GreenPolicy360 Highlights

February 2015

GreenPolicy360 highlights Ron Garan

We greatly appreciate the newest from Astronaut Ron Garan as his interactive project "Orbital Perspective" is published this week. Some 45 years ago, near the end of December 1968 and beginning of an auspicious 1969, we began seeing the Apollo 8 mission's first-ever images of our "whole earth". It's not overstating to say - these images from above changed everything. The first pictures from space of our Earth, taken as Apollo circled around the moon, carried realizations to Earth that together we were traveling thru space as a blue planet.

We welcomed a perspective no human had ever had -- it was an eye-opener for us.

Our Whole Earth. We celebrated the thought, even as we, the planet and our populations were in the midst of violent war and troubled times.

Today, the famous Earthrise photo rekindles our memory, and the serendipity of how the Apollo crew was lucky that day as, looking out they window, there we were. There was no "mission plan" that day to take photos and the astronauts scrambled to get cameras, put in film and shoot a few frames. They were in awe, they said, and their fortune was in play with what they captured. The realizations of our wholeness, and fragility, connectedness, of our future as we spin thru space on our "blue dot" was communicated and has continued to be shared by astronauts since and, more recently, with high tech ways to see and experience our Earth as planetary citizens.

We welcome Ron Garan's words, images and interactive ways to help us appreciate the beauty of our " blue marble planet", our home. Here are a few of Ron's thoughts -- for more, visit his many online site. Here's a way to begin with "Orbital Perspective."

Astronaut Ron Garan: Up there, hovering above Earth with my orbital perspective, I came to believe that the problem lies primarily in our inability to collaborate effectively on a global scale. There are millions of organizations around the world working to improve life on Earth, but for the most part these organizations are not engaged in a unified, coordinated effort...

We already possess all the technology we need to enable truly consistent, world-changing global collaboration. Our real challenge lies in demonstrating how vital and valuable such collaboration is, despite the real and perceived risks. Open collaborations make solutions more effective and efficient through the pooling of resources and information. Working together multiplies cost-effectiveness… It is the only real way to enable economies of scale that can scale innovative solutions. Open collaboration encourages greater accountability, which in turn fosters trust. We are all in this together, so we should share common goals, and the only way we are going to overcome the challenges facing our world is by working together.

You don’t need to be an astronaut to have the orbital perspective…

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January 2015

GreenPolicy360 highlights Governor Jerry Brown

Perhaps it's fitting to move from a Jesuit pope to a former Jesuit seminarian...

This week we highlight Governor Edmund G. 'Jerry' Brown.

Some years ago, your GreenPolicy editor had the opportunity to serve as an advisor to Jerry's presidential campaign and the Governor and I worked closely on the campaign's We the People platform. Political reform across a breadth of issues was on our agenda. The preparation of briefing books for the debates was a challenge, as we argued watering down of environmental and work protection laws was flawed policy. Up until the 90's the US had set green and labor standards which were being set aside by both parties in the 90s. We argued for a better approach, and for money out of politics, and univ health care, and we came close to winning the nomination which eventually went to the next president, Bill Clinton. The many green ideas we brought forward continued on in the Green Platform which your siterunner was the key drafter and Jerry and his ideas and agenda carried on in California. To this day, Governor Brown is out in front with model initiatives for change. Decades now, day-to-day, Jerry has been hard at work to make a difference and create, with vision, a better world.

Here's a nod of our green hat to Jerry Brown -- a principled visionary, making it happen.

Today the press reports -- California leads the nation and Jerry Brown's point of view? “What happens here doesn’t stay here. It goes all around the country and all around the world.”

The 'greening' results are showing... Transportation -- Energy -- Climate Change -- Pacific Coast Climate Plan, A Model for a Regional Approach to Climate Change -- and Arnold who added real Green Muscle.

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December 2014

GreenPolicy360 highlights Pope Francis

Catholic pontiff speaks of the environment

Time to take another look at the new Catholic leadership

“In this globalised world,” Pope Francis, “we have fallen into globalised indifference.”

Next year, he will intervene again in the secular world. Today, the Observer reports his intention to write a letter to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, give an address to the UN General Assembly and call for a summit of the world’s main religions. He will also issue a rare papal encyclical in March on climate change and human ecology, all part of an attempt strongly to influence the UN climate change meeting in Paris in 2015 to achieve a universal commitment to reduce carbon emissions. “Eco-theology” alarms creationists and divides the Catholic church. Opponents, including some in the Vatican, condemn it as “un-biblical”. Pope Francis sees economic inequality and the plundering of the Earth’s resources as part of a theme. He has said: “In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of accrued profits, whatever is fragile like the environment is defenceless against the interest of a deified market, which becomes the only rule.”

To the plight of carrying an olive branch of peace as we look to the future and struggle with the realities of today.

And to a different kind of pope, Francis, a spiritual voice for 1.2 billion Catholics, calling for peace during the traditional Christmas Day speech, Urbi et Orbi

Thoughts of a leader taking a church in new directions.

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November 2014

GreenPolicy360 highlights George Brown Jr.

Remembering the 'start-up' of the environmental movement and the first laws, a set of founding legal precedents many of which came from forward-looking green visionaries from California, like George E. Brown who passed away suddenly in 1999.

George's work in Congress in air quality/clean air, water and the founding of the EPA highlighted the era's achievement... George was out in front in "big science" -- his profound accomplishments are esp missed now as anti-science positions threaten in the current Congress...

Memories of George http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/George_E._Brown_Jr

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GreenPolicy360 highlights Rebecca Moore

Rebecca envisioned setting up Google Outreach -- and she did.

As our site mgr Steve wrote: Rebecca had an idea how to save trees around her home

and her idea led to setting up Google Outreach - She had a great idea, she made it happen,

she is continuing to make it happen ! Each day there's new progress, local and global...

Global Forest Watch & Global Fishing Watch are two most recent successful launches.

Here's a tip of our green hat to Rebecca's Earth Outreach 'planet citizen' work !

Thank You Rebecca, congratulations - time to see how it's all connected !

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Global Fishing Watch launches

Google Outreach out in front again

Global Fishing Watch_newly launched [1]

Global Forest Watch launches - 2014

Google Outreach continues its impact

Global Forest Watch

World Resources

Monitoring the world's forests

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October 2014

GreenPolicy360 highlights Paul Hawken

Project Drawdown CO2

Introduced at the Bioneers Conference by Paul Hawken

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GreenPolicy360 highlights Iain Keith

Climate March organizer, from Avaaz:

"We realized that a March could send a powerful signal.

Marches don't always change the world.

Sometimes they are the only things

that shake the system into widespread change."

InsideClimate News (TW)

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GreenPolicy360 highlights the Bioneers

Bioneers celebrating their 25th Anniversary Conference [2] [3] [4]

Long time, very good friends of GreenPolicy360 and a preeminent eco-network, here's to the Bioneers!

A celebration of the genius of nature and human ingenuity, the Bioneers network continues on doing its good work locally and globally. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Hearty Congratulations especially go to co-founders Kenny and Nina