The world’s environment and in particular global warming and the environment have been the top issues for Prince Albert of Monaco, and while he is preparing to mark the first year of his succession to the Principality of Monaco, a local destination guide suggests that the second smallest country in the world is in safe hands and can look forward to years of progressive economic and social policies that extend well beyond the borders of Monaco.

‘Prince Albert has changed his playboy image’, they say, ’since coming to power he has taken the initiative on environmental issues, for example in April he went to the North Pole to draw attention to his fellow world leaders that the environment should be top of their agenda, and he has made a concerted effort to put the environment on the map of Monaco issues that need addressing’.

The environment seems to be of particular concern to Prince Albert, and with this in mind the 2006 Monaco Yacht Show was carbon neutral. The organisers will be paying for a variety of green projects in Europe and further afield, including enough wind turbines in New Zealand to generate power for 50,000 homes.

In two further steps earlier this year to increase Monaco’s influence in world affairs and to promote Prince Albert’s concern for the environment, the Monaco government announced that it would calculate GDP for the first time, enabling Monaco to meet the UN’s target of 0.7 per cent for developing countries, and Prince Albert himself founded a new foundation as ‘part of his personal commitment for the protection of the environment and for sustainable development’.

Prince Albert’s father, Prince Rainier who ruled Monaco for fifty years was known as the ‘builder prince’, as Monaco grew out of all recognition while he was in power, transforming the principality from a European backwater to Europe’s top tax haven and home to many of Europe’s top businessmen and sports stars.

During his first year Prince Albert has successfully made the people of Monaco aware of global warming and taken steps to combat it, and for his second year and beyond he is likely to be campaigning just as hard at home and abroad on the issue he believes in so much.

YourMonaco is an on-line guide for Monaco and Monte Carlo at http://www.yourmonaco.com

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Environment is a very broad subject, and something during my life, I have always been at least aware of what is going on around me . Just over the past year though, one topic really got my attention in todays environment, things are in fact physically changing on a global basis, that will affect everyone in some way.

I know you have heard this, and it is standard stuff, but on the contrary, it is happening right now, and this my friends is Global Warming. You may hear it in the daily news, but I have never been more sensitive to this before, since I have personally encountered some events that got my attention.

Global Warming : Another broad topic one might say, just listen to the environmentalists talk about all the theory, etc. Well I have news for you, I live in a foreign country, worked all around many countries world wide, including most of Asia, and all areas of Japan.

Todays Environment: Sometime within the last year, the automakers in Japan announced facts about global warming by an increase of 1 degree. Now, at that point I listened, but later just kind off pass it off as standard news. Well, traveling through Japan, I have many professional friends, who I have a lot of respect for, running major factories, and they are very sensitive to environmental conditions.

I know the culture and basic way of living probably better than the average person just from travel experience, friends, working with many factories.
So, when this announcement was made, it triggered a prior agreement , basically requiring reducing emission control in automobiles.

Now, you have to understand, its like turning yourself into the local police station, a confession. I was very impressed with the automakers, and Japan, actually taking initiative, which will probably be very costly.   Lets call this a mild wake up call, which got my attention.

More Global Warming:   I was watching discovery channel, and noticed a brief segment I recall on the cook islands, and how tidal flooding had occurred across the entire island. Villagers had never experienced this every before. I thought this was very unusual circumstance.

I live in the tropics, and have been in a drought over the past 4 years, until this year, and now, way to much water, tropical down pours, and here in Thailand, they call it the 60 year storm, mudslides, the works. Well, coming from California, this is quiet common, along the ocean, and we call it the 100 year storm.

Changing Environment: Well, living in Thailand I was here during the Tsunami.  Just over a year or so ago. Now this was very unfortunate act of nature, but from California, I am use to earthquakes, and went through some big ones.  Time has passed, people move on in life, but last month, I came across a situation  that I will call my real wakeup call, and I wanted to share with readers everywhere.

I was traveling south to a large industrial area called Rayong. Many factories, ocean on one side, Cambodia on the other. This was just a get away weekend.  I was driving along the Oceanside by a city near Rayong I have passed many times over the years, but this was a very unique situation, which I have seen on Thai news reports many times .

Some of the area is very low to sea level. Miles out,
I could see telephone poles in the ocean, following the streets, all under water now, six feet deep and more in some areas, and this wasnt just a rare high tide.

The locals I spoke with were just bewildered as best described, dont know why, and a bit scared . It had been this way for quiet some time, approximately 1 year or so, and many homes were either under water, dismantled and moved miles inland on higher ground. Just to understand the magnitude of the situation, and area, the Thais say over 11,000 Rai, which is about 5,000 thousand acres, now underwater,  did that get your attention ?  It certainly got mine.

Side note, telephone poles are made from cement/steel rebar, so they stand like statues in the ocean. This was quiet a wake up call. Now, this probably didnt show on BBC, or CNN, but when you phsically experience something like this, it leaves you with a very empty feeling, and the reality hits hard.

Changing Environment/ Global Warming:   I dont have all the answers, but in general wanted to share some of my experiences, as the indicators noted. I am very proud of the Thais for making major changes from oil, to NGV on all taxis, city buses.

You could say this is cost driven, but Bangkok is the most crowded traffic in the world, with many improvements in the works, you can probably imagine the emissions as a result, and now cleaner air is in fact happening rapidly. A very strong effort by all to improve these conditions. Now my concern is Bangkok, and how close to sea level the entire city of 12 million is.  How many years until all is under water?

Last, I believe the environment is a responsibility for all to some level. These are changing times, and I think we should all take a second look, and see if there might be something we can all contribute. I decided to reduce using my vehicle by 50%, and to my surprise, using public transit, I am probably at 70% plus have added time to read the paper, since not driving. More amazing is the cost savings as a result.

What can you do to help, and take just a bit of this responsibility to help others, its not that difficult to pitch in, dont foget the future, and what the next generation will be faced with. Possibly there is something each can do to help towards a solution.

Reed Langdon travels the world, and shares his unique experiences through his publications. For more infomation visit his site.   http://www.environment-online.info

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There is a lot to be said for the new crop of environmental-friendly, retiring Baby Boomers that are refusing the canned retirement solutions that are out there aplenty. Many have had to live in the cities that created their employment…complete with smog and crime. Years have gone by, the kids have been protected as much as possible in gated communities and the day has finally dawned when it’s time to take a look at “what’s next.”

The idea of travel that so held the attention of their elders has less appeal to our Baby Boomers. Cruise ship horror stories and the risks that have become part of RVing have taken the shine off of what their parents were satisfied with. Also, many have traveled extensively in their work and have added expensive vacations to far away places with strange sounding names to the mix.

Freedom doesn’t even have the draw that it had for earlier generations. Many Baby Boomers have been connected with web-oriented businesses and have been able to work at home some of the time, following their own pace. This usually meant longer hours for most of them, but more personal freedom was involved.

As a result this new breed wants to get the heck out of Dodge and do some kind of physical work. That’s right, they don’t want to be taken care of or sit around the campfire, they want to address the challenges that correspond with their ideals.

Peace and quiet rate high on many Baby Boomers’ lists of priorities. Living more simply calls to them. “Off the grid” was not a phrase most of us were familiar with even ten years ago. If we had heard it, it would have been with fear and loathing that we would have considered living without being connected to a reliable power source. However, these up and coming retirees are often extremely interested in solar panels and battery banks. Conservation and personal independence rank high.

In addition, unique designs for homes that circumvent the need for central heating and air conditioning are coming to the fore. The strawbale house is a wonder in temperature economy. Thick walls of dry bales of straw are covered with a “skin”. The one I recently viewed was plastered with a mixture of adobe mud and cement. Contractors and architects are getting on the bandwagon as this trend spreads. Books and seminars on strawbale building are under heavy demand.

And then there are the Earth Ships. These are energy-efficient homes dug into hillsides and constructed with great care to offer shelter without messing with the environment. The one I visited looked amazingly cozy.

Our Baby Boomers want a new kind of challenge and most of them are extending it into organic gardening, another science that offers them simplicity and increased wellness. They want to grow what they eat to a great extent. There’s usually plenty of room to do this because they buy acreage not a lot. This movement toward healthy living isn’t carefree but that’s not what most of them are about. They are willing to work long and hard.

You will find, in their strange residences, battery-run, lap top computers! After all, email, like life, must go on! Boomers are making sure that the things that matter to them are included. It’s never been about denial. For lack of a better description, I would call their evolving ethic “creating a challenging simplicity.”

If you get a chance to read up on this movement and/or have an opportunity to visit someone who is immersed in it, don’t pass it up. Rome is being rebuilt, yet again.

Luise Volta’s life has included careers in nursing, teaching pre-school, interior design, Real Estate sales, insurance adjusting, and dairy herd testing. Visit for Home and Garden.

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These will generate enough power to supply the average electricity needs of 8,500 homes in the local area. This wind farm is not situated out to sea but in the picturesque hills of the Saddleworth Moors and would be visible for miles around. Government targets state that 10% of the UK’s energy should be supplied by renewable resources by 2010 and developments like the Saddleworth Moor turbines would contribute towards that total. Leading environmentalists from across the country have previously convened in Saddleworth for the first ever National Forum opposing the creation of wind farms on rural beauty spots.

World renowned TV botanist, Professor David Bellamy, joined former Downing Street press secretary, Sir Bernard Ingham and hundreds of activists at the National Wind Farm Group Conference. There were a total of representatives from over 50 environmental groups from across the country attending this event. It aimed to raise awareness about the perceived dangers of wind farms and bring environmental groups closer together in their fight against the government.

The Saddleworth Moors Action Group says the turbines would have a negative impact on a unique landscape. The group also insist their campaign is not prompted by “not in my backyard” sentiments, but through a genuine desire to preserve the character of the local area.

One could argue that the government is not bothered about the environment then they are continually financing the construction of coal fired power stations in the third world and building more airports and more motorways in Britain?

Are wind farms a concerted effort to save the environment or just another commercial money making scheme for the companies involved?

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David Oglaza is the founder of the Green and Ethical directory GuideMeGreen . This growing green resource lists 100s of Organic, Fairtrade, Eco and Ethical companies. Green jobs and a discussion board coming soon!

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Firms are set quotas on how much carbon dioxide they can produce per year, if they produce more than this allowance, then they buy an allowance from  another firm that has not reached it’s quota on how much it can produce in one year! Get it?

Emissions Trading is particularly suited to the emissions of greenhouse gases, the gases responsible for global warming, which have the same effect wherever they are emitted.

Emissions of carbon dioxide - a greenhouse gas - are widely thought to be a key factor in global warming, increasing atmospheric temperatures around the world.

The idea of the carbon-trading scheme was to raise the cost to firms of continuing to pollute while creating a market to give an incentive to become more environmentally efficient

They are traded in a similar way to buying and selling shares, there are a number of companies that offer the buying and selling of carbon units and many offer different commissions and even free trading if you shop around. I even saw one firm that offered a one stop shopping for Renewable Energy, Biodiversity, and Greenhouse Gas. Its like an online retailer but for things you can’t touch. Ill have 2 pounds of apples, a bag of potatoes and a Biodiversity credit please!!!

On an international level countries are able to deal in carbon trading The potential benefits of such a system for developing countries would be that poorer, developing countries can sell there surplus carbon dioxide to richer countries. This income could stimulate much needed economic growth. They could also achieve their Kyoto commitments at the lowest possible cost as the money needed to invest in cleaner technology can be funded by the trading on carbon units. Countries like the USA and UK could pay the countries in Africa to REFOREST there lands, this reduction in carbon dioxide in the planet would then allow USA/UK firms to emit extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It would probably be cheaper to REFOREST parts of Africa then to buy state of the art cleaner technology for firms in the West. How many trees could you plant for a million dollars/pounds in Africa? The cost of cleaner technology in the West obviously varies from industry to industry, size of the company, technological advances available etc but surely a company would not trade CO2 unless we were talking big money. Carbon trading sounds a bit strange to me, as you are trading air, but if this leads to more trees being planted and a reduction in climate change – Im all for it!

David Oglaza is the founder of the Green and Ethical directory GuideMeGreen . This growing green resource lists 100s of Organic, Fairtrade, Eco and Ethical companies and Jobs

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