COPENHAGEN – Over the last six months, hundreds of thousands of people across Europe participated in nonviolent direct action focused on corporate and government targets across the continent. The protests were designed to disrupt “business as usual” and force these companies and politicians into developing a sane climate-change agenda. In almost non-stop actions, thousands were arrested, raising public awareness of the urgency of action on global warming and raising the stakes and political costs for politicians and corporations who tried to ignore the issue.

“Financially and in a public-relations sense, we simply couldn’t afford to put a large percentage of the population in jail for nonviolent political dissent,” admitted Wolfgang Schäuble, the Interior Minister of Germany. “We had to change our policy. Personally, I was relieved; I’ve always been a closet environmentalist, and these activists made it possible, even fashionable, for me to come out of that closet.”

While much of the civil disobedience was spontaneous, or quickly organized by activist groups, at least one website helped make civil disobedience a mainstream phenomenon. BeyondTalk.net provided a convenient and accessible method for people to pledge to participate in direct actions. Those who signed up could learn the principles of civil disobedience, in the model of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and were then quickly given the opportunity to put that knowledge into practice. The website also offered an “action offset” program that provided those who couldn’t risk arrest with the means to help those who could, by donating funding for food, transportation, and bail.

“I used to get my energy and environmental policy from whatever energy company I was meeting with that day,” admitted a European Prime Minister who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I had no choice. They had financed my election, and our government was in so many ways dependent on them. But when thousands of people started blocking roads, rail lines, and docks, and occupying our offices and disrupting our meetings, I was suddenly able to point out the window and say: we can’t do this anymore. We need to change.”

“I got tired of seeing Parliament half-empty because people were handcuffing themselves to each other in offices, blocking doors, every single day, day in and day out,” said Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. “And I got tired of the media reporting incessantly on the protesters. Our only solution was to listen.”

“It got to the point where I started doing my government business at a wi-fi café,” said Sir Nicholas Winterton, a Conservative MP. “But then someone would spot me, they’d ‘Twitter’ or whatever, and soon I’d be surrounded by a horde of activists telling me about icebergs and refugees. They were fairly polite, but I got precious little work done.”

Even though most of its aims have been achieved, Beyondtalk.net and the civil disobedience it supports will continue. “There’s no rest for the wicked, but there’s also no rest for us,” said Isaiah Motus, one of the website’s developers. “Our next step is to outlaw corporate lobbying. Maybe then we’ll be able to relax just a bit.”

LONDON – When the deal to save the climate was announced in the early hours of the morning in Copenhagen the first markets to respond were in East Asia. Markets in the Philippines and Indonesia soared as analysts adjusted prices to reflect the global step back from the brink.

“It’s a complete myth that the markets have never believed in climate change,” said Damon Wong, markets analyst with HSBC. “For years long term investments in places like the Philippines have been viewed as likely to be sunk by the end of the century. Literally. Now that civilization is not going to collapse, we can start planning for the long term.”

European markets were also expected to open sharply higher today, as the prospect of massive investment programs in wind and solar power is expected to boost national economies. Unexpected beneficiaries included U.K. shipyards, which are already looking forward to a raft of new orders following Gordon Brown’s commitment to put 100,000 offshore wind turbines in the North Sea over the next five years.

“Building offshore platforms for 100, 000 turbines and the fleet to install and maintain them is a dream come true for shipbuilding,” said John Moore of Swan Hunter shipyards. “With our experience in North Sea drilling this is an area where U.K. shipbuilding should lead the world.”

Big winners from the new energy economy are expected to be Germany, Denmark and Spain, whose investments in renewable energy have created thriving industries. President Sarkozy of France was part of a round of late night diplomacy, which resulted in the replacement of nuclear export agreements with guarantees of technical support for solar power.

The move could make the pan-Mediterranean solar grid a reality, previously thought of as a ‘pipe-dream’ by much of the industry.

“We never understood how we were going to get places like Algeria and Libya to build nuclear power plants anyway,” said a spokesman for French power company EDF. “Now those countries are going to be building solar farms and exporting the power to Europe.”

Many developing countries are expected to benefit from serious funding to preserve tropical forests. The Democratic Republic of Congo, which has long been ravaged by war, may now have a future. Revenues to halt deforestation will become dependent on governance, so the currently compromised government has a powerful incentive to reform.
“Sure these countries are going to lose some of their extractive industry,” said Dimas Stanislav of the World Bank “but they never saw any of the profits from that anyway, and in exchange they got civil war and corruption. Now they can focus on building sustainable economies for themselves.”

There were losers from the deal though, with BP, Exxon Mobil and Shell among companies reeling from the news from Copenhagen yesterday. Shares in the oil majors collapsed as the fossil fuel industry was effectively given just a few decades of operation.

Under targets agreed at the Copenhagen Climate Summit global emissions must fall by at least 90 percent by 2050. Governments have also agreed to pull the plug on the 300 billion dollars in annual subsidies paid to the fossil fuel 
industry and invest the money in the transition to a clean economy.

“Getting oil out of places like Sakhalin is difficult, dangerous and expensive,” said Wim Cornelius of Shell Exploration and Production, referring to Shell’s new Siberian drilling platforms. “If we’d known that politicians were serious about stopping global warming we’d never have bothered. We’d have left Sakhalin to the whales. Don’t even ask me about the Alberta Tar Sands.”

Meanwhile analysts were questioning the decision of many large fossil fuel companies to wind down their alternative energy business just before it became the hottest ticket in town.

“We thought that was a good move at the time, but thinking about it today it’s hard to see why a business model based on wiping out life on Earth made sense,” said Joe Kazuki, an analyst with Goldman Sachs. “Mind you, back then we still thought sub-prime mortgages were a great bet.”

As tension in the Middle East drained away, private defense firms issued a wave of profit warnings, while the public relations industry instigated a wave of redundancies. Thousands of lobbyists and spin doctors are now looking for work in global capitals around the world.

Some remain skeptical of the longevity of these changes, however.

“We think this is a short-term fad. Just because politicians have done the right thing now, doesn’t mean they’re going to do that consistently,” said one PR practitioner, known for his work with controversial, polluting companies.

“We asked our leaders to put company profits ahead of the survival of the species, and they did. Just because that has now changed doesn’t mean we weren’t good at our jobs. It was a hell of an ask, and we couldn’t stand up to millions of outraged citizens.”

PARIS – He’s a man that many love to hate, even in his own country. French president Nicolas Sarkozy is often satirized as controlling and pushy and with a bling lifestyle and trophy wife whom he loves to flaunt. As his many critics analyze Sarkozy’s complex presidential psychology and its impact on his behavior and political actions, the French president never seems to miss an opportunity for self- publicity.

Yet even Sarkozy will surely never match the startling impact of his declaration upon arrival at the Copenhagen summit: “Nuclear is dead. I have killed it. This death releases an initial €10 billion of investment in renewables in France and €5 billion to help the developing world to kick-start mitigation, reduce emissions and kill deforestation by 2015. This is the way forward for France and for the planet.

“We are also withdrawing all state support for the construction of new generation nuclear power and stopping the Olkiluoto 3 reactor project in Finland. The French taxpayer will no longer subsidize the dying nuclear industry. We will use this money for the benefit of our future generations, not to burden them with nuclear risks and death…sorry, debt.”
His stunning proposal will free up massive investment in renewable energy in France and give technical and financial assistance for the developing world. He will achieve this by ending all subsidies to the French nuclear power industry. Determined to dominate proceedings and force forward the climate change agenda, he energized the summit and left his counterparts momentarily speechless.

The consummate risk-taker was taking a consummate risk by laying out his biggest concession at the outset. Other delegates could have been taken aback by Sarkozy’s gesture and resorted to gradually decreasing gestures of support. But the gamble worked. Sarkozy’s challenge rapidly generated a snowball effect of climate change-busting bids from world leaders desperate not to be shown up.

The U.K. abandoned coal. Barack Obama, seriously ruffled for once, tried to grab back the initiative but was ultimately left to follow the French lead and belatedly confirmed the United States’ full commitment to peak emissions by 2015, 40 percent emissions cuts by 2020 and $60 billion for developing countries.

The United States, China and the others scrambled to save face on the largest possible public stage. Sarkozy’s environmental critics could only laud his achievement whilst pointing out that they created his program in the first place.

Sarkozy remains a divisive figure. His relationship with the other world leaders will always be prickly but for now he is the man of the hour. Sarkozy came to Copenhagen daring to lead the drive to meet the global climate challenge and through sheer force of personality and ambition won the position he most coveted on the top step of the podium.

COPENHAGEN – World leaders gathered at the Copenhagen Climate Summit took an historic step to halt climate change and global warming today. The deal will force ambitious cuts in global carbon emissions, end deforestation and help fund climate protection measures in the developing world.

The intense negotiations spilled into the early morning hours with U.N. negotiators eventually emerging clutching a 170-page document that will set the world on a new industrial and economic path. The agreement heralds a revolution in the way energy is produced and how tropical rainforests are protected. It also provides large sums of money to enable developing nations to leapfrog carbon-heavy, industrial development to create a cleaner future.

The executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yvo de Boer, emerged bleary-eyed but smiling to declare: “The deal has been sealed. A deal that will place the world on the path to avert runaway climate change. A deal we can all be proud of.”

A visibly delighted De Boer kicked off the closing press conference with a celebratory speech worthy of an Oscar winner. Clearly emotional, De Boer went on to thank European leaders for their courage in breaking the deadlock in negotiations early last summer. The European Union’s landmark pledge last June to contribute $50 billion (€35 billion) for climate protection measures in developing countries was matched this week by U.S. President Barack Obama, who promised to contribute a further $60 billion (€43 billion).

De Boer went on to thank the army of anonymous bureaucrats who worked tirelessly to create a coherent framework, the scientists who rang the alarm bell and spoke out against political compromise and the world leaders who set aside their differences and worked together in the best interest of the planet and its people. Most notably, he thanked the thousands who, over the past several months took part in nonviolent direct action to put the agreement’s conditions firmly on the negotiating table.

“Thanks to the determined mobilization of hundreds of thousands of citizens, the leaders of world have agreed to ambitious greenhouse gas emission cuts and to fund climate change adaptation in the developing world,” said de Boer.
The Copenhagen deal binds industrial nations such as the U.S. and the European Union to a 40 percent cut in their greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 1990 levels. Developing countries also promised to slow their current growth in emissions by 30 percent, with the help of $155 billion (€110 billion) in total funding from industrialized countries. The deal also sets up a U.N. managed fund to help protect forests across the globe.

U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki Moon said: “The road to Copenhagen has been long and winding, and sometimes felt more like a highway to hell, but the deal has been sealed. The developed world has shouldered its responsibility and agreed to make ambitious greenhouse gas emission cuts and to fund emission reductions and climate change adaptation in the developing world, including rainforest protection. In return developing countries have agreed to adopt the necessary reduction measures.”

According to negotiators the deal has been structured to keep global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius, the tipping point beyond which scientists warn of runaway climate change. Throughout the two weeks of U.N. talks, the consequences of inaction were driven home by representatives of countries from all corners of the globe.

From North and South, developed and developing country representatives shared their fears of mass migration, mass starvation and mass extinctions. They warned that unchecked climate change would make poverty permanent in the developing world and severely impact those in developed countries. The meeting also addressed the risk that geopolitical tensions would increase under a warmed world. Reduced supplies of potable water, decimated arable land and mass migration from areas either flooded or rendered uninhabitable by sea level rise and increased temperatures could all trigger bloody regional conflicts.

Fredrik Reinfeld, Sweden’s prime minister and current holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency told reporters at the summit that the E.U. had played its part. “I feel proud that my European colleagues and I have been able to make a difference. We were the first to break the deadlock at an E.U. summit six months ago by agreeing that Europe and other rich countries had a responsibility to repay their carbon debt to developing nations. Now the rest of the world has followed our lead.”

The international executive director of Greenpeace hailed the deal as “a victory for sanity, for the planet and its people” and paid tribute to “all of those who campaigned over the years to set the conditions for change.”

THE YEAR IN REVIEW Marred by a year of political blaming, bickering and brinkmanship, the hugely complicated negotiating process was in the end galvanized by the accelerating evidence of climate change impacts. A bridge to the Wilkins ice shelf in Antarctica collapsed during one round of talks in April, the Arctic sea ice continued to thin, monsoons were delayed, hurricanes devastated the mid-western United States and forest fires raged out of control.
The breakthrough moment came at an E.U. Heads of State meeting in June. The European players in the G8 were then able to put pressure on Canada, Japan, Russia and the U.S. to follow suit at their summit in July. Pressure mounted over the summer, as thousands of citizens around the world, concerned about the climate crisis, joined together and made their voices heard.

Many who had never taken to the streets before called on their heads of state to take personal responsibility for saving the climate and to turn up in Copenhagen and address the global crisis. At a key meeting in Bangkok in September, U.N. negotiators locked in the 40 percent emissions cuts by 2020 for rich nations, challenging undecided nations to meet this benchmark.

WORLDWIDE CELEBRATION President Obama applauded his fellow world leaders: “Change has come to the world and we hope a lot less will now come to the climate. By focusing on common concerns and our common destiny, today we have forged a common purpose. Saving the climate means saving ourselves, saving the economy and investing in a sustainable future. Today we can have hope for tomorrow.”

In a radical break from past declarations, Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland hailed the end of fossil fuel dependency in Europe. “The days of the dark age of coal are numbered. No one believed it, but the [European Union] has helped the world free itself from the shackles of fossil fuels and embrace the energy of the sun, the wind and the earth. The pro-democracy revolution that began in the shipyards of Gdansk over 20 years ago has culminated in Europe’s ‘solidarity’ with developing countries in the name of the climate.”

“Finally, we have the backing of all the Europeans in protecting what’s left of the Amazon,” said President Lula da Silva of Brazil. “We already exported our best football players to their wealthy European teams; we just don’t want to send wood, soy and meat to them any more. Viva el clima!”

“Oh my God, this is like the best group activity I’ve ever done,” said Mitzi C., age 18, who was at the public gathering outside the summit on a sub-zero winter night. “In fact, it’s the only group activity I’ve ever done. Until now, my entire social life has been on Facebook. This is so much more rewarding.”

Danish police and security forces had been on high alert fearing civil unrest as hundreds of thousands of people gathered outside the venue to await the summit outcome. The chief of police said the celebrations went on all night and no arrests were made. In fact, most of the police were sent home early.

Many diplomats were seen to loosen their ties and join the celebrations. Enjoying a job well done, one of the European Commission’s top negotiators said: “Tonight and tomorrow we party, and then it will be back to work to get the deal ratified and make sure the commitments are kept.”

PARIS – The World Heritage Committee has officially declared the Earth’s atmosphere as the newest addition to its famous “World Heritage Sites.” Finally taking its place alongside such wonders as Chichen-Itza and the city of Fez, the atmosphere had long been rejected from inclusion in this list for what has been cited as “political differences.”

However, earlier this month the World Conservation Union, an advisory body to the World Heritage Committee, determined the atmosphere to be of “Outstanding Universal Value” and subsequently championed the atmosphere’s addition to the list of World Heritage Sites.

A commemorative plaque is set to be placed on the atmosphere by weather balloon as soon as possible, and immediate changes are being made to protect this universal resource.
“For years,” laments climatologist Richard Hower, “people have been abusing the atmosphere.” With its new status, restrictions will apply as to the amount of pollution, particularly CO2 and methane, which is allowed to enter the atmosphere.

“Until now, this site was completely unprotected,” reports climate expert Wu Chi. “Certain countries were treating it like a landfill, without regard for it as an international site of huge value and importance. As a World Heritage Site, the atmosphere is sure to get the protection it deserves.”

Within the guidelines for the atmosphere’s inclusion as a World Heritage Site, specific conditions are named in order to protect its sustained health. One such requirement, to keep its CO2 levels below 350 parts per million, was brought to the forefront of this year’s Copenhagen Climate Summit through thousands of coordinated grassroots actions. Riding on the coattails of this wave of popular support, the World Heritage Committee seized upon the opportunity to get the atmosphere protected by adding it to the list of World Heritage Sites.

World Conservation Union president Ian McWanger reported, “For a long time now we have been evaluating the atmosphere’s importance to the Earth. Through modern research involving lasers and balloons we are able to declare, without a doubt, that we need to protect the atmosphere, and that we haven’t been doing a very good job up to this point.” Indeed, CO2 levels in the atmosphere have risen as much as 22 percent in the past 50 years alone.

Lobbyists were quick to provide their own response to this highly popular legislation, by promising an equivalent amount of public funding to Exxon-Mobil, which has begun research to develop a new, petroleum-based atmosphere. This offer, and the offer by Shell to offset their pollution by protecting Mars’ atmosphere instead, were both met with such diverse and pervasive global backlash and boycotts that both companies have subsequently changed their names to “not-Philip-Morris” and “Clean Green Oils,” respectively.

With the atmosphere in the hands of public domain, residents of the world are finally free to walk through a field, gaze up at the protected sky, and breathe fresh air, with the knowledge that their skies and air will now be protected.
The World Conservation Union is “thrilled at this step that will help to uphold our group’s mission to conserve the world” and is looking into making the ocean a World Heritage Site also. “A gentleman from Not-Philip-Morris argued with me against recognizing the importance of the atmosphere. He said that the atmosphere isn’t cultural, so it isn’t within our purview,” said McWanger. “But, hey, I told him: No atmosphere, no humanity. No humanity, no culture. It’s a no-brainer.”

Berlusconi stuns climate summit with policy shift
BY MATTIA GRENADO

ROME – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was rushed to hospital late today and treated for confetti inhalation and minor hug-related injuries sustained at the hero’s welcome he received in Rome on return from the climate summit. Grateful Italians overwhelmed security at Fiumicino airport to greet the formerly self-centered leader and cheer his virtuoso performance on the world stage.

Beppe Grillo, formerly one of Berlusconi’s most outspoken detractors, immediately announced his new show would be called  “Miracles Happen.”

“I don’t know what part of him to kiss,” said Grillo. “His big bald head for coming up with the plan to create jobs in Italy around solar power, the firm hand that made the deal with Chrysler to provide small energy-efficient Fiats to the U.S. market, or those ‘palle’ he needed to face down the British opposition to a tough line on emissions.”

Silvio Berlusconi’s transformation from tycoon to statesman could not have been more surprising. Famed for gaffes that evoked howls of laughter everywhere except in Italy, where nobody heard about them because he owned the media, Berlusconi was not rated a serious player at the talks. But that all ended when he delivered an epic speech that won the day, including his surprise announcement that he would divest all holdings in Mediaset and Fininvest and instead support renewable energy and efficiency research.

“I promised a million Italian jobs, and we will have a million Italian jobs, even if I have to take personal responsibility to pay for them myself,” he announced. Sales of Austin Minis soared briefly, until a spokesperson clarified that the Prime Minister was actually talking about employment, and not planning to do multiple remakes of the 1969 Michael Caine film.

Also at the airport to greet Italy’s leader was former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who Berlusconi sought out in the crowd. “This guy, I love this guy!” said Berlusconi. “His decision to discount taxes by 55 percent on businesses that work on energy efficiency and renewables was part of what got me thinking. More than 30,000 small and medium green companies, mostly in the North, are making profits thanks to that 55 percent tax break.

Berlusconi stunned the Copenhagen Climate Summit in a breathtaking act of statesmanship that few expected from the 73-year-old leader. Speeches by prime ministers at climate summits are traditionally rhetorical, with little substance and less impact on the actual proceedings. But the insurance magnate/media mogul/prime minister ignored that tradition.  He challenged the E.U. leaders to take tough action on climate change. “Drop these ridiculous excuses that it’s impossible! That it’s not in your narrow national interests! It IS possible! Our survival is at stake! What more compelling interest is there than that?”

His speech ranged from the direct – “enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world’s energy needs for a full year” – to the analytical – “a recent Milan Bocconi University study predicted a quarter million jobs would be created” by the need to reach tough E.U. renewable energy targets by 2020. He added, with a grin and a wink at the cameras, that Italy’s share of those jobs would outstrip the number of workers currently employed by Fiat.

Berlusconi then abandoned protocol by turning on U.K. leader Gordon Brown with a stinging attack about the need for European leadership to stop runaway climate change. At this moment, French President Nicolas Sarkozy shocked the audience when he stood up to say that Berlusconi was making sense.

Soon other European leaders, such as Germany’s Angela Merkel, rallied behind Berlusconi and his peers at the Copenhagen Climate Summit unanimously voted to adopt 90 percent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Photo credit: /STEFANO MONTESI

Radical departure from old ways for clean and safe future
BY INDIRA KHAN

NEW DELHI – Everyone remembers where they were when men landed on the moon, when the Berlin wall came down and when Obama won the election. In the years to come, what happened today in New Delhi will become one such indelible moment for a nation of 1.3 billion.

In a radical departure from the status quo and stated policy, India’s re-appointed Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh used his first nationally-televised address to announce an end to a century of dependence on fossil fuels.

“The people of the world’s largest democracy cannot be complacent. Four years of business-as-usual has grown India’s economy, but four more years of these policies would have unthinkable results for India and the rest of the world.”

Referring to the 2015 ‘tipping point’ when global temperature rise is expected to reach the point of no return, Dr. Singh asserted, “We have to act now. Six years from now we’ll only be reacting to disaster after disaster.”

According to a recent study released by Kofi Annan, 300,000 people per year are already dying from climate change impacts. Millions more are suffering from its effects including sea-level rise, coastal erosion, increased droughts, floods and forest fires.

In Bangladesh and India alone, climate change impacts could force 125 million people from their homes. Making a poignant reference to his own former refugee status, Prime Minister Singh said, “I have personal experience of what it feels to be displaced. That fate is not one that should be visited upon another 125 million of my countrymen.”

“Internal displacement aside, climate change will also affect agriculture and further undermine our food security. Given that every third malnourished child on the planet is Indian, unless urgent action is taken on climate change, we cannot meet most of our Millennium Development Goals.”

As the development versus environment debate heats up in India, China and other countries across the globe are facing significant internal pressure to balance the material aspirations of their own people with their very survival.

According to Dr. Singh, this is no longer a debate. “India can sustain its economic growth without increasing its carbon emissions. Today, our government is setting a target of 48 percent renewables by 2050. With that in place, 915 GigaWatts of our electricity could be coming from sources you can pluck straight out of the sky: the wind, the sun’s rays. When India implements my plan, no new thermal power plants or coal mines will be required.”

Currently, more than 68 percent of India’s energy needs are met by burning fossil fuels – over 92.3 percent of which are coal – at a cost of over $140 billion every year. Coal-fired thermal power plants are also responsible for half a billion metric tons of CO2 that India emits every year, while the automotive sector produces another 8.6 million metric tons.

In a scathing attack on the oil and coal industries attempting to seek ramped-up subsidies from New Delhi, the usually soft-spoken Dr. Singh said, “We cannot allow these ‘Fossil Fools’ to pretend that a climate catastrophe can simply be wished away.”

Photo credit: /AFP PHOTO/ RA VEENDRAN

BY GAIA WILSON

Aries (March 21 — April 20)
Coal companies will work your nerves today but you will feel sorry for them when they go out of business.

Taurus (April 21 — May 20)
Remember that plastic bottles are a thing of the past. To quench your thirst, you must first fill your thermos with water. Go on and drink up life, try something new today.

Gemini (May 21 — June 21)
You enjoy the dual purposes of things, like the way your food scraps can be turned into sustainable fuels. You know how to enjoy a scrumptious meal and save the atmosphere. So remember this duality in your dealings with loved ones today.

Cancer (June 22 — July 22)
You are beginning to realize just how deeply you have come into a tricky situation. The good news is that it is actually nowhere near as precarious as the situation the oil companies are in. You still have options.

Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
Enjoy the limelight; it is here to stay. You will be as popular as solar power is and you can feel safe knowing that your energy will never run out.

Virgo (Aug. 23 — Sept. 22)
Feeling stagnant? Change is in the air. Just like your car can be transformed from a gas guzzling engine to a battery electric power one, you too will experience a beautiful metamorphosis.

Libra (Sept. 23 — Oct. 23)
Feelings are running too high and it is important that you maintain your balance, the way developed countries must finally curb their carbon emissions. Regardless of what your fears are about what might happen, the future is brighter.

Scorpio (Oct. 24 — Nov. 22)
Few of us really know the difference between what is good for us and what is bad for us. Thank goodness that all genetically modified foods are now banned so we can eat without worry.  Everything in moderation.

Sagittarius (Nov. 23 — Dec. 21)
There is a limit to what you can do with the resources available to you; wind, solar and geothermal power. Be thankful for what nature provides and use all resources wisely.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 — Jan. 20)
Overwhelmed by the amount of financial obligations that have surfaced? Just be consoled that you will finish paying your bills long before the nuclear power industry has settled their debts and closed down and cleaned up all their plants.

Aquarius (Jan. 21 — Feb. 19)
Your fears that an important goal you are pursuing is little more than a pipe dream are unfounded. Perhaps you can have a retirement home in the Maldives islands without going underwater after all?

Pisces (Feb. 20 — March 20)
Lately you are struggling to find the secret, as it seems nothing lasts. Get connected with yourself to find the answer. Don’t despair, take a walk in the forest. It’s a vital part of nature and so are you.