Wondering how to communicate with your clients and customers in a more effective way? Consider webinars, a live web conference or seminar that is conducted over the internet. Webinars include video conferencing, audio broadcasting, and other types of internet streaming facilities to get your message to your target audience.
Webinars are especially useful for communication with large, scattered groups around the world. Webinars enable viewers to attend your presentations right on their computers, thus saving time and money on organizing events and traveling. Due to these advantages, many businesses are using webinars to promote their products online. Webinars are a powerful tool that can increase your company’s revenue as well as productivity considerably.
Not just for businesses, webinars are also be used by industry experts or popular personalities to speak on highly relevant topics, such as best practices, trends, or case studies.
To use webinars and deliver a real time experience to your target audience, visit TalkPoint.com. TalkPoint’s Webinar solution integrates advanced features to provide you with all the benefits of webcasting your message. Choose TalkPoint’s Audio or Video platform to deliver your content. The high quality videos used in video conferencing will help you engage your attendees until the last word. We also provide guided training sessions and a dedicated production manager to enable you to proceed with your event easily and without a hitch. With additional live or on demand Q&A, live polling, and exit polling sessions, TalkPoint Webinars encourage interactivity among you and your clients.
With additional features, such as source tracking, client branding, and video insertion you can be sure that TalkPoint Webinars are the best option in the marketplace.
sources: http://blogs.talkpoint.com/uncategorized/importance-of-webinars-2/
Taking Care of Business
By Joel Makower, Chairman & Executive Editor
Amid the political, economic and social whirlwind that passes for daily news these days, the public has shifted its collective gaze away from environmental and climate issues -- to the extent its gaze was ever focused there in the first place.
Simply put, "saving the earth" has taken a back seat to "saving the day."
In that light, I've taken a look this week at a couple of surveys of Americans' attitudes toward sustainability issues, and the results aren't encouraging. While the years -- decades, really -- of educational and marketing campaigns are paying off in the form of increased overall awareness, the citizenry is simply not turning that into action. Even when it comes to cutting their own home energy bills, as Leslie Guevarra reports.
And when it comes to climate change, the deck is stacked against them, as my friend and colleague Cara Pike explains. She's been looking for several years at consumer attitudes, particularly toward climate change, and explains why we're losing the battle for their hearts and minds.
Green Building's Growing Markets: On a more optimistic note, green building seems to be doing reasonably well, considering the dismal state of the overall building and real estate markets. At least, that's what Rob Watson tells me. He'll be providing the details on Tuesday, when we publish our annual Green Building Market & Impact Report. Join Watson and John Matthews, Chief Sustainability Officer at Diversey in a free webcast to hear the latest green building trends. Registration required.
BSR, AOK: Last week's BSR conference brought more than 1,000 professionals to San Francisco to examine the state of the art of corporate social responsibility. Our editorial team was there in force. You can the fruits of their labors below, with more here. You'll also find stories of announcements made at or around the event: Enablon's new networking platform, Best Buy's new focus on home energy, and Levi's growing quest for "better cotton."
Amid the political, economic and social whirlwind that passes for daily news these days, the public has shifted its collective gaze away from environmental and climate issues -- to the extent its gaze was ever focused there in the first place.
Simply put, "saving the earth" has taken a back seat to "saving the day."
In that light, I've taken a look this week at a couple of surveys of Americans' attitudes toward sustainability issues, and the results aren't encouraging. While the years -- decades, really -- of educational and marketing campaigns are paying off in the form of increased overall awareness, the citizenry is simply not turning that into action. Even when it comes to cutting their own home energy bills, as Leslie Guevarra reports.
And when it comes to climate change, the deck is stacked against them, as my friend and colleague Cara Pike explains. She's been looking for several years at consumer attitudes, particularly toward climate change, and explains why we're losing the battle for their hearts and minds.
Green Building's Growing Markets: On a more optimistic note, green building seems to be doing reasonably well, considering the dismal state of the overall building and real estate markets. At least, that's what Rob Watson tells me. He'll be providing the details on Tuesday, when we publish our annual Green Building Market & Impact Report. Join Watson and John Matthews, Chief Sustainability Officer at Diversey in a free webcast to hear the latest green building trends. Registration required.
BSR, AOK: Last week's BSR conference brought more than 1,000 professionals to San Francisco to examine the state of the art of corporate social responsibility. Our editorial team was there in force. You can the fruits of their labors below, with more here. You'll also find stories of announcements made at or around the event: Enablon's new networking platform, Best Buy's new focus on home energy, and Levi's growing quest for "better cotton."
Saudi Arabia's Worst Fears Are Coming True
Sunday, 6 November 2011
By Keith Kohl | Saturday, November 5th, 2011
Believe it or not, running out of oil is not the Saudis' worst fear.
Not even close.
Would you have cause to worry if you were sitting on 262 billion barrels?
(Granted, we're assuming the Saudis aren't cooking the books, and that most of their future production is of much lower quality than what they were pumping decades ago... That particular problem isn't unique to Saudi Arabia.)
The Saudis aren't losing sleep over production, either.
If nothing else, they boast the world's greatest spare capacity.
It all depends who's doing the talking, but the general consensus is that the Saudis can pump out an additional 2 to 3 million barrels per day to about 12 million barrels per day.
But that's it.
And the number of countries that can actually increase oil production make up a very short list...
Advertisement
How Canada Became the World's Richest Nation
You don't know it yet, but our future landlords aren't the Chinese or the Indians...
They live much closer. And for their entire history, they have always played second fiddle to power, reach, and economic mass of the United States.
But that's all about to change.
You see, just to our North — locked away in land that's frozen for half the year — is a resource worth ten times the U.S. GDP.
The Canadians have been sitting on it for decades, but now, with a recently perfected technology, they're about to become the world's next and last great oil superpower.
Get the details here.
The Saudis' Worst Fear
We may have celebrated the birth of the planet's 7 billionth inhabitant earlier this week, but you can bet there were people who took the announcement as less than happy news...
Population growth is actually the thing the Saudis fear most.
The country's population has grown nearly 18% since the turn of the 21st century, and the trend does not bode well:
Along with their vast oil wealth, oil demand is sure to follow:
In 2010, Saudi Arabia consumed approximately 2.4 million barrels per day.
Sounds like a drop in the bucket when you consider the fact that their Ghawar oil field produces twice that amount...
As is usually the case, the devil is in the details.
The country's oil demand has jumped 50% over the last seven years. During that time, population grew less than 8%.
Truth is the Saudis are becoming just as addicted to crude as we are.
And at this rate, they will need three million barrels per day to stay afloat.
Advertisement
One Metal, Infinite Solutions
The U.S. Army wants it to build drones...
NASA's already used it to mount telescopes...
Computer companies think it's the key to faster processing...
And it's all controlled by a tiny, 20-cent mining and manufacturing firm.
In order to make up this demand, the Saudis will be forced to cut into their exports.
The Saudis have lost the title of the world's largest oil producer. Russia's production was in excess of 10 million barrels per day last year. The Saudis only averaged 9.7 million bbls/d during the same period.
Imagine how the world will be begging for Saudi oil when the rest of the planet's reserves are tapped out...
Enjoy your weekend,
Keith Kohl
Editor, Energy and Capital
Believe it or not, running out of oil is not the Saudis' worst fear.
Not even close.
Would you have cause to worry if you were sitting on 262 billion barrels?
(Granted, we're assuming the Saudis aren't cooking the books, and that most of their future production is of much lower quality than what they were pumping decades ago... That particular problem isn't unique to Saudi Arabia.)
The Saudis aren't losing sleep over production, either.
If nothing else, they boast the world's greatest spare capacity.
It all depends who's doing the talking, but the general consensus is that the Saudis can pump out an additional 2 to 3 million barrels per day to about 12 million barrels per day.
But that's it.
And the number of countries that can actually increase oil production make up a very short list...
Advertisement
How Canada Became the World's Richest Nation
You don't know it yet, but our future landlords aren't the Chinese or the Indians...
They live much closer. And for their entire history, they have always played second fiddle to power, reach, and economic mass of the United States.
But that's all about to change.
You see, just to our North — locked away in land that's frozen for half the year — is a resource worth ten times the U.S. GDP.
The Canadians have been sitting on it for decades, but now, with a recently perfected technology, they're about to become the world's next and last great oil superpower.
Get the details here.
The Saudis' Worst Fear
We may have celebrated the birth of the planet's 7 billionth inhabitant earlier this week, but you can bet there were people who took the announcement as less than happy news...
Population growth is actually the thing the Saudis fear most.
The country's population has grown nearly 18% since the turn of the 21st century, and the trend does not bode well:
Along with their vast oil wealth, oil demand is sure to follow:
In 2010, Saudi Arabia consumed approximately 2.4 million barrels per day.
Sounds like a drop in the bucket when you consider the fact that their Ghawar oil field produces twice that amount...
As is usually the case, the devil is in the details.
The country's oil demand has jumped 50% over the last seven years. During that time, population grew less than 8%.
Truth is the Saudis are becoming just as addicted to crude as we are.
And at this rate, they will need three million barrels per day to stay afloat.
Advertisement
One Metal, Infinite Solutions
The U.S. Army wants it to build drones...
NASA's already used it to mount telescopes...
Computer companies think it's the key to faster processing...
And it's all controlled by a tiny, 20-cent mining and manufacturing firm.
In order to make up this demand, the Saudis will be forced to cut into their exports.
The Saudis have lost the title of the world's largest oil producer. Russia's production was in excess of 10 million barrels per day last year. The Saudis only averaged 9.7 million bbls/d during the same period.
Imagine how the world will be begging for Saudi oil when the rest of the planet's reserves are tapped out...
Enjoy your weekend,
Keith Kohl
Editor, Energy and Capital
Smart Green Globalisation
smart green Globalisation is a global call for all national, institutions, government, the all local community and stakeholders to take a unified green responsibility to save the world from carbon toxic materials to better green /eco-friendly world where all nations in the world take green innovative methods to save the world using alternative energy and green products and services taking green marketing to help green customers save money, reuse and recycle to their daily habits helping green entrepreneurs to set up global green companies
Green globalisation - engagement and self-reliance
They say we have to do all this if we want to make a living, but this isn't true. There is an alternative framework and I call that alternative "Green Globalisation".
On the one hand green globalisation is about engagement with the world. It's about engaging with the world politically to push sustainability and fairness and, it's about engaging with the world economically to trade goods and services that won't destroy the planet. On the other hand green globalisation is about developing our self-reliance and relying on our own resources. We need to engage with the world to achieve sustainable outcomes, and we need to develop our national and community self-reliance.
Thomas Jefferson once said that American democracy would fall if everyone became wage slaves because people would no longer be independent. You don't have to endorse that statement entirely to get a sense of what he was on about. We will not be good global citizens if we simply become dependent on foreign multinationals, a distant outpost of globalisation incorporated, a branch office of Monster Corporation. To be a good global citizen we need a degree of self-reliance — a degree of internal strength from which we can engage with the rest of the world.
Green globalisation means acting as a global citizen
So how have Greens been engaging in globalisation, green globalisation? The first thing is that we have been acting as good global citizens.
Green parties and the green movement the world over have been working together to get progress on reducing greenhouse emissions. There is no global green party telling us all what to do, rather we are all looking at the science, understanding the problem and working for solutions. Green parties and the green movement around the world are working to keep governments accountable.
Greens in Australia and the United States, strong willed characters that they are, are leading the charge to get those countries to sign up to the Kyoto climate protection treaty or at the very least to sign up to the second round of Kyoto that will start after 2012. And we will win.
Governments around the world have been attempting to find excuses why their country or their economy should get some exemption from a global agreement and greens have been saying "no this is a global problem and only a global solution will work".
When the National Party campaigned against the Kyoto climate protection treaty, it was the Greens that stepped in with a voice of global reason — we must play our part as the fourth worst emitter per person if we expect other countries to play their part. When the Labour Party abandoned the carbon charge in 2005 it was the Greens that kept alive the idea of putting a price on greenhouse emissions to make sure there is a price signal to the market that emitting greenhouse gases costs the planet. Price signals aren't the whole picture but they are an important part of it. It would have been easy for Kyoto to have unravelled over the last few years but it was the green movement around the world that held it together so that now very few mainstream parties are talking about getting out of Kyoto. The fact that the Kyoto climate protection treaty has held and will now get stronger is a victory for green globalisation and every green in this room and around the world can be congratulated for that.
Greens have also been engaging in globalisation by challenging the World Trade Organisation both inside and outside. The WTO is set up to privilege the freedom of commerce and places the environment and people second. When the Europeans floated the idea of putting a border tax on non-Kyoto countries that are not playing their part in climate change, the US and Australian governments looked to the WTO to protect them from such a border tax as a restriction on trade.
Greens have intervened in WTO cases to push for the environment and people to be brought into the picture. We have had some successes but the WTO is still putting the health of commerce ahead of the health of the planet and people.
While the Labour National Party uncritically accept the parameters of the WTO, the Green movement has been working to change those parameters and to ensure that global environmental agreements trump global trade agreements — because if there is no environment there is no economy. It would be fair to say that green globalisation still has some way to go in changing the international rules of commerce but we have not finished with it yet.
Green globalisation means standing up for democracy in China alongside those many millions of Chinese that want democracy. While the Labour National Party bends over backwards to get a free trade deal with China regardless of the cost to NZ and regardless that it means muting our criticism of the democratic, environmental and human rights violations going on, the Greens support Chinese democrats, environmentalists and trade unionists to advance rights for Chinese people and protect the rapidly deteriorating environment in China. When the New Zealand police took instructions from the Chinese Embassy and removed a press gallery accredited journalist from a public ceremony it was the Greens that stood up for democracy and freedom of speech. In doing this we are part of a global movement for more democracy in China.
Green globalisation is different to corporate globalisation. It is about people all over the planet recognising that we share common concerns and acting together globally and locally.
Green globalisation is about encouraging values of caring for people and planet. The onslaught of the new right in the 1980s and 1990s has left a cultural legacy of a certain hardness to the suffering of others and a callousness at profit maximising at all possible costs. The brazen and unconcerned response of Solid Energy to public outrage at their covert infiltration of protest groups and the callous response of Mercury Energy in Auckland are perhaps obvious symbols of this culture of disconnect by the global elites from everyday people.
Green globalisation means trading in goods and services that don't cost the earth.
The Greens have been acting as global citizens but we have also been encouraging and facilitating the emergence of a sustainable international economy.
The phenomenal growth of the organics' sector is an indicator of things to come. It's great to see the Green budget funding for Organics Aotearoa New Zealand have borne fruit. OANZ has a target of a billion dollar organics sector by 2013. Demand for organics is growing at 10% to 20% per annum globally driven by green consumers demands for sustainable food. Fonterra for example is currently producing 25 different organic products and is aiming to have 200 organic dairy farms by 2013. Fonterra is paying farmers a 20% premium on organic milk. An organic dairy industry that does not destroy the aquifers and waterways of the nation, in a country that meets its international climate change commitments, is a dairy industry that we look forward to being proud of.
Of course none of this would have been possible if the pro genetic engineering forces had won back in 2001-2002. By now GE grasses would have spread across the country which would have spelt the end of organic dairy production. Organics is by definition GE free. It was the Green Party and the GE Free movement that kept our options open as an organic food producer. It's worth remembering that the Labour National Party attacked the Greens for our stance on GE in the 2002 election. The country as a whole is now starting to reap the benefits of the foresight of the green movement and our victory in stopping commercial scale GE crops. Labour National said we would destroy the economy. In fact it was the Greens that kept the nation's economic options open to go down the organic path, a path that offers us a clean environment and a secure economic future.
The world has a hunger for clean sustainable food and we have an opportunity to supply that food and get a premium price for it. Already conventionally produced milk solids from New Zealand get a premium because of the international perception of clean and green New Zealand — well let's turn that perception into a reality before the truth is out.
Tourism is our largest single export industry and people come here because New Zealand is safe, because of our fantastic natural environment, and because of the distinct cultural identity of tangata whenua. The successful 100% Pure New Zealand advertising campaign builds on our image as clean and green. Now tell me who is responsible for building the biggest export earner that we have? Is it the financial globalisation ideologues in the National Party who when last in government wanted to log the ancient beech forests on the west coast of the south island? Or is the biggest export earner we have in existence because of the band of grassroots activists in Native Forest Action and the Greens who fought to stop the logging? Would two million tourists a year come to see a logging operation? Who has done the most for the New Zealand economy, Don Elder with his coal mining operations or the late Kevin Smith who made sure that tens of thousands of hectares of ancient forests were saved from the chainsaw so that they could become the centrepiece of our single largest export earner, the tourist industry.
While there are great challenges ahead for tourism in a carbon constrained world, it is another example of the economic power of green globalisation. Tourists care about the environment and that's why they come. But will people still want to come here if Lake Taupo becomes a dead zone full of toxic algae because of fertiliser seepage?
Tourism is happening right now, organics is rapidly developing but there are also some industries that are not too far away. Here's just a few:
The development of an indigenous New Zealand wind generator manufacturing industry bodes well for our future. Wind at the right scale and in the right place is one of the energies of the future and Windflow is a great New Zealand success story that I suspect one day will be a major exporter of high tech wind turbines creating carbon free electricity for people around the world.
Its turbines are of an intermediate size that communities can own rather than the huge industrial size turbines which have their place but can alienate communities.
Investments in tidal and wave power technology now will pay dividends well into the future as countries look for renewable sources of energy generation. We have an opportunity to take the lead in wind and tidal technology to meet our own energy needs and to sell overseas to help other people meet theirs.
The technology to convert wood into liquid biofuels may well be part of the answer to rising fuel prices and climate change. Using woody biomass doesn't have all the problems associated with corn in the US and palm oil in south east Asia. Biojoule, a company based in Taupo is using a non invasive species of willow to produce the woody material to feed into a fermenter using waste heat from a geothermal plant to process the willow into ethanol. It's still experimental and will need careful consideration as to the energy inputs versus energy outputs and whether it displaces other crops but it is promising.
And what about investing in research into the use of wood as a replacement to steel and cement in building. Wood laminates layer wood together to create structural components that are as strong as steel and cement. But in the process they act as a carbon sink and displace the production of steel and cement both of which result in masses of greenhouse emissions. We could become world leaders in this technology.
And the rise of the fair trade movement offers further opportunities for us to engage in trade with developing countries that is both fair and sustainable.
The facts speak for themselves. It is green industries that significantly underpin our exports right now and it is the green industries like organics and renewable energy that will underpin our exports in the future.
Green globalisation and self-reliance
But if on the one hand green globalisation is about engaging with the world to make it more sustainable and fairer, engaging in the world to trade goods and services that are fair and sustainable, the other side of green globalisation is about acting locally to increase our own sustainability and self-reliance.
Self-reliance comes out of locally produced food. The flourishing of farmers' markets around the country is a tremendously positive sign. People buying food produced locally is exactly the kind of self-reliance that is compatible with green globalisation, especially when that food is organic as well, as much of it is at farmers markets. Greens have been talking for a long time about encouraging local production and consumption of food and it's great to see it actually happening.
But how ridiculous is it that the Labour Government continues to oppose mandatory country of origin labelling of food so that consumers in supermarkets don't know whether they are supporting local food producers. In light of the mounting evidence of systemic pollution of food production in China, it is the height of arrogance that this government denies consumers the basic protection of knowing where their food is coming from.
There is also the self-reliance that comes out of making use of our own renewable energy sources instead of imported fossil fuels. How crazy is the National Labour Party's obsession with motorway construction. As the price of oil continues to increase and will only go up further as we approach the point of peak oil production, the government is investing in infrastructure dependent on oil. A key part of the inflationary pressures in the New Zealand economy over the last couple of years has been rising oil prices. We should be investing in public transport infrastructure run on renewably generated electricity instead of road using oil. The electrification of the Auckland rail network is the first step in Auckland but we want to do more — we need to extend the electric rail line back under the city to make a proper loop rather than the dead end that Britomart currently is.
In Wellington we have finally managed to secure the upgrade of the electric trolley buses after a long campaign by the Greens and once the Makara wind project proceeds those buses will truly be powered by the wind. A fantastic alternative to oil based car transport but investment in rail remains woefully inadequate.
Now wind generation has its issues and one of the things we really want to push is to give individuals and communities the ability to generate their own electricity from their own smaller scale wind generators and solar panels on their roofs. New Zealand owned Windflow that I mentioned earlier has developed an innovative 500kw wind generator which is producing power in Manawatu right now. How about giving some incentives for communities around the country to put in one or two or three of these smaller scale generators and let the community get the profits from them. Why should every wind farm be industrial scale?
And why is it virtually impossible to sell renewable electricity to the grid from small scale producers. Why are the regulators letting the electricity companies get away with making it virtually impossible to feed in power to the grid from photovoltaic solar panels on your own roof? They do it overseas why can't we do it here?
We have tremendous opportunities to develop our own renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, solar, tidal and wave power. The talk of importing liquefied natural gas into the country is a recipe for perpetual dependence on overseas energy sources that is completely avoidable.
There is the self-reliance of manufacturing more of our stuff in New Zealand. The Greens' Buy Kiwi Made campaign encourages exactly that kind of self-reliance. By making and consuming more of our own products we reduce our import bill and take some of the pressure off our chronic current account deficit and reduce our contribution to the vast proliferation in oil used to ship products all over the world.
We also need to look to being more self reliant financially. The Greens were proud to deliver the necessary votes in Parliament alongside Labour and the then Alliance party to get Kiwibank off the ground and it is doing well. Locally owned TSB bank is a stellar financial performer. Prometheus is a New Zealand ethical investment company that is going from strength to strength. If we don't want to see hundreds of millions of dollars go overseas in bank profits to foreign owners every year then we need to develop greater self reliance in the financial sector. We have made a small start and we can do more.
These are all examples of how greater self-reliance will place us in a stronger position to engage in the world more on our own terms, rather than simply accept the terms offered up by financial or corporate globalisation.
There is an emerging green globalisation that sees people around the world engaging with each to protect the global commons and to trade in environmentally sustainable goods and services. And there is a green globalisation that sees people being self-reliant in things that make sense such as local food production and local energy sources. The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a part of this green globalisation and we are playing an increasingly important part in New Zealand politics.
A stronger Green identity — Green member and supporter launch
The influence of the Greens in national politics in disproportionately greater than our numbers in the House and is greater than the two spokespeople roles we achieved under the Cooperation Agreement with Labour. The Greens are now firmly established in New Zealand politics because what we say makes sense in a finite world.
Some say the Greens are the third party of New Zealand politics but I say we are the second party because Labour and National are very similar in so many ways. For both of them sustainability is an add-on when the focus groups tell them it's trendy. For the Greens sustainability and fairness is at the very core of who we are.
As I have travelled around the country on the Climate Defence Tour over the last few weeks I have been struck by the growing strength and influence of the party in towns and regions across the country. But this increased influence is placing tremendous pressures on our capacity to perform this greater role. The Greens do not have the giant secret corporate donors that National, in particular, has. There are no Hollow Men bankrolling the party. We rely on our members and supporters to fund the party and indeed to pay my salary.
So in order to help us achieve our goals of a fair and sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand and a fair and sustainable world, today we are launching a member and supporter drive. We want to join up more members, but we are also aware that there are many people who for whatever reason don't or can't join the Green Party but would like to support us in our work. And that is why we are launching the Green Supporter — someone who helps the party out financially without being an actual member.
So I would say to the many New Zealanders who care for this place and this planet and all of its people, and who care for the incredible plants and animals that we share the planet with, become a Green supporter or a Green member and help us care for this place and each other.
The Green Party has an ambition and a vision that these islands will shine like a beacon to the world for sustainability, justice, peace and democracy.
As the great New Zealand patriot Rod Donald once said: "We have high expectations in the Greens, of ourselves and for our nation".
source: 1.Green Conference & AGM 2007, Nelson (http://www.greens.org.nz/speeches/green-globalisation-engagement-and-self-reliance)
2.smart independent Team
Green globalisation - engagement and self-reliance
They say we have to do all this if we want to make a living, but this isn't true. There is an alternative framework and I call that alternative "Green Globalisation".
On the one hand green globalisation is about engagement with the world. It's about engaging with the world politically to push sustainability and fairness and, it's about engaging with the world economically to trade goods and services that won't destroy the planet. On the other hand green globalisation is about developing our self-reliance and relying on our own resources. We need to engage with the world to achieve sustainable outcomes, and we need to develop our national and community self-reliance.
Thomas Jefferson once said that American democracy would fall if everyone became wage slaves because people would no longer be independent. You don't have to endorse that statement entirely to get a sense of what he was on about. We will not be good global citizens if we simply become dependent on foreign multinationals, a distant outpost of globalisation incorporated, a branch office of Monster Corporation. To be a good global citizen we need a degree of self-reliance — a degree of internal strength from which we can engage with the rest of the world.
Green globalisation means acting as a global citizen
So how have Greens been engaging in globalisation, green globalisation? The first thing is that we have been acting as good global citizens.
Green parties and the green movement the world over have been working together to get progress on reducing greenhouse emissions. There is no global green party telling us all what to do, rather we are all looking at the science, understanding the problem and working for solutions. Green parties and the green movement around the world are working to keep governments accountable.
Greens in Australia and the United States, strong willed characters that they are, are leading the charge to get those countries to sign up to the Kyoto climate protection treaty or at the very least to sign up to the second round of Kyoto that will start after 2012. And we will win.
Governments around the world have been attempting to find excuses why their country or their economy should get some exemption from a global agreement and greens have been saying "no this is a global problem and only a global solution will work".
When the National Party campaigned against the Kyoto climate protection treaty, it was the Greens that stepped in with a voice of global reason — we must play our part as the fourth worst emitter per person if we expect other countries to play their part. When the Labour Party abandoned the carbon charge in 2005 it was the Greens that kept alive the idea of putting a price on greenhouse emissions to make sure there is a price signal to the market that emitting greenhouse gases costs the planet. Price signals aren't the whole picture but they are an important part of it. It would have been easy for Kyoto to have unravelled over the last few years but it was the green movement around the world that held it together so that now very few mainstream parties are talking about getting out of Kyoto. The fact that the Kyoto climate protection treaty has held and will now get stronger is a victory for green globalisation and every green in this room and around the world can be congratulated for that.
Greens have also been engaging in globalisation by challenging the World Trade Organisation both inside and outside. The WTO is set up to privilege the freedom of commerce and places the environment and people second. When the Europeans floated the idea of putting a border tax on non-Kyoto countries that are not playing their part in climate change, the US and Australian governments looked to the WTO to protect them from such a border tax as a restriction on trade.
Greens have intervened in WTO cases to push for the environment and people to be brought into the picture. We have had some successes but the WTO is still putting the health of commerce ahead of the health of the planet and people.
While the Labour National Party uncritically accept the parameters of the WTO, the Green movement has been working to change those parameters and to ensure that global environmental agreements trump global trade agreements — because if there is no environment there is no economy. It would be fair to say that green globalisation still has some way to go in changing the international rules of commerce but we have not finished with it yet.
Green globalisation means standing up for democracy in China alongside those many millions of Chinese that want democracy. While the Labour National Party bends over backwards to get a free trade deal with China regardless of the cost to NZ and regardless that it means muting our criticism of the democratic, environmental and human rights violations going on, the Greens support Chinese democrats, environmentalists and trade unionists to advance rights for Chinese people and protect the rapidly deteriorating environment in China. When the New Zealand police took instructions from the Chinese Embassy and removed a press gallery accredited journalist from a public ceremony it was the Greens that stood up for democracy and freedom of speech. In doing this we are part of a global movement for more democracy in China.
Green globalisation is different to corporate globalisation. It is about people all over the planet recognising that we share common concerns and acting together globally and locally.
Green globalisation is about encouraging values of caring for people and planet. The onslaught of the new right in the 1980s and 1990s has left a cultural legacy of a certain hardness to the suffering of others and a callousness at profit maximising at all possible costs. The brazen and unconcerned response of Solid Energy to public outrage at their covert infiltration of protest groups and the callous response of Mercury Energy in Auckland are perhaps obvious symbols of this culture of disconnect by the global elites from everyday people.
Green globalisation means trading in goods and services that don't cost the earth.
The Greens have been acting as global citizens but we have also been encouraging and facilitating the emergence of a sustainable international economy.
The phenomenal growth of the organics' sector is an indicator of things to come. It's great to see the Green budget funding for Organics Aotearoa New Zealand have borne fruit. OANZ has a target of a billion dollar organics sector by 2013. Demand for organics is growing at 10% to 20% per annum globally driven by green consumers demands for sustainable food. Fonterra for example is currently producing 25 different organic products and is aiming to have 200 organic dairy farms by 2013. Fonterra is paying farmers a 20% premium on organic milk. An organic dairy industry that does not destroy the aquifers and waterways of the nation, in a country that meets its international climate change commitments, is a dairy industry that we look forward to being proud of.
Of course none of this would have been possible if the pro genetic engineering forces had won back in 2001-2002. By now GE grasses would have spread across the country which would have spelt the end of organic dairy production. Organics is by definition GE free. It was the Green Party and the GE Free movement that kept our options open as an organic food producer. It's worth remembering that the Labour National Party attacked the Greens for our stance on GE in the 2002 election. The country as a whole is now starting to reap the benefits of the foresight of the green movement and our victory in stopping commercial scale GE crops. Labour National said we would destroy the economy. In fact it was the Greens that kept the nation's economic options open to go down the organic path, a path that offers us a clean environment and a secure economic future.
The world has a hunger for clean sustainable food and we have an opportunity to supply that food and get a premium price for it. Already conventionally produced milk solids from New Zealand get a premium because of the international perception of clean and green New Zealand — well let's turn that perception into a reality before the truth is out.
Tourism is our largest single export industry and people come here because New Zealand is safe, because of our fantastic natural environment, and because of the distinct cultural identity of tangata whenua. The successful 100% Pure New Zealand advertising campaign builds on our image as clean and green. Now tell me who is responsible for building the biggest export earner that we have? Is it the financial globalisation ideologues in the National Party who when last in government wanted to log the ancient beech forests on the west coast of the south island? Or is the biggest export earner we have in existence because of the band of grassroots activists in Native Forest Action and the Greens who fought to stop the logging? Would two million tourists a year come to see a logging operation? Who has done the most for the New Zealand economy, Don Elder with his coal mining operations or the late Kevin Smith who made sure that tens of thousands of hectares of ancient forests were saved from the chainsaw so that they could become the centrepiece of our single largest export earner, the tourist industry.
While there are great challenges ahead for tourism in a carbon constrained world, it is another example of the economic power of green globalisation. Tourists care about the environment and that's why they come. But will people still want to come here if Lake Taupo becomes a dead zone full of toxic algae because of fertiliser seepage?
Tourism is happening right now, organics is rapidly developing but there are also some industries that are not too far away. Here's just a few:
The development of an indigenous New Zealand wind generator manufacturing industry bodes well for our future. Wind at the right scale and in the right place is one of the energies of the future and Windflow is a great New Zealand success story that I suspect one day will be a major exporter of high tech wind turbines creating carbon free electricity for people around the world.
Its turbines are of an intermediate size that communities can own rather than the huge industrial size turbines which have their place but can alienate communities.
Investments in tidal and wave power technology now will pay dividends well into the future as countries look for renewable sources of energy generation. We have an opportunity to take the lead in wind and tidal technology to meet our own energy needs and to sell overseas to help other people meet theirs.
The technology to convert wood into liquid biofuels may well be part of the answer to rising fuel prices and climate change. Using woody biomass doesn't have all the problems associated with corn in the US and palm oil in south east Asia. Biojoule, a company based in Taupo is using a non invasive species of willow to produce the woody material to feed into a fermenter using waste heat from a geothermal plant to process the willow into ethanol. It's still experimental and will need careful consideration as to the energy inputs versus energy outputs and whether it displaces other crops but it is promising.
And what about investing in research into the use of wood as a replacement to steel and cement in building. Wood laminates layer wood together to create structural components that are as strong as steel and cement. But in the process they act as a carbon sink and displace the production of steel and cement both of which result in masses of greenhouse emissions. We could become world leaders in this technology.
And the rise of the fair trade movement offers further opportunities for us to engage in trade with developing countries that is both fair and sustainable.
The facts speak for themselves. It is green industries that significantly underpin our exports right now and it is the green industries like organics and renewable energy that will underpin our exports in the future.
Green globalisation and self-reliance
But if on the one hand green globalisation is about engaging with the world to make it more sustainable and fairer, engaging in the world to trade goods and services that are fair and sustainable, the other side of green globalisation is about acting locally to increase our own sustainability and self-reliance.
Self-reliance comes out of locally produced food. The flourishing of farmers' markets around the country is a tremendously positive sign. People buying food produced locally is exactly the kind of self-reliance that is compatible with green globalisation, especially when that food is organic as well, as much of it is at farmers markets. Greens have been talking for a long time about encouraging local production and consumption of food and it's great to see it actually happening.
But how ridiculous is it that the Labour Government continues to oppose mandatory country of origin labelling of food so that consumers in supermarkets don't know whether they are supporting local food producers. In light of the mounting evidence of systemic pollution of food production in China, it is the height of arrogance that this government denies consumers the basic protection of knowing where their food is coming from.
There is also the self-reliance that comes out of making use of our own renewable energy sources instead of imported fossil fuels. How crazy is the National Labour Party's obsession with motorway construction. As the price of oil continues to increase and will only go up further as we approach the point of peak oil production, the government is investing in infrastructure dependent on oil. A key part of the inflationary pressures in the New Zealand economy over the last couple of years has been rising oil prices. We should be investing in public transport infrastructure run on renewably generated electricity instead of road using oil. The electrification of the Auckland rail network is the first step in Auckland but we want to do more — we need to extend the electric rail line back under the city to make a proper loop rather than the dead end that Britomart currently is.
In Wellington we have finally managed to secure the upgrade of the electric trolley buses after a long campaign by the Greens and once the Makara wind project proceeds those buses will truly be powered by the wind. A fantastic alternative to oil based car transport but investment in rail remains woefully inadequate.
Now wind generation has its issues and one of the things we really want to push is to give individuals and communities the ability to generate their own electricity from their own smaller scale wind generators and solar panels on their roofs. New Zealand owned Windflow that I mentioned earlier has developed an innovative 500kw wind generator which is producing power in Manawatu right now. How about giving some incentives for communities around the country to put in one or two or three of these smaller scale generators and let the community get the profits from them. Why should every wind farm be industrial scale?
And why is it virtually impossible to sell renewable electricity to the grid from small scale producers. Why are the regulators letting the electricity companies get away with making it virtually impossible to feed in power to the grid from photovoltaic solar panels on your own roof? They do it overseas why can't we do it here?
We have tremendous opportunities to develop our own renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, solar, tidal and wave power. The talk of importing liquefied natural gas into the country is a recipe for perpetual dependence on overseas energy sources that is completely avoidable.
There is the self-reliance of manufacturing more of our stuff in New Zealand. The Greens' Buy Kiwi Made campaign encourages exactly that kind of self-reliance. By making and consuming more of our own products we reduce our import bill and take some of the pressure off our chronic current account deficit and reduce our contribution to the vast proliferation in oil used to ship products all over the world.
We also need to look to being more self reliant financially. The Greens were proud to deliver the necessary votes in Parliament alongside Labour and the then Alliance party to get Kiwibank off the ground and it is doing well. Locally owned TSB bank is a stellar financial performer. Prometheus is a New Zealand ethical investment company that is going from strength to strength. If we don't want to see hundreds of millions of dollars go overseas in bank profits to foreign owners every year then we need to develop greater self reliance in the financial sector. We have made a small start and we can do more.
These are all examples of how greater self-reliance will place us in a stronger position to engage in the world more on our own terms, rather than simply accept the terms offered up by financial or corporate globalisation.
There is an emerging green globalisation that sees people around the world engaging with each to protect the global commons and to trade in environmentally sustainable goods and services. And there is a green globalisation that sees people being self-reliant in things that make sense such as local food production and local energy sources. The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a part of this green globalisation and we are playing an increasingly important part in New Zealand politics.
A stronger Green identity — Green member and supporter launch
The influence of the Greens in national politics in disproportionately greater than our numbers in the House and is greater than the two spokespeople roles we achieved under the Cooperation Agreement with Labour. The Greens are now firmly established in New Zealand politics because what we say makes sense in a finite world.
Some say the Greens are the third party of New Zealand politics but I say we are the second party because Labour and National are very similar in so many ways. For both of them sustainability is an add-on when the focus groups tell them it's trendy. For the Greens sustainability and fairness is at the very core of who we are.
As I have travelled around the country on the Climate Defence Tour over the last few weeks I have been struck by the growing strength and influence of the party in towns and regions across the country. But this increased influence is placing tremendous pressures on our capacity to perform this greater role. The Greens do not have the giant secret corporate donors that National, in particular, has. There are no Hollow Men bankrolling the party. We rely on our members and supporters to fund the party and indeed to pay my salary.
So in order to help us achieve our goals of a fair and sustainable Aotearoa New Zealand and a fair and sustainable world, today we are launching a member and supporter drive. We want to join up more members, but we are also aware that there are many people who for whatever reason don't or can't join the Green Party but would like to support us in our work. And that is why we are launching the Green Supporter — someone who helps the party out financially without being an actual member.
So I would say to the many New Zealanders who care for this place and this planet and all of its people, and who care for the incredible plants and animals that we share the planet with, become a Green supporter or a Green member and help us care for this place and each other.
The Green Party has an ambition and a vision that these islands will shine like a beacon to the world for sustainability, justice, peace and democracy.
As the great New Zealand patriot Rod Donald once said: "We have high expectations in the Greens, of ourselves and for our nation".
source: 1.Green Conference & AGM 2007, Nelson (http://www.greens.org.nz/speeches/green-globalisation-engagement-and-self-reliance)
2.smart independent Team
9 ways To Reduce your Supply side Energy Cost
1. consolidate all you utility billing data in a single place all parties in your organisation can use it easily
2. pay the lowest cost tariffs you can
3. in deregulated markets chooses the lowest cost provide for your usage patterns
4. Avoid over paying your utility fund billing errors
5. Take advantage of all utility relates and incentives
6.claim all the carbon credits you can
7. don't let your utilities sit on large amounts of your deposit money
8.when you open new facilities or locations make sure you're billed at the most favourable rate from the start
9.Take advantage of other special programs your utilities may offer
source: David Vanican, VERISAIE Envirinmental leader white paper
2. pay the lowest cost tariffs you can
3. in deregulated markets chooses the lowest cost provide for your usage patterns
4. Avoid over paying your utility fund billing errors
5. Take advantage of all utility relates and incentives
6.claim all the carbon credits you can
7. don't let your utilities sit on large amounts of your deposit money
8.when you open new facilities or locations make sure you're billed at the most favourable rate from the start
9.Take advantage of other special programs your utilities may offer
source: David Vanican, VERISAIE Envirinmental leader white paper
Tips To Set Up A Successful Budget
Many people prepare a budget, stick to it, but fail to achieve results. The continuous failure indicates just one thing - something is going wrong. It is time to review your budget and find those loop holes. The best way to do this is to look at the fundamentals. Always remember, if you have not taken care of the basic things properly, even a well-formed and well-planned budget may turn out to be a big disaster. Here is a brief rundown on how to put your budget on the right track.
Why You Are Setting Up A Budget?
Are you setting up a budget just because your friends and colleagues say it is a good idea? If that is the case, you are less likely to succeed in your efforts. Likewise, even following a personal finance workbook word-to-word may not help much because financial situations vary from one person to another. You just have to stick to the fundamental idea – spend lesser than what you earn. The idea is to find your spending weaknesses and get stronger in those areas.
Do You Have A Long-Term Goal In Mind?
In order to prepare a successful budget, it is very important for you to keep a concrete long-term goal in mind. The goal for you may be to achieve the ability to go for a career change, saving for a house, or paying off your debts. This goal is important because budgeting often requires you to make some difficult choices. You may have to cut down your entertainment expenses. You may have to start practicing frugality. These things can be very easy to accomplish when you know that these little uncomfortable choices will actually result in a major gain. Having a specific and tangible long-term goal will keep you motivated.
Have Accurate Data Of How Much You Earn And How Much You Spend
The amount of your annual salary is not the correct figure for your actual income. For example, if you are making $60000 a year, it does not mean you earn $5000 a month. In order to find the accurate figure, you should subtract the amount of income tax and other charges, such as health insurance and auto insurance. Once you do this, you actual income may fall down to $4000 or even less per month. You have to plan your budget considering this figure in mind. Likewise, you should also calculate your expenses in real numbers. You can do this by looking at your regular and irregular bills.
Emergency Fund
While you are adjusting the expenses in your budget, you should also make some room for the “unexpected surprises”. You can do this easily by stocking away a little amount every month in the emergency fund.
Last, but not the least, you should always remember, budgeting is like diet planning. If you have unrealistic goals to achieve, you will never be able to succeed. You definitely cannot reduce your entertainment expenses by 80%. Go slow while trimming down your expenses. Start with a 5% reduction and trim it a bit more after some time and some success. The idea is to make sure that your budget is not based on false assumptions.
sources: http://keep-your-cash.com/tips-to-set-up-a-successful-budget/
Why You Are Setting Up A Budget?
Are you setting up a budget just because your friends and colleagues say it is a good idea? If that is the case, you are less likely to succeed in your efforts. Likewise, even following a personal finance workbook word-to-word may not help much because financial situations vary from one person to another. You just have to stick to the fundamental idea – spend lesser than what you earn. The idea is to find your spending weaknesses and get stronger in those areas.
Do You Have A Long-Term Goal In Mind?
In order to prepare a successful budget, it is very important for you to keep a concrete long-term goal in mind. The goal for you may be to achieve the ability to go for a career change, saving for a house, or paying off your debts. This goal is important because budgeting often requires you to make some difficult choices. You may have to cut down your entertainment expenses. You may have to start practicing frugality. These things can be very easy to accomplish when you know that these little uncomfortable choices will actually result in a major gain. Having a specific and tangible long-term goal will keep you motivated.
Have Accurate Data Of How Much You Earn And How Much You Spend
The amount of your annual salary is not the correct figure for your actual income. For example, if you are making $60000 a year, it does not mean you earn $5000 a month. In order to find the accurate figure, you should subtract the amount of income tax and other charges, such as health insurance and auto insurance. Once you do this, you actual income may fall down to $4000 or even less per month. You have to plan your budget considering this figure in mind. Likewise, you should also calculate your expenses in real numbers. You can do this by looking at your regular and irregular bills.
Emergency Fund
While you are adjusting the expenses in your budget, you should also make some room for the “unexpected surprises”. You can do this easily by stocking away a little amount every month in the emergency fund.
Last, but not the least, you should always remember, budgeting is like diet planning. If you have unrealistic goals to achieve, you will never be able to succeed. You definitely cannot reduce your entertainment expenses by 80%. Go slow while trimming down your expenses. Start with a 5% reduction and trim it a bit more after some time and some success. The idea is to make sure that your budget is not based on false assumptions.
sources: http://keep-your-cash.com/tips-to-set-up-a-successful-budget/
I Fear for the Future energy and capital practical investment analysis in new energy economy
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
By Nick Hodge | Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
In one of his first-ever articles for Energy & Capital, Chris Nelder asked, “Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?”
The question stems from research done by Dr. Albert Bartlett at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Here's an excerpt from his findings:
Bacteria grow by doubling. One bacterium divides to become two, the two divide to become 4, become 8, 16 and so on. Suppose we had bacteria that doubled in number this way every minute. Suppose we put one of these bacteria into an empty bottle at eleven in the morning, and then observe that the bottle is full at twelve noon. There's our case of just ordinary steady growth, it has a doubling time of one minute, and it's in the finite environment of one bottle. I want to ask you three questions.
Number one; at which time was the bottle half full? Well, would you believe 11:59, one minute before 12, because they double in number every minute?
Second question: if you were an average bacterium in that bottle at what time would you first realize that you were running of space? Well let's just look at the last minute in the bottle. At 12 noon it's full, one minute before it's half full, 2 minutes before its 1/4 full, then 1/8, then 1/16. Let me ask you: at 5 minutes before 12, when the bottle is only 3% full, and 97% is open space just yearning for development, how many of you would realize there's a problem?
Population growth and/or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained. That's simple arithmetic. It's intellectually dishonest to talk about saving the environment, which is sustainability, without stressing the obvious facts that stopping population growth is a necessary condition for saving the environment and for sustainability.
The point is worth pondering.
As Dr. Bartlett also notes, if our 1.3%-per-year population growth rate continues, “the world population would grow to a density of one person per square meter on the dry land surface of the earth in just 780 years, and then the mass of people would equal the mass of the earth in just 2,400 years."
It's why he ultimately concluded: "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."
Advertisement
There Are Now 7 Billion People in the World
But the amount of oil we have stays the same.
Unless the law of supply and demand is broken...
Oil prices have to rise.
You can get burned, or you can take advantage.
Your choice.
I Fear for the Future
I don't fear for my future.
I don't even fear for my kids' futures. (I don't have any yet. More on that below.)
What I fear for is my great-grandkids' futures, for the effects of the most severe problems we face today won't be felt until that time.
It's sad, but the effects are happening literally on a glacial scale.
If they happened faster, we'd act with more urgency.
I've been telling you for months the world's population would hit 7 billion this year. The milestone occurred this week with little fanfare. I guess global resource woes are no match for news coverage against an early Northeast snow...
Anyhow, it's this yeast idea that's had my brain turning for the past few days.
And I've concluded that many of us are not smarter than yeast — or at least, we're way more easily distracted. None of the yeast realized they'd be out of space in a minute's time. Frankly, not many humans do, either.
Take a look at this chart of population growth since the Homo genus appeared:
Just like the yeast, we had plenty of space (and resources) for so long that we were unable to feel the coming constraints.
We only had 1 billion people on earth at the turn of the nineteenth century. Then something called the Industrial Revolution happened, making machine power more easy to come by than manpower and cheap food available to all who needed it.
From there, even though it took us all of eternity to reach 1 billion, we hit 2 billion in 1922, 3 billion in 1959, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1999, and 7 billion just this week.
Notice anything there?
Advertisement
East African Nation about to become Trillion-Dollar Economy
Today, its GDP is just around $40 billion... but in a few short years, this number could grow by a factor of 100.
And it's all because of a fossil fuel deposit — one of the biggest ever discovered.
Find out who just bought this property — and the staggering resource they're about to pump out.
There are fewer and fewer years between each billion we add on.
It took 118 years to go from 1 billion to 2 billion.
It only took 12 years to get from 6 billion to 7 billion.
We'll Try, We'll Profit
It's no coincidence that a chart of global population syncs up perfectly with a chart of corn yield per acre:The ability to get more grain from the same fields is, after all, the main contributing factor to our exploding population.
What allowed for this explosion in production?
Cheap oil and gas, fertilizers, hybrid seeds, mechanized equipment, etc.
Cheap is the key word here. Corn prices fell inversely to production increases:
But how much more corn — or wheat or rice or rye or soy or canola or, or, or — can we continue to extract from the same acreage?
How much more oil can we extract? Can we get it fast enough?
Make no mistake; many of the problems we face today can be directly attributed to a sharp rise in population: water shortages and disease in the Third World, immigration, health care...
No one can come out and say, “We must start limiting population.” (Death Panels, anyone?)
Instead, we'll try to innovate and engineer our way out of the population problem. And our solutions will continue to push the limits of man and technology.
Think about it...
When we needed more oil in 1959, where did we go? We went to Saudi Arabia, where there was plenty of easy oil.
What do we do today? We heat up bitumen frozen underground in sedimentary rock using steam assisted gravity drainage. We didn't do that with 3 billion people on the earth...
Ever hear of a rare earth shortage in 1987? That's because there were two billion less of us needing electronics, advanced motors, and batteries.
The lead time between innovation and reality is tenuous, to be sure.
Remember the food crisis three years ago, where sharply rising prices in 2006 and 2007 (CORRELATION ALERT: because of rising oil prices) led to panics and stockpiling in early 2008?
Brazil and India banned rice exports. Riots broke out from Burkina Faso to Somalia. George W. Bush asked Congress to approve $770 million for international food aid. But by October, something else was on everyone's mind...
Bush went from asking for food aid to signing the $700 billion TARP bailout into law.
And while the worries of recession still dominate the minds of many, those of us who understand the exponential function know more problems await us.
The arrival of our 7 billionth inhabitant felt like a good time to remind you of that.
Cheap energy and land are where your money should be. That's where mine is.
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital
P.S. I wanted to pass along one other sentiment without having to claim direct responsibility for it. A comment I found on a related article while doing research allows me to do that perfectly. This commenter laments:
The real tragedy is that we are having the wrong kind of babies. That survival of the fittest is not happening but society is getting dumber. I know so many highly educated people who don't plan to have any children and high school dropouts that are bragging about grandchildren at 40. All we are breeding into society are macho, aggressive males and females who are unable to count the days of the month. These traits are not going to work well as the environment goes down because of overpopulation. I fear for the future.
... me, too.
Related Articles
Preparing for Energy Battle
Population's Effect on the Future of Energy
Weekend: Population, Food, and Oil
Water Scarcity Creating Investment Opportunities
From the Archives...
Owes for Energy Department Loan
2011-10-31 - Brianna Panzica
Population Hits a Milestone on Halloween
2011-10-31 - Brianna Panzica
Energy and Capital's Weekend Edition
2011-10-29 - Nick Hodge
Odd Trends for the 3rd Quarter
2011-10-28 - Brianna Panzica
The Two Best Investments in U.S. Oil Security
2011-10-28 - Keith Kohl
Economic Releases for the week of Monday, October 31st, 2011:
Nov 01 - ISM Index
Nov 03 - Productivity
Nov 04 - Average Workweek
Nov 04 - Hourly Earnings
Oct 31 - Chicago PMI
Nov 01 - Construction Spending
Nov 01 - Auto and Truck Sales
Nov 02 - MBA Mortgage Purchase Index
Nov 03 - Factory Orders
Nov 03 - ISM Services
Nov 04 - Nonfarm Payrolls
Nov 04 - Unemployment Rate
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In one of his first-ever articles for Energy & Capital, Chris Nelder asked, “Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?”
The question stems from research done by Dr. Albert Bartlett at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Here's an excerpt from his findings:
Bacteria grow by doubling. One bacterium divides to become two, the two divide to become 4, become 8, 16 and so on. Suppose we had bacteria that doubled in number this way every minute. Suppose we put one of these bacteria into an empty bottle at eleven in the morning, and then observe that the bottle is full at twelve noon. There's our case of just ordinary steady growth, it has a doubling time of one minute, and it's in the finite environment of one bottle. I want to ask you three questions.
Number one; at which time was the bottle half full? Well, would you believe 11:59, one minute before 12, because they double in number every minute?
Second question: if you were an average bacterium in that bottle at what time would you first realize that you were running of space? Well let's just look at the last minute in the bottle. At 12 noon it's full, one minute before it's half full, 2 minutes before its 1/4 full, then 1/8, then 1/16. Let me ask you: at 5 minutes before 12, when the bottle is only 3% full, and 97% is open space just yearning for development, how many of you would realize there's a problem?
Population growth and/or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained. That's simple arithmetic. It's intellectually dishonest to talk about saving the environment, which is sustainability, without stressing the obvious facts that stopping population growth is a necessary condition for saving the environment and for sustainability.
The point is worth pondering.
As Dr. Bartlett also notes, if our 1.3%-per-year population growth rate continues, “the world population would grow to a density of one person per square meter on the dry land surface of the earth in just 780 years, and then the mass of people would equal the mass of the earth in just 2,400 years."
It's why he ultimately concluded: "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."
Advertisement
There Are Now 7 Billion People in the World
But the amount of oil we have stays the same.
Unless the law of supply and demand is broken...
Oil prices have to rise.
You can get burned, or you can take advantage.
Your choice.
I Fear for the Future
I don't fear for my future.
I don't even fear for my kids' futures. (I don't have any yet. More on that below.)
What I fear for is my great-grandkids' futures, for the effects of the most severe problems we face today won't be felt until that time.
It's sad, but the effects are happening literally on a glacial scale.
If they happened faster, we'd act with more urgency.
I've been telling you for months the world's population would hit 7 billion this year. The milestone occurred this week with little fanfare. I guess global resource woes are no match for news coverage against an early Northeast snow...
Anyhow, it's this yeast idea that's had my brain turning for the past few days.
And I've concluded that many of us are not smarter than yeast — or at least, we're way more easily distracted. None of the yeast realized they'd be out of space in a minute's time. Frankly, not many humans do, either.
Take a look at this chart of population growth since the Homo genus appeared:
Just like the yeast, we had plenty of space (and resources) for so long that we were unable to feel the coming constraints.
We only had 1 billion people on earth at the turn of the nineteenth century. Then something called the Industrial Revolution happened, making machine power more easy to come by than manpower and cheap food available to all who needed it.
From there, even though it took us all of eternity to reach 1 billion, we hit 2 billion in 1922, 3 billion in 1959, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1999, and 7 billion just this week.
Notice anything there?
Advertisement
East African Nation about to become Trillion-Dollar Economy
Today, its GDP is just around $40 billion... but in a few short years, this number could grow by a factor of 100.
And it's all because of a fossil fuel deposit — one of the biggest ever discovered.
Find out who just bought this property — and the staggering resource they're about to pump out.
There are fewer and fewer years between each billion we add on.
It took 118 years to go from 1 billion to 2 billion.
It only took 12 years to get from 6 billion to 7 billion.
We'll Try, We'll Profit
It's no coincidence that a chart of global population syncs up perfectly with a chart of corn yield per acre:The ability to get more grain from the same fields is, after all, the main contributing factor to our exploding population.
What allowed for this explosion in production?
Cheap oil and gas, fertilizers, hybrid seeds, mechanized equipment, etc.
Cheap is the key word here. Corn prices fell inversely to production increases:
But how much more corn — or wheat or rice or rye or soy or canola or, or, or — can we continue to extract from the same acreage?
How much more oil can we extract? Can we get it fast enough?
Make no mistake; many of the problems we face today can be directly attributed to a sharp rise in population: water shortages and disease in the Third World, immigration, health care...
No one can come out and say, “We must start limiting population.” (Death Panels, anyone?)
Instead, we'll try to innovate and engineer our way out of the population problem. And our solutions will continue to push the limits of man and technology.
Think about it...
When we needed more oil in 1959, where did we go? We went to Saudi Arabia, where there was plenty of easy oil.
What do we do today? We heat up bitumen frozen underground in sedimentary rock using steam assisted gravity drainage. We didn't do that with 3 billion people on the earth...
Ever hear of a rare earth shortage in 1987? That's because there were two billion less of us needing electronics, advanced motors, and batteries.
The lead time between innovation and reality is tenuous, to be sure.
Remember the food crisis three years ago, where sharply rising prices in 2006 and 2007 (CORRELATION ALERT: because of rising oil prices) led to panics and stockpiling in early 2008?
Brazil and India banned rice exports. Riots broke out from Burkina Faso to Somalia. George W. Bush asked Congress to approve $770 million for international food aid. But by October, something else was on everyone's mind...
Bush went from asking for food aid to signing the $700 billion TARP bailout into law.
And while the worries of recession still dominate the minds of many, those of us who understand the exponential function know more problems await us.
The arrival of our 7 billionth inhabitant felt like a good time to remind you of that.
Cheap energy and land are where your money should be. That's where mine is.
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital
P.S. I wanted to pass along one other sentiment without having to claim direct responsibility for it. A comment I found on a related article while doing research allows me to do that perfectly. This commenter laments:
The real tragedy is that we are having the wrong kind of babies. That survival of the fittest is not happening but society is getting dumber. I know so many highly educated people who don't plan to have any children and high school dropouts that are bragging about grandchildren at 40. All we are breeding into society are macho, aggressive males and females who are unable to count the days of the month. These traits are not going to work well as the environment goes down because of overpopulation. I fear for the future.
... me, too.
Related Articles
Preparing for Energy Battle
Population's Effect on the Future of Energy
Weekend: Population, Food, and Oil
Water Scarcity Creating Investment Opportunities
From the Archives...
Owes for Energy Department Loan
2011-10-31 - Brianna Panzica
Population Hits a Milestone on Halloween
2011-10-31 - Brianna Panzica
Energy and Capital's Weekend Edition
2011-10-29 - Nick Hodge
Odd Trends for the 3rd Quarter
2011-10-28 - Brianna Panzica
The Two Best Investments in U.S. Oil Security
2011-10-28 - Keith Kohl
Economic Releases for the week of Monday, October 31st, 2011:
Nov 01 - ISM Index
Nov 03 - Productivity
Nov 04 - Average Workweek
Nov 04 - Hourly Earnings
Oct 31 - Chicago PMI
Nov 01 - Construction Spending
Nov 01 - Auto and Truck Sales
Nov 02 - MBA Mortgage Purchase Index
Nov 03 - Factory Orders
Nov 03 - ISM Services
Nov 04 - Nonfarm Payrolls
Nov 04 - Unemployment Rate
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Energy and Capital, Copyright © 2011, Angel Publishing LLC, 1012 Morton St, Baltimore, MD 21201. All rights reserved. No statement or expression of opinion, or any other matter herein, directly or indirectly, is an offer or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities or financial instruments mentioned. While we believe the sources of information to be reliable, we in no way represent or guarantee the accuracy of the statements made herein. Energy and Capital does not provide individual investment counseling, act as an investment advisor, or individually advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment. The publisher, editors and consultants of Angel Publishing may actively trade in the investments discussed in this newsletter. They may have substantial positions in the securities recommended and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. Neither the publisher nor the editors are registered investment advisors. Subscribers should not view this publication as offering personalized legal or investment counseling. Investments recommended in this publication should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company in question. Unauthorized reproduction of this newsletter or its contents by Xerography, facsimile, or any other means is illegal and punishable by law.
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