Sharon asks…
Greens leader slams ‘robber barons’ @ £1,000 profit a sec BP, Centrica and Shell: demands a “Green New Deal”?
Press Assoc. – 1 hour 27 minutes ago
Bosses of energy companies have been branded “robber barons” by the new leader of the Greens as she addressed the party’s annual conference a day after her election.
Caroline Lucas was chosen as the first ever leader of the Green Party of England and Wales in a vote of party members, after a referendum last year scrapped their previous system of two principal speakers – one male and one female.
She used her first speech as leader to call for a windfall tax on energy companies and demand a “Green New Deal” of massive investment in renewable technology and energy efficiency.
Ms Lucas told the conference in London: “Just three companies – BP, Centrica and Shell – together made £1,000 profit every second over the first six months of this year.
“These corporations are robbing from the poor to give to the rich and they know it. And it’s about time they learned that, in a progressive democracy, there is no place for robber barons.”
She called for a Green New Deal to deliver public investment in “green-collar” jobs in areas including renewable energy, which she said could create hundreds of thousands of jobs while helping the fight against global warming and cutting fuel bills.
And she gave her backing to a programme of free insulation to every home in Britain.
“When the world faced economic depression back in the early 1930s, it was (US) President (Franklin) Roosevelt’s New Deal that got people back to work with a massive investment in infrastructure,” said Ms Lucas.
“Today we stand on the brink of a triple crisis – a combination of a credit-fuelled financial meltdown, accelerating climate change, and soaring energy prices. We need a Green New Deal in response.
“The core would be a 21st century project to make the nation’s buildings truly energy-efficient, with local authority bonds being issued to raise the necessary funds for a major investment in insulation, efficiency and renewables, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process.”
MEP for South East England since 1999, Ms Lucas is the party’s candidate for its target constituency of Brighton Pavilion in the General Election expected in 2010.
She seems a formidable reform campaigner, not unlike Sarah Palin?
Are her figures, analysis & recommendations right ??
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080906/tuk-greens-leader-slams-robber-barons-6323e80.html
Wanna ask BBC ‘Have your say’ for a proper global debate @ ‘Green New deal’?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2804227.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7601832.stm – inc 2.57 video link of her talk
Greens coming of age, says Lucas
New leader says the Green Party’s ‘moment has come’
New Green leader Caroline Lucas has said the party was “coming of age” and expected to secure its first MPs.
Ms Lucas, unveiled as the party’s first leader at its annual conference, has also said she plans to draw attention to the party’s social justice policies.
In her speech to the London conference she called for a windfall tax on energy companies and a “Green new deal” of investment in energy efficiency.
Ms Lucas branded bosses of energy companies energy “robber barons”.
She told the conference: “Just three companies – BP, Centrica and Shell – together made £1,000 profit every second over the first six months of this year.
“These corporations are robbing from the poor to give to the rich and they know it. And it’s about time they learned that, in a progressive democracy, there is no place for robber barons.”
It follows her criticism of Gordon Brown for failing to >>
It follows her criticism of Gordon Brown for failing to impose a windfall tax on the energy companies.
Green spin doctors (yes they really do exist) insist there is no question of the party abandoning its principles
Carole Walker
BBC political correspondent
Greens push for the mainstream
The party leader also used her speech to call for a Green New Deal to deliver public investment in “green-collar” jobs in areas including renewable energy, which she said could create hundreds of thousands of jobs while helping the fight against global warming and cutting fuel bills.
And Ms Lucas gave her backing to a programme of free insulation to every home in the UK.
The party leader told the BBC she expected to see Green MPs at Westminster in the next two years.
She identified Brighton Pavilion, Lewisham and Norwich South as target seats.
Ms Lucas told the BBC success in local elections, combined with the change to the party hierarchy, meant the Green party >>
positioned for success at the next general election.
“I’m confident this is all part of a real coming of age for the Green party and we will be seeing Green MPs at Westminster next time round,” she said.
‘Abstract ideas’
The MEP for South East England – the party’s candidate for Brighton Pavilion – beat the only other candidate, Ashley Gunstock, by 2,559 votes to 210 in the leadership vote.
Earlier, Ms Lucas, 47, told the BBC: “We need to redouble our efforts to get our message across even more urgently. We think that by having a leader we can do that even better.”
She added the decision to switch from the party’s previous system of having two principal speakers followed “the realisation that people don’t respond to abstract ideas”.
“They respond much more to the people and policies that represent those ideas. We have a face to put to the policies,” said the new leader.
Ms Lucas added: “There is a huge number of people out there who want to hear our message
Good case for a Wooden Spoon Award there, James!
Best reply could well go to you if you can edit in any links to support what you say
Or to anyone else who can echo La Machine >> >>
Think I’ll change my name to Spidey & conquer da Web
LOL
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmqtmOs8iDUgQmS8ZeF_s8MgBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20080906123626AA7Xu8Z
Maybe the Greens are counting da metal footprints there?
LOL
Good point there, Caggy!
Party Conferences should be good for a few laffs, y’all!
The Expert answers:
Apologies for not reading your post in full, but 3 companies make 1000.00 per second profit, what exactly does that mean, these are global companies which deal in huge figures. 333.00 GBP per second per company is hardly massive considering that fact – i mean how much money gets traded on teh stock market per day – billions
it is not as if one person is pocketing 333.00 per second and i presume the green party supports high taxes on fuel (oh think about the dreadful carbon footprint) considering a vast percentage of money the consumer pays on fuel is tax – who exactly is the robber – and i dont think the green party would do a u-turn on this
you cannot take the greens seriously as they are a one policy party, and they dont seem to give a damn that the policies that they are spelling out are potentially ruinous to teh economy
at least that is what i think
Joseph asks…
Are Republicans so desperate that they’re trying to pin Solyndra on Obama?
Republicans trying to turn this in to Obama’s whitewater… but facts suggests this was Bush’s!
It’s often claimed that the Solyndra loan guarantee was “rushed through” by the Obama administration for political reasons. In fact, the Solyndra loan guarantee was a multi-year process that the Bush administration launched in 2007.
You’d never know from the media coverage that:
The Bush team tried to conditionally approve the Solyndra loan just before President Obama took office.
The company’s backers included private investors who had diverse political interests.
The loan comprises just 1.3 percent of the Department of Energy‘s (DOE) overall loan portfolio. To date, Solyndra is the only loan that’s known to be troubled.
————————————————————————————————————————————-
May 2005: Just as a global silicon shortage begins driving up prices of solar photovoltaics, Solyndra is founded to provide a cost-competitive alternative to silicon-based panels.
July 2005: The Bush administration signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law, creating the 1703 loan guarantee program.
February 2006 – October 2006: In February, Solyndra raises its first round of venture financing, worth $10.6 million from CMEA Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and U.S. Venture Partners. In October, Argonaut Venture Capital, an investment arm of George Kaiser, invests $17 million into Solyndra. Madrone Capital Partners, an investment arm of the Walton family, invests $7 million. Those investments are part of a $78.2 million fund.
December 2006: Solyndra applies for a loan guarantee under the 1703 program.
Late 2007: Loan guarantee program is funded. Solyndra was one of 16 clean-tech companies deemed ready to move forward in the due diligence process. The Bush administration DOE moves forward to develop a conditional commitment.
October 2008: Then Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet touted reasons for building in Silicon Valley and noted that the “company’s second factory also will be built in Fremont, since a Department of Energy loan guarantee mandates a U.S. location.”
November 2008: Silicon prices remain very high on the spot market, making non-silicon based thin film technologies like Solyndra’s very attractive to investors. Solyndra also benefits from having very low installation costs. The company raises $144 million from ten different venture investors, including the Walton-family run Madrone Capital Partners. This brings total private investment to more than $450 million to date.
January 2009: In an effort to show it has done something to support renewable energy, the Bush administration tries to take Solyndra before a DOE credit review committee just one day before President Obama is inaugurated. The committee, consisting of career civil servants with financial expertise, remands the loan back to DOE because it wasn’t ready for conditional commitment.
http://www.grist.org/solar-power/2011-09-13-bush-admin-pushed-solyndra-loan-guarantee-for-two-years
The Expert answers:
You lie.
Robert asks…
science please help?
Future City Assignment:
Design a U.S. coastal city in the year of 2057. Assume that global warming, either from human activity or a natural cycle has caused temperature to increase and sea level has risen significantly. Below are problems you must overcome when designing your city. Make a colored drawing of you city, or create a model for some extra credit, and write a paragraph explaining how you will overcome the problems listed. Be creative, but as realistic as possible.
Problems to deal with:
1. non-renewable energy is running out
2. global warming has caused higher ocean temperatures causing more violent hurricanes
3. increased population causing food shortages and excess waste removal.
4. Global warming and increased population causing fresh water shortages.
i don’t understand how your supposed to draw those problems and stuff. Please explain.
thank you so much!
really appreciated!
The Expert answers:
You could draw a map from above the city looking at all the buildings. On the map you could label the important things that solve the problems like an awesome levy, and a power plant that can generate energy from trash (or you could use wind power, esp. On the coast, or maybe you could use water power with the ocean).
Desalination plants exist now and can create fresh water from ocean water. You can also have lots of recycling centers & a good mass transit system (subway, maybe above ground train).
Mandy asks…
help please. science assignment?
Future City Assignment:
Design a U.S. coastal city in the year of 2057. Assume that global warming, either from human activity or a natural cycle has caused temperature to increase and sea level has risen significantly. Below are problems you must overcome when designing your city. Make a colored drawing of you city, or create a model for some extra credit, and write a paragraph explaining how you will overcome the problems listed. Be creative, but as realistic as possible.
Problems to deal with:
1. non-renewable energy is running out
2. global warming has caused higher ocean temperatures causing more violent hurricanes
3. increased population causing food shortages and excess waste removal.
4. Global warming and increased population causing fresh water shortages.
i don’t understand how your supposed to draw those problems and stuff. Please explain.
thank you so much!
really appreciated!
The Expert answers:
This sounds like a fun project to me. A couple things you could incorporate into your drawing: A desalinization plant off the coast to convert ocean water to drinking water, as done in some countries, already. How about large wind turbines on the hills to produce electricity. Maybe some large greenhouses to produce crops. Perhaps some extra high sea walls to protect your city from powerful water surges from the hurricanes? Hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck!
Susan asks…
Do conservatives hate Al Gore because he’s more successful than they will ever be?
-Gore served in the military honorably
-He played a vital role in the commercialization of the Internet. Vint Cerf, referred to as the “Father of the Internet” said of Gore, “His initiatives led directly to the commercialization of the Internet. So he really does deserve credit.”
-Senior advisor to Google
-On Apple’s board.
-Invests money in renewable energy, and donates the profits from investments to the Alliance for Climate Protection
-Pays higher electricity costs because he chooses to purchase energy from renewable sources
So it would seem they hate Al Gore because he’s more successful, and has done more for this country than they ever will. Oh yeah:
-While in Congress he tried to cut all assistance to Iraq after they used WMDs, but he was opposed by intense lobbying from the Reagan White House.
The Expert answers:
No, because he is a crook who is using public hysteria to get richer.
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