Tel Aviv rocks to earth hour

Toronto Star

quote:Originally posted by Petsy:
It will be interesting to see how we here in North America deal with earth hour.

We here are in Canada, Petsy. I don't really see myself as a "North American", although I know a lot of people in Tel Aviv do.

quote:Originally posted by ohara:
Leaving aside for a moment all of our agendas (though Im sure at least one will see this as an agenda), its good to see a country outside North America and Europe leading the way on enviromental alternatives

Toronto Star

Well that's is an interesting statment because I just read this the other day:

quote:In the domestic sector, Israel is also very wasteful, says Messerschmid: "According to the World Health Organization, every person needs 100 liters a day of clean, safe and accessible water. In Israel, average urban consumption (in homes and public institutions) ranges from 240 to 280 liters per person (around 100 cubic meters per person per year). These figures are based on a transitional master plan of the Water Commission for 2002-2010. Urban consumption in Germany, for example, is 136 liters per day. Twenty years ago it was 145. In other words, people in Germany have learned to conserve water, out of concern for future generations. In Israel it's the opposite. The talk is always about increasing the quantities. They talk about drought, and meanwhile water the city lawns."

[SNIP]

And the facts? "Most of the area that is currently cultivated for agriculture in Israel was cultivated long before 1948 by Palestinians. True, the agriculture then was much less intensive, they only started drilling wells if the British granted permits. But the Palestinians used every plot of land that they could, and they preserved the ancient and environmentally friendly method of mountain-terraces, an important factor in ensuring the refilling of groundwater and the prevention of flooding. The areas where Israel expanded agricultural usage, and which were not used for agricultural purposes before 1948, are marginal: They encompass the area between Kiryat Gat and Be'er Sheva, from the 450-mm per year rainfall line to the 250-mm rainfall line.

[SNIP]

The hackneyed colonial myth of "making the wilderness bloom," which presents the land as useless to the original population until the white man comes and "redeems" it particularly raises Messerchmid's hackles, because it continues to evolve into the next myth on his list: In terms of the water economy, "the Palestinians don't exist," he says. "All of Israel's big achievements in the water economy and in agricultural development are completely cut off in the Israeli discourse from the simple fact that they are based on water and land that was taken from Palestinians in 1948, that were in use by Palestinians. And it's the same to this day: For Israel to consume all the water it does, it must keep that water away from its neighbors and from the people it is occupying - and this is evident in the Golan, Lebanon, Jordan and the occupied territories. Israel uses water from the Golan, Jordan comes out the loser in the arrangement for usage of the Yarmouk waters and Lebanon was not permitted to use fair quantities of the Hatzbani waters."

Water, water everywhere

quote:Originally posted by Le Tйlйspectateur:
Earth Hour is a scam. It will do for the Earth what Geldof and Bono do for the poor. Sell, sell, sell.

Thank you for stating the obvious. It is simply a mechanism to ease guilt. I would love to see Torontonians try it at 3 pm on a Wednesday during a heat wave in July. Then we will see how many are really committed to reducing energy if it threatens air conditioners.