The Stupid Show

With just 25 days left till the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which many say is our last chance to get the treaty which could bring global emissions down fast enough to avoid triggering runaway climate change, the makers of the environmental film 'The Age of Stupid' now believe it is urgent to channel their energy into maximising our collective chance of success at Copenhagen.

Hence, the Stupid Show - a 20 min daily web TV show, produced by AoS team, live from the Copenhagen climate summit. Hosted by Mark Lynas, climate change author and Franny Armstrong, AoS director - their mission is to make the talks comprehensible to ordinary mortals.

But the team need your donations to help finance the show. For more information go to: http://www.ageofstupid.net/money

Power to the People

On Friday 30th October Deal With It and the Greenerway Cluster were very pleased to welcome the Rt.Hon. Michael Meacher, the distinguished Labour MP, to a crowded meeting in St.George’s Church. Mr Meacher who has served 29 years on the front benches and who has been called the “greenest ever Minister for the Environment” spoke on renewable energy.

Never mincing his words and refreshingly truthful for a politician, he explained where we are now, which is just about bottom of the European league, only producing 1% of our energy from renewable sources compared with 18% in Germany and 47% in Finland. He went on to describe where we could be, and what the obstacles were to achieving a more acceptable target. He felt this was a depressing and shameful position brought about by vested interests and lack of Government will to change. However Mr Meacher raised our spirits by pointing out that the technology to meet our needs with clean energy already exists and that we are favoured by both our natural island geography and our natural inventiveness.

So what is standing in our way? A failure at all levels to address the problems we face and to wake up to the fact that we are heading for catastrophe and must change course. He continued by outlining the huge economic advantages of making that change, both at the personal and national level. He stressed that change in both the way we think, and the way we live was essential. He also praised Deal With It, with it's “brilliant name”, for what they were doing at the local level and for the warm atmosphere of community.

Alistair Gould of the Pines Calyx, long-term local activist on issues of Sustainability spoke next on “Power from the People - How generating clean energy from within our own communities can be practical and affordable”. He explained how this can be achieved and told us of the progress they are making at St.Margaret’s Bay, stating that they are within 2 or 3 years of achieving their goal of making the community energy independent. The meeting ended with questions from the audience and a sense of being inspired to redouble our efforts.

A Request from Ed

Ed says:

In December, world leaders will meet at Copenhagen to decide on a make or break agreement on Climate Change.

But this isn’t about what other politicians and I will be doing there - this is about you.

I'll be pushing for clear action to get a global climate deal that's ambitious, effective and fair. This means ambitious cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, keeping countries to their word and supporting poorer countries in adapting to climate change.

But the efforts of those of us at the summit will be all the more potent with the backing of real voices demanding action.

Please pledge your support for a deal at Copenhagen below

Thank you
Ed

Click on the link below to pledge your support

http://www.labour.org.uk/copenhagen_pledge

'Cashback' Pledge for Green Power

Households which contribute electricity to the National Grid are to receive payments under a new government scheme. Communities will be encouraged to generate wind, water and solar power, and be paid for how much they produce. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said the project would "help create the clean energy of the future".He denied reports the government's energy strategy would cost each UK family £230 a year but admitted there would be "upward pressures" on prices.

He said the "high-carbon route" would mean a greater dependence on imports and exposure to price fluctuations, while the alternative "low carbon future" - which he said was "the right way to go" - would mean "mean some costs to transition".He added: "Individuals and communities can both play their part in the kind of clean energy revolution that we need."

At present, anyone in the UK who feeds electricity into the National Grid can get a reduction on their fuel bills through smart meters.Similar "clean energy cash back" schemes already operate in 19 European countries including Germany.

Critics warn that small-scale production is expensive and projects may require government subsidy.In Germany, whole towns have grouped together to buy wind turbines, build biomass plants and erect solar panels.They are then paid a guaranteed fixed price for every kilowatt hour of energy they produce - a higher sum than for electricity made from fossil fuels in traditional power stations.Three wind turbines can make £15,000 a year for a single village.Since so-called "feed-in tariffs" were introduced in Germany, some 400,000 homes,particularly in the sunnier south of the country, have installed solar panels.But the government has had to subsidise such projects in order to keep them viable.At present, only about 2% of Britain's energy comes from renewable sources, but the government has pledged to increase that to 15% within the next 12 years.

see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8146318.stm for original article.

The Supermarkets - "Doing the Right Thing"?

Marks & Spencer has recently launched a national advertising campaign pushing its £200m ethical plan and chiding rivals for giving up on "fashionable" eco-policies due to the recession.

The national press and internet campaign, "Doing the Right Thing" trumpets the key tenets of its £200m five-year ethical trading initiative, called Plan A, a five-year 100-point 'eco' plan" which includes becoming carbon-neutral by 2012."It's the only way to do business," insists the company. "There is no Plan B."

The retailer said that it has achieved 39 of the 100 commitments outlined in the plan and that the £200m cost has been more than offset by savings made through policy changes relating to energy efficiency and waste.

So should we be applauding M&S and other supermarket chains as the new friends of the Earth? The environment is certainly a big seller for them and there is no doubt that these large chains can affect the buying habits of a wider public with their glossy campaigns. But can we trust them and their motives?

The slow change in attitude from the supermarkets over the decades must surely be partly thanks to consumer pressure, environmental campaigning and government legislation. However, it is also the rise of corporate social responsibility that leads many supermarkets to make claims that they are setting higher standards for themselves than any government would dare to impose through regulation. Marks and Spencer, for example, has promised to become carbon neutral and to cease sending waste to landfill by 2012, and to stop stocking any fish, wood or paper which has not been sustainably sourced. Tesco promises to attach a carbon label to all its goods. These standards, moreover, are rather higher than those the British government sets for itself. M&S has pledged to use carbon offsets (paying other people to make cuts on its behalf) only as “a last resort”.The government uses them as a first resort.

So these days, are the campaigners and the politicians redundant? Not a bit of it. The corporate social responsibilities adopted by any company are only voluntary - just because they set high standards or make lofty promises it does not necessarily follow that they will deliver on them. It must fall to the government and the public to hold retailers to account.

Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco has said that he aims to cut the distance that Tesco’s products travel, especially by air. He will also switch some of Tesco’s road freight (he did not say how much) to rail. But he said nothing about reducing the journeys made by his customers. Shopping accounts for 20% of car journeys in the UK. By closing their out-of-town stores and replacing them with warehouses and deliveries, the supermarket chains could both reduce the energy costs of their buildings and (according to government figures) cut the traffic caused by shopping by 70%.

And what of the dominance of the superstores? The Competition Commission is investigating the “land bank” accumulated by Tesco - a huge portfolio of sites on which the company appears to be sitting until it can obtain planning permission. Many of them are out of town. If Tesco develops them, it will drag even more cars onto the road. Out-of-town shopping is incompatible with sustainability.

One decision the big supermarkets will not make voluntarily is to relax their grip on local economies. It will always be harder for small businesses to work with the supermarket bullies than with the local baker or butcher; Tesco’s economy will continue to favour the big, distant supplier over the man down the road. And what of the sense of community independent small shops help to foster, which encourages people to make their friends close to home? If so-called 'love miles', those essential (emotionally at least) journeys to far-flung friends and family, are the most intractable cause of climate change, we need to start cultivating as much community spirit as we can.

In any case, shouldn't we be trying to consume less? Less is the one thing the superstores cannot sell us.

The big retailers are competing to convince us that they are greener than their rivals, and this should make us glad. But we still need governments, and we still need campaigners.

See the M&S campaign for yourself at http://plana.marksandspencer.com/

This article is a summary of a collection of articles written by George Monbiot, Fred Pearce and Mark Sweeney.

It's Good To Talk

On Tuesday 23rd June 'Deal With It' members met with Gwyn Prosser MP to lobby him on climate change and environmental issues.

Deal's MP, who has campaigned with Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, met members of the group in Trinity Church, where a wide range of questions were raised around the topics of climate change and resource depletion and the corresponding local and global consequences.

Speaking after the meeting Gwyn said:

"We had a friendly and lively exchange on a whole series of subjects which varied from waste recycling and plastic bags to Heathrow expansion and public transport in Deal. We didn't reach full agreement on all the issues but I've promised to take their message back to Government and I readily agreed to meet with them again.

"I think it's fair to say that we agreed that while the Government had made big strides in some areas to address global warming there was lots more to do and we all looked forward to achieving a global deal at the Copenhagen Summit in December."

Rainforest Robbery

The island of Madagascar is a veritable Noah's Ark of biodiversity, and this natural wealth is the country's primary treasure and opportunity for future ecologically sustainable development. The Korean company Daewoo Logistics intends to lease half the agricultural land in Madagascar for 99 years, industrially producing maize and palm oil on 1.3 million hectares that are now biodiversity rich rainforests and gardens. There already exists a severe food crisis nationally and local peoples, who are soon to be dispossessed from their land, are protesting, causing a major government crisis.

If you want to tell Daewoo that the people of Madagascar have spoken,and to shove off and leave Madagascar's rainforests, peoples and land alone click on the following link to find out how.

http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/ueberuns.php

Join the Mili-Band

News from Canterbury Greenpeace

On 4 July, thousands of people from the UK will come together to form a human band, surrounding Kingsnorth power station in Kent, in opposition to building a new coal-fired power plant. This event is called the ‘Mili-Band'.

We’ve made huge progress on the coal campaign in the last few weeks with Climate and Energy Minister Ed Miliband finally ruling out any new coal fired power stations that don’t capture a proportion of their carbon. However, with this new proposal he’s not gone nearly far enough. The next few months will be crucial in persuading Ed to go all the way.

People gathering on 4 July are from a diverse range of communities and organisations, including Oxfam (who are co-ordinating the event), Christian Aid, People and Planet, The Women’s Institute, the World Development Movement, National Union of Students, Woodcraft Folk, RSPB and Greenpeace. This will be a low-arrest risk event!

We can pick up a free shuttle bus to the site from outside Rochester train station in Kent between 9.30 and 11am but we must arrive at Kingsnorth by 11.30am so we would want to arrive at Rochester at about 10.30, as it is a bit of a walk to the power station from Kingsnorth village.

These events are a lot of fun, bring a picnic.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/
http://www.greenpeaceactive.org.uk/

Green new deal?

Below is a shortened version of an article from yesterday's Guardian by Andrew Simms, author of 'Do Good Lives Have To Cost The Earth' and Policy Director and head of the New Economic Foundation's Climate Change programme. Click on the title to see the full article.

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The UK economy faces a triple crunch: a recession triggered by a major credit crisis, the looming reality of runaway climate change and critical resource depletion. As a result we face serious challenges to our livelihoods and increasing threats to our fuel and food security.

Whatever the mistakes that allowed this situation to arise, there is growing international consensus that the best way out is via a green new deal policy package. Parts of the UK economy are in freefall with unemployment rising rapidly. At the same time, with less than 100 months to go before the world enters a new, more dangerous phase of global warming, there is an urgent need for the rapid environmental transformation of the economy.

A green new deal demands a comprehensive array of new checks and balances on the financial sector and a range of new economic instruments ranging from new bonds to business incentives and taxes.

But what is the government actually doing that is new and additional to stimulate the economy by spending on the environment? Spending included in the green stimulus package of the government's pre-budget report of £100m is astonishingly small compared with other recent spending commitments, at just 0.6% of the UK's £20bn recovery plan. This key element makes up just 0.0083% of UK GDP. In stark contrast, in the wake of the banking crisis nearly 20% of UK GDP has been provided to support the financial sector and the stimulus package allocates £2.3bn to the car industry.

Estimates for necessary new annual spending on environmental economic stimulus and transformation range from £11bn, according to Lord Stern, to £50bn, according to the Green New Deal Group.

With the G20 taking place at the moment, the government needs to understand that true international leadership means putting the UK on course to climate safety. That will deliver inspiration to other countries, make the necessary changes and help ensure the UK's own climate and energy security.

The overwhelming benefits of this course makes the government's reluctance to act hard to understand. How often in politics does a triple win opportunity emerge? If they don't take it, they really are not fit to govern.