To permit the climate to change or not to permit the climate to change; that is the question. You can read, see and hear about the importance of address climate change every day. Most of the talking is done by scientists and politicians. The former group can see the evil of climate change that threatens us and the latter group do the talking, but the talking by the politicians give rise to very little action.
Nicholas Stern lead author of the Stern Review, which must be on the shelf of every government department, told us in his review just how much of a threat climate change is, in economic terms. The review is not quoted or referred to often these days and probably is just another object that cleaners in government departments have to keep free of dust, a bit like the unused chair in the corner.
Mr Stern has recently revived memories of his review by in his position as Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change arguing “with billions about to be spent by governments on energy, buildings and transport, it is vital that these public investments do not lock us for many more decades into a costly and unsustainable high-carbon economy.”
As an economist he puts the case gently, logically and without passion. He conveys using different words the sentiments of thousands of senior economists, politicians and an identical meaning expressed in different terms is published every day in studies, articles, interviews and newspapers by the most famous and honoured minds of the scientific community.
I suppose it is worth asking why the same advice and warnings are being repeatedly uttered. The only answer to this speculation is that these economists and scientists not only believe in the truth of their warnings but they can see that the warnings have not been heeded.
Take Mr Stern, for example. O, I know he has been ennobled by Mr Brown’s government, by Nicholas Stern is not my lord, a lack of status he shares in my mind with all the other people with handles who sit unelected in the United Kingdom’s upper legislative house.
Mr Stern is a relatively recent adopter of climate change science. When he served at the Treasury and at the World Bank I cannot remember either of those institutions being a source of ideas and programs designed to slow down climate change or end greenhouse gas emissions. That may not matter too much because it is better that he was late than never, although he would have been hundreds of times more effective introducing climate change policies into the Treasury of the UK government where they might have a real effect, than languishing as Chairman of the Grantham.
In fairness the Grantham has called for a green new deal, following the originator of this idea, the Green Party who launched such a policy programme in my offices at Genersys in early November.
It is a good idea and has been taken up by the Liberal Democrats, then the Conservatives and in The United States Mr Obama appears to have come up with a similar notion.
Where are all the real anti-climate change policies in real elected governments today? They certainly are not in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom the Members of Parliament (less than a thousand when counting both houses) claim more in additional expenses for their subsistence, second homes, travel and secretarial help that the United Kingdom provides in subsidy each year for microgeneration of renewable energy.
It illustrates their commitment to anti climate change policies. No doubt the whole house would vote in favour of some long term climate change statement (in fact they have done so, passing the Climate Change Act) but statements of good intent will never reverse global warning, unless I misunderstand the science. the commitment does not include paying for anti claimet change measures and certainly not forgoing any part of they pay, expenses (another word for pay) or pensions.
The words are unarguable but there are no significant measures, and the great anti climate change enterprise is in the current turned awry and has lost the name of action.
Filed under: carbon emissions, climate change, Conservatives, energy, genersys, gordon brown, microgeneration, Nicholas Stern, renewables | Tagged: anti climate change measures in the UK, climate change act, Grantham Research Institute, Green New Deal, Green Party, Mr Obama's climate change policies, stern review, world bank |
Robert Kyriakides's Weblog 
The sadness is that most of the engineering in the UK is in fact ‘Social Engineering’ which actualy causes more problems than it solves and not true ‘Engineering’ aimed at correcting the environmental and Energy crisis we face. There are more politicaly correct social workers than electricians & plumbers, and I would hazard a guess that there are probably several hundred social workers for every installer of Solar thermal panels here in the UK maybe thats the problem…?
It’s a bit like fixing the small leaky tap when the whole house is falling down – both are essential but one is more essential than the other.
Robert
If napoleon were alive today his observation would be that ¬
‘Britain is a nation of Social workers’ !
Talking of Napoleon I think he would amend his quote “Britain is a nation of (broke) shopkeepers’ but it is this obsession with just trading, making a quick buck that will leave Britain in a worse state than most after this is over, productivity only measured by £s and not actual production…
http://www.hellbroth.wordpress.com
There is no point in keeping a shop if you cannot afford to stock it. The broke shop keepers will soon be out of business!
Robert
Robert, Social workers are and will be increased year after year, but they are not fixing the social problems of the UK are they? The effects of climate change and energy supplies becoming scarce and more expensive, we know that we can expect a lot more social problems when these problems become unbearable, and the economic situation worsens. I can agre with the prediction in the climate change handbook that there will probably be a lot violence and looting.
According to a recent news article I read social workers spend 80% of their time using a PC! I can give an estimate about the other 20% of the time of a social worker most of it involves talking cr*p.
The anouncement by Ed Miliband of ‘New Policies’ is puzzling how about some ‘New action’ instead of ‘New talk’ Robert if I had a ‘policy’ of being a billionaire with 5 years but did nothing about it wouldn’t making an anouncement seem delusional? Anyway Politicians are the ulitimate deluded because they actually believe they can manage our lives for us and lead us!
We are all becvoming obsessed with recording, rtaher than doing. It seems that if the social worker figures are right then they are going in the same direction as the police and the nursing profession – moving away from the object that is the reaosn for their existence.
The roots of most o our social problems are as another reader says are not being resolved, all of our governments are very efficient at acting after the fact but have no real forsight in treating the causes.
One cause and one they are making huge taxes from is alcohol and tabacco, it is a know fact that 1 in 4 of the countries children are suffering at the hands of alcohol and thousands are being severely damaged from smoking this substance, yet they pass the buck by putting a get you out of jail card by placing a health warning on the packets.
If England is ever to get back on its engineering feet, the very people who are professing that we train new students in the different fields, should put their money where their mouths are, and bring back the companies that they took away to parts foreign so we can start making things again, making people work for nothing and giving others something for nothing doesn’t work, chasing the money only benefits the few instead of the many.
Once the oil starts running out we will have to start fending for ourselves, because we will no longer be able to reley on the small guys many miles away to provide us with our goods.
If we started taking note and looking forward instead of fighting each other about who can be and do the best for the country instead of wasting valuable resorces bickering within, we would be better off, its time to start becomming self sufficient before we loose the available energy to make it possible,
Our business giants have the means and all the knowledge to make this happen, theyare given knighthoods and other privalages, and take the preverbial out of our pocket, what the hell are we training our youngsters to do the jobs these people are taking away from us.
Social workers are spending our monies whilst sitting at the computer, says one thing to me, we are fast becomming a nation of ofice workers and managers all hunting for the remaining jobs.
During the last world war wehad one hell of a government, consisting of all the different parties, it was a time of need and we sucseeded admirably, but today the parties fight amongst each other while our own boys fight a forein war in the name of secured energy.
Time to wake up take stock and start working for our own good on our own backs, hard work never hurt anyone, appart from those working for nothing for us.
There is no incentive for governmewnts to treat the cause- that needs a long termn view.
England has kind of lost its way as engineers – who are often considered as people who fix the hoover rather than as high quality professionals who have contributed so much to our nation’s wealth. We need to get away from senseless measuring and accounting and back to first engineering principles.
Robert