Are local issues easier to sell?
This year I have been on two days of action and although both of them could be considered a success, the difference in the reactions of people when talking about them was very noticeable. The first of these was in Harborne, where we were asking people to sign postcards regarding the government's plans to change planning regulations, which remove local people's rights to have a say in the process. The second was a Valentine's day action about climate change, asking Gordon Brown to include aviation and shipping in the targets for reductions in carbon emissions and to raise them to 80%.
In Harborne, people were quite engaged with the idea, on the whole, and there were even some people who knew as much or more about it than I did. It was a busy local High Street with a large number of people who cared about their local community and were showing the signs of eco-awareness, such as shopping locally and carrying their own reusable bags rather than plastic carrier bags.
In the city centre, the atmosphere was obviously very different, as this was not a small place with a community feel, but also there was a lot more negative feedback on the issue of doing something about climate change. Unfortunately, it seems that many people have still not got the message and are either ignoring the facts or are unwilling to accept that anything needs to be done. Even people who proclaim to care about wildlife (there were also people there from the RSPB amongst others, who attracted bird lovers) wanted to boast about the fact that they have fast cars and want to continue driving them whatever. The consequences of their actions still seem either a mystery or something very distant and not related to how they live.
We did get a lot of cards signed (and I would like to say a big thank you to all the people from the other organisations who were there with us) and there was a lot of positive feedback on the day, but it did also make me realise how much more there still is to do to convince people about the urgency of the situation. There is no doubt that progress has been made in raising people's awareness about the big issue of our time – the future of the planet, but sometimes a reality check on the streets can show just how far there still is to go. Think global, act local, as the saying goes.
Joe Peacock
Monday, 3 March 2008
Monday, 25 February 2008
The spill's on us
It was a sombre end to the FOE evening when there was a showing of a programme about events at Bhopal on 3rd December 1984. The programme, narrated by talented British actress Indira Varma, was no rabble rousing call for action but an attempt to assemble the facts. A more passionate account is to be found on www.bhopal.org. More alarming than anything in the film has to be the responsibility for that incident. At Bhopal, India, poisonous methyl isocyanate was released by a chemical plant.
Globalisation claims to bring down barriers and to bring people out of poverty. The international trade that the WTO lobbies for adds air freighted Kenyan beans to the cookbook of smugness, but also requires cheap food and cheap production. Cheap food was, it appears, much of the motivation for Union Carbide to export its technology from the USA to build the Bhopal plant and thus ensure that the right pesticides were on hand. Trouble was, the pesticides had to be super cheap. To cut costs, hardly anyone worked nights and the chemical plant, once in trouble, could not be controlled because the equipment was faulty and the expertise was lacking.
From the leaking poison, those who suffered terrible premature death were consequences of our food chain. Those same people are our neighbours on this wonderful planet. The trouble is, we do not seem to realise how good we have it and we continue to throw away food as though there were no tomorrow. If we did not waste so much, would we need so much pesticide ? Did we even need that chemical plant ? It would be good if Bhopal had taught us something at least about caution in dealing with industrial processes. All sorts of systems fail – just remember the Buncefield fuel depot sent its black smoke over Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire only a few months ago.
We are going to have industrial processes even to maintain what we have now and to fuel the demand for (quickly obsolete) computers and the like. But don’t despair as we are not in a hopeless situation. There is no need to standby wringing our hands. To reduce the frequency of disasters we can tighten up the controls but we can also reduce the number of the chemical plants by consuming less and wasting less. Even though dropping consumption does not fit the economic model, isn’t it unacceptable to poison people and planet ?
John Hall
Globalisation claims to bring down barriers and to bring people out of poverty. The international trade that the WTO lobbies for adds air freighted Kenyan beans to the cookbook of smugness, but also requires cheap food and cheap production. Cheap food was, it appears, much of the motivation for Union Carbide to export its technology from the USA to build the Bhopal plant and thus ensure that the right pesticides were on hand. Trouble was, the pesticides had to be super cheap. To cut costs, hardly anyone worked nights and the chemical plant, once in trouble, could not be controlled because the equipment was faulty and the expertise was lacking.
From the leaking poison, those who suffered terrible premature death were consequences of our food chain. Those same people are our neighbours on this wonderful planet. The trouble is, we do not seem to realise how good we have it and we continue to throw away food as though there were no tomorrow. If we did not waste so much, would we need so much pesticide ? Did we even need that chemical plant ? It would be good if Bhopal had taught us something at least about caution in dealing with industrial processes. All sorts of systems fail – just remember the Buncefield fuel depot sent its black smoke over Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire only a few months ago.
We are going to have industrial processes even to maintain what we have now and to fuel the demand for (quickly obsolete) computers and the like. But don’t despair as we are not in a hopeless situation. There is no need to standby wringing our hands. To reduce the frequency of disasters we can tighten up the controls but we can also reduce the number of the chemical plants by consuming less and wasting less. Even though dropping consumption does not fit the economic model, isn’t it unacceptable to poison people and planet ?
John Hall
Friday, 22 February 2008
Paperless banking...
About a year ago I went paperless with my HSBC bank account, instead using internet banking. It suits me this way, as I download all my transactions from the website and its great as I am saving a few trees by not getting the bank statement and all the other leaflets they insist on sending you. This makes my filing a lot less and for about a year has caused me no problems.
However, I applied for a loan the other week from Abbey National and I got it- hurrah! I Then was asked for ID and proof of my current account. On it, it said they only accepted printed statements that are 3 months and not those printed from the internet. So when, frantically searching through my statements realised that I had cancelled paper copies from 2006. So that definitely does not fall in the 3 month period!!
So then tried phone banking, and after being put on hold twice and a 16 minute wait was very apologetically told that she was unable to order statements from her system. They would only be able to send me an email copy? I find this strange that they can’t order a paper copy when required. So she suggested that I go to the local branch.
So off I went to the various banks, luckily only a few doors between each other on Sutton High Street- which as you can see was very fortunate. First of all I went into HSBC and they said unfortunately that they cannot give a paper copy from the branch and that they can order me one but that will take me 3 days to come through. At the branch they can only give an internet copy and that they don’t think it will be accepted for loan applications as they need proof of address, but just in case I took a copy.
So off I went to Abbey National and asked if they would accept an internet statement, if I had a paper copy with my address from 2006. So after phoning the loans department they said that if I got it branch stamped then yes, they would accept it, so off I toddle up the street to HSBC to then get it stamped. So they dutifully stamped my documents and so now my loan agreement is on its merry little way by snail mail!!!
So now I am wondering when will this be a truly paperless world. How many offices do you know that were supposedly going paperless and then were told to keep paper copies? I know many people who print out emails “just in case”. So when is the mysterious paperless world going to happen.
And don’t even get me started on a paperless world without books…. The techno geeks have said for years that they were going to be replaced by ebooks but I see that a long way off. And as the bookworm that I am – I will be sad to say goodbye to my books and the joy of the smell of a brand new book.
The moral to all this being persistent counts and a paperless world is a long way off!!
However, I applied for a loan the other week from Abbey National and I got it- hurrah! I Then was asked for ID and proof of my current account. On it, it said they only accepted printed statements that are 3 months and not those printed from the internet. So when, frantically searching through my statements realised that I had cancelled paper copies from 2006. So that definitely does not fall in the 3 month period!!
So then tried phone banking, and after being put on hold twice and a 16 minute wait was very apologetically told that she was unable to order statements from her system. They would only be able to send me an email copy? I find this strange that they can’t order a paper copy when required. So she suggested that I go to the local branch.
So off I went to the various banks, luckily only a few doors between each other on Sutton High Street- which as you can see was very fortunate. First of all I went into HSBC and they said unfortunately that they cannot give a paper copy from the branch and that they can order me one but that will take me 3 days to come through. At the branch they can only give an internet copy and that they don’t think it will be accepted for loan applications as they need proof of address, but just in case I took a copy.
So off I went to Abbey National and asked if they would accept an internet statement, if I had a paper copy with my address from 2006. So after phoning the loans department they said that if I got it branch stamped then yes, they would accept it, so off I toddle up the street to HSBC to then get it stamped. So they dutifully stamped my documents and so now my loan agreement is on its merry little way by snail mail!!!
So now I am wondering when will this be a truly paperless world. How many offices do you know that were supposedly going paperless and then were told to keep paper copies? I know many people who print out emails “just in case”. So when is the mysterious paperless world going to happen.
And don’t even get me started on a paperless world without books…. The techno geeks have said for years that they were going to be replaced by ebooks but I see that a long way off. And as the bookworm that I am – I will be sad to say goodbye to my books and the joy of the smell of a brand new book.
The moral to all this being persistent counts and a paperless world is a long way off!!
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
A new energy system in 40 years?
It seems very radical to many people to say we must de-carbonise our energy supply by 2050, to save the atmosphere. However, it may be useful to look back at how much things have changed over the last 50 years.
I used to go to my granny’s house in the 1950s, on a steam train, powered by lumps of coal. Her lighting and cooking were by town gas, made from coal, as was the electricity that powered the trams and trolley buses.
There were real winters then, that will never be seen again - with one that allowed us to enjoy snowballing from Boxing day through into March. Fogs were normal for half the year, until a lot of people died of bronchitis and they passed the Clean Air Act, making smoky fuel illegal in towns, with a dramatic effect on air quality (and visibility).
Someone then called at every house to convert our appliances to North Sea gas (no individual choice). Central heating replaced open fires. Britain became an oil-rich state, and we soon forgot the 1973 oil price shock from the Arabs. Trams and half the train network were closed. Car ownership soared and bicycles were forced off the roads.
But North Sea oil and gas have peaked in 30 years, so these fuels are now increasingly imported from distant countries. The coal mines closed. No new nuclear stations have been built for decades and the oldest are closing (before we have worked out what to do with their wastes.)
While we ran through all these energy sources, we ignored insulation and efficiency, so the scope to use less must now be huge. Microelectronic chips have been developed that can control all appliances. The North Atlantic brings these islands more wind, wave, tidal and hydro power than we can use. Windmill Hills and Mill Streams across the land wait to be re-discovered.
So, can we completely change our energy system in 40 years ? I say that we have in the past, we can again, and really have no alternative. “Unsustainable” means exactly what it says.
John Newson
I used to go to my granny’s house in the 1950s, on a steam train, powered by lumps of coal. Her lighting and cooking were by town gas, made from coal, as was the electricity that powered the trams and trolley buses.
There were real winters then, that will never be seen again - with one that allowed us to enjoy snowballing from Boxing day through into March. Fogs were normal for half the year, until a lot of people died of bronchitis and they passed the Clean Air Act, making smoky fuel illegal in towns, with a dramatic effect on air quality (and visibility).
Someone then called at every house to convert our appliances to North Sea gas (no individual choice). Central heating replaced open fires. Britain became an oil-rich state, and we soon forgot the 1973 oil price shock from the Arabs. Trams and half the train network were closed. Car ownership soared and bicycles were forced off the roads.
But North Sea oil and gas have peaked in 30 years, so these fuels are now increasingly imported from distant countries. The coal mines closed. No new nuclear stations have been built for decades and the oldest are closing (before we have worked out what to do with their wastes.)
While we ran through all these energy sources, we ignored insulation and efficiency, so the scope to use less must now be huge. Microelectronic chips have been developed that can control all appliances. The North Atlantic brings these islands more wind, wave, tidal and hydro power than we can use. Windmill Hills and Mill Streams across the land wait to be re-discovered.
So, can we completely change our energy system in 40 years ? I say that we have in the past, we can again, and really have no alternative. “Unsustainable” means exactly what it says.
John Newson
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
It's the economy, stupid!
'It’s the economy, stupid!'. That slogan served Bill Clinton well in his 1992 presidential campaign - and it still applies ... although green thinkers might have a different idea to Clinton's about what makes a healthy economy.
We could point out all sorts of changes that would make our economic rules more useful to 'people & planet' : on taxation, regulation, employment, wages, benefits, localisation, fairtrade ...etc.
While those 'big themes' can be a bit daunting, by working collectively we can keep up the pressure for change ... and meanwhile there's been an increasing awareness that as individual 'consumers' in the 'marketplace' we can use our spending power and choose local / organic / fairtrade / cooperative, etc. In our busy lives though, it can be easy not to get round to a simple step we can take which would make a big difference : choosing better personal banking and finances. By, for example, switching bank, it means you are ‘making your money work for you' round the clock towards making the world a better place. And ‘ethical’ finance is no longer a complete 'fringe' activity. Some of the best performing institutions are also the most ethical (now why are we not surprised?), and there are now plenty of options to choose from.
It's always worth getting tips from an independent financial adviser, but for starters, you could consider :
1) Switching your bank account to the Co-operative bank (or Smile, their internet bank) or similar.
2) If you're thinking about savings or other 'products' another option is things like Triodos Bank - to get an idea of how these types of bank work differently/greener, have a look at
http://www.triodos.co.uk/uk/personal_banking/391935
Switching my own finances has definitely been a good decision - so if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for? (Imagine if we all did it?!)
Happy banking
Aldo Mussi
Parting thought :
If we want to win the lottery, are we losing it? :o)
We could point out all sorts of changes that would make our economic rules more useful to 'people & planet' : on taxation, regulation, employment, wages, benefits, localisation, fairtrade ...etc.
While those 'big themes' can be a bit daunting, by working collectively we can keep up the pressure for change ... and meanwhile there's been an increasing awareness that as individual 'consumers' in the 'marketplace' we can use our spending power and choose local / organic / fairtrade / cooperative, etc. In our busy lives though, it can be easy not to get round to a simple step we can take which would make a big difference : choosing better personal banking and finances. By, for example, switching bank, it means you are ‘making your money work for you' round the clock towards making the world a better place. And ‘ethical’ finance is no longer a complete 'fringe' activity. Some of the best performing institutions are also the most ethical (now why are we not surprised?), and there are now plenty of options to choose from.
It's always worth getting tips from an independent financial adviser, but for starters, you could consider :
1) Switching your bank account to the Co-operative bank (or Smile, their internet bank) or similar.
2) If you're thinking about savings or other 'products' another option is things like Triodos Bank - to get an idea of how these types of bank work differently/greener, have a look at
http://www.triodos.co.uk/uk/personal_banking/391935
Switching my own finances has definitely been a good decision - so if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for? (Imagine if we all did it?!)
Happy banking
Aldo Mussi
Parting thought :
If we want to win the lottery, are we losing it? :o)
Monday, 7 January 2008
Tax on car parking
Benefits and favouritism – what do you make of them?
Let’s say you go to work and you are paid for what you do, do it well – as does the woman at the next workbench. The boss, however, gives, for no charge, a massive lunch daily to your colleague as a reward for some lifestyle choice or principle – for instance being a vegetarian. That seems fair surely – that money spent at the burger van could be saved by adopting your colleague’s lifestyle.
The taxman thinks otherwise, however, as your free lunching colleague is effectively being paid extra and must be taxed on the value of that lunch. Is that fair ?
The taxman takes a different view when your employer spends a few thousand pounds to build a car parking space and annual maintenance and then lets employees use it. You might be taking the bus to work (and paying full price) but your neighbour is having part of the cost of the home to work car journey, the car parking, paid for and not taxed. At one time the gift of car parking was counted as a bonus to be taxed but was decided to be too complicated. The result might anyway be that people would park on the street and that surely is worse than having a well organised car park. Added to that, without a car, journeys to some places (such as Birmingham Business Park would be, without a car, protracted). You as a bus user could start travelling by car and so could everyone there, until the firm went out of business through spending all the profit on tarmac.
So try to work out what you think of the ‘workplace parking levy plan’ for Nottingham (Local Transport Today 20 December 2007). The idea is that people driving to work are imposing a cost on Society and are being subsidised by being given free car parking at their workplace. In Nottingham it is the City Council who are pressing ahead with a levy (or tax) on parking. The levy will be charged on each business who will pay a charge for each parking space for each employee parking space. Naturally there are exceptions to the levy and relaxations of the rules proposed. The money raised would be spent by Nottingham to expand their street tramway network.
John Hall
Let’s say you go to work and you are paid for what you do, do it well – as does the woman at the next workbench. The boss, however, gives, for no charge, a massive lunch daily to your colleague as a reward for some lifestyle choice or principle – for instance being a vegetarian. That seems fair surely – that money spent at the burger van could be saved by adopting your colleague’s lifestyle.
The taxman thinks otherwise, however, as your free lunching colleague is effectively being paid extra and must be taxed on the value of that lunch. Is that fair ?
The taxman takes a different view when your employer spends a few thousand pounds to build a car parking space and annual maintenance and then lets employees use it. You might be taking the bus to work (and paying full price) but your neighbour is having part of the cost of the home to work car journey, the car parking, paid for and not taxed. At one time the gift of car parking was counted as a bonus to be taxed but was decided to be too complicated. The result might anyway be that people would park on the street and that surely is worse than having a well organised car park. Added to that, without a car, journeys to some places (such as Birmingham Business Park would be, without a car, protracted). You as a bus user could start travelling by car and so could everyone there, until the firm went out of business through spending all the profit on tarmac.
So try to work out what you think of the ‘workplace parking levy plan’ for Nottingham (Local Transport Today 20 December 2007). The idea is that people driving to work are imposing a cost on Society and are being subsidised by being given free car parking at their workplace. In Nottingham it is the City Council who are pressing ahead with a levy (or tax) on parking. The levy will be charged on each business who will pay a charge for each parking space for each employee parking space. Naturally there are exceptions to the levy and relaxations of the rules proposed. The money raised would be spent by Nottingham to expand their street tramway network.
John Hall
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Environmental Education
Hello, this is my first time on this Blog. I have Blogged before and found it quite painless but I have never blogged for FOE. Although I have done most other things including dressing as a badger and playing the ukulele in a white coat. Apologies for all the Blogs in that first sentence. I will try to resist saying the word again.
Anyway, to business (not a toast). I wanted to say a few words about BEEP which is the mouth-sized name for The Birmingham Environmental Education Project. Which I am currently in charge of. BEEP is the education side of Birmingham FOE and is slowly taking over all the education based stuff. Assemblies in schools on recycling, environmental art workshops etc. BEEP re-launched in November 2007 with a very condensed lecture on Climate Change by myself and will be one of those names you hear more and more often over the coming months. BEEP this, BEEP that, sounds like Gordon Ramsey before the watershed.
Now the bit where we ask you to do something: BEEP is recruiting volunteer educators to conduct talks, assemblies and the like. You don't have to know much or have any experience, training and support is available. But your passion for the environment will come across loud and clear. Contact BEEP for more information at beepbrumATgooglemail.com (replace AT with @). We are also looking for people who want information on the environment, either local or global. Drop me an e-mail.
And one more thing, the BEEP monthly e-newsletter will be starting in January. E-mail to sign up.
Thanks for letting me blog, sorry I let that slip out.
Gareth
Anyway, to business (not a toast). I wanted to say a few words about BEEP which is the mouth-sized name for The Birmingham Environmental Education Project. Which I am currently in charge of. BEEP is the education side of Birmingham FOE and is slowly taking over all the education based stuff. Assemblies in schools on recycling, environmental art workshops etc. BEEP re-launched in November 2007 with a very condensed lecture on Climate Change by myself and will be one of those names you hear more and more often over the coming months. BEEP this, BEEP that, sounds like Gordon Ramsey before the watershed.
Now the bit where we ask you to do something: BEEP is recruiting volunteer educators to conduct talks, assemblies and the like. You don't have to know much or have any experience, training and support is available. But your passion for the environment will come across loud and clear. Contact BEEP for more information at beepbrumATgooglemail.com (replace AT with @). We are also looking for people who want information on the environment, either local or global. Drop me an e-mail.
And one more thing, the BEEP monthly e-newsletter will be starting in January. E-mail to sign up.
Thanks for letting me blog, sorry I let that slip out.
Gareth
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