Global Warming and the Environment - Key Issue Series
We go behind the published policy summaries to explain in some detail how UKpopdem goals and policies work together on one of today’s major issues.
2. Global Warming and the Environment
The Problem
It is said that, after world terrorism, global warming is the most serious threat to future civilisation and, by attachment, Britain’s future, too. Some claim the threat is greater than world terrorism. Most people are prepared to accept now that the earth is warming and yet uncertainties abound about its real seriousness and impact, also about man’s involvement in its cause and government motives and responses; and most of all a worry persists in the back of peoples’ minds that their lifestyles and what they strive to achieve for themselves and their families, will be irrevocably damaged and curtailed in the fall-out from the crusade to reverse Global Warming.
The facts
Unlike world terrorism, where there is daily and awful truth of its viciousness against real people trying to go about their daily lives, there is no definitive scientific proof of global warming, nor is there a mathematically provable theory. There is, however, compelling evidence for warming and complex models show possible predicted variations in future temperature: and from these, further forecasts are attempted which contemplate possible outcomes and impacts. It is a tenuous picture but most people are willing to take it on trust. When it comes to the cause of global warming, however, that it is created wholly and totally by man’s hand, rather than by some natural change, and therefore that our destructive activities should be restricted, then herein lays the debate and the mistrust. If scientists are right and global warming is caused by man-made CO2 emissions, then the world is in serious trouble indeed and solving the crisis without negatively impacting our everyday lives is probably the most complex problem the world faces.
Everyday lives
You see everything we do and everything we are requires energy. Using energy creates CO2. The food energy we use just to live is breathed out in CO2 and ejected as methane waste (which is 25 times more damaging than CO2). Producing the food we need also requires energy and emits CO2. And it’s the same for all the animals. Add in the energy required to make the clothes we wear and fuel for basic heating to keep us warm, and it’s evident that just getting through the day uses a lot of energy and results in tonnes of released CO2 and methane. If we in Britain and the rest of the world all lived a simple pastoral existence as in the Middle-Ages then the energy we use and resulting CO2 would be large but stable, surely? But wait, aren’t there 10 times as many people on the planet now as there were in the Middle-Ages and still growing. Are scientists really telling us there are too many people in the world and that’s the man-made cause of rising CO2? What are scientists and politicians saying?
Wealth and CO2
Actually, scientists, governments and pressure groups say it is not increased CO2 due to population growth that is the cause of global warming; it is the increase in manufactured goods we employ and the energy required (and thus CO2 output) in making them and using them that is the problem. In Britain this means everything manufactured that we have got used to; everything that makes our lives comfortable and enjoyable, everything you see around you in your work, your home, your street, your town; it includes your travel, your holidays, your music, your TV; and activities in hospitals, schools, offices, shops – everything everywhere. This is what governments and pressure groups want to stop and reverse. But this is also the machinery of wealth and progress, of hope and aspiration, not just in Britain, but around the world. Without it we would indeed be back in the Middle-Ages toiling for a bare existence, with the disease and short life that goes with it.
Taking Stock
UKpopdems believe the commonsense voices of ordinary Britons hold the answer to this knotty problem and should be listened to. They have made it quite clear what they wish their government to achieve. They say: We want solutions to protect the Earth, but without damaging our lifestyles. This marvel of rationality gives UKpopdems confidence in listening to the British people rather than the self-centred and doubtfully motivated opinions of pressure groups and our current batch of politicians. This does not make our job easier but our direction is clear. UKpopdems commits that the lifestyles of ordinary British people will not be crucified on the altar of global warming. We will not introduce any green taxes or impose any restrictions unless the people agree and politicians, senior public servants and corporate bosses pay their own individual green taxes and are personally impacted by the same restrictions. We will look for environmental solutions that Britons can agree with and support actions they can take personally, and we’ll focus on reducing CO2 through technology applications and energy efficiency.
Britain’s Environment
We can be justly proud of the great environmental strides Britain has made in just the last 50 years. Look outside and the dream of a green and pleasant land seems realisable. The rivers, towns, and the land itself are cleaner than before the industrial revolution blackened our skies and our lives. Ukpopdems promise to continue this progress and direct even more investment to cleaning up Britain. However, there still remain four great blights to be addressed; road traffic choking villages, towns and cities; new and ugly development creeping into our green spaces; the gross and hideous spectre of society’s waste mountain; and the dirty, wasteful and inefficient production of energy. These are long term problems requiring concerted long term solutions but we know what we have to do, what the people want, and we’ll start immediately.
Key solutions
We’ll stop persecuting motorists but increasingly separate traffic from pedestrians by improving and building ‘safe roads’; give better, easier and cheaper public transport options to get cars off the road; make actual fuel usage the simple and sole efficiency criteria of what taxes road users pay; and with our international partners, we’ll drive for greener engines. For the built environment we’ll redevelop cities and towns and protect the green belt; we’ll set up a permanent royal commission to improve the quality, beauty and sustainability of buildings and infrastructure; and increase shared ownership schemes to make more homes affordable. In reducing waste, Britons do want good solutions and we’ll push for much more recycling where this makes sense and the people give their support; we’ll increasingly make retailers responsible for packaging disposal; and to reduce fly-tipping we’ll change the emphasis towards encouraging proper disposal rather than penalising it through swingeing taxes. With power production, the real debate now is between nuclear and renewable sources and ensuring Britain’s energy production. The result will have long term impacts. We’ll hold a wide-ranging and open debate and make sure the voice of ordinary people is heard above the clamour of disparate interest groups, so that the outcome has the democratic approval of the British people. UKpopdems policy solutions contain far more than can be shown in these few lines, but whatever we do our goal is to improve Britons’ lives, not damage them.
The International Factor
When it comes to overall CO2 output, Britain’s contribution at 2% is insignificant compared to total world CO2 output. Britain’s real role is to do our bit and make sure our voice is heard. Once again, ordinary people have made it quite clear that their priority lies in supporting developing and disadvantaged countries and pushing first world nations to recognise their duty in this respect. Britain and other nations need to drive China particularly, to use its new wealth in foreign reserves and earnings for investment in clean manufacture, clean transport and cleaner coal-fired power stations. The EU is doing a good job over time in forcing the same thing in Eastern Europe and other states it can influence. If there is one thing that the United States can do within its power then it is to reduce its own dependence on oil which has been, is now and will continue to be the cause of so many world conflicts. Moreover, the new US rush to bio-fuels is already damaging food production and affecting us all. Africa is an exception and we must not allow jobs-worth bureaucrats and well-meaning green pressure groups to make that continent suffer further by denying it access to cheap power and manufacturing capability. Africa must be lifted up, not left shackled to the dirt in poverty, and Britain and Europe must take the lead. Ukpopdems will grow a defence fund at a £billion a year to help those most affected by Global warming who cannot help themselves. In addition, we will have in-place a permanent rapid reaction force equipped and ready to go when famine, fear and disaster threaten.
Protecting Britain
We just do not know whether Global Warming will benefit Britain or harm us. Finding this out in as much detail as possible is a key priority. UKpopdems will invest to quickly understand likely impacts better so we can take advantage of the benefits and protect our citizens against possible dangers, especially drought, floods, rising sea levels, food production and energy provision. To protect Britain’s essential resources and promote reinvestment, we’ll restrict profits for utilities to 10% and make sure those profits are kept in the UK. Local communities, who are the key decision making bodies in a UKpopdems government, will get the expertise and support they need to make and implement long term decisions to protect and benefit individuals and the whole community based on local priorities. Whatever global warming brings to Britain in ten, twenty, thirty or more years from now, we will be prepared for it; and we will be in a good position to help our neighbours and others when and if they need it.
2. Global Warming and the Environment
The Problem
It is said that, after world terrorism, global warming is the most serious threat to future civilisation and, by attachment, Britain’s future, too. Some claim the threat is greater than world terrorism. Most people are prepared to accept now that the earth is warming and yet uncertainties abound about its real seriousness and impact, also about man’s involvement in its cause and government motives and responses; and most of all a worry persists in the back of peoples’ minds that their lifestyles and what they strive to achieve for themselves and their families, will be irrevocably damaged and curtailed in the fall-out from the crusade to reverse Global Warming.
The facts
Unlike world terrorism, where there is daily and awful truth of its viciousness against real people trying to go about their daily lives, there is no definitive scientific proof of global warming, nor is there a mathematically provable theory. There is, however, compelling evidence for warming and complex models show possible predicted variations in future temperature: and from these, further forecasts are attempted which contemplate possible outcomes and impacts. It is a tenuous picture but most people are willing to take it on trust. When it comes to the cause of global warming, however, that it is created wholly and totally by man’s hand, rather than by some natural change, and therefore that our destructive activities should be restricted, then herein lays the debate and the mistrust. If scientists are right and global warming is caused by man-made CO2 emissions, then the world is in serious trouble indeed and solving the crisis without negatively impacting our everyday lives is probably the most complex problem the world faces.
Everyday lives
You see everything we do and everything we are requires energy. Using energy creates CO2. The food energy we use just to live is breathed out in CO2 and ejected as methane waste (which is 25 times more damaging than CO2). Producing the food we need also requires energy and emits CO2. And it’s the same for all the animals. Add in the energy required to make the clothes we wear and fuel for basic heating to keep us warm, and it’s evident that just getting through the day uses a lot of energy and results in tonnes of released CO2 and methane. If we in Britain and the rest of the world all lived a simple pastoral existence as in the Middle-Ages then the energy we use and resulting CO2 would be large but stable, surely? But wait, aren’t there 10 times as many people on the planet now as there were in the Middle-Ages and still growing. Are scientists really telling us there are too many people in the world and that’s the man-made cause of rising CO2? What are scientists and politicians saying?
Wealth and CO2
Actually, scientists, governments and pressure groups say it is not increased CO2 due to population growth that is the cause of global warming; it is the increase in manufactured goods we employ and the energy required (and thus CO2 output) in making them and using them that is the problem. In Britain this means everything manufactured that we have got used to; everything that makes our lives comfortable and enjoyable, everything you see around you in your work, your home, your street, your town; it includes your travel, your holidays, your music, your TV; and activities in hospitals, schools, offices, shops – everything everywhere. This is what governments and pressure groups want to stop and reverse. But this is also the machinery of wealth and progress, of hope and aspiration, not just in Britain, but around the world. Without it we would indeed be back in the Middle-Ages toiling for a bare existence, with the disease and short life that goes with it.
Taking Stock
UKpopdems believe the commonsense voices of ordinary Britons hold the answer to this knotty problem and should be listened to. They have made it quite clear what they wish their government to achieve. They say: We want solutions to protect the Earth, but without damaging our lifestyles. This marvel of rationality gives UKpopdems confidence in listening to the British people rather than the self-centred and doubtfully motivated opinions of pressure groups and our current batch of politicians. This does not make our job easier but our direction is clear. UKpopdems commits that the lifestyles of ordinary British people will not be crucified on the altar of global warming. We will not introduce any green taxes or impose any restrictions unless the people agree and politicians, senior public servants and corporate bosses pay their own individual green taxes and are personally impacted by the same restrictions. We will look for environmental solutions that Britons can agree with and support actions they can take personally, and we’ll focus on reducing CO2 through technology applications and energy efficiency.
Britain’s Environment
We can be justly proud of the great environmental strides Britain has made in just the last 50 years. Look outside and the dream of a green and pleasant land seems realisable. The rivers, towns, and the land itself are cleaner than before the industrial revolution blackened our skies and our lives. Ukpopdems promise to continue this progress and direct even more investment to cleaning up Britain. However, there still remain four great blights to be addressed; road traffic choking villages, towns and cities; new and ugly development creeping into our green spaces; the gross and hideous spectre of society’s waste mountain; and the dirty, wasteful and inefficient production of energy. These are long term problems requiring concerted long term solutions but we know what we have to do, what the people want, and we’ll start immediately.
Key solutions
We’ll stop persecuting motorists but increasingly separate traffic from pedestrians by improving and building ‘safe roads’; give better, easier and cheaper public transport options to get cars off the road; make actual fuel usage the simple and sole efficiency criteria of what taxes road users pay; and with our international partners, we’ll drive for greener engines. For the built environment we’ll redevelop cities and towns and protect the green belt; we’ll set up a permanent royal commission to improve the quality, beauty and sustainability of buildings and infrastructure; and increase shared ownership schemes to make more homes affordable. In reducing waste, Britons do want good solutions and we’ll push for much more recycling where this makes sense and the people give their support; we’ll increasingly make retailers responsible for packaging disposal; and to reduce fly-tipping we’ll change the emphasis towards encouraging proper disposal rather than penalising it through swingeing taxes. With power production, the real debate now is between nuclear and renewable sources and ensuring Britain’s energy production. The result will have long term impacts. We’ll hold a wide-ranging and open debate and make sure the voice of ordinary people is heard above the clamour of disparate interest groups, so that the outcome has the democratic approval of the British people. UKpopdems policy solutions contain far more than can be shown in these few lines, but whatever we do our goal is to improve Britons’ lives, not damage them.
The International Factor
When it comes to overall CO2 output, Britain’s contribution at 2% is insignificant compared to total world CO2 output. Britain’s real role is to do our bit and make sure our voice is heard. Once again, ordinary people have made it quite clear that their priority lies in supporting developing and disadvantaged countries and pushing first world nations to recognise their duty in this respect. Britain and other nations need to drive China particularly, to use its new wealth in foreign reserves and earnings for investment in clean manufacture, clean transport and cleaner coal-fired power stations. The EU is doing a good job over time in forcing the same thing in Eastern Europe and other states it can influence. If there is one thing that the United States can do within its power then it is to reduce its own dependence on oil which has been, is now and will continue to be the cause of so many world conflicts. Moreover, the new US rush to bio-fuels is already damaging food production and affecting us all. Africa is an exception and we must not allow jobs-worth bureaucrats and well-meaning green pressure groups to make that continent suffer further by denying it access to cheap power and manufacturing capability. Africa must be lifted up, not left shackled to the dirt in poverty, and Britain and Europe must take the lead. Ukpopdems will grow a defence fund at a £billion a year to help those most affected by Global warming who cannot help themselves. In addition, we will have in-place a permanent rapid reaction force equipped and ready to go when famine, fear and disaster threaten.
Protecting Britain
We just do not know whether Global Warming will benefit Britain or harm us. Finding this out in as much detail as possible is a key priority. UKpopdems will invest to quickly understand likely impacts better so we can take advantage of the benefits and protect our citizens against possible dangers, especially drought, floods, rising sea levels, food production and energy provision. To protect Britain’s essential resources and promote reinvestment, we’ll restrict profits for utilities to 10% and make sure those profits are kept in the UK. Local communities, who are the key decision making bodies in a UKpopdems government, will get the expertise and support they need to make and implement long term decisions to protect and benefit individuals and the whole community based on local priorities. Whatever global warming brings to Britain in ten, twenty, thirty or more years from now, we will be prepared for it; and we will be in a good position to help our neighbours and others when and if they need it.
posted by United Kingdom Popular Democratic Party at 10:29 am
