Send Chevron a Message

21/05/2010 by

Chevron's Logo?

Please sign this petition to Chevron’s CEO, Mr. Watson asking that Chevron finally do the right thing in Ecuador. (En español aquí)

Dear Mr. Watson:

As the new CEO of Chevron, climate change and the environmental and human rights impacts of Chevron’s operations are the two issues that will define your tenure at the helm of one of the world’s largest oil companies. Chevron has fallen behind other businesses and many political leaders already taking a leadership position on climate change. Furthermore, your company is drawing increasing criticism for failing to rectify its massive human rights and environmental disaster in Ecuador. Taking the following steps will demonstrate a true commitment to environmental responsibility and respect for human rights – which will only strengthen your company’s future.

We the undersigned call on Chevron CEO John Watson to:

* Clean up Chevron’s toxic legacy in Ecuador, compensate affected communities for health and environmental impacts, and provide affected people real access to health care and potable water.
* Develop a global environment and human rights policy that will prevent similar tragedies in the future.
* Adopt aggressive strategies to provide clean energy to a carbon-constrained world.

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Posted in Conservation, Environment, Room For Improvement, Sustainable Living/Communities | 1 Comment »

Fake Accounting, Greed and Oil

21/05/2010 by

By John Perkins
Sent by email, also published in the Huffington Post

John Perkins

While countries around the world continue to watch their economies collapse, and Goldman-Sachs leaders testify to Congress about how they manipulated both their shareholders and the American public, we are also faced with a tragic oil spill on our most fragile coastlines.
The sad truth is that oil, greed and fake accounting work hand in hand to empower those who have — and significantly disempower those who do not.
In my book, Hoodwinked I talk about the 30,000 Ecuadorians who filed a lawsuit against Texaco (since purchased by Chevron). The company destroyed vast sections of rain forest and the toxic wastes from its operations allegedly killed many people and made many more chronically sick. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Books, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fair Trade, Room For Improvement, Sustainable Living/Communities, This Just In Department | 1 Comment »

BP’s CEO – Does he grasp severity of accident?

20/05/2010 by
On May 10, 2010, British Petroleum’s Chief Executive Officer, Tony Hayward, was interviewed by Michele Norris on NPR’s All Things Considered concerning the failed attempt to cap the broken oil rig on May 8th and 9th. (listen to the interview)
The part that most disturbed me about this interview was Dr. Hayward’s comparison of this accident to the Apollo 13 mission, and the Air France Flight AF447 which crashed in the ocean last June. Here is a transcript from part of the interview:
NORRIS: Mr. Hayward, this is the deepest well blowout on record. And the people are most knowledgeable in dealing with deep water wells are at the outer edge of their expertise, even when things are going well. The Coast Guard and oil industry analysts say that drilling here is almost like visiting outer space. It’s like a great unknown. So why are you drilling there if there’s so much that is not known about this territory?Dr. HAYWARD: Well, we’re drilling because it’s a very important source of energy for the United States and the world. That is the reality. Almost 30 percent of the United States oil production today comes from the deep waters. That is where there is the opportunity to provide domestic energy security. That is where there is an opportunity to provide energy security for the world. And, of course, oil isnt all of the solution but it’s a part of the solution.

NORRIS: That opportunity obviously comes, though, with great peril. Is deepwater drilling riskier than BP believed?

Dr. HAYWARD: I think you have to go back to, you know, the track record of the industry and BP’s over the last 20 years. The industry has drilled over 5,000 wells. BP has drilled around 1,500 of those 5,000 wells, and this is the first time that we’ve had a major incident. And I think it is legitimate to draw analogies with, for example, the space program.

The space program was not canceled because of the issues around Apollo 13. It’s also legitimate to draw comparisons with the airline industry. When the Air France plane fell out of the sky coming out of Brazil, we didnt ground the airline industry. So we need to learn the lessons here. They will be learned and they will shape, I’m certain, the industry as it moves forward.

Drawing analogies between this accident and the  Apollo 13 mission makes no sense at all and he uses it to distract from the severity of this incident. There were, first off, no deaths associated with the Apollo 13 mission, and second, Dr. Hayward is completely disregarding the damage the leaking oil and gas is causing to the environment and the coastline communities.
 
The same is true of the Air France flight. Yes, 228 people died in the accident, but Dr Hayward is saying we should not stop deep oil drilling because we did not ground the airline industry after the plane went down. This analogy illustrates how disconnected Dr. Hayward is from the severity of the oil spill.  He is only seeing the deaths, and the money lost. He is not considering the vast unaccountable ecological damage the oil is causing. Moreover, the Apollo 13 mission and Flight AF447 did not lead to an economic disaster causing hundreds of people to lose their livelihood as is happening on the Gulf coast right now. Flight AF447 did not continue to reek havoc on the surrounding environments for months after the crash.
This sort of thinking is how we got into the environmental situation we are in now. People in power in these large corporations are not willing to say, “You know, this technology is not necessary, it is just too harmful.”  Their focus is always on shareholder profits, never on wider ecological impacts. Our disconnection from the natural systems that keep our communities and economies alive is leading us to our own destruction.
Think about this: people talk of nuclear power as a “clean, alternative” energy source. However, what will a CEO say when a plant starts leaking radioactive material into the environment, killing everything? Will he or she say, “We didn’t stop the oil companies from drilling when they had accidents, why should we be shut down?”
Where would we be if a hundred years ago people noticed how dirty and destructive fossil fuels were and decided to try alternatives instead?

Posted in Environment, Health, Room For Improvement | 5 Comments »

MSI Adds Flickr

20/05/2010 by

MSI Images on Flickr

Mountain Spirit’s Images on Flickr
You’ll be seeing  images posted not only on Facebook, but on our Flickr site as well. We’ll have images from the Alps, Peru, New Zealand, the USA, and from subjects covered on our blog at WordPress.

Our images will cover not only programs and events but world issues such as sustainability and holistic living.

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Posted in MSI News | 1 Comment »

Adapting to Post Industrialism

18/05/2010 by

Book Describes How to Transition

Adapt or Die

“If your town is not yet a Transition Town, here is guidance for making it one. We have little time, and much to accomplish.”
Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute, Santa Rosa, California, author of ‘Power Down’ and ‘Peak Everything’

We live in an oil-dependent world, and have got to this level of dependency in a very short space of time, using vast reserves of oil in the process – without planning for when the supply is not so plentiful. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities, which will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies, to keep money in the local area.

The book has three sections, Read more

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Posted in Books, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Holistic Living, Leadership, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »

Happiness & Science

15/05/2010 by

By Ryan Foley, AP

Laughter: Good Spiritual Work

MADISON, Wis. – After hearing about his cutting-edge research on the brain and emotions through mutual friends, the Dalai Lama invited Richard Davidson to his home in India in 1992 to pose a question.

Scientists often study depression, anxiety and fear, but why not devote your work to the causes of positive human qualities like happiness and compassion? the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader asked. Read the rest of this story

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Posted in Holistic Living, Inner Work, Sense of Humor Perspective | Leave a Comment »

Twitter Got Us Outside Today

15/05/2010 by

Evil Twins?

Harrison Kaplan*

Who says computers keep us indoors?  This afternoon, Amanda was Twittering and Facebooking an article I had written a few days ago on how studies show green exercise helps mental health. Enter old friend Rob Kaplan, who  happened to be visiting his parents’ home, here in the area.  He was on Facebook the same time Amanda  was posting on FB and Twitter.  After reading the article, he thought of us, and gave us a call.

Just about that time we had decided to climb Mt. Sunapee,  so I asked Rob if he and his family would like to join us.  “Sure” he said, “just name the time.”  In about an hour, Rob, his two kids, Lucas and Harrison,  my wife Amanda and I were headed up  the old Dick Durrance trail, from Newbury, NH.

Lucas and Harrison are outdoor kids, the former is headed for Camp Coniston this summer, and both are then headed to a Boy Scout camp, (their parents will also be involved in facilitating at the camp).  They seem to be kids who love to camp, get outside and seek adventure. They seem atypical of many kids who spend a lot of time and attention in front of a computer.

Enjoying the spring green**

Facebook has helped me do everything from connect with old friends, to  keep up on an American Mountain Guides Association examee’s  experience on a recent ski guides exam.  Maybe it’s not all bad. Maybe it can, in fact, help get us outside, (I never thought I’d say that). Maybe it’s all about balance.

Jerry Mander writing in “In Absence of the Sacred” stated that technology in not neutral.  By it’s very nature, it pulls us away from nature. He wrote that the computer just doesn’t sit there, it sucks us in.  Point taken.  But it was cool how Facebook  may have pulled us together for a nice afternoon hike with Rob and his kids. It’s all about balance. As my old climbing and skiing buddy, Junji Itagaki says, “step away from the machine” …and go climb a mountain, but check Facebook on your way out, you might have some friends that will join you.

Images:
* Harrison stands by the old doubled up stump at the start of the old Dick Durrance Ski Trail, in Newbury NH.
** Harrison Kaplan, R. Richards and Rob Kaplan cross the brook near the start of the old ski trail.
Historical Notes:
The Dick Durrance Ski Trail was the first ski trail on Mount Sunapee, cut by the Newport/Mt. Sunapee Ski Club. Members also built a cabin on the mountain’s southeast shoulder, at the top of this ski trail. The cabin’s logs came from the immediate area, and were all cut by hand. Hikers can still see the outline of the ski trail by observing the old growth line at trail’s edge. The author skied this trail in about 2001 when we had a March dump that covered up all the trail, making for great backcountry skiing. It’s a bit narrow in spots, but in good deep snow, it’s great skiing. I have pictures of the old cabin which was still standing in the late ’70’s. (I’ll post these images one of these days). Back in the day, ski club members would boot pack the trail, climb to the cabin and stay the night and have races or runs on the weekends.

I wrote the Governor at the time,  in the late ’70’s, and requested permission to save the cabin. When he said no, I gave up on the idea to restore the cabin. But in hind sight should have persisted. We’d have a great skiing historical landmark today.  Oh well, I was only a teenager then.  I thought that when I got a no from the government, that was it. Now I, and others,  know better.

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Posted in Environment, Experiential Education, Health, Holistic Living | Leave a Comment »

Why We Need Live Music #5

15/05/2010 by

Busking is the practice of performing in public places for tips. Busking performances can be just about anything that people find entertaining. We were recently held over in Paris due to the Icelandic ash cloud, and while there, encountered this classy group. It was nice to see these performers on a public square, a few blocks from the Louvre. They even had a cello case open for tips.

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Posted in 1- Video Posts, Music, Traveling, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Black Diamond Equipment: Sold

11/05/2010 by

Utah’s Black Diamond Equipment sold for $90 million
By Mike Gorrell, Salt Lake Tribune, USA

Chouinard started BD

Peter Metcalf knew the business model he followed for two decades in building Black Diamond Equipment Ltd. from scratch into a $100 mil- lion-a-year company was insufficient to carry the Salt Lake County-based firm far into the future.

But now Metcalf believes he has found a partner with the financial resources to grow in a global economy. Clarus Corp., a publicly traded Connecticut company with no operations but lots of money to invest and $200 million worth of tax-loss credits, announced Monday that it is buying Black Diamond for $90 million.

A newly created company will continue to carry the Black Diamond name and retain Metcalf as its president and CEO. But it also will offer a broader line of respected outdoor products. As part of the deal, Clarus purchased Sacramento-based Gregory Mountain Products Inc. for $45 million and will.. Read the rest of this article

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Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Experiential Education at Inti Raymi

11/05/2010 by

Inti Raymi in Cusco

Peru’s Inca History Rich with Experiential Education: At least from what we see at current Inti Raymi Festival
Every year on June 24 Cusco celebrates the festival of Inti Raymi at the Inca Fortress of Sacsayhuaman.
This festival was celebrated by the Incas as the Festival of the Sun in honor of the God of the Sun: Wiracocha. The Inti Raymi symbolizes the eternal consecration of marriage between the Sun and human beings. The festival is

Inca Royalty Observe Inti Raymi

now the second largest festival in Latin America with an expected 200,000 people visiting Cusco.

But from an educator’s eye, there is more going on than just a festival. Groups of students from all over Peru but especially from the Quechua speaking, and Inca origins, come to participate in experiential tests of courage and craftsmanship.  It is a wonderful and proud event in which to participate,

An 18-Yr-Old Balances

where young from come to throw, climb and balance, all the while, with elders looking on.  The sense of pride and community at the Inti Raymi is palpable.

When I first attended some 12 years ago, it had not been so big. So be it. The

Stone Throwing Competition

festival is popular and deservedly so, not only for the sense of history of the Inca, and Quechua heritage, but to see teens competing, representing their communities, here at this historical place, Sacsayhuaman.
Images: R. Richards, Mountain Spirit Institute
Mountain Spirit Institute has been running programs in Peru since the late 1990’s that focus on experientially learning and giving back to the people of the Andean villages we encounter. We pride ourselves in staying off the beaten path. See our website at www.mtnspirit.org for more information. MSI is a non-profit educational organization.

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Posted in Experiential Education, Peru, South America, Sustainable Travel, Traveling | 1 Comment »

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