XavierMedia.org

BP Mexican Gulf Oil Catastrophe

2010-06-06T08:59:28Z

I guess you have heard about the oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the accident with oil rig Deepwater Horizon, but did you know that since 1940 over 1.7 billion gallons have been spilled on land and in the sea [www.wwf.org]. So this is not the first accident and absolutely not the last one since oil companies will continue to drill for oil in remote and hard to access places increasing the risk of even more accidents.

How many remember the Exxon Valdez accident outside Alaska about 20 years ago? This was one of that times greatest catastrophes where over 40,000 tonnes of crude oil filled the Alaskan coast line. The BP Gulf of Mexico Catastrophe is even worse than the Exxon Valdez accident [1], so the more we drill for oil the worse accidents we should expect

At the moment the US government is claiming BP will have to pay for the oil damages, but just look what happened after Exxon Valdez. Exxon had to pay 5 billion dollars at first in fines, but thanks to their lawyers they managed to fight the legal system and get it lowered to only 500 million dollars. Call me pessimistic, but I think the same thing will happen in this case too. At first BP will have to pay a huge amount of money and it will be all over the news, but many years later they get it lowered to a tenth of the original amount and by then everyone will have forgotten about the catastrophe so nobody cares if they don't have to pay.

This is why it's so important that we all help supporting the organizations working to make our planet a better place (like WWF and Greenpeace).

[1] This is how we calculated that the BP oil spill is worse than Exxon Valdez:

We know that the Exxon Valdez spilled 40,000 tonnes of oil and according to calculations from BP and environmental organizations the latest oil spill is somewhere between 5,000 and 50,000 barrels per day. We calculated on 25,000 barrels per day for 45 days. One barrel is about 0,1369 tonnes ("1 barrel per day (b/d) = 50 tonnes per year (approx.)" from eppo.go.th) of oil so we get:

25,000 barrels * 45 days * 0,1369 tonnes per barrel = 154 012.5 tonnes of oil

BP Mexican Gulf Oil Catastrophe is a post from: XavierMedia.org

New fund

2010-04-17T07:48:47Z

We've done a new investment in our little project. The new fund we've added we've actually owned since April 2009, but we're now re-classifying it to be an XavierMedia.org investment.This fund is Aktieinvest Aktiespararna Topp Sverige and it's not specifically investing in green investments like our other funds. This fund is like a normal mutual fund you would invest in privately. The goal of this fund is to have a development like the OMX-index and they invest in the largest companies on the Stockholm stock exchange (OMX). The yearly fee for this fund is low, only 0.30%.

Since this fund isn't paying a yearly amount to green projects like the other funds we own, we're planning to use the dividend earned from this fund to invest in SEB Baltic Sea Fund and Skandia WWF Fund.

The total fund development has been really nice the last year and we're up over 150% since April last year, but that's also including new investments we've done. We're really looking forward to an exciting year and we hope that the investment will continue to increase like in the past year (the more the investment increases the more money WWF will get from the funds )

New fund is a post from: XavierMedia.org

Merry CHristmas and a Happy New year

2009-12-24T11:01:09Z

2009 is almost over and we soon have a new year in front of us, and to be honest lets hope 2010 will be a better year then 2009. Our politicians don't seem to take climate change that serious since then they would have come up with a much much better deal by now then they have.

WWF says it all in their blog with this qoute:

The UN climate talks in Copenhagen were inches away from total failure and ended with an outcome far too weak to tackle dangerous climate change, WWF said today.

So it looks like the ordinary person (Average Joe if you like) have to do the most work once again since the people we pay to negotiate these things are just too fat and happy to bother…..So my suggestion to everyone is to make a new year promise to focus all their little actions on the environment next year. Like for example switching to renewable green energy, try to walk instead of using the car for short distances, and maybe bring leftovers as lunch from the dinner the day before. By taking these actions you may not only reduce your impact on the planet, but also save a few bucks

If you have any money left after buying your Christmas presents, then perhaps you may consider investing in a fund investing in companies working for a better planet (like the SEB Baltic Sea fund/WWF) or giving some money to WWF. You can read more about donating money to WWF here.

Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!

Merry CHristmas and a Happy New year is a post from: XavierMedia.org

BANANAS!* – The Movie

2009-10-06T19:21:40Z

Have you seen "Bananas!*" the movie? If not, then you should.

"Bananas!*" is a movie from the Swedish film company WG Film about the banana company Dole Food Company, Inc. and their activities in Nicaragua. In the movie you get to know that Dole used banned pesticides at their banana fields they knew where dangerous to the workers.

What's even worse is that Dole is now trying to silence anyone that mention this, especially the filmmakers by suing them. Dole's acting is a big threat to the freedom of speech in the entire world, because if they succeed no one will ever be able to critic big companies since they will be able to sue you (even if you're right).

The film makers and WG Film issued a statement via their lawyer Richard J. Lee:

"My clients and I believe that this suit is without merit and represents the latest in a continued line of intimidating harassment by a multinational corporation aimed squarely at a small, independent film and its filmmakers.

It is unfortunate that rather than concentrate its resources toward genuinely addressing the acts it admitted to, and was found liable of committing as covered in the film, Dole instead chooses to stifle even basic discussion by attempting to silence the messenger of a message it dislikes.

Moreover, it is appalling that through this action, Dole is attempting to shift the focus away from its own CEO’s court admission that Dole continued the usage of a banned pesticide even after being informed of its harm by its manufacturer Dow Chemicals, and now on to WG Film which captured that moment on film.

It is important to note that Dole committed to suing WG Film without seeing the film.

Dole has touted a judge’s later finding against one of the attorneys in the case shown in the film which did not in fact exonerate Dole or its actions in Nicaragua.

In all screenings of the film which have occurred to date we have disclosed the judge’s findings and put the trial fully in context with events which happened after the completion of this documentary."

As an example Dole was able to stop the movie from competing at the Los Angeles film festival, by having a court order to block the film’s screening prior to the Festival’s opening in June 2009!

Swedish parliament member Mats Johansson writes:

"For me as a former journalist and publisher the "BANANAS!*" case is of great political importance. The freedom of speech is central to an open society, and must be protected all over the world. The outcome of the process is crucial for the future in a global context, which is a new situation to Swedish standards."

If you have the chance see the movie, if not for the banana workers but at least to protect freedom of speech in the world! Here's a trailer for the movie:

The web site for BANANAS!* can be found at www.bananasthemovie.com

BANANAS!* – The Movie is a post from: XavierMedia.org

Blog Action Day: Renewable Green Energy

2009-10-13T17:48:52Z

Today it's Blog Action Day about Climate Change and the idea with this day is to have as many bloggers as possible to write about one subject: Climate Change.

I read in an article that the global IT industry is generating as much greenhouse gas as the world’s airlines!!!! By consuming less CO² you can make a difference for the planet by not speeding up the global warming, but how do you do that an easy way? One way is to do like we at Xavier Media did:

We invested in a wind power plant. This is not only making it possible for us to only use renewable green energy at our office, but it makes it possible for us to save some money too since we get to buy electricity at a much cheaper price as part-owner of the power plant. At the moment we're saving about 10% of our investment on our energy costs.

Xavier Media has always been interested in investments that make a difference especially when it comes to our planet and our environment. This is why we started this blog at XavierMedia.org and started investing apart of our profit from our regular business in companies and fund that donate a part of their profit for good causes.

Take a moment to think about how you can use little means to reduce your need for greenhouse gases and CO² needed in your every-day life. Every little thing helps like for example leaving your car at home for all shorter trips .

Blog Action Day: Renewable Green Energy is a post from: XavierMedia.org

Blog Action Day on the 15th of October 2009

2009-09-27T09:00:13Z

On the 15th of October is once again time for the Blog Action Day. Last year we completely missed it, but this year we're planning on participating with as many of our blogs as possible.

Each year they got a theme for the Blog Action Day and this year it's Climate Change. On their web site (BlogActionDay.org) they say this about why they selected Climate Change:

Climate change affects us all and it threatens more than the environment. It threatens to cause famine, flooding, war, and millions of refugees.

Given the urgency of the issue of climate change and the upcoming international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, we think the blogosphere has the unique opportunity to mobilize millions of people around expressing support for finding a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.

Climate is of course extremely important since if the planet dies, so will we. Some people may argue that we can always more to a new planet, but is that really the way to go? Destroy one planet and move on to next and next planet….. Also we don't have the technology to move to a new planet just yet, but we have technology to reduce our impact on the environment. We're just not good enough on using it.

Last year 12,000 blogs reached 14 million readers about the Blog Action Day and I hope this will reach even more people this year. Even if you don't have a blog you can help spreading the word using social media sites like Facebook or Twitter (click here to tweet about #BAD). You can also help spreading the word by adding a badge on your blog or web site:

This video created by the people behind BlogActionDay.org will tell you a little bit more about Blog Action Day and Climate Change:

Blog Action Day on the 15th of October 2009 is a post from: XavierMedia.org

Fund development and why we have ads on this site

2009-09-27T07:47:06Z

Lets start with the fund development . Since the start the fund has developed extremely well and as I wrote when we started all this:

Both funds have had a terrible year since they've lost about 40% of their value in a year, but we now believe it's a good time to invest and that they will develop perfectly.

I think the chart over the development show that I was correct:

However the true development isn't 60% up, because of an additional investment we did earlier this year. But still the fund is up at least 40%.

Now to the reason for ads here at XavierMedia.org. We added ads to earn some extra money to invest in this fund, which means that we will keep track on how much money we earn on ads on this site and invest all earnings into the funds.

When we do additional investments in the funds because of the earnings from XavierMedia.org we will of course keep you updated with all the relevant details . Xavier Media, Xavier Media International and Xavier Finans will of course still contribute to the fund investments as we've done before.

You will be able to keep track on all addditional investments using the category "New investment".

Fund development and why we have ads on this site is a post from: XavierMedia.org

World Environmental Day

2009-09-27T07:47:24Z

Today it's the 5th of June, the World Environmental Day! Through this day United Nations try to stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The day was established in 1972 by the UN General Assembly and has been held each year since then.

The day's agenda is to:

Give a human face to environmental issues;
Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

The theme for the day this year is 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change' to increase avareness about the urgent need for a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen later this year.

More information about the World Environmental Day can be found at the special web site setup by UN for this day.

World Environmental Day is a post from: XavierMedia.org

Exxon Valdez

2009-09-27T07:47:42Z

On March 24th 1989 (20 years ago) Exxon Valdez, an American oil tanker, was involved in the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history where over 2000 kilometers coastal line was filled with over 40,000 tonnes of crude oil. This happened outside Alaska and the approximate damage to the animal life in Alaska was: 250,000 seabirds, nearly 3000 sea exit, 300 seals, 250 sea eagles and around 20 killer whales have been killed as a direct result of the spill. In addition, reduced stocks of small fish as herring and cod.

A whole Indian community that lived on fishing in the area went bankrupt just because of the accident!

Exxon dismissed the drunk captain and was sentenced in 1994 to pay five billion U.S. dollars in damages. Exxon did however manage to get the U.S. judicial system to reduce the fine down to just 500 million U.S. dollars.

Still 20 years later there are still some oil on the coastal line, but Exxon is not interested in cleaning up any more since they claim the oil residues are not dangerous to the wild life.

Exxon Valdez was repaired, renamed to the Sea River Mediterranean, and continued to go in traffic for Exxon until 2002 but with the prohibition to sail to Alaska and European ports. According to some sources the ship remains in the Far East…..

Support WWF in their work making the world a better place since companies like Exxon seems to not be interested in helping.

Exxon Valdez is a post from: XavierMedia.org

Earth Hour – Save energy

2009-09-27T07:48:00Z

This month on the 28th (last Saturday in March) at 8:30 PM, people and companies all over the world will turn lights off to support an initiative created by WWF (World Wild-life Foundation) against climate change.

According to www.earthhour.org more than 930 cities and towns in 80 countries have already committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming.

Companies encouraging their local offices and facilities to switch off their lights in support of this initiative include companies like Coca-Cola, IKEA, Electrolux and Hilton Hotels (and of course Xavier Media ).

Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. During 2008 this spread around the globe as a global sustainability movement, with over 50 million people switching off their lights. Some of the more famous contributors in 2008 where Golden Gate Bridge and the Coca-Cola billboard in Times Square.

VOTE EARTH you too by simply switching off your lights for one hour, and join the world for Earth Hour.

Earth Hour got an account at Twitter you can follow and you can also see videos at YouTube.com.

Earth Hour – Save energy is a post from: XavierMedia.org