Brown Is Going Green

[Charles Flynn]

Friends of the Earth have given a cautious welcome to Chancellor Brown's "green" proposals in his budget, but believe on some issues he needs to go further to combat the problems associated with increasing carbon dioxide emissions.

 

The details are in My Blog.

 

Do you agree with their comments? Should more be done or are we going overboard on Climate Change?

 

Should our Manx Budget be "green"?

[LoneWolf]

Friends of the Earth have given a cautious welcome to Chancellor Brown's "green" proposals in his budget, but believe on some issues he needs to go further to combat the problems associated with increasing carbon dioxide emissions.

 

The details are in My Blog.

 

Do you agree with their comments? Should more be done or are we going overboard on Climate Change?

 

Should our Manx Budget be "green"?

 

I presume you are referring to his boost for renewables support ?

No doubt about it the Renewables sector needs financial support to become competitive with fossil fuel burners and in that context Brown will help by giving new impetus to the traded carbon allowances market.

However, he hasnt done anything about modifying BETTA, where predictability is king and those who arent predictable pay huge financial penalties. Modifying BEtTA is the key to getting more renewables into the energy market.

So better than nothing but a little disappointing.

[Charles Flynn]

For those who don't know:

 

BETTA is the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangement.

 

BETTA I believe refers to Scotland.

 

Thanks LoneWolf for this information.

[Flash]

As Climate Change is 'the' biggest danger facing the planet & consequently everyone on it, you would think a lot more would be done by gov'ts, but as usual businesses & profit call the tune and the few measures they do take are so watered down as to be ineffective.

 

The UK's emmissions of CO2 last year actually increased! - despite being signed up to the Kyoto agreement.

 

Agreed 'any' measures must be good but the time is fast approaching when we will go past the 'point of no return' as far as heating the atmosphere goes and then what? - drastic measures may well be needed ie power shortages due to fossil fuel fed generation stations being shut down, stopping air travel, mass car transport stopped? Sounds incredible, well, do we wait & see.

 

At this point the 'techys' will chirp up & say we'll design something to cope, nuclear power perhaps? Trouble is you produce CO2 building the stations, digging up the uranium (only so much left in the ground) and then what happens to the radioactive waste that you leave for your great, great, great, great, great...........granchildren! - time to get real & address our wasteful & environmentally expensive lifestyles, isn't it? Never mind waiting for the gov'ts to do something.

 

The Island is only a tiny contributor but we must 'do our bit', & Green issues like financial incentives for the promotion of renewables must be in the Manx budget.....oh yes & how about a proper tax on those 4x4 gas guzzlers like doubling it (at least)! We now have about 65,000 privately registered cars on our roads, 75,000ttl & constantly climbing, combustion powered vehicles with a population of 80,000 depending on who you believe?...where's the integrated transport system the report of which was last issued Sept 2001 & never implemented.

[Northline]

where's the integrated transport system the report of which was last issued Sept 2001 & never implemented.

 

Is this report available anywhere for public consumption?. . . its an election year y'know!

[Charles Flynn]

Try the Tynwald library - 3rd Floor at Government Offices.

[FinloYessir]

I still wonder about all this climate change malarky, particularly the notion that humankind is arrogant enough to believe that it can alter the way the planet works by doing something or other.

 

I have this image in my mind's eye of two cavemen sitting in their cave at the end of the last ice age and one turning to the other and saying "we'd better put these fires out, we're melting all the ice".

 

Hmm... I don't know.

[Flash]

I still wonder about all this climate change malarky, particularly the notion that humankind is arrogant enough to believe that it can alter the way the planet works by doing something or other.

 

I have this image in my mind's eye of two cavemen sitting in their cave at the end of the last ice age and one turning to the other and saying "we'd better put these fires out, we're melting all the ice".

 

Hmm... I don't know.

 

 

Ho, ho, ho Finlo.....but they didn't jump in there cars to go home either then

 

BUT humankind 'has' altered the planet!

[FinloYessir]

I still wonder about all this climate change malarky, particularly the notion that humankind is arrogant enough to believe that it can alter the way the planet works by doing something or other.

 

I have this image in my mind's eye of two cavemen sitting in their cave at the end of the last ice age and one turning to the other and saying "we'd better put these fires out, we're melting all the ice".

 

Hmm... I don't know.

 

 

Ho, ho, ho Finlo.....but they didn't jump in there cars to go home either then

 

BUT humankind 'has' altered the planet!

 

In small ways, but the earth has a way of reclaiming itself . Just look at the aftermath of a natural disaster like an earthquake - mankind's endevours squashed and destroyed in minutes.

 

And, as someone said earler, so what? Global warmings and coolings will come and go, like they have done over the eons, and life will go on adapting just as it always has, or not, as the case may be.

 

As long as the sun shines we will always have energy - after all, that is where coal, gas and oil came from, and will come from again, in due course (a long course, admittedly).

[Northline]

Try the Tynwald library - 3rd Floor at Government Offices.

I've no intention of draggin my arse down there. . . .its not available on the interweb?

[Charles Flynn]

Don't know.

 

There is the telephone but they will want paying probably.

 

But they do have a lot of material hidden away. Not been seen since the consultants were paid off I reckon.

[Flash]

In small ways, but the earth has a way of reclaiming itself . Just look at the aftermath of a natural disaster like an earthquake - mankind's endevours squashed and destroyed in minutes.

 

And, as someone said earler, so what? Global warmings and coolings will come and go, like they have done over the eons, and life will go on adapting just as it always has, or not, as the case may be.

 

As long as the sun shines we will always have energy - after all, that is where coal, gas and oil came from, and will come from again, in due course (a long course, admittedly).

 

-----------------------------

By Crikey 'yessir' - melting ice caps, sea levels rising, glaciers receding, species disappearing.....and the human race has only altered the planet in small ways!!? - sounds like your off a different planet?

 

Yep the sun will shine & life will adapt...or maybe not if it doesn't have time to? Evolution takes millions of years & 'we' have changed things in 100yrs+ :-(

[FinloYessir]

In small ways, but the earth has a way of reclaiming itself . Just look at the aftermath of a natural disaster like an earthquake - mankind's endevours squashed and destroyed in minutes.

 

And, as someone said earler, so what? Global warmings and coolings will come and go, like they have done over the eons, and life will go on adapting just as it always has, or not, as the case may be.

 

As long as the sun shines we will always have energy - after all, that is where coal, gas and oil came from, and will come from again, in due course (a long course, admittedly).

 

-----------------------------

By Crikey 'yessir' - melting ice caps, sea levels rising, glaciers receding, species disappearing.....and the human race has only altered the planet in small ways!!? - sounds like your off a different planet?

 

Yep the sun will shine & life will adapt...or maybe not if it doesn't have time to? Evolution takes millions of years & 'we' have changed things in 100yrs+ :-(

 

Ha ha.

 

But ice has moved before, it created valleys and and then receded, without any help from internal combustion engines. Presumably the sea levels changed then, too, to accomodate all the melted ice

 

Besides, a smack in the side from an asteroid would cause much more of an environmental kafuffle, and no doubt did once or twice. I am sure I read somewhere that that was what happened to the dinasaurs, but may be wrong - I am sometimes.

 

Now then, about those volcanoes spewing out poisonous clouds of sulphuric gases.......

[LoneWolf]

Ha ha.

 

But ice has moved before, it created valleys and and then receded, without any help from internal combustion engines. Presumably the sea levels changed then, too, to accomodate all the melted ice

 

Besides, a smack in the side from an asteroid would cause much more of an environmental kafuffle, and no doubt did once or twice. I am sure I read somewhere that that was what happened to the dinasaurs, but may be wrong - I am sometimes.

 

Now then, about those volcanoes spewing out poisonous clouds of sulphuric gases.......

 

Fair enough Finlo, but even if you dont buy into the environmental argument you need to look at the economic one.

Most people now accept that Peak Oil has either occurred or will do shortly. Natural Gas has a very short shelf life and Uranium is a finite resource as well. If we dont get our act together with renewables, and on a large scale, we can all look forward to a long period of economic problems.

So whichever argument you accept, the environmental one or the Peak Oil one, there are very good reasons for renewables to be given a helping hand.

[FinloYessir]

Ha ha.

 

But ice has moved before, it created valleys and and then receded, without any help from internal combustion engines. Presumably the sea levels changed then, too, to accomodate all the melted ice

 

Besides, a smack in the side from an asteroid would cause much more of an environmental kafuffle, and no doubt did once or twice. I am sure I read somewhere that that was what happened to the dinasaurs, but may be wrong - I am sometimes.

 

Now then, about those volcanoes spewing out poisonous clouds of sulphuric gases.......

 

Fair enough Finlo, but even if you dont buy into the environmental argument you need to look at the economic one.

Most people now accept that Peak Oil has either occurred or will do shortly. Natural Gas has a very short shelf life and Uranium is a finite resource as well. If we dont get our act together with renewables, and on a large scale, we can all look forward to a long period of economic problems.

So whichever argument you accept, the environmental one or the Peak Oil one, there are very good reasons for renewables to be given a helping hand.

 

Out of interest, and I am not arguing for argument's sake, what are the economic problems to which you refer? Presumably these will be the same as we had when we used horses on land and sailing ships on the seas for transportation?