Green house effect on environment

Study: Cloud computing for business uses less energy

2010-11-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

A Microsoft-sponsored analysis released today reaffirms what many tech companies have long been saying: computing is more efficient when it's concentrated in the "cloud" at giant data centers.

The range of savings from having hosted, versus an on-premise, IT infrastructure is between 30 percent and 90 percent, according to the study which was done by Accenture and sustainability consulting company WSP Energy & Environment.

The greatest energy and greenhouse reductions can be achieved by small businesses with fewer than 100 users. The study was designed around a comparison of using three Microsoft applications--SharePoint, Exchange, and Dynamics CRM--in an on-premise mode or using the online version.

The reasons for the lower energy use goes to the nature of cloud computing where large corporations, such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, run very large data centers and deliver software over the Internet. These companies specialize in running computing infrastructure and have a financial interest in adapting energy-saving technology, such as virtualization and dynamically provisioned software.
(Credit: Accenture, WSP Energy & Environment)

"Cloud providers spend a significant share of their company's operational expense on IT--much more than an average corporation with its own IT department. This circumstance leads to an increased focus on cost and efficiency improvement, driving optimization of data center and application performance beyond what many businesses can achieve on their own," according to the report.

Intuitively, a shared infrastructure for computing is going to be more efficient than corporate IT data centers, which have traditionally dedicated specific servers and storage to separate applications in order to ensure reliability. But with a state-of-the art data center design and focus on reducing energy consumption, a corporate data centers could be run very efficiently.

For applications where large amounts of data need to transported, it's better to have on-premise computing from an energy perspective, according to Earth2Tech, which says that the University of Melbourne will release a report to that effect next week.

Researcher Jonathan Koomey, an expert on efficiency and cloud computing, argues that there are inherent cost advantages of centralized computing in the cloud. His research has found that everything from online business applications to downloadable music results in energy reductions.

"There are powerful economic factors pushing us towards cloud computing," Koomey said at the Uptime Institute Symposium earlier this year, according to a report at Data Center Knowledge."One of the major reasons is the more efficient use of power by cloud computing providers."

Beyond the cloud
Underlying the discussion about energy efficiency and IT is the growing understanding that more and more pollution is coming from computing. According to the EPA, data centers in the U.S. consumed 1.5 percent of total electricity in 2006.

But as more people rely on cloud-based services, energy consumption is projected to grow at a rate of nine percent per year this decade, according to reports. (See PDF of Greenpeace study from earlier this year).

Groups such as Greenpeace are applying more public pressure to cloud providers, such as Facebook and Google, and, to some exten

Sustainability tour stop: LED lights at the Improvement Centre

2010-11-09T10:46:00.001-08:00

ere are some shots from The Sustainability Initiative tour stop on Oct. 25 at Improvement Centre, Bleiswijk, The Netherlands. The facility is involved in testing the use of Philips LED lights in the greenhouse setting. Below is a profile of what the facility is all about, provided to tour participants:

The Improvement Centre is the key practical centre for the most optimal cultivation processes. Research and experiments are conducted related to cultivation processes and techniques.

The greenhouse complex consists of 11 separate research department—each about 1.000m2. It offers testing of cultivation processes for horticulture under perfect conditions. Through experimentation, it is possible to estimate the effect that specific techniques, products and innovations may have on a larger scale in a production greenhouse. In this way, major risks can be avoided.

Companies from the horticulture sector involved in technical and cultivation areas may use this practical centre by becoming a participant. As a participant, they can experiment with and do research on products and procedures in a protected practical environment.

Participants who use the services of the Improvement Centre are primarily technical producers of horticulture products, suppliers and parties who are active in (cultivation) technical experiments. The practical centre is also valuable to cultivation societies for vegetables and flowers, cultivation companies and large nurseries.

Each participant has a subscription which provides them with the right to conduct research, tests and demonstrations in the Improvement Centre, either individually or with other parties.

Technical Trials, October 11-15, 2010

Seventeen leading technical producers, including the Improvement Centre, opened their doors to entrepreneurs from the international horticulture sector during Horti Fair 2010. These company visits provided both national and international horticultural entrepreneurs with the most complete overview of Dutch horticultural technology. Producers and various research centers exhibited the latest technologies.

Republican wants to keep global warming committee

2010-11-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON: A leading House Republican climate skeptic on Monday called for his party to preserve a global warming committee created by Democrats so Republicans can use it to rein in the Obama administration on the issue.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Republican, said that the economic threat posed by Environmental Protection Agency regulations deserves special attention in the next Congress.

The EPA is set to regulate greenhouse gases next year for the first time, after the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that it could treat heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide as pollutants. Many Republicans, who take control of the House in January, argue that the regulations would hurt the economy and kill jobs.

``No panel has developed more experience on these topics than the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming,'' Sensenbrenner said in a statement. ``These regulations are moving quickly, but the oversight and subpoena power wielded by the select committee would put a tall hurdle in the path and would further expose the economic destruction these policies would bring.''

EPA spokesman Brendan Gilfillan responded: ``The commonsense and transparent steps we've taken are already proving doomsayers wrong, as evidenced by the fact that 98 percent of states have stated they're in a position to comply in January.'' That was a reference to every state but Texas agreeing to meet the new federal greenhouse gas emission rules that go into effect at the beginning of the year.

Sensenbrenner, the committee's top Republican, is in line to become chairman if his party keeps the panel. Brendan Buck, a spokesman for the Republican Majority Transition Committee, said that the decision will be made by GOP leadership - subject to approval by the full party conference.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Rep. John Boehner, a Republican who is expected to become House speaker, said he has not heard any discussion about the panel. But some Republicans have already advocated putting the global warming committee on ice.

``The American people do not need Congress to spend millions of dollars to write reports and fly around the world,'' wrote Rep. Fred Upton, a Republican, in a recent Washington Times' op-ed column. ``We must terminate this wasteful committee.''

Upton is a candidate to become next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Democrats established the committee in 2007, after taking control of the House. At the time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, called global warming possibly ``the greatest challenge of our time, setting at risk our economy, environment and national security.'' With the committee, she said, ``the House is giving these issues the high visibility they deserve.'' But from the very start, Republican committee members scoffed at claims about global warming as ``hot air'' and ``extremism.''

The committee has been chaired by Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat who was co-sponsor of legislation that would have limited pollution linked to global warming and redirected the nation toward greater use of clean energy. The bill narrowly passed the House last year. But it withered way in the Senate this year, despite a call for a carbon tax on fossil fuels or a cap-and-trade system for curbing greenhouse gas emissions by the National Academy of Sciences, which labeled global warming an urgent threat.

A Novel Tactic in Climate Fight Gains Some Traction

2010-11-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — With energy legislation shelved in the United States and little hope for a global climate change agreement this year, some policy experts are proposing a novel approach to curbing global warming: including greenhouse gases under an existing and highly successful international treaty ratified more than 20 years ago

The treaty, the Montreal Protocol, was adopted in 1987 to for a completely different purpose, to eliminate aerosols and other chemicals that were blowing a hole in the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

But as the signers of the protocol convened the 22nd annual meeting in Bangkok on Monday, negotiators are considering a proposed expansion in the ozone treaty to phase out the production and use of the industrial chemicals known as hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs. The chemicals have thousands of times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas.

HFCs are used as refrigerants in air-conditioners and cooling systems. They are manufactured mostly in China and India, but appliances containing the substance are in use in every corner of the world. HFCs replaced even more dangerous ozone-depleting chemicals known as HCFCs, themselves a substitute for the chlorofluorocarbons that were the first big target of the Montreal process.

“Eliminating HFCs under the Montreal Protocol is the single biggest chunk of climate protection we can get in the next few years,” said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, a nongovernment organization based in Washington. He noted that the ozone protection effort had begun under former President Ronald Reagan and continues to enjoy bipartisan support.

The United States has thrown its support behind the proposal and negotiators said there was a strong current of support for the move at the meeting on Monday. All the signatories to the Montreal Protocol would have to have to agree to the expansion, but no further approval from Congress would be needed. So far, there has been no Congressional or industry opposition to the idea.

But the plan is not expected to be adopted this year. Large developing countries, including China, India and Brazil, object that the timetable is too rapid and that payments for eliminating the refrigerant are not high enough.

One advantage to using the Montreal protocol as a vehicle, supporters say, is that negotiations over the treaty have been utterly unlike the contentious United Nations climate talks that foundered in Copenhagen last year. Negotiators say that without legislative action on curbing greenhouse gases by United States, little progress will be made when countries gather in Cancún, Mexico, late this month for another round of climate talks.

In a post-election news conference, President Obama noted that it was doubtful that Congress would do anything to address global warming “this year or next year or the year after.”

Unlike the Kyoto protocol, the Montreal treaty has been signed by all nations. They conduct their business with little drama and with broad scientific and technical input from governments and industry. The financing mechanisms, while occasionally contentious, are generally quickly resolved and seen as equitable.

The ozone treaty was unanimously ratified in 1988 by the United States Senate, which a decade later unanimously voted against adopting the Kyoto Protocol to address climate change. Montreal’s pollution reduction targets are mandatory, universally accepted and readily measurable. None of that is true of the climate process.

The Montreal Protocol has phased out nearly 97 percent of 100 ozone-depleting chemicals, some of which are also potent climate-altering gases. The net effect has been the elimination of the equivalent of more than 200 billion metric tons of global-warming gases, five years’ worth of total global emissions, far more than has been accomplished by the Kyoto process.

It has been, according to the former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, “perhaps the most successful international agreement to date.”

The proposal to eliminate HFCs was advanced several years ago by the tiny island nation of Micronesia, one of the most vulnerable places on Earth to sea-level rise and other global warming effects.

The United States quickly signed on. Along with Mexico and Canada, the Obama administration has proposed a rapid series of steps to reduce HFC production, with rich countries meeting a faster timetable than developing nations and helping to pay the poorer countries to find substitutes. But the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that adopting the HFC proposal could eliminate the equivalent of 88 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050, and slow global warming by a decade.

Daniel A. Reifsnyder, the deputy assistant secretary of state for environment and the nation’s chief Montreal Protocol negotiator, said that it might take several years to persuade the ozone treaty countries to back the plan.

In addition to pace and cost issues, some countries say that HFCs have little impact on the ozone layer and thus should be handled under the United Nations climate change talks. Mr. Reifsnyder dismissed that as a legalistic argument and said that the ozone treaty could and should be used to achieve broader environmental objectives.

“What we’ve found is that the Montreal Protocol has been a very effective instrument for addressing global environmental problems,” Mr. Reifsnyder said in an interview. “It was created to deal with the ozone layer, but it also has tremendous ability to solve the climate problem if people are willing to use it that way.”

Mario Molina, the Mexican scientist who shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work in identifying the role of chlorofluorocarbon gases in the breach of the stratospheric ozone layer, said that it might take two or three years for other countries to see the virtues of the HFC reduction.

“My hope is that everybody will agree with this proposal from the United States and Mexico and a few other countries because the Montreal Protocol has been so successful at controlling these industrial chemicals,” he said in an interview from his institute in Mexico City. “Why not expand it to those that do not directly affect the ozone layer but are powerful greenhouse gases?”

Mr. Molina said that extending the protocol to include HFCs could reduce the threat of climate change by several times what the Kyoto Protocol proposes. He noted that the climate treaty had fallen far short of its goals, and that there was no agreement on what should replace it when its major provisions expired in 2012.

“We understand it’s a stretch to use an international agreement designed for another purpose,” he said. “But dealing with these chemicals and using this treaty to protect the planet makes a lot of sense.”

Climate change: Bangladesh's case

2010-11-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

AT the advent of the new concept called "anthropogenic accelerated climate change," there have been numerous discussions across the globe regarding highly vulnerable countries and communities, their urgent and immediate needs for response measures (partly adaptation) and institutional as well as financial mechanisms to do so.

There have been many attempts by international media as well as global scientific community to portray Bangladesh as one of the most vulnerable countries. It is claimed that climate change will exacerbate the current contexts of vulnerability that are prevailing in the country and the resulting adverse effects will challenge the development thrust.

There are reasons to believe that the low-lying deltaic country will face major changes in her hydro-geophysical aspects, which will increase the extent as well as frequency of floods, droughts, cyclones and wave interactions, salinity ingress, water logging, etc. This will adversely affect crop production, infrastructure, people's health and livelihoods, and inflict poverty on many households .

People's basic human rights, especially that of the poor people, will be violated despite the fact that their contribution to the overall sin of emitting greenhouse gases (GHG) is amongst the least in the world.

Bangladesh has been vocal internationally against such inequitable consequences of climate change. We would like to see that the cause of the "wicked problem" -- GHG emissions, primarily in advanced economies -- is addressed quickly so that our poor people do not have to deal with such consequences. We would also like to see that international assistance for their immediate as well as future adaptation requirements is committed and mobilised soon.

People are, arguably, already suffering due to climate related hazards and their consequences. There are clear scientific evidences that the current climate is no longer the same as it was some three to five decades earlier. In Bangladesh, even though there are limited data sets to deal with, it can be proved beyond doubt that a number of climate parameters have been consistently showing trends of change as a response to global warming.

However, when it is argued whether the additional effect in any observed extreme weather event can be explained scientifically as a logical consequence of change in climate system, it becomes extremely difficult to find such evidences. Since one cannot take out the "signal generated by climate change" from the background trend, the "additionality" factor appears to be an unsolved mystery towards establishing cause-effect relationship.

Those countries which have been included in Annex-1 of UNFCCC and have accepted the responsibility to promote and facilitate response measures, including adaptation in LDC and most vulnerable countries (MVC), often used this uncertainty issue to waste time.

Apparently, unless a victim country can explain beyond doubt how much of a given flood (for example) is caused by "additional rainfall" induced by climate change, it may not plead for its due share of international support to reduce vulnerability. Adaptation support has been pledged and mobilised, but not as "duty bound" as dictated by the UNFCCC. A logical Convention-bound action has now become an arbitrary gesture of pure humanitarianism!

This has placed Bangladesh in a difficult situation. Cyclones are known along the coastal zone. How many people died during Sidr (November 15, 2007) due to climate variability (i.e., usual cyclonic event) and how many due to climate induced component of the cyclone? Apparently, if we cannot find an answer to this vital question, the word compensation cannot be uttered in the discourse. Therefore, "no proof beyond doubt, no Convention-bound assistance" to promote adaptation.

In recent years, scientists have recorded over 400 cases of discernable changes which would not have occurred if climate change did not play its part in causing them. In many instances, however, the effects were benign to human systems -- at least with the current knowledge base.

While attribution to climate-induced effects has been debated heavily in international negotiations, something has started to occur along the coastal zone in Bangladesh which would not have happened without the direct influence of climate change. People along the coastal zone, especially fishermen, have been complaining about a somewhat warmer sea and frequent occurrence of rough sea events with unusually high tide at the wrong times of the year.

Scientific probing into the issue has revealed that, had it not been due to climate change, such affects would not have occurred. It is now clear that climate attribution beyond doubt is possible, which has a serious human implication.

During monsoon and post-monsoon, occasional accumulation of solar radiation (heat from the sun) generally triggers the occurrence of about 5 to 6 low pressure systems, a few turning into depression/deep depressions and even cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal).

That has been the usual case. From satellite data, it is found that sea surface temperature (SST) in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) has been showing a persisting rising trend for both monsoon and post-monsoon seasons over the past four decades. Certainly, it has led to further accumulation of heat energy in the ocean system in the Bay.

Since the SST is now higher than usual (about 0.5°C higher than the average observed five decades ago), enhanced by climate change induced warming, a few days of sunshine now generates enough energy to cross the threshold for producing low pressure systems.

The trend for the decade of 2000 clearly highlights that, instead of 5 to 6 lows, the occurrence of lows has doubled. Since the said period of 2007, there have been at least 14 events in each successive year. This year alone, 15 such events have disturbed coastal people's lives, and yet another is brewing in the Bay.

Increasing numbers of low pressure systems means that for an increasing number of days per annum the sea will be rough along with high tides -- which will not allow fishermen to go for fishing. In simple terms, poor fishermen will have fewer active days, less catch per annum, and perhaps less income.

In the coastal zone of Bangladesh, the estimated number of households depending on fisheries-based livelihoods ranges between 140,000 and 160,000. A fishing trip generally takes about 12-14 days (sometimes less for those who catch estuarine fish), particularly for the fishermen living in the Southeastern parts of the country.

Each fishing group generally borrows cash from money-lenders (locally known as mahajans) at very high interest rates and purchases fuel and other commodities to cover the entire fishing trip. The preparation prior to a trip takes a few days and requires healthy investments (food for the group, fuel for the return trip, nets and other equipments).

According to the Standing Orders on Disasters prevailing in Bangladesh, people must come to shore and take shelter if signal number three (3) or above is issued following occurrence of a low-pressure system. Following the issuance of such warnings/signals, fishermen along the coastal region are required to come back to the shore. If such events/episodes occur once in a while, which was the general case, fishermen could stop fishing and safeguard their lives and assets.

With the increased frequency of such episodes, the time between two successive events has lessened so much that fishermen cannot complete a trip, and their investment is wasted. Instead of making a profit, they incur loss and remain indebted, which creates a sense of desperation amongst them.

Repeated and frequent episodes of rough sea events have devastated the lives of coastal fishermen. Many boats have capsized, many fishermen have drowned and lost their lives. There have been newspaper reports that thousands of Bangladeshi fishermen were saved by the coast guards of neighbouring countries and put in jail because they did not have proper documentation.

Coastal fishing is no longer the same for the fishermen. Their sense of security has been shattered, their lives are at risk. They can no longer exercise the right to life and right to safe livelihood. The widows are living in unacceptable conditions, and their children can no longer exercise their right to education or a healthy family life.

Those who survived such rough sea events are heavily in debt and living like fugitives. The rights of all these people have been violated already, which has triggered migration from the coastal areas.

Had it not been due to climate change, had it not been due to reckless emissions from the "self identified" culprits in Annex-1 of the UNFCCC, the frequency of such lows and depressions would not have been so great.

The plight of all these people should not be seen as a mere accident. It is not business as usual. The cause effect relationship is known. The responsible parties must keep their promise and assist these people. Those who have lost their lives cannot be contacted any more. However, many more will simply perish in the near future if corrective measures are not considered now. The government of Bangladesh must raise this issues in international forums and demand justice

GOP leadership cool to hearings into "scientific fraud" underlying global warming

2010-11-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

By Greg Sargent

Last week there was widespread speculation that the GOP is planning to hold high profile hearings next year into the "scientific fraud" behind global warming. The news touched off a round of anxious commentary among liberals about the coming rash of GOP investigations and fake scandals.

The only problem is that it may not be true.

A spokesman for the leading Republican on the committee that would undertake such hearings tells me that isn't the plan. And a senior GOP leadership aide says the leadership is cool to the idea.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas (the same dude who apologized to BP) is in line to be the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. A committee spokesman, Larry Neal, emails that global warming science won't be the focus of upcoming hearings. Rather, Barton wants to hold hearings to try to get the Environmental Protection Agency to study the impact action on global warming will have on jobs.

At issue is the EPA's recent "endangerment finding," which determined that greeenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. According to Barton's office, EPA chief Lisa Jackson said at some point that studying the impact on the economy of scientific action in response to the greenhouse gas problem would have "limited utility."

"Our committee will finally get to inquire" why Jackson "proudly refuses to analyze her agency's actions to determine either the potential job losses they will cause or the pressure they will put on U.S. companies to relocate overseas," Neal emails. "Congressman Barton is very interested."

Separately, the GOP leadership is apparently aware what a circus hearings into the allegedly fraudulent science underlying global warming would be -- and how it would play into Dem efforts to paint Republicans as hostage to extremists.

"It's just not the best strategy," a senior GOP aide says. "The most effective way to fight the national energy tax is to talk about the economic effect and jobs."

So you're certainly going to see Republicans use the machinery of government to push the case that action on the environment is devastating to the economy. And no doubt there will be bit of grandstanding at these hearings from select GOPers about global warming perhaps being a hoax. But no hearings as of yet are being planned that would focus specifically on the science underlying global warming.

What a relief!

2012, forecasts and pragmatism

2010-11-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

By Emmenay

So, is the world as we know it, coming to an end in 2012? Is the Mayan calendar going to prove that it is absolutely right? Are we ready for the Apocalypse? What about the second coming of Jesus Christ (PBUH)? What about the Gog and the Magog and the anti-Christ? Is all this going to take place and be over within two years from now? Hmm...

The fact is that some of us are very fatalistic at times. Sometimes this becomes too much and beyond reason. On the contrary if we start being serious about everything that is practical and pragmatic and prevent the reality of things from being hushed into the background, only then will our coming years be what we want them to be...as opposed to what we imagine they would be. The obsession with predictions of seers and forecasters of the future is getting undue importance. This has happened in the past, is going on at present and will be so in the future too. That is because some of us like it to be so...even though there is no solid proof about anything, there are those among us who love to cling to premonitions and predictions. It is amazing to see even logical minds get carried away by illogical theories!

All this reminds one of the forecasts made by astrologers about how happy Britain's Prince Charles and late Princess Diana Spencer were going to be after marriage. Everybody interested in charting out star maps and

sun signs said there could have never been a better union so far as marital bliss mattered. Yet, what really happened shows that all these predictions were untrue. Not only was the marriage a failure but it ended with the unforeseen death of Diana in 1997.

An astrologer friend told me that no real astrologer could say all that was said about Charles and Diana by considering just their sun signs. Everything matters before accurate horoscope charts are made, especially the time of birth and the geographical zones, which are different for each city and country of the globe. So, she pointed out to me, those who predicted about the "great success" of the Royal Windsor Marriage of the 1980s, could not have really been that accurate. It is not just correct to say that if one's sun happens to be in the constellation of Scorpio and the other one’s in Cancer then the two are going to click and succeed in their matrimony. The ascendants (meaning the position of Earth in the zodiac path), the moon signs (the position of the moon when one is born) and every minute and small detail has to be taken into account, before the horoscope chart is made.

This brings us back to 2012 and the Mayan theory on the world ending in that year. Did the Mayans have a lunar calendar or a solar one? Did they know about Christ's (PBUH) birth and the way Christianity was going to be in the years to come? Did they know about the other continents of this planet when they made their calendar? The Mayans inhabited most of South America and their predictions were mostly regional. Thus it cannot be factually accepted that they knew about the fate of this entire planet along with its seas and islands just on the basis of their regional knowledge. It is not for the logical minds to accept everything they said as the gospel truth.

Here, one can also ask as to how many predictions of the Mayans were correct till 2012, so far as the lands and seas beyond their knowledge mattered. Did the Mayan calendar speak about the rise and fall of the Romans, the Byzantines, the Jewish, the Christian and the Muslim empires? Did they say anything about the two world wars of the 20th century? What about China and Australia, Japan and Africa? What about New Zealand or the Arctic and Antarctic Ocean belts? Is this too much to ask for? Why bank on an ancient calendar and scare the wits out of those who are already afraid of how this planet is going to be in the years to come? Isn't it absurd, to say the least?

It will do us far more well if we get more concerned about how we are at the moment and get involved in working on matters that can improve our planet and increase the chances of its survival in the future. Let us tackle the global dangers of climate change caused by the Ozone hole in our atmosphere. Let us cope with the Greenhouse Effect and other hazards that are threatening to destroy our land and promise to have a disastrous effect on our day to day lives. Let us stop thinking about what is going to happen just because the Mayan calendar does not mention anything about this century and its events.

Global poverty and famine, storms and asteroids, atomic wars and manic dictatorial regimes matter much more than the Mayan theory about 2012 does. Let us be sensible and do our best to make our present good. If we can really contribute in making it better than the future too will be fine. That is what history proves and that is what we should believe in. Let premonitions and fatalistic misinterpretations of legends and lores of old be where they belong...in the book shelves of library archives. Let us learn to live amicably as reformed and refined human beings.

The exact future is known only to the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe and all other dimensions. It is God Almighty who decides, so let us have faith in Him, before we start worrying unnecessarily about 2012. Only God knows how and when He is going to end it all...so let us not risk the moments that matter now for something about which we do not really know. Getting topsy-turvy about what we think looms ahead before us in our fantasies is not logical. Being level headed and pragmatic is very important because that is what our present state of worldly affairs demands.

Climate change: Biggest threat to human rights

2010-11-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

The global climate has been changing as the world gets warmer largely due to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from human activities. This fact is now widely accepted but there are still a few formidable sceptics around, who refuse to accept evidence of human causation of recent observed warnings.

According to latest assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a dedicated international scientific body to review and assess the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide to understand climate change, and established by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20 century due to increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations, and that the warming of the climate system has been unequivocal.

About the warming of the planet, the IPCC finds that warming in the last 100 years has caused about a 0.74 degree Centigrade increase in global average temperature, which is up from 0.6 degree Centigrade increase in the 100 years prior to the Third Assessment Report. It observed that since 1961, the ocean has been absorbing more than 80% of the heat added to the climate system, and average Arctic temperatures increased almost twice the global average rate in the past 100 years.

The changes in the atmosphere have been due to marked increase of emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide resulting in warming of the planet with infrequent cold days and nights, while hot days, hot nights, and heat waves have become more frequent. They found that the twelve-year period, 1995-2006, ranked among the top 12 warmest years since 1850.

It noticed increased incidents of high intensity winds, increased droughts and heavy precipitation. It found that mountain glaciers and snow cover have declined, land-based ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have been lost and very likely contributed to sea level rise between 1993 and 2003, and that ocean warming caused seawater to expand, contributing to sea level rising on an average about 1.8 mm/year during the years 1961-2003 while, in 1993-2003, the sea level increased at an average rate of 3.1 mm/year.

Based on such and other factors, the Panel projected a model based future after analysing various climate models, and predicted that in the 21st century surface air warming for a low scenario would be around 1.8 degrees Centigrade, with a likely average of 1.1 to 2.9 degrees Centigrade, and for a high scenario, 4 degrees Centigrade with a likely range of 2.4 to 6.4 degrees Centigrade rise of temperature at a rate of 0.1 degree Centigrade per decade in first two decades, and rise of about 0.2 degree Centigrade for the next two. For sea level, it estimated rise of 18 to 59 cm, in low scenario, to 26 to 59 cm in a high scenario, resulting in increase in frequency of warm spells, heat waves, heavy rainfall, droughts, intensified tropical cyclones, extreme high tides etc.

Climate change and Bangladesh: Effects of climate change are all too visible in Bangladesh. According to one study, compared to present day temperature, temperature could increase to 2.4 degrees centigrade higher than the current level by 2100, causing hotter summer, and hot winters. The rainfall could increase to 10% at the same time, changing drastically usual rainfall patterns. The seawater rise would cause more havoc as it is estimated that by 2100 the level would increase by 88 cm from the current level, submerging vast tracts of land with seawater. Frequent and severe floods, frequent storms etc., have already become regular features and are likely to multiply, affecting lives of tens and thousands of people, who are mostly poor and vulnerable.

What have human rights got to do with climate change? Human rights are universal basic rights and freedoms which all humans are entitled to, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights entailing such rights as right to life, liberty, freedom of expression, to worship, to own property, to be treated equally before the law, to family, to education, to culture, to health, to subsistence etc. These rights being universal and fundamental, states have obligation to prevent violations of these rights.

However, global warming has been threatening all human rights which are designed to prevent destruction of life, health, property, livelihood, culture, means of subsistence, residence, movement etc. The threats from climate change include death and danger from droughts, floods, heat, storms, rising oceans, impacts on agriculture and food production, loss of animals, various diseases, destruction of water supplies, and inability to live and sustain lives.

Forced displacements have already impacted strongly, and are likely to do so in future with the predicted rise of sea level and devastating storms, costing a huge portion of gross domestic product. In Asia and Pacific, according to the report of the Working Group on Climate Change titled "Up in the Smoke?" (2007), "human drama of climate change will largely be played out in Asia, where over 60% of the world's population, around 4 billion, lives."

To some extent, the relationship between the environment and human rights, and human well-being, has been recognised. According to Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, realisation of many human rights is necessarily related to and in some ways dependent upon one's physical environment.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) also feels that damage to environment can impair and undermine all human rights. Protection of environment, according to the Advisory Council of Jurists of the Asia-Pacific Forum on National Human Rights Institutions, is a vital part of the contemporary human rights doctrine and a sine qua non for numerous human rights, such as right to health and the right to life.

Indeed, many rights recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights, Convention against Torture, Convention on the Rights of the Child, are relevant to those people whose way of life comes under threat from climate change. States therefore have responsibilities under these instruments to take action to remedy the direct and indirect threats to these rights posed by climate change. These are positive obligations to protect individuals against the threats of climate change, regardless of the causes.

Climate change discourse and human rights: In international negotiations and even in IPCC reports, human rights hardly appear as an issue. These are overwhelmed by science and economics, but not by those who matter most, the people. In climate discussions in Bangladesh too, human rights are not mentioned. It appears, despite deep and complex interlinks, climate change discourses are silent on human rights. This has to change, and discussions in all earnest should begin to understand the full impact of climate change on human rights.

Even though it involves some difficult rights issues that might be challenging, such as weak enforcement mechanisms under international laws, or extraterritorial responsibilities in that, ordinarily, the government concerned has the primary duty to act in case of violations of rights, but in the case of climate change, responsibility of impacts cannot be attributed to the government nearest to hand, but also to countries far away, and both public and private entities.

Therefore, what is most needed now is adoption of a "human rights based approach" to policy and legislative responses to climate change, based on international human rights norms and standards, and ensuring promotion and protection of human rights. Human rights standards should be minimum thresholds for mitigation and adaptation policies.

Tribes explore energy alternatives

2010-11-08T08:09:00.001-08:00

Michigan tribes have a potential for wind energy and wood-based biomass, said Roger Taylor, the principal project manager of the tribal energy program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. The laboratory is the nation's primary research and development institute for renewable energy and energy efficiency at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Many tribes have done wind energy feasibility studies because it is the most cost-effective energy source, said John Sarver, former manager of renewable energy at the Bureau of Energy.

For example, Sonya Zotigh, a grant writer at the Economic Development Corp. of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, said her tribe did a study two years ago and found a piece of its property in Grand Traverse County with enough wind to sustain six turbines. The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee has found two locations suitable for wind energy, including Manistee High School.

Among others conducting similar studies are the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.

"We want to be ecologically minded when it comes to our development," Zotigh said.

Frank Ettawageshik, executive director of the United Tribes of Michigan and the former chair of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, said tribes are close to the environment and vulnerable to environmental degradation.

For example, Ettawageshik said, burning coal releases mercury into the environment, which can contaminate water and fish.

"We consume a lot of fish," he said, and therefore, the tribe would feel the adverse effects of contamination first.

Tribal lands cover about 5 percent of the U.S. and hold an estimated 10 percent of the country's renewable energy resources, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

Its study shows tribes are bearing the brunt of climate change. For example, tribes of the Great Lakes have reported diminishing elk and moose herds, as climate change forces animals north to colder habitats.

The burning of fossil fuels for transportation, power and industry advances climate change, also known as global warming, scientists say. Don Seal, a community engineer at the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, said renewable energy helps his tribe offset the carbon footprint of fossil fuels.

The tribe did a wind study in 2004 and will install its first wind turbine by the end of this year, he said. The 300-kilowatt turbine will power its greenhouse and homes.

Tribes also are considering other renewable energy sources, such as biomass and solar.

But most tribes face financing problems that hinder alternative energy development.

The federal Tribal Energy Program awards grants to study renewable energy possibilities.

In the past nine years, six of its 129 grant-supported projects were in Michigan, Taylor of the laboratory said.

Seal said one grant covered about 30 percent of the cost of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe's wind project.

Meanwhile, tribes can't take advantage of federal tax incentives for renewable energy projects because they aren't taxable entities, Taylor said.

The state doesn't offer much financial help, either.

Sarver said the state runs outreach and education programs in renewable energy and sometimes awards small grants for demonstration projects.

"We focus on technical advice and assistance," Sarver said.

Therefore, tribes must seek financial resources by themselves.

Some get money from casino revenues, but most look for money elsewhere, such as tax benefits for commercial projects, Taylor said.

He said it's more cost effective for Michigan tribes to save energy by improving energy efficiency, such as home weatherization, because of the cold climate.

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians has an energy efficiency program at its Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel in Williamsburg.

Zotigh said its eco-friendly features include skylights and high-efficiency LED lighting, a 2,400-square-foot green roof and recycling.

Biofuel worse for climate than fossil fuel, new report finds

2010-11-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

The impact equates to an area the size of the Republic of Ireland.

As a result, the extra biofuels that Europe will use over the next decade will generate between 81 and 167 percent more carbon dioxide than fossil fuels, says the report.

Nine environmental groups reached the conclusion after analyzing official data on the European Union's goal of getting 10 percent of transport fuel from renewable sources by 2020.

But the European Commission's energy team, which originally formulated the goal, countered that the bulk of the land needed would be found by recultivating abandoned farmland in Europe and Asia, minimizing the impact.

New science has emerged this year casting doubt on the sustainability of the 10 percent goal, but EU energy officials have argued that only around two thirds of that target will be met through biofuels, with the balance being vehicles powered by renewable electricity.

But 23 of the EU's 27 member states have now published their national strategies for renewable energy, revealing that fully 9.5 percent of transport fuel will be biofuel in 2020, 90 percent of which will come from food crops, the report says.

The EU's executive Commission is now considering whether to tweak legislation to take account of the emerging science.

This year's fractious quest to understand the impact of EU biofuels policy has already led to allegations of bias, court action against the Commission and warnings that the probes will kill the nascent industry.

Trade dispute
The debate centers on a new concept known as "indirect land-use change."

In essence, that means that if you take a field of grain and switch the crop to biofuel, somebody, somewhere, will go hungry unless those missing metric tones of grain are grown elsewhere.

The crops to make up the shortfall could come from anywhere, and economics often dictate that will be in tropical zones, encouraging farmers to hack out new land from fertile forests.

Burning forests to clear that land can pump vast quantities of climate-warming emissions into the atmosphere, enough to cancel out any of the benefits the biofuels were meant to bring.

The indirect effects of the EU's biofuel strategy will generate an extra 27 to 56 million metric tones of greenhouse gas emissions per year, says the report. In the worst case, that would be the equivalent of putting another 26 million cars on Europe's roads, it added.

The UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France are projected to produce the most extra greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels, generating up to 13.3, 9.5, 8.6, 5.3 and 3.9 extra million metric tones of carbon dioxide per year respectively.

But the whole picture is far more complex.

The European Commission's energy team says shortfalls in grain can be avoided in several ways, including by improving farming yields and cultivating abandoned land.

"The EU has a sufficient amount of land previously used for crop production and now no longer in arable use to cover the land needed," said a statement from the Commission's energy department. "It makes sense to bring this land into use."

Biofuels producers also argue that European Union officials should not alter biofuel-promoting policies to take account of the new science, as it is still too uncertain.

"Any public policy based on such highly debatable results would be easily challengeable at the World Trade Organization," says Emmanuel Desplechin, of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA).

The report was compiled by ActionAid, Birdlife International, ClientEarth, European Environment Bureau, FERN, Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, Transport & Environment, Wetlands International.

OBAMA TO BYPASS CONGRESS WITH CARBON TAXES?

2010-11-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

In his nationally televised press conference last week, President Obama indicated that carbon taxes may be imposed on the U.S. through regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency in a move designed to bypass Congress altogether.

Knowing that the chances of getting cap-and-trade legislation through a Republican-controlled House and a Senate with a larger, more conservative Republican minority will be almost impossible, Obama suggested the backdoor route through the EPA may be a way to accomplish the goal without requiring new legislation.

"The EPA is under a court order that says greenhouse gases are a pollutant that fall under their jurisdiction," Obama said. "And I think one of the things that's very important for me is not to have us ignore the science, but rather to find ways that we can solve these problems that don't hurt the economy, that encourage the development of clean energy in this country, that, in fact, may give us opportunities to create entire new industries and create jobs that - and that put us in a competitive posture around the world."

In other words, Obama intends to pursue the ideological cause of reducing carbon emissions despite growing doubt in the international scientific community about the validity of anthropogenic climate warming theories.

"Cap-and-trade was just one way of skinning the cat; it was not the only way," Obama said at Wednesday's press conference. "And I'm going to be looking for other means to address this problem."

On June 26, 2009, in a 219 to 212 vote, House passed a cap-and-trade bill that was championed by Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Edward Markey, D-Mass. The Senate did not take up floor consideration of a cap-and-trade measure.

Now, Obama is in for a fight if he intends to proceed with implementing carbon taxes through the back door of EPA regulations.

In an April 2009 appearance on ABC's "This Week," then hosted by George Stephanopoulos, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said: "George, the idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide."

EPA declares carbon dioxide a harmful chemical

In December 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency acting under the authority of the Clean Air Act took steps to control carbon emissions blamed for global warning from power plants, factories and refineries, without waiting for Congress to act on cap and trade.

The EPA ruled that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide endanger human health under the Clean Air Act, despite the fact human beings exhale carbon dioxide that trees and other plants absorb.

According to the EPA website, on Dec. 7, 2009, the EPA administrator signed two distinct findings regarding greenhouse gases under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act:

* Endangerment Finding: The Administrator finds that the current and projected of six key well-mixed green house gases - including carbon dioxide - in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of future generations;

* Cause or Contribute Finding: The Administrator finds that the combined emissions of these well-mixed greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines contribute to the greenhouse gas pollution that threatens public health and welfare.

All this derives from the Supreme Court ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007) that Section 202(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act allows the EPA to regulate the emission of carbon dioxide as an air pollutant.

The EPA decision opened the door for the Obama administration to impose restrictions on the use of carbon-based fuels in the United States, even if Congress never passes the administration's proposed cap-and-trade legislation.

Specifically, the EPA would require industrial plants that emit 25,000 tons of greenhouses gases a year or more to install technology to improve energy efficiency whenever a facility is changed or built.

The EPA has also delayed 79 coal-mining permits in four states, arguing the planned coal mining operations would cause significant damage to water quality and the environment under the specifications of the Clean Water Act.

States to oppose EPA in court

Texas, a leading carbon-dioxide emitter because of its heavy concentration of oil refining and other industries would suffer a major economic impact if the EPA mandatory regulations on carbon dioxide are allowed to take effect, Reuters reported.

The New York Times reported that John Engler, the former Republican governor of Michigan and current president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said last week that the new Congress should assert stronger control over the EPA, which he maintained "is getting way outside its authority in trying to regulate that which cannot pass in the legislative process."

Should Obama succeed, EPA-imposed taxes on carbon-dioxide emissions would most certainly be a setback to a U.S. economy struggling to recover.

Dairying world gathers in Auckland

2010-11-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

The global dairy industry is gathering in Auckland this week for the biggest event in its calendar.

Jeremy Hill, NZ branch president of the International Dairy Federation, calls the World Dairy Summit the world cup of dairying.

The summit, which runs until Thursday, sets out to stimulate debate and provide the latest information for industry players.

"We do need sector-wide collaboration ... the individual standing committees and action teams meet throughout the year but this is the one time in the year where everybody comes together in the same place," Hill said.

Up to 1700 delegates from 66 countries are expected to attend the annual summit, which was last held in New Zealand in 2001, including from dairy companies, manufacturers, academia, regulatory bodies and government.

"With 800 in Berlin [last year] we were hoping for a minimum of 600 to come to Auckland and so we're just absolutely delighted with the attendance," Hill said.

"That provides the foundation for a fantastic summit."

Sustainability will be a key element of all sessions.

"Here I think we've got to look at sustainability in the broader context," Hill said.

"It is a huge topic but it's not just the context of environmental sustainability, we need to think of it in terms of food security, as sustainable nutrition, sustainable industry development and the employment that provides, and then of course the sustainable environment which is about land use, water use, emissions and so on."

A dairy leaders' forum today would set the scene for presentations during the next three days, with a panel including the chief executives from Fonterra, FrieslandCampina, Amcor and the National Milk Producers Federation.

"If people can leave the summit with stronger connections, a clearer and more robust consensus around the key issues then this has been a big success."

The summit attracts protests every year. "It's a free country, everybody's entitled to their opinion and that's healthy but we need to consider the issues in the broader context because they're not simple," Hill said.

"It's very easy to take a simplistic view along a particular line of thought ... but we're here to create a system which can provide a sustainable source of nutrition to the world's population."

Topics at the summit included sustainability, economics, innovations and bioactives.

Summit convener Andy Williams said: "I think you'd struggle to find a part of the industry that's not covered in some shape or form."

Simon Terry, executive director of the Sustainability Council, said the dairy industry here was not delivering on a promise of sustainability.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy sector had increased since 1990 but it had not embraced low-cost mitigation options, with nitrification inhibitors the most obvious, Terry said.

"It's actually a net profit to farmers because they cut back on urea fertiliser as a result of applying the inhibitor," he said.

A Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry report in March updating progress under the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord showed that during the 2008-09 financial year the level of "significant non-compliance" nationally with farm effluent rules designed to stop effluent flowing into streams and rivers was 15 per cent, up from 12 per cent the previous season.

Fonterra described the result as unacceptable and announced plans to check the effluent management infrastructure of every farm, every year.

The dairy co-operative at the weekend published an open letter from chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden and chief executive Andrew Ferrier that said the co-operative was committed to working with its farmers, staff, customers, government, local authorities, iwi and the community "to ensure good practice is the only practice".

SOURCE: nzherald.co.nz

The electric post office: Greening the government

2010-11-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

Up to 10 times a day, somebody will stop mail carrier Taran Edge on her route and ask to take her photograph.

While she is flattered by the attention, she knows that it is her vehicle they are really interested in. Ms. Edge's unconventional three-wheeled electric delivery cart has become something of a tourist attraction on the streets of Key West, Fla., but more important, it plays a key role in the endeavors of the US Postal Service to secure a more sustainable future.

In October 2009, President Obama issued an executive order that directs the federal government – the biggest energy consumer in the United States – to make substantial reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020. In July, he expanded that mandate to include "indirect sources," such as employee commuting.

These directives mean that fuel consumption by the government's 2 million employees is under greater scrutiny, and the savings made, however small, by projects such as Edge's T-3 electric delivery cart are more crucial than ever.

The carts "don't leave a carbon footprint, and it's much more efficient than walking or using a conventional vehicle," says Jane Evans, Key West's postmaster. The T-3s cost 25 cents a day to run, while the delivery vans that run on gasoline cost anywhere from $10 to $35 a day, she notes.

Edge attests to the efficiency of the T-3s for her route. "I get back about an hour-and-a-half earlier than I normally did, and [then] I'm able to run parcels, run an express delivery, or run another route," she says.

Key West's two T-3s are still under evaluation, as are 11 others in the postal fleet in Arizona, California, and Virginia. Nationally, the Postal Service is aiming to reduce use of petroleum fuels 20 percent by 2015. Already, in 2009, it increased its use of alternative fuels by 26 percent, resulting in a $314 million savings to the annual fuel bill, says Sam Pulcrano, vice president of sustainability.

Other federal entities are also going greener with their fuel use. The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to convert its fleet to hybrid vehicles over 10 years.

In October, several federal agencies were recognized for measures related to fuel use in the first GreenGov Presidential Awards. The Green Innovation Award went to the Sandia National Laboratories campus in Albuquerque, N.M. There, the Department of Energy has invested in a 350-strong fleet of solar-powered carts to become the main form of transportation on the campus.

Idaho National Laboratory, another Department of Energy enterprise, received the Lean, Clean, and Green Award. Located in Idaho Falls, it has decreased petroleum consumption by 21 percent and increased use of alternative fuels by streamlining its fleet of 115 buses and planning to convert three-fourths of its light-duty fleet to hybrids.

"We drive a lot. The question is, how do we become smarter and make better choices about the vehicles?" says Anna Jones-Crabtree, sustainable operations coordinator for the US Forest Service's Rocky Mountain region. The recipient of Mr. Obama's inaugural Sustainability Hero Award, she heads projects that have reduced miles driven by 720,000 since 2006 and increased use of biodiesel and ethanol-based fuels by more than 100,000 gallons annually.

A Symbolic Visit That Promises Indonesia Real Benefits

2010-11-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

Much of the hype around US President Barack Obama’s visit on Tuesday revolves around his ties with Muslims and his return to his childhood home. But it also carries an understated strategic importance: it is a chance to finally sign the US-Indonesia Comprehensive Partnership.

The bilateral agreement, the product of a meeting between Obama and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Singapore in November last year, outlines the countries’ commitments in a vast range of sectors.

Robin Bush, country representative for the Asia Foundation, saw the new partnership as a switch “from one that, prior to the Obama administration, often focused on Indonesia’s role in the ‘War on Terror,’ to one that is a mature, multifaceted partnership in areas that are priorities for Indonesia

Historical Ties

The United States and Indonesia have had an often rocky relationship over the past six decades.

Under former President Sukarno, Indonesia was one of the four countries that pioneered the Non-Aligned Movement, which opted not to ally with any major power bloc, such as the United States, during the Cold War.

In the early stages of Suharto’s 32-year reign, Indonesia’s value to the United States ranged from being a bulwark nation against the spread of communism to an expansive market for the American economy.

Later, ties were strained over the Indonesian government’s string of human rights violations, including military abuses in Aceh, Papua and East Timor.

But Indonesia’s abysmal human rights record was swept aside under former US President George W. Bush’s administration from 2001-09, since the countries focused on the war on terrorism.

US-Indonesia ties was further strengthened after Yudhoyono announced a “zero enemies, million friends” policy in October last year, which matched Obama’s push for friendlier diplomatic relations with other countries.

Though Indonesia has yet to be on equal footing with the United States, it is gradually gaining ground. Obama, who grew up in Indonesia as a boy, can forge Islamic ties with a country that is home to the biggest Muslim population in the world.

“In terms of US partners in the region, Japan, South Korea and China all figure more highly than Indonesia. It is simply not on the same priority list,” Asia Foundation’s Bush said.

“It may one day assume a spot at the level of Australia, the Philippines and Thailand, but it is not there now.”

He said the Comprehensive Partnership agreement was a useful step, allowing Indonesia to “gain global recognition as an important US partner.”

Improved Relationship

The signing of the Comprehensive Partnership was postponed after Obama decided to cancel his trip to Indonesia on March 21, the same day the US House of Representatives passed a $940-billion bill to overhaul of the healthcare system.

Even though the agreement has yet to be signed, its spirit is manifested in other agreements , such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Science and the Technology Cooperation and the Framework Arrangement on Cooperative Activities, which was signed by the two countries’ departments of defense in June.

Currently, OPIC provides more than $94 million in support to six projects in Indonesia, in the energy, manufacturing and services sectors.

The military agreement, meanwhile, covers security dialog, education and training in the defense industry, procurement of military equipment and other “areas of cooperation.”

The partnership between the countries was further solidified with the establishment of the US-Indonesia Joint Commission, an annual ministerial meeting inaugurated in September by Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and his counterpart, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

These programs are all in line with the Comprehensive Partnership’s goals, which were mainly drafted by the two countries’ foreign affairs departments.

Erik A. Laksamana, a researcher for the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said these agreements expanded “existing good bilateral ties between the two countries.”

Flood of Aid

The improved ties between the two countries spelled benefits for various sectors in Indonesia.

Obama announced in June that the White House had earmarked $165 million over five years for student exchange programs and scholarships and $136 million over three years for various climate change projects, after meeting with Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Toronto, Canada.

Marty recently said both sides hoped to work on the sharp decline in the number of Indonesian students studying in the United States, now at around 7,000 from the previous 14,000.

The climate change fund, meanwhile, was meant to support Yudhoyono’s pledge at a G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in September last year to reduce his country’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 41 percent by 2020.

In July, the two countries’ military ties reached a milestone when US Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the lifting of a 12-year ban on the Kopassus special forces, who were accused of rights abuses during the 1990s.

Under the 1997 Leahy Agreement, the United States was prohibited from funding security forces which had been implicated in human rights abuses, prompting it to sever ties with the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI).

“The lifting of the ban came as a result of Indonesian military reforms over the past decade, the ongoing professionalization of the TNI, and recent actions taken by the Ministry of Defense to address human rights issues,” Gates said in a statement in July.

The US-Indonesia Society (Usindo) said American officials recognized the benefit of improving Indonesia’s military capabilities.

“[It] would allow Indonesia to play a more substantial role in its effort to combat terrorism and maintain the security of the maritime commons,” the group said.

Washington has funded Indonesia’s antiterror activities, such as sending aid to Densus 88, the police’s elite counterterrorism unit, shortly after the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 tourists and locals, including seven Americans.

Beyond these, Bush said Indonesia would gain “significantly from educational exchanges, technology transfers, training programs and other support that was part of the Comprehensive Partnership agreement.”

Remaining Issues

However, no bilateral relationship is ever without issues.

Nongovernmental groups said the public must remain vigilant against human rights abuses, especially by the Armed Forces, despite thawed military ties.

In September, the US Congress held a historic hearing on human rights abuses in Papua, gathering testimonies from Papuans and academics about violations committed by the military.

“Such an improvement must be accompanied by a clear and stern warning against any backsliding on human rights issues, which would seriously hamper America’s ability to improve military cooperation with Indonesia,” Usindo said in a statement.

Experts also agreed that the two countries should foster stronger economic ties.

Indonesia is currently one of the largest emerging markets in Southeast Asia and is considered a promising investment destination, despite nagging problems in its bureaucracy.

“Economic ties are currently the most underperforming component of the relationship, but is an area with enormous potential,” Usindo said.

Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Asia Studies Center, said Indonesia could improve trade relations with the United States by cleaning up its bureaucracy.

“This economic relationship is underperforming due to bottlenecks on the Indonesian side,” Lohman said, referring to corruption, poor infrastructure and inconsistent or non-transparent regulations.

“President Obama should be direct with the Indonesians about this,” he said. “All of America’s big plans for its partnership with Indonesia will be unrealized if the United States cannot underpin it with stronger economic ties.”

In a blot on relations, the US International Trade Commission last month decided to impose new duties on coated paper from Indonesia, saying subsidized imports harmed US manufacturers.

Despite such setbacks, experts said the countries would definitely carve out a beneficial relationship.

“Indonesia’s natural resources, its sheer size and population, its natural leadership in Southeast Asia, and its control over some of the world’s most strategic waterways — it would be foolish to ignore Indonesia,” Erik said.

Aquino to attend Yokohama APEC

2010-11-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

Manila (8 November) -- President Benigno S. Aquino III will attend his first Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Yokohama, Japan from Nov.12 to 15 to push the Philippines' initiative to sustain cooperation in economic and technical cooperation.

In a media briefing in Malacañang, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Antonio Rodriguez said the President will lead the country in actively engaging the 21-member APEC economies to enhance the country' advocacy for humanresources development, employment creation and in addressing the social dimensions of globalization, and sustaining economic and technical cooperation.

As APEC chairman in 1996, Rodriguez said the country pushed to sustain economic and technical cooperation so that developing economies such as the Philippines can be globally competitive under the 2020 APEC Bogor Goals

In 1994, the APEC Bogor Goals were established in Bogor, Indonesia and set the target of free and open trade and investment in the APEC region by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.

Rodriguez pointed out that safety nets are important for the balanced and inclusive growth of developing economies in the midst of globalization.

He said the President will likely push initiatives on climate change which is also important considering that the Philippines is a minor contributor to the world's greenhouse gas emissions but a big victim of the effects of climate change.

Without naming names, Rodriguez said several heads of state have also expressed interest to meet with President Aquino at the sidelines of the 18th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting on Nov. 13-14.

Rodriguez said President Aquino and the official Philippine delegation will have a chance to meet with the region's top business leaders during the APEC CEO Summit on Nov. 12, and the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)Dialogue with Leaders on Nov. 13.

Composed of three business executives from each member economy, ABAC was created by the APEC Economic Leaders in Nov. 1995 to provide advice on ways to achieve the Bogor Goals and other business sector priorities, as well as providing the business perspective on specific areas of cooperation.

Rodriguez said the President will also meet with representatives of the Filipino community in Japan, where more than 1,000 Filipinos in the Yokohama region alone are expected to greet the President.

He said the President will arrive for an overnight stay in Tokyo on Nov. 11 and immediately proceed to Yokohama for the APEC meet the following morning.

Among those joining the President are Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo.

With the 18th AELM's theme of "Change and Action," APEC economies will build upon its past successes, by proposing necessary changes and actions to ensure its continued relevance in shaping the region's future.

APEC economies will also consider future directions for the region, taking off from a vision of a New Growth Paradigm for a changed post-crisis landscape that was adopted by the APEC Leaders in 2008 in Lima, Peru.

APEC members account for approximately 40 percent of the world's population, approximately 54 percent of the world gross domestic product (GDP) and about 44 percent of world trade.

Leading the Way to Green

2010-11-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Blue Star has been proudly processing, packaging and selling pasteurized Blue Crab meat in the United States since 1995. Blue Star’s products are currently sold in The United States, Mexico, Canada, The Caribbean, United Kingdom, France, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Blue Star process crab meat in 12 plants throughout Southeast Asia, employing thousands and producing an annual average of over seven million pounds of high quality crab meat (3.174.000 kilograms approximately).

Blue Star is strongly devoted to sustainability. The company is committed to reducing energy and cutting its carbon footprint in all its processing plants, it has also implemented recycling initiatives and the use of energy efficient light bulbs in an effort to help the environment.

Blue Star leads the pasteurized crab meat industry in sustainable and ethical packaging. The company’s green pouches for Eco-Fresh crab meat are patented worldwide and pending in the USA. Since their introduction in 2003, these pouches have saved more than 866 tons of metal can packaging material, becoming the first company to package their crab meat in this revolutionary and eco-friendly way.

Pouches also consume less overall energy and release fewer total greenhouse gases than cups. With the help of the company’s environmentally conscious customers, Blue Star's Eco-Fresh Pouches are on their way to becoming the industry standard for ethical and sustainable packaging.

"Our priority is to provide the highest quality crab meat while maintaining the highest sustainability standards. We take great pride in respecting and protecting our oceans. We do so by implementing strict fishing guidelines and ensuring sustainability through ethical action, sustainable packaging and social responsibility”, says John R. Keeler, President and CEO of Blue Star Foods.

Blue Star's crab meat is HAACP approved and receives a third party inspection at its plants every year, ensuring the safety and quality of its product.

About Blue Star Food Products

Blue Star began 15 years ago in founder John R. Keeler’s kitchen. Since then, it has certainly grown up.

Just four years after its conception, Blue Star was named one of the 500 Largest Hispanic Privately Owned Companies in the USA by Hispanic Business Magazine, and has received this honour ever year since.