I think that it can. Historically, emotive music with powerful lyrics has played a vital role in a wide range of causes. From the marching songs of the suffragettes, to anti-war protests – music has helped to unite people together and helped political campaigns.

Categorized by causes, here are a few songs containing powerful messages:

**ENVIRONMENT**

Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi (1970)
“Paved up paradise to put up a parking lot”

Marvin Gaye, Mercy Mercy Me (Ecology) (1971)
“Ah things ain’t what they used to be. What about this overcrowded land. How much more abuse from man can she stand?”

Ozzy Osbourne, The Almighty Dollar (2007)
“Burn into the air and atmosphere. Watching the rain come down. Turn your head away, ignore the fear. Watching the ice crash down.”

Feeder, Only you
“I started to think about becoming extinct by the way that we’re going. I started to think that we’re close to the brink if you don’t hurry.”

**GENDER EQUALITY AND SEXISM**

Ethel Smyth & Cicely Hamilton March of the Women (1911)
“Comrades — ye who have dared. First in the battle to strive and sorrow! Scorned, spurned — nought have ye cared. Raising your eyes to a wider morrow. Ways that are weary, days that are dreary. Toil and pain by faith ye have borne; Hail, hail — victors you stand. Wearing the wreath that the brave have worn!”

The suffragettes were the original girl power! Without their determination, women in ‘developed’ nations would not have the freedom that we do today. Unfortunately, women all over the world do not have the freedom that we benefit from, though sexism and persecution of women still takes place in developed nations.

Ani DiFranco, Not a pretty girl (1995)
“I am not a pretty girl, That is not what I do, I ain’t no damsel in distess, And I don’t need to be rescued, So put me down punk, Maybe you’d prefer a maiden fair Isn’t there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere”

India Arie, Video (2001)
“I am not the average girl from your video and I aint built like a supermodel. But Ive learned to love myself unconditionally, because I am a queen. My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes.”

I have been listening a lot to India Arie and Ani DiFranco lately. I love their powerful music, celebrating the true strength of women – no fake ‘girl power’ like some mainstream female singers.

**ANIMAL WELFARE**

The Smiths, Meat Is Murder (1985)
“Do you know how animals die? Kitchen aromas aren’t very homely It’s not ‘comforting’, cheery or kind It’s sizzling blood and the unholy stench Of MURDER”

Earth Crisis, New ethic
“This is the new ethic, Animals’ lives are their own and must be given respect, Reject the anthropocentric falsehood that maintains the oppressive hierarchy of mankind over the animals, It’s time to set them free. Their lives reduced to biomachines in the factory, farm and laboratory, Dairy, eggs and meat, fur, suede, wool, leather are the end products of torture, confinement and murder, I abjure their use out of reverence for all innocent life”

Earth Crisis are a thrash metal band dedicated to raising awareness about animal rights and liberation.

**CIVIL RIGHTS AND ANTI RACISM**

Billie Holiday, Strange fruit (1939) (written by Abel Meeropol)

“Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves, Blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees”

Bob Dylan, Blowin in the wind (1963)

“Yes, n how many times can a man turn his head, Pretending he just doesnt see?”

James Weldon Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing (1900)
“We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past. ‘Til now we stand at last”

**ANTI-WAR**

Levellers, Another mans cause (1991)
“Just in whose name do these brave young heroes fall, And how many more are going to answer that call, They’re going to fight and die in another country’s war, They’re going to die for a religion, they don’t believe in at all, They’re going to die in a place they should never’ve been at all“

Edwin Starr, War (1969)
“War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin’!”

**ANTI CAPITALISM & POLITICAL CORRUPTION**

Janis Joplin, Mercedes Benz (1970)
“Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?”

One of the last songs she ever recorded. It was a social criticism of the materialistic culture developing, especially the value people put on items like luxury cars. Tragically, Joplin’s sister who held the rights to Janis’ music allowed Mercedes Benz to use the music in an advert.

Lou Reed, Strawman (1989)
“We who have so much to you who have so little To you who don’t have anything at all We who have so much more than any one man does need And you who don’t have anything at all, ah Does anybody need another million dollar movie Does anybody need another million dollar star”

Rage Against the Machine, Take the Power Back (1992)
“We need a movement with a quickness, You are the witness of change, And to counteract, We gotta take the power back”

For me, Rage Against the Machine (RATM) are one of the best political / protest groups ever. Tom Morello, of RATM created his own non-profit organization to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. Please click here for further info about Tom Morello’s ‘Axis of Justice’ organisation.

Nine Inch Nails, Letting you (2008)
“Upon our plates to feed, The dying left to bleed, How much we really need, Your politics of greed, The cancer takes ahold, The wolf is in the fold, Our destiny’s been sold, We do just what we’re told”

**ANTI-MATERIALISM**

John Lennon, Imagine (1971)
“Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people, Sharing all the world…”

**Next generation of political music**

When listening to the charts these days, it can be hard to hear unique, strong and political voices amongst the manufactured pop. However there are some exciting new bands emerging, which concentrate on environmental and other social issues. My favourite at the moment is a band featuring three sisters; Truth on Earth.

The band name, lyrical messages and powerful world-changing mission are based upon the work of Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, one of the greatest spiritual leaders of all time and the basis of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jrs Civil Rights movement. The girl’s mission is to fix Earth’s problems, so future generations will have a planet worth inheriting.

I love their music, and their passion to improve the environment, protect animals and create social change.

For further information about Truth on Earth, please click here.

**LET’S START A POLITICAL MUSIC REVOLUTION**

Unfortunately I am tone deaf and I can only play a little bit of clarinet, so I don’t think that I can start a music revolution on my own. However if you are musically talented, then use your gift to heal, spread ideas and bring people together to improve the world –  you can even start a music revolution from your bed!

and I have a couple of IRL events to attend – but no more ebay or vintage dresses or shoes or books – Im tired of consumption and it doesn’t make me happy and what the world needs now is less consumption so people in less developed countries can afford to eat proper food again… – I will keep you posted if I can keep this up

NB: just a thought: this provokes the same feeling that i got when I became a vegetarian – it’s a little thing to do to make the world a better place…

Im not a vegetarian anymore – but maybe im the first declared anti-consumerist ? at least that I know of…

crossposted on henrietteweber.com

Marine and Coastal Access Bill

After extensive campaigning from a wide range of environmental and conservation organisations the UK Government has included the Marine Bill (now called the Marine and Coastal Access Bill) in its draft legislative programme. This is absolutely fantastic news for the environment and marine life, however before we all get excited I would like to highlight that whilst there is a strong indication that it will be mentioned in the Queens speech (and thus be brought forward to Parliament) there is no guarantee.

Good – but could be better

I have read a couple of different summary documents for the Marine and Coastal Access Bill (not yet had time to read the whole draft Bill in great detail) and from what I can gather and what marine experts have informed me (including Lisa Chilton the Marine Development Manager at the Wildlife Trust) the Bill is good but could be a lot better. For example there is concern over the following points:

§ There seems to be too much emphasis on economic development (in terms of tourism, commerce etc) as opposed to protecting the environment and marine life.

§ Under the new rules some damaging activities such as dredging may be exempt from licensing. Also oil and gas licensing will continue under The Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) rather than the Marine Management Organisation (MMO)

§ It appears that there is not a duty on the Secretary of State to designate Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) which is appalling. The Marine Bill should enforce the duty to designate MCZ’s not just a power to designate.

Going Forward

A joint Committee of the House of Commons and the House of Lords has been established to scrutinize the draft Bill. As a member of the public you can provide your views and comments on the draft Bill by writing to Defra before 26^th June 2008.

I will be writing my response and I hope that GGG readers will too. In order to gain the full picture I highly recommend that you read the full, draft Marine Bill and accompanying notes which is available to download by clicking here.

After reading the draft Bill please send your comments to:

Marine Bill TeamDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsArea 2C Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR

I will keep you posted about the Marine and Coastal Access Bill including updates about specific important marine sites such as Lyme Bay Reefs.

Since our candidates have whittled down a bit I will focus on those still in the race.  Let me first fully disclose I am a registered Democrat, but in the spirit of fairness I will keep my opinions to myself and just report on the facts.  You decide!

The Democrats

Barack Obama- Senator Obama introduced an energy and climate plan in 2007. He calls for improving energy efficiency in the U.S. by 50 percent by 2030 and all new buildings in the US to be carbon neutral by 2030. He supports a phase-out of incandescent light bulbs by 2014. He proposes an increase in research and development for biofuels, renewable energy, and other clean technologies. He proposes raising fuel-economy standards for automobiles to 40 miles per gallon and light trucks to 32 mpg by 2020. He was a co-sponsor of the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, and he calls for cutting U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. He hopes to accomplish this through a cap-and-trade system that would auction off 100 percent of emissions permits, making polluters pay for the CO2 they emit.

Hillary Clinton – Senator Clinton’s campaign has been carbon neutral! She supports a goal of the US getting 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. She supports raising fuel-economy standards to 40 miles per gallon by 2020 and 55 mpg by 2030. She wants the US to cut its consumption of foreign oil by two-thirds of projected levels by 2030. She also proposes a cap and trade system similar to Senator Obama’s; to reduce U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and would auction off 100 percent of the emission permits as well as other measures. Senator Clinton has been a huge advocate for energy independence throughout her campaign.

The Republicans

John McCain- Senator McCain has been a leader on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and is probably the greenest Republican candidate of the group! He too supports a cap and trade system for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and opposes the carbon tax. He’s against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He supports the use of nuclear power as an alternative energy source and a way to reduce carbon emissions and he wants to find a way to use our coal resources without emitting more greenhouse gases. Global warming would be a top issue for his presidency. He spoke out against the current administrations lack of action on the climate change issue! (He will be the oldest president ever, if elected.  Even older than Reagan!)

Mike Huckabee – Former Governor Huckabee is unsure if humans are responsible for climate change but supports the cutting of greenhouse gas emissions because it’s the right thing to do. He supports raising fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. He supports the expansion of nuclear power. He believes we have a moral and religious obligation to protect the earth and says as president he will send Congress his comprehensive plan for energy independence (yet no one knows what it is?!).

Ron Paul – Former Congressman Paul doesn’t have much to say on environmental issues at all. He thinks the free market/private companies should have more control of it and the government should stay out of it and see what happens. He supports all offshore drilling. He too doesn’t believe humans have contributed to climate change. He would end any special benefits to energy companies.

The choice is yours America, choose wisely!

Also today the UK’s Environment Secretary Hillary Benn has announced the launch of a “one-stop” energy advice service to help householders save on bills and tackle global warming.

Great News!!! You would think….….

However the Guardian Newspaper reported on Saturday that the “The government department spearheading the fight against climate change is planning an emergency package of at least £300m of cuts covering key environmental services. The frontline agencies tackling recycling, nature protection, energy saving, carbon emissions and safeguarding the environment are all being targeted in the package which is being drawn up by Helen Ghosh, the top civil servant at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.” Information source: The Guardian Newspaper

So although the first two announcements are positive and showing that the UK government is trying to help tackle climate change I am rather confused! As how can the government be ‘committed’ if it’s cutting funding for key environmental services within Defra.  This is extremely worrying and contradictory of the governments support for tackling climate change.

The Guardian Newspaper report also stated that “The cuts will impact heavily on nature conservation. Separate papers seen by the Guardian suggest that Natural England, the Defra body that protects places and wildlife, is expected to slash up to 30% from its budget for new conservation work.” Information Source: The Guardian Newspaper

I really do think that this is very sad news and suggests that the government is not truly committed to conservation and environmental issues. This combined with the government’s announcement of building 3 million more homes (which I reported in my Bills, Bills, Bills post means that there is a lot more work needed to be done to convince the UK government that we need substance and proper commitment from them in order to protect the environment – this includes essential funding!

I will be writing to my MP about my concerns over this and Defra. If you also feel disappointed and wish to show your support then I advise that you lobby your MP too, it is important that they know what the public think.

By the way in case you did not know, the Queens speech is only hers in name as it is the government’s script to communicate their ‘long term changes’ that they think the UK needs. I think that instead of using the outdated fashion of using the Queen, the PM should deliver it himself as it is his words.

Anyhow, although the government gave us a sneak preview of the proposed Bills earlier on in the year the speech today provided confirmation of what was on ‘their agenda’.

In total there were 29 Bills covered including the following four all of which have an affect on the environment:

Climate Change Bill

Through the introduction of this Bill the UK will be set to become the first nation to introduce legislation to cut its contribution to climate change. The Bill should create a legal framework to reduce the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050.

I think that the introduction of the Bill is fantastic; however it needs to be strengthened in order to be truly effective. Environmental organisations such as Friends of the Earth want to see it increased to 80% by 2050 – I agree.

However in terms of the government even delivering their target of 60% I am very interested to see how they propose that the UK achieves this. I think that environmental lobby groups will play an extremely important role in supporting and ensuring that the targets are met, as will individuals – we can not expect the government to do everything. And yes – I personally will take action by taking my lifestyle to an even greener level (will keep you update on GGG).

Marine (Draft) Bill

Hurrah! They mentioned the Marine Bill which I was actively involved in lobbying for as reported in my ‘Can we have the Bill please’ post .

However…….it was only a draft bill which is extremely disappointing as this may mean that it will only amount to another consultation which is what happened back in 2005. The UK Government, the EU and the rest of the World need to pay attention because our seas are dying and we have to prevent further species from declining and our seas from becoming polluted.

Further lobbying and strong action needs to be taken to get the Marine Bill took serious. I will keep you updated about my own personal lobbying on this.

Planning Bill

The Bill was introduced in response to issues of unaffordable housing and an increase in population. Thus the PM has pledged to build 3million homes by 2020.

3 million? Where? Urban areas are already extremely cramped in the UK and it is not good for society to live too cramped together for social and psychological reasons. In urban areas green spaces are required for environmental and also health reasons, thus cramping in more houses is not a real solution.

Where will they put these new houses then? Brown belt, Green Belt – who knows perhaps even SSSI’s (sites of special scientific interest) may not be safe.

I must admit that the planning bill does also bring in ethical issues as well as environmental, because from my understanding we need more houses due to our increasing population of migrants / immigrants. Now I am a descendent of an immigrant (my father came to the UK aged 4 – became a UK citizen when he was 18) and I am engaged to an immigrant (who was a refugee and is now a UK citizen). I would have hated to have thought that my father or my fiancé would not have been welcome into the UK due to issues with increased population (there were no problems back then).

However today in the UK I think that there is an ethical versus an environmental issue in terms of population. If the population level keeps increasing then obviously we need to build more houses, roads, facilities etc – potentially even at the risk of losing important green belt land and having an affect on wildlife – thus being an environmental issue. On the other hand some of the people coming to the UK could be environmental or political refugees thus raising an ethical issue of if we don’t welcome them and house them, then what will happen to them? Who will look after them?

I wish that I had the answers to this one – however I am struggling. What do you think?

Energy Bill

Through this Bill the government aims to provide greater incentives for renewable energy generation. Which is great if this means that they want to look into solar etc. However the Bill will also include investing into nuclear power, which is absolutely disastrous.

Local Transport Bill

This Bill would give local authorities more freedom in terms of local transport policies including the controversial road-pricing schemes. Although I am a non driver (I use pubic transport or cycle instead and I NEVER want to drive) I am sceptical about road pricing, we should reduce the amount of cars on the road for many reasons including environmental – but would charging people work. Would some find a way round it? Would the poor suffer? Would those who can not walk / cycle and rely on someone like a carer to take them out suffer. I think I will look more into this Bill and see what they are proposing and implications.

Conclusion……….

Thank you if you read all the way to the end as it was a long post (sorry).  Anyhow in conclusion it is great that the government included these Bills in their agenda but further work is required – so lets keep lobbying and also ensuring we take personal responsibility ourselves for a greener (more ethical) future.

Anyhow let me know your thoughts about the Bills. Thanks.

Strangely the bill doesn’t include emissions from aviation and shipping and the government aren’t planning to include them. Does that make any sense considering they are two of the fastest growing sources of emissions?

WWF will be taking a giant paper boat and paper plane to parliament covered in the names of everyone who supports their request for a change to the bill. Visit http://getonboard.wwf.org.uk to find out more and sign their petition.

On Wednesday 10th October I joined my colleagues from the other 47 Wildlife Trusts in the UK to attend an event at the House of Commons, where we took with us a shoal of over 200 petition fish containing over 150,000 signatures showing support for the implementation of a Marine Bill.

At the event we met with MP’s to gain their support for the Marine Bill and also to launch the Wildlife Trusts new report ‘Marine Reserves – TLC for our seas and sea life’, which explains the urgent action needed to allow UK seas to recover from centuries of over-intensive exploitation, for everything from food to building materials and oil.

The UK’s seas are extraordinarily rich in wildlife, home to more than 44,000 animal and plant species – around 50% of the UK’s biodiversity. However shockingly less than 0.001% of our seas are protected. The Wildlife Trust and other members of the Wildlife & Countryside Link are calling for the Marine Bill to be mentioned in the Queen’s Speech next month. It is extremely important that we lobby the government to ensure that the Marine Bill comes to Parliament during the 2007-8 session. As mentioned in a previous post if the government do not deliver the Marine Act in the time frame needed – then we could lose a variety of marine species and our seas will begin to die. We really do need to provide TLC for our seas and marine life now!

On Wednesday 17th October, the Wildlife Trust and other members of the Wildlife & Countryside Link including the Marine Conservation Society will be taking their collected signatures to 10 Downing Street to demonstrate the level of public support for the Marine Bill. To show your support and demand the Bill then write to your MP and  email Gordon Brown. Also if you are a scuba diver then why not join the Marine Conservation Society on their Divers March at Westminster on Wednesday 7th November – for further details contact them.

I will keep you updated about the Marine Bill campaign.

I just recently did an article on Green Collar Jobs, and how this is great way to fight global warming and poverty as well. Many politicians are also starting to promote this idea and it is spreading rapidly across the US.

What’s going on on the other side of the pond? I tend to find Europe always ahead of the game on green issues, or is this one issue the US has finally taken the lead?