Biofuels have been getting a real bad press. There is potential for it to make a contribution to our energy needs, but as ever it needs careful management and cannot be entrusted to private sector capitalists, or else it can present the sort of nightmares presented below:

Original Message:

Dear Andrew In the video below, Mariam Shabani, 13, tells you how her village had its land grabbed by UK company Sun Biofuels. Now, they often go hungry and have to walk miles for water. >> Watch the video and send a message to Mariam and the families of Kisarawe Your message will be delivered straight to Mariam’s village, to show people we are with them in their struggle. In August, Sun Biofuels was sold to a new company. We are hopeful that we can work with them to help Mariam and her community get justice. If you’d like to find out more about the campaign you can read this expose in the Guardian. Thank you for your support, Josie Cohen, ActionAid biofuels campaigner josie.cohen PS. Thank you to the thousands of you who signed the petition to stop the global biofuel land grab. It’s a powerful message to politicians that will help stop biofuel companies grabbing land from communities like Mariam’s.

This marks the Anniversary of the re-launched Bridgend Green Party

So it would be nice to see as good a turn out as possible.

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Minutes and matters arising
4. Officers’ reports
5. Campaigns update – esp. fracking/pv for free
6. Elections – BCBC 2012 – Nomination of Candidates
7. Wales Green Party Conference – Sat. 19th Novemeber
8. AOB
9. DoNM

NOTE – Venue is 2 minutes walk from both the Bus and Train stations in Bridgend.
See map: https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/next-meeting/

IF ANYONE NEEDS A LIFT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW

Andy.

Something the Global Language Monitor calls its Narrative Tracker technology determined the top words, phrases and names. This technology “analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 75,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources” for references to certain terms.

This year’s top honors in the word category go to words we’ve frequently seen and heard in the news recently:

1. Occupy – Occupy has risen to pre-eminence through Occupy Movement, the occupation of Iraq, and the so-called Occupied Territories.
2. Deficit – Growing and possibly intractable problem for the economies of the developed world.
3. FRACKING – Hydraulic fracturing is a controversial method for extracting fossil fuels from hitherto unreachable deposits.

Full details here: http://www.languagemonitor.com/global-english/top-words-of-2011/

The Co-operative

Did you know that co-operatives implemented the minimum wage 90 years before it was made law in the UK? Today, with just fifty days to go before the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives, we thought we’d share a short animated film that brings to life the past, present and future of the co-operative movement. Let us know what you think of the film!

This localist approach is the embodiment of Green economics, and the Co-operative values have been seen in practice in the Co-operative’s crucial support in the fight against fracking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KYPe5xJAm5w

:http://www.ukprogressive.co.uk/editorial-why-is-wales-still-not-safe-from-fracking/article15577.html

Amongst the excellent analysis in the editorial, Denis picks up on the fact that the First Minister and Bridgend AM, Carwyn Jones, along with Bridgend CBC, have been very slow on the uptake on this whole issue. He paraphrases me very well when comparing the impact of campaigning in Bridgend with the impact in the Vale:

“Ironically in the next town over, the constituency of the 1st Minister for Wales, Andy Chyba of the Green Party said, protests are largely ignored, test wells are drilled and the anti-fracking argument gets seemingly nowhere. ”
Denis’ concluding comments are an excellent summation of where we are in the campaign:

“So one-by-one plucky voters gather enough information to realise the lies of Big Oil, complicity of many government officials and lobbyists, Environment Agencies in over their heads and rely on well-meaning civil servants who do not have the answers and simply fill out forms, cover their tails and pass the hot potato decision on to the next desk.

That is no longer good enough on this issue.

The Vale took three courageous actions:

they asked for lots of information from experts,

rejected the test bore application and

asked the Welsh Government to join them in kicking the can to Westminster and declaring a moratorium on fracking until more can be learned.

1st Minister [Carwyn Jones] is learning an informed electorate is a dangerous one. And a group committed to ensuring his colleagues also know all, causes him enormous problems.”

He cannot say he hasn’t been warned!

Louise Evans (centre) and Andy Chyba (left) lobbying in the Welsh Assembly building.

(Photo: Courtesy of Denis Campbell)

Fabulous blend of factual documentary and fictional drama about the most precious commodity on the planet, set in a Welsh context. Check out this new play by award winning writer, fellow fractivist, and good friend to The Vale Says No! team and Bridgend Greens:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b016x2k6/Afternoon_Play_The_State_of_Water/

Responsible department: Department for Energy and Climate Change

On 31st October 2011 the Department for Energy and Climate Change proposed to cut feed-in tariffs (FITs) for solar energy generation from 43.3p to 21p, a drop of over 50%. This cut would affect retrofit installations of less than 4kW. Cuts proposed to FITs in other generation capacities were similarly drastic. We petition the government to withdraw this proposal and halt their attempt to cut FITs across all capacities, but especially below 4kW. These cuts would be highly destructive to the solar energy industry, which as a new sector is highly vulnerable to drastic market changes. If the plan is passed, it will jeopardise the 25,000 jobs directly linked to the industry, not to mention put terrific strain on at least ten times as many that that supply the industry such as manufacturers, movers, scaffolders, electricians, plumbers, web developers and stationers.

Sign this petition

We need to act quick if we want to save our PV for Free community scheme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fINJvPS7sqU

‘Never forget how powerful you are’

07 November 2011

Dear Sir,

John Harris is right to criticise the parties of the “moribund mainstream” for their lack of vision, values and imagination (“This moribund mainstream risks letting loose the ghouls”, 5 November). As he rightly points out, the Liberal Democrats no longer occupy the centre left, and Labour is mired in the past. However, that certainly doesn’t mean that the only alternative is the “evil genius” of Nigel Farage and UKIP.

There is another party which is providing a real alternative and we are steadily gaining ground. We have our first MP, our first council in Brighton and Hove, and our membership has increased by 45% in the past 18 months. We are leading the calls for tax justice and for a fairer, greener alternative to the Tory-led Government’s disproportionate spending cuts. In Parliament, for example, I have tabled a Private Members’ Bill to tackle tax avoidance and evasion, and at Prime Minister’s Questions last week, I challenged David Cameron to support a Robin Hood Tax on financial trading.

It will therefore come as no surprise to our members that the Green party has been vocal in its support of the Occupy movement from the start, and I was honoured to have been asked to speak at their rally on Saturday. Meanwhile, the leaders of the mainstream parties have completely failed to engage with what is happening at St Paul’s and at protests across the country – showing just how out of touch they really are with the public mood for change.

Yesterday Ed Miliband spoke of the need to “listen to the protesters” from afar in a vapid and defensive article for the Observer, which only served to highlight the fact that he had lacked the courage to visit Occupy LSX himself. It seems that only the Green party is now willing to match progressive politics with meaningful action, and take a principled stand with the majority to challenge the deeply corrupt financial system that has plunged us into economic crisis.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas,
MP for Brighton Pavilion
Green Party of England and Wales