Hi all,

If you’ve not already booked your ticket, you’ll want to. What for? This – a pre-local-council-elections opportunity to find out “Is Manchester City Council taking the right action on climate change?”  It’s on Tuesday 17th April, from 7pm. It’s free, and you can reserve your place here.

Just a reminder- if you want to start writing or volunteering for MCFly
a) you’ll be joining a growing band of folks
b) all you have to do is email us – mcmonthly@gmail.com

Please encourage your climate-concerned friends to take out a (free!!) subscription to the blog/newsletter – via our subscribe page.
If they need convincing, here’s a 40 second video explaining the top ten reasons folks should subscribe…
And follow us on twitter (@mcr_climate).

Coming up this week (see our March 2012 calendar page for more info)

Mon 26, 12.30pm – 4pm Community Run Green Energy Workshop, Bridge 5 Mill
Is your organisation interested or involved in renewable energy but unsure where to go for support? MERCi, GMCVO and Carbon Co-op will present recent research to show the barriers, success factors and general best practice for developing community run green energy projects.  Plus opportunities to share information and network.Free for front-line, grass roots voluntary and community sector organisations.  Limited places for support agencies at a charge of £50.
http://www.gmcvo.org.uk/green-energy

Tues 27, 7pm Friends of the Earth Climate Subgroup meeting. Greenfish Resource Centre, Oldham St.

Thursday 29th March, 4pm til 7.15pm FeedingManchester #9
MERCi, Bridge 5 Mill,
22a Beswick Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 7HR.
Food will be served during the workshop.
* We shall be introducing the two new Feeding Manchester co-ordinators Rob Allen and Beth Creedon.
* Discussing and collaboratively planning our campaign for supporting Greater Manchester’s sustainable food movement.
* Hearing an inspiring case study of how small organic food enterprises in Manchester have strengthened their resilience through working collectively.
* Along with the usual mix of socialising and networking the events offer something for everyone involved in Greater Manchester’s sustainable food movement. For more info contact chris@kindling.org.uk

Thursday 29th March from 7pm “Plants and Plans” Biodiversity in Chorlton – St Clements Church, Chorlton
This fringe event for the Chorlton Big Green Festival will be an evening of short films, speakers and discussion on biodiversity in Chorlton. it will look at what is being done, what people can do and why they should do it.
Register at event-brite: http://smefchorlton.eventbrite.com
Saturday 31 March
Chorlton’s Big Green Festival, an annual celebration of sustainable living in Manchester. St Clement’s Church, Edge Lane, Chorlton

MCFly stories you may have missed

Manchester Green Party under the spotlight
Book Review: Why aren’t we saving the planet?
Book Review: Climate Change and the Crisis of Capitalism
How to make a Green Impact
Greater Manchester makes its decision on the Green Deal (sort of)
Event Report: Ecology as the Opium of the People
Manchester gets ready to retrofit

Lessons we like to believe we’ve learnt this week
It’s cheaper to fly to Spain than to take the train
Jobs that need doing!
Could someone trawl twitter for groups MCFly could follow?

Regional News
Another Big Scheme is announced – this time labelled “A low carbon hub”.  Maybe it will happen.  In any case, it won’t reduce our carbon emissions in line with the science, and won’t prepare us for the challenges ahead.

Reading and Watching

The BBC’s Susan Watts examines fracking…

Energy Savings Trust on fuel poverty “in from the cold”

Steve Jobs, Climate Quackery and Democracy

Climate Change and the Question of Death

Dave Pollard on Preparing for the Unimaginable

Facebook Groups versus Pages, explained well by a Manchester Friend of the Earth.

And finally…
We’d like to announce that the cosmetics company Lush has given us a big wodge of money to continue our work, that we currently pay for the privilege of doing (printing isn’t free.) We’d like to announce it, but it wouldn’t be true. Apparently we don’t “closely fit with [their] priority areas, values and interests.”

If anyone has any bright funding ideas or rich green relatives, let us know…