So it was when Scoop’s Gordon Campbell wrote up Kennedy Graham’s International Non-Aggression and Lawful Use of Force Bill, which was released last week.

I’m not sure who to credit for the photo, beyond scoop, but if sending up our very own Jedi knight brings much needed attention and transparency to how troop deployment decisions are made, so much the better.

You can watch a video with the highlights of the press conference, (Gordon Campbell’s cogent questions cut to ribbons), which we have posted to YouTube and our website. While it’s of little use on this video, this is the Green’s first crack at an HD video on YouTube. Try it on for size, even if this is not the best example of HD filming, and watch out for the little HD button on future videos…

Scoop’s full coverage of the s92(a) blackout can be found here.

In the 1930s President Roosevelt termed his economic plan to lift the U.S. out of the Great Depression the ‘New Deal’ and now in the twenty-first century environmental commentators are calling for a similarly ambitious project with sustainability as its focus. The Green New Deal concept is a response to the climate, credit, food and fuel crises. It aims for large investments in renewable energy, technology and jobs and a new alliance between environmentalists, government and business. What would a Green New Deal look like, how would we modify one for New Zealand and do we have any hope in hell of seeing one soon?

George Monbiot appropriately asks: are we going to be the generation that saved the banks and let the biosphere collapse?

The United Nations’ Environment Program has been leading the call and it envisions a Deal that will mobilise the global economy towards investments in clean technologies and natural infrastructure such as forests and soils, promoting real economic growth, combating climate change and triggering an employment boom. It says the five sectors likely to generate the biggest transition in terms of economic returns, environmental sustainability and job creation are:

* Clean energy and clean technologies, including recycling;
* Rural energy, including renewables and sustainable biomass;
* Sustainable agriculture, including organic agriculture;
* Ecosystem infrastructure;
* Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation;
* Sustainable cities, including planning, transportation and green building.

In the U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has proposed creating five million new jobs by investing $150 billion over the next ten years in clean energy projects.

For many environmentalists, myself included, the future need not be seen as doom and gloom, but rather a nice, bright green. There is still an opportunity for everyone already here, as well as generations to come to enjoy fulfilling and prosperous lives.