I'm feeling particularly gloomy about the prospects for building a greener society at the moment. There are so many reports around that clearly demonstrate that we dont have the right plans and we are not moving in the right direction (mind you there are times where you only have to look out of your window or walk down the road to realise this!).
Here are some examples, all taken from one single copy of the Bristol Evening Post on Friday 18 Jan :
*plans to turn the Bristol to Bath cyclepath into a major bus route - even though cycling is arguably even greener than walking as a transport mode, it is the most popular cyclepath in the UK and has 2.4 million journeys per yr (see the Bristol Cycling Campaign site to sign a petition opposing this)...
*political factors (ie different councils unable to work together in the common interest) still stand in the way of the establishment of a transport authority for the Greater Bristol area - a vital step if we are to have proper integrated and sustainable transport...
*yet more flood warnings given by the Environment Agency, especially to the South West and the Midlands, though the sw regional masterplan felt unable to comment on future flooding impacts here (!!!) from rivers or on the coast beyond appreciating local authority and Environment Agency work...
*waste to energy firm Compact Power, based in Avonmouth, called in administrators due to a cash crisis (buyers have since moved in though I believe)...
*the South Bristol ring road moved a step closer, with the regional masterplan approving the idea...
*over a hundred thousand more houses are planned in the Greater Bristol area...
*Bristol International Airport expansion plans moved a step closer due to regional masterplan approval...
*the region is highly likely to miss its 2010 target for renewable energy generation (35 to 52 MW of generating capacity in Greater Bristol)...
*the prospect of a Severn Barrage (or other methods of generating energy from the tides in the estuary) is not even mentioned in the regional development masterplan...
*a letter clearly contradicts the governments two main reasons for favouring more nuclear power stations, showing that nuclear does not help us fight climate change...
*locals express their views in letters opposing the confirmed decision to close Cadbury's at Keynsham, meaning that chocolate for the very large local market wont be produced locally (instead it will be produced in Poland and transported back here for sale, at great carbon and thus climate change cost)...
*Bristol Parks Forum express the belief that Bristol City Council have plans to sell off double the amount of parkland originally reported (ie more like 400 acres than 200 acres)...
*traffic levels in the Greater Bristol area have risen by 15% in the last ten yrs (higher than the 12% national average)...
*PM Gordon Brown said no to government funding for the proposal to reopen the Portisheaad railway line...
*my green friend and colleague Stephen Petter illustrates how the 'improvements' in education standards as shown by school test results is illusory (there is plenty of academic research to back up his good sense and reasoning, and I argued this point myself at length back in Nov 07 on the Bristol Blogger site,VowlestheGreen // November 28, 2007 at 7:00 pm)...
*an Ofsted report concluded that many pupils drop Geography (a subject that deals with many of today's vital issues and is very important in delivering environmental education) at age 14...
Yet this was only one newspaper, in one city, on one day. As for compensating 'good green news' - there wasn't any on this occasion.
I'm intrigued about your comments on the Severn Barrage.
ReplyDeleteI would have expected the Green Party to be dead-set against it. (I certainly am.)
I'm strongly in favour of extracting energy from the tides but not with a large, continuous barrage. I've very publicly and strongly opposed a barrage and the unbalanced reporting of the issue (as if a barrage is the only tidal energy option).
ReplyDeleteSee: http://vowlesthegreen.blogspot.com/search/label/barrage
I might be persuaded to (very reluctantly) support a large scale barrage if: all the Sustainable Development Commission's tests were met; the only other energy option on the table was 2-3 more nuclear power stations on the estuary; a balanced and thorough review of all tidal energy options clearly favoured a large barrage.