What we want is real, long-lasting assets, created by public money stimulus, and private capital investment, investing in the future, a sustainable future – Renewable Energy, and Energy Efficiency measures : on all buildings, fuel efficiency for all vehicles permitted to drive, machine and appliance efficiency.

Not all investment is good investment. There’s no point in printing any more money if it’s going to be used to turn valuable raw materials into waste in a one-way process, keeping greenhouse gas emissions high, which increases the risk of very dangerous Climate Change.

We need to be spending our way out of Global Warming – and that means coming up with a plan to, amongst other things, close all the coal-fired electricity generation plants, reduce the fuel used in transportation and transit, and stop heat escaping from buildings in the cold season.

Any plan that does not include these objectives is a waste of time and energy, literally.

Even though they know about Global Warming and the risks of dangerous Climate Change, and they know about the connection between burning Fossil Fuels and Global Warming, they just don’t care about how much Energy they’re using.

And I know this is heresy to say so, but I said that people shouldn’t have to think about Energy, that they shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about using Energy. I said that the Energy that is provided to them should be Carbon-free and responsibility-free. People shouldn’t be forced to act against their nature. Energy is effectively free at the moment. It’s way cheap, even cheaper than food for a lot of people. So people use it. People love using Energy.

I said if Energy were more like Money, then people would pay attention to how much they were spending. In the group it was mentioned that Energy prices would have to rise quite high to change peoples’ behaviour with Energy. And I said, it would be unwise to raise the cost of Energy because that would create a much larger underclass, joining the other people who find it hard to pay for food and fuel. I said that high Carbon pricing would destroy Society.

Then someone mentioned inverse tariffs, where Energy consumers would get a certain amount uncharged each year, but if they used more, they would have to pay more. And the more they used, the more they would be expected to pay for each unit. And I said this might be quite difficult to get agreement for, but that my conclusion was broadly similar. I said that the logical end point with Energy waste is Energy rationing, putting a value on keeping your Energy waste down.

(Someone asked if I meant Personal Carbon Trading. I said, no, not quite. New Renewable Energy infrastructure will require time and investment, so for the time being, we cannot have all the Carbon-free Energy we would like : Energy rationing is a logical approach.)

Energy should be a right, I said, everyone should have access to Energy. In fact, it should be free, until people started to use it beyond their fair share. I said it is the responsiblity of the Energy suppliers to de-Carbonise, and the responsibility of the Government to prevent Energy waste. Not enough of the citizens care sufficiently to make any difference on the problem of Energy waste or Carbon emissions. It has to be corrected at source.

I said we should stop taking Fossil Fuels out of the ground and burning them. Someone mentioned Mark Lynas’ book Six Degrees and how the human race is burning millions of years of ancient sunlight energy each 12 months in the form of Coal, Oil and Natural Gas.

I said that the end point of all our policies is that the Fossil Fuel companies will be going out of business, and that it’s time that they accepted it, and de-Carbonised their primary Energy sources.

I’ve seen the studies, I said, and we could easily have 40% of the country’s electricity from Wind Power, and 70% – 90% of the country’s gas from BioMethane.

(I said that Wind Turbines pay back in all three areas, Money, Carbon and Energy, within 5 to 10 years : it’s always going to be profitable to go green. Although it will cost up-front for the investment.)

The Energy Revolution needs to be an Evolution. Ordinary people should not be blamed for using Energy. Energy should be a public good, a human right, a development need supplied.

I said there needs to be the vision that every flick of a light switch turns on a wind turbine somewhere.

Many other things were said. But at least I stood up for the little people. The people who can’t be too hard on themselves, who don’t understand Energy and shouldn’t be held accountable for Carbon Emissions.

Give us Clean Energy and don’t make us pay for it.

This is a simple Excel spreadsheet chart based on data from these sources :-

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file50354.pdf

“Energy trends : March 2009 : URN 09/79a ISSN number: 0308-1222″

In the section starting on Page 19 “Carbon dioxide emissions and
energy consumption in the UK”, another document was linked :-

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file50484.xls

The last points on the right-hand side of the chart are 34% less than the 1990 figure on the left-hand side. I have assumed that 34% cuts will be required in each sector, evenhandedly.

This is what is recommended by the Climate Change Committee in their December 2008 report :-

http://hmccc.s3.amazonaws.com/pdfs/LaunchPressRelease01.12.08.pdf

“The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) today urged the Government to commit unilaterally to reducing emissions of all greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the UK by at least 34% in 2020 relative to 1990 levels (21% relative to 2005). This should be increased to 42% relative to 1990 (31% relative to 2005) once a global deal to reduce emissions is achieved. The CCC says meeting these targets is necessary to contain the threat of climate change.”

Some thoughts on the meaning of this chart :-

1. In the Power Generation sector, the reduction by 34% looks doable, since between 1996 and 2000, the figure nearly dipped to what the 2020 target shows. I have asked the Department of Energy and Climate Change for reasons for the changes in the Carbon Dioxide emissions over several periods covered by this chart for the power sector. I already know part of the answer : the “dash to gas”, where power generation moved to Natural Gas thermal plant. Also, the Nuclear Power contribution to electricity supply was higher during the period 1996 to 2000 than now. New Nuclear won’t be able to contribute in 2020 (if it ever gets built) because it won’t be ready.

2. The Transport sector cuts look hard : this probably necessitates a real drop in the amount of private and retail road miles. Of note : aviation and shipping emissions are not included in the figures. This means that transport as a whole is very problematic. Don’t expect massive roll out of electric vehicles by 2020 : particularly since there probably won’t be the extra electricity supplies to power them. And if there were extra electricity supplies provided by then, they would need to be Zero Carbon, or the Power sector Carbon Budget will be blown.

3. The Domestic energy sector looks problematic, as home emissions have not really changed much since 1990, and people have not changed their attitudes much about Energy Conservation since then.

4. It is probably not possible to ask other sectors to take up the slack for the Transport and Domestic sectors – in other words, real cuts will be necessary in Transport and Domest (home) energy – of the order of 35% for home energy (since it hasn’t altered much) but closer to 40% for Transport.

5. There is no way by 2020 that Carbon Capture and Storage facilities could be available in sufficient quantity to contribute to emissions cuts from the Power sector. The Carbon Cuts in the Power sector probably have to be done through demand destruction.

6. The emissions cuts in Transport and the Domestic arena imply problems with the “economic growth paradigm”, and imply a much lower Carbon life than imagined so far.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/13/nottingham-police-raid-environmental-campaigners

“Police have carried out what is thought to be the biggest pre-emptive raid on environmental campaigners in UK history, arresting 114 people believed to be planning direct action at a coal-fired power station. The arrests – for conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass – come amid growing concern among campaigners about increased police surveillance and groups being infiltrated by informers…”

There is a clear effort in the reporting so far to overstate the risk and the dangerous nature of the alleged “demonstration”. Even so, note the care not to use the “terrorist” word.

The implication is that the grown-ups have stepped in to quieten down a pack of rowdy rebels.

Whatever the true nature of what has been going on in Sneinton Dale, Nottingham, and whatever the “specialist equipment” found on the site turns out to have been, this smacks of a deliberate attempt to shut down the Climate Camp.

Those arrested could be kept busy with their detention processes for months and prevented from planning and taking part in the Summer of Peace (not Rage).

Yet again the Climate Camp has found and roused the wrong audience, through no fault of its own.

The Camp has an excellent relationship with the Media, but this cannot be used to spin a “virtuous circle” now that direct action has been thwarted.

And then there’s the sour note caused by the Police murderous brutality during the events of Fossil Fools Day on 1st April in London.

The narrative currently being generated about “agents provocateurs” and spies will cause mild paranoia to develop, and will be stoked by those who want the Climate Camp to segmentise or crack up.

Don’t give in to tactics of “divide and rule”, people !

This country needs a social movement on Climate Change, and this movement needs to have the cheeky as well as the policy nerds. It needs to have the angry as well as the meek.

This country needs a social movement where there are people who are ready to lose their liberty on behalf of principles. It also needs the people who can only offer support from the sidelines as they must stay unarrestable.

This country needs a social movement on Climate Change that challenges the structures and organisations that are causing Carbon Emissions to rise.

Some of us will make our challenge by direct action. Some of us will set out our challenge in words, speeches, writing, music, art, our lifestyles, our life example.

Some of us will organise amongst the general population, offering education, workshops, conferences, engaging with Local Authorities and national Governments, universities, colleges, unions, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples.

Some of us will use stickers on lamp posts to get our message across.

Some of us will go to the courts to assert our right to protest at the insane Climate Change and Energy policies still being pursued.

But be sure of this : despite all the differences, the Climate Camp will maintain cohesion, and spread its influence through solidarity and common sense.

What next ? If not direct action at power plants (because people get arrested all the time), then do we become a political party ?

Do we set up a Climate Change Open House in each major city for the purposes of education and skill-sharing ?

What shape will the Climate Camp take if it is prevented from taking direct action on banks, roadbuilding, airports, power stations, pipelines, refineries, LNG terminals, corporate offices… ?

Another World is Possible.
Otro Mundo es Posible.

We might not be able to do the things that people in Latin America or Asia do. Our social movement in the United Kingdom may well have a different shape and different activities.

It might look like a large collection of fully diverse and inclusive Transition Towns, regional Permaculture Centres and Land Rights campaigns.

But remember, whatever we end up doing, we are everywhere, in every environmental organisation and think tank, in local and national government, in development organisations, in housing associations…and we’re not about to get taken down by a couple of spies, or a rumour mill generated by an office full of spies.

Long live Solidarity !
Viva Climate Camp !