Ed Dowding

http://www.legislation.gov.uk

Ok.. maybe it’s not interesting, but it’s certainly a big step towards better.

New Dream Mini-Views: Visualizing a Plenitude Economy from Center for a New American Dream on Vimeo.

via Visualizing a Plenitude Economy on Vimeo.

The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling – James Fallows – The Atlantic.

My MP strives for growth, quite possibly by selling your medical data to the pharmaceutical industry:

The Department of Health should examine how to unlock the value of the UK’s goldmine of patient data – the holy grail of modern biomedical research worth billions to the Pharma industry.

He’s also keen to invest in road and rail rather than the far more sensible and worthwhile renewable energy infrastructure which would lower our costs and give opportunity to be industrial leaders in green-tech design and production.

I would add siding-scale regulation to his request that we

scrap the endless form filling, set clear simple rules with random checks, heavy penalties for those who don’t comply, and watch business comply. It works with TV licenses; why not try it for Health and Safety?

And agree wholeheartedly with his conclusion that

We in Government don’t have to start the businesses, just create the conditions for entrepreneurs in the private – and public – sector, who will gladly do it for us.

However since the Government is responsible for creating and shaping those conditions, they also implicitly shape the response of the private sector. It would thus be useful if he could be more explicit in the goals he hopes the Governments conditions will help us reach. At the very least he should define what he means by ‘growth’, since it does seem to form the crux of his vision.

Do you know what your MP is striving for?

1. Egypt demands better governance, and lots of countries follow suit.
2. MPs do a semi-u-turn and decide not to sell of forests
   Caroline Spelman issued an extraordinary apology yesterday as she scrapped plans to sell off England’s forests, telling MPs: “I’m sorry, we got this one wrong.” The Environment Secretary’s act of public contrition helped to
   calm the political storm the Government provoked with its controversial scheme to offload 637,000 acres of woodlands from public ownership. Tory MPs, who had joined a national protest campaign that united
   countryside groups and all shades of political opinion, rallied around the embattled minister as she confirmed the policy U-turn.
3. Indonesian rainforests have the pressure take off a little.
   Rainforests in Indonesia are getting a bit of a break by the palm oil arm of notorious forest destroyer, Sinar Mas. Many of you helped us expose the company’s role in rainforest destruction over the last three years and now the palm oil branch of Sinar Mas, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), has unveiled a plan to stop destroying forests and peatlands in Indonesia. For years their plantations fuelled deforestation across Indonesia – now their pledge could help tackle climate change and save large areas of forest. And it’s your amazing efforts to persuade Nestle, Unilever and other companies to stop buying palm oil from Sinar Mas which has helped make this possible.

As with all these things, words are easy but action is hard, and promises easy to break.If you have the means and the inclination, please support the work of the fine organisations which have lobbied to make these good things happen. Donate to GreenPeace (palm oil) 38 Degrees (forests sell-off).