Green News

“I feel betrayed by these statements. Bono and Geldof have made our job more difficult”: So says George Monbiot, commenting on what happens when a few naive, well-meaning celebrities get conned by slick corporatist propaganda artists into endorsing regressive policies with a progressive veneer.

Honoring Children: My suggested tagline last year for a united progressive/green movement was “a legacy for our children”. Children’s performer Raffi is spearheading such a movement with the tagline “honoring children”, with the expectation that not only could this lead to healthier, happier, more productive members of the next generation, but might also make us think twice about the social, environmental and economic burdens our reckless, short-term thinking will burden them with.

Aggregating Environment-Friendly Commerce: Another new movement, Zero Footprint, is attempting to unite all producers of environmentally friendly and socially responsible products under a single umbrella ‘brand’ called 0Footprint. It’s a great idea, but unfortunately the group does not plan to certify or audit those companies that join the bandwagon, so it could easily become a cover for wolves in sheeps’ clothing. Already the site has a link to the so-called Global Sustainability 100 Companies, a ‘greenwash’ site by the Davos corporatists to try to portray some very irresponsible companies as environmentally friendly.

Conference to Establish an Environmental University: A Canadian group is trying to establish a university here that is similar in objectives to the UK’s Schumacher College or the US College of the Atlantic. Founding meeting is in Quebec August 27-29.

Conference on Animal Rights: An umbrella meeting of animal rights organizations is occurring in LA July 7-11.