Subject: Viridian Note 00342: German Greens
- Key concepts
- German Green party, German politics, German elections, green energy policy, giant German floods
- Attention Conservation Notice: it's very German.
Entries in the Biofuture Robot Dog Contest:
- From
- Laura Sterling http://www.viridiandesign.org/contests/laura.html
- From
- Mark Simpkins <mark*nodalpoints.org>
http://www.nodalpoints.org/viridian/index.html - From
- Paul Jimenez <pj*place.org>
http://www.place.org/~pj/ROVER.txt - From
- Giles Turnbull <giles*gorjuss.com>
http://gilest.org/242 - From
- david rice <david*futurefeedforward.com>
http://futurefeedforward.com/dingostroller.html - From
- Duncan Stewart <stewarts*stewarts.org>
http://www.stewarts.org/viridian/gbn/watson.htm - From
- David Bergman <bergman*cyberg.com>
http://cyberg.com/viridian/ddawg.htm - From
- Eric Nehrlich <nehrlich*alum.mit.edu>
http://www.nehrlich.com/viridian_aromaker.html - From
- Matt Jones <matt*blackbeltjones.com>
http://www.blackbeltjones.com/vonneumann - From
- Dave Phelan <dphelan*pavilion.co.uk>
http://www.btinternet.com/~dphelan/viridian/futuredog.html
From: "Four Eyed Dog" <dog*ictadopac.com>
"The Lovata Bros. entry for the Viridian Bio-Future Dog Design Competition is online. We're especially interested in any specific comment/criticism about our 4idog creation."
Troy Lovata, Todd Lovata
"All of the colors seen on the squashes in our native gardens were to be found on the dogs we had in the old times. They were yellow-chested, spotted, brown and of other colors...Icta-Dopac or Eyes-Four. This we may translate as Four-eyes. This dog was so called because he had small dark spots over the eyes that made him look as if he had four eyes. He was very gentle. Hidatsa Wolf-Chief, 1913."
- From
- clara park <clara*futurefeedforward.com>
http://futurefeedforward.com/feedmefido.html
"Hi, here's an idea I had for a dog of the future == my artistic impulses didn't get me very far, but I had fun. By the way, I am not David; I just know him very well. Thanks, Clara"
- From
- Reid Harward <mudlab*adelphia.net?>
http://www.well.com/user/reid - From
- Tracey Callison <tracey*lensman.org>
http://www.funevilpeople.org/bob
"Here ya go. Enjoy! I had so much fun with this. I want one." Tracey Callison
This contest ends tomorrow: September 30, 2002.
Link:
Check out that tipi-friendly wireless broadband.
http://www.psand.net/green/
My goodness, these "transnationale.org" people
sure look busy.
http://www.transnationale.org/anglais/fiches/817512280.htm
Source: Space Daily
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/020916011827.tmglt7b1.html
"Germany's Greens: from flower power to corridors of power"
"(...) The Greens had 51,000 members in 1998. Now they have only 46,000. But they have won new supporters, 'those who reproached us for our idealism before we proved ourselves in government' (...)"
(((It's incredible that there are a mere 46,000 German Greens and yet they scare straight people so totally. Plus, they even managed to boost themselves two percentage points in the latest German elections == given that weather violence submerged about half of Germany.))))))
Source: Planet Ark
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17894/story.htm
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
"Victorious German Greens mix eco-aims with realism
"GERMANY: September 25, 2002
"BERLIN == Germany's Greens pledged this week to push ecological issues to the fore after a late surge in support gave them their best ever general election result and saved Germany's centre-left government.
"However, Joschka Fischer, the foreign minister and architect of their electoral triumph, promised the Greens would not 'flex their muscles', implying he would continue to shepherd the party along a path of compromise.
"Greens leaders met this week after the party had increased its share of the vote by almost two points to 8.6 percent from 6.7 four years ago, to prepare for fresh coalition negotiations with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats. (...)
"Analysts said this meant a sharper focus on environmentally friendly transport, sustainable farming and renewable energy as well as a possible rise of energy tax. (...) But there was no escaping the fact that much of Greens' triumph was due to Fischer, the revolutionary-turned-realist whose personal charisma the party traded on ruthlessly. ((("Ruthlessly"? Joschka is Germany's most popular politician. He's ruthlessly beloved.)))
(...) "Four years on, the party's election manifesto was vaguer than in 1998, with no proposed new rate of energy tax or plans to cut motorway speed limits.
"But they still surpassed their eight percent pre-election target to remain Germany's third political force, and in power.
"They also won their first outright constituency seat through anti-war campaigner Christian Stroebele, who drove a small electric car throughout his campaign. (((Beep-beep!)))
"Companies with an environmental edge saw their stocks gain after the Greens' success. The wind power specialist Plambeck shot up 15 percent in Frankfurt, while the green energy firm Umweltkontor rose 3.3 percent.
"In Oslo, the Norwegian bottle and can recycling group Tomra opened 12 percent higher on hopes of wider recycling in Germany after the election, but later fell back." Story by Philip Blenkinsop
(((Maybe one should change one's vote after watching one's home wash away.)))
Source: Deutsche Welle
http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1432_A_609790,00.html
"Environment Becomes a Political Football in Germany
"With half of Germany submerged under water and elections looming, the environment has suddenly taken on a new urgency in the political campaign. Has the Green Party found a new weapon against the conservative opposition?
"The storms that have wreaked havoc in southern and eastern Germany this past week have presented an unintended political opportunity for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder¹s government coallition.
"Lagging behind the Christian Democratic Union and Chrisitian Social Union in the polls before the Sept. 22 elections, Schroeder's social democratic and Green party coalition government has used the flooding to tout their environmental record and attack the Union¹s lack of an environmental vision.
"The Greens took special issue with chancellor candidate Edmund Stoiber¹s failure to appoint a person responsible for environmental affairs in his much-publicised shadow cabinet.
"'In the face of the ongoing natural catastrophe, candidate Stoiber should reflect on why nobody in his so-called competence team is responsible for the environment,' Green Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told the Thuringer Allgemeine newspaper on Tuesday. 'Precisely in Stoiber¹s Bavaria, there was unchecked construction in the flooded areas.' (((Ouch!))) (...)
"The environmental spokesperson of the Greens, Reinhard Loske accused Stoiber of 'environmental ignorance'. In a statement he said, 'those such as the union who want to end the eco tax and reject the further expansion of renewable energies, are dealing in an utter irresponsible manner'. (((Yeah, but who cares? We're rich businessmen!)))
"The so-called 'eco tax' is considered by advocates to be one of the great achievements of Schroeder's coalition government since it came to power in 1998. The tax, placed on everything from fuel to electricity, is meant to spur conservation by gradually increasing the cost of energy and raw materials, kick-start investment aimed at energy conservation and generate revenues to bring down labour costs." (((Sounds pretty "responsible" to me. Too bad it's political suicide everywhere but Germany and far from a majority taste even there.))) (...)
"Both proposals have come under heavy criticism by industry leaders and opposition parties. Business leaders felt the eco tax would scare away consumers fearing higher electricity bills and rising gasoline costs. Opposition parties have maintained that nuclear energy is the most inexpensive form of energy currently available. (((Except for that ultra-expensive nuclear garbage. As for fossil fuels, well, who pays for those storms and floods? Voters.)))
"Meanwhile, as floods wreak havoc and claim lives in large regions of southern and eastern Germany == particularly in Saxony, Saxony Anhalt and Bavaria == both Chancellor Schroeder and his conservative challenger, Stoiber have rushed to the worst-affected cities of Dresden and Passau in Bavaria respectively."
Source: Deutsche Welle
http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1446_A_610017,00.html
"Wanted: Loads of Clean Energy
"As unprecedented rains lash Germany, the debate on climate change and renewable sources of energy has become increasingly vocal. Here a look at which regenerative energies play a role in Germany¹s energy market.
"While environmentalists and scientists world-wide debate the origins of global warming and its effects on the world's climate, (((no they don't "debate the origins" == they just point out stark facts to powers-that-be and then contemplate suicide))) one fact remains undisputed == people all over the globe are consuming more and more energy daily. (((No they're not.)))
"It's still unclear to what extent rising levels of energy consumption are responsible for climatic change. But the latest weather catastrophes in Europe have triggered a debate in Germany about moving away from fossil fuels and towards the use of alternative sources of energy.
"In 1999 Germany renounced the use of nuclear power == which accounts for 30 percent of its energy consumption. The governing Social Democratic- Green coalition considers nuclear power and the disposal of radioactive waste too dangerous.
"Germany moves towards regenerative energy
"The country has made efforts to move away from polluting fossil fuels and embrace alternative energies, in particular solar power. At present, 7 percent of Germany's electricity is generated using alternative energy sources.
"After the passing of the Renewable Energies Law in April 2000 that sought to encourage a switch to renewable energies, Germany experienced a sort of solar boom. The southwestern city of Freiburg boasts the first hotel in Europe run entirely on alternative energy sources. But despite the solar push, power from the sun today provides a mere 0.0006 percent of Germany's electricity.
"Wind and water
"Another popular source of alternative energy in Germany is hydroelectric power, which makes up more than half of alternative energy segment in the country. But experts believe that hydroelectric power (photo) is pushing its limits and has already exhausted 80 percent of its potential.
"It has also become increasingly difficult to find large rivers in which to set up generators without the ecology of the region being adversely affected."(...) (((Especially when rivers and lakes flood catastrophically from climate change.)))
