Cyclone Sidr Devastates Bangladesh 1
Bangladesh dated with a nightmare as cyclone Sidr ripped through the southwestern coast late Thursday, killing over 700 people and demolishing houses, crops, vegetables and trees alike along its trail of devastation over an area of thousands of square kilometers.Dr. Jeff Masters, Wunderground:Packing winds over 220km an hour, the fierce tropical storm roared across the shoreline after it hit landfall at the Khulna-Barisal coast at 7:30pm Thursday, cutting off all communications and utility services across the country.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 47 years life,” Khalilur Rahman, a government official in Patuakhali, told The Daily Star over telephone last night. “It was a panic beyond description. People found no way but to keep on screaming as long as the cyclone ran rampage here.”
Storm surge is usually the biggest killer in Bangladesh cyclones, and was responsible for the vast majority of the 140,000 people killed in the 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone. This storm struck eastern Bangladesh as a Category 5 cyclone—the only Category 5 cyclone on record to hit the country. The triangular shape of Bengal Bay funnels high surges into the apex of the triangle where Bangladesh sits, and the shallow bottom of the bay allows extraordinarily high storm surges to pile up. The maximum storm surge from Sidr was probably 20-25 feet, and affected the regions near and to the right of where the eye made landfall. The eye fortunately came ashore in the Sundarbans Forest, the world’s largest forest of mangrove trees. This region is the least populated coastal area in the country. Storm surge levels of 10-20 feet probably affected the provinces of Barguna and Paruakhali, which are more heavily populated. Undoubtedly, the storm surge killed many more people in these provinces, and Sidr’s death toll will go much higher. However, Bangladesh has done a much better job providing shelters and evacuating people during cyclones since the 1991 storm. Over 650,000 people did evacuate from Sidr, and it is unlikely the death toll will put the storm on the list of the world’s deadliest cyclones of all time.
The International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies has launched an emergency appeal for support.
Day of Action Against Coal Finance
Join Rainforest Action Network, Coal River Mountain Watch, Appalachian Voices , Rising Tide, Mountain Justice Summer, SEAC and a cast of thousands as we mobilize to stop Bank of America and Citi’s investments in the dirty coal industry for the Day of Action Against Coal Finance.
On November 16th and 17th we are asking anyone and everyone concerned with stopping the US coal rush to join us in taking the message to Wall Street. From flyering and leafletting at your local bank branch or ATM, to creative street theater or non-violent direct action at bank offices – help our climate and communities by demanding clean energy.
Get training and support. We have several conference calls for our network before the event. If you need training, ideas, support, or want to find others in your area – contact us at [email protected]
Download flyers, signs, banners and more. Check out our Action Resources Page.
It’s time to take to the streets and send Bank of America and Citi a strong message that grassroots movements against coal extraction, processing and combustion demand an end to coal financing.
RSVP.
Finance Companies Gear Up for Coal Finance Direct Action
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is organizing what it calls a National Day of Action Against Coal Finance on Nov. 16 and 17. They have distributed flyers and are planning a rally at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, at Kiener Plaza. Another rally is being planned at Washington University on Friday, Nov. 16. They are targeting Peabody as well as Bank of America and Citigroup, Inc. At a recent rally in Charlotte, N.C., four protesters were arrested for trespassing while hanging a giant banner from a crane at a nearby construction project.
Please exercise caution when entering and leaving the office on Friday and Saturday.
Ed.—links added.
Coal Lobby Websites 3
Following the GoogleAds on this site may lead to these coal industry websites:
From SourceWatch:Formed in 2000 to develop astroturf support for coal-based electricity, Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) promotes the interests of mining companies, coal transporters, and electricity producers. ABEC’s website is registered to the coal industry trade organization Center for Energy and Economic Development.
Clean Coal USA is an openly industry-funded site. The members are the following trade groups: The Association of American Railroads, the coal industry lobby group Center for Energy and Economic Development, the electric power industry lobby group Edison Electric Institute, the National Mining Association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Comes Out Against Lieberman-Warner
If this bill becomes law, 3.4 million Americans will lose their jobs. American GDP will decline by $1 trillion. And American consumers will be forced to pay as much as $6 trillion to cope with carbon constraints.
The Chamber also released the following commercial:
Other groups, such as Environmental Defense, are supporting its passage and asking their members to lobby in support of the bill.
The Chamber’s figures are cherrypicked from Dr. Smith’s testimony. Her calculations are based on a computer model designed and run by her company. Not modeled are the economic impacts of climate change or the possibility of borrowing credits. Her results have not been peer-reviewed nor were reported with degrees of uncertainty.
Job Losses
Her written testimony:By 2020, our scenarios project between 1.5 million and 3.4 million net job losses. There is a substantial implied increase in jobs associated with “green” businesses (e.g., to produce renewable generation technologies), but even accounting for these there is a projected net loss in jobs due to the generalized macroeconomic impacts of the Bill.GDP
Her modeling finds a net reduction in 2015 GDP of 1.0% to 1.6% relative to the GDP that would occur but for S.2191. The impact rises to the range of 2% to 2.5% thereafter, leading to a loss in the range of $1 trillion by 2050. By way of comparison, the Stern Review estimated the losses due to strong emissions reductions would be about 1% of GDP, and the long-term losses due to inaction from 5% to 20% GDP by 2050 depending on climate feedbacks.
American consumers
It appears the Chamber somehow generated the $6 trillion figure from this testimony:Our scenarios imply that real annual spending per household would be reduced by an average of $800 to $1300 in 2015. If the percentage consumption impacts projected for each future year were to be stated in terms of current real spending power (we use 2010 spending as the proxy for “current” here), these spending impacts would increase to levels of $1500 to over $2500 by the end of our modeled time period, 2050.The number of households in the United States is approximately 116 million. $6 trillion divided by 116 million is over $51,000. The US population in 2050 is estimated to be 404 million. The per-person cost would have to be $15,000 for the total to reach $6 trillion.
Power Shift Coverage
There was essentially no national news coverage of Power Shift, though Power Shift organizer Jessy Tolkan did some media pieces: Andrew Revkin at the New York Times interviewed her his blog and she debated Pat Buchanan on Hardball.
Politico: Students demand environmental power shiftLike so many of the students in attendance, the group of UVM freshmen demonstrated an impressive knowledge of the policy issues at hand, easily launching into disquisitions on the need for dense, mixed-use urban planning and investments in mass transit to combat suburban sprawl and reduce auto dependence.
MTVNews did this piece: Youth Leaders Shift Attention To Environment At Power Shift Summit In D.C.
Student newspaper coverage from Cornell (NY), University of Massachusetts, Simon’s Rock College (Mass.), Trinity College (Conn.), Virginia Tech, Duke University (N.C.) Howard University (D.C.), University of Maryland (more, more, more), Ithaca College (NY), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of Connecticut, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Central Florida, Carnegie Mellon University (Penn.).
Climate Youth Invade Capitol
© 2007 Ben Wikler
The youth activists introduced the 1Sky platform and asked for a commitment to the goals of making green jobs, strong emissions cuts, and no new coal top climate legislation priorities. They also called for 100% auction of pollution permits, and for an energy bill with the Senate 35 MPG standard, the House renewable energy standard, the Green Jobs Act, and no coal or nuclear subsidies.
Power Shift Lobby Day
Monday, November 5 will be Power Shift Lobby Day. Following the hearing on youth and climate change, Power Shift members will meet with representatives from 10 am to 5 pm, with a noon rally on the steps of the Capitol, and a Congressional reception at 6 PM.
Speakers at the rally will include:- Global Warming Committee Chairman Ed Markey
- Rep. Chris Van Hollen
- Van Jones, Ella Baker Center
- former EPA Admin. Carol Browner
The Big One in DC
Brought to you by the group that did the April 14th event up on the hill, this promises to be the biggest DC event! We will meet at the Lincoln Memorial from 1-3 pm for speakers, video petitions and a whole lot of awareness.
Confirmed speakers include Van Jones, head of the Ella Baker Center, and Dr. Beverly Wright of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.
In I Have a Dream where I’m Biking, bicyclists will be leaving from American University around noon and will be meeting “The Big One in DC” down at the Memorial as they are about to start.
Who's Participating in Step It Up 2?
HOUSE
Leadership- Nancy Pelosi (Cal.), Speaker of the House
- Chris Van Hollen (Md.), DCCC Chair
Not participating: Hoyer, Clyburn, Emanuel, Larson, and the Republican leadership
Energy Independence and Global Warming- Ed Markey (Mass.), chairman
- Earl Blumenauer
- Jay Inslee
- Jerry McNerney
Not participating: Larson, Solis, Herseth Sandlin, Cleaver, Hall, and every Republican
Energy and Commerce- Tom Allen (Maine)
- Lois Capps (Cal.)
- Charles Gonzalez (Tex.)
- Baron Hill (Ind.)
- Jay Inslee (Wash.)
- Ed Markey (Mass.), chairman of Global Warming Committee
- George Radanovich (R-Cal.)
- Henry Waxman (Cal.), chair of Oversight and Government Reform Committee
- Anthony Weiner (NY)
Not participating: Baldwin, Barrow, Boucher, Butterfield, DeGette, Dingell (chair), Doyle, Engel, Eshoo, Gordon, Green, Harman, Hooley, Matheson, Melancon, Ross, Rush, Schakowsky, Solis, Stupak, Towns, Wynn, and all Republicans except Radanovich
Agriculture- Mike McIntyre (NC)
- Brad Ellsworth (Ind.)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
- Steve Kagen (Wis.)
- Nick Lampson (Tex.)
- Joe Donnelly (Ind.)
Not participating: Baca, Barrow, Boswell, Boyda, Cardoza, Costa, Cuellar, Lincoln Davis, Etheridge, Herseth Sandlin, Holden, Tim Mahoney, Marshall, Peterson (chair), Pomeroy, Salazar, Scott, Space, Walz, every Republican
People in italics are sending a representative or a statement of support to a Step It Up event.