Coal is the largest source of Carbon Dioxide emissions on the planet. It’s bad. It’s so bad it make’s Donald Trump’s Toupee look good.

So why then, are numerous governments around the world, including the UK, making plans to build more coal fired power stations? Why build power stations which will emit 830g of CO2 per kilowatt hour of power generated - compared with 380g for gas and 22g for nuclear power.

Or here’s a clever idea - why not invest in green technologies like wind, wave, tidal and solar energy which are cleaner by far (and on a rather windy island.. quite a sensible option no?) and would drastically reduce our emissions and dependency on fossil fuels.

Check out Greenpeace's campaign Coalfinger http://www.coalfinger.com/, which does a rather entertaining job of explaining the issues around coal power.

Energy company E-ON are pushing hard to get the go-ahead for their multi-million pound replacement coal plant at Kingsnorth in Kent. Why not use one of our Acme letters to let them know you’re not happy about this?

Even better, if you are with E-ON, tell them to get stuffed and switch your energy company: http://www.good-energy.co.uk/

For more information on the campaign to stop Kingsnorth and other coal fired power stations: http://www.nonewcoal.org.uk/

Posted November 5^th 2008

We're not ones to brag or seek shallow affirmation for the work we do...but....we just had to share our news with the Acme Citizenship of our nomination for a Green Award 2008. The Green Awards are given to environmental campaigns which succeed in changing the publics' habits and minds about the planet, the environment and climate change - sounds just like us then! We're delighted to be nominated as the Green Awards are pretty well-respected and we're in excellent company. The winners are announced in November, so keep everything crossed for us and we'll let you know how we get on.

www.greenawards.co.uk

Posted October 17^th 2008

It’s easy to join in the hate campaign against the Republican vice-president candidate and governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Whether it’s her inexperience, her beauty queen heritage or her Tina Fey glasses, there’s something for everyone to be irritated by.

Yet when it comes to the environment, there’s an abundance of ridiculous views that suggest a staggering lack of understanding about how climate change is affecting the planet. In a country which produces 21% of the world’s carbon emissions, where 80% of urban travel is by car and where planes are the most-used cross-country transport, the presidential candidates and their running mates need to be addressing these issues head on, not skirting around them. For anyone who wants more grisly facts about the US and the environment, click here: http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Facts/Facts_Environment.shtml. You can look at predicted energy use, air quality and compare gas prices city to city. It makes fascinating reading.

As far as die-hard environmentalists are concerned, Palin might as well sport horns and a forked tail. The 44-year old, who is a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), is keen on hunting and fishing and apparently likes to chillax with a moose hamburger. Only in America.

Here are a few other unsavoury facts which flag up Palin’s stance on the environment. Firstly, she fiercely opposes the Alaskan gas tax. So rather than investigating alternative energy sources or helping people to minimize energy use in the state which she governs, she recently persuaded the state to provide Alaskans with $1,200 to help towards their energy bills. Chucking money at the problem might be a popular move among Alaskans in the short term, but what’s going to run out first, the energy or the cash?

What’s more, despite creating a committee to push Alaska's climate change strategy, she did not join the Western Climate Initiative whose member states have agreed to commit to reducing greenhouse gases. Her husband works in oil production for BP on Alaska's North Slope and Palin has talked of having ‘mutually beneficial relationships with the oil industry’. Incredibly, she even supports drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve, an issue to which John McCain and other senior Republicans are vehemently opposed. She might as well just shoot penguins, stick them in a hot dog bun and squirt them with mustard.
It’s troubling that Palin is within sniffing distance of the White House. If only she could trade places with TV’s cuddly Michael Palin. He seems like a nice chap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1y9s73Nos.

Follow more Palin [Sarah] madness and other stories in the US presidential election on http://www.huffingtonpost.com and of course, on America’s finest news source, http://www.theonion.com

Posted October 7^th 2008

Unless you’ve been resident at The White House these last seven years, you might have noticed a spot of climate change going around. In fact, it’s all looking a bit hairy for us humans: we’re making a mess of our planet and while we know things have got to change, change isn’t easy.

Yes, we need to sort this pickle out – but it can all feel a bit overwhelming. We read about global warming and feel guilty. We try and make a difference but don’t want lives of hair shirts and self-sacrifice. We’re concerned – but that doesn’t mean we do much about it.

Acme Climate Action is here to give the world a bit of a hand. Our site – and our book of the same name – offers a practical, refreshing, nutritious response to climate change. We’re on a mission to equip, inform and inspire people to help save the planet.

We’ve developed tools, downloads and resources to get you climate active. This ethos of action is the heart of the site and something we will continue to develop.

We’ve created a hub of information, knowledge and knowledge-sharing to make sure we all know what’s what about climate change. By breaking it down into different sections of our life, we want to make Acme Climate Action into an invaluable, informative resource for anyone and everyone.

And across everything, we’ve taken pains to create a site that is inspiring, imaginative, unusual and surprising.

It’s not just about us though – the Acme & You community is yours to keep. It will be an important part of the site and over time we’ll be developing even more exciting ways for people to get involved and share ideas.

Above all, Acme Climate Action is about, well, action. All of the resources, films, campaigns, articles, downloads and tools are just ways to get us doing something about climate change. We’ll be adding more constantly, so register for regular updates and help spread the word.

As you’d expect from a site that’s just been launched, creases are still being ironed out. If you have any comments or suggestions or if you encounter any glitches, please let us know. In the meantime, welcome to Acme Climate Action. Make yourself at home, take a look around and prepare to get busy.

It's time for a new way of thinking.

It's time for Acme Climate Action.

Posted August 29^th 2008

It's not easy to describe a book as unusual as Acme Climate Action... not in words anyway. So we made a little film to show what it's all about. Producing said film left Provokateur's offices incinerated by fire, but we trucked on regardless - sweeping off the soot and getting on with the job. We hope you like it.

Posted August 27^th 2008