The medical journal which originally published the discredited research linking autism and MMR has now issued a full retraction of the paper.The Lancet said it now accepted claims made by the researchers were "false". It comes after Dr Andrew Wakefield, the lead researcher in the 1998 paper, was ruled last week to have broken research rules by the General Medical Council. The publication caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles. The Lancet had already issued a partial retraction.
The medical journal which originally published the discredited research linking autism and MMR has now issued a full retraction of the paper.
The Lancet said it now accepted claims made by the researchers were "false".
It comes after Dr Andrew Wakefield, the lead researcher in the 1998 paper, was ruled last week to have broken research rules by the General Medical Council.
The publication caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles.
The Lancet had already issued a partial retraction.
Brazil's government has granted an environmental licence for the construction of a controversial hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest.Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will cause devastation in a large area of the rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous groups. However, the government says whoever is awarded the project will have to pay $800m to protect the environment. The initial approval was a key step before investors could submit bids.
Brazil's government has granted an environmental licence for the construction of a controversial hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest.
Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will cause devastation in a large area of the rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous groups.
However, the government says whoever is awarded the project will have to pay $800m to protect the environment.
The initial approval was a key step before investors could submit bids.
"Phil Jones, the beleaguered British climate scientist at the center of the leaked e-mails controversy, is facing fresh claims that he sought to hide problems in key temperature data on which some of his work was based," The Guardian reports this morning. It investigated "thousands of e-mails and documents apparently hacked from the University of East Anglia's climatic research unit" and found "evidence that a series of measurements from Chinese weather stations were seriously flawed and that documents relating to them could not be produced." Jones, according to the Guardian, "said he was not able to comment on the story."
"Phil Jones, the beleaguered British climate scientist at the center of the leaked e-mails controversy, is facing fresh claims that he sought to hide problems in key temperature data on which some of his work was based," The Guardian reports this morning.
It investigated "thousands of e-mails and documents apparently hacked from the University of East Anglia's climatic research unit" and found "evidence that a series of measurements from Chinese weather stations were seriously flawed and that documents relating to them could not be produced."
Jones, according to the Guardian, "said he was not able to comment on the story."
Today, after many months of delay, the government finally announced its detailed plans for the feed-in tariff. It is a huge disappointment for all of us who want to see communities taking control of their energy production.The announcement could have heralded a new age in British energy policy, where a large proportion of our energy is produced by individuals and communities through microgeneration, solar panels on the roofs of our schools and homes, small scale hydropower and wind.It is an approach that has had success in many countries around Europe, where feed-in tariffs have played a fundamental role in promoting renewable energy. In Germany, where feed-in tariffs have been around for years, the total installed solar capacity is around 200 times that of the UK. The Netherlands has 40% of its electricity demand met from decentralised energy.
Today, after many months of delay, the government finally announced its detailed plans for the feed-in tariff. It is a huge disappointment for all of us who want to see communities taking control of their energy production.
The announcement could have heralded a new age in British energy policy, where a large proportion of our energy is produced by individuals and communities through microgeneration, solar panels on the roofs of our schools and homes, small scale hydropower and wind.
It is an approach that has had success in many countries around Europe, where feed-in tariffs have played a fundamental role in promoting renewable energy. In Germany, where feed-in tariffs have been around for years, the total installed solar capacity is around 200 times that of the UK. The Netherlands has 40% of its electricity demand met from decentralised energy.
You won't get multiples more renewable energy projects just from small scale generation. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
It is a choice that Liberal Democrats wholeheartedly disagree with, as it removes choice from local communities. For years we have campaigned for more power to be devolved to a local level. In energy policy we want a future where communities and individuals are supported in producing their own clean and green renewable energy and for them to make their own choices about how they do this. This is why we campaigned for the original amendment to the 2008 Energy Act that introduced the feed-in tariff. It is why I wrote to Ed Miliband just last week asking him to announce a more ambitious scheme today. It is disappointing that the government has failed to fulfil the opportunity which feed-in tariffs presented. Now all of us who want an energy future that involves a serious commitment to renewables need to speak loudly and seek to persuade others to vote for candidates who share this vision in the coming election.
This is why we campaigned for the original amendment to the 2008 Energy Act that introduced the feed-in tariff. It is why I wrote to Ed Miliband just last week asking him to announce a more ambitious scheme today.
It is disappointing that the government has failed to fulfil the opportunity which feed-in tariffs presented. Now all of us who want an energy future that involves a serious commitment to renewables need to speak loudly and seek to persuade others to vote for candidates who share this vision in the coming election.
Almost all the media and political discussion about the hacked climate emails has been based on brief soundbites publicised by professional sceptics and their blogs. In many cases, these have been taken out of context and twisted to mean something they were never intended to.Elizabeth May, veteran head of the Canadian Green party claims to have read all the emails and declared: "How dare the world's media fall into the trap set by contrarian propagandists without reading the whole set?"If those journalists had read even a few words beyond the soundbites, they would have realised that they were often being fed lies. Here are a few examples.The most quoted "climategate" soundbite comes from an email from Prof Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, to Prof Mike Mann of the University of Virginia in 1999, in which he discussed using "Mike's Nature trick" to "hide the decline". The phrase has been widely spun as an effort to prevent the truth getting out that global temperatures had stopped rising.
Almost all the media and political discussion about the hacked climate emails has been based on brief soundbites publicised by professional sceptics and their blogs. In many cases, these have been taken out of context and twisted to mean something they were never intended to.
Elizabeth May, veteran head of the Canadian Green party claims to have read all the emails and declared: "How dare the world's media fall into the trap set by contrarian propagandists without reading the whole set?"
If those journalists had read even a few words beyond the soundbites, they would have realised that they were often being fed lies. Here are a few examples.
The most quoted "climategate" soundbite comes from an email from Prof Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, to Prof Mike Mann of the University of Virginia in 1999, in which he discussed using "Mike's Nature trick" to "hide the decline". The phrase has been widely spun as an effort to prevent the truth getting out that global temperatures had stopped rising.
Meanwhile the story of increased infection rates for the serious but preventable diseases this injections protects against continues. Will we wait a decade or more for climategate to go away ? keep to the Fen Causeway
Goals on reducing greenhouse gases announced by major industrialised nations are a step forward, but not enough to forestall the disastrous effects of climate change by the middle of this century, UN officials said yesterday.Janos Pasztor, the top climate adviser to the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, said the goals, submitted to the UN as part of a voluntary plan to roll back emissions, make it highly unlikely the world can prevent temperatures from rising above the target set at the Copenhagen climate conference in December.Fifty-five nations - including China, the US and those making up the 27-member European Union - met a 31 January deadline to submit pledges to the UN for cutting those emissions. Together they produce 78% of the world's greenhouse gases stemming from fossil fuel burning. More commitment letters were expected to be submitted over the next few days.
Goals on reducing greenhouse gases announced by major industrialised nations are a step forward, but not enough to forestall the disastrous effects of climate change by the middle of this century, UN officials said yesterday.
Janos Pasztor, the top climate adviser to the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, said the goals, submitted to the UN as part of a voluntary plan to roll back emissions, make it highly unlikely the world can prevent temperatures from rising above the target set at the Copenhagen climate conference in December.
Fifty-five nations - including China, the US and those making up the 27-member European Union - met a 31 January deadline to submit pledges to the UN for cutting those emissions. Together they produce 78% of the world's greenhouse gases stemming from fossil fuel burning. More commitment letters were expected to be submitted over the next few days.
The United Nations has welcomed the "clear goal" set by some of the world's biggest polluters to combat climate change, but says it is "not good enough" to forestall the expected disastrous effects of global warming. Janos Pasztor, a senior adviser on climate issues to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said the goals, submitted to the UN as part of a voluntary plan to roll back emissions, make it highly unlikely the world can prevent temperatures from rising above the target set at the Copenhagen climate conference in December. "You can look at it negatively and positively," Pasztor said. "The negative part is that it's not good enough. The positive side is that for the first time, we have a goal, a clear goal that we're all working toward ... before we would just talk." Fifty-five nations, including China, the US and the 27-member EU, met a January 31 deadline to submit pledges to the UN for cutting emissions.
The United Nations has welcomed the "clear goal" set by some of the world's biggest polluters to combat climate change, but says it is "not good enough" to forestall the expected disastrous effects of global warming.
Janos Pasztor, a senior adviser on climate issues to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said the goals, submitted to the UN as part of a voluntary plan to roll back emissions, make it highly unlikely the world can prevent temperatures from rising above the target set at the Copenhagen climate conference in December.
"You can look at it negatively and positively," Pasztor said. "The negative part is that it's not good enough. The positive side is that for the first time, we have a goal, a clear goal that we're all working toward ... before we would just talk."
Fifty-five nations, including China, the US and the 27-member EU, met a January 31 deadline to submit pledges to the UN for cutting emissions.
snag07 on February 1, 2010 - 1:03pm This is the Oil Drum not the "morality drum". Reforestation and some agrarian reform would go far to increasing the carrying capacity but talking about energy, I've spent months in the DR in poor coastal areas. The bottom line is that no Caribbean island should ever import oil ever again- Trade Winds are awesome consistant potential wind generators. With power demand realatively low, this is the time to invite Suzlon and the Chinese in to provide effective and scalable generators at cost to put Haiti back on it's feet, proving that green works here now. Log in or register to leave a comment Ghung on January 30, 2010 - 11:31am Nature has wiped much of the slate clean in Haiti. Once the cleanup and stabilization efforts get out of their initial phases we will see massive amounts of aid going to rebuild things to.......what? The opportunity to demonstrate an infrastucture based around renewables is perhaps unique. It occurs to me that the current structure of things there is well suited to distributed forms of energy, as in localized micro-grids based on renewables and supported by conventional sources of electricity. It would be a shame to pour billions of dollars into a BAU infrastructure that we know will be short lived. One way to get these people out of their "funk" is to show them that they can be responsible for some of their basic requirements. This has been demonstrated in other parts of the world.
This is the Oil Drum not the "morality drum". Reforestation and some agrarian reform would go far to increasing the carrying capacity but talking about energy, I've spent months in the DR in poor coastal areas. The bottom line is that no Caribbean island should ever import oil ever again- Trade Winds are awesome consistant potential wind generators. With power demand realatively low, this is the time to invite Suzlon and the Chinese in to provide effective and scalable generators at cost to put Haiti back on it's feet, proving that green works here now. Log in or register to leave a comment Ghung on January 30, 2010 - 11:31am
Nature has wiped much of the slate clean in Haiti. Once the cleanup and stabilization efforts get out of their initial phases we will see massive amounts of aid going to rebuild things to.......what?
The opportunity to demonstrate an infrastucture based around renewables is perhaps unique. It occurs to me that the current structure of things there is well suited to distributed forms of energy, as in localized micro-grids based on renewables and supported by conventional sources of electricity. It would be a shame to pour billions of dollars into a BAU infrastructure that we know will be short lived. One way to get these people out of their "funk" is to show them that they can be responsible for some of their basic requirements. This has been demonstrated in other parts of the world.
this is what hawaii should have done 40 years ago, and still could...
altro che 'free trade', should be 'free trade winds'!! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
SELF was founded in 1990 by Neville Williams, an award-winning journalist and author (Chasing the Sun: Solar Adventures Around the World ), who had experience actively promoting solar power as a staffer with the U.S. Department of Energy during the Carter administration. By 1997, SELF had established 11 self-sustaining solar energy projects in eleven countries across Asia, Africa, and South America. In its early projects, SELF used funds donated by the World Bank, private philanthropies, and loans from development agencies, to buy home-size photovoltaic systems in bulk on the open market, usually enough for one small village at a time. SELF then sold the systems at slim mark-ups to villagers in developing areas, in partnership, where possible, with in-country nonprofit agencies. Each participating household made a 20 percent down payment on a solar energy system and paid off the balance - usually between $300 and $400 - over several years. The buyers' payments were pooled in a local revolving loan fund from which their neighbors could borrow to buy their own solar power gear. SELF used a portion of the mark-ups on the equipment to establish a local dealership and train residents as solar installers and technicians. The arrangement brought power to the people in more ways than one. Residents had acquired electricity for their homes and farms through equipment that they had paid for themselves. Trained technicians had learned a profitable trade, and their training ensured that the power systems' continued operation did not depend on return visits from outsiders with exotic knowledge. The loan fund made it possible for villagers to finance the continued dissemination of solar systems in their areas. The program has yielded broader benefits as well. In much of the developing world, the primary fuel for night lighting is kerosene, which causes more than 20,000 injuries and house fires annually through spills and other accidents. In addition, every home burning kerosene-fueled lamps emits an average of 6 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, and exposes family members to fumes as hazardous to the health as smoking two packs of cigarettes per day. For much of the 1990s, SELF's primary mission was to deliver solar home systems - 50-watt units installed at the household level that could generate enough power to run a few compact florescent lights, a radio, and a small black and white television for four or five hours each evening. The electricity generated by the solar panel is stored in a battery, which then provides power at night and during rainy weather. In western China, SELF brought solar power to 1,000 households in 14 villages; created the Gansu PV Company to manufacture small-scale photovoltaic systems as a joint venture with SELF; and established the Gansu Solar Electric Light Fund to extend credit to villagers to buy the systems. In Sri Lanka, SELF helped a national development agency start a division to sell photovoltaic systems at prices that villagers can afford, but that will still enable the agency to sustain itself. In Tanzania, SELF has worked with the Masai people - a widely-scattered group of herders - to help the tribe acquire solar-powered telephones and FM radios to share information about land speculators threatening to drive them off their ancestral lands. In a poor area of black South Africa, SELF has installed a photovoltaic system in a school, using the energy to power computers and connect the school to the Internet.
SELF was founded in 1990 by Neville Williams, an award-winning journalist and author (Chasing the Sun: Solar Adventures Around the World ), who had experience actively promoting solar power as a staffer with the U.S. Department of Energy during the Carter administration. By 1997, SELF had established 11 self-sustaining solar energy projects in eleven countries across Asia, Africa, and South America. In its early projects, SELF used funds donated by the World Bank, private philanthropies, and loans from development agencies, to buy home-size photovoltaic systems in bulk on the open market, usually enough for one small village at a time. SELF then sold the systems at slim mark-ups to villagers in developing areas, in partnership, where possible, with in-country nonprofit agencies. Each participating household made a 20 percent down payment on a solar energy system and paid off the balance - usually between $300 and $400 - over several years. The buyers' payments were pooled in a local revolving loan fund from which their neighbors could borrow to buy their own solar power gear. SELF used a portion of the mark-ups on the equipment to establish a local dealership and train residents as solar installers and technicians.
The arrangement brought power to the people in more ways than one. Residents had acquired electricity for their homes and farms through equipment that they had paid for themselves. Trained technicians had learned a profitable trade, and their training ensured that the power systems' continued operation did not depend on return visits from outsiders with exotic knowledge. The loan fund made it possible for villagers to finance the continued dissemination of solar systems in their areas.
The program has yielded broader benefits as well. In much of the developing world, the primary fuel for night lighting is kerosene, which causes more than 20,000 injuries and house fires annually through spills and other accidents. In addition, every home burning kerosene-fueled lamps emits an average of 6 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, and exposes family members to fumes as hazardous to the health as smoking two packs of cigarettes per day.
For much of the 1990s, SELF's primary mission was to deliver solar home systems - 50-watt units installed at the household level that could generate enough power to run a few compact florescent lights, a radio, and a small black and white television for four or five hours each evening. The electricity generated by the solar panel is stored in a battery, which then provides power at night and during rainy weather.
In western China, SELF brought solar power to 1,000 households in 14 villages; created the Gansu PV Company to manufacture small-scale photovoltaic systems as a joint venture with SELF; and established the Gansu Solar Electric Light Fund to extend credit to villagers to buy the systems. In Sri Lanka, SELF helped a national development agency start a division to sell photovoltaic systems at prices that villagers can afford, but that will still enable the agency to sustain itself.
In Tanzania, SELF has worked with the Masai people - a widely-scattered group of herders - to help the tribe acquire solar-powered telephones and FM radios to share information about land speculators threatening to drive them off their ancestral lands. In a poor area of black South Africa, SELF has installed a photovoltaic system in a school, using the energy to power computers and connect the school to the Internet.
