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Climate Crisis

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    Challenged about Trevelyan’s record, the prime minister said: “Ann-Marie will do an outstanding job as secretary of state for international trade.” He then went on to raise his own past record as a climate sceptic.

    “I don’t want to encourage you, but if you were to excavate some of my articles from 20 years ago you might find comments I made, obiter dicta, about climate change that weren’t entirely supportive of the current struggle, but the facts change and people change their minds and change their views and that’s very important too,” he said, adding: “The fact is the UK is leading the world and you should be proud of it.”

    As recently as 2015, Johnson claimed “global leaders were driven by a primitive fear that the present ambient warm weather is somehow caused by humanity; and that fear – as far as I understand the science – is equally without foundation”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/20/johnson-defends-new-trade-secretary-after-climate-crisis-denial-tweets

    Posted 2 years ago #
  2. crowriver
    Member

  3. crowriver
    Member

    So it is possible for Scottish cities to express an achievable vision for the future. If only Edinburgh would do something similar! Instead we have a very modest set of plans most of which are running years late, if they happen at all.

    https://news.stv.tv/west-central/glasgow-council-bosses-hope-to-build-160-miles-of-cycle-lanes-in-city

    Posted 2 years ago #
  4. chdot
    Admin

    Friends of the Earth Scotland campaigner Alex Lee described it as "just another distraction tactic", adding there was an "urgent need" to end fossil fuel production, scale-up renewable energy and invest in green jobs.

    "Hydrogen technology enthusiasts fail to mention that it is wildly expensive, inefficient and is not zero carbon," they added.

    Ineos, however, says its road map highlights its commitment to supporting the goals of the Paris Accord and helping the Scottish government in its drive for a "just transition" to a net zero economy.

    The Scottish government's net zero secretary, Michael Matheson, welcomed the investment.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58642266

    Posted 2 years ago #
  5. chdot
    Admin

    “The global north should be developing climate policies that have at their core climate justice and accountability to the most affected people and areas,” said Valentina Ruas, from Brazil. “Instead, they continue to exploit vulnerable communities and recklessly extract fossil fuel, while bragging about their insignificant emission reduction plans.”.

    —-

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said the world’s carbon emissions must fall by half by 2030 to keep global heating below 1.5C, the limit countries agreed to strive for in 2015 in Paris.

    But the UN reported on 17 September that current pledges from countries would lead to a 16% rise in the next decade.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/24/young-global-climate-strikers-vow-change-is-coming-from-the-streets

    Posted 2 years ago #
  6. chdot
    Admin

  7. LaidBack
    Member

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the new International Trade Secretary, said she had some "very scary science lessons" when she was energy minister.

    Scotland needs to get clear of these haverers.

    Posted 2 years ago #
  8. chdot
    Admin

  9. chdot
    Admin

  10. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/environment/giant-offshore-wind-farm-in-forth-would-be-uks-largest-and-could-power-all-scottish-homes-twice-over-3396419

    For current electricity consumption, what about with electric cars and replacements for gas boilers?

    Posted 2 years ago #
  11. crowriver
    Member

    @chdot, good point.

    One guess is get everyone to ride stationary bikes to generate electricity. You too could earn 15 million merits!

    Posted 2 years ago #
  12. wishicouldgofaster
    Member

    Found this on the internet - On average, an electric vehicle uses around 30 kWh to travel 100 miles. So I would reckon it would be an extra 3kw per day for each car. If every household had one you are probably talking about an extra 25% usage per day. Unsure about gas boilers replacement at the moment.

    However it will take ages for everyone to be converted and more and more people are getting solar installed which takes even more pressure off the grid. I got solar panels installed the tail end of last year and my usage is less than a third of what it used to be and I didn't have a battery for some of that time.

    Posted 2 years ago #
  13. crowriver
    Member


    Posted 2 years ago #
  14. chdot
    Admin

  15. chdot
    Admin

  16. crowriver
    Member

    From the first link:

    "Renewable energy and electrification are the backbone of the transition and must be accelerated immediately, while hydrogen, carbon capture and new modular nuclear plants are emerging tools that should be developed and deployed as soon as possible. "

    So, Net Zero appears to be about Business As Usual, but with added electricity.

    Reminds me of an old cartoon I saw years ago, possibly in Private Eye. Shows railway lines being removed, and replaced with a motorway in the same corridor. Extend that to replacing the fossil fuel cars with electric ones, demolishing petrol stations and trailing wires from houses across footways to EVs instead.

    Posted 2 years ago #
  17. chdot
    Admin

    “So, Net Zero appears to be about Business As Usual, but with added electricity.“

    Well yes.

    Most businesses, Govs and politicians have little idea of what different might look like.

    If they do, chances are they have little idea of how to get there (or persuade people it was necessary/good).

    As for what people might vote for…?

    Posted 2 years ago #
  18. chdot
    Admin

  19. chdot
    Admin

  20. crowriver
    Member

    Hm, I note the heat pump lobby includes.....the CBI. Not an organisation known for promoting climate change issues. Must be some money for big business in its call for the sale of new gas boilers to be banned in four years' time.

    Obviously GCH not great for CO2 emissions, but home energy use is 15% of UK's emissions, while transport is 27%. I'm looking forward to the CBI et al lobbying for everyone to drive their cars less. I shan't hold my breath though.

    Posted 2 years ago #
  21. chdot
    Admin

    BETTER THAN GRETA

    Boris Johnson goes full Greta Thunberg telling kids elders have ‘stolen their future’

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/16293495/boris-johnson-greta-thuberg

    The world is strange

    Posted 2 years ago #
  22. chdot
    Admin

  23. chdot
    Admin

    Voters in Tory heartlands want the government to do more to tackle the climate crisis, and support measures that many backbench Conservative MPs have balked at, from ditching gas boilers to taxing flights, new polling shows.

    Rebecca Newsom, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, which commissioned the poll, said: “This polling shows that there is an electoral risk here for the government, in not following through on their promises on climate change. It is a clear mandate from voters in some of the most important Conservative constituencies for the government to go full throttle on climate action.”

    Two thirds want to see more investment in electric vehicles, though replacing fuel duty with road pricing has less support, at about 45% of those polled. Six in 10 also want to see climate aid to poor countries, despite the government’s cuts to overseas aid.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/03/tax-flights-and-ditch-gas-boilers-blue-wall-voters-back-green-policy

    Posted 2 years ago #
  24. chdot
    Admin

    The six include China, Russia and Brazil, which come only behind the US as the biggest cumulative polluters. The UK is eighth and Canada is 10th. Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for centuries and the cumulative amount of CO2 emitted is closely linked to the 1.2C of heating the world has already seen.

    The data also shows the world has now used 85% of the CO2 budget that would give a 50% chance of limiting heating to 1.5C, the danger limit agreed in Paris in 2015.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/05/historical-climate-emissions-big-polluting-nations

    Posted 2 years ago #
  25. chdot
    Admin

    Timothy Morton, dubbed 'philosopher prophet of the Anthropocene', rethinks our psychological relationship with the climate crisis, and our place in the biosphere.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cl66

    Posted 2 years ago #
  26. chdot
    Admin

  27. crowriver
    Member

    Tesco credits use of rail freight for keeping shelves stocked in supply crisis.

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/06/tesco-profits-double-as-shelves-stay-stocked-despite-supply-chain-problems

    Posted 2 years ago #
  28. chdot
    Admin

  29. crowriver
    Member

    "Ecological and productivity crises..... are not perverse outcomes of the system. They are the system."

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/06/offshoring-wealth-capitalism-pandora-papers

    Posted 2 years ago #
  30. chdot
    Admin

    The climate crisis is taking a growing toll on the mental health of children and young people, experts have warned.

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/06/eco-anxiety-fear-of-environmental-doom-weighs-on-young-people

    Posted 2 years ago #

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