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How to close down 25 power plants in two minutes
Posted by bex on 17 May 2007.
Ever wanted to make a real difference to the world but never seem to have the time? Well, here’s a chance for you to help cut around 20 million tonnes of Europe’s carbon emissions, in about two minutes.
Here's what to do:
1. Read this: It’s all down to a very simple, bright idea. A group of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) want to ban old, inefficient light bulbs, which waste 95 per cent of the electricity they use. They want a simple, wholesale ban across the whole of the European Union – a ban which would cut out 25 medium-sized power stations' worth of carbon emissions every year. Countries like Australia, Canada, Cuba and Venezuela have already moved towards introducing similar bans - there's no reason why the EU shouldn't too.
If we can get 400 MEPs to add their signatures to the declaration before June 10th, the declaration will be adopted and the pressure will be on for a swift enactment of the ban. So, Greenpeace supporters all over Europe are lobbying their MEPs to sign up. Because MEPs receive relatively few letters from the public, even a few letters can tip the balance – so yours really will carry weight.
2. Click this to send a ready-written letter to every UK MEP that hasn't yet signed up to the declaration. Just enter your name and email address and hit send.
3. Confirm your email address.
4. Tell your friends: After sending the letter, you’ll have the option to invite some friends to do the same. Please do it – the more letters MEPs get, the better the chance of them signing up to the declaration.
Ready? Go!
Whoops!
The link doesn't work :(
"You are not authorized to access this page. "
re: whoops!
Sorry, all fixed now.
web editor
gpuk
Bill Newton Dunn
Bill Newton Dunn, the Liberal Democrat MEP for the East Midlands, sent me the following response to this email:
Thank you for that.
What is very foolish about this Greenpeace blackmailing campaign is that it is only an Early Day Motion which we MEPs are being asked to sign - which has absolutely no legal effect. Instead it creates probably many thousands of emails (which consume electricity and therefore contribute to warming) and has to be printed on paper in 22 EU languages (so causing more trees to be cut down). One wonders what is Greenpeace's real motive ? Are they trying to prove to their supporters that paying them money each year is worthwhile ?
Best wishes
Bill Newton Dunn
Re: Bill Newton Dunn
Thanks for posting your response, broins.
Written declarations in the European Parliament (referred to in the comment as an Early Day Motion, the UK equivalent), whilst not binding, are an extremely useful tool for MEPs to raise important issues that their constituents are concerned about. If a majority of MEPs sign a declaration, then the proposal goes further and is communicated to national governments and the European Commission as the will of the European Parliament.
Aside from the arcane workings of the European Parliament, the key issue is that the Parliament should use its powers to move rapidly and decisively to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs in the EU.
Greenpeace and our supporters are working for positive action to fight climate change - and our supporters are using their rights as EU citizens to contact their MEPs and ask them to represent their views. It's in everybody's interest to combat climate change, and the banning of inefficient bulbs across the EU would result in a massive cut in carbon emissions, at a stroke (25 medium-sized power plants' worth every year).
I couldn't agree more with Mr Newton Dunn’s concern about wasted paper - but I presume all the paper used in the European Parliament is forest-friendly? On emails consuming electricity, I doubt that many people would switch their computer on just to email their MEP, no matter how attractive the prospect. There's embedded energy in most human activities - and one simple, achievable way to fight climate change is to maximise the efficiency of that energy - for example, by banning old bulbs.
Simon
gpuk
The European Parliament
I live very close to the European Parliament and every night from my bedroom window I can see lights that will be left on all night - even at the weekend and when Parliament is not sitting. As far as I can tell they are the old fashioned light bulbs.
Perhaps as a first step they may wish to change their lightbulbs and switch them off when they are not needed.
The European Commission are no better.
The only wasted energy is the policies they come out with and fail to take any action or responsibility for their own behaviour.
This campaign is a disgrace
I've seen a lot of Greenpeace publicity stunts over the years, but this takes the biscuit.
To quote your own blurb:
"We need 400 members of parliament to sign the declaration by June 10th. You can help by asking UK MEPs to sign (unlike MPs, MEPs don’t receive many letters from the public, so every letter really does carry weight)."
You are encouraging your supporters to use an automated email facility to pretend that they have put in the time to lobby 60 individual MEPs
Do you really think that MEPs won't notice?
Suggesting that supporters lobby their own MEPs is one thing and is part of the democratic process - but to host this SPAM facility on your own website is incredibly stupid.
You are showing your contempt for the proper democratic process and undermining your own credibility at the same time, while giving MEPs opposed to you a list of your supporters willing to be part of a dishonest lobbying machine.
Astonishing.
MEPs from your area
I emailed my local MEPs individually after signing this petition. One replied, and said he could only reply if he knew whether petitionees were his constituents, and that he was therefore unable to reply to the thousands of emails which he had had via Greenpeace, as there was no address on the emails.
Maybe those who haven't signed yet should add their address?
That way the MEPs from their region will be more likely to reply, and take action on this issue.
MEPs from your area
Very fair point, Sleeping Pretty.
imho it would have been better to direct everyone to writetothem.com in the first place. That would have limited the lobbyers to those eligible voted for MEPs, and have avoided pissing the MEPs off. I have 4 emails from very annoyed MEPs.
By the way, what happened to the formatting of the comments?
MEPs
Eoin, over in our international office, has responded over on the Louder than Words forum, but to sum up his points:
- The Write-a-Letter function that we used for this campaign allows those who want to contact MEPs on this subject an easy way to do so; we wouldn't be able to put a suggested letter into WriteToThem.
- Emailing to 60-odd people is not mass-mailing; what does stand out is the number of people who were concerned enough to do something about inefficient light bulbs.
web editor
gpuk