Environment should be top of the list (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Environment should be top of the list

8:38am Wednesday 17th June 2009 in

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The response to the current political crisis and the recent failure of the banking system to supply credit suggests solutions that are at odds with the need for a determined international answer to the real problems of the future – rising sea levels, extensive droughts and failing food and energy supplies, all against a background of a world population still increasing by a billion every 15 years.

Governments are outbidding each other to get their economies back on track, that is business as usual with continued growth and expansion. Car scrappage schemes, the underwriting of vehicle manufacturing plants, and the bailing out of the banks are aimed at reinvigorating a market approach that is based on short-term satisfaction and increasing levels of consumption. Full employment is seen as more important than a major reduction in carbon, despite the fact that it is possible to do both.

Few countries have taken the opportunity to improve the public transport and rail systems, develop more renewable energy and make agriculture less dependent on fertilisers. Those that have, like China, only manage it because they ignore normal democratic procedures or have political systems that are dependent on co-operation.

The current UK political rhetoric, sponsored by a slack expenses system, is now all about listening to the people and responding to their wishes with the result that short-term self interest, tribal identity and a resistance to change become the accepted policies. Global problems are unlikely to be sorted by national posturing.

Planning applications for renewable energy schemes and nuclear power attract considerable opposition as do changes to other practices. Reducing the national speed limit to 55mph would be significant and we could more than double our recycling rate if we had to pay for the non-recycled rubbish to be collected but, unlike many other countries, our leadership, local and national, is too timid and prefers extended consultation, advice and voluntary agreements. Even banning plastic bags is beyond us.

The background, of course, is that last month atmospheric CO2 levels reached 390 parts per million for the first time in the last two million years, and there is little sign of the rate slowing, let alone reversing. The demand for oil and gas is expected to rise by over 40 per cent in the next 20 years and yet we need to stabilise CO2 production by 2015 at the latest and then reduce it below 350ppm.

We are in danger of repeating the mistakes of the past.