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It is time to distinguish fact from fiction once and for all over the climate change issue. A recent Observer poll has shown that many Britons still doubt the causes of climate change, and question the extent of the problem. Roughly 60% of those surveyed believe that there is still disagreement among scientists over whether climate change is happening, while 40% think the extent of the climate change problem has been exaggerated. Despite this nearly two-thirds want the government to do more to tackle the issue.

How has such a degree of doubt arisen? Where is the confusion coming from?

It is certainly not due to legitimate scientific studies or reports. In the last 10 years there has not been a single scientific paper published that denies climate change is happening, man-made, and massively dangerous - excluding of course the ‘work’ of the numerous psuedo-scientists and documentary makers, and other seemingly independent media voices which have all received payments from oil companies or lobby groups.

So if science is so totally and truly clear in its findings (that climate change is an impending man-made disaster in development); how come so much doubt still pervades among the general public?

Well, in the UK there are some 14,000 people working in the PR industry. In essence people harnessing the power of the media to make private companies look better. The influence of big business in politics has never been greater, and the EU for example is recognising that certain lobby group activities need to be scrutinised. To this end the EU Commission has this week announced a forthcoming new register to monitor the activities of various lobby groups, and the involvement of big business in politics.

Such an effort is vital if we are ever to expel the doubt that still exists relating to climate change and its causes. George Monbiot has recently compared the current situation to that of the efforts of Big Tobacco in decades gone by to create doubt and confusion in the public consciousness over what is, scientifically speaking, a relatively black-and-white issue (http://tinyurl.com/42j9es). The profits that can be made from a misinformed public are colossal, and oil lobbyists (as well as motor industry lobbyists, non-renewable energy lobbysists etc etc) exist for this reason alone.

This week James Hanson, one of the world’s leading climate change scientists will call for executives of oil companies to be placed on trial for crimes against humanity and the planet, on account of the misinformation (and its serious consequences) that they have been responsible for deliberately spreading (http://tinyurl.com/4juqq3). He too has highlighted the similarities with Big Tobacco campaigns, emphasising before congress that ‘democracy is not working in the way it should’ as a result of the fact that ‘money talks in Washington’.

The thousands of PR workers, and billions of dollars that comprise their budgets represent a mighty Goliath indeed. Luckily certain mainstream media channels also wield considerable influence, and it is in this time that they have a crucial role to play in providing accurate and trustworthy information to the general public.

Here’s a little indicator of what is going on; the CEO of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson, (annual salary: £8.54bn) has publicly said: ‘a lot of climate change policy is still up for debate’. However, his company has recently cut funds to groups which ‘divert attention’ from the need to develop renewable energies due to the negative press (and subsequent financial implications) that these activities have been causing. This very action represents an open admission that such groups are used, and the cynical nature of the whole operation is plainly evident in the doublespeak of its wording.

What is needed now more than ever is a commitment from trusted media sources, and across all relevant information outlets as a whole, to a stalwart defence of facts and clarity. The doubt-casters must be thwarted and only black-and white, precise, and clear reporting can achieve this. It is not easy to remove the obstructions of the deluge of PR material that floods the internet and many public information outlets. However only a thorough and accurate practice can redress the imbalance between scientifically established fact and public misconception that currently is a testament to the success of lobby groups and big businesses campaigning on this issue.

Dejan Levi

Lord Coe , the chairman of the London Olympics organising committee, is in talks with the National Grid over a deal intended to make the London 2012 games carbon neutral.

Blue-ng, a joint venture between National Grid and the Bath-based clean-energy company 2oc, has developed a technology to exploit the unused energy created when natural gas pressure is reduced at various stations around the gas grid.

read the article on the London Olympics

The first plans for one of Gordon Brown’s flagship eco-town sites have been submitted – but without the environmentally friendly features the Government has promised.
Planning documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph reveal that the proposed 5,000 homes development near Lichfield, Staffordshire, does not include some special measures required to reduce its impact on the environment.

read the article on the Lichfield eco-town here

This weekend has seen a great amount of talk about the eco town proposals with public meetings, letters to Government Ministers and plans being rejected by councils.

Public meetings have been called to discuss plans to build a new eco-town in North Yorkshire. Fourteen sites in the Leeds City Region (LCR) were originally shortlisted as possible locations for one of the first new towns in England in 40 years. Those have now been whittled down to four possible sites in Selby, including Willow Green near Eggborough. But the plans have proved controversial in some areas with campaigners saying the idea is a way to evade planning controls.
Read the article on the public meetings

Campaigners against proposals to build an eco-town on a site near three villages in Selby district have urged residents to send a letter to a Government Minister asking that the bid be withdrawn.

Selby District councillors John and Mary McCartney, who both represent Eggbrough, are leading the battle against GMI’s proposals for a 15,000-home eco-town.
Read the article on the letters to Government Ministers

Plans for new “ecotowns” across the country suffered a setback on Monday when councillors in the home of Shakespeare unanimously rejected an earmarked site.
Hundreds of banner-waving protesters gathered outside the meeting in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwicks, to voice their disapproval of a proposed settlement for up to 20,000 people at nearby Middle Quinton. The plans for 10 towns, the first to be built in Britain for 40 years, have led to nationwide protests.
Read the article on the Stratford rejections

With the media currently dominated by stories related to the the global credit crisis and economic recession, impacting on everything from mortgage rates to the price of basic foodstuffs, we have probably all by now had more than enough exposure to doom-ridden projections and statistics.

However, there is one interesting side effect of all this price-hiking that might not be so bad after all - from an environmental perspective that is. It is no secret that nothing quite motivates us to change our lifestyles as quickly as financial factors. In theory I’m sure there are millions of us in the UK who wish to reduce our carbon footprints. In practice though, work, families, and social lives tend to come higher in our list of priorities than changing light-bulbs, insulating the attic, or organising car-pooling to work.

This state of affairs may not be the case for much longer though if the costs of living continue to soar as they are currently doing…

It seems pretty logical that the rapidly decreasing affordability of the average Western  lifestyle will force us to implement many more ‘green’ changes in the near future, - not necessarily because we suddenly care more, but simply because we can no longer afford not to.

Let’s take the obvious starting point as an example; petrol. We are aware of the impact of our CO2 emissions on the environment, - perhaps understandably though this tends to be trumped when we consider the logistical challenge of getting to work on time, picking kids up, doing the shopping etc. The short term demands of our daily lives tend to take priority over acting on long term global issues.

The question is this: how long can we afford to consider petrol/diesel as a necessity? With diesel currently averaging £1.25 a litre, and some analysts predicting the inevitability of the $200 barrel of oil, some in the UK are already turning to alternative fuel sources, such as home-brew biodiesel. Here’s why:

Home brew bio-diesel costs 15p a litre to produce if you have free access to waste cooking oil. If you are purchasing waste oil (at the average price of 30p a litre) then the bio-diesel is still costing only 45p a litre - nearly 1/3 of the petrol forecourt price for diesel.

Not only this, but it also produces 90% fewer greenhouse emissions AND with new government legislation permitting the produce of up to 2,500 litres annually of home-made bio-diesel for personal use, it is all perfectly legal.

It is no surprise that companies such as Ecotec Resources, which sell equipment for producing the bio-diesel are reporting record demand. Ecotec for example has sold roughly 800 machines in the past year - to taxi firms, haulage companies, restaurants and chip shops.

Other companies such as Envirogroup are collecting, refining, and selling up to 7,500 litres of bio-diesel a week. Meanwhile the borough of Richmond is spending £3.5m to switch its 300 vehicles to recycled oil fuels within the next three years.

This week a new company called E-Fuel Corp unveiled its ‘Microfueller’ product - a portable unit that manufacturers ethanol for fuel purposes, resembling a petrol station pump - and allowing for direct input into a vehicle’s tank.

The unit will retail at a rather pricey $10,000, though with it depending on the price of sugar for its ethanol production, you can be pretty sure of low long term costs. The company’s estimates predict that an average US family, would begin to see a saving on fuel after only two years of using the Microfueller.

Whether this particular enterprise is successful if not really the point though. What is fairly clear is that the rapidly increasing fuel prices are leaving many of us with no option but to seek alternatives. Current prices are such that traditional fuels are no longer considered a necessity in today’s economic climate. This is going to prove massively beneficial (once the numbers of people turning to such fuels becomes really significant) in reducing CO2 emissions from road vehicles. It might be a shame that the bottom line must be the significant motivating factor - but ultimately anything which contributes to reduced CO2 levels will surely be more than welcomed.

Dejan Levi

President Bush has finally unveiled his goals for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately this is at the end of his Presidency and we wait for the results. We’ve put in three links for this news item. The first is the offical White House webpage, the second is the Washington Post’s article about the speach and the third is from the Carbon Conscious Consumer Blog.

White House Webpage
Washington Post
Carbon Conscious Consumer

After the short-listing of the Eco-town sites, The Birmingham Post looks at the impact on the local Governemnt and community of one of the proposed sites on the outskirts of Lichfield.

When the local council has already decided that one of the proposed sites was not the right place to construct a new village, it throws up a few issues for the developers and planners.
read more

A personal account of Earth Hour from Canada.

‘We ate by candlelight last night, joining in with the millions who participated in Earth Hour. The little typists were keen, possessed with a sense of urgency. “We have to do this for the environment!’
read more