weekly compilation 02.03.2012

Here's our weekly round up of the stories in the news that are relevant to our campaigns:

Biodiversity
RT @dpcarrington: Video: George Osborne's green dream. Friday fun from RSPB @Natures_Voice http://bit.ly/yUHtpM #eg
GM wheat? NO THANKS! http://bit.ly/zo30b5
Oliver Letwin: environmental rules could be 'great deal simpler' http://bit.ly/A7sKkL - so many contradictions in this!
Funding boost to help restore habitats in West Midlands: http://bit.ly/x2ibly - well done Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust!

Energy & Climate Change
What a cheery thing to read at the end of Friday: "Oil prices: 10 reasons to be fearful" - why are we still hooked? http://bit.ly/y8Z3GW
MP @giselastuart to question government over lack of support for community energy: http://bit.ly/xPCEiD
MT @MartynWilliams2: Telegraph don't get #renewable subsidies *should* taper - meant to fall as costs come down http://tgr.ph/AuiCef
RT @Martin_Abrams: Melting Arctic link to cold, snowy UK winters http://bbc.in/yXxdIt #climate #arctic #emissions
RT @the_ecologist: Are the 'Big Six' energy companies blocking renewables in the UK? http://bit.ly/xcIk53 - we'd say yes.

RT @dpcarrington: Exclusive new data reveals folly of betting UK's #energy future on #gas over #wind http://gu.com/p/35zcd/tw
RT @dpcarrington: UK gives five times more public subsidies to #fossil fuels than to #wind power http://gu.com/p/35mmd/tw

Planning
RT @digbeth: New DiG blog post, The Future of Localisation and Devolution - http://tinyurl.com/7y6sjs9
Serious questions for the council to answer about how they're allowing @QuintainPLC to demolish #saveislandhouse http://bit.ly/Ad7Ha4
"Cabinet singles out planning system as 'blockage' to growth" Frightening, despite all evidence, they still believe it! http://bit.ly/w5OgDS
RT @KCSharedSpace: Shared space key to the future of urban centres http://bit.ly/wCdzeF
RT @RachelGillies: There is now a website for developing a #BalsallHeath Neighbourhood Plan. http://bit.ly/y3b8JE

Transport
RT @AirportWatch: Excellent analysis of airport jobs "Airport jobs false hopes cruel hoax" by Brendon Sewill in 2009: http://bit.ly/A4n57V

Green Light for More Noise and Pollution: http://bit.ly/xDlIt3 Sadly Australian & Canadian pension funds invest in climate change and noise.
RT @AirportWatch: AEF reports that global aviation emissions up by 11% in 5 years despite recession: http://bit.ly/whKBqJ
RT @jrf_uk: Transport poverty is hitting the headlines – it’s time for fair thinking on fuel http://bit.ly/yPNPrb via@leftfootfwd
"Even if people prefer a 3rd runway to Boris Island, doesn’t mean they like either" http://bit.ly/xmUtF5 excellent blog post by John Stewart

Waste & Resource Use
RT @greenbirmingham: “@GuardianSustBiz: ticking time bomb: minerals/metals scarcity in manufacturing http://bit.ly/AChu79”
RT @Greenpeace: Oil companies are risking the future of the Arctic for only 3 years worth of oil. #savethearctic http://bit.ly/w3m4oy
Who is profiting at the planet's expense? http://bit.ly/zcApPh

Others
Davey promises steady hand and aggressive growth for green sector: http://bit.ly/x68vWv - some interesting stuff in here & from #Letwin

Joe Peacock: Finding a new economic path to shape our city of the future: http://bit.ly/AzBSet via @birminghampost
Make sure you register here for "City of the Future" public debate. 4 experts will give new hope for a better economy: http://bit.ly/A6EeX3
We've added a blog post about the Sustainability Spring Fair now: http://bit.ly/yr0zZM
Back Fairtrade Fortnight – and fair prices for British food producers: http://bit.ly/Aq84Ms
FoodCycle Birmingham Need Your Help! http://bit.ly/yy2OQn
RT @colebagski: I blogged: Streaming council meetings - what's the point?: http://bit.ly/xs3ny6 #localgov #gov20 - We appreciate it.

"protecting our environment and driving economic prosperity are two sides of the same coin." @CraigBennett3 - we agree: http://bit.ly/wHFNZR

New post on our blog "Positive Money is coming to the City of the Future" http://bit.ly/yonkpa
Here's something to whet your appetite for 20th March: http://bit.ly/w1LJbp via @theneweconomics
This Saturday, Take a Fairtrade step and celebrate Fairmined Gold in the Jewellery Quarter: http://yfrog.com/nx2twp
Maureen has been volunteering with us for 5 years, so here's a blog post to say thanks for all she's done: http://bit.ly/yP1dYl

West Mids comes 2nd lowest in terms of life satisfaction. Well-being data reveals stark differences across the country: http://bit.ly/zITBW2
Full line up of speakers confirmed for our "City of the Future" event: http://bit.ly/AzFNbh - it will be great so sign up while spaces left.

Sustainability Spring Fair

The council are putting on their annual Spring Fair on March 10th and we'll be there supporting the event as always.

We're not sure why they use quotation marks on the literature around things such as "electric cars" and "organic carrots", or why they used such an odd picture at the top of the second page to illustrate it, but I'm sure these minor details shouldn't detract from an excellent event.
We hope to see lots of people there learning about all the excellent things that are going on around Birmingham. The idea being that they will then be inspired to live more sustainably themselves.
You won't be able to miss it if you're around Victoria Square on March 10th, anyway - see you there.

Joe Peacock

Positive Money is coming to the City of the Future

I am keen for people to grasp what Positive Money is saying; i.e. that banks create almost all of our nation's money supply and that it is a big problem.

Most people seem to think that the government creates our money and that we all deal in it for the things we need for our daily lives. Unfortunately, this is not so.

Almost all the money in circulation apart from the tiny amount that is bank notes and coins is money created by commercial banks when they issue loans. This makes banks the owners of almost all our money and they get to decide where it goes in the economy. They put it into raising the price of houses which hurts people.

Instead, new money should be created in measured amounts, that won't cause inflation, by the Bank of England, as an asset of the nation. Then the Bank of England (I personally think) should give it to the elected government who should spend it on things that help us run a lively export economy and earn our living in the world by doing stuff that actually makes the world better for people; i.e. infrastructure, university and technical education, science, research, product development and power generation research etc.

It is a crucial change that could actually take place to take the power to create money from the banks and give it to public authority i.e. the Bank of England. Then we'd stand a chance of getting on our feet as a nation and having a good influence on the world. There would be good satisfying jobs and a point to getting a good education so as to be useful players in such a great and honourable endeavour.

I'm really glad that Birmingham Friends of the Earth are putting on the "City of the Future" event where ideas like this can be discussed and there will be plenty more on this at our stall on 20th March at the Council House in Birmingham. See you there.


Dick Rogers

Goodbye to an amazing volunteer

Maureen Kirkbright has been volunteering here for over 5 years, but today, sadly, was her last day, as she decided to retire from her role as membership secretary.

She'll be very much missed for her sterling work making sure our financial supporters are kept up to date with what we're doing and making sure they are reminded to send us money when needed.

She was a real pleasure to have around the office and we were very lucky to be one of the charities she chose to give her time to. A genuinely warm-hearted woman, you could always rely on her to turn up smiling no matter how dull the tasks she had to perform were.

Every charity like ours depends on people like Maureen and we hope that she will be back soon to help us celebrate 35 years in our building, The Warehouse, on April 1st along with a lot of the other volunteers who've helped make those 35 years so successful.

Here's to amazing volunteers everywhere - thank you for the last 5 years, Maureen!

If you'd like to sign up as a member, you can do so here and we'll have a new volunteer to process your details soon.

weekly news compilation 24.02.2012

Here's our weekly round up from the world of twitter of what's been in the news:

Biodiversity
Moss Brook Growers: is there a Birmingham counterpart? http://bit.ly/zIg9or nice story of cooperative organic food growers to replicate.
Seed Event Sat 3 March at Martineau Gardens: http://bit.ly/wnwqfx - grow something new this year.
RT @pauldezylva: "If our pollinating insects disappear most of our favourite foods will too" #Bees #Butterflies, Blooms http://bbc.in/AuGb33

Energy & Climate Change
RT @sarcasmcat: Guarantee our profits or the lights go out, warns #Centrica boss as he holds nation to ransom http://tgr.ph/ySUcwb #bigsix

RT @GreenLibDems: Lucy Lawless—a.k.a Xena the Warrior Princess—Occupies a Shell Oil Drilling Ship http://fb.me/1CDAyyFC1
New blog post by Sara on coming to meet an MP with us today to talk #finaldemand with @shabanaMahmood http://bit.ly/z18PTq

UK urged to support tar sands ban: http://bit.ly/wgkZM6
MT @CraigBennett3: British Gas £500m profits, call on Govt to "slow down" free insulation 4 poorest households: http://bit.ly/ySoRTW #bigsix
British Gas bosses reap rich rewards for failure: http://bit.ly/zuiXlr #finaldemand #ripoff #energy #bigsix
@RichardBurdenMP Will you support EDM number 2730 to End the Big Six Energy Fix? bit.ly/wFfSLn

RT @leohickman: UK gas demand in 2011 at lowest level since 1995 due to mild weather, says DECC http://is.gd/ccsEJN
Energy Act could make Birmingham buildings 'virtually unlettable': http://bit.ly/AvOzP9 - need to get them up to standard urgently.

RT @DECCgovuk: Edward Davey welcomes Ofgem proposals for reform of energy market, http://bit.ly/wXs3gH - Is there going to be progress?

Planning
Problem with #saveislandhouse - Quintain sold plot with outline planning permission for hotel, 106 not enforceable? http://yfrog.com/obccdmp
RT @digbeth: New DiG blog post, Connaught Square Site Sold - http://tinyurl.com/6ohsqrs - keep fingers crossed 4 good developer #notquintain
Latest from @birminghampost on attempts to #saveislandhouse - seems increasingly unlikely to succeed: http://bit.ly/wT3Wg0 #greedydevelopers
RT @getgood: #saveislandhouse RT @digbeth: Worrying developments for those looking to Save Island House - http://tinyurl.com/86gm7je
See you there: RT @BhamEnvironment: Sustainability Forum on draft planning document 'Places for the Future' on 12/3/12: http://bit.ly/woFu6a
RT @BhamEnvironment: Bham's draft planning document 'Places for the Future' out for public consultation until 22/3/12: http://bit.ly/yh7qpF

Transport
RT @birminghampost: Washwood Heath sites could be blighted for 20 years if set aside for #HS2 depot, claims cllr http://tinyurl.com/8yxz83m

RT @bengoldacre: Cameron backs the Times #cyclesafe campaign, great stuff http://thetim.es/xM71vH - Whitby? Bham Post sticking up for cars!
Poor car drivers seem to need sticking up for in Birmingham. Could have fooled us: http://bit.ly/wTXnG3 #waroncyclists #allmoneygoesonroads
RT @london_cycling: Ian Austin MP - spend per person on cycling - Netherlands £20, London £5, rest of UK 79p. #cyclesafe
RT @birminghampost: Give Midlands fair share of transport cash, demand MPs http://bit.ly/xw6zGq & let's have local rail & bus rapid transit
RT @walkitcom: Still Walking - Birmingham festival of walking 15th March - 1st April 2012: http://stillwalking.org/
Traffic chaos after six vehicles crash at Swan Island, Sheldon: http://bit.ly/ydwKYC - seems to have been a lot since the new Tesco opened!
Half of people in UK fear our #roads are unsafe for #cycling: http://bit.ly/w51oEP - We thought it was more than that in #Birmingham.

Waste & Resource Use
MT @ProfTimLang: fossil fuel use by world agriculture grew 50x in last 60 years. Wholly unsustainable: Cornerhouse p20 http://bit.ly/w66Ky0

New blog post: Ethical Shopping - Hard on the High Street? http://bit.ly/AllLM7
RT @poshbirdlikeyou: Firms urged to save #water SE #drought declared - @wwwfoecouk; stop ignoring problem (& solutions) http://bit.ly/yjcFRG

"Let’s ban toilet paper" http://bit.ly/zX3JCp - not sure we can see that campaign taking off. Really should be made from recycled paper.
Nectar trial in Birmingham ‘a great success’: http://bit.ly/wK0FDp - strangely it doesn't say how much #recycling has gone up by.
Sharp rise in waste-fed Anaerobic Digestion plants in UK: http://bit.ly/yRXhtq how long until Bham has some @EBRI_UK?

Others
RT @FinanceBham: Birmingham City Council 1st local authority to take an equity stake in a business http://ow.ly/9eXg3 - interesting move.
Approaching a quarter of the places gone for our "City of the Future" event. Don't miss out, register now: http://bit.ly/A6EeX3

RT @TheBrummie: Events: Volunteer at TheOldPrintWorks, Moseley http://bit.ly/oBjlBN
Who you gonna call? #growthbusters http://www.growthbusters.org/
Interesting and thoughtful piece; "Do we have time to shift values?" http://bit.ly/yCxTNA from the common cause project.

Visiting Summerfield Eco Village with Shabana Mahmood

Today, as part of my year volunteering with Friends of the Earth, I had the opportunity of attending a meeting with MP Shabana Mahmood. Members of Birmingham Friends of the Earth, representatives of New World Solar and Family Housing Association, and local residents met at Memorial Hall on Summerfield Crescent to inform Shabana about Friends of the Earth’s Final Demand campaign and encourage her to support us.

 The campaign calls on the Government to help fix our broken energy system. We are urging David Cameron to launch a public inquiry into the power and influence of the big six energy companies that provide us with 99% of our household energy. We also want the Government to stop axing support for smaller, clean energy companies and community energy projects.

It was great to be able to experience the eco-village of Summerfield first hand and see the innovative energy saving processes that have been installed in the parish office. Examples of these were the light wells that let daylight in through the roof and work as well as electric lights (and look even nicer). Around the walls were displays of the types of insulation used in the walls, including sheep wool. The effects of this were clear immediately on entering the invitingly warm building.

The meeting opened with a brief history of the Summerfield area from local resident Chris Vaughan, who explained that the idea for the parish eco office developed as part of the regeneration of Summerfield, and was unanimously pushed forward by those involved in the project. Chris believes that the renovation of Summerfield is a main factor in making the area a desirable place to live.

Kara Moses and Joe Peacock (Birmingham Friends of the Earth) introduced the Final Demand campaign. Kara talked about the power of the big six, the public’s outrage at the rocketing prices despite a fall in gas prices and the enormous profits of the energy companies despite a fall in sales. Joe spoke about the cuts in Feed in Tariffs and the unstable future of the solar industry that has come about as a result of the Government’s decisions.

Overall, Shabana seemed positive and enthusiastic about a greener future for the West Midlands. She understood the need to start a green revolution, and was aware that the West Midlands is the most fuel poor region in the UK. She expressed particular interest in New World Solar, asking director Mark Clemson for a history and briefing of the company.

Shabana agreed to take away the joint statement for further discussion, and those who attended the meeting had a photo taken outside the parish office.

Sara Linton

Ethical Shopping - Hard on the High Street?

On Monday, we held a discussion meeting on ethical shopping and where we draw the line when it comes to choosing what we buy.

The consensus was that it's very hard to find fair trade/organic lines for a lot of the clothes people need for everyday wear. You can go on ethical consumer to check out a lot of the retailers and some producers, but still there's very little information for most people to make an informed choice about how the products they buy are made.

Most people would not buy things if they knew that children suffered as a result, but ignorance removes their ability to make that choice and people like to think that reasonable behaviour is adopted by most businesses (even when it is not the case).

Emma, who was leading the meeting, has posted round this list of websites where you can buy new clothes online from ethical producers:

Women   Annie Greenabelle www.anniegreenabelle.com Johari www.johari.co.uk Bibico www.bibico.co.uk Ethics Girls www.ethicsgirls.co.uk Chinti and Parker http://www.chintiandparker.com/index.html Nancy Dee www.nancydee.co.uk     Men & Women   Rapanui www.rapanuiclothing.com Environmental Justice Foundation http://www.ejfoundation.org.uk/shopforejf/ Komodo http://www.komodo.co.uk/ Wear Chemistry www.wearchemistry.com Frank & Faith www.frankandfaith.com Pants to Poverty www.pantstopoverty.com Regenerate www.regenerateclothing.com people tree www.peopletree.co.uk Howies www.howies.co.uk Braintree http://www.braintreehemp.co.uk/index.php?cPath=28 Monkee Jeans http://www.monkeegenes.com/     Men   Hot Pot Eco Clothing www.hotpotecoclothing.com     Shoes & Accessories   Bourgeois Boheme www.bboheme.com Ethletic www.thefaircorp.com Katcha Bilek www.re-collect.net beyond skin www.beyondskin.co.uk Simple Shoes http://www1.simpleshoes.com/gb/index.aspx

Of course, we also have to think about second hand instead of new as being a good solution environmentally and also supporting local businesses which may not be branded fair trade, but don't exploit workers and have traceable supply chains.

There is a lot of greenwash about, but we need to make sure the bad practices are stopped in the longer term to protect people and the environment - voting with your wallet is a good way to start.

Joe Peacock