Monday, August 6, 2007

Some good videos on global warming

The following is a collection of video links which focus on global warming, in no particular order. Enjoy!

The high price of wasteful consumption A slide show that highlights the human and environmental cost of the excesses of the culture of waste.

Vehicle Reclamation Project
This piece of art is in Kensington Market, Toronto. The cops removed it once, but under public protest returned it. This is a great way to deal with cars -- transform them. I'd like to see an SUV or Hummer similarly transformed.

Videos of U.S. Republicans denying climate change and smearing Al Gore These videos and articles are extremely valuable to learn why the U.S. is not making progress on this issue. All the Republicans in this video are paid by the fossil fuel industry.

Stop Climate Chaos / Out of Afghanistan, Into Kyoto Local Toronto protest by Stop Climate Chaos. Shows our friends Brian Champ and Chuck Bayview. They have a good point: Harper should spend the funds wasted on killing civilians in Afghanistan on complying with Kyoto. Canada is no longer a "peacekeeper" in Afghanistan; Canadians are at war with the local populations, resulting in civilian casualties and escalating terrorism around the globe. See Canadians in firefight in Afghanistan. It is an immoral war of imperialism. And the war machine creates massive CO2 emissions. The Harper government plans to spend $15 billion on military spending -- $15 billion that could go to renewable energy and conservation and energy efficient social housing construction instead. See Homes Not Bombs

Evidence of warming: melting ski hills I have to admit I am not crying over the loss of ski hills for rich people, but it does provide good evidence of what's happening all over the world.

Blue Man Group on global warming Brilliant message - watch it!

Interview with George Monbiot Monbiot is one of the best commentators on climate change. His book "Heat" (2006) says it all. This is Part 1 of a multi-part interview. The whole thing is worth watching.

George Monbiot on air travel Flying cannot be defended -- not even through the use of carbon credits. It is better to take the train if you have to travel.

Climate change rally in UK The rallies they have in Europe put us to shame, especially since Canadians are worse polluters per capita than Europeans.

Going local - on Peak Moment television An interesting independent media source on peak oil, providing interviews of people who live off the grid and are part of the solution.

Climate change advertisement from UK government A really good ad from the UK government on the urgency of climate change. Wish we had something like this in Canada.

Good overview of global warming issue, and good refutation of deniers
An excellent documentary. Watch it!

Anthropogenic versus natural warming Naturalist David Attenborough gives us a good way of understanding why CO2 from vegetation (the natural cycle) is not the cause of the upward spike in temperature in the last few decades. It is due to human beings producing pollution through coal and oil. Why this is even a matter of dispute anymore can be explained thus: some people are determined to hang onto their wasteful lifestyles no matter what and will construct insane ideologies to justify the culture of wasteful production and consumption.

Will Ferrel play George Bush on global warming Very funny - watch it! Sad part is that it's not far from the truth ...

Slide show of a protest against a coal plant in Denver, Colorado Any group of activists who have the guts to go out and protest pollution, despite the cynicism and apathy of this culture, should be commended.

A good expose of government greenwash and call for mass action This is a brilliant speech by American activist Jonathan Neale. He tells it like it is. A must-see!

Greenpeace tries to deliver petition to G8 leaders who are pretending to fight climate change German newscast shows Greenpeace trying to reach the G8 leaders with a petition on climate change. Eyewitness reports from that conference tell us that Canadian Minister of Environment John Baird acted shamefully, in support of the U.S. position of inaction. Yet the papers report that Harper mouthed some empty platitudes in favour of climate change action, designed to placate those upset with him at home. No one with any sense believed him.

Angry Kid commercial from Greenpeace: he's got a good point! This kid tells it like it is brilliantly. Please listen to his speech. He expresses the moral outrage of all future generations forced to live with the consequences of the greed and cowardice of this current generation of government and corporate leaders.

Greenpeace video on Chernobyl - dangers of nuclear energy There may be a low probability of nuclear disaster, but the risk is very high. It can contaminate and poison a large surrounding area, causing cancer and slow death for millions, especially in the GTA. It is simply not worth the risk. Better to conserve energy and invest in wind and solar power.

Amazon river suffering from drought This, sadly, is the future of the world: drought and death. Deforestation and climate change are already having their effects on the most biodiverse ecosystem in the world. By 2100 A.D. the Amazon will be scrub-brush. It will represent the single worse environmental loss of biological diversity since the dinosaurs went extinct. As Edward O. Wilson says, future generations will never forgive us for this crime.

Good ad to bring home the effect of intergenerational ethics Sadly, this is the attitude of so many people -- why should I care, it doesn't affect me -- but it does affect people in Africa right now, through drought, and old people dying from heat prostration and the flood victims of Bangladesh and Pacific islanders forced off their islands and countless future generations. There is already a high human cost. People who don't care about the loss of life and livelihood to others are morally bankrupt and tragic. If we don’t' care for this planet and for one another, what are we, what worth is our existence? Only by caring for others who need us to stop killing them do our lives begin to have any value. Only then do we justify the label "human being."

Greenpeace spoof of Coke bear commercial Ad agencies and Walt Disney "anthropomorphize" animals. This is what Coke did with the polar bears. Now the real bears are dying because of human greed. They are drowning at sea while hunting. The cubs starve to death waiting for the drowned mother to return to the ice lair. The lairs themselves are less safe, due to melting. Polar bears have moved into human communities looking for scarce food. This has led to more human-bear confrontations. This is a great tragedy and emblematic of the overall tragedy to animals occurring daily throughout the world. It is a mass extinction, which endangers humanity as well.

UK climate march and George Monbiot speech This is a wonderful little video, again showing how the UK movement on climate change is strong and vibrant -- what ours should be.

Bob Dylan song and homemade slideshow on global warming Has a few good graphics in it. The song lyrics are appropriate.

Good anti-coal protest in the UK We really need good protests like this here. I love the fact that these people are mothers, kids, grandmothers, ordinary people. The cops don't know what to do. It's brilliant.

Excellent video on why nuclear energy is problematic for solving global warming. This Greenpeace video from the UK argues that money spent on nuclear power is money that might otherwise go to renewables (solar, wind, cogeneration), yet many governments (now including Ontario) are choosing to invest billions in nuclear energy and relatively nothing in renewables. Why? One answer is that renewable energy is not as easily controlled by the government - it is more decentralized. Another answer is that incumbent political parties are paid by the nuclear lobbyists through campaign donations. Money, power and corruption - an old story but one which in the modern context is killing the planet.

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