Green Hypocrisy to the Tune of 643million tons of carbon to our future.
I was all fired up to create a nice positive environmental post this morning. Sadly, it only took about two minutes into my research to discover that being positive this morning was going to be out of the question as the World Bank helps one of the globes biggest power plants fire up its polluting progress...
(use green text as links to associated webpages).
The latest alarm comes as the World Bank continues to lend to highly toxic projects despite claiming green interests. The concern has come only one year after World Bank President, Robert Zoellick pledged to .... significantly step up our assistance in fighting climate change, ... whilst also increasing its financing of fossil-fuel projects around the globe.
The World Banks contribution to this marvel is some $450 million in loans and guarantees for the project, with the knock on effect of a further $50 million stake in it.
Clearly, The World Bank's commitment to green lending does not match up to Zoellick's rhetoric.
The reason: For all the concern that global warming will wreak environmental havoc, such plants offer the speediest economic payoffs, helping fulfil the bank's mandate to battle deprivation and refill its coffers so it can lend more.
Worse still The World Bank has made a cold-faced call for more funding from donor countries to increase its work on climate change, as global development ministers meet in paradise conference rooms around the globe, to examine the bank's role in promoting clean energy, according to documents published ahead of the meetings.
With pressure from the US for third world countries to do more to curb their emissions, the World Bank now finds itself at cross purposes in its mission to alleviate poverty in those same third world countries on the one hand, and continue to fill its coffers on the other. The irony is not lost here either when you consider that in places like China, about one-third of their emissions are created in fulfilling their export market.
Tracking Chinas Pollution Drift
Perhaps the funniest thing of all is the World Banks recent announcement of a NEW World Bank Clean Technology Fund would receive some of the $2 billion in climate funds from U.S. President George W. Bush, and a further 800 million pounds ($1.56 billion) from Britain pledged to "environmental transformation, ... through publicly and privately financed projects that deploy technologies that can cut emissions, increase efficiency and save energy...(in) developing countries like China and India.
Some background info on Powerplant Pollution CLICK HERE
Meanwhile the views from the Centre for Global Development have slammed the whole Tata Power plant exercise as a grave mistake. Some research shown on their web page, has clearly outlined and proven that despite the shortfall in supply, India has abundant green alternatives to coal fired power at its disposal to fulfil the shortfal in its fast development, albeit not at such a quick reward for the World Bank coffers.
For those interested in seeking the truth of the alternatives available to this horror of development amidst our modern world, you can read the Global Development Centre’s report-blog and some great comments in debate about the need for this Power Plant, to be or not to be? CLICK HERE
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hiya I tried to reply to your comment on my site last week but i was on the road and the computer i was using decided there was no way i could stay online
On something we discussed months ago I have a meeting with Verity Firth next month, she is VERY receptive to all ideas to contribute towards energy efficiency so I thought Id take your stuff to the meeting. If you could send me the nfo that would be GREAT......
awesome post, i got nothing today
Louie
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I can hear it in every birds call some days and it is enough to make you want to cry, honestly... the cost of our modern lifestyles is just too high.
I think there should be a corfu on electricity .. perhpas only have power int he evenings from 6-10pm ... the problem with that is it is not the ordinary folk that require it, but the factories... however, it is the ordinary folk that are consumers, isn;t it?
An endless cycle of madness in my book.
lovely to see you about orble again ... I've been voting and enjoying some of your health pages recently too (too short on time to comment) ... keep them coming.
Lilla ...
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... yes it makes me ill, literally... eventually it'll make us all ill, but no-one seems to care.
Gosh that's good news. I'm not sure what info you mean as it was months ago and my world moves so quickly where information is concerned... Please PM me what you require Louie and I'll do my best to get it to you on time.
Cheers
Lilla ...
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Good Lord this is an absolute mess. This is a great post but makes me sad all the same.
Mis
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Yes I agree. A more humble post with brighter news would have suited me better too... this is truly making me ill each time I think about the hypocrisy and cost to US ALL.
Truly a cl;ear indication that the SYSTEM we have in play right now... JUST DOESNT WORK.
But who cares withint he halls of profit and power?
L
cheers
fog
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You go right ahead and be as pessimistic as you want, there is no other way of being when you read about things like this, to remain optimistic would require you to be putting up little windows of illusion to cover the horrible realities (like in Louies cartoon/post HERE).
This one just burns me up (pun intended), and why I will probably end up in therapy ...
L
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Your comment doesn;t even make sense, and the research is very poor. Canberra houses a population of about 350,000 these days ... but hey, Im not a hair splitter.
I guess that your comment was aimed at abusing me and acusing me being a hypocrite. Firstly, I don;t speak for Australia, secondly what is already in play is fair game. It was built when we were still ignorant of our impact on our environment.
The point about this TATA mill is not simply a case of my hyprocrisy sunshine, it is about the fact that (some of us) within governments should be wiser now the new infrastructure can be built in a friendlier, greener way.
The only hyprocrisy here is on the behqalf of the World Bank, please go back and re-read my post, you obviously missed my point, completely (as usual) *yawn* Please bring something reasonable to the debate table next time. not just ranting and raving.
Thank you for voting.
Lilla ...