No doubt many of you will have noticed last week's bravura performance by the Indepedent on climate change... - stating 'the great global warming debate starts here' on Tuesday (funny... thought we'd been talking about it right here for rather longer.;)). And then the avalanche of correspondence that they've received since then. It's certainly encouraging - ok, so the writers are all Indy-readers and therefore the converted anyway, but it's the depth of understanding and the widespread calls for radical solutions that's so interesting. There were lots of demands for restrictions on aviation, wide acceptance of the need for taxation (and a willingness to accept it), and various correspondents championed carbon rationing / allowances. The Indy's debate is also giving great coverage to Colin Challen, his parliamentary all-party inquiry, and his personal endorsement of C&C / rationing. The benefit in terms of educating the public and moving the debate on is just fantastic. Only shame is that it always has to be the Independent that does it (needless to say, the broadsheet with the smallest readership - c.250,000).
Has anyone written in to the debate expressing their views yet? (I confess I haven't). If not, there's still time, and I reckon they'll keep on printing occasional compilations of the letters - and all correspondence is forwarded to Challen's parliamentary group. It would be great to send an 'official' letter from CCC, with the signatures of all the executive, publicising our work and the forthcoming demonstration.
Independent's Global Warming Debate
You beat me to it Guy! Good idea about an official letter from CCC, as they seem to be printing the letters from groups and Institutes - I know there was one from Greenpeace UK. CCC could do one but even better, SCC could do one and then print all their organisation's names at the bottom. No doubt they are onto this but I will e-mail them to suggest it.
I was going to write in as an individual and promote the March on 4th November and I still will but it would be great if CCC sent in an official plug too and to promote the 3rd June Conference...
Letter to Independent
Here's a copy of my letter:-
What can we do about Climate Change as individuals? Once you've crossed that line and find you can no longer fly and have to do everything you can in your personal life to cut your own emissions, the next step is to become active and make as much noise and fuss as you can in your workplace, your local Council, local groups, and lobby your local MP: Get on first name terms with them, even visit them in Westminster - leave them in no doubt how seriously you take the issue and get them to understand the seriousness of the issue too. Then finally, take to the streets with the rest of us Climate Activists on Saturday 4th November, when I will be joining fellow members of 'Campaign Against Climate Change' and the other groups united under 'Stop Climate Chaos' for the biggest worldwide Demonstration ever against Climate Change. Because there are so few people who actually act on their concern, I have found that as a concerned citizen who acts I have a lot of influence - imagine if everyone who reads the Independent became an Activist!
Cathy Green
Campaign Against Climate Change
Congrats Duncan!
Thought I'd just flag up that CCC's very own Duncan Law was published in today's Indy letters section :) Nice one Duncan! --
'Carbon offsets' will solve nothing
Sir: Our challenge is to reduce our carbon emissions, not offset them. "Carbon offset" is "greenwash" that cons people into thinking they can carry on as before ("How to fly around the world without costing the Earth", 1 April). You say a one-way flight to New York would create approximately two tonnes of CO2; Climate Care, the commercial offset company you mention, says 0.78 tonnes. This is because Climate Care calculates merely the CO2 released, not the enhanced effect of emitting at altitude which trebles the effect. It charges £5.85 to salve your conscience. Unfortunately it won't save the planet.
Not only does it underestimate on every calculation but this site, and others like it, do not seem to have heard of climate change "tipping points"; critical points of no return. So it is irresponsible to offset the carbon emitted in five hours over five years or, as in some cases, the life of a tree. That carbon may have pushed us over the edge before it is "neutralised". Then how silly will a per-tonne price on carbon emissions look when our priceless inheritance, the future, is destroyed.
For it to be safe we need to offset in the same time frame as we emit. For flights it is virtually impossible and certainly can't be done by planting trees. If you replace eight incandescent bulbs with low-energy bulbs they would save about two tonnes of CO2 emissions over their five-year life span. But we need to save that in five hours to be sure of not causing any damaging warming. To do this you would have to buy 70,080 low-energy light bulbs and make sure each was replacing an existing incandescent bulb.
We need to reduce our emissions - not squirm out of them. Take the No Flight Pledge at www.flightpledge.org.uk.
DUNCAN LAW
LONDON SW2
From http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article355377.ece
Today's Indy coverage on climate change can be found at: http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article355342.ece