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PRESS RELEASE

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CONTACT DETAILS

jo 
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+44 777 60 62 651

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FOR EDITORS

On Friday 21st March 2008, BLACKOUT BRITAIN are calling for a
BLACKOUT INTERNATIONAL, asking supporters to live within their
Fair Carbon Share for a whole 24 hours.

"We haven't given up on turning the lights out as a symbolic
gesture of solidarity", says BLACKOUT jo, "we are firmly behind
Earth Hour on 29th March. We wanted to say something about Carbon
Shares, and picked the 21st March, because it's the Equinox, when 
day equals night."

BLACKOUT BRITAIN accept that virtually all the policies being
discussed to cap Carbon Emissions involve some cost, both to
businesses and individuals, "but the only way to keep the 
Economy stable is to keep costs to a minimum. The best way
to cut Carbon is to calculate a common Carbon Quota for everyone 
out of our fair national share and stick to that without 
charging for it."

Carbon should be a parallel currency, with a controlled supply,
according to BLACKOUT BRITAIN, a policy that will create a strong
negative value for Carbon and stimulate decarbonisation of all
sectors, including Energy and Transport.

"According to the guys at CAT [Centre for Alternative Technology]
and TEQs [Tradable Energy Quotas], each person's Carbon Ration
for 2008 is in the region of four and a half tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. 
Next year, it will be less."

"To bring international Carbon Dioxide Emissions down to a sustainable
level will require policies that enact the framework of Contraction
and Convergence."

BLACKOUT BRITAIN is asking people to sign up to the campaign and
tell their BLACKOUT stories, which the campaign hopes to publish
online.

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MORE INFORMATION

BLACKOUT INTERNATIONAL : 21 MARCH 2008

Fair Carbon Shares : Personal Carbon Budget

On 21st March 2008, BLACKOUT BRITAIN will be trying to live within our
Fair Carbon Share, our Personal Carbon Budget, for a whole 24 hours.

Will you join us ? Please do, and tell us your BLACKOUT STORY :-
http://www.blackoutbritain.org.uk/cgi/email.php

Keep in touch with news by signing up to the Goole Group :-
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/blackoutbritain

Living within our means : we know it will be hard, because we live in
a country that is dependent on Carbon Energy for transport and home
comfort.

Where the markets for provisions and materials rely on the destruction
of rainforest Carbon stores in other parts of the world.

Sometimes we have no option but to burn Carbon, and that doesn't feel right.

Yet Energy is a human right as well as a Carbon wrong. Everyone should
have free access to Energy for their everyday needs

Although that Energy currently causes Greenhouse Gas Emissions, in
future, Energy will be need to be Carbon-Free.

In between now and then, we need to have our right to Energy enshrined
in a Personal Carbon Budget, our Fair Carbon Share.

This annual Carbon Count will be gradually decreased as Energy becomes
greener and cleaner.

Find out about what your Fair Carbon Share is, and find out how you
can start to live within it :-
http://www.blackoutbritain.org.uk/html/blackout_world_2008.html
http://www.carbonrationing.org.uk

BLACKOUT BRITAIN support the annual reduction in the Global Carbon
Budget, and the sharing of Carbon Energy Rights, to protect both the
Climate and Society.

Contraction and Convergence : http://www.gci.org.uk/contconv/cc.html
Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs) : http://www.teqs.net
TEQs Forum : http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=41

Other approaches :-
Cap and Share : http://www.capandshare.org (http://www.feasta.org)
New Rules Project : http://www.newrules.org/de/carboncaps-dividends.html
Carbon Share : http://carbonshare.org
British Columbia Carbon Tax :
http://www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/documents_library/notices/British_Columbia_Carbon_Tax.pdf
Sky Trust : http://www.climatedividends.org
Kyoto2 : http://www.kyoto2.org (Oliver Tickell)
EcoEquity : http://www.ecoequity.org (Greenhouse Development Rights :
Tom Athanasiou and Paul Baer)

Initiatives We Support :-
http://www.350.org
http://www.icount.org.uk
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/email_mp/index.html

Some nice, free, online information :-
Climate Solutions (extract) :
http://onthecommons.org/files/Carbon_Capping_Citizen's_Guide.pdf
Pew Center Post 2012 Options :
http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-in-depth/all_reports/international_climate_efforts/

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BLACKOUT BLAIR

Does Blair have to fly everywhere ? Should we rename him Tony By Air ?

Can't Tony do a "Charlie" and present his speeches by hologram ? :-

http://www.londonnet.co.uk/royals/2008/jan/prince-charles-first-royal-become-hologram.html

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BLACKOUT DIESEL

For decades, the medical establishment have been
researching the links between vehicle exhaust and
allergies, ranging from sinusitis to asthma.

As if this weren't enough to convince us that we
should control urban traffic density, now research
has shown that car fumes can have a direct impact 
on the brain, causing stress after only minutes
of exposure :-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/mar/11/medicalresearch.pollution
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=530304&in_page_id=1774&ito=1490

We at BLACKOUT are calling for urban transport
measures that limit the number of motorised vehicles,
and ensure better air quality for all.

We note that the rise in urban traffic correlates with 
the rise in autism in children, and we respectfully
demand further research into all long-term brain damage
that may be caused by car-to-air pollution.

Here follows a few things to consider regarding car fumes.

Maternal exposure to diesel exhaust leads to autism-like response in infants :-
http://jhs.pharm.or.jp/52(4)/52_486.pdf

Vehicle exhaust could be contributing to Alzheimer's disease :-
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/100164.php

We recommend that electric vehicles be promoted for 
urban use, as more and more people come to live in cities.

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BLACKOUT LIGHT POLLUTION

http://www.blackoutbritain.org.uk/html/blackout_sustain_article.html

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