Greenpeace Blog

Drowning in greenwash

Posted by jamie — 9 January 2008 at 4:03pm - Comments

Watching TV used to be a relaxing pleasure but now it makes my blood boil. It's not the programmes so much (although a lot of it is rubbish) but the advert breaks overflowing with greenwash, filled with images of doe-eyed creatures and tranquil woodlands by companies trying to convince me that they're really very green and, actually, always have been.

Article tagged as: adverts, ASA, EDF, eon, greenwash, HSBC, videos

Share the music, save the world

Posted by bex — 9 January 2008 at 1:15pm - Comments

Calling any music-makers who'd like to share their music in the name of a good cause.

We're producing more and more videos for the web these days, and we always need royalty-free music to use for the soundtrack. Rather than trawl through the music libraries out there, we thought we'd see if any of you have tracks that you'd like to donate to the cause, in exchange for a credit and a link.

Article tagged as: multimedia, music, take action, what you can do

New bulbs for old in London bulb amnesty

Posted by jamie — 9 January 2008 at 12:36pm - Comments

As Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone might not be the perfect politician but at least he's streets ahead of central government on climate change and reducing emissions in the capital. His latest ploy is to hold a light bulb amnesty during which Londoners can exchange their old incandescent bulbs for a bright new energy-efficient one.

According to london.gov.uk, you can take up to two old-fashioned bulbs to any London branch of B&Q between Friday 11 and Sunday 13 January and exchange them for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) provided by British Gas. Nice.

Article tagged as: B&Q, climate change, energy, energy efficiency, ken livingstone, light bulbs, london

New nukes? Yes, Prime Minister

Posted by bex — 8 January 2008 at 6:21pm - Comments

See all updates about nuclear power.

Breaking news: Ministers have unanimously backed the principle of Brown's plans for new nuclear power without a vote at today's cabinet meeting.

According to the BBC, Brown's cabinet has "agreed in principle to approve a new generation of nuclear power stations". Reuters meanwhile quotes Brown's spokeswoman as saying there was a "very good discussion with many interventions from members of the cabinet".

Nice for some.

We're expecting the formal announcement to be made on Thursday.

Article tagged as: gordon brown, nuclear power, public consultations

From the video vaults: climate change in 1958

Posted by jamie — 8 January 2008 at 3:14pm - Comments

Al Gore's The Inconvenient Truth has been hailed as a revolution in the climate change debate, but it looks like he was way behind the times. Thanks to Martin at Making Waves for posting about an excerpt from The Unchained Goddess, an educational film made in 1958 (that's 50 years ago, fact fans) about the dangers of carbon dioxide emissions. The performances are a little ropey but it's prescient stuff, and involved the talents of no less than Frank Capra and Mel Blanc.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2 emissions, videos

Green light bulbs give you cancer and other tall stories

Posted by jamie — 8 January 2008 at 2:25pm - Comments

"Environmentally friendly light bulbs 'can give you skin cancer'" claims the Daily Mail

The Mail waxes lyrical about its favourite subject

What fun the media has been having with light bulbs lately, peddling claims that they are extremely dangerous due to the mercury they contain and that they could cause skin cancer. With an eye recently sobered by new year abstinence, let's take a closer look.

Article tagged as: climate change, energy, energy efficiency, light bulbs

GM crops can help prevent climate change? Shurely shome mishtake

Posted by jamie — 8 January 2008 at 11:25am - Comments

Those pesky biotech companies never give up. After recently spinning the line that GM crops can be used to safeguard food production from the ravages of climate change, their latest wheeze is to try and convince us that GM technology can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Article tagged as: agriculture, china, climate change, GM crops, GM food, rice

Energy price hikes? Brace yourself for more if Brown goes nuclear

Posted by bex — 7 January 2008 at 6:15pm - Comments

See all updates about nuclear power.

Now here's a surprise: the government was being 'economic' with the truth when it promised that we, the taxpayers, wouldn't have to foot the extortionate bill for new nuclear power.

It turns out that we, the consumers, will be picking up our fair share.

Yep, the day after the papers reported a 15 per cent energy price hike, we're being told to brace ourselves for more hikes if the government succeeds in dragging us down the nuclear road.

Article tagged as: gordon brown, nuclear power, nuclear subsidies, public consultations

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