The arguments put by Mark Lynas in a piece in the Evening Post yesterday are very strong indeed. We do need to stop rising global carbon emissions within a decade; we are into deep water, great uncertainty and much higher risk if we dont; pessimists are really those who talk about 'politically possible' solutions and not those who indicate how grave the situation truly is; meeting the climate challenge can improve our lives at the same time; technology alone wont solve our problems; biofuels aren't the solution due to needing land for other purposes, like food production; we do need to lower energy demand as well as go for renewable energy; we do need to develop a far less growth-centred approach to economics...
Mark is giving one of the Schumacher Lectures, this weekend in Bristol, so I may well post more on the topics raised and any related areas in the coming days. I've been to several Schumacher Lectures but dont really feel comfortable with some of the views and attitudes I've experienced - probably because of my strong rationalist leanings (and possibly my working class background). I dont go in for all the 'spiritual' stuff in the way some fans of the Schumacher Lectures do, though I do agree strongly with most of the economic and technological ideas and have read and been inspired by E F Schumacher's books, like 'Small is Beautiful'.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Schumacher Lectures in Bristol, this weekend.
Labels:
behaviour,
being green,
climate change,
economics,
energy,
food,
technology
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The whole hippy dippy thing has been a disaster for the green movement. I remember the first time the Green Party made significant inroads in the polls. A few days later the David Icke thing happened, and all that progress evaporated overnight.
ReplyDeleteYes, but there has always been a lot more to the Greens than the 'hippy' thing. Science backs the Green case. 'Hippy' is a stereotype. Every party has its 'characters' and the Icke thing was a one-off.
ReplyDeleteGreens are getting their act together - just keep n eye on places like Brighton, Oxford and Norwich (as well as parts of Bristol) for instance.
Yes, you've done a good job of moving away from that whole thing. And it's also true that the scientific world is becoming more and more pro-Green.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you're familiar with the Science blogs, but you can find a lot of good stuff in there, and generally it backs up the environmentalist case.
Thanks for the link! Just looking at some science blogs now, discussing Al Gores Nobel Peace Prize Award - largely welcoming his win!
ReplyDelete