In the next election, I will be voting Environment

It seems to me that the Liberal Green Shift Plan (aka Stéphane Dion’s Carbon Tax) is a good one, on several levels. I’m not going to try to sell you on its substance. You can read it yourself and decide how good it is. It is comparable to the best plans in force in other jurisdictions. The most important reason it is a good plan is that it is achievable, unlike the NDP and Green Party plans, simply because those two parties will never form government.

In the last election, a majority of Canadians voted for pro-environment parties. The splitting of pro-environment votes between those parties allowed the Conservative party to win in crucial ridings where they actually did not get a majority of votes, only the most votes of any candidate. The Conservatives did not deserve to form government, yet, because of our flawed system, they did, and the result has been a disgrace.

At this critical time when Canada is falling far behind other jurisdictions in facing down the most important issue of our lifetimes, we need to at least begin. Beginning opens the door.

In the next election, I will vote for the pro-environment candidate in my riding who has the best chance of winning. I encourage you to do the same. This way, we will not split our votes and re-elect conservatives who clearly don’t get how important the climate change issue is.

Yes, that means voting for the “other guy”. For Greens, that might mean voting for a Liberal or a New Democrat. For Liberals, a Green of New Democrat. For New Democrats, a Liberal or a Green.

As distasteful as this might seem, the outcome is far, far better than ensuring the Conservatives are re-elected, and the oil industry and Quebec Separatists are left in control of Canada’s political agenda.

I’m not saying the Liberal Green Shift plan couldn’t be better. It could be. This is why a Liberal minority government is the best possible outcome in the next election. Supported by the NDP and a Green or two in the House, the plan could evolve and be stronger.

I am advocating strategic voting. The center/left is holding back positive change in Canada by refusing to come together. Voters need to put them together in the house and insist they work together and get things done, for a change. For Greens who are concerned with the matching funds they will get, SWAP YOUR VOTE. Get a Liberal or NDPer to vote green somewhere where it doesn’t matter (i.e. a Conservative stronghold) in exchange for your crucial vote in a swing riding.

The stakes are too high right now for people to stay in their political huts and wave sticks at each other. Let’s come together around something and get it done. Let’s cooperate when it counts and save the ideological jockeying for another time.

I expect to hear from my NDP friends. How could you, Evan? I look at my two year old and turn the question back: how could I not? Politics is about what’s possible.

http://www.thegreenshift.ca/

Liberals understand that faced with the greatest environmental threat humanity has ever witnessed, and faced with a tax system that needs to do more to reward success and doesn’t do a good enough job for middle and low-income Canadians, it’s time for action.

Our Green Shift will stimulate our economy, increasing its competitiveness and reduce the income tax burden on individuals, particularly middle and low-income Canadians.

The Green Shift will make it more expensive to pollute in Canada, while lowering the cost of doing business across the rest of the economy, boosting investment and spurring a greener economy.

Blackberry Trackball Woes? Navigate Old School

So (like me) you hosed your Blackberry trackball and there’s only a couple weeks left until you get your 3G iPhone. What do you do? What DO you do? Navigate old school Blackberry style. YES, you can. Here’s how:

Courtesy of J. Sanders, self-declared Crackberry genius, here’s how to disable home screen dialing and activate your old school Blackberry navigation super powers.

If you have Dial from homescreen turned off on your BB, you can use shortcuts.

This is complicated, but if you follow the instructions EXACTLY as posted below, you can do all this withOUT a trackball.

Get there by pressing the green dial key.

Press Menu, press O for Options, press the ENTER key, Press the ENTER key again to open General Options.

Now, you should see halfway down the screen “Dial from Homescreen”. Press ENTER until you get highlighted OVER the NO. Don’t Pass it. When highlighted over the YES, press ALT and the NO will appear, press the N to highlight NO and ENTER again.

Press the back escape key (right of trackball) and SAVE should be highlighted, if not press the S for Save, and let it save.

Now you are ready for Homescreen shortcuts, where from the Homescreen, you can press M for messages, L for calendar, etc.,

Now you need to learn how to navigate around your Blackberry like a circa ‘02 Wall St. stock broker. Learn the secrets on the Blackberry site.

Home Screen Shortcuts - BlackBerryFAQ.com

and

Tips and Tricks - BlackBerryFAQ.com

Have fun and try not to let anyone see you navigating via the Keypad.

Welcome to the Clean Coal Body Slam

I am thrilled to announce the launch of Coal-is-Dirty.com. This site was built by my company Catalyst Internet, Inc in conjunction with Junxion Strategy, Inc. for the DeSmogBlog team. It is a tool aimed at challenging the idea that coal is a viable fuel for our future energy needs.

Working with the DeSmogBlog team has been a great experience, and I have learned a lot from them about high-stakes PR, astroturfing, greenwashing and how the spin machine works. I have reposted Kevin Grandia’s launch message below. Please visit the site to see it in its entirety.

Welcome to the Clean Coal Body Slam

by Kevin Grandia

For too long the idea of clean coal has gone unchallenged.

A lot of people have received an email from yours truly over the last four months with the subject line: “Clean Coal Body Slam.” I thought it explained the intentions of this project very well.

Along with Greenpeace USA and Rainforest Action Network, we have pulled together some of the best and most outspoken leaders on the environmental, public health and economic effects of America’s addiction to coal, including:

Jeff Goodell, contributing editor at Rolling Stone and author of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future.

Jeff Biggers, author of In the Sierra Madre and The United States of Appalachia and a regular contributor on Huffington Post.

Page van der Linden, contributing editor on Daily Kos and longtime campaigner on nuclear and coal issues.

Kert Davies, Research Director for Greenpeace in the United States and the architect for the well-known ExxonSecrets.org campaign and the recently launched StopGreenWash.org

JW Randolph, staff Legislative Associate for the powerful Appalachian Voices organization and manager of the Appalachian Voices blog.

Ted Nace, the director of Coal Swarm, a group that works to support the grassroots movement opposing coal.

David Novack, producer and director of the great new documentary, Burning the Future: Coal in America, which chronicles the environmental devastation of the coal industry in West Virginia.

Kate Rooth, who works for Greenpeace in the United States promoting climate, forests and oceans issues. She works with the Research Unit to support campaign and action work and is also a non-violence trainer.

Mark Fiore, who the Wall Street Journal recently called “the undisputed guru of the form,” creates animated political cartoons from an undisclosed location somewhere in San Francisco.

Richard Littlemore, Senior Writer for the award-winning site, DeSmogBlog.com.

These are amazing people, doing amazing work and I am very confident they will deliver the clean coal body slam so many people are looking for.

For a while now, whenever I mentioned the term “clean coal” people would roll their eyes and groan, “clean coal,” usually followed by a rolling of the eyes or a mock gagging, eyes bulging expression. Most people know coal isn’t clean, but that hasn’t stopped the coal industry from trying to convince us otherwise.

In mid-January the Washington Post ran a story about a newly launched $35 million “clean coal” campaign to be run by an organization called “Americans for Balanced Energy Choices” (ABEC). An organization run by Americans, but paid for by the coal industry.

If “clean coal” was not already engrained in the public lexicon, $35 million is sure to finish the job. The goal for ABEC, who has since changed their name to “American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity” (ACCCE), is not to make coal clean, it is to sell the idea that coal is clean.
In essence, this site exists to sell the idea that coal is dirty. Pretty easy to do when you consider the facts and clear out the rhetoric. Like the fact that mercury emissions from coal fired-power plants continues to rise and that carbon capture and storage remains an elusive pipe dream that will take another 40 years to deploy on a commercial scale.

We don’t have $35 million (not even close), but I hope this site can serve as a nexus of information for people interested in knowing the dirty facts about clean coal.

So click around, enjoy the site, check out the videos, the fact sheets and the articles.

If you’re writer, let us know if you would like to contribute. If you’re not a writer, but have a good story idea please let us know.

Drop us a line and tell us what you think of our work, sign up for our weekly e-alert and please tell everyone you know about the site.

Regards,

Kevin Grandia

Managing Editor

www.coal-is-dirty.com

DeSmogBlog: Todd Carmichael’s Journey to the South Pole

The DeSmogBlog team is proud to introduce our newest blogger!

Please welcome Explorer Todd Carmichael, who on November 9th, 2008 will attempt to become the first American Explorer ever to complete a solo and unaided trek from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole.

Todd is an amazing individual and one that cares deeply about the state of the planet, especially the issue of climate change. Over the coming months Todd will be writing on DeSmog and his special section we’re calling “Expedition Earth, Mission 2008: the South Pole,” about preparations for his expedition and also on climate change issues and solutions.

And for the grand finale, Todd will be blogging live via satellite from the Antarctica on DeSmogBlog with daily updates, video and audio as he attempts this American first.

How cool is that!

We’re all very excited to have Todd as part of our team, so go check out the Expedition Earth section on DeSmog, and sign up for Todd’s weekly e-lerts so you don’t miss a beat.

High Speed Photo and Video: Casio EX-F1

I’ve been having a lot of fun with my new Casio EX-F1. This hybrid still/video camera has a lot of interesting features. It is not a pro studio camera, but I think it is about the finest link-bait camera out there right now. It give bloggers the capability of producing some really great web-ready content with a minimum of production cost.

The F1 does 60fps hi-speed 6MP jpeg images. This function is great for producing pro-looking image series, or for getting the exact shot you want in an action scenario.

The F1 also has a range of features that automate some of the trickier aspects of photography. It has a motion sensor so the hi-speed shutter fires when the camera detects motion in the frame. The F1 has programs that simulate motion blur and HDR, as well as bracketing on shutter speed, aperture and focus, which allows for focus stacking macro images or allowing subject and background to be in focus even when the lighting isn’t right for small aperture.

The F1 also does some pretty amazing hi-speed video at 300, 600 and 1200 frames per second. Here’s a sample of the pontoon spray from our float plane as we took off from Coal Harbour on Friday. Here are Casio’s sample videos. I think the possibilities for this function are limitless, and the results are very interesting to watch. Perfect for linkbait on your blog. I have not had a chance to do a lot, but practically everything I try turns out well. I have insects hovering, water undulating, matches lighting, etc. The featured video on the home page of this blog is a seagull taking off in slow motion.

The F1 is a pretty big camera, but it feels solid and performs well for normal shooting as well, although, at 6MP, you won’t be making posters with it, or cropping too hard.

There are extensive reviews available on the web, and discussions about its strong points and weaknesses as well. I am finding the camera to be a great deal of fun. It defintely brings out the “oohs and ahhhs” when you demonstrate the features. As I say above, it is great tool for adding some interesting content to your blog.

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