Proposed by two Bishops of the Church of England, Rt. Rev. James Jones and Rt. Rev Richard Chartres, most people just give up chocolate for their Easter fast, but when it comes to a sacred number like forty, great things can be achieved.

Fasting is usually done to remember the poor of the world, and remember that they have it tough, that those in control of the world, usually dont feel their plight, since they either know what needs to be done to pick themselves up, or, they have the financial power to get things done but simply keep to themselves instead of taking action to those in need.

Our agricultural practices are not sustainable, we know that, and we need to do something about it, especially for those people who go without. Monoculture is not the way Nature intended, much less agro-toxins or pesticides.

If we are to accept our role in creation, we may even go so far as to interpret our sacred texts. Moses took the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt to the Holy lands, where at that time, there was only a desert, and unto that desert, they created life.

Is that not our role? Were we not intended to cultivate, plant, and care for this planet as stewards of the land?

Fasting enlightens us, causes awareness, and when done directly to the stomach, such as the traditional Ramadan performed by Muslims, it really sets us in other peoples shoes, namely, those who constantly go without.

Go without the most important light-bulb in your house for forty days, go without using plastic bags, wash dishes by hand instead of actually doing them yourself…etc.

Tearfund.org has the whole forty day carbon fast (adobe .pdf file) all well planned out for any average American home, its not hard and it can even be fun.

You dont have to be Christian to have fun this Lent; in fact, you dont even need to do it for Lent at all.

The world, cannot currently take all the CO2 we put out, and if we are to care for the planet, we can reverse CO2 damage, start with a forty day carbon fast in your home!

Learning:
The Carbon Quiz by Wired Magazine.
Personal Emissions Calculator - U.S EPA

Usually, these systems use automated sprinkler systems or manual hoses, releasing a transparent spray that will stay there, protecting forever or until it is either washed off, or it rains.

When your home is located in an area that is prone to wildfires, the best prevention is having a firebreak system that works, it is cheaper than rebuilding and can offset the cost of fire insurance immensely.

Fire retardant spray systems are far less effective when a fire is already in progress, as they will not put the fire out, but they will keep areas around a fire from burning if applied wisely.

Fire retardant spray used in home systems is the same non-toxic chemical substance used in fighting forest fires, but the difference is that in forest fighting, firefighters mix in a red dye in order to identify the areas already sprayed, with other kinds of chemicals using different color dye.

Fire retardant systems for the home, not only do not use the dye, but they do not need to necessarily be applied with a hose, as most are so automated in some cases, that they can detect fires up to several kilometers away, remotely alerting the local fire department and immediately turning the system on for protection.

If you have just been evacuated for example, and there is no way to reach your home to turn your fire retardant system on, it can be activated remotely from any phone with a simple code that you type in for example.

Basic fire retardant spray systems for the home can cost 5,000U$ for a 1,500 sq./ft home or as much as $9,000 for a 5,000 sq./ft home, it really depends on how much fire retardant you will need to preserve the integrity of your structure.

Automatic alert systems that track the horizon every four seconds for a potential fire threat can cost anywhere from 15,000 to 17,000 U$ in fire retardant spray systems and are very important to people who usually find themselves away from their home.

The fire retardant spray itself, is stored in a pressurized tank, with a sprinkler system that channels retardant onto the many surfaces of the home in just minutes, including plants and can cost as little as 200U$ for a refill.

Over the last ten years or so, other fire retardant systems have been developed to replace the firefighters traditional foam retardant (which lasts only around 15 minutes), systems that use gel (which is a biodegradable product) and are like an enormous droplet of water that will adhere to surfaces and eliminate the danger of wildfire for hours in the locations where it is applied.

Fire retardant gels are also an efficient method for protecting the home from wildfire, and usually are applied with hoses, from fire trucks ore backpacks.

A fire truck system for traditional foam retardants can cost 80,000U$ while a gel system can cost anywhere from 12,000-20,000U$, and provide far more efficient protection.

All fire retardant spray systems use non-toxic chemical products, and fire retardant gel is biodegradable, so they pose no threat to humans or animals, and systems used on homes are an efficient way to make sure that you are well protected from wildfires, year after year, generation after generation.

Companies:
Firebreak Spray Systems - Units are powered by bottled nitrogen gas and require no electrical power.

In 2003, 3,600 homes were destroyed and 24 people died, 12 of them in San Diego alone, but yet firemen still were not completely prepared for the emergency in October of 2007 that grew faster than any had even imagined, spilling all the way down to Mexico.

The statistics with over 13 different focal points by the end of the night of the 23^rd alone, millions of dollars in real estate destroyed, hundreds of thousands of acres turned to ashes in just a few days.

Yet with nothing even close to the death rates established in 2003, something can be said for the governments quick action, to take control of an emergency situation when it arises. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been tested during this crisis and so far is showing outstanding leadership skills.

Hurricane Katrina of 2005 in New Orleans prepared our homelands emergency evacuation forces for the worst threats this planet has to offer, now it is time for us, the citizens to take the Boyscout motto to heart; and be prepared!

Wildfires, like the ones that can spread in southern California between the months of April and October are something that our civilization provokes with the most simple of creature comforts; fire, and we should all be prepared for fire, living in a hot, dry and windy forest or in the cold damp winter, being prepared is essential.

If a single cigarette is left to fall upon a dry rug, on a hot day, from the hand of a snoring, lost soul, with a fan blowing around the room, and it is your children sleeping in the apartment next door, will you be content with losing everything?

Children playing with matches, far away from wandering eyes, in the pantry amongst dirty laundry or even worse, over a pair of oil and grease-soiled overalls with firecrackers in their hands, perhaps?

The causes that can unsettle a flame, sending it into motion, to consume without discipline, range as far as our civilizations technology does.

The more people inhabit California, the more wildfires will occur, the statistics alone are a direct indication of our ecological footprint, with a direct correlation between urbanization and an increase in the frequency of fires left out of control.

The houses that are burned to the ground in southern California and other areas prone to wildfires (with statistics dating as far back as 1991), in most all cases, have shown repeated indications that a lack of being prepared was the primary cause, case after case.

What does this tell us about prevention? Prevention starts at home. Is your home prepared for a fire emergency? Are your children aware of the dangers that fire can bring? Do the neighbors readily encourage safety measures where their gardens are concerned?

Is the home you live in built from a flame-resistant material? Do you keep an eye on your landscaping (reducing or keeping burn-fuel away from the home) or lawn? Does the layout include a firebreak or does the home even have firefighting equipment to begin with?

In public and office buildings that find themselves located in a potential fire hazardous zone, many precautions are taken to preserve the integrity of the structures, including simple things, like grazing, to keep the underbrush to a halt.

Grazing in fact is one of the major reasons rural areas are less effected, due to the constant control of fuel, where as in many urban areas, the wilderness can be left to build up its fuel supply for years, creating excellent conditions for a wildfire.

We must teach our children, our neighbors, ourselves; we must build our homes in a more fire retardant way, our landscapes, our gardens and most of all, we must have the necessary tools on hand and in working order, if the time comes to use them.

The sudden wildfires of Southern California can be prevented, and it takes both awareness and planning to prevent them.

CA wildfires can be controlled, if only our civilization learns to control itself and be prepared to ensure a more beautiful tomorrow, starting right now, with you.

Depending on foreign oil, defending foreign oil fields with American troops to secure our nations energy reserves for trains, planes and automobiles, not to mention the military power to keep us safe domestically is a billion dollar venture that is going to cost our future generations dearly, yet deep in the core of our free nation of democracy and freedom of thought, there is more coal than anywhere else on the planet!

Defending the oil fields in the Persian Gulf alone has been conservatively estimated to provide us with a hidden costof $305 billion annually, while 60 percent of our oil must be currently imported to meet needs, while there is a 250 year supply of coal reserves below our feet.

A single CTL plant for 10,000 barrels of liquefied coal daily costs around $1 billion to build and a world class size CTL plant for producing 80,000 barrels/day can cost as much as $6.5 billion.

It would be more than reasonable to have 300,000 barrels/day in production by 2015 if we gave CTL technology a chance, and by then providing all the domestic needs for our nations military at home.

The biggest factors in making CTL technology a reality are federal incentives that can beat the mafia of foreign fuels in their own game of economics and political power.

With an opening in laws and enough incentive packages, liquefied coal could change the way our nation is forced into acting in other parts of the world that have nothing to do with America.

Liquefied coal is really about being self-reliant right now when we most need to be. We need to rely on ourselves and give alternative technologies a chance to evolve and take control over time, its not necessary to just change overall our tried and tested traditions immediately, that is radical and unnecessarily risky.

CTL technology works, and has been working for decades, it competes with foreign markets in such a way that it is even used in China for commercial gain and economic growth.

CTL technology can even be used to capture greenhouse gases underground and the process of gasification eliminates mercury, sulfur and ash; remaining only Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen for fuel technologies, while in electrical energy production, even CO2 is removed and potentially stored in underground deposits.

Liquefied Coal can be an environmentally neutral energy source that stimulates the USs determination for self-reliance and ecological correctness. If environmentalist guidelines are followed and ecological footprints are reduced through indirect measures such as CO2 underground catchment, CTL technology is not only an alternative solution to diesel fuels for the next 250 years, it is also a way to keep our planet in balance with itself, today.

Related:
Future Coal Fuels - CTL Technology Site
Liquid Fuels from U.S. Coal - National Mining Association

Romney on Liquefied Coal:
Romney: Coal into liquid fuel key to plan

How did a team effort between ordinary people thwart the completion of a terrorist attack? With the extraordinary courage that comes from looking death in the face and the determination to act bravely.

Lisa Beamer and Ken Abraham are the authors of an autobiographical/biographical book published by Tyndale House Publishers in August of 2002 and it tells the story of what happened on that dreadful flight, as well as what the families of the victims went through.

Told from the point of view of one of the victims widows, Lisa Beamer, whose husband Tedds last recorded words were Lets Roll.

One short prayer with other passengers and the decision to rush the front cabin in an attempt to take back flight 93 is only part of the story, the heroic side, but this book tells the tales of the aftermath as well, and the personal experiences of the author Lisa Beamer to find a path to follow.

The 317-page hardcover is 9.4 x 6.3 and 1.2 shipping at 1.5 pounds while the softcover is 6 x 9, released in July of 2003 and a little smaller with 336 pages.

Lisa Beamer is a vision of poise and dignity, giving us a personal and sentimental glimpse into what happened to so many people and their families on that fateful day.

Let’s Roll is about having extraordinary courage while we still live, to face the future with our heads high, no matter how ordinary a people we may think we are, those people on United Flight 93 show us just how noble, even the ordinary can be, when confronted with death and questions of faith about life after death.

How have companies been doing it? What model has been making the bigwigs such a success in the competing world of global markets and really bringing about change in their corporate structure to withstand the ongoing change of a globalizing economy?

Our educational system could learn something from those key points to success, and this book shows us exactly seven ways how to make that difference right now for a better and more prosperous tomorrow.

Learning, long-term commitment, influence, responsibility, diversity, conservation of energy, building on the past and making sure that any action is beneficial to everyone without harmful side effects to anyone in the future all lay the foundations for this book.

Andy Hargreaves and Dean Fink have come together on this book to make sure that this original framework of seven sustainable aspects of leadership, get out there to everyone, compelling the future to change in a more sustainable and healthy way.

That which is left unattended will deteriorate, as the saying goes, this model for educational change is one that speaks of nature and how we as humans shape the environment around us; the constant need for educational renewal through a more sustainable leadership.

This 352-page paperback by Andy Hargreaves and Dean Fink was first published by Jossey-Bass in September of 2006, measuring 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 and ships at 14.4 ounces.

Sustainable Leadership is a book about educational renewal, modeling leadership for the long-term and focusing on seven principles that really allow for a more sustainable school leadership.

Sustainable Leadership is not about just one teacher anymore, it is about all of us becoming teachers, and taking on the responsibilities Mother Nature intended for each and every one of us today, for a brighter tomorrow.

Further Reading:
The Seven Principles of Sustainable Leadership

Related:
Sustainable Leadership Award

240 pages of inspiration to be precise, This Moment on Earth is the Kerrys vision of the environmentalist movements next step, modeling people who have been there, done that.

Shipping at only 1.2 lbs, This Moment on Earth measures 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches and is published by PublicAffairs.

It can seem to most that just ordinary people would never be able to do anything extraordinary or heroic outside of maybe taking the trash to the curb before going to work in the morning.

It is exactly that stereotype that the Kerrys are proving wrong, showing that it really is ALL about those ordinary people, who are the most important heroes.

Case after case, the book reveals how real people have been fighting the environmental war, battle after battle, against great odds, imposed by enemy legislation, harsh local beliefs and many other forms of opposition with tenacity and ingenuity that kept their dreams alive, even when all seemed impossible.

Just simple people that noticed something was wrong, they would get together, find other people with similar ideas, they would consult scientists, specialists and politicians looking for confirmation and suggestions; the word nowas no longer an acceptable option for these average people with the courage and actions of true heroes and heroines.

So if you want to walk the path of the eco-warrior in a world filled with democratic strongholds and sometimes even the most backwards of thinking, This Moment on Earth gives you all the solutions and formulas that have worked in over 2,500 years of Greek and Roman diplomacy, and shows exactly how even the most common of the common have become the environmental heroes and heroines of our now; is search for a better tomorrow.

Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute will help Coke cut down on their energy consumption by 23 percent, eliminating over 10,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year and eliminate an excess of one million U$.

CO2 emissions are the main cause of global warming, Coke is very aware of this fact and is taking measures to deal with a positive and proactive future economy that will base itself on eco-smart enterprises.

By investing 3 million U$ in their Atlanta Headquarters with “retooling”; Coke is looking to economize on that money by 2010, meeting forecasted CO2 restrictions for that year without any profit loss, Coke is going eco-smart.

With innovative techniques that include rainwater harvesting, irrigation control systems, air conditioning and lighting systems that are all more energy-efficient, Coke begins the path of sustainability in Atlanta, Georgia with talons as strong as the bald eagle itself.

Much like the American Bald Eagle, when it has become old and worn by the years, it will find a quiet place to rip out all its feathers, all its talons, and its own beak to then grow new ones to live as a new bird of prey; this is what Coke is doing now.

Coca-Cola Co. is being reborn to live for a brighter, more self-reliant and sustainable tomorrow, combating Global Warming with new talons, new beak and new feathers; leading the way for others to follow, together with Georgia Tech, Coke knows a good thing when they find it.

Related:
News Release

if the debate becomes, “Al Gore cares about the earth, and we’re against Al Gore,” we end up in a defensive position where the average American could end up perceiving conservatives as always being negative about the environment. -Newt

Newt also lists some basic values of the Green Conservative

1. Favors clean air and clean water.

2. Understands biodiversity as a positive good.

3. Favors minimizing carbon loading in the atmosphere as a positive public value.

4. Is pro-science, pro-technology and pro-innovation.

5. Believes that green prosperity and green development are integral to the successful future of the human race.

6. Believes that economic growth and environmental health are compatible in both the developed and developing world.

7. Believes that we can realize more positive environmental outcomes faster by shifting tax code incentives and shifting market behavior than is possible from litigation and regulation.

Republicans would be smart to not drop the ball on this one, it will surely influence the results of the 08′ elections. Those who go beyond just talking about it will be popular with the people for many years to come. The environment will quickly become good business and PR.

He indicates three tipping factors for the environmentalist movement to switch from being guilt-motivated to passion-motivated, the first is politics, the second is the economy and the third is the people actually believing in it.

From the political tipping Governor Schwarzeneggar calls this a bipartisan or post-partisan way of doing things where everyone helps see what is best for California and America and most of all, getting the legislature done.

After quickly relating from his own experiences with bodybuilding, the Governor explains how something can seem weird at one time and filled with fanatics, and then suddenly the whole public image of that area changes as soon as it goes out into the mainstream; this is what is happening with the environmentalist movement.

For a long time, the whole environmental movement has been based on guilt, a tactic, that according to Governor Schwarzenegger does not work with movements; what works is something proactive, built on dynamic passions in a mass scale.

But to get to that tipping point, someone has to take the initiative, and this is what California is doing, partnering with anyone willing from any state, company, country, province or territory that will partner with them in tipping the belief from guilt-driven to passion-driven.

The Governor of California realizes that California is a model for what happens in the world as a whole, and has been so for decades, which is why he claims metaphorically that he can balance the earth on his finger, that is, just under the state of California on a globe; California does the modeling, while the world does the rest.

He realizes that by modeling in California, global warming will not be solved, but by applying leverage, the whole environmental thing will tip on its own.

Two things have been done in the legislature to improve dialogue about environmentalism; the first is capping greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent until 2020 and virtually zero by 2050.

The second action has been to order an immediate cut in 10 percent on carbon content in transportation fuels.

While the car industry in Chicago for example is fussy about these radical changes, Schwarzeneggers immediate response to them is that if they dont go environmental now, they will be left behind in the near future, because this issue is already starting to tip in California and once that happens, the world will follow.

The second tipping factor according to the Governor, is economics, because like cellular phones, as the industry produces ever better, ever cheaper models for average people, the price eventually becomes ever more accessible; and it will happen with environmental issues the world over, as it is already happening now, in California.

The third tipping factor is the people themselves, their actual belief in environmentalism, which is the real goal that will save our planet from the melting of the ice caps.

He uses a popular example of the TV show, Pimp My Ride, as a perfect example, where he has done a segment for the next Earth Day to show how really cool it is to be an environmentalist today.

With regard to other nations in the developing world, Schwarzenegger also realizes that some economies will keep on polluting our environment, and those that do, will suffer what he calls environmental sanctions and thus be economically forced into an environmentalist attitude.

With an optimistic view on environmentalism, the room for political rhetoric that he uses has given way to inspiration and passion for anyone willing to lead the way right now; Governor Schwarzenegger is making good on his promises, and bringing a little more hope to our planet, in a time when we need it the most.

Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at Georgetown University Environmental Conference; predicting a tip in the current global view of environmentalism, for three reasons, politics, economy and people; in Ronald Reagans famous quote, environmentalism is “This last, best hope of man on Earth.”