Sorry for the bad quality, but I took the snapshots directly from my TV screen.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Bush's image on German TV
Well, everyone knows that Europeans don't like George W. Bush. That's nothing new. But I think it's funny to see how he is ridiculed on German TV. These are pictures from RTL, a private German TV station (from their late night news program "Nachtjournal" - and no, it's not comedy, it's a serious news program).
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Congratulations to Al Gore!
He won an Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth" and he really deserves it! He says that it's not a political issue but a moral issue and he is right. What this man has done to open the eyes of Americans and other people in the world to the climate crisis is unbelievable. Even George W. Bush can't deny Global Warming anymore. People here in Europe never understood that so many Americans stuck their heads in the sand and didn't want to see this problem. I remember discussions about this subject on French and German TV years ago.
And even if the politicians take some time to address these issues, people can start energy saving at home. As John Kerry said recently (BTW, he and his wife are writing a book about environmental issues as well):
In the last year Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" has brought the science of climate change to millions of Americans in a dramatic and persuasive way. It's terrific what he's done. Here's the bottom line: within the next decade, if we don't deal with global warming, our children and grandchildren will have to deal with global catastrophe. We need big changes to fix a big problem. We can't "middle" our way there.
As individuals, the change can be as simple as replacing traditional light bulbs with efficient fluorescents. In our communities we should require that new buildings include lights that turn off when people leave the room. We should follow the lead of Tokyo and their energy efficient escalators that shut off when they aren't being used. There are literally thousands of things to be done, too few of which we are being asked to do. Each of us can do something.
http://blog.johnkerry.com/2007/01/combating_global_warming.html
A personal experience I made in the USA: I spent several months with an American family in 2004/05, a liberal Californian family who voted for John Kerry and had no false religious or political reasons to deny Climate Change, and they didn't. But did that mean they stopped wasting energy? When they went out, they left all the lights in the house switched on, also the TV (not even on stand-by!), had always all the doors open, used the washing-machine several times a day just for some clothes, let the water running from the water-tap while doing something else in the kitchen, drove several times the day to the grocery or some other store because they didn't make a shopping-list, had a subscription to 20 or more magazines which arrived weekly, piled on the living room table and were seldom read. I tried to tell them that they wasted energy (and money!) but it's hard to get rid of these bad old habits, that's for sure.
For a lot of people here in Europe energy saving has become a natural thing to do. At least in my family (and that was already the case when I lived with my parents) we have these energy efficient light bulbs since I was a teenager. I can't even remember when exactly my dad brought them home for the first time. We always switch the lights off when we leave a room; that's an automatic reflex. We close the doors when we leave or enter a room to keep the heat in the room. We switch the heaters off when we don't use a room or leave for the day. We switch our electronic devices (TV, DVD player etc.) off when we don't use them - not leave them on stand-by. We use the washing machine, dryer, dish-washer etc. only for a full load and not several times a day. We use recycled paper for the printer, for letters and envelops etc. We bring our own bags when we go shopping because in many German and French supermarkets you don't get plastic bags anymore. We have several trash-bins to separate trash because it's recycled. These are just the small things you can do in your own household and it will save you not only energy but a lot of money as well. Just check your water and electricity bill and you will see it.
There is more to do, of course. And we have only 13 years left to change our behavior and save the world as we know if for our kids. Isn't that a really sad thing to realize. Only 13 years!
My friend Global Village from the John Kerry group at Democratic Underground made a wonderful video clip about Climate Change. You should watch it!
Links to
- An Inconvenient Truth
- John Kerry & Teresa Heinz Kerry: This Moment on Earth
- GlobalVillage's YouTube channel
And even if the politicians take some time to address these issues, people can start energy saving at home. As John Kerry said recently (BTW, he and his wife are writing a book about environmental issues as well):
In the last year Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" has brought the science of climate change to millions of Americans in a dramatic and persuasive way. It's terrific what he's done. Here's the bottom line: within the next decade, if we don't deal with global warming, our children and grandchildren will have to deal with global catastrophe. We need big changes to fix a big problem. We can't "middle" our way there.
As individuals, the change can be as simple as replacing traditional light bulbs with efficient fluorescents. In our communities we should require that new buildings include lights that turn off when people leave the room. We should follow the lead of Tokyo and their energy efficient escalators that shut off when they aren't being used. There are literally thousands of things to be done, too few of which we are being asked to do. Each of us can do something.
http://blog.johnkerry.com/2007/01/combating_global_warming.html
A personal experience I made in the USA: I spent several months with an American family in 2004/05, a liberal Californian family who voted for John Kerry and had no false religious or political reasons to deny Climate Change, and they didn't. But did that mean they stopped wasting energy? When they went out, they left all the lights in the house switched on, also the TV (not even on stand-by!), had always all the doors open, used the washing-machine several times a day just for some clothes, let the water running from the water-tap while doing something else in the kitchen, drove several times the day to the grocery or some other store because they didn't make a shopping-list, had a subscription to 20 or more magazines which arrived weekly, piled on the living room table and were seldom read. I tried to tell them that they wasted energy (and money!) but it's hard to get rid of these bad old habits, that's for sure.
For a lot of people here in Europe energy saving has become a natural thing to do. At least in my family (and that was already the case when I lived with my parents) we have these energy efficient light bulbs since I was a teenager. I can't even remember when exactly my dad brought them home for the first time. We always switch the lights off when we leave a room; that's an automatic reflex. We close the doors when we leave or enter a room to keep the heat in the room. We switch the heaters off when we don't use a room or leave for the day. We switch our electronic devices (TV, DVD player etc.) off when we don't use them - not leave them on stand-by. We use the washing machine, dryer, dish-washer etc. only for a full load and not several times a day. We use recycled paper for the printer, for letters and envelops etc. We bring our own bags when we go shopping because in many German and French supermarkets you don't get plastic bags anymore. We have several trash-bins to separate trash because it's recycled. These are just the small things you can do in your own household and it will save you not only energy but a lot of money as well. Just check your water and electricity bill and you will see it.
There is more to do, of course. And we have only 13 years left to change our behavior and save the world as we know if for our kids. Isn't that a really sad thing to realize. Only 13 years!
My friend Global Village from the John Kerry group at Democratic Underground made a wonderful video clip about Climate Change. You should watch it!
Links to
- An Inconvenient Truth
- John Kerry & Teresa Heinz Kerry: This Moment on Earth
- GlobalVillage's YouTube channel
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