Wednesday, April 18th, 2007
Climate change seems to be hitting the headlines in the USA at last. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee heard evidence from Nicholas Stern, reported in in Fox News. The CNA corporation focused on threats to US national security. Legislation changes featured in the Boston Globe and the Seattle Times.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007
As a means of making people think about how we are treating the ‘global commons’ i.e. our planet, whose resources we have to share without wrecking the place – the analogy with the commons dates to the days when communities grazed animals on the common land – Robin Smith has posted a tradable CO2 permit on ebay. The aim is to tweak peoples brains.
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
The Redland May Fair is a brilliant local event, but the bureacracy gets more and more onerous. The hardworking RCAS Committee now has to submit an environmental plan as part of the license application for next year (yes next year 2008). This needs to cover things such as pollution, waste management and energy use. It would be great if a Sustainable Redland member could offer to do this for the committee, send us an email through the contact us page if you think you might be able to take this on.
Thursday, March 29th, 2007
As scientists do more and more studies of the carbon footprint of different food sources, the benefits of less meat more veg seem increasingly apparent. Details of the United Nations study can be found here. No doubt this will do even more to convince Americans that man-made climate change is a conspiracy by the United Nations to attack the American way of life, and it’ll give plenty of people an excuse to keep on flying as long as they choose the veggie option on the in flight meal. But the facts actually give us valuable information about how to limit our own personal footprints.
Thursday, March 22nd, 2007
At a major event involving people from many different institutions and groups, a sustainability charter was drawn up with the aim of Read more…»
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
On 13 March the Government published its draft bill on climate change. Checkout the Defra website for more information.
Friday, March 16th, 2007
On 5 March David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, delivered a speech entitle ‘The transition economy: a future beyond oil?’ This is an important sign that the Government is recognising the massive changes that will inevitably unfold during the 21st century. You can find the full text here.
Monday, March 12th, 2007
On 9 March 2007 EU ministers agreed to commit to a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020, and a definite increase in renewable energy sources. Here is a link to the BBC news item.
Sunday, March 11th, 2007
Channel Four broadcast a programme on 8 March supposedly ‘debunking’ all the evidence that human activity is contributing to the earth’s warming. Instead they argue that CO2 rises are irrelevant, that sun activity is the sole cause, and that it is all a conspiracy to make us pay more taxes. Hmmm. Here is a critique by John Houghton, who chaired some of the climate change working parties for the Intergovernmental Panel. The programme maker Martin Durkin has also admitted that data shown were wrong and misleading. One of the scientists featured is considering a formal complaint. Discrediting the role of CO2 in climate change is nothing new. You can check out the Climate Change Denial website on our Climate Change page.
Thursday, March 8th, 2007
The group has agreed how to work, and starts counting carbon from April 1 2007. We have sixteen definite members, and a few more possibles. To find out more about CRAGs visit the CRAG website, if you want to find out more about our group then email us.