Taking Out The Trash

Dirty money

This was previously published in another place but now one of those involved has made to Parliament, the issue is still current and I badly need to post something as this blog has been slumbering tooooo long. More up to date stories, views and comments to come, honestly.

The Times published this story during the general election campaign which generated roughly zip follow-up.

The Conservative Party has accepted donations from a wealthy British family that is accused of profiting from the destruction of one of the few remaining habitats of the orang-utan.

Although the party has a policy of protecting orang-utans, it has continued to accept donations despite evidence of the family’s links to a company involved in the destruction.

Sir Henry Keswick, chairman of the trading house Jardine Matheson, has donated £213,000 to the Conservatives in the past eight years.

His wife, Tessa, president of the Devizes Tory association, donated £32,500 last year. Simon Keswick, a director of Jardine, has donated £99,500 to the party since 2002.

Sir Chippendale “Chips” Keswick, a banker and former director of the Bank of England, donated £34,750.

You can read the full story here.

Mark Fletcher, the Green Party candidate for Devizes, said at the time (Note: Perry was subsequently elected):

"Evidence is building that local Tory leaflets may have been paid for by rainforest destruction.

The true blue constituency of Devizes is raising some very alarming questions, as reported in The Times yesterday.

It seems possible that Conservative leaflets were paid for in part with profit from the destruction of the rainforest in Sumatra, and the possible deaths of Orangutans. The Conservative Association in Devizes President is Tessa Keswick, former Tory policy advisor, and her husband is Sir Henry Keswick, boss of massive Bermuda and Hong Kong based multinational family firm Jardine Matheson. The Keswicks give huge donations to Tory Central Office, and to the Devizes Tories. Lady Keswick is described by local Tories as their chief fundraiser in Devizes, and on the selection committee that chose Claire Parry, a ‘Dave babe’, and ex-banker.

The Keswicks are accused of taking large profits from the burning of an area of rainforest UNESCO has highlighted as key to the survival of the Sumatran Orangutan. For three years Greenpeace, Oxfam and many others have fought the Keswick's family of firms, and it appeared in the national press in 2009 after Sir Henry was given a knighthood. The Tories are accused of accepting this money, and even now, facing difficult questions, are refusing to hand any back.

I wanted to go through the evidence with Devizes candidate Claire Parry in private, but she brushed me aside. Icould have shown her photographs of Orangutan nests taken in 2007, in an area now cleared, according to the latest maps and scientists in Indonesia. I could have shown her satellite images of burning, when burning is against Indonesian law. I could have shared what I have been told about investigations into AAL by the Indonesian Government, and by GES-invest, and by PanEco, Wetlands International, Flora and Fauna International, Oxfam, Greenpeace, and many others.

I could have drawn her attention to a speech by Gorge Osborne promising to help save the rainforest, and the evidence that they could, and should, have known where the donations were coming from.

We could have talked about how the profit from Astra Agro Lestari reaches the parent company, Jardine Matheson, and so reaches the Keswicks, and the amounts they give to the Tory party. We could have talked about the power Tessa Keswick has in fundraising, and policy, and in the selection of candidates. I could have shown her that the Keswicks most likely knew of the accusations.

We could have sat down and discussed a way, even now, to save a very important bit of rainforest. But she wasn’t interested. This is an issue her prospective constituents are raising, and I think she would have been very shocked by the evidence. I think her potential voters would be appalled."

If you would like to raise the same concerns as Mark then you could write to Claire Perry c/o Devizes Constituency Conservative Association, 116 High Street, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1LZ or email
[email protected] or [email protected]

Alternatively you could write to Sir Henry Keswick, Matheson & Co. Ltd, 3 Lombard Street, London, EC3V 9AQ. They are rather opaque when it comes to contacting them so a letter is probably more reliable, but you might also wish to email [email protected]

Green on the screen

So the running order for the village's mini eco film festival has been finalised. Four films screening over about six weeks with talks afterwards.

Deciding on which films proved difficult and I realised that it's difficult to get this right. You don't want to be too worthy; you don't want to be too obscure but you want to offer something a little different.

I read The Guardian's review of The Road which will be coming out soon and I recall George Monbiot saying what an important but depressing book it was. Both sound amazing; but I'm not sure I want to be depressed. I think I'd like to be motivated.

For what it's worth here is our line up. A mix of the popular, the local and some retro horror. Among those films which didn't make the cut where Erin Brokovitch and Big River Man. Did we get the mix right. Was there something obvious we missed?

Thursday October 29, 8pm: Age of Stupid
Starring Peter Postlethwaite this film, which was released this spring, is set 2055 as one citizen looks back on how inaction led to the wrecking of Planet Earth.
It will be followed by a discussion on how people in Colerne can contribute to December’s climate change conference in Copenhagen
Cost: £3.50 per head (which buys you a glass of wine and nibbles)

Thursday November 12, 8pm: Bringing up Baby
Award-winning Wiltshire-based wildlife film maker Mark Fletcher shows his film which explores the new science of animal emotions. It becomes clear from the footage that not only do many animals feel emotions as we do, but that all mammals and many birds are conscious, aware of their feelings and themselves. It will be followed by a discussion on the issue raised.
Cost: £2.50 per head (which buys you a glass of wine and nibbles)

Wednesday November 25, 8pm: The End of the Line
Released this summer, this documentary is powerful indictment of modern fishing practices and has proved a global hit. It will be followed by a talk and discussion led by a speaker from the Chippenham-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Cost: £3.50 per head (which buys you a glass of wine and nibbles)

 

Thursday December 3, 8pm: Doomwatch
This 1972 film is a spin-off from the television series of the same name. It stars Ian Bannen as a government investigator of ecological mysteries. He is sent to a remote Scottish island where an oil tanker spill has caused unexpected side effects.
This event doubles as ecolerne’s December meeting and Christmas party. All are welcome.
Cost: £2.50 (which buys you a glass of wine and nibbles)

If you want to come along you'er more than welcome. We'll be showing them at the back room of the Fox & Hounds pub in Colerne.

Two wheels bad

Brilliant post over on the Green Bristol blog doing the simple thing of walking the city's cycle routes and photographing the lethal combination of obstacles which any cyclist has to negotiate.
It's all very well to talk about making it a cyclnig city but actually doing it is another thing.

Green kite flying

The Observer reports today that:
"Police have warned of the growing threat of eco-terrorism after revealing they are investigating a group which has supporters who believe that reducing the Earth's population by four-fifths will help to protect the planet."
Apparently the police's National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit is monitoring the environmental group Earth First!
This is the kind of story I expect to see in The Sunday Times, not The Observer.
It's based on one source, with a bit of background from the States and a rebutal quote from an EF member in the UK. It's pretty weak stuff but what it does show is that the state is ramping up its agenda on environmental campaigners.
This kind of kite flying suggests the ground is being prepared for a wider crackdown on eco-groups - no surprise since they have had some success in their anti-coal and anti-airport protests.
Once you start messing with the economic drivers you can expect a backlash.
Such groups in the US have already been on the receiving end of dirty tricks and some private sector spooks have been uncovered over here.
The joke bit in the article is that Earth First! are dangerous because they apparently believe in reducing the population of the planet to a more sustainable level. Well, so does the Optimum Population Trust - can we expect them to be monitored too?
Since one of their patrons is Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO, former UK Permanent Representative on the United Nations Security Council, one assumes not.

Radioactive shrooms

According to Cosmos magazine: the former cooling towers at Chernobyl are now home to a new species of mushroom which feed off the radioactive soil.
I thought it was only cockroaches which would be left come the end of the world but as Darwin said: it's not the strongest which survive, but those who can adapt.
Hat Tip: Utne Reader which is a fantastic digest of news

three into two won't go

The Guardian has an interesting report on a call from some doctors for people to be encouraged to stop having so many children.
It seems two is the magic number otherwise we'll have too many mouths, too many carbon footprinting people and, as Malthus reckoned we'll consume ourselves out of existence.
As I'm expecting my third child in a couple of weeks and like to think I'm pretty ecologically-minded I find the adoption by some environmentalists of population control ideas interesting.
Certainly, this is an issue which can really rile people. You can slag people off for flying short haul every other weekend and they'll study their fingertips and shrug or laugh. But telling someone that by having a third child they've make a catastrophic choice for the planet and you'd better duck quick.
So firstly, bring on the debate - but let's be clear about what it entails.
The authors of this call in the British Medical Journal are part of the Optimum Population Trust which says it is "the leading  think tank in the UK concerned with the impact of population growth on the environment". It's a small field so leading is not that difficult.
It's blog has links to different articles, many on immigration, and all seems fair and reasoned.
My problem is that population control is all about someone else choosing who gets to breed - and quickly that becomes a question of what kind of people get to have children. and what kind of children.
Most of the people in my village with three or more children are AB1 social class - they're exactly the type who will find a way round any moves we might make for population control. The same as they mangle rules on education to make make sure their ones get in to the best state schools.
I fear that we'll end up with the state telling poor people to stop breeding.
Consumption needs to be curtailed but I don't see fewer children as the silver bullet because it presume they only consume and don't contribute.