Mad Max, Marxism or a Middle Way? Life Beyond Oil

I’ll start this week’s blog by stating that, by nature, I’m a glass half full sort of bloke (preferably pinot noir…organic of course and from France!). Which means, in terms of the question above, I want to believe that we can find a route to life beyond oil that avoids the extremes of anarchy and apocalypse on the one hand and a state-dominated society on the other. This is probably a version of transition towns where ‘local’ becomes more important .
However, if I sit down and analyse the position I become more despondent. Why? Firstly, most individuals are ‘short- termists’ in view and by nature. This doesn’t mean they are not interested or don’t care about climate change (although according to a weekend poll a significant proportion in the UK are still in denial) as they want their kids to have a future. However, they are focused on the today – a job, feeding the family, getting their kids a good education and having a bit of fun along the way. This means that getting them to start thinking about the steps they as individuals need to take in the next decade to reduce oil dependency is difficult and will only happen as a result of a combination of incentives, taxes, education and changes to infrastructure. Even then it is a challenge – witness the problems governments have faced in getting people to face up to the need to save for retirement
Secondly, governments usually only have a 5 year time horizon which restricts their ability to think outside the standard Whitehall box and act creatively unless there is a crisis. There is a crying need to start to moving the tax system to one based on carbon usage, yet little appears to be happening in this area. Instead, they are looking for more of the same to try and raise revenue. I was hugely disappointed to hear this morning that the Chancellor is considering increasing the rate of National Insurance, an employment tax, to raise revenue – rather short-sighted at a time when there is a need to encourage employment. So, while I admire Gordon Brown’s stance on Climate Change on the world stage I’m hugely disappointed with what the government has(n’t) done. Why are we still contemplating a third run-way at Heathrow
Thirdly, whatever comes out of Copenhagen, demand for oil and other raw materials will continue to rise as China, India and the rest of the developed world continue to grow their economies. The need to satisfy demands at home will increase the risk of conflict over raw materials, water and food.
To finish on a more cheery note, I do think that technology offers hope. Developments in electric cars, renewables and the introduction of more efficient heating, lighting and other equipment will help us cope with life after. But will it be enough to avoid Mad Max?

Vegetarianism to reduce carbon emissions

I first came across this concept in the Geographical magazine a couple of years ago in an article on cattle and green house gases.
It is undoubtedly true that meat production, and particularly beef, is resource hungry,and that the growth in demand for beef has contributed to deforestation in Central and South America. There are also health issues associated with excess red meat consumption. And there are big issues regarding the standard of husbandry associated with meat production (industrial farming of pigs and chickens in particular), and big sustainability issues around fish stocks.
However, it's important to remember that much of the pasture used to rear livestock is not particularly well suited for crop production, either because of the soil or climate and therefore they would be limitations on increasing in arable farming. In addition there are a whole set of issues around freedom and culture that need to be considered.
On a personal level I've been vegetarian for short periods of time,a month or two when travelling in India and Nepal, but I very much enjoy meat and fish and would find it difficult to make the switch permanently. However, I can see the logic of reducing in meat consumption and could buy accept the idea of "Meat-free Mondays" or similar.
But before heading down this route there's alot of stuff we can do in areas such as reducing food waste that could have a significant impact in this area.

EcoTeam or Eco Dream?

I must say the idea of the Ecoteam sounded a good one and as Tom demonstrated on Wednesday there are a number of benefits associated with the concept, for example it provides a framework, offers mutual support, helps information to be shared, sets targets and measures against these. However, as Tom also pointed out, there are challenges with the concept.

As I mentioned on Wednesday there are parallels between the EcoTeam idea and various change management projects I have worked on. Typically these involve setting up and training teams of employees from across the organisation and tasking them with identifying issues and problems, nmainly with business processes, and putting forward potential solutions. In my experience they are are very good at motivating individuals and do deliver real benefits. But they are usually unable to deal with the really big issues that will deliver the really big benefits be that a different organisation structure or a new IT system. These issues only get dealt with if they have a champion at the Board Room Table. My guess is that EcoTeams will have similar challenges - they'll get individuals to recycle, maybe insulate the house but are unlikely to be able (in the short term at least) to change local transport infrastructure to reduce car use.

Is there anything to be learnt from history on how revolutionary groups spread the gospel, and their success or otherwise in doing this? My history is a bit rusty but I seem to recall that in Czarist Russia revolutionary groups invested alot of effort trying to politicise the serfs but with little success. What led to change was the effect of war and food shortage. Going back further in time, Christianity was an underground movement for many years and only became the official religion of the Roman Empire because the soon to be Emperor had dream/vision on the eve of a victorious battle, not because the early Christians convinced the majority of the popualtion that their religion was a good thing. I would be would be interested to hear whether anyone is aware of where movements have succeeded in creating change from within and how they went about doing it.

So in conclusion, I think that EcoTeams could have a role to play in accelerating changes in individual behaviours and lifestyles but are unlikely to change the systems and structures that need to be changed at the rate required.

Promoting sustainable consumption through a high profile organisation

Unfortunately I missed last weeks lecture. When I saw the question I did toy with the idea of picking the Cabinet or Royal Family.! However, I finally decided to plump for the BBC on the basis that any successful revolution gets control of the main media channel to control information flow!) In all seriousness there are a few reasons why:
1. It's trusted by most people
2. It's in every home
3. It would be very easy to report on progress
4. It would be good at getting the value add messages across
5. It would be easy to involve celebs who, like it or not, are opinion formers for a proportion of the population.
6.It would be easy to involve local communities in sustainable consumption initiatives
In terms of activity.... First establish the BBC's carbon footprint and identify areas that need to be tackled. Next how these are going to be dealt with. Then track progress through programmes, news bulletins. You could have competitions between regions, showcase viewers initiatives etc

Tim Jackson in London

Hi guys,

Somwhere between finishing my book review, starting the science of climate change assignment, entertaining my brother and attending a Granta Housing Society Board Awayday I found time to whizz down to London on Tuesday and hear Tim Jackson speak.

I have to say he was an inspiring speaker - do go and see him if you get the chance. Not surprisingly he talked about Prosperity Without Growth, a document that in his words merely starts the debate and shows there are no easy answers. During his 45 minute presentation he went through the problems that exist with our current economic model before talking about ecological economics and the steps we need to take to move to a sustainable economy- establish the limits,fix the economics and change the social logic (which requires a shift from individual to collective leadership). I think the first two are (relatively) easy and at least in part are progressing. Changing individuals' mindsets and behaviours is undoubtedly the greater challenge.

The Board meeting the following day was a dose of the real world, exploring how a not-for-profit organisation can deal with the credit crunch. Interestingly Granta have invested in a number of low energy housing developments so I'm going to visit one or two of these in the coming months.

Finally, there's an interesting debate starting on electric cars and whether they will have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas (the argument being no if all we do is build more coal and oil fired power stations to generate the electricty to power the cars. There's also some loophole in EU legislation allowing car companies to buildmore SUVs as they build more electric cars ) - see today's Independent or listen to Radio 5 Live for further info.

'Bye for now
Kev

Woolly Thinking (x2)

Hi guys,

I've had my brother staying with me this weekend. He and his wife have recently launched a wool shop that sources all it's products from suatainable sources. So, if you are thinking of taking up knitting but don't want to buy that nasty Aussie wool that gets shipped halfway around the world, or you're searching for Xmas presents, or are just interested in their proposition have a look their website (unfortunately you can't yet order on-line)

http://www.woolly-thinking.co.uk/

A different type of woolly thinking.... I just had a leaflet through from Breckland Council telling me the only plastic they want in the recycle bin are plastic bottles (minus the tops!). So, all those yoghurt cups and food trays with a recycle symbol on them have to go in the landfill bag? This contrasts with Woking Council who wanted all plastic plus glass in the recycle bin. In South Norfolk I'm told what's allowed in the recycle bin is different again....Why can't we have a nationwide set of standards for recycling rather than this confusing patchwork? And is Breckland the only council in the country where the green wheelie bin is for landfill and the 'green' recyling bin is black?!

Case Study: On-Line Farmers' Market

I'm going to have a look at the development of the Farmers' Market focusing on , an on-line farmers' market, Norfolk and Suffolk Local Food Direct, that has recently been set up in south Norfolk.
If you are interested, have a look at www.welovelocalfood.co.uk