Posts by — Pablo

Cate needs a green role

Cate Blanchett�s delighted Australian PM Kevin Rudd is on top of the green agenda, but don�t believe everything in the garden is suddenly groovy. Penny Wong as Climate Change Minister is an excellent choice, but she does not have a firm party power base if the going gets tough. Peter Garrett had been Labor�s environment spokesman in opposition and now he is Minister for Drought. But the former Midnight Oil band member is a party hack.

We wish Rudd had found a place for Cate Blanchett, who has proved her commitment to real environmentalism. Just because her third child�s on its way, we hope doesn�t rule Cate out as Oz’s new green ambassador. (more…)

Panels go up in Mindanao

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – PHILIPPINES

Thousands of households in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will switch on their solar-powered lights Saturday in celebration of a Muslim festival, organizers said yesterday.

These households are from communities who benefited from the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (Amore), a program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

This will be the second time that beneficiaries in the five-province autonomous Muslim region will hold the light festival in observance of the Lailatul Qadr, or the night of honor and dignity. (more…)