Alaska oil rig grounding refuels Arctic drilling debate

As reported by Reuters in Washington and the SCMP, opponents of Royal Dutch Shell’s ambitious Arctic oil program have called on the Obama administration to put offshore drilling plans in the region on hold after one of the company’s oil rigs broke away from tow boats in high seas and ran aground off Alaska. The accident involved Shell’s Kulluk oil rig; it is one more evidence oil companies are not prepared to safely manage extreme conditions in the new drilling methods, such as in of the Arctic.
As I demonstrate in my book Toxic Capitalism, our society is brainwashed to consume and consume. Unfortunately, to manufacture all those (often useless) consumer goods, we pollute our planet and need more and more energy resources. We can only slowdown this vicious circle by consuming less – and consuming wiser through quality and durability.
We cannot stop going into new technologies and into new areas of exploration. However, it should require careful analysis and without cutting corners. Oil and gas companies show through the approach in fracking and drilling that they cut corners so the gas and oil remain cheap. This is a terrible risk and once again it means shifting the problems to future generations. Remember Deepwater Horizon?

Gilbert on China Radio International, Portuguese section

(follow details in Portuguese about the interview on CRI about the environment and my book Toxic Capitalism)

Uma conversa sobre questão ambiental na China
2012-12-31 15:54:18 cri
http://portuguese.cri.cn/721/2012/12/31/1s160419.htm

A questão ambiental se tornou um dos maiores desafios que a China enfrenta para levar adiante seu desenvolvimento socioeconômico. O país está ciente do problema e começou a tomar medidas concretas.
Acompanhe nesta edição do programa Oriente-se a conversa entre Luiz Tasso Neto e Inês Zhu sobre o tema. Escute também a entrevista com o belga Gilbert Van Kerckhove, autor do livro Capitalismo Tóxico, que aborda o mundo do meio ambiente, focando a situação na China.

Pode ouvir aqui: http://src.cri.cn/rio/121231/oriente1229.mp3

Do the Chinese care about “green products and companies”?

I am frequently being asked how the Chinese feel about Global warming and if they care about green products or green companies.
In “Toxic Capitalism” I refer to a study done by The Carbon Trust. It made a survey of 2,800 young people across six countries that found that 83% of eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds in China would be more loyal to a brand if they could see it was reducing its carbon footprint. Just 57% of U.S. respondents and 55% of young people in the U.K. made the same claim. Globally, 78% of young people said they want their favorite brands to reduce their carbon footprint, but again the Chinese showed the highest demand for emission reductions, with 88% calling on firms to cut their footprint.
In the FCCC Environment Newsletter No 35 (done by my friend Michel Lens), another survey confirms the trend, see here the full text:
The vast majority of Chinese believe climate change is taking place and most consumers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products to reduce its effects, a survey by the Center for China Climate Change Communication has found. Some 93% of respondents said climate change is under way, while about three out of five respondents feel they have been directly affected by it. The study of 4,169 Chinese adults was carried out from July to September.
About 68.4% of respondents said they thought China has already suffered from the effects of climate change, while about half of respondents said it will affect people in rural areas more.
About 90% of respondents said the government should have prime responsibility for dealing with climate change, followed by the public, media, companies and NGOs. Zheng Baowei, Director of Renmin University’s Research Center of Journalism and Social Development, said the government should play a dominant role in adopting measures and designing policies in line with the public’s expectations and interests. More than 93.4% of respondents felt they have knowledge of climate change, while just 6.6% said they had never heard of it. About 60% thought climate change is mainly caused by human activities, while 33% considered it to be mainly caused by the environment. Some 87% of those surveyed said they were willing to pay more for greener products, while more than 34% said they would accept a 30% price rise to buy such products. More than four out of five respondents said they supported the government in setting standards for mandatory garbage separation and waste recycling, adopting greener materials for construction, and producing greener cars, even if it means higher costs. Only 34% of respondents said they separated their garbage, the China Daily reports.

LAJI Couture: a great event about sustainability

On Saturday 8 September Miranda Mullet organized the event that was strongly supported by several Rotaracters (while it was not an official Rotaract event), Ying Ying, Chrystal, Ian, David and many others. It was great, we started before lunch manning several booths, one was shared between Rotaract and myself (to promote my book Toxic Capitalism), others included The Library Project (with whom Rotary and Rotaract work together), the people from Shangrila Farms, Jane Goodall roots&shoots and many more. Later in the evening there were some presentations, by The Library Project, Vincent Rondia (from Belgium) and others, followed by a special fashion show with… improvised models, making it an exciting and unusual catwalk. See the pictures I took during the day and during the fashion show. It was held in Sanlitun Soho (Gongti Bei Lu, Beijing).
For more about the event: See: www.lajicouture.com
Miranda Mullet wrote:
Laji (meaning trash in Chinese) is a public event created to awaken minds and exchange ideas that challenge inefficiencies in manufacturing by promoting a natural cycle.
Laji Couture brings people together that believe in:
– Sustainable infrastructure
– Sustainable economic and cultural development
– Environmental responsibility
As the world develops and populations grow, more and more resources are being depleted. As consumers in the globalized market, we have the opportunity to change this course of action, by being conscious consumers. In communities across the world we are seeing sustainable fashion, art, food, and lifestyles on the rise. In the Beijing community, we are seeing similar trends as people become educated about environmental problems.
We are giving different organizations and individuals the chance to showcase their ideas and creations. At our daytime fair and evening gathering, our participants will use design and creativity to share their vision of sustainability and social responsibility.
“Laji Couture serves as a platform for socially responsible businesses, designers & artists.”


I was really proud of our Rotaracters!

Beijing traffic and my report to the Mayor

I mentioned earlier the report that I delivered to the Beijing Mayor, report that was widely circulated in the Government. At first I thought none of the remarks were taken into account.
Well, maybe they did listen to people like me.
One of my main recommendations was to improve driving manners. See here the article of China Daily, and below the mentioned “bad habits”. Sounds familiar?
Driving manners target of five-year policy, 21 Feb 11, by Chen Xin (China Daily)
As others already pointed out, the new policies should not give us too much hope as enforcement will again be the weakest point. Who will fine bikes who fail to stop for the red light? What is being done about all the cars without a license plate?
Other new positive measures intend to improve parking lots in buildings and related. Too many parkings in buildings are either difficult to use or have simply been converted for other use (like a KTV…).
10 bad habits on the road:
1. forcibly overtaking another vehicle;
2. dangerously weaving between cars;
3. not giving way to pedestrians on a crosswalk;
4. using a cell phone when driving;
5. not wearing a seat belt while driving;
6. freely using the horn;
7. throwing garbage out of car windows;
8. not moving to the curb following a minor traffic accident;
9. running a red light on a bicycle or tricycle;
10. not using a crosswalk or following signals when crossing roads as a pedestrian.
They better hurry up and do something. In the past days we had again AQI levels between 400 and 500. Fortunately today the pollution was blown away and right now we can enjoy a real “blue sky day”.