Links/blurbs for articles that have recently been sent through the Climate Crisis Coalition Newfeed that bear directly on topics at the Health and Sustainability Conference, one of the best I've ever attended. Click on the lined titles.
(of course everything is related and connected to everything else) Jeanne Health Turning the Ride to School Into a Walk. Commentary by Jane E. Brody, The New York Times, September 11, 2007. "Forty years ago, half of all students walked or bicycled to school. Today, fewer than 15 percent travel on their own steam. One-quarter take buses, and about 60 percent are transported in private automobiles, usually driven by a parent or, sometimes, a teenager. The change was primarily motivated by parents' safety concerns -- a desire to protect their children from traffic hazards and predators. But it has had several unfortunate consequences. Children's lives have become far more sedentary. They are fatter than ever and at greater risk of developing hypertension, diabetes and heart disease at young ages. The sedentary life also affects their behavior and the ability to learn. ... Higher Gasoline Price Seen Trimming Down Americans. Reuters, September 11, 2007. "Higher U.S. gasoline prices may slim more than just wallets, according to a new study from Washington University in St. Louis. Entitled Silver Lining? The Connection between Gas Prices and Obesity, the study found that an additional $1 per gallon in real gasoline prices would reduce U.S. obesity by 15 percent after five years. The report, written by Charles Courtemanche for his doctoral dissertation in health economics, found that the 13 percent rise in obesity between 1979 and 2004 can be attributed to falling pump prices…Higher gasoline prices can reduce obesity by leading people to walk or cycle instead of drive and eat leaner at home ... Medical Conference With Global Warming Theme Begins in Chicago. By Jean-Louis Santini, Agence France-Presse, September 18, 2007. "12,000 physicians and scientists began meeting here Monday to debate ways to fight bacteria resistant to drugs and the effects of global-warming on germs. The American Society for Microbiology meeting is billed as the world's biggest conference on disease-causing microbes. For the first time at the annual event, 'the keynote session is going to be on climate change and the impact on human disease,' spokesman Jim Sliwa... 'We know that climate change is going to change the pattern of infectious diseases,' he said. 'As global average temperature increases, we know ... for example, the malaria line in mountainous regions will continue to rise,' he said. 'We know also in the tropics influenza is year-round. There is no influenza season, so as the temperature rises the tropical areas expand and we'll get more year-round influenza.'" Buildings Building Codes Lag Behind NYC Mayor's Vision. By Anthony DePalma, The New York Times, September 16, 2007. "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's ambitious sustainability plan for New York's future (PlanNYC 2030) makes expanding the use of alternative power sources a top priority. It specifically calls for more small rooftop electricity generators that burn cleanly and reduce peak demand on Con Ed. But a plan, no matter how visionary, means little until the nuts and bolts of building codes and regulations have been put into place. And as David Birnbaum, the president of a Manhattan telecommunications firm, has discovered, bureaucratic delay and red tape can endlessly snarl a project, even one so encouraged by the administration. Mr. Birnbaum's company, Public Interest Network Services, hired a local engineering firm last year to install a state-of-the-art, natural gas-fired 65-kilowatt microturbine on the roof of the company's building on West 17th Street in Chelsea. The new unit, installed in February, provides exactly the kind of distributed power generation called for in Mr. Bloomberg's 25-year plan for a greener city, which was released in April.... Consumption Beyond Green Shopping. Commentary by Jerry Mander and John Cavanagh, The Nation Magazine, September 14, 2007. "Sorry, but shopping, even 'smart' shopping, is not our way out of the crisis. All that stuff is made of something scarce that came from the Earth, and it took scarce energy to put it together. Overconsumption, corporatism, advertising, the drive for growth and profit--those are the roots of this crisis. Real solutions begin with recognition that the Earth has limits that are now in plain sight. Ultimately all solutions will involve 'powering down,' using less energy, fewer materials--less consumerism. 'Less and local' should be the standard, as well as deeply rethinking whether we can afford a system based on growth and wealth accumulation rather than sustainability, sufficiency and equity. On the point of equity, the key question is, 'How can we make the shift to less resource consumption while recognizing that many places do not now have enough, because of centuries of theft by industrial nations?' There will never be a permanent solution to these mega-problems without a good plan for wealth transfers to correct imbalances and achieve equity both within nations and among them. Far-reaching debt cancellation would be a start. And global agreements on water rights and reduced oil consumption can help jump-start the shift from global to local. Great crises also bring great opportunity. That's the impetus for a Washington teach-in, September 14-16, sponsored by the International Forum on Globalization, the Institute for Policy Studies and The Nation Institute." Beyond Green Shopping. Commentary by Jerry Mander and John Cavanagh, The Nation Magazine, September 14, 2007. "Sorry, but shopping, even 'smart' shopping, is not our way out of the crisis. All that stuff is made of something scarce that came from the Earth, and it took scarce energy to put it together. Overconsumption, corporatism, advertising, the drive for growth and profit--those are the roots of this crisis. Real solutions begin with recognition that the Earth has limits that are now in plain sight. Ultimately all solutions will involve 'powering down,' using less energy, fewer materials--less consumerism. 'Less and local' should be the standard, as well as deeply rethinking whether we can afford a system based on growth and wealth accumulation rather than sustainability, sufficiency and equity. On the point of equity, the key question is, 'How can we make the shift to less resource consumption while recognizing that many places do not now have enough, because of centuries of theft by industrial nations?' There will never be a permanent solution to these mega-problems without a good plan for wealth transfers to correct imbalances and achieve equity both within nations and among them. Far-reaching debt cancellation would be a start. And global agreements on water rights and reduced oil consumption can help jump-start the shift from global to local. Great crises also bring great opportunity. That's the impetus for a Washington teach-in, September 14-16, sponsored by the International Forum on Globalization, the Institute for Policy Studies and The Nation Institute." ________________________________________________________________________ Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
