Strange & stranger – politics shifts greenward

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Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage

Tories push for 80% carbon emissions cut
Andrew Grice, The Independent (UK)
The Government may be forced by MPs to adopt tougher targets to reduce carbon emissions in order to step up its fight against climate change.

The Conservatives are considering a plan to beef up the Climate Change Bill to be published shortly, which will include the Government’s goal of cutting emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. A Tory policy review group favours an 80 per cent reduction and the Tories may table an amendment to the Bill along these lines.

Ministers are worried that such a move would put Labour on the defensive and allow the Tory leader, David Cameron, to make the running on the issue. They fear that many Labour MPs and the Liberal Democrats would vote in favour of an 80 per cent cut, which could result in an embarrassing defeat for the Government.

…Yesterday Mr Cameron called on the Government to lead a “cultural change” in which everyone played their part in helping save the planet. Interviewed on Sky News, the Tory leader criticised Gordon Brown for raising air passenger duty without tax cuts elsewhere. He called for a combination of sticks and carrots to change people’s behaviour. “What you need is cultural change,” he said. “What you need is people to change their view about the environment and to change their behaviour, and I think that starts at the top.”

Renewing his call for annual targets for carbon emissions, which the Government is resisting, he said: “I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere unless we have those annual targets and unless they’re independently monitored. You then need government to take it very seriously and for the annual carbon report to become as important as the annual budget and the annual spending round.”
(11 Jan 2007)
Strange and stranger – a Tory leader calling for “cultural change” to save the planet. -BA

As States Innovate, Schwarzenegger Blurs Lines
Jennifer Steinhauer, NY Times
LOS ANGELES – So, who is Arnold Schwarzenegger anyway?

Is he an extreme environmentalist, proposing California be the first state to limit carbon dioxide emissions from cars? Or a foe of wildlife, with his desire for above-ground water storage, announced hours after his move to limit emissions?

…In many ways, Mr. Schwarzenegger is sui generis, a celebrity-turned-politician hurled toward the center by California’s Democratic majority. And since he can never run for president, his governorship is most likely the outlet for his more audacious ideas.

But Mr. Schwarzenegger’s recent leadership is also the largest example of a growing movement in which state leaders are crossing party lines to get things done. While partisan polarization limits activity in Washington, D.C., state governments are addressing issues the federal government has not tackled.

…“There is method to the madness,” said Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. “The middle is a place of much inconsistency. The fact that no one knows exactly where Arnold is on the political spectrum means that everyone can imagine that he is closer to them.”

…On some of these issues, California – led by its governor – may simply be furthering its role as the nation’s policy petri dish.
(11 Jan 2007)
Good article, except … Boo-hiss to the NY Times for its ignorant framing of the debate: “Is [Schwarzenegger] an extreme environmentalist, proposing California be the first state to limit carbon dioxide emissions from cars?” Students of propaganda will recognize the ploy of the “extremist” label. On the plus side, anything the NY Times characterizes as extreme environmentalism will probably become national policy within four years. -BA

Canada’s NDP plotting strategy to out-green its rivals
Gloria Galloway, Globe & Mail
Layton says he’ll expect robust action from the Conservatives on climate change
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VANCOUVER — A political cage match is being fought for the right to wear green — and Jack Layton is trying hard to keep his New Democrats at the centre of the ring.

“Our party has really, for quite a long time, been known as a party that tries to get things done on the environment,” Mr. Layton said after a caucus retreat here yesterday.

…When polls like one earlier this month by Decima Research suggest the environment has substantially eclipsed the other concerns of Canadians — including heath care, Afghanistan, taxes and the economy — savvy political leaders heed warnings of climate change.

That expediency leaves environmentalists optimistic. But they are also cautious.

“We’re not sure if people are actually listening or just nodding and saying ‘mmm hmm,’ ” John Bennett, the executive director of the Climate Action Network Canada, said of the recent chatter from elected officials.

And he is unwilling to pick a favourite when asked which party is Canada’s environmental champion.

The Greens under new leader Elizabeth May are unlikely to form a majority government in Ottawa any time soon.

The Liberals are making noise about the environment and have elected a leader who has put the issue front and centre. But they spent 13 years in government bending over backward trying to protect industry at the expense of climate change, Mr. Bennett said.

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently said Canada cannot meet its targets over the next five years for the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. So the key question, says Ms. May, is: Does Mr. Harper get it? Everything he’s done so far, she says “comes close to global sabotage.”
(12 Jan 2007)

Stay-at-home Brown reveals his green credentials
Will Woodward, Guardian
Gordon Brown diverged publicly with Tony Blair last night over the environment by arguing that politicians had to set a personal example in tackling climate change.

The chancellor, regularly satirised for his hairshirt style, said he rarely travelled by plane when he went on holiday and added that it was right for public figures to limit their impact on the environment.

He made the comments on Sky News, days after the prime minister told the channel he would carry on flying abroad for foreign holidays.

“I don’t think in the modern world any top-down solutions or any sort of pulling of levers works any more unless there is individual and social responsibility involved,” Mr Brown said. “In other words, you’ve got to take people with you and therefore I think you’ve got to show by your actions that you are not only doing what you expect other people to do but you can actually make a difference by these actions.”

Asked whether he offset his carbon emissions incurred through travel, Mr Brown said: “I don’t do actually at the moment very much international travel for leisure. It’s mostly for business [and] we do offset. The Treasury offsets, parliament offsets and I think that is right.”

…”I generally use a smaller car, if I may say so,” he said. “What I’m trying to do as an ordinary citizen is compost, energy efficiency, insulation, all these different things.”
(12 Jan 2007)

The Ultimate Contrarian Investment for 2007 — Be Prepared
Nathan Lewis, New World Economics (personal site)
Of all the “investments” one might make at this time, one of the best may be to be prepared for a breakdown of the economy as we know it. This is not necessarily a prediction — any more than having fire or flood insurance is a prediction that you will have a fire or flood. Nevertheless, it is based on an observation that there are many factors which may render the relatively near future quite a bit different than the recent past. This may seem kooky to some, but at least I am kooky in good company. I note the billionaire master investor Richard Rainwater has gone public with his own “preparing for major change” plans, and if you begin to pay attention you will find that many wealthy individuals have been making similar preparations for themselves. Is there something they know that you aren’t hearing about on the evening news?

What I am talking about could be summed up as: the lights go out and don’t come back on again. Foreign oil shipments stop, or are blocked. Maybe freight shipments of goods from China and elsewhere become impossible. Maybe food is no longer delivered to the supermarket. In short, an economic breakdown something like what happened to the Soviet Union, but possibly on a worldwide scale. In such case, there will be no rescue because there will be nobody to do the rescuing.

There is a surprisingly long list of factors that may lead to such an outcome. The gradual and irreversible decline of world oil production, beginning approximately now, is one that has been getting the most attention. I would also note the much more dramatic potential collapse of North American natural gas production, which is imminent since the continent’s natural gas production verifiably peaked in 2001.

…Learning how to make fire with a bow drill is worthwhile, but for the shorter term it is easy enough to stock up on butane lighters, Esbit fuel bars, magnesium lighters, and so forth, all of which might weigh perhaps a pound.

A good knife is indispensable, and indeed a couple good knives might be the right way to go. Something good for hacking like a machete or hatchet, and a smaller knife for filleting fish and butchering game, or small-scale carving perhaps. Plus a sharpening stone.
(7 Jan 2007)
Another post by Lewis on permaculture and Fukuoka Natural Farming (definitely not subjects I expect to see on a financial advice website!)