Isn’t that exactly what the politicians would want? Remodelling our own communities in a more sustainable way is what we are doing for the rest of the year!

Because it’s tinfoil.

For anyone not familiar with deliberate climate change for military advantage (USA at the fore-front) could make a start by reading Professor Chossudovsky’s “Owning the Weather” (internet)
See ‘Global Research’ archived material.

I think you will be surprised by just how much has been going on – covertly – in this arena since 1945.

“blow a fuse” – I wonder. In the US most everything has gone to circuit breakers. I wonder what the difference is in energy consumption, between fuses and circuit breakers. Both steal a bit of the amperage flowing through the circuit, so that if too much goes, they interrupt things.

A fuse would be a simple resistor, always converting a percentage of electricity used to heat. I wonder what the proportion of current is for a circuit breaker, comparatively. I also wonder what age does to the energy impact of a fuse or circuit breaker, or accumulated energy flow.

As many fuses and circuit breakers are used, I wonder if they contribute as much “loss” as a turned off but plugged in stereo or TV.

@ Adrian Hepworth,

“I think the way we all have to combat climate change is for each of us to do our own thing. ”

I think there are three levels of concern. Certainly at the community and local level, changing your lifestyle and publishing your thoughts is a very effective way to introduce change.

At the national level, though, you are effectively hidden in the dust. Without swinging 1/10th of the voters, or the money and power leaders, you will not be seen or heard. There are tipping points, concerned leaders that will recognize and respect a reasoned letter, a request, a relevant suggestion. There are activities that get noticed, that bring issues of concern to public awareness. Protests and demonstrations serve to share passions among participants – energizing them as they for a temporary “community”, as well as informing others of their concern. Just as no nation on earth wants an event like Bush (either one) staged in Iraq, no community really wants a brick-throwing, looting “demonstration” or riot. So community leaders do pay attention to protests and rallies, at least as far as avoiding violence.

One proposed project I read about would have global impact, and seemed probable. The Scandinavian Fjords, during spring runoff, channel fresh water into the North Sea, diluting the salt. Also feeding into the North Sea, normally, is the Gulf Stream, wending it’s way from the Gulf of Mexico to moderate the climate in Europe. As it approaches the North Sea, the Gulf Stream water becomes denser due to evaporation along the way. By the time it mingles with the North Sea, the density has increased – and it sinks. And settles to the bottom of the Atlantic, creating a pool that feeds a bottom-stream toward the Gulf of Mexico. Where the cold waters are warmed, rise, are enlarged by fresher water, and again wend their way back toward the North Sea. Normally.

The proposed project was to dam the fjords, to diffuse the spring runoff in time, so that they don’t reach the North Sea area where the Gulf Stream cycle should be progressing – but the fresh water of Scandinavia dilute the waters of the Gulf Stream enough that they no longer sink, interrupting the centuries-long circulation of warmer and colder waters we call the Gulf Stream.

A project to dam several or many of the Fjords to manage spring runoff could be double-billed, as a hydroelectric project. Dam the waters in spring, act as tide engines the rest of the year.

The faltering of the Gulf Stream has been cited as the reason for atrocious weather in Europe over the last decade. Are fjord waters the sole cause for the interruption? Hard to tell. Will such a dam project guarantee restoring the Gulf Stream? Dunno. Have to try it first.

Building fjord-dams would also serve as practice levees for the cities in danger of flooding as global warming raises ocean levels.

That project won’t happen because I set my thermostat to 58 degrees and tell my neighbors. Or because I raise vegetables in my garden that I no longer need trucked in from hundreds or thousands of miles away. Or even if I write my Senator.

Unless communities demonstrate regularly in their own back yards, how can they expect planetary change to come? That’s why we need to make it as easy as possible for people to participate – AVAAZ does it one way, I suggest another, you suggest another… we need a smorgasbord, a constellation of activities and approaches. No one way is going to crack this. Everyone’s talents and predilections can contribute.

The summit, organized as a world conference of social movements, will operate as a response to the failure of Copenhagen.

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/20843

“how do we know what is enough, when we are done?”

I think that is a question to be put off for a century or so. If the Warmer position is valid, then everyone is responsible, until the event window closes, for not making things worse. Some – or many – may overcompensate, do negligible harm or even a net benefit, for the metrics you focus on. Should that happen, then you know and I know that over-doing by some merely compensates for abuses that won’t be brought under control.

When relative metrics show the approach of global warming is past, then the emphasis should be on conservation of resources, ameliorating any problems that can be fixed, and get on with the usual – put down wars, feed hungry people and animals, and raise children to respect and honor the culture that nurtures them. Maybe get on with exploring the universe, with finding inner peace, and making sure that every earth-bound soul is favored with a responsible task and shelter and community. And like that.

@ Fe Day,

I fear your weekly meetings face two immense obstacles. First is attention span of the masses – most are embroiled in toil under the sun and under an uncaring government, where repeated diversions of time would be an intolerable hardship. Second is that peaceful protests are an artifact of a decadent and affluent society. That is, when the poor gather, they have already been denied the opportunity to earn daily bread – and passions will be ugly. And there aren’t that many affluent that care about the world and their community to gather with mere proletariat on a regular basis.

Your proposed council of all peoples sounds an awful lot like the Hippie communes of the 1960s. Some still exist, some few are still adhering to the founding expectations. But most failed, and as a whole have had minimum impact on the world or even surrounding communities.

Community dances, they have a shot at regular activities that persist for years. Religious services, also. There are other groups that gather for a common purpose, but few affect their communities in a realistic fashion.

Luck.

I hope enthusiasts of this eminently sensible approach might like to read my book “Changing Course for Life – Local Solutions to Global Problems” (Rob-you have a copy) (www.changingcourseforlife.info)- which expands upon this theme and draws into it education, agriculture, law, spirit, energy, economics, money, art.. and more.
We, the people, do need to take responsibility in all these realms … and to get excited about the creative possibilities that are open to us to turn the tables on centralised, distant power bases.
People led initiatives are trully the future – and that future starts now!

Happy New Year!