Crisis! What crisis?

In our current situation, coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, it feels like the world has been turned upside down, that life will never be the same again. Many people will die. Many will lose loved ones. Many will suffer hardship and mental anguish. This is a very frightening time. This is nothing. It’s a dry run. A practice. A mere picnic.

Those that survive will need to learn from this. The lessons from this pandemic must not be forgotten. Somehow we have got to try and communicate to the idiots that things have to change.

You think this is bad, large numbers of people dying, having our movements restricted, and with the difficulties of being able to buy everything that we would like because of empty shelves in the shops? You just wait for the progression of the climate catastrophe. It’s going to be like the fictional hell. You can panic buy as many toilet rolls as you like. You’ll never have enough to cope with the amount shit that’s going to go down. When the tipping point comes, and it will come, the infrastructure that is our life support will tumble like a pack of cards.

Think about the floods we had a few months ago, now the pandemic. There’ll be all sorts coming. Extreme weather, natural disasters, crops failing, mass starvation, violence as people with muscle (weapons) try and grab as much as they can. And it won’t be every so often, it will be everyday. There will be more deaths than those living can cope with. Bodies will be left to rot. Basic utilities will fail and won’t be replaced. There’ll be mass migration to areas that still have some resources. The human race will go into meltdown.

Some might consider this the wrong time to be commenting on this but this is exactly the right time. We are currently living through a rehearsal for the future. If people can’t appreciate it now they never will.

We're all doomed. Here's why.

Are we all doomed? Is the end is nigh?

The only way that the human race will survive is by cooperation. So there you go, we are all fucked!

It's probably about a minute to midnight on the clock of human existence. We don't have long before the endangered species known as the human race starts to die out. For all we know it might have already started.

Pretty soon there’ll be no more people left on Earth. That, I don’t think we can doubt. I would imagine very little can be done to stop our extinction. But what can be done is to delay our demise for as long as possible. But that won't be easy. It won't happen if we carry on doing business as usual. We can all try and do our bit and some can do it better than others. It's not easy to lower the impact one has on our environment as we are pulled this way and that purely in order to survive. The biggest effect will be if governments take action.

Extreme wealth is killing our environment. Neoliberalist capitalism is the enemy of the people, the enemy of the human race, and until we can eradicate it we are on a downward spiral of death and destruction. There will no doubt be many that won't be able to grasp this concept. They won't see that capitalism is a cancer that's now quite rapidly killing us all.

We need a new form of economics. One not driven by growth. But by sustainability. Not by capital but by need. The market won’t sort the problems with our environment. Competition and the push for growing consumption only quickens the pace of our destruction. It’s not in capitalism’s interest to claw back on it’s continued abuse of our life-support system. Selfishness and greed will kill us all.

When I wrote this post a little while back I knew nothing of Extinction Rebellion. I may have heard a reference or two but hadn't really registered what it was all about. Obviously I’ve heard of them now. Their message is a bold one, and one I mostly agree with.

All the recycling by well meaning bike riders who knit their own jumpers is but a drop in the ocean. There’s no reason not to do it as it all helps but alone the conscientious people can't compensate for the nerdowells . We can also help by not having children, stop owning pets, stop flying and stop eating meat in any great quantity (I will turn to this subject in a subsequent post). But it still wouldn’t be enough. Governments need to change things to make any real impact.But not just our government, all governments. Cooperation is the key to our survival.

I'm not the best example of an environmentally friendly human. I know I could do better, and many others could too. But not all of us. Yes our environment is important but if you’re living in poverty, struggling to make ends meet, waiting in the ever extending queue for NHS healthcare quite frankly the aims and ambitions of Extinction Rebellion are not going to figure on your radar much at all. It’s more of an issue for those a little further up the socio-economic scale. If you’re living in poverty you are going to be more worried about where your next meal is coming from or how to pay the next bill that comes in. You’re not going to be worrying about what’s going to be happening in ten or fifteen years time. And quite understandably so. But in reality the solution to lifting people out of poverty is going to be the same as slowing down the climate catastrophe.

We live on a planet of finite resources which we are squandering at an alarming rate. We obviously need to cut right back on overall consumption. But if those resources are not shared out equitably we are doomed to failure. We can only save our environment if we cooperate, rather than competing with each other. That means we need to change the way we govern ourselves, because if we don’t we can change nothing. It’s all very well shouting about how we are killing our planet but unless we’re all prepared to become less greedy, less selfish and vote for change, our days are numbered. Now you can call the new equitable, co-operative form of government that will be needed to address these issues what you like, as labels really aren’t that important, but what you’ll end up with is socialism. It is the only system that can do the job. Pure democracy. Pure co-operation.

So the first priority for people across the world is to establish true socialist governments. Their priority would be to lift people out of poverty whilst at the same time reducing overall consumption of those elements which are the cause of the climate catastrophe.

We can't adopt a siege mentality either. There is only one world and we can't live in isolation, hoping that the problems will go away because they won't. We are going to see mass migration, and on a scale that we’ve never seen before. If we don’t welcome environmental refugees then that will be our loss, and they will come anyway. We won’t be able to stop them. After all, they will have nothing to lose.

If we don't act soon it will be too late. Technology isn't going to save us. It'll be too late for that.

My own personal view is that we will not be able to slow the speed of our destruction as quite frankly we are too stupid to do such a thing. I'm not a pessimist. I'm not an optimist. I consider myself a realist.

Saving the planet, my arse!

I really wish people would stop talking about saving the planet when they do a bit of recycling or start to cut down on waste. You may even be an eco-warrior but you won’t be saving the planet. Don't get me wrong as I'm no climate change denier. I do try very hard to keep my footprint as low as I feel able (these things are never enough). I'm firmly of the opinion that we as a species are heading for our own personalised environmental disaster. But if you want to do your bit to slow down our certain demise, please don't do it under the slogan of 'saving the planet’. You're not saving the planet and you are not even saving the environment. Let's be honest about this, what is really meant when talking about saving the planet is perpetuating the survival of the human race, for as long as possible.

The human race will die out eventually, but the planet will still be here long after we are gone. The planet doesn't need saving and there will still be an environment. An environment that will probably sustain some forms of life. Just not human life, or that of many of the animals that we are hell bent on taking down with us. Let's face it we've fucked things up big time. We've created an environmental avalanche and we're trying to stop it with a seaside bucket and spade.

We've effectively shat on our own collective doorstep and we're continuing to shit everywhere else too. Big time. So please don't talk nonsense about saving the planet, it's self preservation we're talking about here. Let's talk about it for what it is. The human race is self destructing. We can't stop it's eventual demise but we can try and make it as comfortable as possible for us and those that follow on if we're sensible about things. If we're careful with the resources that sustain human life and we start to cooperate rather than compete then our future will be prolonged. But if we carry on down the path of capitalism and tribalism then collectively we are well and truly fucked!

Life, the universe and everything revisited

During my time as a Quaker attender I would often find great inspiration in reading 'Advices and Queries'; a set of useful paragraphs which as well as being included in 'Quaker Faith and Practice' also came as a handy little booklet. 'Advices and Queries' is an inspirational guide delivered in bite size chunks. It always amused and comforted me that there were 42 of them. HHG2G fans will be aware of the significance of this number. My favourite 'A&Q' and the one I read over and over again was No42. Apart from the last sentence no one apart from Jeremy Clarkson could possibly object to the wording. I'd like to share it with you now:

"We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God's continuing creation."

Man’s worst friend

#eatdog

WARNING: If you allow sentimentality to cloud your judgement to the detriment of rational thought then you will be offended by this blog post. Sometimes pragmatism needs to win out over emotion.

Want to help the environment?

I’m not a pet person. In my opinion it is immoral to own one. Pets exist purely for the gratification of their owners, and for no other reason. Owning a pet is an act of extreme selfishness. To those that claim that they are ‘company’ I say “get a life”. No wonder society is in the state that it is in if we prefer pets to people. Pets are the pointless playthings of the blinkered, selfish, uncaring and stupid. If humans were bred with defects purely for the purposes of entertainment and amusement there would be a public outcry; and rightly so. So why do it with animals?

Given that pets are essentially immoral and pointless’ let’s discuss the most ridiculous and most pointless pet of all; namely the dog. The dog is a shit machine on legs, full stop. It serves no other purpose. They are dirty, smelly, noisy, bite-y and stupid. And, don’t tell me that there is anything clever in fetching a stick, because there isn’t. Big dogs can kill, and do,yet we allow anybody to own them. At the very least they should be subject to very strict controls. They are dangerous.

Sadly, not enough people share my prejudice about pets. But if you can’t grasp the concept that owning a pet is a totally selfish and immoral act then help is at hand, because it turns out that owning a pet is very bad for the environment. It actually could be better to own a 4x4 than a pet. Seems like a good deal to me - dispose of your pet and get a 4x4 – shed loads more fun!

Let’s rid the country of pets!

With climatic change the future potentially is a grim picture; dwindling resources including large-scale food shortages could well be the order of the day. That could well be the time we will have to start eating the pet population. I wonder what roast dog tastes like. Don’t tell me. Chicken!

Education, Equality and Environment

I’d like to challenge the notion that the two sacred cows of schools and hospitals should always be the most important when it comes to government spending. Yes, they are very important but they are not always the most important.

If we are to create Jerusalem, the equal and fair society that those of us on the left hope and strive for we are not going to create it just through education and the NHS. Economic equality will not be achieved by throwing large wads of cash at education and health. You can’t build robustly if the foundations are made of sand. In my opinion there is an area that qualifies for just as much priority on spending as education and health if not more. That area is environment.

It must be some strange middle-class fetish, which I clearly don’t understand, that demands that ‘Education’ should triumph over nearly all else in the government priority spending stakes. If you are middle-class then education is important. If you are middle-class, spending on education pays dividends. If you are working-class it’s a bit more hit and miss.

As I’ve said before my approach to politics and my political beliefs are influenced by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow’s fundamental ‘Biological and Physiological needs of air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.’ need to be adequately met before a person can then be concerned with moving on to the next level. Economic equality for all won’t be attained until everybody has passed up through all of the levels.

If people are consigned to live in poverty and inadequate housing then their environment will never be conducive to learning and good health. If you have the misfortune to be born into a poverty-stricken, dysfunctional family then your chances of becoming a brain surgeon or a captain of industry are extremely remote.

I was brought up on a council estate in the fifties through to the beginning of the seventies. The only heat in our council house was a fire in the living room plus the odd electric fire when we could afford it. I was lucky. I came from a loving family and we were slightly more prosperous than many of my contemporaries, but it was still a struggle financially for my parents, who both worked full-time. In winter it was damned near impossible to do homework at home. It either had to be completed in the living room in the warm with the telly blaring or in the arctic temperatures of my bedroom. Concentration was an issue. Personally I think I did well to ingest and attain the level of education that I did. Going to university or getting a degree just didn’t feature on my radar. So when people harp on about ‘social mobility’ and how education is somehow going to single handedly increase it they are talking out of their arses.

Yes keep building schools and hospitals* but more importantly build social housing and lots of it. And, let’s spend some serious money so that we enable all children to be brought up in a stable and disciplined** family style environment. Only that way will you start to help break the cycle of poverty and facilitate true social mobility.

* fat chance of this with the ConDems in power of course

** discipline as in ‘structure, rules and responsibilities’ rather than some Victorian notion of ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’

British Gas announces five biomethane demonstration projects

I was pleased to see this press release:

British Gas announces five biomethane demonstration projects

British Gas has today announced it is to go ahead with five biomethane demonstration projects that are likely to be the first in the UK to inject green gas into the grid. The announcement follows Government backing for this emerging technology that confirms support for biomethane to grid from April 2011.

Biomethane will make a contribution to decarbonising the gas grid by delivering renewable heat to households through the existing gas network and central heating boilers. According to a study by National Grid, it could account for at least 15 per cent of the domestic gas market by 2020.

Biomethane is a mixture of gases (predominantly methane) that are sourced from organic material, such as cattle slurry, food and household waste. It has similar thermal characteristics to natural gas and, once upgraded to grid specification, can be injected into the gas grid for end use by customers.

The first project will involve British Gas working with Thames Water and Scotia Gas Networks to build plant at Didcot sewage works. Thames Water already makes and flares raw biogas from sewage processing. The project will design and build a plant to clean the gas and inject it into the grid.

First gas from this project could flow into the grid in summer 2010. Upon completion, British Gas will also enter into a long-term gas purchase contract with Thames Water.

British Gas has also signed development agreements with four other companies to carry out feasibility studies with a view to delivering biomethane to grid. The agreements are with GWE Biogas (using food waste and farm crops), Potters Waste (manufacturing waste), Dillington Biogas (farm waste slurry) and Adnams Brewery (brewery waste).

Assessment and development of these projects will start immediately.

Geaid Lane, Managing Director of Communities and New Energy, British Gas, said: "We're delighted that the Government will provide support to make investment in biomethane commercially viable. With 85 per cent of homes heated by natural gas, this is a fantastic opportunity to deliver renewable heat through our existing gas network and central heating boilers."

"These five projects demonstrate once again British Gas' leadership in renewable energy. By making early investments in biomethane we intend to drive forward the opportunity to deliver green gas to our customers."

Government support for biomethane injection into the grid is part of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which sets out proposed financial incentives for the generation of renewable heat by households, communities and industry

- ends -

Contacts

Centrica press office: 0845 072 8001

About bloody time too!

Green ostriches

Climate change denial would seem to be very fashionable with people politically on the right at present. It a fad that started in the good old US of A and is now festering over here. Despite evidence to the contrary they will state that it’s all lies, a left wing conspiracy and that what is currently happening with the world’s climate is within the parameters of normal climactic fluctuation. These are the sort of people that would have denounced Galileo and Darwin as crackpots and charlatans. They see danger in new ideas and anyone challenging their world order.

I’ve followed green issues since the early 1970s, a time when it was very fringe and had very little mainstream appeal. Now that it is taken much more seriously by mainstream politicians, those on the right are very worried. The whole raison d’ etre of the right is exploitation, and if they see governments wanting to curb this they resist, hence this current aberration. The denial won’t end until they have found lucrative ways of making easy money in an ‘environmentally friendly’ way.

Holy hot air

Apparently atheists are responsible for global warming. It’s all our fault!

Well that’s according to that well known nutter who trades under the alias of ‘The Pope’

Info here...

Classical gas

I get quite irritated by talk of energy shortages and price rises. It was known when North Sea gas first came ashore that it had a finite lifespan. In fact it has lasted a bit longer than 'the experts' said it would. So why the fuck haven't successive governments planned for it?
I suppose the answer to that is easy. Thatcher!

When I was a lad we produced all of our own gas. Town gas it was called. It was made from coal, and the wonderful ventricle-clearing smell of coal tar hung in the air around every gas works. Now I’m not suggesting that we return to those heavily polluted innocent days. But is it that difficult to make gas?

Why aren’t we producing our own natural gas?
Natural gas is essentially methane, and it's all around us emitting from our compost heaps, from rubbish on our land fill sites, from farms and from sewage works. I'm sure that human crap alone would be enough to cook the nation's dinners and that's before we've even scratched the surface of bovine flatulence.

Disposing of all our garden waste, rubbish and shit is a major problem, but it wouldn't be if we treated them like the valuable resources that they are. I suspect that costs involved in developing the technology and setting up the plants is currently what is holding things back, but if the government can rescue the banking industry it can surely subsidise the investment needed for natural gas. Or better still force the energy companies to invest in such projects as with the energy efficiency initiative.

I can't believe that it would be that difficult to return to the days when we were self-sufficient in gas. After all it's not rocket science!