Greenpeace yacht to begin polluting two week cruise of the Great Barrier Reef

Yachts like the Rainbow Warrior 3 disturb the sensitive reef ecosystem. 

"The highlight for me was getting to surf and dive in places that not a lot of people 

have actually gone to"

Dominico Zapata, Greenpeace cruise guest activist, travelling on Rainbow Warrior 3

The Australian reports that the new Greenpeace yacht Rainbow Warrior 3 is about to begin a two week cruise of the Great Barrier Reef:

The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior is about to visit Australia to highlight the threat to the Great Barrier Reef from climate change and coal exports.

The boat will remain on the Great Barrier Reef for two weeks, as part of a campaign against the expansion of the Abbot Point coal port in central Queensland.

Not a bad time to visit the possibly greatest natural wonder of the world. With loads of sunshine, warm seas, refreshing sea breezes and a warm climate all year round, tropical North Queensland weather is hard to beat.

In order not to make ordinary visitors, not able to afford the comfort of a small cruise ship, too jealous, the people at Greenpeace have chosen to call the cruise a campaign "to highlight the threat to the Great Barrier from climate change and coal exports". 

Scientists have for years now been worried about the great number of tourist boats disturbing the  sensitive reef ecosystem:

The millions of visitors that the Great Barrier Reef draws every year are also an unintentional contributor to the general decline of the reef. Not only leisure vessels heading out for tours to the reef but also reef-based activities such as reef-walking, using submersibles and even the runoff from various sunscreens are all thought to be contributing negative factors that – when combined with the sheer volume of tourists who frequent the reef – are much more impactful than they may seem. This is also not taking into account intentionally or neglectfully destructive practices such as littering and various other forms of man-made pollution.

The Greenpeace greenies obviously could not care less. These people think that their idiotic fight against imaginary human caused global warming gives them the right to pollute this and  other unique habitats.

Fighting climate change in Scotland

The Scots are famous for their frugality. However, that may not be true anymore. Otherwise it is difficult to understand why the Scottish taxpayers have been paying  £ 50.000 to the 1100 strong Edinburgh Hindu community to find out the carbon footprint of each member of the community.

The Edinburgh University based Carbon Masters consultancy carried out the study, the main findings of which are these:

The report revealed that the highest contributor to emissions was energy consumption, which accounted for 40% of each individual’s carbon footprint, transport and flights and food were both responsible for 24%, followed by consumables (8%), and leisure activities (4%).
Several cultural factors were evident in the Hindu community’s carbon footprint. A major contributor to high-energy use was the large number of bright, white lightbulbs popular in Hindu homes. The bulbs are not commonly available in the UK and most are bought in India where they are cheaper.


Food buying habits peculiar to the community also contributed. Most people buy fresh indigenous produce from local Asian stores rather than homegrown produce from supermarkets. A high number of international flights, most to India, but also to Africa, the Middle East and America had the effect of raising the community’s carbon footprint significantly.

These findings must have taken everyone with surprise. Who could have guessed that the Hindus in Edinburgh buy cheap light bulbs, shop Indian produce in Asian stores and visit their relatives and friends in India and elsewhere?

The next step "will be to focus on challenging people to change their lifestyle". So, no more cheap Indian light bulbs, no fresh Indian produce and no flights to India for the soon to be re-educated Hindu community in Edinburgh.

Kevin Houston, the chief of Carbon Masters, is excited:
“The carbon footprint report provides a baseline indication of the Edinburgh Hindu community’s emissions which demonstrates, clearly, the main areas that need attention.
“This is a great example of a community taking responsibility for helping to reduce climate change and a precedent for others throughout Scotland and the UK to follow.”

Read the entire article here

No wonder that Mr. Houston is smiling - after all, his consultancy must have pocketed the major share of the £50,000 so generously provided by the Scottish taxpayers. And now he is looking forward to many more similar payments. All in the name of fighting the non-existent problem of human-induced global warming.

PS

Here is one more reason why Mr. Houston and the climate alarmists at his university are smiling:

A University building, close to the Scottish Parliament, is to be refurbished to house the ECCC (Edinburgh Center on Climate Change)

"The £10 million refit, scheduled to open in 2012, will deliver a forum for collaboration and the development of professional skills on all matters related to climate change.
Award-winning Malcolm Fraser Architects has been appointed to design the facility".

As can be seen,  no ordinary building is good enough for the University of Edinburgh climate change alarmists. Of course, saving Scotland and the world from (bogus) catastrophic human-induced climate change requires a world class working environment, courtesy of the Scottish taxpayers. (If you look close enough at the video, you will notice that the University of Edinburgh warmists even are going to be able to watch fellow warmist BBC on a huge flat screen in the cafeteria!)

And all this at a time when the reality for ordinary Scots looks somewhat different:

POVERTY campaigners have made an urgent call for more government support for poor families after a “shocking” new study showed their day-to-day living costs have risen 50% faster than richer households since the recession struck.