BBC provide free advertising of Airport expansion plans?

The Telegraph recently had an article about the terror possibility posed by 'small airports' and their seemingly lax security. Some might argue that is yet another argument for closing Staverton airport rather than expanding - especially because of the proximity of GCHQ. Anyhow I don't want to go there as there are enough reasons why this Airport should not expand....in this blog entry I want to cover the BBCs recent apparent bias but first the recent questions to Cheltenham Borough....

Representatives of FoE and Cheltenham Green party have continued to ask public questions in Cheltenham on the Airport issue. It is good to have confirmed by them that the price of aviation fuels is now around 40% higher than the figures used by Mott for their financial modeling. This at the very least should be grounds for a relook, especially when coupled with all the news about big carriers losing passengers and shutting down routes because high prices have reduced demand. They also asked about the so-called Green policy of the Airport. Some progress seems to have been made but the details are still not there.

BBC Glos on the airport

BBC Glos Radio have run a series of interviews with Gloucestershire Airport each day of the week - yet strangely didn't seek a voice from the many people who are opposed to the airport's expansion plans. Is the BBC providing free advertising for the airport?

When asked about this they say they report on all aspects of the stories regarding Gloucestershire Airport including the political splits regarding the airport's plans and that they covered anti airport expansion protests / viewpoints. They asked for views for future coverage - a little late after a week of how good the Airport will be for the community....below is one campaigner's response to try and get equal airtime....

Though I have not caught all the reports that you did last week, it certainly does seem that you have been used by the airport to push their message "that they are only concerned about safety and not about expansion," with very little challenge from those opposed. As you are probably aware, the airport is having a major publicity push at the moment to convince as wide an audience as possible of their position, and the reports that you have done have undoubtedly formed part of this push. At the Guildhall meeting last week the airport management gave a polished presentation, but which demonstrated their willingness to distort the truth whenever necessary to make their point. Typical claims that they made where:- They claimed again the expansion is all about safety. This is clearly nonsense. The expansion will cost £3million. The airport's annual turnover is £3million. The only way that they can recover the costs is if they massively increase the number of flights. These will have to be increased far higher then they claimed in the initial business case submitted to Tewkesbury Council. An analysis of their business case suggests that with a 7% cost of capital, it will take 25 years to break even. This is such a weak business case that it would be negligence on the council's behalf to give it financial support. They claimed that independent consultants supported the proposals. This is rubbish. Cheltenham's consultants supported the proposals, because they are airport consultants and their remit was basically to develop the business case. Gloucester consultants rejected the proposals out right because they were asked to look at the robustness of the business case. Furthermore, one of the reasons why Gloucester Scrutiny committee also rejected the proposals was because no proper consideration was made of the climate change impact. This is an historic decision and a brave decision by Gloucester Council. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that an airport proposal has been explicitly rejected on these grounds. Not surprisingly the airport management did not mention this point either in their presentation. They claimed that the private jets using the airport are business critical. Again, total rubbish. Many of the flights are leisure flights for the super rich. Further more, most companies are aiming to reduce the amount of flying that they do as they become more and more concerned by global warming and the cost of flying. They claimed that increasing oil prices would not impact their business. Again total rubbish. If this is true they would be the only airport in the world not be hit. This is totally improbable.

Cardboard bike for £15?

I thought this a joke until I saw the article - 21 year old, Phil Bridge of Stockport has designed this bike - the frame is made out of cardboard normally used in industrial packaging and could be produced for as little as £3. Once the wheels and chain have been added the total price might rise to about £15. See The Daily Telegraph article here - the photo also comes from that article. I can't see them really catching on - what we really need are bikes to last made from steel and all the others stuff - recycled steel yes....anyhow talking ofbikes I had a wee go on an electric bike the other day - now thety really have developed since I tried one years ago - see more here.

Stroud: UK capital of social innovation?

This is the title of an exciting event planned for August - bookings close on July 6th so get yourself a place on this very soon. You've read about it; you've listened to the Archers going on about it.....now here's an opportunity to see for yourself what's going on in this rather unusual Cotswold town, to check out the new ideas being tried out here, moving vision into action. This is the stuff from their blurb...

Photo: Pic from Stroud Commonwealth who are supporting this initiative

Stroud Communiversity is set up to help you. For five days in August we'll be showcasing many of the brilliant projects here, including Community Supported Agriculture, Co-housing, the Exchange, Stroud Valleys Artspace and more. You'll be able to visit these ground-breaking initiatives, to touch and smell them (that'll be the organic pigs) and talk to those who had the ideas and the determination to see them into reality.

But this is not a one-way process: we want to hear about what you are doing in your community, and what you plan to do. Stroud Communiversity provides ample opportunity for debate and dissemination, exchanging ideas, visions and experiences that we all can learn from. And it will be fun! The activity-packed programme will include music from local bands, creative activities with local artists (we've got hundreds!), and a chance to savour Stroud's fantastic, award-winning Farmers Market and the wide range of restaurants we're rather proud of.

That's how it all started really: we are proud of what we are doing here, proud of our ability to persevere against suspicion and inertia, proud of the collaborative way so many great schemes have come about, proud of the way Civil Society can care for its community. And we recognise that there is amazing stuff going on elsewhere too. Particularly when we're tired of always going that extra mile, we need the inspiration that others bring. So please join us. It'll be a blast! We'd love to see you and hear what you're up to.

Stroud Communiversity runs from the late afternoon of August 1st to lunchtime on August 6th. There are limited numbers of places, so if you intend to come, secure a place now to avoid disappointment – details below. There are places for organisations, individuals, concessions and a few bursaries. We look forward to seeing you in Stroud. To download brochure and booking form please go to www.stroudcommonwealth.org.uk and click on Stroud Communiversity. For any further information and booking enquiries please contact Odiliavitalsqueeze@gmail..com

I've got competition from Savannah Miller's husband

Savannah Miller has been doing up her home in Whiteshill according to an article I have just been sent - see The Times article re Savannah's work to her home here (photo above taken from that article). See also my previous blog entry here.

I was deeply disappointed to read that her husband, Nick, is also checking out the local skips for treasures - virtually my whole garden shed and a large part of my small deck has been made with bits from skips. Do please note I have knocked on the doors to ask owners if I can remove stuff from their skips!

Randwick head gets top accolade

I have to say I was horrified to see a picture of the headteacher of Randwick Village School under the headline about the hunt for a pigeon killer. It took me a moment to see that headline didn't go with the pic in The Citizen....

Infact it was the results of the Regional Final of the National Teaching Awards 2008. As reported here Randwick's Mrs Fiona Montacute was a finalist - the results announced this last week have her named as "Runner-Up with a Distinction. Congrats indeed.

Mrs M has been Head for 11 years and it has been good to see the school gain a second gold Art Mark, a recent Active Mark and an International award...I was disappointed to miss (due to Council meeting) the production this last week which included Country Dancing Bollywood and more!

Anyhow it was not long ago that Sally Cushnan, who used to work at the school and still lives locally, was a national finalist as a Teaching Assistant. We are very lucky to have such good schools locally - Whiteshill Primary has also seen a whole collection of awards.

Randwick Ducklings walk for Breast Cancer

Ruscombe women were among those who participated in the 10 mile night walk starting and finishing in Cirencester Park - all in aid of the Cotswold Care Hospice. Next weekend four women from Randwick, Westrip and Ruscombe are preparing to walk a half marathon in aid of the breast cancer charity Walk The Walk.

Photo: Crisp found in packet at The Vine Tree, Randwick

Emma Cunningham, a Randwick Parish councillor, her sister Kerry, Joanne Preece and Yvonne Cobb, are calling themselves the Randwick Ducklings - they will join the 2000 other walkers expected to take part in this year's 13-mile Sun Walk event at Ashton Court, Bristol on Sunday, July 6. Decorated bras and duckling outfits are apparently the order of the day. If you would like to sponsor the Randwick Ducklings, email Yvonne at info@bslcollege.co.uk or call Emma on 757 411.

Recently the European Parliament passed a resolution on combating cancer, with an overwhelming majority of Euro-MPs agreeing to amendments proposed by a Green MEP to highlight the environmental causes behind the disease. This is an issue I've covered before on this blog - and indeed written about a number of times to the local press(see for example here and here and here).

Drawing on scientific evidence showing that cancers can be caused by environmental factors including toxic chemicals found in household goods, pesticides and poor air quality, South East MEP Caroline Lucas proposed significant changes to a Parliament resolution seeking to establish an EU Cancer Task Force to fight the disease more effectively.

Caroline is quoted saying: “This landmark decision by the European Parliament means that MEPs now officially recognise that environmental causes like pollution and chemical contamination must be considered in any strategy to combat cancer. In 2006 there were nearly 2.3 million new cancer cases and over 1 million cancer deaths within the EU; most deaths were in people with lung cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer. And according to Greenpeace, even when you strip away causes like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and hereditary factors, environmental factors still appear to be the biggest cause of the increase in cancers seen over the past few decades."

She continued: “While cancer is caused by many factors in multiple stages, a link is increasingly being made between toxic chemicals – especially so-called gender-bending hormone-disruptors – and cancers like that of the breast, which kills more than 10,000 people each year in the UK alone. Moreover, according to a recent study by the trade unions, at least 8% of annual cancer deaths are directly caused by exposure to carcinogens at the workplace. Substituting carcinogens with less harmful substances could prevent this exposure, and a tightening of legislation would ensure that employers fully protect their workers. Links are also being found between pesticide use and cancers. Yet pesticide technologies are all growing apace, and so the EU must ensure that those which carry serious health risks are swiftly taken off the market, and accelerate moves towards chemical free agriculture – putting human health above the profits of the companies that manufacture them.”

Caroline has now called on the Commission and Council to commit to the proposed EU Cancer Task Force, and subsequently support initiatives to prevent the importing of items containing carcinogenic chemicals, and for measures to strengthen food monitoring for chemicals, including pesticides. I have to note that in the past I have been critical of many of the cancer charities to fund any research into environmental factors - that is starting to change but much more is needed.

Waste Strategy Advisory Panel to be established

The two previous blogs cover items from this evenings Full Council meeting - I'm running out of energy to write but wanted to also mention that Cllr Sarah Lunnon, Leader of the Green group on the District Council seconded a motion with Lib Dem Leader Cllr Dennis Andrewartha to set up a Waste Strategy Advisory Panel. This panel will assist the Administration in devising, formulating and implementing an extensive and robust waste policy.

It is great that this proposal has gained the support of the Administration. This panel, which will be made up of a representative of each party, is our best hope at developing a coherent cross-party approach to tackling our waste in the District. I am likely to be one of two Green councillors involved with this on behalf of the Greens. It is certainly true that unless we get to grips with this issue we are in danger of facing huge and rising costs from continuing to landfill our waste. Worse still we could face a monster incinerator being built locally, when there are much more sustainable choices which are less damaging and costly in the long term.

Green move to cut councillors carbon

At the Full council meeting this evening (see previous blog on Rainwater Harvesting) Greens sought to cut car allowances to councillors in a bid to save money and CO2 emissions. We also sought an amendment to remove the cap on Dependants Carers Allowance available to councillors who need to employ help so that they can attend meetings.

Photo: Council Chamber before meeting

It was very disappointing that despite considerable support for the two Green party amendments, both were defeated by the administration. However there is still some hope - the Tories did not rule them out completely and the Council voted to let the Independent Remuneration Panel consider these moves later in the year.

In putting forward these two measures Greens sought to save the Council money and CO2 emissions and not rewarded councillors who have larger sized cars as the current system does. This measure would have also more than paid for removing the cap on Dependants Carers Allowance. Indeed it seems extraordinary there is a cap on supporting dependents so that councillors can attend meetings, yet no cap on the mileage councillors can claim. If we are interested in seeking wider representation in our communities this is a measure we need to take.

Greens have repeatedly over the years sought to tackle these allowances - see here a news release dating back to 2003 on the same topic. Since then things have changed and I have to say I am optimistic that we will eventually win on this!! Certainly there was no serious opposition expressed to the principles.

Rainwater Harvesting not for Ebley Mill

Hey before talking Council stuff here is a quick ad for the Vine Tree's Mexican Night in Randwick - was in the pub for a drink last night after a meeting got cancelled - very nice too - anyhow this evening saw four and a half hours of Council meetings...

Well I can't cover all here but will pick on one issue for this particular blog entry...a Labour motion to bring rainwater harvesting to Ebley Mill. Something I longed to support - indeed as a Green this is just the sort of thing surely we should be calling for....well yes and no....here is the jist of what I tried to say - although jeered by various councillors when I tried to quote Woking Boroughs figures on decreased rainfall....

I welcome the subject of water conservation being brought to this Chamber. Only a few weeks ago I was reading a Woking Borough Council report that says summer rainfall is expected to decrease by 30 to 40% and we will see more extreme weather conditions and demand for water rising evermore. The Pitt Review this week has also focused our attention again on the actions we need to be taking. Indeed it calls for more Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems and mentions Rainwater harvesting as one aspect.

However rainwater harvesting should not be the first choice for an existing building - I understand that both York and Congleton Councils mentioned in the briefing sent to councillors have introduced Rain water harvesting as part of new build projects rather than installing on existing buildings. Indeed sustainability experts say that in terms of the first measures for investment we should consider water conservation, then simple rain water harvesting like water butts, then advanced rainwater harvesting then greywater recycling.

It is the water conservation measures I would like to see first: cistern dams, smart meters and leak detectors, tap regulators like spray taps that cut 80% of water use, flow controls, water less urinals - in one college they saved £7000 on the water bill. Indeed Leicester for example saved £121,000 in ten years and cut water consumption by 43% over 10 years by a whole host of measures.

So rather than leap to recommending rainwater harvesting for Ebley Mill, I would like to see the Councils' water conservation strategy developed to look at all aspects of water conservation and recycling. Let it include rainwater harvesting - I certainly agree with the motion that the Council should be leading on this issue and a Council project would encourage this - but let us make sure energy conservation measures are considered first and when we come to rainwater harvesting we find the sites offering most advantage.

I would also welcome that strategy looking wider at how we can take on the challenge of conserving our water. West Sussex Council for example have held a summit for water companies challenging them about their role. They've also put on a Water Festival that led to a massive increase in water butt requests. Meanwhile other Councils like Woking provide quality information about Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting to people making making planning applications. This would be a positive way to help people save energy, water and money and promote this issue in the District.

To conclude I welcome this motion highlighting this issue, particularly as a re-allocation of resources has seen targets on water conservation slip. However I do not think the specific calls made in this motion for rainwater harvesting at Ebley Mill are the best way forward and therefore wont be supporting the motion.

Before making that decision I did consult with those selling rainwater harvesting and two other local water experts - both agreed water conservation measures should be the first priority - as a council we need to lead not lead people astray - having said that a Rainwater Harvesting project would be great to see to show off the potential....and more is needed in water conservation...yes they do subsidised water butts and hippos but more please!

I could write lots more on this: indeed in terms of water conservation as I've mentioned on this blog before, if we are really wanting to play our part we also need to be looking at the food we eat. For example it takes 500 litres of freshwater to produce a single kilo of potatoes, 11,000 for the beef in a quarterpound hamburger and 20,000 for a kilo of coffee. But it is too late now for more on that....

Ruscombe photographer's exhibition

I've featured in this blog many local artists from Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe - well I spied today in Stroud Life Kieran Chadwick, a 12 years old Ruscombe resident - he has just opened an exhibition in that excellent organic cafe Woodruff's in Stroud. I will hopefully get there tomorrow to see for myself.

Climate change: 'Rebound Effects' and education

I only recently came across the UK Energy Research Centre's newish report on how 'Rebound Effects' can result in energy savings falling short of expectations, thereby threatening the success of UK climate policy.

In the press release re the report they give examples of a rebound effect like the driver who replaces a car with a fuel-efficient model, only to take advantage of its cheaper running costs to drive further and more often. Or a family that insulates their loft and puts the money saved on their heating bill towards an overseas holiday. Indeed only last week someone I was talking to said we saved so much by growing our own food last year that we're taking the car across to France this summer.....

Of course the effect might be less significant if the threatened 40% rise in energy costs occurs towards the end of the year..... It is also why we need to spend money on energy efficiency, renewable energy generation AND education / lifestyle-change programmes.

Indeed reading Sunday's Observer was enough to make many campaigners weep - a Ipsos MORI poll showed that the majority of the British public is still not convinced that climate change is caused by humans - and many others believe scientists are exaggerating the problem. Many of us had hoped that doubts would have been silenced by a report last year by more than 2,500 scientists for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which found a 90 per cent chance that humans were the main cause of climate change and warned that drastic action was needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions. See the article here. However with tabloids still failing us so badly it is perhaps no wonder so many still doubt climate change (see previous blog here on tabloids).

Anyhow all that is just more evidence that we need to do more on education re climate change....

Anger at Government pushing GM

I have to say I continue to be outraged by our Government pushing GM in Europe - here's Nailsworth-based councillor Fi Macmillan's letter to local press today:
www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/content/view/2123/2/

Indeed as SW Euro-lead Green candidate Cllr Ricky Knight (pictured) said: “Existing conflict over GMOs in the EU can only be solved if both the European Council and the European Commission put the precautionary principle at the heart of their decision making. The current system, whereby in the absence of a qualified majority in the Council, the Commission simply gives the green light to GMOs, is undemocratic and utterly unacceptable." All the more reason to get Greens into the EU next year!

Take action to email your MP here and stop them for falling for the GM hype:
www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/press_for_change/mp_gm_hype_11309.html

And talking of Europe and GMOs there was the recent meeting in Rome to tackle the current and worsening global food crisis at the Food and Agriculture Organization Summit. The state and government elites that met were not able to reach agreement on how to give the practical help desperately needed by the 850m of the World's Citizens estimated to be currently facing hunger and starvation - much less on how to take preventive measures so that rising food prices do not effect millions more people in every continent. Where were the meaningful increases in emergency aid? Or plans to fulfil the financial promises that they have repeatedly made to reach Millennium Development Goal 8 (0.51% GDP for development cooperation by 2010, 0.7% by 2015)? Where were the urgent measures to deal with the threat to food security and human health posed by Agrofuels and GMOs?

Fox in Ruscombe valley

I am deeply frustrated by email problems since last week - a problem with my router and with Virgin - I have spent several hours on Friday and today trying to sort the problem - apols if your email has bounced - I have over 500 emails that I have already received during the last week have all arrived again - now the tedious process of deleting - I also have the frustration that a further 200 from this weekend have now arrived at my webmail but wont get to my Mac - but I wont bore you here....one of the emails contained this great photo, taken in the Ruscombe valley, that I share here with permission - from local photographer Mike Gallagher - also see blog a couple of days ago with photos of the balloon that looks like it hit tree tops in Whiteshill - and his website is here:
www.mikegallagherphotography.co.uk

Local news bits

I am just back from a 4 hour scrutiny meeting and then enjoying a glass of wine before catching up on emails - the papers this week seem to have been full of local stuff - several articles about the success of Alan Tomlinson and others in getting funding and more for Randwick Village Hall - now heading to be the first carbon neutral village hall in the country (see earlier blog entries on this)...anyhow here's a quick round up of some of the other stories plus a few other bits and pieces...

Laburnam Crescent - we have finally got approval for a new tree to replace the dead one - the plan is to plant it at the street party. This week I went down the road with my fork and spade and dug up the old dead tree (see photo).

Open Gardens in Whiteshill - on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th - 6 gardens 2pm to 5pm with teas, plants and more in aid of the village shop, Dogs Trust and British Heart Foundation.

"Miracle vicar bids farewell" - Stroud Life report on our famous vicar who is retiring from the Parish. The Rev Denise Cole, 65, has been the assistant priest at Whiteshill, Randwick and Paganhill. She is quoted saying: “It will give me a chance to say no if my own needs have to come first on some occasions. A priest is always a priest. It is not work. I believe it is a way of life. It isn’t a collar." She will be a great loss as she has been wonderful for this community - a huge support to many - here is some more background stuff from Stroud Life: "Ordained local minister in 2000, Rev Cole was brought up by atheist parents in Kent. Her nurse training took her to Bath where she met her husband of 44 years, John, to whom she is grateful for supporting her role as a non-stipendiary member of the clergy. With hindsight, Rev Cole said she saw many stepping stones along the way to her conversion to the Christian faith. But it was on a healing visit to the Holy Land, when she was aged only 39 and suffering badly from Multiple Sclerosis, that Rev Cole was miraculously cured. She had struggled to finished the Way of the Cross, a walk along the path Christ is thought to have taken to his death. Hobbling on sticks because of her MS, Rev Cole reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again, and her degenerative illness vanished. “That was my conversion,” said Rev Cole, who confounded her doctors by her recovery. She later appeared on television’s “Highway” religious programme with the late Sir Harry Seacombe to give her testimony and has travelled widely around the UK to talk about her experience. Mrs Cole has also helped drug addicts, been involved with the Mothers Union, the Beresford women’s refuge in Stroud and is deeply concerned with conflict in the Middle East which she has visited many times.

Repairs at last to Doublespout - see two photos - the road has had a river running across it at this section for many weeks - it is at last being put right.

Alpacas savaged by a dog and sheep shot dead by rifleman - this was another story - and shocking - in the first attack, farmer Matt Jeynes had 10 of his sheep shot dead on farmland in Corse Lawn by a mystery rifleman. While in a separate incident, two alpacas in Whiteshill were mauled to death by a dog. Police have appealed for information to track down the dog's owner after the attack in Whiteshill, between 1pm and 3pm on Monday, June 16. A public footpath in the field has been fenced off to protect the alpacas. The path is often used by dog walkers between Haresfield Beacon and Randwick Woods. A woman had been seen calling away a small black dog, possibly a Labrador, from an Alpaca shortly before the discovery was made. The Citizen report PC Sian Garland saying: “This was a very frenzied attack on timid and gentle livestock who have a strong sense of family.” It is believed that the dog responsible would have been left heavily blood stained as a result of the attack. Police are calling for the dog owner, or dog walkers who use the route who may have information or witnessed the incident, to come forward. If you have any information about the shootings call police on 08457 444 888, quoting either 489S/160608 or 763S/160608. If it's about the Alpaca attacks contact police on 0845 090 1234 quoting incident 329 of June 16.

Whiteshill Chicane - see photo left - still awaiting repairs and despite residents, Parish and myself writing we have not even had a response. The cycle part through remains blocked - how many months? And why no reply?

400 cyclists - on Sunday 400 folk cycled along the Golden Valley from Stroud to Chalford to highlight the need for a cycle path. I know several Whiteshill folk amongst them - sadly I was away so missed the event but good on them all - it is sad that at the moment the canal regeneration project seems to be going for only a metre wide multi-user trail on that section - not much good for commuting if you have pedestrians on the route - we are missing something serious if we don't see a proper route developed. Meanwhile there have been various activities this week promoting cycling to school and Green Travel week (see photo of poster with suppport from Transition Stroud).

Walking the Land exhibition

Earlier today I managed to visit the Space in Stroud and the Walking the Land exhibition. See their website - especially photos from the amazing 'River'exhibition - all sorts capturing the River Severn - Britain's longest river. Indeed there is lots on their website to explore:
www.walkingtheland.org.uk

One of the exhibits that touched me at the exhibition today was a few photos from people with treasured local trees - the exhibition asks people to email their trees - now I could mention quite a few like locally the 'Lone Ash' - but one that touched me lots was a beautiful cherry tree that was cut down to make way for an off-road parking space.

The homeowners did nothing legally wrong but there was no consultation and to me this shows a shocking disregard for our urban trees by our Highways Department - indeed see the previous blog which I wrote more about urban trees here. The second photo is how it is now.

Talk on Ruscombe Brook and managing our local water courses

The Ruscombe Brook Action Group will meet in Randwick Village Hall (by the Playing Fields) on Tuesday 8th July at 7.30pm for their AGM to share progress of improvements to the brook, an report by a Italian Masters degree student working on plans for the brook and hopes for future work. Drinks and nibbles. All welcomed. Further details from Philip Booth on 01453 755451.

Meanwhile last night was a Brook Action Group meeting - so much to talk about that we didn't escape until 10.40pm.....plans for AGM (see above), a pack for householders to show how they get money back if they put their water into soakaways, an offer from a local bank to send 15 to 20 people for a day to help clear a few key sections of the brook, a funding bit to update our website (much needed), a closer look at Problems in Puckshole and more. Indeed come and hear about it all at the AGM.

We've also been following up on the recent incident of sewage leaking (see previous blog entries) - here is one of the comments from the person who first found the problem: "On 1st June I found a manhole cover adjacent to the brook was displaced and raw sewage was running into the pond and brook. On the following morning I called Severn Trent who quickly attended and found that the sewer section between the manhole on my farm and the next manhole on the near-by farm was blocked. The blockage could not be cleared by rodding. They then arranged for high pressure water clearance from the next manhole down. This cleared the blockage but the raw sewage had to be pumped from the pond down the sewer line. Not all the sewage could be pumped and a large quantity passed down the brook. The following day a camera was passed through that section of sewer and a half brick was discovered, this may have caused the original problem."

Ireland: people power wins

Ireland Votes No to Lisbon Treaty. The Green Party is welcoming the clear No vote in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. 862,415 voted No, compared to 752,451 who voted Yes.

Under EU laws, if one of its member states rejects a treaty, the EU is mandated to scrap the bill. But Gordon Brown and the European Union seem to be showing contempt for direct democracy and trying to ignore the Irish referendum. Brown saying ratification will continue in Britain.

The Lisbon Treaty is merely a crude repackaging of the 2005 EU Constitution that was mothballed after being rejected by France and Holland in 2005 (whose citizens were barred from voting this time around) See previous blogs here and here.

Tell Gordon to respect the verdict of the Irish people - and drop the Treaty: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Abandon-Lisbon/

Cllr. Rupert Read, Lead Green Party candidate for the 2009 European Elections in Eastern Region put it well: "The remote political establishment of Brussels has had their dream of ever greater centralisation of political power utterly shattered today. People power has won. The voters of Ireland saw though the pretence that the Treaty was a harmless exercise and recognised it for what it is - a further draining away of democracy from member states. The UK Government would not dare put this Treaty to a vote here as the majority No vote would be overwhelming. Irish voters have sent a clear message on behalf of all the ordinary people of Europe - that the Euro elite have now got to stop their grand plans to rule the continent without consent.

"A new democratic settlement is needed for Europe that retains co-operation between states but allows them the ability to make their own decisions on matters that affect their own people without being micromanaged from Brussels. The Green Party opposes the Lisbon Treaty because it would have led to the further militarisation of the EU, as well as measures to promote increased economic liberalisation - which is an agenda for big business, at the expense of local communities. The Green Party favours localisation, instead. Lisbon squandered a unique opportunity to put sustainability and climate security genuinely at the heart of the Union, and failed to bring the EU institutions closer to European citizens. It is a great thing that the Irish people have enabled us to see the back of such a failed Treaty."

42 days: shameful

The Governments vote to extend the detention without charge time to 42 days is totally shameful. Even our current legislation allows suspects to be detained for up to 28 days - the longest time in Europe (see my previous blog here).

Above pic: Liberty's campaign - see more here

Worse still by focussing only on the 42 days we are in danger of overlooking other measures in the bill which are equally problematic, especially given the excessively broad definition of terrorism contained in the 2000 Terrorism Act.

"Anti-terror" powers are increasingly being used to incriminate innocent people and this bill will further exacerbate this. The Bill also proposes forms of punishment that may be imposed after conviction, without further due legal process and even on the basis of secret evidence withheld from defendants. In addition, the measures to allow no-jury inquests in the name of "national security" would seriously undermine police accountability.

Counter-terror powers are already more than sufficient and the counter-terrorism bill as it stands does more to endanger than to enhance public safety.

See a great Green blog entry on David Davis here - despite Davis' honourable views on 42 days there is much that we Greens find very hard to swallow....for example he voted:

• For the death penalty;
• Very strongly for the Iraq War;
• Against equal rights for LGBT people;
• Against the ban on hunting.

As the blog author, Aled Dilwyn Fisher writes: "Let’s be clear – Davis’s resignation has brought up a lot of issues, including the wider government agenda. But let’s not confuse the bringing up of issues with this being a move we should applaud."

Badger and TB: is the answer obvious?

The locally based group, Stop the War on Badgers has lost their website for a while so I've been asked to enclose the key information of their position below as it looks like a decision on culling is imminent from the Government. See also previous blog entries on this topic by using the search engine.

Copyright photo: Badger by Tony Evans Nature Picture Library reproduced with permission from Stop War on Badgers

The main thrust of the groups' current message is along the lines of what the Badger Trust are doing. This points out the differences in TB policy and results in different parts of the British Isles.

Republic of Ireland: killing loads of badgers - no effect on bTB levels.
Wales: now devolved - have taken the progressive step of allowing policy to be dictated by a powerful union (The Farmers' Union of Wales). Remains to be seen what the results will be, but Badger Trust has mounted legal challenge to this.
Northern Ireland: Quietly got to grips with backlog of bTB tests after Foot & Mouth, and have introduced sophisticated cattle controls. No badger culling. bTB dramatically down.
England: NFU want us to follow example of Rep of Ireland (duh). Will the govt cave in?

This message is really simple (for most of us), and people can be left to draw their own conclusions. Here are some further comments from a Stop the War member:

The Badger Trust is also highlighting lack of controls when moving cattle to shows. Recent outbreaks in allegedly 'closed herds' have been (on closer inspection) in cases where cattle have been sent to shows to socialise with loads of other (untested) animals.

But any alternatives to the badger theory are literally unthinkable for the NFU and their allies (including in the veterinary profession) because of the possible implications - that it could be these very people who have caused the problem, by their forgetting of the importance of cattle controls, specifically after the 2001 FMD outbreak, which is when bTB really exploded.

Their threats not to cooperate with (necessary) cattle controls unless they are also allowed to kill badgers (unnecessary) amounts to a last-ditch attempt to manufacture evidence. (bTB will eventually go down, thanks to renewed cattle controls, but they will say it was because they killed badgers. But the Northern Ireland example should show this up for the con that it is, which is why what's happening there should be brought to the attention of as many people as possible.)

And here is stuff from their website: Bovine TB biosecurity explained (November 2007)

Most of the confusion in the bovine TB debate arises from not understanding the nature of the disease, and how it was controlled in the past.

Just as with human tuberculosis, bovine TB is a lung ‘consumption’. It has two main stages:

1) an advanced/infectious stage, where there are visible lesions (VL) in the lungs, which will release bacteria into the sputum. This stage is detectable either by X-ray or by examining the dead animal after slaughter – but it tends not to be picked up by the bTB skin test.

2) a latent/incubating stage, which is hard to detect in a slaughtered animal, as there are no visible lesions. At a very early stage, it may also be missed when examining a tissue sample under a microscope, as there will only be very small numbers of Myobacterium bovis bacteria present.

The way to contain and eventually eliminate the disease is to identify cases at the latent stage and remove them (by slaughter or chemotherapy) before they progress to the advanced stage, when they can pass the disease on.

But the tools for identifying this latent stage are imperfect. The bTB skin test only works in the middle range of the disease (see below). Also, if an infected cow has recently calved it can temporarily give a false negative.

The way round this limitation is to repeat the skin test at intervals of ONE YEAR or less. This will catch most cases before they reach the advanced/infectious stage.

This is exactly what happened in the 1960s. The infectious reservoir of VL cases (hard to detect in living animals) dwindled over time, as these animals were sent to slaughter (believed bTB free until examined at abattoir). Meanwhile annual testing stopped the reservoir being topped up.

By the early 1970s this strategy had cleared the disease from most of Britain, and cut cases to a tiny fraction of their former levels (see below). (The remaining bTB ‘hotspots’ were limited to the South West, an area of particularly high cattle density and intensification, where biosecurity measures should also include attention to such things as the safe disposal of potentially infectious slurry.)

But if the test interval is extended beyond one year, the disease will start to get out of control, as more animals reach the advanced/infectious stage.

This is exactly what happened from 2001. During the Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) epidemic, all bTB tests were stopped, and the backlog was not properly addressed until 4 years later – after untested cattle had been moved around the country to restock depleted areas. The results of this disastrous ‘experiment’ speak for themselves.

However, after 36 years of repetition (from 1971), the received wisdom among certain influential groups remains the same: that badgers are the main source of bTB. This belief is why basic cattle biosecurity was abandoned after FMD, and why there is continuing resistance to concentrating on the necessary measures now.

Government planning airport expansions on $60 a barrel

I'm just back from a Glos Airport Action Group meeting in Cheltenham - a very pleasant drink in a pub as well...lots to talk about in terms of next steps...although you have to wonder that the house of cards has started to fall...

One example is the BBC report: Airline cuts route over fuel cost. A low-cost airline has suspended one of its domestic routes because of the high price of aviation fuel. Exeter-based airline Flybe is halting its flights from Newquay in Cornwall to Glasgow. The service, introduced earlier this year as one of several new routes aimed at business travellers, will cease from the beginning of August. The company said flights to Glasgow would resume when the price of fuel goes down.

The 'when' is a little optimistic - see previous post today on Peak Oil. Staverton Airport of course claim they are insulated from this as they deal mainly with corporate flights. Anyhow today WWF released a news release saying...

Government spin oils the wheels of airport expansion

The impact of soaring oil prices on the UK economy will significantly reduce future air passenger numbers, bringing into question the need for airport expansion, according to new independent research released by WWF today. The case for airport expansion, including the third runway at Heathrow, is based on the premise that there will be more air passengers in future than the UK’s airports can currently handle. The research reworked the Government’s air passenger forecasts for 2030, examining the impacts of a more realistic price of oil, the knock-on effect this could have on UK GDP, and the potential introduction of policies encouraging a switch towards alternatives.

Combined, these factors produce an estimated figure of 350 million air passengers in 2030 - nearly 150 million less than the Government assumes will be taking to the skies and well within the current UK airport capacity of around 425 million passengers per year. The Government’s air passenger forecast assumes that oil prices today are only US$60 a barrel and will fall to $53 by 2012 and remain at that level indefinitely. At present, oil costs $136 a barrel, with some analysts forecasting prices as high as $200 in the near future. By doubling the Government’s estimate to a conservative assumption of $106 a barrel in 2030, the impact of the increased oil price on air fares alone would cause an estimated 15% reduction in the growth of air passengers.

“The Government’s current projections for passenger numbers are pie in the sky, based on estimated oil prices which border on the fantastical,” says Peter Lockley, Head of Transport Policy at WWF. “What’s more, the Government hasn’t even examined a scenario where it makes an effort to promote alternatives to flying such as videoconferencing.”

The research also examines the economic modelling used by the Government specifically to justify the third runway at Heathrow. By applying a few simple and reasonable adjustments to the Government’s model - raising the projected price of carbon, only counting the
benefits to UK passengers rather than non-UK ones and not counting taxes as a benefit - the £5 billion benefit claimed by the government swiftly becomes a £5 billion loss.

“Expanding the UK’s airports means locking the UK into a carbon-intensive future that is incompatible with the Government’s climate change targets,” says Peter Lockley. “If passengers start turning away from planes thanks to high oil prices and better alternatives, or we look a little more closely at the Government’s calculations behind projected profits, then the economic case for putting added pressure on the climate begins to look extremely shaky.”

WWF calculates that greater use of videoconferencing and alternative methods of travel combined could serve to reduce passenger growth by up to 13%. These figures are backed up by their recent report, Travelling Light, which discovered that 89% of major businesses expect to cut their flights in the future and that a similar number believe videoconferencing is the key way to achieve this. WWF is currently asking businesses to take the One in Five Challenge, and reduce their flights by 20% within five years, as part of its One Planet Future campaign and strongly urges Government agencies and departments to sign up to the campaign and commit to cutting their flights.

Staverton latest

There is a rumour that Gloucester City are planning a U turn, switching to supporting the airport's plans. They would do this based on a loop hole - someone has found a rule the gist of which is that a council can not take a decision that would lead to a business it owns going bankrupt. The airport will of course insist that their future depends on implementing the 'safety measures' thus obliging the council to support them.

We have certainly heard that the airport decision is likely to return to scrutiny before then heading for cabinet again. It should be a simple enough argument to anyone with a basic understanding of economics, the Airport is more likely to go bust by incurring a large investment that needs to be paid off in difficult economic circumstances. Indeed there are so many additional reasons why we should not be supporting this expansion....

Anyway on another matter some months we found details of the Belgian 'Abrahams' case that interpreted EU directives and seemed to set a precedent requiring that Staverton should conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its development because the runway is more than 1200m long. The meeting reported that lawyers we are talking to, discovered that, in interpreting the EU directives, different countries have set different thresholds above which an EIA is compulsory - in the UK this is 2500m whereas in Belgium it is 1200m. Hence we can't rely on the Abrahams case findings on runway length to force an EIA. Although to me there is still a moral argument for one! However the Airport's 'scoping document' argues that no EIA is required. We need to do more work on this....

We tried to get the Airport's Scoping document and failed - however it is now being made available after FoE sought it through Freedom Of Information legislation - we also are seeking their noise report which indicates all the extra planes make no sound at all and the Air Quality report that says all smells of rosebuds - well not exactly but we are keen to see what they say - why are the Airport reluctant to release them - they say they show no problems - then again they did deny climate change was man-made....anyway lots more to report but I've run out of energy...

NHS plan to waste money on fluoridation

Hampshire Against Fluoridation have carried out an in depth review of South Central Strategic Health Authority's financial analysis of fluoridation. This is of particular interest to me as a founder member of the Safe Water Campaign (see photo of one of our stalls in Stroud a couple of months ago) - see our blog here:
http://safewatercampaign.blogspot.com/

Our group has been seeing what can be done to help Southampton fight this latest move by their Strategic Health Authority. Below is some of what they found reviewing the financial implications - startling indeed....

The Isle of Mann have at least this last week rejected plans to fluoridate - although on the basis of a survey of 1,000 people! This is not consultation. See here.

Anyhow this is what Green party and Hampshire Against Fluoridation have found:

· Using the government's own York Review statistics and the South Central SHA's financial analysis, then the direct extra costs of fluoridation are expected to be £604,406. If the costs already committed to date are included fluoridation will cost at least £1 million pounds more to the NHS than if they do not fluoridate. This can be seen from just from the report and combining it with with the York Review that stated that the best estimate of dental improvement in five year olds is 15%.

· The analysis has a mistake in their use of statistics which means that the supposed benefits are much less. This mistake would cost the NHS another £1 million on top of the above, meaning that fluoridation, even using the SHA financial assumptions would cost at least £2 million pounds more than not fluoridating. The reduction of 15% in five year olds is not matched by a similar reduction across the population as fluoride only delays caries formation due to its effect of delaying the eruption of teeth by around one year (a serious indication of systemic fluorosis).

· The Health Authorities have excluded any consideration of the costs of treating dental fluorosis from their calculations. This is because they would force private individuals to pay for treatment. Dental fluorosis causes brown and pitted teeth which can be extremely unsightly, or worse. Assuming that only those with moderate or severe dental fluorosis would choose treatment, and taking the York Review's own figure that this would affect one in eight people in fluoridated areas, the cost of this treatment would be around £20 million pounds over twenty years. Those who are too poor to pay over £100 per treatment would have the clearly visible stigma of brown or pitted teeth, causing social scorn, loss of confidence and worse job prospects. This would be a clear stigma of poverty, the dental marks of shame. Hampshire Against Fluoridation say that these cost to put right the bad effects of fluoride must be paid for by the Health Authorities. If they continue to refuse to promise this then concerned citizens should get together and take them to court to force them to face up to the true consequences of their actions.

· There is also a complete exclusion of any side effects from fluoridation. Even the government admits that "dental fluorosis is a manifestation of systemic toxicity" (i.e. the whole body is getting gradually poisoned by fluoride). Our Health Authorities are guilty of a major misuse of science. It either means that the authors of their report have a very limited reading list or that they are wrongly excluding a mass of compelling evidence that long term ingestion of fluoride at levels of 1 ppm in water has major medical side effects. If the costs of these serious side effects are taken into consideration, even assuming some are not as bad as feared, then the extra costs to the NHS would soon come to more than £100 million, and that does not include the suffering caused to people and their loss of earnings.

John Spottiswoode, Chairperson of Hampshire Against Fluoridation and Coordinator of SW Hampshire Green Party, said: "It is clear that water fluoridation would be extremely costly to the NHS, adding millions of pounds to their costs with little, if any, medical benefit even for teeth. This is not only a waste of the NHS's scarce resources but also an absurd taking away of this money from the many health areas that so badly needed the money. It is now clear why the areas that already fluoridate their water not only have just as high costs of dentistry, but they are also pushing a lot of the costs from fluoridation onto private people to pay for. With cost figures such as these it would be clinically and financially mad to proceed with water fluoridation."

Interestingly one of the main reasons offered by 'health chiefs' in the UK for fluoridation is that it reduces health inequalities - however the conclusions of an international study are worth serious attention...In the Irish Times Health News of 10th June 2008 there was an interesting reference to an international study on health inequalities. The study which was funded by the US National Institute of Health, the Czech government, the Welsh R&D Office and a Norwegian health foundation and performed in 17 countries at 27 different sites.

Its results were published in 2004, title is "International comparisons in health inequalities in childhood dental caries." Countries looked at were: England, Scotland, Wales, N.Ireland, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark,Italy, Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, (UK members counted as one country, ie 8 countries). US & Mexico, S.Africa, Madagascar & Tanzania, China, Singapore, Thailand and Pakistan. For those who need to access it directly, here is the link;
http://www.who.int/oral_health/media/en/orh_cdh_0304_10_international.pdf

The key point for the Hampshire 'debate' is that the PCT must be pressed on this study's conclusions, which many Hampshire people have already articulated in their replies to this debate. The conclusions were : "Parental beliefs and attitudes play a key role in moderating oral health-related behaviour in young children and in determining whether they develop dental caries."

Plus: "The most significant variable for the whole study population predicting whether children would be caries-free was not the children's oral halth related behaviour but a parents' attitude to their perceived ability to deliver the behavious (in this case regular and effective toothbrushing)"(page 125) This is reinforced on page 129 by: "The results of these studies provide important new data in showing how parents' attitudes and beliefsabout oral health-related behaviour are associated with the likelihood of their children developing dental caries." As for the relevance of socio-economic factors, it went on to say: "This study also found clear variations in parental beliefs and behaviours for different ethnic and socio-economic groups that separately impact on their childrens' oral health related behaviour."

Another interesting point about this international study is that the researchers, (including long-time promoter of fluoridation in Ireland, Dr Helen Whelton from University College Cork) did not allow for the confounding factor of water fluoridation. While this omission would undermine the research validity, nevertheless the fact that fluoridation proponents downplayed its role and concentrated instead on the influence of parents getting their children to brush their teeth, is surely not insignificant.

At last peak oil is being discussed

The papers have at last with rising oil prices woken up to Peak Oil - well a little - I have thrown together some thoughts and links on this topic - to start read an interview with the International Energy Agency's Chief Economist Fatih Birol:
http://transitionculture.org/2008/06/12/fatih-birol-offers-the-world-an-oil-health-check/

A quick advert for Paul Mobbs talking in Stroud - his book from 2005, "Energy Beyond Oil” was the first book I read on the subject - he will be talking on Thursday 10th July at 7.30 in the British School.

Richard Pike, a former oil industry man who is now chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry counters these claims and has said there is nothing to worry about. He says estimates suggest there are 1,200 billion barrels of proven global reserves, but the industry's internal figures suggest this amounts to less than half of what actually exists. However Jeremy Leggett, author of Half Gone, a book on peak oil, says. "The flow rates from the existing projects are the key. Capacity coming on stream falls fast beyond 2011. On top of that, if the big old fields begin collapsing, the descent in supply will hit the world very hard."

It is worth remembering that reserves are pretty irrelevent really - it's how fast they can be extracted that matters. World reserves jumped in the last couple of years as Canada included tar sands and Venezuala heavy tar oil. However neither of these resources can be exploited rapidly... they don't flow like the light crude from the big fields that produce most of the worlds 85million barrels a day and are all entering decline...

Also in contrast to Pike the chief executive of the world's largest energy company, Alexey Miller, the head of the Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom, has issued the most dire warning yet about the soaring the price of oil, predicting that it will hit $250 per barrel "in the foreseeable future".

Photo: Petrol pump I came across on Saturday

This means £2-per-litre petrol is not far off - and this will send shockwaves through the economy. Last week the price hit $139.12 per barrel and we have seen our Government urging motorists not to panic-buy petrol during the strike by lorry drivers who deliver petrol to forecourts for Royal Dutch Shell. In Spain, Catalonia enacted an emergency action plan to bring in fresh food and fuel supplies after nearly half of its forecourts ran dry and supermarkets shelves were left bare. The situation was the result of the second day of an "indefinite" nationwide strike staged by lorry drivers in Spain seeking their government's help to contain the effects of expensive petrol. Meanwhile there have also been protests by drivers and fisherman in France and Portugal.

As Greens have been warning for a long time the price of everything from food to energy is set to rise significantly. It is just a pity the Government have not been listening! Much could have been done to ease the transition away from fossil fuel dependence but we are now set to see sharp shocks to many of us. The blame can certainly also be put on financial speculators for oil's price rise – it has more than doubled in the past year – and of course the primary reason is simple supply and demand, driven by the rapidly expanding countries of the developing world, principally China and India (driven in part by our insatiable thirst for consumer goods).

Another place to put the blame is on the Iraq War - reports last month suggest that oil costs are three times more than they should be as a result of that war. Our lives are going to change as we struggle to cope with the $200 barrel later this year as predicted by Goldman Sachs. See The Independent article in full here.

Picnic with Transition Stroud

One exciting response to Peak Oil is the Transition Town network - a hopeful, positive and indeed the most inspirational green movement in Britain today. It is exciting because it's a fast-growing, direct, bottom-up response to an oil crisis which is already affecting us all. Check out Transition Stroud and other items mentioned on this blog - here are meaningful solutions to three of the greatest challenges we face today - peak oil, food shortages and climate change. It doesn't wait for government, politicians or corporations to act; it's about people in their communities taking action now, and joining together to create an alternative vision of how society could be. To find out more go to one of the websites or join folk at a Transition Picnic on Rodborough Common (near Fort) on Saturday 21st June at 11:30. Bring some summer food to share. Followed by Rodborough fete (Butterow Lane) at 2.00pm where there will be a Transition Stroud stall.

See also Post Carbon Cities here and an excellent discussion on oil prices from Rob Hopkins here.

Professor Heinberg who spoke in Stroud last year, will be known to readers of this blog as a Peak Oil guru and author of "The Party's Over" and "Powerdown". Below a Green colleague has put together a series of links as a handout on the issue. If this is all new to you I strongly urge you to listen to the following short films.

Richard Heinberg's Peak Everything - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRz91eimTg&feature=related

• It takes energy to get energy. There has to be a profit: Net energy.
• Language provides a huge advantage in organisation and progress.
• Tools leverage energy and have become more sophisticated.
• Industrial revolution = "Fossil Fuel Revolution"
• "We won the energy lottery..."
• Machines could carry their own energy supply...
• Energy Per Capita use has skyrocketed (since the Paleolithic).
• World population - a perilous success
• Our entire existence is based on extraction of exhaustible resources.

Richard Heinberg's Peak Everything - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3_mYowxlEg&feature=related

• Limits to Growth, 1972, debunked? No.
• Periodic updates to this show it truer than ever.
• US WAS world's foremost oil exporter but US oil production peaked in 1970.
• In 33 of the largest 48 oil producing countries, production is declining.
• Global production PEAK FOR OIL WAS May 2005.
• High oil prices are a huge incentive to bring any readily available oil to market.
• But the May 2005 record has not been beaten.
• US gas supply forecasts have been hugely overestimated.
• British coal: "used virtually all of that fossil fuel energy"
• Reserve to production ratios always lie!
• Most recent reserve estimates are the most pessimistic.

Richard Heinberg's Peak Everything - Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNbVVT2B5iw&feature=related

• Global coal could PEAK in 15-20 years.
• First in China because of huge coal consumption
• Peak in ALL fossil fuels around 2010.
• Climate change also an enormous problem...
• But scarcity is likely impact sociaty before major climate impacts.
• Global Uranium supplies will peak well before 2050
• Major nuclear development will speed this up.
• Rare elements also heading for exhaystion from 5-20 years
• Eg, indium and gallium for solar panels...
• World water use record consumprion
• Arable land declining...
• Topsoil in tons per person, trend plummeting.
• World grain production has peaked!
• Biodiversity loss, downward slide.
• Technical breakthroughs per capita... !!
• Total CO2 emissions has NOT peaked.
• Arctic ice record low (2005), huge experiment with Earth atmosphere.
• We baby boomers alone have consumed about half the non-renewable resources.

Richard Heinberg's Peak Everything - Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyO0WS79Xec&feature=related

• Perhaps the Limits to Growth collapse already begun?
• Roman Empire collapse, cures failed (like today's)
• Can we contract and become sustainable for coming generations
• We cannot replace fossil fuels adequately.
• Replace machine labour with human labour
• System for massive relocation of people necessary.
• Water, energy shortages, grocery stores stocks
• Closer to local resource base
• Massive replacement of infrastructure
• Scenario 1: Feudal Fascism
• Possible futures, fuedalism, total surveillance
• Scenario 2: The eco-deal
• FDR, "ecological Keynesianism", reorganise
• Scenario 3: Bottoms-up
• local governments, civic society
• US, China, Russia: authoritarian solutions are already the default

Richard Heinberg's Peak Everything - Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5EcK-CdLNA&feature=related

• What do we do NOW!?
• "We are borrowing from future generations in a way that can never be repaid."
• Work needs to be done at all levels.
• Personal, family: We should be gardening! Rooftop gardens for cities.
• Local and regional:"We need electric trolley lines!"
• "The personal automobile just happens to be the least efficient means of transport ever devised."
• Food crops into fuel for cars: millions might starve so a few can drive!
• Government: Public electrified transport
• Policies: Oil Depletion Protocol, mandate reductions in consumption.
• Fossil fuels are at the centre of this, exacted an enormous cost.
• We are facing in essence a great Energy Transition.
• Climate change necessary for survival.
• This transition is NOT OPTIONAL.
• Relocalization not Globalization. Especially food.
• We average 10 calories of fossil fuel energy to produce one calorie of food.

Richard Heinberg's Peak Everything - Part 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJpUswRKwIw&feature=related

• HOPE? "There is no hope for business as usual..."
• Reality consists of living within the limits of the natural world.
• Living within limits is going to take some WORK! Sacrifice.
• Call upon the highest and best of human nature and character
• Living up to our potential and promise as human beings...
• All we have to do is change our consciousness, our expectations and our behaviour!
• And we CAN DO THAT extraordinarily rapidly!
• We need to reshape society over the coming decades.
• What has NOT peaked: Community, Personal Autonomy, Work Satisfaction, Family, IngenuityCooperation, contribution, , artistry
• See the Transition Town movement in Britain
• See the Relocalization Network in the US: Oil Independent Oakland Task Force, by 2020, See Portland, Oregon.
• The range of efforts necessary is itself enormous. It's up to you!

22nd June International Day of Hunger Strike against “Star Wars”

Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar, after 21 days, suspended their hunger strike on the 2nd June but it continues in relay form in the Czech Republic with the participation of politicians, scientists and artists, etc. See previous blogs on this topic and message from Jan Tamas to readers of Ruscombe Green. Here is the latest video message by Jan Tamas.

To give even more force to this great nonviolent protest, a Worldwide 1-Day Hunger Strike on June 22nd is proposed for everyone able to participate - a simple but significant gesture - as one campaigner said: “Stop feeding the war machine and start feeding the people!”

It’s scandalous that one thousand million dollars are destined to military spending, when with different choices this money could solve the problems of hunger, lack of education and the environment. See the site:
http://nenasili.cz/en/1494_worldwide-hunger-strike-22th-june-2008

Meanwhile Peter Pollard is now camping on the grass verge of the Kettlesing layby (A59) opposite the Black Bull pub. On Saturday he started a week long fast in support of Jan Tamas and Jan Bednar, other hunger strikers and the 70% of the people in the Czech Republic who oppose the siting of the radar facilities for the American Missile Defense system in their country. Pete also aims to focus on the role of Menwith Hill and Fylingdales with Missile Defense.

Elsewhere there are other strikers - for example in Italy, Giorgio Schultze started a hunger strike on the 1st of June and suspended it on the 13th of June in Brussels where, together with Jan Tamas, he met with Luisa Morgantini – Vice-President of the European Parliament and many other MEPs (members of the European Parliament). On the 9th of July, there will be a meeting and press conference in Strasbourg with MEPs opposed to the Star Wars project, he will present the signatures gathered by the on-line petition. A great opportunity to redouble efforts and reach 200,000 signatures!

Serious mud makes footpath almost impassable

At the end of Wheelers Walk, Paganhill, where the footpath goes into the Ruscombe fields the footpath has got increasingly impossible to pass without getting very muddy. It would appear a new spring has appeared or perhaps a water main leak?

The photos here hide much of the mud - what looks like rocks is infact polystyrene put down by folk to try and cross. Metal, material, cardboard and many other things are also being put down by local to try and pass without getting wet.

I have written to the County to see if there is anything they could do to improve this situation? A bridge perhaps?

Hope for climate action: petition Japan now

Two weeks of global climate negotiations have just wrapped up with no real progress. The rich nations are clearly the culprits, refusing to take the lead and commit to emissions cuts that will bring the rest of the world on board. Campaigners now think the best hope is the G8 summit chaired by Japan in a couple of weeks time. If Japan's Prime Minister offers bold leadership, the G8 summit could be a breakthrough. But, so far, he is pushing in the wrong direction.

Photos: Beech trees in Standish woods at the weekend - already in SE England and East Anglia beech trees are suffering from the changes weather conditions. Ecologists are suggesting we could loose most or all beech trees from the SE in coming years as a result of climate change - see here.

Next Wednesday, June 18, international campaign group Avaaz will hand-deliver their new climate petition to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. They want 250,000 voices in a few short days. Sign the petition:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_climate_wakeup/13.php?cl=97523659

We've already shown that a global public outcry on climate change can move Fukuda's policy. Asahi Shimbun, Japan's second-largest newspaper, told the story in a lengthy article this January. At a critical, high-level meeting on global warming after the UN negotiations in Bali, the Environment Minister reportedly held up Avaaz's "Titanic" newspaper ad - showing Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda, with Bush, steering towards climate disaster... along with a call for tough 2020 emissions targets, signed by 90,000 Avaaz members. The minister reportedly said: "The world sees Japan as a force resisting change! Are we okay with this?"

The Chief Cabinet Minister suggested setting a target. Days later, after having steadfastly resisted the idea at Bali, Prime Minister Fukuda announced his decision: Japan would, indeed set a 2020 emissions target. Now, five months on, Fukuda has indeed laid out a target - but it falls far short of what scientists say is necessary to avert a climate catastrophe. This year's G8 summit will begin on the same day as the Tanabata festival, when citizens write their wishes on pieces of paper and hang them from bamboo trees. This Wednesday, Avaaz are calling us to send the biggest-ever Tanabata wish: for a climate change treaty strong enough to save the planet.

Report warns of dangers

It is only a few weeks ago that a decisive report showed the extent to which climate change is already disrupting global ecosystems and the planet's wildlife. The report was compiled by eminent independent climateologists and scientists from around the world and published in the science journal 'Nature'. It offers conclusive evidence that 90% of environmental damage and disruption around the world can be explained by rising temperatures, most likely driven by human activity.

This report not only appears to confirm what we already know, but demands urgent policy frameworks to prevent the most damaging consequences of climate change - a global temperature rise of above 2oC. Here was Green MEP Caroline Lucas' comment: "Unlike the three grey political parties, the Green Party has the policies and ideas that propose serious solutions to climate change. Such policies would mean ensure that cutting emissions would bring immediate benefits in the shape of increased employment, decreased fuel poverty, and stronger communities - as well as demonstrating good faith with developing nations by adopting the 'Contraction and Convergence' model which places the greatest onus for reducing emissions on the developed nations which are most responsible for producing them."

Call for Feed-in tariffs

Another petition you might consider signing is for feed in tariffs - in Germany, electricity generated by householders and industry, using new renewable technologies such as solar power, attract a favourable price set by the Government and fixed for a number of years. There is an obligation for the energy companies to buy that electricity at the set tariff. Once the new technology has been established and become economically viable, as for example with wind power, the tariff is reduced to the regular market rate. In the U.K., solar and geothermal power on a small and large scale, and the budding but underfunded wave and tidal power industries, would benefit greatly from such a tariff. The U.K. could be self sufficient in renewable energy, and a world leader in wave generation technology, but only if Government help is forthcoming. The Government recently gave the impression they had ruled this option out but now seem to be warming to the idea again.

If you agree to the UK having the same chances of renewable energy security that the Germans already have, why not sign the petition:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Feed-In-Tarrifs/

One way to campaign - but not mine!!

Watch a short film of French man Alain Robert's climb of the NY Times Building here.

A grand jury has just rejected all criminal charges against the guy. He faced charges of Trespassing, Graffiti, Reckless Endangerment and Disorderly Conduct, which could have resulted in up to one year in jail. But the grand jurors listened, about the time taken to assure the climb would be safe to onlookers and the climber. Two counts of disorderly conduct remain, but these are not criminal charges - more like a parking ticket under New York law. Alain said afterwards: "As long as greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb, so will I.
But we need as many people as possible with us."