by Micheal Smith (Veshengro)
The British government on July 15, 2009 announced its Renewable Energy Strategy (RES) and the Low Carbon Transition Policy.
This policy includes carbon budgets for all government departments in the same way as those departments are given financial budgets.
The Department of Transport is given a target here to “encourage” people to cycle and walk to work instead on driving and even using other means, e.g. train or bus. This is a part that does worry me, as regards to personal freedoms and the infringements of same.
How this is to be done is a question, in my view. The only way this can be done is by means of fording people out of the cars and other transport means and get them onto bikes and foot by force, more or less.
This is something that I certainly would not put past the ideas of the powers that be in this country and elsewhere.
While one can but agree with many of the ideas of the government as to the RES to get more renewable energy being put on stream but talk also is still about “clean” coal, an oxymoron if I have ever heard one, and also nuclear fission.
Both of those mentioned are not renewables, and still it seems to be included into this measure, and nuclear, especially, while being a low carbon form of energy has a problem with the waste. We cannot afford to have that time bomb around.
While I am a cyclist and walker – or someone who uses public mass transit – and not a car owner and driver I will, as I have indicated more than once, defend anyone's right to own and drive a car as and when they please, whether it is an ICE vehicle or an electric one, and I disagree strongly with any notion of pushing people, against their will, to cycle or walk instead of drive or using trains and buses.
At the same time that I say that I back anyone's right to have and use a car I am also for all to reduce the use of the ICE car and to change to cycling, walking and public mass transit. We just cannot continue to use the motorcar in the way we do and have done over the years but not because of any possible CO2 emissions that may or may not contribute to the climate change but because of the general pollution from car use.
Our problem is the pollution from industry and motor vehicles; also diesel locomotives and shipping. Let's name it once again the prober way, pollution, and of that we have enough, and not just in the air.
Mankind has to change its way if we want to be able to have an Earth that will be able to sustain life in times to come. Otherwise, climate change or not, we don't stand much of a chance, I think.
© 2009
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British government set out new Climate Change policy
