Pow-A!

"Health, HIV-Aids, tuberculosis, and even deficiencies in diet. Many of these problems can only be eradicated by education, knowledge, empowerment - the dynamic information at the right time and the right place." MS Swaminathan

A Lot of Hot Air!

Nice article on the Beeb about the UK and talk of 'renewables', to quote:

"Still, a lot of wind can clearly take Britain a long way."

Never was a truer word 'spoken'.

The article also points out the obvious mistake; a lack of respect from on high for 'micro generation'.

Finally it ends with what everyone really knows. We are obese when it comes to energy consumption too.

If we use less we don't need to generate as much! Simple.

war and peace

"These are anxious and exciting times and remind me of the days before the Second World War when many free spirits saw the need to accept conscription. They knew that if war was to lead to a just and successful peace its objectives must be kept in mind as well as the disciplined mechanics of military action. There is no betrayal of Gaia, we need the restraint of scientific conduct for investigation and theory testing and we need the poetry and emotion that moves us and keeps us in good heart while the battle goes on."

James Lovelock , Gaia, Preface p.xiii (2000 Ed.), Oxford University Press.

switch off the mind and let the heart decide

wind, warmth and water
land, life and love
the earth that surrounds us
with heaven above!

heart and lungs

"Whichever way one looks at this, education is absolutely at the heart of the transformation process - starting in our homes, workplaces, leisure centres, professional bodies or institutions, clubs, trade unions and so on. And it's as much a re-education of the heart that we are talking about here as the continuing education of the mind." Jonathon Porritt, "Capitalism as if the World Matters", Earthscan, 2006. (my emphasis)

Reclamation!

Can't See the Wood for the Trees?

There's an interesting development at "Maer Hills" Maer, Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK (the felled areas in the linked Google aerial photo are supposedly where anemometer masts may be hoisted).

The proposal is to build an "eco village" on a 'green site' (woodland) including wind turbines, 'holiday homes', even a golf course, allegedly!




Here are three aspects of the argument:

1. Local demography.

2. Community opposition to renewables.

3. 'Community' opposition to the presumed motivations of developers.

I'm sure there are many more arguments but these are a start. It also looks like (from the website designs, language, etc.) that there may be differences in attitudes amongst generations, classes, etc.

The property developers, Claymoss Properties, indeed do not appear to have a website so it is difficult to present their side of the argument. The planning applications are in the local planning office though - as they were in the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. (Watch out for those Vogons, clever people but appalling poetry!)

It certainly makes 'back to the woods' difficult if there aren't any trees.

I really do wonder if this whole enterprise is doing more harm than good?

Polarisation of communities may be good for business (in this instance) but it is bad for social cohesion. We need to be united not divided if our species is to survive this millennium en masse.