Beim Klimawandel geht es ums Überleben, Frau Merkel!

Es ist schon pervers. Seit Jahrzehnten ist kein Geld da für das was wirklich wichtig ist. Die Entwicklungshilfe ist weit vom 0,7% Ziel entfernt; zum Schutz der biologischen Vielfalt fehlt das Geld obwohl ihre Zerstörung uns teuer zu stehen kommt; das Geld für eine Energierevolution fehlt - oder fliesst auch heute noch in fossile Energien. Geld aber ist da, wenn sich Banker verzocken und die Vorhersagen derer von uns, denen bei der zunehmenden Liberalisierung der Finanzmärkte in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten zunehmend schwindlig wurde, wahr werden. Sicher, ein staatliches Eingreifen jetzt war nötig. Aber dies ist es auch für den Klimaschutz. Der Emissionshandel darf nicht aufgeweicht werden. Die EU muss bis 2020 ihre Emissionen zu Hause um 30% im Vergleich zu 1990 senken. Ohne wenn und aber. Und wenn sich die Industrieländer in Kopenhagen 2009 hinstellen und sagen, sie hätten kein Geld um erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz in Entwicklungsländer zu fördern, dann wissen spätestens jetzt alle - sie lügen! Danke, deshalb, an die Klima Allianz und ein breites Bündnis von Gruppen für die Anzeige im Handelsblatt oben (durch draufklicken wird sie groß und lesbar!). Beim Klimawandel geht es ums überleben! Hier und hier könnt ihr aktiv werden - für ein EU Energie- und Klimapaket, das diesen Namen verdient.

Drill, baby, drill!

Bruce does it again ...

The polls are looking better just now. But, man, I just wish I was where it matters. I wish, I was where I was 4 years ago - walking around endlessly in the streets of a marginal state, like Ohio. I wish I was doing the - still tough, as this New Yorker story shows- job of ´selling´ Obama to white working class Americans, like some of my best friends. Instead, I sit here, increasingly nervous, reduced to wearing an Obama button around Berlin. I only watch on youtube, what I experienced first hand in 2004. But, truth be told, that can be fun. In 2004, Bruce Springsteen gave the most moving speech I heard on the election trail. He was so obviously the better speaker than Kerry, that it was almost a little embarassing ... The Boss will not compete with Obama on eloquence (nor would he want to, I imagine). But he is once again speaking freely and beautifully as he travels the country to get out the vote. Watch it!

Noble Prize Blogger ...

This is the first time someone I read regularly gets the Noble Prize for Economics. So, if you don´t yet follow Krugman´s columns for the New York Times, now is a good time to start!

Organic beer, Dutch and Swedish style ...

Call me an old fashioned Greenie. But I have to confess, I couldn´t believe my eyes when I searched for organic beers in a Coop store in Malmoe, Sweden, and the only beer I could find was in a can! I was appalled. Not just because beers just don´t taste right after being stored in a can. But also because it seemed just too ironic: an organic brew in environmentally most dubious packaging. But, of course, I was still curious to try (and there was no other store anywhere near the European Social Forum, that had brought me to Malmoe). I was also curious to find out whether Abro, the brewer, would justify the choice of their packaging on their website. They don´t.. I guess they don´t feel they have to, being Sweden´s oldest and largest brewing giant. Should I complain - or just be happy that such a mainstream firm has an organic beer in their range, I wonder!? - Abro describes their organic ´oel´ as ´discreet´; they somehow detect a flavour of citrus in their brew. Their ´discrete´, to be honest, struck me as simply bland. If you think Carlsberg is a decent lager, you might just like this beer. If you are a fan of boring - and slightly sweet - lagers, go for it. But if your taste is for real Pilsner, do not touch it (and not just because it comes in a can!) - Real Pilsner is also not something the Dutch are famous for (sorry). But the Brouwereij ´t IJ does make a fine one! It´s flavoursome, strong, and slightly bitter. It´s how a Pilsner should be. Their wheat beer is also special. It´s strong (7%) and, for a wheat beer, surprisingly somber and hoppy. Not just because of it´s high alcohol content, it´s not a beer I can imagine having a few of on a hot summer day. But it is a true beer experience, and a special, unique taste. It´s a treat; and just right for a dark autumn night in need of some spice. - Luckily, I have four more ´t IJ beers to try over the next few weeks. I got a box of six from my wonderful Greenpeace colleagues as a farewell present. Thanks, Nathalie. Cheers to the Hotel California!

Save Warrender Park Road Post Office!

When I lived where Rebus lives in Marchmont, Edinburgh, one of the many things I loved about the community there was the local post office. It was a place of community and chatter - and even when I sent very heavy parcels to Germany, I got a smile - and some extra beautiful stamps. I was thus shocked to hear, that this post office is under threat of closure. No way! That place is magic - and a lifeline for pensioners in Marchmont, in particular. Sign the petition against the closure here. I was amused to see, that there is already a youtube video to defend Warrender Park Post Office. Have a look, it's sweet:

P.S. Local sources inform me that the closure is now certain. Shame! Shame, shame, shame! Another example of simplistic economic logic wripping the heart out of a community ...

Sticking to one's principles ...

It is a good thing to stand firm on what one believes in. But may be this shop in the Copenhagen train station is taking it a bit far. After all, "what doesn't bend, breaks" (ani difranco and, incidentally, all I ever learned in Higher Physics ...).

No. Never. Ever. ;-)