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MANNA
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Welcome once again to our monthly tree-free newsletter. This issue has a focus on the opportunities presented by industrialized hemp along with an article assessing the anti-globalization efforts and the Kyoto global climate change treaty. In response to the lack of US political leadership on environmental issues, the tide is beginning to shift against President Bush's policies not only with the loss of his Senate majority and consequent Democratic opposition to his policies, but three other significant factors: 1) The strength of calls from his core constituency of faith-based organizations (through the Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign) to support renewable energy and Kyoto; 2) Moderate Republicans voting with Democrats because of concerns that Bush's policies will lead to their defeat and the loss of the House in 2002; and 3) Recent international ratification of Kyoto despite US abstention. This represents a significant opportunity for our sustainability issues to
be heard. We need to highlight the irony of a country (US) that calls for
global free trade while opposing a commitment to Kyoto and forbidding the
growing of industrialized hemp. July 26, 2001 The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we used when we created them. -- Albert EinsteinIn this issue of MANNA... * Featured Article -- One Dead, 80 Injured in Genoa: The Violent Defense of Indefensible Policies * Planetary Sustainability -- World Minus U.S. Agrees to Global Climate Treaty -- It's Getting Hotter for the U.S. * Join Us As We Welcome the Hemp Car on August 1st! * Take Action! -- Tell ExxonMobil to Clean Up Their Act; Tell the House to Vote Against Oil Drilling in ANWR; Members Share Their Roll-Your-Own-Blackout Experiences * Hot Conferences -- First Annual US Society for Ecological Economics Conference * A Sustainable Hospital? By Kate Wattson * Resource of the Month -- Reduce Waste: If Not You, Who? * Organizational Sustainability -- Torricelli Legislation Passes To Protect Schoolchildren from Pesticide Exposure * Personal Sustainability -- Earth Friendly Hemp Farm House Starts Construction * Centers for Spirituality & Sustainability, and Judaism & Sustainability * Our Wish List! * Selected Upcoming Events
Donate your rebate to the Alliance for Sustainability. You can send your check directly to us at 1521 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Or if you prefer, pay by credit card over the phone at 612-331-1099 x2. Your donation will help us to continue offering Manna for free, develop new projects, maintain our up-to-date and information-packed web site, continue our Natural Step trainings and more. Your donation will also be tax deductible. Is this what they call "poetic justice"? What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? --Henry David Thoreau One Dead, 80 Injured in Genoa: The Violent Defense of Indefensible PoliciesJuly 21, 2001, The Nation's Online Beat by John Nichols The slaying by Italian police of a demonstrator outside the Group of Eight summit in Genoa was not the first killing of a protester against corporate globalization. Dozens of activists have been killed in India, Nigeria, Bolivia and other countries where anti-globalization movements are, for reasons of necessity, more advanced and impassioned than those now taking shape in Europe and the United States. The difference is that the killing of one protester and the wounding of more than 80 others in Genoa -- like the shootings at Ohio's Kent State University campus in 1970 -- took place in front of the cameras of western news organizations and independent reporters who transmitted the story to the world. That is a big difference indeed -- especially when the images raise profound questions about why Italian police thought it necessary to escalate the violence to a level that resulted in a death and in so many injuries. As a result, the clashes between civil society and the mandarins of
corporate capital that for some had come to seem routine have now taken on
a new character. Issues of development and democracy that demonstrators
have long identified as deadly serious are now more obviously so. And the
dismissals of religious, labor, farm and student campaigners for economic
and environmental justice by powerful political and business elites sound
all the more crude and desperate. No action by this G8 summit, no matter how noble in rhetoric or intent,
will erase the fact that the economic policies promoted by the leaders of
the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan
and Russia are now so unpopular that their gatherings must be "protected"
with deadly police violence. In Seattle in 1999, when tens of thousands of anti-globalization
demonstrators prevented the launch of a new round of World Trade
Organization negotiations, Global Trade Watch organizer Mike Dolan noted
the irony of WTO officials hailing free trade’s benefits from behind
legions of armed riot troops. "If what the WTO is doing inside those
closed meetings is so great, how come they need all this muscle to protect
them?" asked Dolan. Now, his question must be updated. If the croupiers of corporate
capital really believe that restructuring the global economy to limit
protections for workers, the environment and human rights represents a
positive development, why must they employ deadly force to defend the
meetings at which they plot their warped vision of "progress"? The answer, of course, is that the politicians gathered in Genoa are
not "leading." They are being led by corporate interests that are, by
their very nature, at odds with enlightened and pragmatic public interest.
And the public is rapidly awakening to this fact. Despite the police
violence, the demonstrations in Genoa are already some of the largest
protests in history against the neo-liberal, corporatist model of
development. An estimated 100,000 activists from around the world have made their
way to Italy to echo the sentiments of former Italian Prime Minister
Massimo D'Alema, who announced prior to the summit that the place for
those who seek a just world is in the streets of Genoa. A former G8
participant, D'Alema would have been welcome on the "European Vision"
cruise ship where most visiting dignitaries will be resident, or at the
"Jolly Hotel" to which the U.S. president has been moved "for security
reasons." But D'Alema has taken the side of the future, as dangerous as
that can be -- politically and physically. George W. Bush may say -- as he did Wednesday -- that the activists
pouring into Genoa from around the world are "no friends of the poor." He
may claim that global poverty can only be addressed by freeing
corporations to exploit workers, pollute the environment and reject
regulation. But the numbers of those who disagree with Bush's simplistic
and wrong-minded calculations are growing. Peaceful protests against
corporate globalization may now be the routine. But they are routinely
larger. And the intimidation, the arrests and the violence ordered by
those who cling to free-trade fantasies will never be sufficient to
silence the cry that has gone up from the streets of Genoa: "Our world is
not for sale." In 1941 Henry Ford built a plastic car made of fiber from hemp and wheat straw. Hemp plastic is biodegradable, synthetic plastic is not. -- JackHerer.com World Minus U.S. Agrees to Global Climate Treaty -- It's Getting Hotter for the U.S.By Jonathan Lash, World Resources Institute President The climate news from Bonn this week is very good. Against the odds, and defying expectations, 178 nations have agreed to proceed with implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. The United States alone refused to participate in this remarkable achievement. Two weeks ago every environmentalist I know was gloomy about the prospects for agreement. Japan, Canada, and Australia had expressed grave misgivings about going forward without the U.S. There were rumblings of doubt from several European nations. But in Bonn the imperative of taking a first step to protect the global climate proved strong enough to persuade negotiators to step back from entrenched positions. Europe agreed to flexibility in the treatment of "sinks" (forests and agricultural soils that absorb CO2), and "trading" (the ability of a nation that falls short of its target to purchase credits from a nation that exceeds its target). Japan, Australia, and Canada agreed to join. With strong leadership from conference chair Jan Pronk the result is a legally binding international agreement that achieves a little less than hoped 4 years ago, but much more than nothing. If it is all it appears to be it is a profoundly important commitment to take a first step. There are two great ironies about the impact of the U.S. withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. The first is that the U.S. criticism of the Protocol, and failure to offer any alternative whatsoever, helped the rest of the world to reach agreement. A very senior Japanese official whom I spoke with expressed frustration and confusion that Japan's urgent efforts to stand by the U.S. and open the negotiations to alternatives - despite strong popular support for the Kyoto agreement in Japan - were met with stony silence. "What do they want," this official asked, "Do they know?" U.S. silence foreclosed negotiations and pushed Japan and others toward Europe. My colleague Tony LaVina, on temporary detail to the Philippine delegation in Bonn, reports that U.S. silence meant that there was no U.S. rhetoric attacking developing countries, and consequently greater willingness by developing countries to be flexible in their approach to the Protocol. And resentment of the U.S. position helped to unify negotiators. Francois Bayrou, a member of the European Parliament and French presidential candidate, told me that support for the Kyoto Protocol and opposition to the U.S. position is one of the most reliable applause lines in speeches he gives all over Europe. The second irony is that U.S. isolation will deprive U.S. industries of three things they eagerly sought in any climate agreement: 1. Clear and certain rules that enable companies to make rational decisions on energy related investments that will last 10, 20, 30 or more years. It remains unclear when the U.S. will enact policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or what those policies will be. 2. The ability to purchase credits from other countries. The trading system will be set up under the Protocol for countries that are participating. 3. The ability to receive credits for investment in measures that reduce emissions in developing countries through the "Clean Development Mechanism". The CDM too, will operate under the Protocol, which will be designed by and operated for parties. It seems obvious that this will raise the costs and reduce flexibility for the U.S. when we decide to make reductions. Even the Wall Street Journal editorial page admitted to harboring "a certain fondness for one part of the Kyoto treaty - emissions trading." To read this article in its entirety, go to www.mtn.org/iasa/bonn.html.
Almost any product that can be made from wood, cotton, or petroleum (including plastics) can be made from hemp. There are more than 25,000 known uses for hemp. -- JackHerer.com Hemp Car!On August 1st, a revolutionary vehicle and crew will arrive in the Twin Cities on a fuel tank full of hemp oil. Join us as we welcome the Hemp Car and raise awareness about hemp's myriad of uses and legalizing hemp production in the U.S. Rally on the steps of the State Capitol at 2:30pm. Enjoy live music and hemp education in downtown Minneapolis in the evening. For a full listing of local Hemp Car events, go to www.mtn.org/iasa/hempcar.html. Tell ExxonMobil to Clean Up Their Act Last week in over 100 cities around the world, ExxonMobil was the target of protests because of their dismal environmental and human rights records. You too can join these protesters by sending ExxonMobil Board Members a fax that tells them to clean up their act! It just takes 30 seconds to send them a message: http://www.campaignexxonmobil.org/action/day_of_action.shtml The Day of Action was in response to ExxonMobil's influence over US climate change and energy policy. ExxonMobil is the target of world outrage because it is lead corporate opposition to the Kyoto Treaty and other efforts to address climate change. ExxonMobil has lobbied extenxsively to discredit the Treaty. The protest was timed to precede the the round of international climate change negotiations which started on July 16 in Bonn, Germany. Protests were also focused on ExxonMobil's attempt to try to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development and human rights atrocities in Aceh, Indonesia and its Chad/Cameroon pipeline project. The company is also accused of discriminating against gays and lesbians in the workplace. I learned that there are two questions: Can the U.S. survive without drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge? I think the answer to that is yes. Can the Arctic Wildlife Refuge survive with industrial development? I think the answer to that is no. — Representative Betty McCollum, D-Minn.Resources Committee Passes Arctic Refuge (ANWR) Drilling Scheme; House Vote Expected in Coming Days The House Resources Committee yesterday passed legislation, the "Energy Security Act" (HR 2436) that would mandate oil drilling in the ANWR. The bill, sponsored by Committee Chairman Jim Hansen (R-UT), could come to be packaged together with other energy measures from the Science, Commerce, and Ways and Means Committees and come to the House floor in the coming days -- almost certainly before the August congressional recess, which begins August 3rd. The Bush Administration and the oil industry have aggressively stepped
up their lobbying efforts. Hoping to split the progressive coalition of
labor and environmentalists, they've secured the support of the Hoffa led
Teamsters for Arctic Refuge drilling (even though exploiting the coastal
plain would do nothing to reduce fuel prices for truckers). They've also
taken to the air waves, running misleading radio ads that overstate the
oil potential of the refuge, the support among Alaskans for drilling, and
the degree to which environmental impacts can be minimized. The oil
industry has also hired top Republican ad-man Alex Castallanas,
high-powered lobbying firm Patton Boggs, and earlier this week, sent
cabinet secretaries to a series of "town hall meetings" to push the
broader energy plan and its Arctic drilling provisions. If you care about the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, your
help is needed NOW and over the next two weeks. First, call, write, or
e-mail members of the House Resources Committee. Thank those who voted
right and express your displeasure with those who voted wrong. You can
also place a letter to the editor in your local papers doing the
same. Secondly, spread the word far and wide. Thousands of letters,
phone calls, and faxes need to be generated and sent to Representatives in
the coming days. Ask your friends, neighbors, and family members to
call. Keep in mind the House of Representatives has not had a straight up or
down vote on the Arctic Refuge since 1979! How this issue is dealt with by
the House will help determine the fate of the refuge over the next four
years! You can reach all members of Congress by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Just ask to be connected to your Representative (you need to know the name). To find out your Rep's name, you can go to www.house.gov/writerep or www.alaskawild.org.Would that there was an award for people who come to understand the concept of enough. Good enough. Successful enough. Rich enough. -- Gail SheehyMembers Share Their Blackout Experiences "This was fun and eye-opening!" -- Patricia Neal of Heartland Institute "I am a member of a women's bookclub here and prior to our monthly meeting last night we had decided to use candles instead of turning on the lights for our 2 hour meeting from 7-9:00. Everyone enjoyed it so much that we have decided to not use electricity for all of our monthly meetings. Also, many of us (8) went home and turned off the lights too. Great idea." -- Debbie Ortman "We did unplug...5 of us on the farm...and sitting in candle light talking was terrific. I mentioned this to some power company men on the road this a.m....they didn't know anything about it....NEXT year they will!" -- Applepond Farms "I just cut my circuit breaker and had a great time in my garden and went for a run and workout. I saved 1 kw hour. I guess I don't use too much with an energy efficient refrigerator and air conditioner (that I only use a few times a summer) and compact fluorescent light bulbs. This was fun. Who says no pain no gain? And when I really needed light I used my solar-charged compact fluorescent lantern. This is making me think more about getting off the grid and breaking my energy dependency. How odd that giving something up can give freedom." -- Terry Gips, Alliance for Sustainability President ...O you who love clear edges more than anything...watch the edges that blur. -- Adrienne RichThe US Society for Ecological Economics held its inaugural conference in Duluth, Minnesota July 11-13 with more than 150 economists and leaders from around the world. There were a number of important presentations, but the July 12 keynote by Jim Boyce, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Massachusetts fully captured the need of addressing both social justice and ecology if we’re to create a sustainable society. We’ve included a few excerpts here and you can go to our website at www.mtn.org/iasa/boyce.html for the full talk, which should be part of every economist’s and business leader’s training. Ecological Economics and Political Economy: Why the Twain Should Meet By James K. Boyce "East is East and West is West," wrote Rudyard Kipling, "and never the twain shall meet, til Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat." Today I would like to share with you some thoughts about why another dyad ecological economics and political economy can and should meet; indeed why, I believe, the twain must meet if we are to avert an environmental variant of the judgment day. I hardly need to underscore the importance of ecological economics, and
of its distinctive contributions to our understanding of human
livelihoods, to this audience. To read this edited transcript in its entirety, go to www.mtn.org/iasa/boyce.html.
We see quite clearly that what happens to the nonhuman happens to the human. What happens to the outer world happens to the inner world. If the outer world is diminished in its grandeur then the emotional, imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual life of the human is diminished or extinguished. Without the soaring birds, the great forests, the sounds and coloration of the insects, the free-flowing streams, the flowering fields, the sight of the clouds by day and the stars at night, we become impoverished in all that makes us human. -- Thomas BerryBy Kate Wattson Ridgeview Medical Center, a 109 bed community hospital located in Waconia, Minnesota about 45 minutes west of Minneapolis, worked with Sustainability Associates and applied for and was awarded a grant through the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance to become a sustainable hospital. "The health care industry generates a tremendous amount of waste," says Todd Wilkening, Director of Building and Grounds. "Much of it is necessary to maintain standards for handling and disposing of specific materials, such as infectious and hazardous wastes. But there are areas where we can use environmentally conscious alternatives. Ridgeview would like to take the lead by lowering energy consumption, reducing waste, and reusing and recycling wherever possible," Wilkening says. "Ridgeview’s goal is to become a leading sustainable hospital in Minnesota through proven example-setting." It will apply the Natural Step principles to all aspects of hospital operations and seek to meet the American Hospitals Association and US Environmental Protection Agency Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) goals of virtually eliminating mercury by 2005 and reducing solid waste by at least 33% by 2005 and 50% by 2010. As part of the H2E it will also conduct a chemical minimization program and seek to purchase healthier, more environmentally sound products. The key elements of the project include: * An Eco-Audit of all aspects of the hospital's operations that is being completed by David Mager of Major Environmental Solutions, Terry Gips of Sustainability Associates, and Catherine Zimmer from the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program and H2E; * A survey of key stakeholders and a video about the effort; * A two-day sustainability and action planning seminar for all management focusing on the Natural Step and H2E led by Terry Gips, Catherine Zimmer, and Cynthia Stevens of Creating Futures; * Creation of teams throughout the hospital to implement the plan. The project emerged from a Natural Step Sustainable Business and Community Seminar in Waconia sponsored by Organic Foods that was attended by Bob Stevens, the President and CEO of Ridgeview. RMC incorporated sustainability as part of their strategic plan and then worked with Sustainability Associates and Creating Futures to develop a grant proposal. The project is seeking any ideas or suggestions. Please contact Terry Gips tgips@mtn.org, 612-374-4765 or Todd Wilkening Todd.Wilkening@ridgeviewmedical.org, 952-442-2191. Don't care how rich you are Resource of the Month Did you know that each Minnesotan creates nearly 2000 pounds of garbage every year? How much garbage do you create? Help yourself and Mother Earth at www.reduce.org. Farming 6% of the continental U.S. acreage with biomass crops would provide all of America's energy needs. -- JackHerer.com Torricelli Legislation Passes To Protect Schoolchildren from Pesticide Exposure, Succeeds in Bringing Environmental Groups and Pesticide Industry Together for CompromiseJune 19, 2001 Washington, DC - In an unprecedented agreement, Senator Robert G. Torricelli (D-NJ) has successfully brought together both environmentalists and pesticide industry representatives to craft legislation that would set federal policy on pesticide exposure to children in schools. The landmark agreement marks the first time the federal government will institute regulations on pesticides and schoolchildren. The Torricelli School Environment Protection Amendment (SEPA) was included as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Authorization Bill (ESEA), which was passed by the U.S. Senate last week. For the first time, parents in all 50 states will be notified when pesticides are used in schools. "Parents will now be armed with the knowledge they need to protect
their children from potentially harmful pesticides when they send them to
school. It is an enormous and hard fought victory for the health of our
children," said Senator Torricelli. "Millions of parents and children can
breathe easier with passage of this ground breaking piece of
legislation." The amendment requires that all 50 states develop responsible
strategies for dealing with pesticides in public schools. It was developed
with industry and public health advocacy groups to achieve a balance
between the need to protect children from pests and addressing the
concerns of parents who are concerned about the safety of pesticide
applications. Negotiating with Senator Torricelli were the Beyond
Pesticides/the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides and the
National Pest Management Association. Senators Tom Daschle (D-SD), Barbara
Boxer (D-CA) and Harry Reid (D-NV) also supported it. To read this article in its entirety, visit our web site at www.mtn.org/iasa/torricelli.html. Trees cut down to make paper take 50 to 500 years to grow, while hemp can be cultivated in as little as 100 days and can yield 4 times more paper over a 20 year period. -- JackHerer.com Earth Friendly Hemp Farm House Starts ConstructionGreg Herriott, HEMPOLA June 21, 2001 BARRIE, Ontario — On a farm where hemp is grown and hempseed is cold pressed into nutritious oil, a new homestead is being built. Sound unique? What's more unique, is this new farm house is being built with hemp fibre. The ground was broken this morning to commence digging of the foundation. Hempola Valley Farms has commissioned designer/builder, Steve Nunn, from Stann Creek, Belize, to create this unique, octagon shape structure. Mr. Nunn states, "This is an excellent opportunity to build something I've spent more than 15 years dreaming about. A house made with nature's strongest renewable fibre, incorporating passive solar heating, wind power generation and as many 'earth friendly' building materials as possible." Steve Nunn has spent his life building unique structures; primarily on the west coast in Oregon using standing dead-wood logs as the primary structural material. Steve continues, "nature's resources are rapidly dwindling. Part of the design objective with this project is to demonstrate how to build a beautiful home with pure, natural and environmentally responsible materials... it will be a statement to this ideal." Hempola Valley Farms with HEMPOLA™ markets Canadian grown hempseed and hempseed oil products through national distributors throughout Canada and the U.S. and is a leading dedicated developer and marketer of hempseed derivative products. Product information and recipes may be obtained by visiting www.hempola.com or by calling 1-800-240-9215.For more information, please contact Greg Herriott at HEMPOLA...1-800-240-9215. From Global Hemp News Digest, Volume 2, Issue 25 ( www.globalhemp.com)We’d Like Stories of Your Steps to Sustainability There is more to life than increasing its speed. -- GandhiCenter for Spirituality & Sustainability The Alliance continues gathering materials and contacts to create a new Center for Sustainability and Spirituality that will provide programs, resources and a website addressing environmental concerns from a spiritual perspective. Krista Leraas has started a section on the Alliance’s website, www.mtn.org/iasa/spirit.html. We’d love to have you involved in any way, from helping with programs and sharing articles to participating on the Steering Committee or providing financial support. Let us know at iasa@mtn.org. It is not required of you that you complete the task but neither are you free to abandon it -- Rabbi TarfonCenter for Judaism &
Sustainability What do you call a religious gathering with hell-fire
preaching?
Let us know if you would like to make a donation by contacting Krista Leraas at iasa@mtn.org or 612-331-1099.There are limits to growth. There are no limits to development. The way we live can always be made more beautiful, more inventive, more creative, more efficient, more fulfilling. - Alan AtKissonSelected Upcoming Events (See our Online Calendar, www.mtn.org/iasa/events.htm)July 22-25 National Rural Development Leadership Conference, Duluth, MN July 29-31 World Futures Society Conference at the Minneapolis Hilton (including July 31 panel presentation with Terry Gips) August 1 Hemp Car visits Minneapolis -- See www.mtn.org/iasa/hempcar.html for appearance schedule August 4-19 Sustainable Sweden Tour August 8 Natural Step Intro by Ken Seguine, MN Association for Environmental Education Conference, Moorhead, MN August 10-12 NOFA Summer Conference: Growing Community, Amherst, MA August 20-24 First International Conference on Global Warming and The Next Ice Age, Halifax, Nova Scotia September 20 Introduction to the Natural Step by Terry Gips, Minneapolis, MN September 20 MN Sustainable Communities Network Conference and the Governor's Environmental Awards, Minneapolis Convention Center (Discussion session, New Directions for Economic Development, led by Terry Gips) September 23 3:00-4:45pm, Creating a Safe, Healthy Home, Life Workplace and Community: Taking the Natural Step to Sustainability presented by Terry Gips, Whole Life Expo, Dallas, TX September 29 Nationwide Earth Charter Teleconference September 30 3:00-4:45pm, Creating a Safe, Healthy Home, Life Workplace and Community: Taking the Natural Step to Sustainability presented by Terry Gips, Whole Life Expo, Boston, MA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright 2001 Alliance for Sustainability Information can be copied or shared with proper attribution to the author and MANNA, the newsletter of the Alliance for Sustainability. This issue edited by: Krista Leraas and Terry Gips MANNA is the newsletter of the Alliance for Sustainability and is published on a monthly basis with occasional additional editions. The Alliance is a tax-exempt [501(c)(3)] nonprofit organization dedicated to "supporting ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just and humane projects on a personal, organizational and planetary level." If you or others are interested in becoming members (free or contributing) and receiving MANNA, please see www.mtn.org/iasa/join.htm or contact Krista Leraas at iasa@mtn.org or 612-331-1099. Submittals, comments and questions are always welcomed. Please direct them to the Alliance for Sustainability, 1521 University Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414 or iasa@mtn.org. |