AAEA believes climate change legislation and regulation will need to address environmental justice concerns related to the perception that emission trading programs cause disproportionate pollution from older, dirtier plants to negatively impact low-income and minority communities. There is also widespread belief that global warming and climate change will disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities. Some environmental justice groups oppose cap-and-trade programs.
AAEA is recommending an Environmental Justice Allowance Reserve (EJAR) to address the racial 'Hot Spots' issue. These allowances would come from a special reserve, similar to the current Acid Rain Program Renewable Energy and Conservation Reserve, when the initial allowance allocation is made. They would be awarded to utilities, automakers and others that undertake environmental justice practices and programs designed to mitigate or prevent price shocks, increase the installation of pollution control equipment, promote community education and enhance health-related activities. Utilities and automakers could choose to work with organizations and businesses that conduct environmental justice activities related to climate change mitigation and reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury.
As an alternative to legislation and as an insurance policy in case climate change legislation does not pass, AAEA has developed a voluntary EJAR program that provides a platform for utilities, automakers and communities to address and influence the Hot Spots issue. Any utility, automaker or citizen can: sell to, donate or purchase compliance allowances from, the voluntary AAEA-EJAR or otherwise support the EJAR program.
AAEA is currently meeting with interested stakeholders to develop EJAR projects. AAEA has also developed emissions trading platforms to directly facilitate exchanges. The Green Carbon Bank (GCB) and the Carbon Mercantile Exchange (CMX) are available to facilitate United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and other emission free projects. AAEA has been registered int the EPA Acid Rain Program for years.
The AAEA EJAR program will leverage allowances and resources to promote environmental justice practices and projects designed to:
1. Increase the installation of pollution control equipment,
2. Promote community education and
3. Enhance health-related activities.
AAEA will alert businesses, mayors, states, civil rights groups, environmental justice organizations, Congress and the general public about innovative methods for participating in this program, enhancing electricity production, auto emissions reductions and protecting constituent communities.
Allowances are fully marketable commodities. Once allocated, allowances may be bought, sold, traded, or banked for use in future years. Allowances may not be used for compliance prior to the calendar year for which they are allocated.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
New Declaration for Healthy Food & Agriculture
Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture
We, the undersigned, believe that a healthy food system is necessary to meet the urgent challenges of our time. Behind us stands a half-century of industrial food production, underwritten by cheap fossil fuels, abundant land and water resources, and a drive to maximize the global harvest of cheap calories. Ahead lie rising energy and food costs, a changing climate, declining water supplies, a growing population, and the paradox of widespread hunger and obesity.
These realities call for a radically different approach to food and agriculture. We believe that the food system must be reorganized on a foundation of health: for our communities, for people, for animals, and for the natural world. The quality of food, and not just its quantity, ought to guide our agriculture. The ways we grow, distribute, and prepare food should celebrate our various cultures and our shared humanity, providing not only sustenance, but justice, beauty and pleasure.
Governments have a duty to protect people from malnutrition, unsafe food, and exploitation, and to protect the land and water on which we depend from degradation. Individuals, producers, and organizations have a duty to create regional systems that can provide healthy food for their communities. We all have a duty to respect and honor the laborers of the land without whom we could not survive. The changes we call for here have begun, but the time has come to accelerate the transformation of our food and agriculture and make its benefits available to all.
We believe that the following twelve principles should frame food and agriculture policy, to ensure that it will contribute to the health and wealth of the nation and the world. A healthy food and agriculture policy:
1.Forms the foundation of secure and prosperous societies, healthy communities, and healthy people.
2.Provides access to affordable, nutritious food to everyone.
3.Prevents the exploitation of farmers, workers, and natural resources; the domination of genomes and markets; and the cruel treatment of animals, by any nation, corporation or individual.
4.Upholds the dignity, safety, and quality of life for all who work to feed us.
5.Commits resources to teach children the skills and knowledge essential to food production, preparation, nutrition, and enjoyment.
6.Protects the finite resources of productive soils, fresh water, and biological diversity.
7.Strives to remove fossil fuel from every link in the food chain and replace it with renewable resources and energy.
8.Originates from a biological rather than an industrial framework.
9.Fosters diversity in all its relevant forms: diversity of domestic and wild species; diversity of foods, flavors and traditions; diversity of ownership.
10.Requires a national dialog concerning technologies used in production, and allows regions to adopt their own respective guidelines on such matters.
11.Enforces transparency so that citizens know how their food is produced, where it comes from, and what it contains.
12. Promotes economic structures and supports programs to nurture the development of just and sustainable regional farm and food networks.
Our pursuit of healthy food and agriculture unites us as people and as communities, across geographic boundaries, and social and economic lines. We pledge our votes, our purchases, our creativity, and our energies to this urgent cause.
We, the undersigned, believe that a healthy food system is necessary to meet the urgent challenges of our time. Behind us stands a half-century of industrial food production, underwritten by cheap fossil fuels, abundant land and water resources, and a drive to maximize the global harvest of cheap calories. Ahead lie rising energy and food costs, a changing climate, declining water supplies, a growing population, and the paradox of widespread hunger and obesity.
These realities call for a radically different approach to food and agriculture. We believe that the food system must be reorganized on a foundation of health: for our communities, for people, for animals, and for the natural world. The quality of food, and not just its quantity, ought to guide our agriculture. The ways we grow, distribute, and prepare food should celebrate our various cultures and our shared humanity, providing not only sustenance, but justice, beauty and pleasure.
Governments have a duty to protect people from malnutrition, unsafe food, and exploitation, and to protect the land and water on which we depend from degradation. Individuals, producers, and organizations have a duty to create regional systems that can provide healthy food for their communities. We all have a duty to respect and honor the laborers of the land without whom we could not survive. The changes we call for here have begun, but the time has come to accelerate the transformation of our food and agriculture and make its benefits available to all.
We believe that the following twelve principles should frame food and agriculture policy, to ensure that it will contribute to the health and wealth of the nation and the world. A healthy food and agriculture policy:
1.Forms the foundation of secure and prosperous societies, healthy communities, and healthy people.
2.Provides access to affordable, nutritious food to everyone.
3.Prevents the exploitation of farmers, workers, and natural resources; the domination of genomes and markets; and the cruel treatment of animals, by any nation, corporation or individual.
4.Upholds the dignity, safety, and quality of life for all who work to feed us.
5.Commits resources to teach children the skills and knowledge essential to food production, preparation, nutrition, and enjoyment.
6.Protects the finite resources of productive soils, fresh water, and biological diversity.
7.Strives to remove fossil fuel from every link in the food chain and replace it with renewable resources and energy.
8.Originates from a biological rather than an industrial framework.
9.Fosters diversity in all its relevant forms: diversity of domestic and wild species; diversity of foods, flavors and traditions; diversity of ownership.
10.Requires a national dialog concerning technologies used in production, and allows regions to adopt their own respective guidelines on such matters.
11.Enforces transparency so that citizens know how their food is produced, where it comes from, and what it contains.
12. Promotes economic structures and supports programs to nurture the development of just and sustainable regional farm and food networks.
Our pursuit of healthy food and agriculture unites us as people and as communities, across geographic boundaries, and social and economic lines. We pledge our votes, our purchases, our creativity, and our energies to this urgent cause.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Agriculture in Central Asia
Agriculture in Central Asia constitutes at least 20% of the GDP of every Central Asian country with the lone exception of Kazakhstan. Despite this, in all of the Central Asian countries, at least 20% of the labor force is employed in agriculture.
By far the two most significant crops in Central Asia are cotton and wheat. Only Kazakhstan and Mongolia do not cultivate significant amounts of cotton. This emphasis on intensive cotton cultivation in the Amu Darya watershed countries of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan has played a major role in the drying and polluting of the Aral Sea because of the large amounts of water and fertilizer used in cotton cultivation.
The cultivation of wheat has also contributed to regional environmental issues, starting with the Virgin Lands Campaign during the Soviet era. Because the precautionary measures taken to preserve soil quality when the campaign began were insufficient, the soil eroded and its nutrients became degraded by excessive mono-crop cultivation. This history continues to impact grain production today, particularly in Kazakhstan.
Aside from these two primary crops, the region produces a wide variety of products which include barley, corn, flax, grapes, potatoes, rice, sugar beets, sunflowers, tobacco, apricots, pears, plums, apples, cherries, pomegranates, melons, dates, figs, sesame, pistachios, and nuts.
Animal husbandry constitutes a large part of Central Asian agriculture. Cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, and horses are raised in the area. Some famous local breeds include the Karakul sheep and Akhal-Teke horse. Some regions also cultivate mulberry trees and silkworms.
By far the two most significant crops in Central Asia are cotton and wheat. Only Kazakhstan and Mongolia do not cultivate significant amounts of cotton. This emphasis on intensive cotton cultivation in the Amu Darya watershed countries of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan has played a major role in the drying and polluting of the Aral Sea because of the large amounts of water and fertilizer used in cotton cultivation.
The cultivation of wheat has also contributed to regional environmental issues, starting with the Virgin Lands Campaign during the Soviet era. Because the precautionary measures taken to preserve soil quality when the campaign began were insufficient, the soil eroded and its nutrients became degraded by excessive mono-crop cultivation. This history continues to impact grain production today, particularly in Kazakhstan.
Aside from these two primary crops, the region produces a wide variety of products which include barley, corn, flax, grapes, potatoes, rice, sugar beets, sunflowers, tobacco, apricots, pears, plums, apples, cherries, pomegranates, melons, dates, figs, sesame, pistachios, and nuts.
Animal husbandry constitutes a large part of Central Asian agriculture. Cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, and horses are raised in the area. Some famous local breeds include the Karakul sheep and Akhal-Teke horse. Some regions also cultivate mulberry trees and silkworms.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Environment and Employment policies
More than the sum of their parts: the links between environment and employment policies
Environment policies contribute to job creation and social inclusion in the EU. Studies show that environmental policy is not a job-killer but instead has neutral or even mildly positive impact on the number of people in work. This is especially the case with new policies that support the development and use of new environmental technologies, such as the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the Environmental Technologies Action Plan. There is also a clear link between social inclusion and the quality of the environment. Just now, it is often Europe’s poorest who suffer most from pollution, and so gain most from environmental improvements. Other links exist in areas such as health and safety at work, and quality of jobs. In short: environment policies can contribute to employment objectives and vice versa, in line with the concept of sustainable development. These potential win-win solutions need to be sought and promoted whenever possible.
Analysis on the wider links between the environment and employment
Most studies have in the past concentrated on employment in the eco-industries. However, a study completed in 2007 shows that there are strong links between the economy and the environment that go far beyond the narrow definition of eco-industries traditionally measured. For example, a good quality environment supports many sectors in the economy and this is not usually captured in the statistics. Broadly:
- narrow definition of the eco-industries (largely pollution prevention or treatment): 2.3 million people and € 270 billion of turnover;
- moving to a definition that includes activities closely dependent on a good quality environment (environment-related tourism, sustainable forestry, organic agriculture, renewable energy etc): 4.4 million people and € 405 billion of turnover;
- including induced 'knock-on' or 'multiplier' effects that ripple through the economy thanks to this direct expenditure would boost this to 8.6 million people and € 1 trillion of turnover;
- moving to the widest definition that includes all activities dependent on the environment (all agriculture, renewable energy etc): 21 million people and € 3 trillion of turnover. (In other words, almost 1 in 10 jobs in the EU is somehow linked to the environment.) Including indirect effects would increase this to one in six people.
The study also includes analysis of the impact of environmental policies on jobs and employment (changes in energy efficiency, Structural Fund spending etc). It finds that environmental policies are unlikely to provide a drag on the economy, and may easily prove to be a source of new jobs and innovation, a driver of progress, whilst also helping increase the health of our economies and wellbeing of societies.
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