Is Belief in Climate Change a Religion?

Is belief in climate change a religion? The answer is "yes" for Tim Nicholson in the UK, who according to the Guardian "is attempting to have his environmental views recognised under religious law" in order to claim wrongful dismissal from a job. He claims that the firm fired him due to his beliefs about climate change. Here are some more details:

In March, employment judge David Neath gave Nicholson permission to take the firm to a tribunal over his treatment. The company is challenging the ruling, arguing that environmental beliefs are not the same as religious or philosophical ones.
Nicholson, from Oxford, said his views – which compelled him to make his home more eco-friendly and do not allow him to fly – affect his entire life. In a witness statement to the previous hearing, he said: "I have a strongly-held philosophical belief about climate change and the environment. I believe we must urgently cut carbon emissions to avoid catastrophic climate change."
He stopped working for Grainger as head of sustainability in July last year, having been at the company since June 2006. At an employment appeal tribunal in central London today, Dinah Rose QC, for Nicholson, said: "The philosophical belief in this case is that mankind is headed towards catastrophic climate change and that, as a result, we are under a duty to do all that we can to live our lives so as to mitigate or avoid that catastrophe for future generations.
"We say that that involves a philosophical and ethical position. It addresses the question, what are the duties that we own to the environment and why?"
She told Mr Justice Michael Burton – who ruled last year that Al Gore's environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth was political and partisan – that beliefs about "anthropogenic climate change" could be considered a philosophy under the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003.
John Bowers QC, representing Grainger, said Nicholson's views were based on scientific fact and were predominantly political. "We would say that because it is political, it is dealing with an assertion of fact," he said. "It is a scientific view rather than a philosophical one. Philosophy deals with matters that are not capable of scientific proof."

While the case itself will hinge on particulars of UK law and jurisprudence, the questions for readers here are less technical. What does it mean to say that "belief in climate change" is philosophical or religious or scientific? Should people who change their lifestyles based on their beliefs about climate change be protected under the same laws that protect freedom of religion? Does science tell us what philosphical or religious beliefs are valid?

Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog

UK Immigration: Global Environmental Change Could Wreak Havoc

• global patterns and impacts of migration over the next 50 years arising from environmental change; &
  

• challenges that could result from changing migration patterns and how these might be managed.

The project is sponsored by the Home Office and the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Professor John Beddington, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science said:

"A growing and increasingly urban population, coming out of poverty, a changing climate and pressures on land and water mean environmental migration is becoming a pressing policy concern.  We need to study the evidence carefully to make the best decisions.

"I am delighted the Government has agreed to sponsor this report.  I am inviting a number of leading academics and senior stakeholders to work with us throughout the project.

"Foresight has a critical contribution to make in helping to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  It helps ensure that government decision making is informed by longer term evidence-based thinking.  By taking a multidisciplinary approach combined with rigorous evaluation, Foresight  assists policymakers to think strategically about future uncertainties and opportunities. "

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said: 

"Failure to address future changes in the environment may result in substantial movements of people, which will have political consequences in diaspora communities across the world.  This study is very timely"

Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said:

"We can foresee that climate change is going to be a key driver for global migration and we need to start planning for this now.  This project will provide valuable research into an issue which is going to be increasingly important as people respond to the reality of climate change."

• New Eco Incentives To Reduce Energy & Save Money

• global patterns and impacts of migration over the next 50 years arising from environmental change; &
  

• challenges that could result from changing migration patterns and how these might be managed.

The project is sponsored by the Home Office and the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Professor John Beddington, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science said:

"A growing and increasingly urban population, coming out of poverty, a changing climate and pressures on land and water mean environmental migration is becoming a pressing policy concern.  We need to study the evidence carefully to make the best decisions.

"I am delighted the Government has agreed to sponsor this report.  I am inviting a number of leading academics and senior stakeholders to work with us throughout the project.

"Foresight has a critical contribution to make in helping to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  It helps ensure that government decision making is informed by longer term evidence-based thinking.  By taking a multidisciplinary approach combined with rigorous evaluation, Foresight  assists policymakers to think strategically about future uncertainties and opportunities. "

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said: 

"Failure to address future changes in the environment may result in substantial movements of people, which will have political consequences in diaspora communities across the world.  This study is very timely"

Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said:

"We can foresee that climate change is going to be a key driver for global migration and we need to start planning for this now.  This project will provide valuable research into an issue which is going to be increasingly important as people respond to the reality of climate change."

Blue Light Threatens Animals and People

The rapidly expanding use of bluish-white outdoor lighting threatens visibility at night and jeopardizes the nocturnal environment worldwide.

This surge is fueled by the promise of energy savings and reduced lighting maintenance. The demand for energy efficient lighting is a laudable imperative. This effort has resulted in a new generation of electric light sources such as LEDs and induction lamps that emit a cold, bluish white light. The blue tone of the light is a result of how the light source operates and it is not visually necessary. The blue portion of the color spectrum produces only a small percentage of light that is useful to the human eye.

Unfortunately, bluish light produces high levels of light pollution with significant environmental impact. These lights are known to increase glare and compromise human vision, especially in the aging eye. Short wavelength light also increases sky glow disproportionately. In addition, blue light has a greater tendency to affect living organisms through disruption of their biological processes that rely upon natural cycles of daylight and darkness, such as the circadian rhythm. For only a modest improvement in outdoor lighting efficiency, these new sources dramatically escalate the environmental damage caused by artificial lighting.

Some manufacturers and government agencies are misrepresenting the visual effectiveness of these bluish-white light sources and the environmental impacts are not being considered. IDA discourages the use of bluish-white lamp sources with a Correlated Color Temperature above 3000 Kelvin. Developers of light sources should be required to refine their products to limit blue light at wavelengths shorter than 500 nm.

IDA encourages government and other concerned parties to support additional scientific research on this subject. This research will help to understand fully the impact of bluish white light and guide the evolution of lighting technology to protect human health and the nocturnal environment while providing safe and efficient outdoor lighting.



Human visual sensitivity is primarily in the green and yellow part of the spectrum and is depicted by the thin solid line. Circadian rhythms are controlled by light emitted within the dashed curve. The color of light emitted by a typical bluish-white 5500 Kelvin LED is depicted by the bold line. A large portion of light emitted by this light source falls outside of the human photopic vision range, and falls within the circadian rhythm curve. IDA recommends limiting blue light emitted below 500 nm, as indicated by the shaded section of the graph.


About the IDA

The IDA is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting. The information above was developed by the IDA Technical Committee using published research and input from professional members of the environmental, astronomical and lighting design communities.

Kingsnorth puts a break on the plan for a new dirty coal fired power station

We have stopped Kingsnorth!
After months of amazing campaigning, EON announced last night that they have put the breaks on plans for a new dirty coal fired power station at Kingsnorth for at least three years.

This is a fantastic victory for campaigners, but even more so for the world’s poorest people who would suffer most from climate change caused by a new power station at Kingsnorth. The new power station would have emitted more carbon dioxide every year than the whole of Tanzania and could have left 100,000 people without water in the dry season because of the damage caused to the global climate by its emissions.

We have only been able to achieve this thanks to your help. We'd like to thank everyone who signed an action card, took one of our online actions, or turned up at one of our protests, vigils and information meetings. We'd like to thank all the local WDM groups for their inspiring campaigning work. By holding up the consent of Kingsnorth for over two years, people across the UK who have taken action, including everyone who joined The Big If, have effectively stalled one of the biggest climate destroying pieces of infrastructure at a crucial time.

Especially we'd like to thank all of our financial supporters, our members and everyone who responded to our recent climate change appeal, without you this campaign would not have been possible.

We are still awaiting an announcement from the government about their future coal policy. If the UK wants any credibility at Copenhagen this December, Ed Miliband must prove that the UK is prepared to address its massive climate debt by cutting dirty coal from our energy future. We will keep you posted.

Yours,

Kirsty Wright, Climate justice campaigner at the World Development Movement.

PS for the latest news about our campaign, reports from Copenhagen and more actions to stop coal visit our website at www.wdm.org.uk

Kingsnorth puts a break on the plan for a new dirty coal fired power station

We have stopped Kingsnorth!
After months of amazing campaigning, EON announced last night that they have put the breaks on plans for a new dirty coal fired power station at Kingsnorth for at least three years.

This is a fantastic victory for campaigners, but even more so for the world’s poorest people who would suffer most from climate change caused by a new power station at Kingsnorth. The new power station would have emitted more carbon dioxide every year than the whole of Tanzania and could have left 100,000 people without water in the dry season because of the damage caused to the global climate by its emissions.

We have only been able to achieve this thanks to your help. We'd like to thank everyone who signed an action card, took one of our online actions, or turned up at one of our protests, vigils and information meetings. We'd like to thank all the local WDM groups for their inspiring campaigning work. By holding up the consent of Kingsnorth for over two years, people across the UK who have taken action, including everyone who joined The Big If, have effectively stalled one of the biggest climate destroying pieces of infrastructure at a crucial time.

Especially we'd like to thank all of our financial supporters, our members and everyone who responded to our recent climate change appeal, without you this campaign would not have been possible.

We are still awaiting an announcement from the government about their future coal policy. If the UK wants any credibility at Copenhagen this December, Ed Miliband must prove that the UK is prepared to address its massive climate debt by cutting dirty coal from our energy future. We will keep you posted.

Yours,

Kirsty Wright, Climate justice campaigner at the World Development Movement.

PS for the latest news about our campaign, reports from Copenhagen and more actions to stop coal visit our website at www.wdm.org.uk

LeasePlan India Launches its Global GreenPlan Initiative in India

LeasePlan India, the country's largest operational leasing company, today announced the launch of its global GreenPlan strategy with the kick-start of its first green initiative, in the Delhi and NCR region as part of its sustained corporate social responsibility programs. The first phase of this initiative will include funding, planting and maintaining over 1000 trees in Delhi & National Capital Region.

LeasePlan strives to discover and develop means and methods to offset vehicle emissions, develop better fleet management practices and proactively advise its customers to opt for fuel-efficient vehicles, amongst other initiatives. GreenPlan is LeasePlan's global initiative in this direction, which is currently being implemented in different forms across 30 countries worldwide.

LeasePlan has forged an alliance with Mokshda Paryavaran Evam Van Suraksha Samiti (Mokshda PEVSS), a charitable non-profit organization actively engaged in multifarious activities related to environment protection, energy conservation and urban reforms. Mokshda will provide the necessary support for the plantation drive by acquiring the necessary expertise required for the sustainability and well-being of these trees. The proposed site for implementing the plantation project is along the Gurgaon-Faridabad Highway.

"LeasePlan recognises the need for sustainable programs to counter the effects of vehicular emissions on the environment. GreenPlan is specifically designed to help companies offset harmful emissions and implement environment friendly fleet management practices. The plantation drive is a part of our initiative to make a tangible contribution to the environment. This is also a platform for us to engage better with our employees and customers as this represents an excellent opportunity to participate in making the world a much better place to live in", said Mr. Sanjeev Prasad, Managing Director LeasePlan India.

"We are happy to see LeasePlan's strong commitment towards the green cause and support them whole-heartedly in their endeavour. We hope that more corporates will come forward in the times to come and make a positive contribution towards environmental conservation," said Mr. Vinod Kumar Agarwal, Founder President, Mokshda PEVSS.

The plantation drive will be undertaken through the active participation of LeasePlan employees, Mokshda volunteers including over 100 school children.

About LeasePlan India

LeasePlan India is a wholly owned subsidiary of the world's leading vehicle leasing and fleet management company. With offices in 30 countries and over 45 years of experience, LeasePlan manages a total fleet of 1.4 million cars around the globe. As India's #1 operational car leasing company, LeasePlan India delivers a comprehensive range of corporate car mobility solutions.

About Mokshda

Mokshda Paryavaran Evam Van Suraksha Samiti (Mokshda PEVSS) is an ISO 9001:2000 charitable and non-profit organization registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 of India and under Section 12/A of Income Tax Act. The NGO is engaged in multifarious activities related to environment protection, energy conservation and urban reforms since 1992 under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India. The Governing Body of Mokshda PEVSS consists of eminent environmentalists, technocrats, scientists and social activist having more than 30 years of experience in their respective fields.

John Warner ties security, jobs to climate change

John Warner wants Congress to pass legislation designed to curb climate change.

But instead of arguing on moral grounds — as many environmentalists do — the former Virginia senator is relying on what he knows the best: the military and the economy.

"China and India and the rest of the nations in the world are going to eat our lunch," if the United States doesn't swiftly react to climate change, he said.

Warner, who appeared at a climate change conference with scientists, politicians, and military brass on Tuesday in Norfolk, spoke with the Daily Press earlier that morning.

He said climate change is interlocked with national security and energy dependence, and that the United States needs to reduce its reliance on foreign oil.

Warner, who steered thousands of defense jobs to Hampton Roads during his career, said the nation needs to invest in solar and wind energy, nuclear power, and clean coal technology.

"This is a huge, huge, jobs opportunity," said Warner, who is working with Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit organization that focuses on environmental issues.

The former GOP lawmaker, who did not seek re-election in 2008, called on Congress to pass climate change legislation. The House approved a bill earlier this summer; but the Senate, mired in a debate over health care, has yet to act.

By not doing so, the United States puts its armed forces at risk, Warner said. For example, the military is typically among the first to respond to natural disasters, such as tsunamis or hurricanes, associated with climate change.

"These young men and women in uniform are taking the risks," Warner said.

He was joined Tuesday by John B. Nathman, a retired Navy admiral who, like Warner, said climate change impacts the military.

For example, droughts in Africa have caused food and water shortages. This poses a threat to unstable governments such as Somalia and Kenya, where the U.S. and its allies have a military presence, he said.

Asked if the war in Iraq is the result of climate change manifesting itself, Nathman said "it's hard to say."

Having the admiral and Warner, a respected voice in defense issues, involved in the climate change debate illustrates how far the issue has advanced, said Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew Environment Group's U.S. Global Warming Campaign.

Warner sponsored climate change legislation in 2007 that ultimately failed to make it through Congress.

The effort, like the current legislation, faced opposition from the power, manufacturing, and transportation industries.

Plus, he said the Bush administration "simply wasn't going to take this battle on."

Warner said he is encouraged so far by President Barack Obama, who made climate change legislation part of his election platform. Still, Warner said Obama needs help from Congress to make climate change legislation a reality.

"We've got to get Congress and the President working together," he said