Posted by Page (in Amsterdam)

An orca calf, known as J-41, swimming with its mother, J-19, in Washington State’s Puget Sound in July 2005. ©Ken Balcomb / Center for Whale Research

Almost everyone is familiar with orcas – those magnificent black and white cetaceans who are commonly known as “killer whales“, although they aren’t actually whales. They’re predators, who live in “pods”, have complex social interactions, and are very intelligent.

One especially fascinating fact about orcas is that they rely on their own complex sonar to locate food, and to basically “see” what’s around them. So, you can imagine the horrible effect on the orcas’ lives if this system were to be disrupted. And we all know that humans make a lot of noise in the ocean…

Continue reading ‘A shocking eruption of sound’ : US Navy sonar and Puget Sound orcas…

Posted by Page (in Amsterdam)

An orca calf, known as J-41, swimming with its mother, J-19, in Washington State’s Puget Sound in July 2005. ©Ken Balcomb / Center for Whale Research

Almost everyone is familiar with orcas – those magnificent black and white cetaceans who are commonly known as “killer whales“, although they aren’t actually whales. They’re predators, who live in “pods”, have complex social interactions, and are very intelligent.

One especially fascinating fact about orcas is that they rely on their own complex sonar to locate food, and to basically “see” what’s around them. So, you can imagine the horrible effect on the orcas’ lives if this system were to be disrupted. And we all know that humans make a lot of noise in the ocean…

Continue reading ‘A shocking eruption of sound’ : US Navy sonar and Puget Sound orcas…

Three Filipinas are attempting to be the first Asian women to reach the Everest summit. They’re delayed by the weather at the moment, but are determined to continue. From their blog:

The Kaya ng Pinay Everest Team support group has reached Chinese Base Camp here in Tibet. We’re all here preparing to go up to Advanced Base Camp to meet the women and the big buzz here is our Filipina climbers because of the record that they’re about to set.

The women, Carina Dayondon, Janet Belarmino and Noelle Wenceslao, will be traversing Mount Everest, meaning they will be climbing from Tibet and going down in Nepal. This has never been done by any woman so the three women will be setting a world record by doing just that. So a lot of people are talking about that here at base camp.

As you can see from the banner, they are also calling for action on climate change.

Separately, a Greenpeace sponsored expedition to photograph evidence of glacial melting in Himalayas recently had to turn back when they found the mountain path ahead had been wiped out – update from that team here. Millions in China and India depend on the water from Himalaya glaciers.

Three Filipinas are attempting to be the first Asian women to reach the Everest summit. They’re delayed by the weather at the moment, but are determined to continue. From their blog:

The Kaya ng Pinay Everest Team support group has reached Chinese Base Camp here in Tibet. We’re all here preparing to go up to Advanced Base Camp to meet the women and the big buzz here is our Filipina climbers because of the record that they’re about to set.

The women, Carina Dayondon, Janet Belarmino and Noelle Wenceslao, will be traversing Mount Everest, meaning they will be climbing from Tibet and going down in Nepal. This has never been done by any woman so the three women will be setting a world record by doing just that. So a lot of people are talking about that here at base camp.

As you can see from the banner, they are also calling for action on climate change.

Separately, a Greenpeace sponsored expedition to photograph evidence of glacial melting in Himalayas recently had to turn back when they found the mountain path ahead had been wiped out – update from that team here. Millions in China and India depend on the water from Himalaya glaciers.

New polls show the vast majority of Australians and Americans to be concerned with climate change. Bipartisan majorities of Americans (90% Democrats, 80% Independents and 60% Republicans) say “the heating of the earth’s atmosphere is having serious effects on the environment now or will soon and think that it is necessary to take immediate steps to reduce its effects”. And more than 90% of Australians believe “climate change is a vital issue” — perhaps not surprising given the climate induced “big dry” drought [search] that is decimating the Australian continent and may be the first large scale planetary climate emergency. Yet the executive leadership in both countries continues to stonewall even modest Kyoto emission reduction goals, and the opposition parties offer tepid alternatives that are nowhere near as robust as necessary to solve the problem. For the planet’s atmosphere to continue operating we need an urgent and dramatic decarbonization of the economy [search] including dramatic emissions reductions of at least 80% asap; an end to coal power to be replaced by renewables such as solar, wind and local biofuels; a significant global carbon tax and well-regulated carbon market to clearly set a price on and reduce carbon emissions; and major efforts to increase energy conservation and efficiency. This as well as addressing underlying problems causing global heating including over-population, militarism and terrorism, lack of global equity and justice, and over-consumption by many as others starve. Change your light bulbs, drive a hybrid if you can, and take countless other personal actions to reduce you carbon footprint, but without these grander societal changes truly adequate to protect the biosphere and atmosphere in particular, the human family is toast.

The Progressive Technology Project’s TechCamp is coming up soon.

June 12-15, at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN

Deadline for registration is May 25th.

PTP has designed a special training program for new and old organizers who are interested in building their technology skills. TechCamp training is designed to build the basic skills of community organizers in the key technology competencies for community organizing. If you’re working in community organizing, you’ll want to get to one of our TWO TechCamps in 2007!

You can register here.

If you have questions, call 866.298.6463 or email info@progressivetech.org .

Each 5th of May, Japan celebrates Children’s Day, or more specifically Boy’s Day. But this May 5th, 6 women from different sides of the world braved discomfort and made a stand to make a change. The 6 women were Solar Generation delegates working with Greenpeace to pressure the Asian Development Bank to fund the energy revolution at their annual meeting in Kyoto. To get our message across and to bring some colour to what was otherwise a boring meeting, we decided to stage a performance in keeping with our surroundings at the meeting’s opening reception.

Continue reading Kimono girls make a difference…

The fact that all biofuels are not created equal in terms of environmental benefits is starting to get more press coverage and policy-makers are being forced to face the issue of “deforestation biofuels” [search] — those like palm and soya oils that destroy rainforests releasing much more carbon than they prevent. The European Commission (EC) now admits that “Europe’s dash for biofuels could accelerate the destruction of tropical rainforests“. This is particularly gratifying because Ecological Internet was the first to raise the issue of deforestation biofuels internationally through several protests over recent years — including campaigning against EC arbitrary biofuel goals which did not differentiate between environmental desirability of biofuels produced locally and those sourced from cleared rainforests. Here is our most recent alert. There is now an entire movement spawned by our actions. Building awareness is one thing, but actually stopping the rush to deforestation biofuels is another. It is unconscionable that rather than reducing their energy use, both Europe and the U.S. are pushing biofuels as a means to continue their conspicuous consumption of energy. And Indonesia wants to be paid to protect their rainforests even as they ramp up rainforest destruction for oil palm plantations to produce biofuel, not appreciating that these plantations on peatlands that burn frequently is extremely poor tropical land managment. We must resist the expansion of rainforest biofuels — as the Dutch are trying to do — or we will lose both our rainforests and our climate system.

Posted by Page (in Amsterdam)

Yes, it’s a well-worn cliché: “the children are our future”. But it’s true, and Greenpeace has always been very active in educating kids about how they can be stewards of the Earth too. For instance, here in Amsterdam, we’ve used our ship the Sirius as a very cool classroom (ja, the link’s in Dutch, but trust me, that’s what it says).

Anyway, check it out. Greenpeace is heading for a couple of elementary schools in Anchorage, Alaska to tell kids how they can help the whales.

Continue reading Saving the whales, one classroom at a time!…

MEDIA VOLUNTEER WEBSITE NAMED AS HONOREE
FOR THE 11TH ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS

Prototype Site Earns Honors in Three Categories

May 8, 2007 – Last month, the Webby Awards, the leading international honor for the Web, honored the MediaVolunteer.org website in three categories: Activism, Best Practices, and Professional Services.

Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Websites. The awards are judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a global organization that includes David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, Jamie Oliver, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, and RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser.

“The Webby Awards are known for recognizing outstanding work that also sets Internet standards,” said Martin Kearns, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Green Media Toolshed. “We are proud that the Media Volunteer website is in the company of past honorees such as YouTube, MoveOn, Google, Yahoo and del.icio.us. The MediaVolunteer.org site takes a network-centric approach toward coordinating thousands of volunteers to synchronize around tasks that create change. Mediavolunteer.org is pioneering new territory by creating an online opportunity for contributors to donate their skill and intelligence to the causes they care about. Media Volunteer offers an easy way for people to ‘do something useful’ without joining lists or being a part of a petition. It is unique because volunteers can contribute time anonymously. It is easy because visitors help with just 12 minutes of their time while at their desk or home. Mediavolunteer.org supports more volunteering and better media exposure for good causes and important issues. Media Volunteer is a new way to engage volunteers and we look forward to exploring it further.”

The 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states. Fewer than 15% were distinguished as an Official Honoree. This honor signifies an outstanding caliber of work.

Visit the honoree website at
http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current_honorees.php?season=11.

About Media Volunteer:
The Media Volunteer Project is creating and maintaining a high quality media contact database that can be used by the progressive movement as they work to bring about the change that is so important to our society. Media Volunteer is a project of Green Media Toolshed. Visit www.mediavolunteer.org.

About Green Media Toolshed:
Green Media Toolshed (GMT) is a nonprofit organization that provides the environmental community with access to high quality communications tools for an affordable price. These tools give GMT members the ability to improve interaction with reporters and build their online presence through a number of customizable web tools. Visit www.greenmediatoolshed.org.

About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Websites. Established in 1996, the 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include Adobe, The Creative Group, Verizon, AOL Video, dotMobi, Level3, Adweek, Fortune, Reuters, Variety, Wired, IDG: Brightcove, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2advanced.Net, KobeMail, and Museum of the Moving Image.

About the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS):
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is dedicated to the creative, technical, and professional progress of the Internet and interactive media. The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes over 500 members consisting of leading experts in a diverse range of fields, such as musician David Bowie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Internet inventor and Google Chief Internet Evangelist Vinton Cerf, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, and fashion designer Max Azria. For more information, visit www.iadas.net.