Leituras sobre sustentabilidade e uma sobre eficiência energética: o exemplo da Califórnia é espantoso!

• Brazil: Who will pay for Amazon's 'Chernobyl' ? | Climate Ark: "It's barely eight in the morning and already the dusty oil town of Lago Agrio, on the fringes of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is sweltering. Its name means 'sour lake' in Spanish, after the hometown of Texan oil company Texaco -- a fitting name for an area of once-pristine rainforest that has been decimated in the pursuit of oil. So severe is the environmental damage here that experts have called it an 'Amazon Chernobyl'. But the people of Lago Agrio and its surrounding area have been fighting back. Sixteen years ago, 30,000 Ecuadorians began legal action against the US oil company -- now owned by Chevron -- they hold responsible. Early this year, from the town's tiny courtroom, a lone judge will deliver a verdict on their class-action case. If the judge rules in favour of the Ecuadorians, Chevron could face damages of $27.3bn (£17bn), making it the biggest environmental lawsuit in history." 

• Biodiversity is not just about saving exotic species from extinction | Robert Bloomfield | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "Biodiversity is integral to our daily lives. It is not about the loss of exotic species which have been the focus of conservation activities by the foundations and trusts of wealthy nations. It is about the vital resources which underpin the wealth and health of the world's poor and that provide the vital needs for the heath and wellbeing of us all. The equivalent to the Stern report for biodiversity is called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). It warns that our neglect of the natural services provided by biodiversity is an economic catastrophe of an order of magnitude greater than the global economic crisis. Year on year, the irreversible loss of natural diverse genetic resources impoverishes the world and undermines our ability to develop new crops and medicines, resist pests and diseases, and maintain the host of natural products on which humans rely. Equally significant, are the vital natural services that the world's ecosystems provide. These include providing vital oxygen, decomposing waste, removing pollutants, providing the natural buffers that help manage drought and flood, protect soil from erosion, ensure soil fertility, and provide breeding nurseries to maintain fish ocean stocks. The list goes on, and among these immeasurable vital functions of nature is of course its ability to absorb carbon dioxide. The ability of forests, bogs and salt marches, tundra, coral and ocean plankton to sequester carbon should be our greatest ally in managing the increased emissions of fossil fuel activity – a key theme of the climate negotiations in Copenhagen last month."  

• You can thank Arthur Rosenfeld for energy savings « Climate Progress: "California homes are loaded with personal computers, widescreen TVs, iPods, PlayStations, air conditioners, massive refrigerators, hot tubs and swimming pool pumps. Despite that, Golden State residents today use about the same amount of electricity per capita that they did 30 years ago."  

• Human civilisation 'will collapse' unless greed culture is stopped, report warns| Climate Arks: "The world's population is burning through the planet's resources at such a reckless rate -- about 28 per cent more last year - it will eventually cause environmental havoc, said the Worldwatch Institute, a US think-tank. In its annual State of the World 2010 report, it warned any gains from government action on climate change could be wiped out by the cult of consumption and greed unless changes in our lifestyle were made. Consumerism had become a 'powerful driver' for increasing demand for resources and consequent production of waste, with governments, including the British, too readily wanting to promoted it as necessary for job creation and economic well-being."  

• Mudança para a sustentabilidade | Económico: "Uma consulta rápida ao dicionário permite verificar que sustentabilidade está relacionada com conceitos como defender, fortificar, conservar e perpetuar. Com uma leitura atenta das notícias chega-se rapidamente à conclusão que esse é o maior desafio para a próxima década. Mas deve ser uma sustentabilidade global e não parcial."