Saturday, April 27, 2013

Victoria's Green Matters - 25th April 2013



Deal With IT's Secretary Victoria Nicholls writes a regular column in the East Kent Mercury


All governments agree that global warming must be stopped but seem reluctant to actually take the steps that are needed to cut the carbon emissions that cause it. We need to start phasing out the use of fossil fuels fast enough to bring down our emissions gradually over the coming decades if we are to have any chance of not adding to rising world temperatures.

It would appear that despite the steps we have already taken by using clean technologies to produce energy; there has been a growth rate of carbon emissions during the last ten years that equals that of the 1850s during the Industrial Revolution.

We have more coal, gas and oil than we can burn if we want global temperatures to remain safe. This is universally accepted but it is not just governments that do not act. Investors are encouraging fossil fuel companies to find and developed more and more reserves. More exploration costs more money which pushes up the cost of fuels.

Throughout the world, people want climate change to be controlled but can a developing world be persuaded that it is more important to limit fossil fuel use than it is to have cheap fuels, power, flights and goods?

If we want to keep the world we know we need to limit our use of fossil fuels and cut our carbon emissions. We can all do our bit towards a greener community but we need our governments to take action at the top level.

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