 
- Ocean warming threatens Antarctic wildlife - Decline in stocks of krill hits entire food chain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1595327,00.html
 
- A dearth of scientists and engineers could thwart the government's drive to meet its renewable energy targets
http://www.guardian.co.uk/renewable/Story/0,2763,1595038,00.html
 
- Micheal Crichton's latest book: 'State of Fear' raises questions
about the theory of Climate Change. See author's website:
http://crichton-official.com/fear/
A number of websites have responded to his claims - one of the best is
(thanks to ejb for this):
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=74

- 'EU climate change strategy gutted': Greens anger as MEPs reject calls to ban some of the most potent greenhouse gases from fridges and air-conditioning units:
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2283

- The UK Government's commitment to tackling climate change took a further blow today after it started a legal challenge to allow UK companies to pollute more under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/government_legal_challenge_18102005.html

- nef's warning that four wheel-drive sports utility vehicles (SUVs) were dangerous to the health of pedestrians and planet and should have tobacco-style health warnings on the side of all new SUVs and their advertising, has been given official backing by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). According to the conservation organisation Sierra Club, the US vehicle fleet alone emits more carbon dioxide than all but four countries.
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/news_4x4HealthWarning.aspx

- Twilight of the Oil Age:
http://www.alternet.org/story/27942/

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2. NUCLEAR UPDATES
 
- Decommissioning at Oldbury and Berkeley:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=808&Itemid=2

- More on concerns at Oldbury:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=796&Itemid=2

- Oldbury ops to be sold off:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=794&Itemid=70

- Stroud Mayor calls for no renewal of Trident:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=814&Itemid=70

- Radioactive waste left in siding:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=821&Itemid=70
 
 
In the news:
 
 - Britain will not benefit from a new fleet of nuclear power stations  until 2025 at the earliest, even if the decision to begin building  plants is taken next year. Experts agree that each new power station  will take at least ten years to build. Therefore to construct ten, even  at a rate of one per year, would require a 20-year building programme.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9078-1841060,00.html

- MORI poll shows 46% of the British public do not think Trident should  be replaced, against 44% who think it should.
http://www.mori.com/polls/2005/greenpeace.shtml The result is radically different when interviewees are told that the  cost of a replacement is likely to be around £25bn or the equivalent of  building about 1,000 schools. Then, the number of people supporting  replacement drops to one in three - 33 per cent - while those opposing replacement rises to 54 per cent.
 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article322052.ece
 
 - Australia: Greens say China should renounce N-weapons:
http://bobbrown.org.au/600_media_sub.php?deptItemID=1794
 
- Nuclear war may no longer be inevitable, but that hasn’t stopped every country wanting to own the ultimate weapon. And why not? This article against nuclear proliferation is heavy with irony.
http://www.sundayherald.com/52620
 
- Germany: German nuclear phase-out, by Jurgen Trittin (Green Minister):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4357238.stm
 
- The chief scientific adviser has become a government spin doctor. The man who told the truth about climate change is now selling nuclear power for his political masters. Monbiot at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1599723,00.html
 
- Excellent new website re nuclear:
http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/index.php
 
- There is nothing green about Blair's nuclear dream - To assess the industry's environmental impact, we must look at the whole fuel cycle:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,1596232,00.html
 
 - PM's adviser calls for new generation of reactors - relying on renewable energy 'tough challenge'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,1597141,00.html?gusrc=rss
 
 - Australia offers to sell China uranium - Greens warn uranium mining  equals nuclear weapons:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/051012/21/p/wbfc.html

- The US has withdrawn plans to develop new bunker-busting nuclear weapons:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/25/AR2005102501712.html

- Death to pet dogs leads to radiation fear near Hinkley:
Western Daily Press

- Chemical weapons dumped at sea - Between 1944 and 1970, the U.S. Army secretly dumped about 64 million pounds of chemical warfare agents, plus over 400,000 mustard-gas-filled munitions, off several state shores - and more than that in the waters around 11 other nations. A fair amount of the dumping took place right after the end of World War II, when the Army needed to divest of a lot of spare chemical munitions.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-02761sy0oct30,0,2199000.story
 
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3. RAINFORESTS
 
In the News:
 
- In Canada's Pacific coast province of British Columbia, Greenpeace, the Rainforest Action Network, the BC Sierra Club, Forest Ethics and WWF continue to support industrial logging of the World's final and largest tract of primeval temperate rainforest. Some 80% of the forest is to be lost with the tacit consent of these organisations. See:
http://forests.org/action/alert.asp?id=greatbear
 
- Brazilian Amazon being cut down twice as fast
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051017/full/051017-13.html

- Click every day for free – a single click saves 11.4 sq feet of rainforest
 
 
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4. ANIMAL RIGHTS
 
In the News:

- Horrific video about animal abuses; 45 billion animals, many kept in  the most appalling conditions, are slaughtered for food in the world  every year. Isn't it long overdue that we tackle these abuses:
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=meet_your_meat&feat=meet_your_meat&pos=fp3

- Take action on Bear Farming (One click does it)
http://www.wspa.org.uk/index.php?page=44

- Cartoon film about animal testing:
www.testingtoday.info
 
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5. WAR AND PEACE INCLUDES NEW CALL FOR IRAQ INQUIRY
 
- Renewed call for investigation into Iraq - David Drew MP has since said he will not support such a move:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=287&Itemid=62

- Afghanistan - need for different approach:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=825&Itemid=71

 
In the news:

- John Pilger: 'When journalists report propaganda instead of the truth, the consequences can be catastrophic - as one largely forgotten instance demonstrates' - see good disturbing article:
http://www.newstatesman.com/200510170022
 
- The Iraqi constitution may lead to the country’s disintegration:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-iraq/iraqiconstitution_2925.jsp

-  Iraq - 10 questions with Dahr Jamail:
http://www.unknownnews.org/051104arr.html
 
- Paul Rogers asks: Are the thwarted al-Qaida attacks proclaimed by
George W Bush evidence of success or failure in the “war on terror”?
http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict/iraq_success_2918.jsp#one
 
- Terrorism, fundamentalism, and neo-liberal globalisation each pose a
challenge to democracy.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-opening/barnett_hilton_2792.jsp
 
- Mayors for Peace met in Horishima this year – read about their meeting
http://abolition2000europe.org/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=85&blogId=1
 
- 9/11 Theologian Says Controlled Demolition of World Trade Center Is Now a Fact, Not a Theory
http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=1129
Free 'Confronting the Evidence' DVD sent to you from:
http://www.reopen911.org/
 
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6. DEVELOPING WORLD: GOLD, WESTERN SAHARA AND PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

- Western Sahara - 30 years is enough:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=812&Itemid=70
 
- Greens say don't buy 'dirty gold' - 30 tonnes of toxic waste to make a ring:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=811&Itemid=70

- Aid inadequate to Pakistan:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=804&Itemid=70

- Pakistan earthquake - lessons to be learnt:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=787&Itemid=2


In the news:

- G8 – Africa Nil:
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/global/x-nov05-hodkinson.htm
 
- Solar Power is reaching where wires can’t – Two billion people, roughly 30 percent of the world population, are off the energy grid, living in areas without utility services. And a billion of them have the means to pay for power.  Moreover a solar revolution will be led by the lure of the internet.
 http://www.self.org/news/NYTimesArticle.htm
 
- Building in Green - China
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9378521/site/newsweek/
 
- Can China move 400 million people to its cities without wreaking environmental havoc? Eco-urban designer William McDonough says yes—and Beijing is listening.
 
- Twenty-five protestors from Survival International were bundled out of the Oxford Union by burly security guards on Friday for ‘wearing offensive t-shirts'
 http://www.survival-international.org/news.php?id=1093
 
- Amnesty slams Bulgaria and Romania days before EU report
http://euobserver.com/?aid=20130&rk=1
 
- Russia’s post-orange empire: Ukraine’s orange revolution was  Russia’s 9/11, and its result is to convince Moscow that the European Union is its major strategic rival:
 http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-europe_constitution/postorange_2947.jsp

- Oxfam’s Cool Planet – to get kids involved in Make Poverty History:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/index.htm

- Take action in one of Oxfam’s online campaigns (one click does it)
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/campaign/onlineactions.htm
 
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7. PUBLIC SERVICES AND LOCAL PLANS

- Greens sign up to support the national campaigning group 'Keep our NHS Public' and start petitioning in Stroud to stop the privatisation of the NHS:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=817&Itemid=70

- Labour's White Paper on Education is manifesto for privatisation:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=809&Itemid=71

- Local Transport Plan needs changing:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=810&Itemid=71

- Stroud: Last chance re Local Plan - emotive objections blamed on SNJ:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=826&Itemid=70
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=793&Itemid=70
 

In the news:

- Privatisation of education: transcript of radio programme about the Education White Paper. See Flow of Ideas:
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=perform&sub=Radio%20Programme%20Transcriptions

- Why do we welcome these robber barons to Britain? Livingston is  backing a campaign to entice Moscow's oligarchs to bring their ill-gotten gains to his city:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1599953,00.html

- The Scottish Executive has taken over responsibility for the rail network north of the border.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4348806.stm

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8. ANTI-TERRORISM, ID CARDS AND CRIME

- ID card discussion with coffee in Stroud:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=819&Itemid=70

- Outrage at ID card Bill being passed:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=802&Itemid=70

- Dhanda votes for ID cards:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=801&Itemid=2

- Anti-terror laws disturbing:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=795&Itemid=2
 

In the news:

- Today Blair defeated on 90 days:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1637542,00.html

- The state of ASBO Britain - the rise of intolerance (Statewatch):
http://www.ecln.org/essays/essay-9.pdf

- ID cards: Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes has said he is prepared to face jail
rather than carry a compulsory identity card.
http://tinyurl.co.uk/hby7
 
- Flaws found in Dutch biometric passports
http://www.digitalmediaasia.com/default.asp?ArticleID=10271
 
- DVLA Database may have a third of it's records wrong:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/reports/transport/transport_20050906.shtml
 
- Greens slam lacklustre Galloway and Lib Dems for failing to attend crucial anti-terrorism vote
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2292

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9. OTHER GLOS NEWS:TESCO, GAS PIPELINE, ASPARTAME, BIRD FLU, BREAST CANCER AND MORE
 
- Cam: Tesco means jobs will be lost:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=827&Itemid=71

- Breast cancer and REACH regulations - why wont SW MEPs protect us:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=790&Itemid=70
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=816&Itemid=71

- Approach to Bird Flu is wrong:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=797&Itemid=70
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=807&Itemid=71

- Toxic chemicals travelling on our roads:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=798&Itemid=70

- Pipeline concerns in Glos:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=813&Itemid=70

- Aspartame ban rejected:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=815&Itemid=70
 
- New pension report champions Green ideas:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=791&Itemid=70
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=792&Itemid=2

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10. GREEN PARTY NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
 
- Russia: 4 Liberal Parties including Greens Unite
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/11/02/031.html

- New Zealand: Sudden death of co-leader rocks Greens worldwide
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/organisation/story.cfm?o_id=278&ObjectID=10353902
http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3471698a6580,00.html

- Scotland: Greens have emerged as a "major new force in politics", with a decisive role to play in the future:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4409468.stm
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/50273.html
 
- USA: Greens Warn of Bush's 'Iraqification' Policies for New Orleans
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_10_11.shtml
 
- Gibraltar: Reform party, who joined with SW Greens in the Last Euro  elections is disbanding:
http://www.reformpartygib.com/
 
- Europe: has the Green dream wilted?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4335238.stm
 
- Brazil: Interview with Congressman Fernando Gabeira, founder of the  Brazilian Green Party is gaining support:
http://globalpolitician.com/articleshow.asp?ID=1278&cid=7
 
- Canada: British Columbia Greens Shifting Right?
http://www.thetyee.ca/News/2005/10/14/GreensRight/
 
- Canada: Green Party of Ontario would reduce voting age to 16  

- USA/NY: It’s not easy being Green: Gronowicz runs for mayor
http://www.thevillager.com/villager_128/itsnoteasybeinggreen.html
 
- Cyprus: Greens: major parties exploiting energy issue
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=22376&cat_id=1

- New Sudanese Green Party to be launched
http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=12376
 
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NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING GOES NUCLEAR
 
'Nuclear power: solution to climate change or more problems?' with two speakers, one of whom will be Jim Duffy from the Stop Hinkley campaign in Somerset. Friday 25th November: between 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 at:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=606&Itemid=96
 
 Details of other Gloucestershire Green party meetings can be got from John Marjoram on 01453 751189
 
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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, Katey Nixon on 01452 540276
E-mail: <kateynixon@yahoo.co.uk> or Philip Booth on press@glosgreenparty.org.uk