Climate Emergency: Public Meeting

Passing on the message from Katie Buse: Please send this message on to anyone who might be interested!

7:30pm
Thursday, 26th November
The Stag and Hounds
74 Old Market St
Bristol BS2 0EJ

Speakers include Richard Lawson (Green Party, pictured) Jonathan Neale (Campaign against Climate Change) and Karen Bell (Bristol University), Chaired by Katie Buse (Green Party)

How to get to the National Climate March from Bristol on Dec 05

Bristol Campaign against Climate Change has decided to use the already available public transport.

Megabus:£5 return to London Victoria, make your own way to Rally in Hyde Park.
Dept Colston Hall 07:30 or 10:30
RTN 18:30 -Bristol.21:00
www.megabus.com/uk
use code RSPB01

Train enquiries; CAFOD 01752 551679, Christian Aid: 01395 222304, Tearfund:02086198076
Tickets £25 departsBristol Temple Meads-Paddington 09:34 on 05 DEC phone 0845 678 2976
National Express has buses running from Malborough St. Bus Station at 08:20 and 08:50.
Tickets btwn£14-£16
www.nationalexpress.com

If you are a memberof Oxfam or the Co-op you can book with them.
£10 rtn/under 16 gofree. Leaves 0800from @ Bristol, on the Harbourside, Anchor Rd (BS1 5DB) go to:

www.co-operative.coop and follow links to "the Wave

www.oxfam.org.uk/thewave

or phone Charlotte( Connections) 0845 643 4123

OR you can cycle there!

See www.bristolbluewave.org.uk

All this info is available at www.stopclimatechaos.co.uk

Sustainability, public participation and environmental information questions

Just sent in two sets of questions for Cllr Jon Rogers to be put at the 24 November Bristol City Council Cabinet meeting:

*Sustainability

The current draft version of the recently developed BDF Core Strategy contains this statement,
‘ambitious and sustainable economic growth…maintaining the economic growth of Bristol above the regional and national level…’

1.Would the member recognise that this statement requires very heavy qualification to make it remotely logical or possible on into the future given environmental, social and indeed economic realities?

2.Would he agree with me that this statement should be qualified using the concepts: efficiency; environmental limits; renewability; both local and global justice, now and on into the future; health, wellbeing and quality of life, given that these are the key features of development that make it sustainable?

3.Would he agree with me that unless we make full and proper use of the term sustainable in key documents, especially when paired with economic growth, the way is open for ‘business as usual’ developments which will maintain or worsen environmental and social sustainability here and around the globe?

*Public participation and environmental information

During 1998 the UN Economic Commission for Europe prepared a Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (The Aarhus Convention). In 2003 the European Commission developed two Directives to implement the provisions of the Aarhus Convention. Article 6.2 of the convention states,
‘The public shall be informed, either by public notice or individually as appropriate, early in an environmental decision-making procedure, and in an adequate, timely and effective manner, inter alia, of…the fact that the activity is subject to…environmental impact procedure.’ (UNECE, 1998).

1. Is the member completely satisfied that all significant developments in Bristol, such as the South Bristol Link or the many proposals for dealing with waste or for energy generation in Avonmouth, like the biofuel power station, or Bus Rapid Transit plans or developments on green belt land such as the BCFC stadium…involve provision of environmental information and for public participation that is in full accord with the Aarhus Convention and associated EU Directives ie that it is early, adequate, timely and effective? If not satisfied, what actions does he propose and when?

Silver surfers...Social networking for Older People: activities/training in Knowle

From Makala Campbell (Cheung), of the Knowle West Media Centre: Hi All, do you know of an older person that could benefit from getting online? Maybe you know someone who works with older people or has an older relative or neighbour? Please forward the relevant info below (choose which one) and help get older people to this event.

And if you think there is someone I could contact personally to talk to them more about it, maybe a group or individual, then please let me know the contact details, and I'll chase it up!

Social Networking for Older People
[For organisations and individuals that work with older people]

Tuesday 8 December, Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Ave, BS4 1NL

As the festive season approaches, the South Bristol Digital Neighbourhoods programme (SBDN) is holding an event for older people and the individuals and organisations that work with them.

At a time of year that can be lonely and bleak for some, this event will explore digital and social networking solutions to the problem of isolation and facilitate easier communication with and amongst older people.

On Tuesday 8 December 2-4pm, older people can receive training on our mobile laptops, sign up to the myguide website and set up their own Facebook account in a friendly environment, using KWMC’s excellent facilities. There will also be free mince pies, tea and coffee.

The event will look at digital issues affecting older people, with a focus on social networking and isolation.

For more information please contact Makala Campbell or Rachel Clarke at Knowle West Media Centre on 0117 903 0444 / makala@kwmc.org.uk / rachel.clarke@kwmc.org.uk
__________________________________________________________

Social Networking for Older People
[For older people ]

Tuesday 8 December 2-4pm, Knowle West Media Centre

As the festive season approaches, why not use the power of technology to keep in touch with your friends and family and do your Christmas shopping?

The South Bristol Digital Neighbourhoods programme (SBDN) is holding a day of activities on Tuesday 8 December to help you. There will also be free mince pies, tea and coffee!

Receive training on our mobile computers
Sign up to the myguide website for free computer tutorials
Set up your own account with Facebook – the popular website that connects you with people you know! Can you rival Ivy Bean – the oldest lady on Facebook?

Learn something new in a friendly and supportive environment!

For more information please contact Makala Campbell or Rachel Clarke at Knowle West Media Centre on 01179 030444 / makala@kwmc.org.uk / rachel.clarke@kwmc.org.uk

Makala Campbell (Cheung)
Digital Neighbourhoods & Communications Coordinator
Direct line: 0117 3532895 / Main tel: 0117 9030444

Knowle West Media Centre, Leinster Avenue, Knowle West, Bristol BS4 1 NL
Company No. 4358350, Charity No. 1092375 Fax: 01179030 445

Environmental Justice Event Bristol - 11th Nov

From Karen Bell, School Policy Studies (Karen.Bell@bristol.ac.uk )Environmental Justice Event Bristol - 11th Nov, University of Bristol, School for Policy Studies, Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice

Environmental Justice: Achieving a Healthy Environment for All, Public Seminar

Wednesday, 11th November, 1.30 - 4.30 pm

Speakers:

Cristian Domínguez, National Secretary of Environment and Resources,
United Confederation of Bolivian Campesino Workers

Professor Malcolm Eames, Low Carbon Research Institute, Cardiff University

Judy Ling Wong, CBE. Director, Black Environment Network, UK

Maria Adebowale, Director, Capacity Global

'Environmental Justice' refers to the human right to a healthy and safe
environment, a fair share of natural resources and access to environmental
information and participation in environmental decision-making.

Social movement campaigns for environmental justice usually focus on the
inequitable environmental burdens borne by poor, black and other
disadvantaged groups.

This seminar looks at this issue at a local and
global level, from NGO, activist and academic perspectives and will be of
interest to all those working towards social justice.

This event is open to the public. FFl or to reserve a place, email: karen.bell@bristol.ac.uk.
Location: Room LT1, 3 - 5, Woodland Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1TB

Backgounds:

Cristian Domínguez, has been at the forefront of environmental justice
campaigns in Bolivia, opposing water privatisation and working for the
nationalisation of natural resources. The organisation he represents, the
CSUTCB, is one of the main social movement organisations which brought
president Evo Morales to power.

Professor Eames has participated in and led research and consultancy
projects for a wide range of agencies including: DTI, DETR, UK Cabinet
Office, Environment Agency, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the European
Commission. In 2004 he produced a report on environmental inequalities in
the UK which has underpinned the current UK Framework and Strategy for
Sustainable Development.

Judy Ling Wong has an international reputation as a pioneer in the field of
black and minority ethnic participation in the built and natural
environment. She works on urban design, identity, health, employment, and
access to the countryside and urban green spaces. The groundbreaking
methodology developed by BEN to engage urban-based ethnic minorities has
been very influential in many areas of mainstream policy.

Maria Adebowale, formerly a UK Sustainable Development Commissioner, is the
founder of Capacity Global, a social enterprise specialising in
environmental justice.

Call for action against proposed Bristol biofuel power station: meeting Thurs 12 Nov

I've been in touch with Zenith Milner, campaigner against virgin biofuel power station proposals, such as the one planned for Avonouth (one of many applications all over the UK). Please support her call for action - the coming weeks and months are a vital time, with planning applications being considered here. Zenith said,

Please come to our urgent meeting this Thursday 12 November to oppose the plan for a new virgin biofuel power station at Avonmouth, Bristol. Meet at 6.45 for 7 at the entrance of Coexist, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol, B31 3QF.

W4B has plans to build a power station that would use palm oil and jatropha i.e. virgin biofuel. The plant would have devastating environmental and social consequences. These would include local air pollution from nitrous oxides and particulates which cause respiratory and cardiac diseases, ezcema and may even be related to cot death. Burning vegetable oils would lead to more climate change gases - carbon dioxide and methane - than burning even fossil fuels. Rainforest destruction would be caused, leading to violent evictions of indigenous peoples and the killing and endangering of animal species such as orang utans, sumatran tigers, sumatran elephants and many more. Using land for biofuels instead of food in a world where one billion (or 1 in 6) people are going hungry should be unthinkable. Jean Zeigler, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said it was a crime against humanity to divert arable land to the production of crops which are then burned for fuel.

The scandal is that this type of power station is only viable due to heavy Government subsidies to the tune of tens of millions of pounds of tax payers money. It is also outrageous that there has been virtually no public consultation here in Bristol, which is why so few people know about it even in a city where there is so much environmental awareness.

Consultation has also been minimal in other towns where plans for biofuel power stations have been submitted. However, when citizens have been made aware of the plans they have expressed strong opposition and supported successful campaigns that have led to planning committees rejecting the proposals in Southall, Newport in Gwent and Portland.

It is vital that Bristol shows the way by rejecting this application for a biofuel power station here in Avonmouth and making a stand against virgin biofuel power stations in general in this country.

Please join our EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN MEETING this THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER at 6.45 for 7 at the entrance of Coexist, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol, B31 3QF.

Please sign the online petition against the power station at
http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/petition.php?id=302

Do get in touch with Zenith at zenithswifter@yahoo.co.uk if you can help with the campaign or want any further information

For further information about biofuels:
http://sites.google.com/site/foodnotfuelorg/
http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/

The Benn Lecture '09: Nick Davies, 26 Nov, 7pm, Bristol's Arnolfini

Click on the image to get a larger version.

The wildlife in Bristol's neighbourhoods...

Off to a meeting about progressing the Wild City initiative in the local area tonight, with fellow members of the Northern Slopes Initiative. I'm hoping that the Open University's new iSpot website will be relevant and useful in some way. The site enables both casual observers of wildlife and green, natural spaces and experienced naturalists alike to create and share photos and other information and expertise with like-minded people.

The iSpot site is open for use by anyone that wants to but is also well complemented by a great new Open University course called Neighbourhood Nature (S159). This course aims to allow anyone with an interest in nature to develop their scientific and observational skills, whether they live in a city like Bristol or in a rural area. The course involves: introducing habitat types and the various animals/plants; fieldwork to be carried out in a local public open space; entering data colleced onto the iSpot site. No previous scientific experience is needed for doing this course.

[This of course also a shameless plug for my employer, the Open University, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Its perhaps the biggest achievement of Harold Wilson's Govt. I dont teach the Neighbourhood Nature course - I'm involved in Environmental Decision Making: A Systems Approach and Environment: journeys through a changing world, which are also superb courses to take...if you are interested.].

Copenhagen and Climate Change - The Cornish Declaration

I've not long been back from a holiday in Little Petherick, just outside Padstow in Cornwall. Whilst there we looked around an interesting little church, originally 14th century. I picked up, signed and sent off a postcard I came across in the church - Climate Change - The Cornish Declaration, an initiative 'spearheaded by Truro Cathedral, [which] encourages people and organisations in Cornwall to support action to ensure that Cornwall is part of a planet which lives within its means so that families and communities survive to freely enjoy the county and beauty of Cornwall.

This includes making specific pledges that strive to

*restore the balance between nature and society

*lead sustainable lives

*leave positive footprints on the path to Copenhagen and into the future.' (details)

If you live in Cornwall or are/have been a visitor there, please consider signing and sending off a copy of the declaration (which will then be sent off with many others to PM Gordon Brown before the Copenhagen meeting on climate change).

For more on this part of Cornwall, especially the Saints Way walking and canoeing breaks, see...
http://encountercornwall.com/walking_saints

Green BCFC stadium design planned for our 'green' city? Should be but isn't...

Copy of my objection to the new BCFC stadium plans, sent in just over a week ago...
Please reject this planning application (09/02242/P). Loss of green belt land and stimulus to further loss of green belt land should be unacceptable, particularly given the extent to which the stadium is not green in design.

There are concrete and long term disbenefits from loss of green belt - a land use designation that is supposed to be used to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Granting planning permission would also be a big stimulus to further loss of green belt and yet more impacts on local communities and environment, compared with benefits that are merely possibilities under certain circumstances - and they are pretty uncertain and transient in nature. For example: credible hard facts that demonstrate that [possibly] having a bit of World Cup football in Bristol for a short period many years hence would give significant net social, economic and environmental benefits are very, very hard to come by, though hype, trivia and illusion on this issue are very easy to find!!

There are certain factors that, under current planning law and guidance, are not legitimate planning criteria against which the application should be judged. These include: World Cup games in Bristol aspirations; Bristol City FC premiership aspirations; support for the application from the local media for the stadium; support from political party leaders for the stadium; support from a multi-millionaire and major supermarket chain for the stadium proposal. These things therefore, at least in theory, should not affect decision making - I sincerely hope that this is the case.

Very little or nothing of what is planned matches the sustainable development all politicians say they are signed up to!! Bristol City have had the option of following good, green practice – but have not taken it. It would of course have gone well with Bristol's green capital ambitions and would have compensated to a degree for the loss of green belt – but they have not abided by this principle.

To what extent is sustainable economic activity promoted eg the use of local labour and local energy and materials? To what extent are the latest energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable transport technologies employed? Are sustainable access options - walking, cycling and light rail transport links – maximised? Will the stadium be unobtrusive in appearance and sound? Does it feature permanently protected nature reserves around the stadium, designed to maximise biodiversity? Does it aim to be a carbon neutral stadium? Do proposals avoid any 'sprawl' in design? Has there been a thorough ecological assessment of the whole area, at various times of the year before drawing up plans?

How do BCFCs plans compare with examples of football clubs who have used or attempted to use at least some green principles, designs and technologies: Dartford FC (pictured) – living grass roof, solar electricity and heating, rainwater collection and low noise and light pollution design; Ipswich Town – carbon neutral scheme; Middlesborough – solar roof and wind turbines project; Man City – community involvement, transport and waste initiatives (wind turbines were planned but sadly now abandoned)??

Knowle man's Antarctic adventure

Just had to include a link to this story* 'Plumber lands job in Antarctic' from today's Daily Mirror. Ok the link to things green/climate change is obvious but this time its the personal and local connection that is behind my interest. I went to Merrywood Boys' School in Knowle with Mark (pictured) and we hung around a lot together for yrs. We currently go climbing together and Mark's son Jake and my daughter are boyfriend/girlfriend!

*Mark Green is on top of theworld at landing his dream job - at the very bottom of the globe. The 47-year-old plumber was chosen from 2,000 applia cants to join the British Antarctic Survey on the Bunt Ice Shelf and maintain their heating, water and loos 800 miles from the South Pole.

Now he'll leave wife Anna, 42, and son Jake, 18, out in the cold back in Bristol when he flies to the remote Halley research station for 15 months on November 10.

But he has his family's full support for his "opportunity of a lifetime" and, despite expecting -50C temperatures, Mark said yesterday: "I just can't wait.

"The farthest I've been before is Spain. But when I heard of this job on the radio I knew I'd always regret it if I didn't have a go."

Apart from 10 scientists and 42 other support staff - picked from record number of credit crunch work-seekers - his closest neighbours will emperor penguins as he works on pipes in shafts up to 65ft below the two-metre snow.

But after learning survival techniques for the harsh conditions, the prospect holds no fears at all.

Well, he's even packing his saxophone. Really cool, Mark.

Cold facts of life

For more than 60 years the British Antarctic Survey has been researching the icy continent. With 400 staff and three stations there, as well as two on South Georgia, strengthened ships and an adapted aircraft are the £47.1million operation's lifeline.

Objection to Tesco on Ashton Gate

Sent in the following objection to plans for a Tesco superstore on Ashton Gate today: I ask you to reject this application (09/03208/P). A Tesco store is not needed and would impact negatively on existing businesses, the environment and local community life. Sustainable access ie on foot, by bicycle or bus is poor. Little or no evidence is offered for appropriate economic, social or environmental regeneration. Bristol is supposed to be signed up to sustainable development – and this is not it!!

Those financing and running BCFC claim that a superstore on Ashton Gate is essential to plans for building a new stadium. If, as they say, a new stadium is vital they must have alternative plans for funding it or for redeveloping Ashton Gate – they cannot be considered competent otherwise. Don’t buy the BCFC spin.

Those who would benefit significantly from a new BCFC stadium are a very small number of private business people. Those who stand to lose significantly are a large number local people, whose small businesses, community and environment will be badly impacted. It would be unjust to decide in favour of a small number of already very wealthy people.

The site for the proposed new BCFC stadium is in the green belt. Along with the stadium would go houses, a hotel and fast food outlets – and of course a further stimulus to all kinds of possible developments to take up yet more of our green belt.

What if…we could see our climate changing emissions??

What would be a good way of visualising exactly how much climate changing carbon dioxide we all produce*? Its easy to see all the waste that goes into our bins (and recycling boxes…) but carbon dioxide is a colourless and odourless gas presently emitted when we heat and light our homes, obtain and cook food, travel for work and leisure…We may read in the papers and hear on the news or see on the DEFRA website that on average each UK person emits a massive 12.5 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide equivalent – it sounds a lot but what does it mean? What would it look like if we could see it? (See picture of our daily production, per person, of 73 large black bin bags full).
-
If we could see and/or smell it would there be even more participants in today’s blog action day on climate change? Would there be more impetus take action on a scale that would reduce or avoid the worst effects of climate change, given that increasingly frequent news reports of rapidly melting arctic ice (from today) or news of how the world’s poorest are suffering most from the consequences of climate change don’t seem to be stimulating it??
-
*We can easily convert the 12.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to a volume. When this is done (see the calculation below +) we find that the average UK person emits enough carbon dioxide equivalent each day to fill 145 black bags (of the 120 litre type we all put our plastic rubbish in) – or 73 if you use the larger 240 litre black bags. That’s about 17,400 litres every day – not far off a whole streets worth of rubbish bins !!
-
Something like 23 black bin bags (120 litre size) per day (equivalent to around 2 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per person per year) is an emissions level which would avoid the worst climate change.
________________________________________________

+A mole of carbon dioxide (its relative molecular mass in grams) is 44 grams (12+16+16). One mole of gas at standard temperature and pressure occupies 22.4 litres.

12.5 tonnes x1000 = 12,500kg x1000 = 12,500,000g which divided by the mass of one mole, 44g, gives us the number of lots of 22.4 litres we produce in a year = 284,090.9 lots.

284,090.9 x 22.4 = 6,363,636.364 litres per year, which divided by 365 gives 17, 434 litres per day. Divide by 120 litres (black bag – or small rubbish bin – volume) and you get 145 bags full per day!! [Divide by the larger 240 litre bags and you get 73 bags full per day].

Climate change is not only about melting ice caps and polar bears. Climate change is about people.

Guest blog post (for Blog Action Day: Climate Change) from CARE International's, Simon Owens:
Swinging weather patterns are creating disasters on a scale that human civilization has never before witnessed. For the world’s poorest people – the ones least equipped to deal with its effects – climate change is devastating their crops, livelihoods and communities.

"Climate change is worsening the plight of those hundreds of millions of men, women and children who already live in extreme poverty – and it threatens to push hundreds of millions more people into similar destitution," says CARE International’s Secretary General Robert Glasser. "A concerted international response to this unprecedented challenge is required if we are to avoid catastrophic human suffering."

CARE is working toward a world where poor people can create opportunity out of crises like climate change. But the current reality is that climate change makes poor people even more vulnerable.

For instance, agricultural production will likely decline in the poorest countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Less reliable rainfall will likely affect planting seasons, crop growth and livestock health – and lead to increased malnutrition. In other parts of the developing world, flooding will likely further diminish the quality of already-marginal soil and could cause outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

Climate change also is hurling many poor families into "Catch-22" situations. For example, they may select crops that are less sensitive to rainfall variation, but also less profitable. As incomes decline and people are not able to eke out a living, children are forced to leave school, assets are sold off to afford essentials, malnutrition rates increase and large-scale migration ensues. The end result? Deepening poverty for tens of millions of people around the world.

What Must Be Done?

At the international level, negotiations to develop a new treaty to guide global efforts to address climate change will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark in just a couple weeks. The United States must help lead those efforts, and forge a strong agreement that caps emissions, stops global warming and responds to the effects already in motion. We must do this for the sake of all of humanity.

What can I do to help?

First, you can make a tax-deductible donation to CARE to help poor families access the tools and education they need to adapt to the effects of climate change, make efficient use of their existing resources and overcome poverty for good.

Second, if you live in the Unites States, you can write your senators and urge them to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a critical step toward U.S. leadership in tackling climate change. U.S. leadership is critical to making the Copenhagen negotiations a success.

Third, you can join the CARE mailing list to be kept up to date on CARE’s activities and other ways you can take action in the days counting down to Copenhagen.

To donate, take action and join our e-mail list, please visit www.care.org/climate

One Planet Knowle?

At the first meeting of the Knowle West Team on 29 Sept, which I attended both as a local resident and to represent Knowle’s Transition group Sustainable Knowle, I was concerned that the term sustainability was pretty freely used eg featuring prominently in consultants Urban Initiatives own draft vision statement, but that no sustainability benchmarks, indicators, measures, assessment processes...were discussed. I made a note to raise the issue at the meeting but did not get the chance, thus this note.

It strikes me that sustainability is at the heart of the vision and objectives drawn up by Knowle West’s residents*, who have a broad-based and inclusive definition of land and development value, compared with the narrow, purely financial, view on the value of land and development expressed by someone else at the meeting on the 29th. [*See this Bristol City Council page on Knowle West Regeneration].

I brought this issue up at the Knowle West Residents Planning Group meeting on 6 Oct and said I would circulate some thoughts on sustainability benchmarks. I think the following principles are excellent as a sustainability guide to residents, campaigners, designers, architects, planners, developers – and there are some very good practical projects that are based upon them…

One Planet Living is a ‘global initiative based on 10 principles of sustainability developed by BioRegional and WWF’.

‘The ten principles of one planet living are a framework to help us enjoy a high quality of life within a fair share of the earth's resources:

*

Zero Carbon
Making buildings more energy efficient and delivering all energy with renewable technologies.

*

Zero Waste
Reducing waste arisings, reusing where possible, and ultimately sending zero waste to landfill.

*

Sustainable Transport
Encouraging low carbon modes of transport to reduce emissions, reducing the need to travel.

*

Sustainable Materials
Using sustainable products that have a low embodied energy.

*

Local and Sustainable Food
Choosing low impact, local, seasonal and organic diets and reducing food waste.

*

Sustainable Water
Using water more efficiently in buildings and in the products we buy; tackling local flooding and water course pollution.

*

Natural Habitats and Wildlife
Protecting and expanding old habitats and creating new space for wildlife.

*

Culture and Heritage
Reviving local identity and wisdom; support for, and participation in, the arts.

*

Equity, Fair Trade and Local Economy
Inclusive, empowering workplaces with equitable pay; support for local communities and fair trade.

*

Health and Happiness
Encouraging active, sociable, meaningful lives to promote good health and well being.’
*
More details on the above, including an expansion on what the 10 principles are all about here. Several practical examples of projects, at various levels, such as: BedZed UK; One Brighton; One Gallions, Thames Gateway; One Planet Sutton; RuralZED, can be found here.

The building products supplier Kingspan sponsored ‘Lighthouse’ demonstration zero carbon project at the Building Research Establishment (pictured), the work of Mount Pleasant Ecological Park and the principles developed at the Eden Project may or may not be fully realisable in practice, as yet, but they can certainly be used to inform our sustainable decision making, design and construction.

See http://zerokarb.com/projects.asp for more examples of zero carbon home designs and here
http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/greenfutures/articles/Green_House_Effect70 for debate/discussion on green homes.

Oppose this unsustainable, ungreen biofuel power station plan for Avonmouth

Just joined the Facebook group Stop Bristol's Biofuel Power Station because I'm very strongly opposed to power stations that plan to burn non-recycled and imported biofuels produced with massive social and environmental impacts. I've sent the group's suggested email of objection to the planning application (Ref 09/03235/F) to: development.management@bristol.gov.uk and urge others to send similar messages.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: W4B Renewable Energy application for a biofuel power station at Avonmouth Docks, Ref 09/03235/F

I wish to object to W4B’s planning application to build a 50 MW biofuel power station at Avonmouth Docks, which would burn 90,000 tonnes of vegetable oil every year. I am deeply concerned about the impact of biofuels such as palm oil on the climate, on rainforests and other ecosystems and on communities in the global South. In Italy and Germany, a large number of biofuel power stations are already operating and virtually all of them run on palm oil which is by far the cheapest vegetable oil. Jatropha oil, also mentioned in the application, is not available commercially so far, yet already many thousands of people in Tanzania, Ghana and India are losing their land, livelihoods and in some cases their forests to jatropha plantations.

If the power station were run on palm oil only, it would require over 22,000 hectares of plantations – and even more for any other feedstock. According to the UN, palm oil is the main cause of deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia. It is responsible for billions of tonnes of carbon emissions, as forests are destroyed and peatlands converted to plantations. In countries like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Colombia, growing numbers of indigenous peoples, small farmers and other rural communities are being forced off their land, often through violence.

Bristol City Council must consider the climate and wider sustainability impacts of planning decisions and I believe that this means that the development should be rejected.

I am also concerned about the impacts of the proposed biofuel power station on air quality and thus on the health of the local population, particularly in Avonmouth but potentially also in Hallen Village and Severn Beach Village. Avonmouth is already designated as an Air Quality Management Area, with concerns over PM10 levels. The power station will worsen PM10 levels, as well as those of NOx and PM 2.5, and will add to the pollution from two large biomass power stations in the area for which plans are currently being considered.

*

http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/

*

http://sites.google.com/site/foodnotfuelorg/

*

Local news reports on the issue:

http://www.bristol247.com/2009/10/07/biofuel-plant-plan-is-red-rag-to-the-green-bulls/

*
http://www.bristol247.com/2009/10/08/biofuel-power-firm-hits-back-at-green-critics/

*

There is also an e-petition opposing the power plant - please sign it!!

http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/petition.php?id=302

Free film show at The Thunderbolt: The Power of Community

On Tuesday 13 October, 7.30pm you can come and see the excellent film 'The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil'* for free.

Its being put on at The Thunderbolt, 124 Bath Rd, Totterdown, BS4 3ED, just along the road from the Three Lamps junction, by the South Bristol Greens.

Get along there and meet up with people for change in Bristol!

*

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period." The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope.

http://www.powerofcommunity.org/cm/index.php

Hard facts to show the net benefits of [possibly] having a bit of World Cup football in Bristol: where are they??

Just spent a bit of time trying to spot some credible hard facts that demonstrate that [possibly] having a bit of World Cup football in Bristol for a short period many years hence (along with a new BCFC stadium and associated development in Ashton Vale and a huge Tesco on Ashton Gate...) would give significant net social, economic and environmental benefits. They are very, very hard to come by, though hype, trivia and illusion are very easy to find!!

For me its a case of concrete and long term disbenefits from loss of green belt (plus a big stimulus to further loss of green belt) and impacts on local shopping and environment, compared with benefits that are merely possibilities under certain circumstances - and they are pretty uncertain and transient in nature. Of course little or nothing of what is planned matches the sustainable development all politicians say they are signed up to!!

At the end of yet another story which, completely irrationally, recognises no downsides at all ('Hosting event 'can only be a good thing' ', Post, Oct 6) promoting Bristols bid to be a host city for the World Cup in 2018 was a reference to a You Tube video by Bristol City Council Leader Barbara Janke, so I took a look (see below).



The material on this site http://www.bristol2018.net/ is equally flimsy hype and trivia, which leaves me thinking what it is we are actually supposed to be strongly supporting, apart form the illusion whipped up! I've been told that there are even people around who think the whole World Cup could be staged here!!

Bristol 2018 from Visit Bristol on Vimeo.

Is your MP signed up to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010??

Campaign group 38 Degrees are working to get more MPs signed up to cut their climate changing emissions by 10% in 2010 (I sent a message to my MP on this, at 38 Degrees request, and then realised she had already signed up - should have searched her website more thoroughly!! Well done Kerry McCarthy!). There are many MPs yet to support the 10:10 campaign though - why not make a few enquiries and then send them a message if needed

See http://www.1010uk.org/

Voters are entitled to their MPs views on local issues

On Parliament’s own website it says this, amongst other things, about the role of those elected ‘MPs can help their constituents by advising on problems…, representing the concerns of their constituents…and acting as a figurehead for the local area.’

Bristol South MP Dawn Primarolo has ‘refused to be drawn’ on whether she is for or against plans to build a huge Tesco on BCFCs Ashton Gate ground (‘City faces ‘tough choices’ for housing’, Post October 3). She is not in this instance doing the job for which she is paid a great deal. What is her advice? Where is her leadership? Where is her conviction? Aren't voters entitled to their MPs views on local issues?

No matter which side she came down on I for one would have more time and respect for her as an MP if she took a clear stance. She has steadfastly avoided this, concentrating instead on minimising the impact of the contention on her prospects for re-election – another instance of an MP putting self-interest first.

Today is National Carbon Footprint Day

Take a look at the National Carbon Footprint Day site.

Launched in 2008, with Marcus Brigstock and former London Deputy Mayor Jenny Jones, GLAM as patrons, National Carbon Footprint Day takes place every year on October 2nd, which is Gandhi's birthday. The aim is to make it easy for everyone to remember to calculate their annual carbon and environmental footprints.

This site has two purposes.

To enable people to register for free their annual carbon footprint.

To provide an annual free recording and reminder service on October 2nd every year,for your key carbon footprint measurements

For a full explanation of how it works please go to our “FAQ” page.National Carbon Footprint Day Patron Jenny Jones GLAM says “With the Arctic summer ice now melting over six times faster than predicted only 4 years ago and with the permafrost predicted to melt three times faster than expected barely a year ago, climate change is now truly a climate crisis. It is essential that we all take action urgently”.

Measuring your carbon footprint is the essential first step to taking responsibility to reducing your contribution to the crisis.

Donnachadh McCarthy who founded National Carbon Footprint Day and whose Victorian house in Camberwell became London’s first carbon negative home in 2007, says that actually measuring his annual water and energy carbon footprints, were his biggest motivators to continuously improve his home’s eco-performance.

He launched the world’s first National Carbon Footprint Day to help you monitor and cut your carbon footprint.. The key thing is to start reducing your carbon and environmental footprints now!

No to non-recycled, imported biofuel power station for Avonmouth

Recommended read: Stockwood Pete on the connection between plans for an imported biofuel power station at Avonmouth, the survival of rainforests and seriously threatened species like the Orangutan http://stockwoodpete.blogspot.com/2009/09/avonmouth-and-orang-utans.html

Windmill Hill City Farm: Save Our Farm Appeal

From the appeal organisers: The much-loved Windmill Hill City Farm provides a wide range of valuable services and facilities for the local community. Unfortunately it is facing a financial crisis and is threatened with
closure.

An Appeals Group has been set up to raise at least £50,000 before the end of the year, and since the recent launch of the Save Our Farm campaign, we have raised around £14,000. We have a variety of exciting schemes and events planned to generate funds over the coming months.

We need your help to see us through into next year, to enable us to put in place the long term strategies that will secure the future of the Farm. If you value Windmill Hill City Farm, and are in a position to do so, would you be willing to
pledge £25 to the Save Our Farm Appeal (and complete a gift aid form), if 500 other people will do the same?


You only donate the £25 once the pledge has been successful and 500 other people have signed up. There is a deadline for the pledge to be successful - 31st October 2009, and we hope to have 500 people by then, otherwise all those who have signed up will not need to fulfill their pledge and donate the money.

If we ARE successful, then this fundraising scheme alone will generate £12,500 - a quarter of our appeal target!

So what do you think? Are you in a position to make this pledge? If not, do you know someone else who is?

So how do you do it? It's set up on the Pledge Bank website - the link is: http://www.pledgebank.com/SaveWHCF

Just sign up with your name and email address (only used to tell you when the pledge iscompleted and for us to contact you about the pledge). You can keep track of whether the pledge looks likely to make its target by viewing the signup rate graph.

Even if you can't afford to make the pledge yourself, please support it by circulating this information by email/ word of mouth/ text/ Facebook/around your workplace etc to everyone you know who might be able to help, and please ask them to circulate it to everyone they know too.

I hope you can join me in making the pledge and/or spreading the word...

Many thanks,
Carolyn Hecker
Save Our Farm Fundraising Team

Green on Brown...

Responding to Gordon Brown's Labour conference speech, Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, said: "Brown talked of Labour's onward march of fairness and justice - but we have a wider gap between rich and poor after 12 years of Labour. Labour has had 12 years to change the voting system, to restore the earnings link to pensions, 12 years to work for nuclear disarmament by axing Trident, to make the Post Office sustainable, and to provide fair wages for working people. And they have not."

"Brown talked of free education and expanded university places, but Labour has been the government to introduce tuition fees and rising student debt."

The Green Party welcomed Brown's aim for 250 000 new green jobs, and up to

10 000 green job placements for youth. But Caroline Lucas said that: "We cannot have a green economy with Labour promises of nuclear power and new coal plants at its core."

Lucas continued: "Unfortunately, Gordon Brown has a track record of grandly announcing projects that led nowhere -- whether it was midnight football, citizens' juries, or a NHS Constitution that ended up having no new enforceable rights."

Lucas also commented on the proposal that 16 and 17 year parents on public support would be sent to a new network of supervised homes: "We strongly object to the idea of forcing all 16 and 17 year-old parents on taxpayer support into a network of supervised homes. It would be a form of paternalistic, 21st-century workhouse. Teen parents flounder, as we've had 12 years of Labour without support for carers, and childcare provision that has been very patchy across the country. We need projects that encourage teen self-esteem and sex education, not punishment after the fact for teen mothers and fathers."

Indigenous Perspectives Conference, Pierian Centre - Monday 12th October: 9.30am–4.30pm

This from Bristol's Pierian Centre: One of Britain's leading adventurers, Benedict Allen, is to open the Indigenous Perspectives Conference on Monday 12th October. Allen is the author of 11 books, but is probably best known for his TV programmes of exploration and endurance. His first-hand experience of indigenous people in jungle, tundra and desert qualifies him to speak with authority and warmth at this one-day conference at the Pierian Centre.

The Indigenous Perspectives Conference brings together representatives of indigenous peoples from all over the world together with campaigners and academics specialising in different aspects of indigenous culture. It celebrates the 2nd anniversary of the U.N’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – and it is a unique opportunity to hear the indigenous voice in all its variety, and to find out how close to silence and extinction it’s being pushed.

The cultures covered include the Jumma of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the Mapuche of Chile, the Emberá of Panama, West Papua, Tibet, the Kiribati islands of Micronesia, and the Yagan and Kawesqar peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Speakers range from senior academics to individuals who have been jailed and beaten for defending their culture.

Benedict Allen has narrowly escaped death six times; arguably no-one has more experience of living continuously isolated in as many remote environments.

Last seen on our screens in March presenting BBC’s Travellers’ Century, Allen paved the way for the current generation of TV adventurers. As The Sunday Times put it: “Filming whatever actually happens, without all the hidden paraphernalia of a film crew, and whether in danger or lonely or undergoing various exotic rituals, he has effectively taken the viewers’ experience of adventure as far as it can go.”

Allen himself looks back on his earlier journeys over 25 years ago, saying “I belonged to the last generation that might pass through a wilderness for months on end and not encounter a single person of my own culture. It was a privileged time: never in all those years can I remember coming across a single other foreigner, whilst out on a trek.”

The conference falls with heavy irony on Columbus Day (12th October) – and also coincides with the 40th year of Survival International’s invaluable work. If you’re interested in attending please contact us on info@pieriancentre.com or 0117 924 4512.

In addition to plenary sessions reviewing issues like the impact of climate change on indigenous peoples, there will be small-group seminars on the experience of military force , the role of tourism, the impact of historic genocides on surviving peoples, the relationship with the land, sustaining cultural identity in exile, and the tensions between traditional and democratic authority.

The Conference is on Monday 12th October, 9.30am–4.30pm. It takes place at The Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA. The delegate rate of £45 includes lunch and refreshments – with limited concessionary places at £25 for low income, and £12.50 for students.

In praise of...tap water

Drinking tap water cuts both your bills and your carbon footprint - and more of us should be drinking it wherever we are, including in restaurants, at work and at home! Just look at these killer facts (provided by Wessex Water's website):

*Bottled water costs 500 times more than tap water.

*One in five people are too embarrassed to ask for tap water in a restaurant.

*The average person drinks 37.6 litres of bottled water each year.

*2.7 million tonnes of plastic are used to bottle water each year.

*22 million tonnes of bottled water are transferred from country to country each year.

*Three out of four plastic water bottles are still not recycled.

*Bottled water has a carbon footprint up to 300 times higher than tap water.

More action on climate change from councils - give them power and responsibility

Very happy to support this Friends of the Earth campaign to get the Government to give councils the power and responsibility to do more about climate change. I sent off their suggested email to John Denham MP, the current Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

________________________________________________________________

The UK is committed to achieving CO2 emissions reductions of 34% by 2020. To do so will require radical action by local authorities in their areas.

I support the Government's view that local authorities should have a greater role in tackling climate change.

But I believe that this greater role means that all local authorities should have more responsibility for tackling climate change in their area. At the moment, only a few local authorities are taking real action, and most local authorities are doing very little.

The Government must set the bottom line for councils. There must be a mechanism ensuring a minimum standard of action on climate change for every local authority - so each has short term targets, or local carbon budgets, to reduce the emissions in its area in line with the latest science.

Each council should produce a plan of how to make the emissions cuts, and they should not be achieved through offsetting - either trading between councils and businesses, or buying international carbon credits.

Not acting can no longer be an option for any council if we are to meet the UK's climate targets and avoid dangerous climate change.

Local authorities need more support from national government as well. I support the following proposals:

- A requirement for all local authorities to prepare a plan setting out how they will reduce the carbon emissions in their local area (in line with the Climate Change Act targets and carbon budgets)

- A new regional technical advice body on Climate Change to help provide the information-base for action on climate change at local level.

- Giving councils the flexibilty to use innovative mechanisms for positive climate solutions.

- A strong role for local authorities in coordinating funding streams e.g. more jurisdiction in working with energy suppliers, and for energy suppliers to supply data to local authorities on energy use.

- More community engagement in developing local climate solutions The best councils moving ahead isn't enough. We don't have time for partial measures. According to the IPCC, world emissions have to peak by 2015 to give any chance of avoiding a 2 degree temperature rise. All the latest science suggests even this may be too optimistic.

This is a shared responsibility. All local authorities need to act, not just the minority that are currently seriously prioritising the issue.

Today is Earth Overshoot Day 09 (ecological debt for the rest of the year)

News from the Global Footprinting Network that today is Earth Overshoot Day '09. This means that 'Just like any country, company, or household, nature has a budget – it can only produce so much resources and absorb so much waste each year. The problem is, our demand on nature exceeds its capacity to generate resources and absorb CO2,a condition known as ecological overshoot. We now use a year’s worth of capacity in less than 10 months. Our calculations show that if we continue with business as usual, according to moderate U.N. projections, in less than 25 years humanity will require the regenerative capacity of two planets– a level of demand that is likely to be physically impossible to meet.'

Blog Action Day 15 Otober 09: Climate Change

Just signed up again for Blog Action Day. The more people get involved the better!!

News on rethinking how we assess and measure progress

These two pieces of news, on rethinking GDP (which happens to be the topic I completed my MSc dissertation on in 1998/9) and establishing new eco footprint standards, from the Global Footprint Network could turn out to be very important for our future:

Sarkozy Urges GDP Rethink

Global Footprint Network Comments on Stiglitz Report

During the year and a half since French President Nicolas Sarkozy established the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, it has focused on one challenge: How can we move beyond GDP to broader measures of a nation’s economic, social and environmental well-being?

Global Footprint Network applauds this effort and congratulates the Commission for taking a crucial step toward answering that question through its release of the Stiglitz Report. The report synthesizes the complex field of economic performance and social progress indicators and substantiates the voices of early pioneers like Hazel Henderson and Hermann Daly.
With this report, there is now wide agreement that humanity’s success in the 21st century depends largely on robust navigational tools. The report has built a productive platform for further discussions. However, there is still much work to do. The report points out that there is no consensus yet as to which indicators provide the greatest value, and how they should be applied in guiding public policy.
More >

RESEARCH AND STANDARDS UPDATE

New Footprint Standards Released

Global Footprint Network is pleased to announce the release of the Ecological Footprint Standards 2009. This document builds on the first set of internationally recognized Ecological Footprint Standards, released in 2006, and includes key updates – such as, for the first time, providing guidelines and standards for product and organizational Footprint assessments.

To protect the green belt, or not to protect the green belt...

I totally agree with letter writer Nicola Harold that we must act urgently to save our green spaces (‘Time to save green spaces is running out’, Post, Sept 21 2009). I have to say that the fight for green spaces is not helped by those politicians who, it appears, face in two opposing directions. We need clarity of principle, policy and action but aren't getting it.

I recently asked Lib Dem Councillor Jon Rogers Bristol’s Executive Member for Transport and Sustainability whether large scale development should be be permitted on green belt land around Bristol…He replied, ‘My colleagues and I have campaigned and won in the recent election with a pledge to “fight the loss of Green Belt” and that remains our policy.’

However, Lib Dem leader of Bristol City Council, Barbara Janke has given her wholeheated and active support to the idea of building a new Bristol City football stadium. Where? In the green belt that separates Long Ashton from Bristol!!

So, what happened to fighting the loss of green belt?? They want to have their cake and eat it!