A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the torpedo amendments to the Telecoms Package which were going to be voted on by the EP. Well, they’ve been voted on, and for the Greens opposing them, it’s a bit of good news and a bit of bad. Amendments K1 and K2, which would have allowed spyware to be added to EU citizen’s computers to prevent intellectual property infringement, and would have breached citizen’s privacy by processing the data they sent over the Internet were voted down. But H1, H2 and H3 were carried, meaning that monitoring of data can take place for security reasons, and ISPs may have to work with digital-rights-holders to prevent infringements.

It isn’t exactly the end of the world, but if the Package gets through the Council of Ministers as it stands, the Net in Europe will likely be a little less free.

BP put this advert in the Guardian today, which solved one of the problems that I’ve seen for quite a while: how to communicate the idea that all wind power, or all solar power won’t help us move to renewables. Instead it has to be a mix, as the ad shows, although the inclusion of oil and natural gas at the top of the list betrays BP’s eco-credentials here, not to mention the whole sticky question of biofuels. If only an organisation that is sincere about a truly renewable energy mix could do something like this advert, there might be some hope of ending the silly attack on renewables that comes in the form of articles such as this from the Telegraph, where the author assumes that it’s a question of one or the other with renewables.

According to The Takeaway, John McCain is calling for a suspension of presidential election campaigning, so he can go to Washington D.C. to sort out the economy. Is it just me being cynical, or does this sound like McCain positioning himself to call out Obama for not caring about things when he inevitably wants the debate to go on?

By the way, can this really be McCain?

Well here’s something I’m sure a few on the left of the party will be a tad suspicious of: “The Prince of Wales’s Business and the Environment Programme“. Lets see, we have outdated and elitist royalty, co-operation with big business, and the potential for greenwash. And all that is just in the title! A part of the Programme, the Corporate Leaders Group (so we can add rich businessmen onto the list), has issued a call for “transformational change” in the economy to face up to climate change.

So back to that list: I don’t care about the royalty aspect of it, if Prince Charles wants to help the environment, then good for him; I like the idea of genuinely working with large businesses if they’re willing to work meaningfully, and are sincere; but I am slightly concerned about greenwash.

If a massive company makes decent changes to lessen its environmental footprint, then the sheer scale of that organisation should mean that the benefits from those changes are great. If a massive company makes insignificant changes, for example, an oil company making tiny investments in renewables, and calling itself a “green energy company”, then it confuses the public as to what “green” actually is, and stalls efforts to tackle a pretty urgent problem.

I don’t know how sincere the leaders of Anglian Water Group, AXA, B&Q, BAA, BSkyB, Centrica, E.On, F&C Asset Management, Faber Maunsell, John Lewis Partnership, Johnson Matthey, Lloyds TSB, Reckitt Benckiser, Shell, Standard Chartered Bank, Sun Microsystems, Tesco, Thames Water, Unilever, and Vodafone are in their letter. Most of those companies are on many environmentalists “naughty lists”, but if they’re willing to actually do some good, then (perhaps in this alone) they should be supported.

Comment and tell me how much I’ve lost my path in the green movement at will.

The government announced more train carriages for the West Coast Mainline, which is good news for me, as this blog (or rather its author) has moved back to Manchester for the next few months. More comfortable trains, where I can travel with wine, chocolate coated florentines and a good film are always welcome.

Anyway, I have lots of settling in to do this week, including finding out exactly what I have to do as Officer Without Portfolio at my students’ union, so the Thursday briefing itself may have to be on hold for a few days.

I got back from Party Conference earlier this evening. It had a bit of a different character than previous conferences, but it was good all the same. We managed to get a little bit of press coverage, but it seemed much less than we had at the past two years, meeting in Edinburgh. I did particularly like the BBC News article about us though: “Greens in climate bill pie claim“. Anyway, a weekend of early mornings and long constitutional motions has left me exhausted, so I might just give up trying to write something coherent for the night.

James, as a former Parliamentary press officer probably won’t like this, but this photo is pretty representative of much of the building at the moment. I don’t know what is wrong, but there are leaks all over the place.

Freezing War

After territorial games with underwater flags, and the opening of the once fabled North-West Passage, the EU is planning to make a first step into the issues surrounding the Arctic region. Commissioner Borg (Fisheries and Maritime) called for greater co-operation between Arctic states, to protect the polar environment, and deal with “the broader question of governance”. In a fairly diplomatic, and “we are the mature ones here” way, the Union seems to be trying to spin this move as having nothing to do with Russia’s moves to claim the North Pole, and the potentially vast natural resources lying around it under the sea-bed. I’m not entirely convinced this is the case.

Energy Efficiency

According to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, large-scale energy efficiency measures alone, could result in greenhouse-gas emission reductions of one billion tonnes by 2020. The report suggests that efficiency measures are a more cost-effective way of reducing emissions, than alternative power generation.

UK

The Guardian has joined a number of media outlets in covering Robin’s decision to step down from his co-convenorship in November, and from his parliamentary seat at the next Scottish general election in 2011.

Ireland

The Irish Green ministers are feeling greater pressure from the party’s membership, with concerns that they are too close to Fianna Fáil. Their coalition partner’s love of road building, coupled with stresses on the budget, mean that green measures are often being put to one side.

Czech Republic

A Green MP in the Czech Republic has become the target of attempted blackmail from a fellow MP. Olga Zubová was targeted by Jan Morava, in an attempt to force her to toe the official line of the government, of which the Greens are a part. The story was reported on Radio Praha with these almost boasting words: “We believe this is a first grade political scandal which comes close to some big scandals in Western Europe”. From what I can tell, this comes as there are wider splits within the party in the Czech Republic.

United States

General Motors has unveiled its new plug-in electric-hybrid car, the Chevy Volt. Exhibiting the same ‘plasticky’ interior that seems to be standard issue for US cars, it remains to be seen whether the Hummers new stable-mate will last, or whether a new “Who Killed The Electric Car” film will need to be made.

And talking of the Hummer, Young Greens in Switzerland have successfully campaigned for a referendum on whether to ban highly polluting cars. The referendum would take place under the form of direct democracy in which referenda can be forced if citizens can gather enough signatures.