MylesK ([info]mylesk) wrote,
@ 2007-05-17 22:15:00
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Facebook
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Facebook, Facebook, Facebook.

Do you ever get the feeling that Facebook is demanding? It's always bugging me for something. Confirm this. How do you know him? Where did you work? What's the password to your e-mail account? (What's my password?!?!?) You have a message but you can't read it here ~ you have to go to FACEBOOK!!!

I really do love LiveJournal.

I received this so-called anonymous comment from Professor Simon Donner at Princeton University suggesting that I check out a graph on his weblog at http://simondonner.blogspot.com/.



...take a look at this graph.

In fact, don’t just look at it. E-mail a copy to the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Or fax it to the Environment Minister. Or walk around Ottawa with it stapled to your forehead (er, ok, you can use tape instead).

This is so awesome.

Like getting photos and videos from [info]meimeigui
Or music from [info]_tigermilk
Or maps of the Danville Trains from [info]wondershot
Or advice on 19th century manners and tv shows from [info]chikkiboo
Or crazy stories and Christmas cards from [info]amaaanda

I get a vaguely creepy feeling from being networked with people I've met once in real life, and then get wired-in with on Facebook.

But LiveJournal feels like my neighborhood.

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[info]wondershot
2007-05-18 05:47 am UTC (link)
like I told you, FACEBOOK WILL EAT YOUR SOUL. Just give it a forceful deprioritization now and then, that'll show it.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]mylesk
2007-05-18 09:29 pm UTC (link)


I forcefully deprioritize you...!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]wondershot
2007-05-19 02:40 am UTC (link)
that looks just like you, Myles.

:P

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]mylesk
2007-05-19 03:16 am UTC (link)
Not quite as funny as the Brain does Orson Wells...

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Shell Scotford
[info]gpmarsh
2007-05-18 02:05 pm UTC (link)
Oil and Gas 35

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Shell Scotford
[info]mylesk
2007-05-19 03:44 am UTC (link)
You've got some fantastic photographs in that Flickr account!

I love that Marbel sculpture at the Musee d'Orsay, though I haven't actually seen it in person. One reason I want to return to Paris someday.

I think the angels at L'église de la Madeleine are the most beautiful objects I've seen.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]meimeigui
2007-05-18 02:37 pm UTC (link)
I've always thought the "how do you know him" feature was kind of weird, and then reading "You've worked with Joe since 2006" is very weird.

(Reply to this)

As Vancouver gas prices soar, so does transit use
(Anonymous)
2007-05-18 03:16 pm UTC (link)

Average pump cost hits $1.27 a litre; city's Translink system sees 11-per-cent increase in ridership
LAURA DRAKE

From Friday's Globe and Mail

May 18, 2007 at 4:32 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — Gas prices are up across the country, but no major city has been hit harder than Vancouver with an average pump price of $1.272 a litre for regular unleaded gasoline. It's been climbing steadily toward that record since February.

But as gas prices continue to rise, so does the number of people who use public transit.

From January to April, Vancouver's Translink system saw an 11-per-cent increase in ridership over the same period last year on its light-rail service, while the rest of the system saw a 3-per-cent rise.

At the same time, national public transit use is at an all-time high, according to the Canadian Urban Transit Association.

Passengers of the West Coast Express arrive during the morning rush hour at the Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver on Thursday.

Gas prices are only one of the determining factors when it comes to choosing public transit, but changes in prices at the pumps have been reflected in ridership numbers in the past, Translink spokesman Drew Snider said. It goes to show that if environmental issues don't necessarily motivate people to be greener, the economy will.

"I think in some ways environment still takes a back seat to a lot of people," he sad "You think you can put up with smelly air and you can't really see the immediate impact of what you're doing, but you can see the gasoline prices."

Gas prices have certainly never been higher - and it doesn't look like they are going to go down any time soon, said Michael Ervin, president of M.J. Ervin & Associates Inc., a Calgary-based energy consultancy.

That's due in part to higher-than-usual levels of maintenance at refineries in North America, which have caused an unprecedented seasonal production decline.

Though that decline is ending, Mr. Ervin said, prices should remain about the same as demand increases with the arrival of summer.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked about the rising costs of gasoline at a press conference yesterday in Waterloo, Ont. (His Conservatives promised, during the 2004 election, to cut 0.7 cents from the gas tax.)

"We became convinced that, quite frankly there was a limited amount we could do with helping consumers specifically with gas prices," Mr. Harper said, saying the GST cut was an alternative tax relief measure put forward by the government.

Although high gas prices are constantly bemoaned by car owners, some people are looking on the bright - or green - side of the trend.

"We believe that we do need to pay higher gas prices that really reflect the full cost of using fossil fuels. What we need is a gas tax, so that the revenues are captured by the government, who can then turn that money around to build the things we need to use less gas," said Ann Rowan, director of the David Suzuki Foundation's sustainability program.

However, Simon Fraser University environmental economist Mark Jaccard said economic reasons to take transit - be it tax credits for bus passes or high gas prices - don't necessarily lead to less cars or less emissions.

"People love cars. Think of a car as a personal mobility device, or a personal status-enhancing device," Prof. Jaccard said yesterday.

Accordingly, Prof. Jaccard said, high gas prices are not a good way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nor are they an effective way to get cars off the road. The only way to reduce emissions, he said, is through carbon taxes, which place stiff charges on dumping pollutants into the atmosphere.

With a report from Gloria Galloway

THE BUMP AT THE PUMP

The price for regular gas in Vancouver is higher than in any other major city in Canada.

Vancouver vs. Canada average, Jan.1, 2006 to May 15, 2007

Vancouver: 127.2¢

Canada: 113¢

RETAIL FUEL PRICES

CITY AVERAGES, MAY 15, 2007

Whitehorse 116.7¢
Victoria 125.9¢
Vancouver 127.2¢
Yellowknife 123.2¢
Edmonton 108.9¢
Regina 117.9¢
Winnipeg 112.8¢
Toronto 106.5¢
Ottawa 107.7¢
Quebec City 107.7¢
Fredericton 107.7¢
Charlottetown 115.8¢
Halifax 114.6¢
St. John's 119.5¢

(Reply to this)

Investment fund giants demand 90% reduction in carbon emissions
[info]suite_mck
2008-02-25 01:33 am UTC (link)
Terry Macalister
The Guardian, Friday February 15 2008

Some of the largest institutional investors in the world yesterday called on the US Congress to introduce a mandatory national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% below 1990 levels by 2050.

It is the latest move that underlines the way business leaders have dramatically seized the environmental agenda and are now pushing politicians to tackle global warming.

The group of 40 investors, which includes F&C Asset Management in London and controls $1.5tr (£760bn) worth of funds, also wants the financial regulator, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to insist that companies listed in New York and elsewhere disclose their exposure to climate change risk.

The investment houses are demanding that equity analysts and ratings agencies calculate the potential carbon costs for companies such as Shell, BP and electricity utilities which are involved in polluting activities such as producing oil from tar sands and operating coal-fired power stations.

The initiative was unveiled at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk hosted in New York by the United Nations Foundation and the Ceres investor coalition. It would boost investment in energy efficiency programmes and clean energy technologies as well as leaving investors better informed if not less exposed to carbon-intensive activities, the investors argue.

Alain Grisay, chief executive of F&C, said climate change had the potential both to cause "devastating damage" to the economy if nothing is done and to generate very profitable investment opportunities if sensible a”\Ãw€ë nd early action was taken to mitigate its impact and so he wanted to see US government action.

"Investors and industry need certainty over what the regulatory regime will
be over the next two to three decades in order to release the billions of investment capital that will finance the shift we need to make to a low-carbon energy system," he added.

Among the other points in the Ceres action plan is support for clean technology with a goal of deploying $10bn collectively over the next two years plus initiatives to reduce the amount of energy used in buildings. The plan aims for a 20% reduction in energy used in core land and building investments over a three year period.

Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth, welcomed the initiative last night and said it put further pressure on governments to stop "dithering" and take proper action.

"Its essential that the financial sector properly engages with the climate change issue and that the process out of fossil fuels begins on a large scale but this will not happen until governments legislate. Yet another group of comp”\Ãw€ë anies are now urging government to put in place policies which quickly deliver a low-carbon economy and politicians need to stop dithering and making excuses," he said.

F&C, which is working alongside Calpers and many other US public sector pension funds, admits the targets are "very ambitious," but is convinced they can be realised.

The call on the US Congress to aim for carbon reductions of 60% to 90% was considered achievable because "we are talking about action over 42 years" , it said, noting that these were the kinds of initiatives that scientists were calling for.

The move comes alongside a wave of interest and initiatives from the business community which until recently largely saw climate change as the pre-occupation of environmentalists. More urgent warnings from scientists plus rising insurance bills and other costs associated with global warming have convinced most in the commercial world to act.

Global regulatory action is seen as inevitable now and businesses want to see a level playing field and the kind of worldwide transparency that makes it easier to make invest”\Ãw€ë ment decisions.

Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, made clear that the move was partly self-serving. "This action plan reflects the many investment opportunities that exist today to dent global warming pollution, build profits and benefit the global economy. Leveraging the vast energy efficiency opportunities at home and abroad holds especially great promise for investors."

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