This is my last post for Community Care, and I'd like to thank all readers, especially the few who have written interesting comments, and my employers at Community Care who have been so good to me.
Regular readers will know of my interest in how money affects sustainable development, stemming from my early involvement in York Local Agenda 21. The three pillars of sustainability, according to Agenda 21, are our natural environment (air, water, soil, ecosystems and living things) our social environment (people) and our fiscal environment, which is how we organise our trade, taxation, businesses, banking and how wealth is spread between us. Our monetary environment is just as important as our biosphere and our fellow humans.
It was my birthday yesterday and after the York Green Festival planning meeting that I chaired, some of us went to the pub. I hardly ever do this anymore so it was a bit of a treat. And the experience reminded me why it is so popular... you can have conversations with people you've never met as well as old friends, and the alcohol (if that's what you're partaking of) loosens the tongue somewhat, so the talk flows and ebbs and goes off at tangents... excellent!
Over the past few years there's been a lot of noise about the evils of plastic bags. They've been blamed for filling up landfills and inflating people's carbon footprints, mimicking jellyfish and confusing turtles, even being labelled 'witches knickers' when blown into Irish hedges and trees. Now, in the grand scheme of things, plastic bags are not the biggest of our consumption 'wrongs', despite a million being given out every minute. But every little thing we do to improve the problem helps us go in the right direction.
Coal's in the news a bit recently. The G20 protests, some of which were about the lack of action to combat climate change, and the disgusting response from some of the police has put images of last year's Kingsnorth policing back on our screens. And then there is the pre-emptive policing of a proposed protest on Ratcliffe on Soar power station... another coal-burning electricity generator.
But this blog isn't about policing, however interesting that is. It's about Coal. Coal is fossilised plant remains from millions of years ago, and as such, is carbon which was sucked out of the atmosphere by those plants. When we mine coal, and burn it, that carbon is released right back into today's atmosphere. Whilst coal is underground, it is in an oxygen-free environment. When we dig it up, the methane (natural gas or 'firedamp') which is in the coal also gets into our atmosphere, and this gas is even more powerful than carbon dioxide for the global greenhouse. When the coal comes in contact with the air, reactions take place on the surfaces oxidising the carbon, so releasing carbon dioxide even before the coal is burnt, which of course releases ALL of the carbon it contains.
Supporters of he coal industry talk about 'carbon capture and storage', an experimental technology in it's early infancy. The theory might look good... take the carbon dioxide out of the gas leaving the chimney, pressurise it into liquid and pump this into empty gas fields, oil wells and aquifers... But large scale CCS is years if not decades away, and we really don't have that kind of time scale to continue trashing this planet. We have existing technology which would stem our carbon haemorrhage... insulation, switching things off, A-rated appliances, renewable generation... and I believe that some of the investment in CCS could (should) be spent on these proven technologies. I think that CCS does have it's part to play in a sustainable future, but I despair about disinvestment in renewables (for instance, what happened to Pelamis).
So, I want to invite you to participate in the Coal Caravan, a cycle trip from Nottingham to Blyth, starting on 24th April and finishing on 5th May, and taking in some of the biggest of the UK's coal mining communities. There's cycling during the day, and nature walks, visits to open cast coal mines, and then meetings with discussion or film showings in the evening. I hope to join them as they pass near to York, just for part of the day, to support the riders.
If some of you think that I'm being alarmist about climate change, then read what experts say in this website, 100 months. Some of the so-called' tipping points' seem to have already started... for instance there are disturbing reports of permafrost melting and raised methane levels in the arctic.... So, time is short. What are YOU doing to be a responsible ancestor?
Food is responsible for the largest part of our individual carbon footprints, more than transport or household energy and heating. So when it comes to greening our lives, reducing food waste is one of the top issues. Obviously there are things we can do in our own lives which will cut our individual and family food waste... such as getting portion size correct, learning how to re-use leftovers, and, initially, taking a shopping list to the supermarket and sticking to it!!!
I subscribe to a number of email newsletters, and one came through last week with news of an eco-calendar which has caused a bit of controversy. Ethical Junction member Flipside Vision have produced a 'Calendar of Climate Change' for 2009 with a plethora of wonderful images depicting our world, many of which have significant connections to climate change themes. For instance, February has an image of a Dutch painting of a windmill and a canal, and alongside this, a smaller picture of modern windmills which generate electricity.
I became interested in poverty when I got involved in Local Agenda 21 in the mid 1990s, a few years after John Major signed a document called 'Agenda 21' at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. This committed all the signitory countries to explore and implement 'Sustainable Development' by encouraging Local Authorities to empower their local communities to find local solutions... I learned that sustainable development was a balance between our natural environment, our social environment and our fiscal (money) environment... and that the number one enemy of sustainable development was... POVERTY.
Late last week I had a meeting with a new friend who had come to York to participate in a historical re-enactment event. I knew nothing about this pastime/lifestyle apart from seeing quite a few re-enactors at the Norfolk Park event in Sheffield a few years ago, when I attended as Professor Fiddlesticks. It looked as if they were having fun, but I though little more about it.
Last Sunday was the second York Green Festival, and I am pleased to say that all our hard work paid off and it went really well. I may now have more time to get back to my regular weekly blog which has suffered slightly over the summer... Now, one of the most popular places at YGF08 was the clothes swapping tent. One of the volunteer organisers, Sarah, had got some of her friends to donate some outfits, tops, blouses, leggings, hats, unidentifiable garments etc and create a 'bank' of clothes. Festival goers brought their own unwanted but re-usable garments and added them to the ones hanging up... and took away something which appealed, something new to them..... all completely for free! What a good idea! If I was more into clothes, I'd say it was brilliant, but I'm a bloke so it remains just a good idea.
