Climate Star Award !
On Friday evening I had the pleasure to be part of the Climate Star Award solemn ceremony, in Baden, Austria. During the day there was an interesting dialogue-based workshop, The Future Café, about mobility issues. During the day we produced several front pages of the Journal of tomorrow about mobility, back-casting from 2015 until 2007. Think about being in 2015 and think about what you think could have happened since November 2007.
The city I work, Karlstad, for had the pleasure to get a “Climate Star Award” for the work in the field of energy and transport issues, and the project The Echo Action.

Let the cities sweat….
It is usual to hear the city planners make their tributes to the condensation of the city. They find several positive environmental effects from concentration of houses and people. Less transports and easier to arrange water and sanitation etc compared with urban sprawl. By these environmental facts it is possible to go on with the rapid growth of the city. Many green areas and parks have been built on the last decade in many cities.
In this climate change time, a research team in Manchester has estimated that an increase of the green areas of the city by only ten percent would neutralize the rise of temperature from the climate change. An enlargement of the green areas would decrease the temperature by four degrees Celsius. The decrease is due to the fact of cooling from when the water evaporates from leafs and vegetation. More green areas is also needed in the cities to store water when the cooling effect is most needed.
Well, says the city planner, we must build high-rise blocks…..!!

Mass death among razorbills in the North Sea
Thousands of razorbills have, earlier this autumn, been found dead along the coastline of the North Sea in Norway, Sweden and Germany, this autumn. Most of the birds were adults and were extraordinary thin – starved to death. They belonged to the specie Alca torda islandica which breeds around the Great Britain and in the North Sea. The lack of sand eels, which are an important feed for the juveniles, caused that the breeding was interrupted. Why the sand eels are missing isn’t elucidated yet, but it is assumed to be a consequence of over fishing and climate change.

Why didn’t Bill address the issue?
Hillary Clinton has a bold and comprehensive plan to address America's energy and environmental challenges, which shows that environmental issues is more important in the president election campaign for 2008, than ever. On her website you can read:
Setting ambitious targets, the plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of global warming, and cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds from 2030 projected levels, more than 10 million barrels per day.
Hillary would transform our economy from carbon-based to clean and energy efficient, jumpstarting research and development through a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund and doubling investment in basic energy research. She would also spur the green building industry by funding the retrofitting and modernization of 20 million low-income homes and take concrete steps to reduce electricity consumption, including enacting strict appliance efficiency standards and phasing out incandescent light bulbs.
Recognizing that transportation accounts for 70 percent of U.S. oil consumption, Hillary would increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030, but would help automakers retool their production facilities through $20 billion in "Green Vehicle Bonds."

Better late than never!
http://http://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/energy/