July 1, 2008

Unleash the Future

A video series with journalist and storyteller Miriam Horn who shares the story of some of the leading innovators and entrepreneurs on the cutting edge of the clean energy vanguard. Horn—co-author with Fred Krupp of Earth: The Sequel—explores how inventors are changing the way we think about energy—from wave, to geothermal, from biofuels to solar.

These clean energy technologies can cure our addiction to oil, stop the devastating effects of global warming, and bolster our economy—but only if America puts a cap on carbon pollution to unleash this future.

Solar:

Biofuels:

Wave:

Geothermal:

June 9, 2008

Weather, earth & humanity

June 1 marked the start of the Atlantic Hurricane season. Recently we’ve witnessed the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma) and the earthquake in China. Weather events especially tornadoes have been ongoing in the USA. Working with the weather and other earth events has been part of my spirituality since hurricane Andrew hit South Florida quite some time ago. This post is an effort to draw our healing intentions to these phenomena and do our part which is totally crucial. First a healing focus:

  • Safety, recovery & healing for all affected by the Myanmar cyclone, China earthquake, USA tornadoes.
  • Committing to a serious personal responsibility on environmental concerns & climate change & holding those in power accountable with our voices, demanding action.
  • World food prices to normalize & shortages to correct.
  • Oil prices to normalize & correct.

Here’s how we’re all a part of the challenge and the solution.

The sudden cataclysms that occur in nature, creating havoc and mass injury, are not ‘acts of God.’ Such disasters result from the thoughts and actions of man. Wherever the world’s vibratory balance of good and evil is disturbed by an accumulation of harmful vibrations, the result of man’s wrong thinking and wrong doing, you will see devastation….

Wars are brought about not by fateful divine action but by widespread material selfishness….When materiality predominates in man’s consciousness, there is an emission of subtle negative rays; their cumulative power disturbs the electrical balance of nature, and that is when earthquakes, floods, and other disasters happen.

–Paramahansa Yogananda

My good friend Bonnee over at Greening of Me blog has some beautiful ideas to share regarding all of this and I hope this will prompt her to share about working with the Elementals too:

The more practitioners that join together doing Reiki for change (for the greatest good of all sentient beings) the more intense the results.

Winds and fires are angels at work, waters purify and cleanse. Angels of destruction help us understand our errant thoughts, words, deeds.

This is ultimately the result of wrong focus. Self absorbtion. Too much focus on money, greed/lack causing imbalance. Nothing seen as sacred.

All is Love and we are in Grace. So ultimately all we need do is be that…Love. Love earth, each other, ourselves and all unconditionally.

June 2, 2008

Landmark Statement on global warming

The Union of Concerned Scientists released a landmark statement, signed by more than 1,700 prominent U.S. scientists and economists that calls for swift and deep reductions in our nation’s global warming pollution. This unprecedented list of signatories includes six Nobel Prize winners in science or economics, 30 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 10 members of the National Academy of Engineering, 10 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship, and more than 100 members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

We call on our nation’s leaders to swiftly establish and implement policies to bring about deep reductions in heat-trapping emissions. The strength of the science on climate change compels us to warn the nation about the growing risk of irreversible consequences as global average temperatures continue to increase over pre-industrial levels (i.e., prior to 1860). As temperatures rise further, the scope and severity of global warming impacts will continue to accelerate.

The 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change unequivocally concluded that our climate is warming, stating with at least 90 percent certainty that the warming of the last several decades is primarily due to human activities. Global average temperatures have already risen ~ 0.7°C (1.3°F) over the last 100 years, and impacts are now being observed worldwide. Human-caused emissions to date have locked in further changes including sea-level rise that will intensify coastal flooding, and dramatic reductions in snowpack that will disrupt water supplies in the western United States. If emissions continue unabated, our nation and the world will face more sea level rise, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, snowmelt, flood risk, and public health threats, as well as increased rates of plant and animal species extinctions.

The longer we wait, the harder and more costly it will be to limit climate change and to adapt to those impacts that will not be avoided. Many emissions reduction strategies can be adopted today that would save consumers and industry money while providing benefits for air quality, energy security, public health, balance of trade, and employment.

All nations must commit to a goal designed to limit further harm. The European Union and a number of other countries have adopted a goal for limiting global warming to no more than 2ºC (3.6°F) above preindustrial levels. Emerging science must be regularly evaluated to assess whether this goal is sufficient.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change recognizes that all nations have a responsibility to curb global warming, consistent with their respective contribution to emissions and capacity to act. Recent analyses indicate the United States—even with aggressive action by other nations—would need to reduce its emissions on the order of 80 percent below 2000 levels by 2050 to have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 2ºC.

A strong U.S. commitment to reduce emissions is essential to drive international climate progress. Voluntary initiatives to date have proven insufficient. We urge U.S. policy makers to put our nation onto a path today to reduce emissions on the order of 80 percent below 2000 levels by 2050. The first step on this path should be reductions on the order of 15-20 percent below 2000 levels by 2020, which is achievable and consistent with sound economic policy.

There is no time to waste. The most risky thing we can do is nothing.

Learn more…

April 12, 2008

The land owns us

These videos are just too good…

Bob Randall, a Yankunytjatjara elder and traditional owner of Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), explains how the connectedness of every living thing to every other living thing is not just an idea but a way of living. This way includes all beings as part of a vast family and calls us to be responsible for this family and care for the land with unconditional love and responsibility.

An invitation

I just love how online technology is able to bring such intentions forward.

Don Alverto Taxo, a Quichua elder and Iachak (community leader/healer), speaks of the ancient prophecy of the eagle and the condor meeting to bring a new harmony into the world. Don Alverto invites us all to trust the universal human intuition to bring greater harmony into our lives, and to seek after life’s deeper meaning. (Video below…if you have an email subscription, click to the original post to view it.)

April 9, 2008

Give Wild Turtles a Break

From The Center for Biological DiversityCagle's map turtle

Please help us protect wild freshwater turtles in the southern United States from collection by commercial wildlife dealers. The Center has organized a coalition of conservation and health groups seeking to end the commercial harvest of freshwater turtles in four southern states and to stop the sale of contaminated turtles to domestic and international food markets.

Last month we petitioned Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas to ban all commercial turtle harvesting in public and private waters, to prevent further population declines of native southern turtle populations, and to protect public health. Turtles collected in these states and sold as food are often contaminated with mercury, PCBs, and pesticides.

Turtle dealers are harvesting massive and unsustainable numbers of wild freshwater turtles from the few southern states that continue to allow unlimited and unregulated take of turtles. Herpetologists report drastic reductions in turtle numbers and even the disappearance of many species in Georgia and Florida, particularly southern map turtles. The Center has identified nine turtle species vulnerable to collection in these states that may warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Recent surveys by Oklahoma State University show depletions and extinction of freshwater turtles in many Oklahoma streams. Commercial turtle buyers in Oklahoma reported purchasing almost 750,000 wild-caught turtles from 1994 to 1999. From Dallas Fort Worth Airport alone, over a quarter million wild-caught adult turtles captured from 2002 to 2005 in Texas were exported to Asia for human consumption.

Please tell the states of Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas to give wild turtles a break. Your message will be sent to the wildlife departments and health departments in each of the four states.

Visit here to take action.

March 4, 2008

Earth Hour 2008

I just signed up to the new Earth Hour website for 2008 and I thought you might like to take a look and possibly sign up too. Earth Hour is on 29 March 2008 at 8pm, and it looks like it’s going to be really big. So far, as well as Sydney, there’ll also be Chicago, Tel Aviv, Manila, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Brisbane and Toronto all turning off their lights for an hour in the name of preventing global warming. And I’m sure there’ll be more cities by March. Sign up for Earth Hour with me by visiting and join the movement.

Also check out the informational & inspirational video below…