The power of Facebook to the politician plus Ken Livingstone impersonators and other issues
I can hardly fit in writing a blog this week, but I have managed to grab a few minutes away from Facebook to jot a few thoughts down.
For ages and ages I resisted getting involved with this latest manifestation of web 2.0, much as I resisted the lure of a mobile phone for almost a decade. With mobiles I wanted to see if there was any lasting damage to ... read more
Why pay thousands to restrictive software companies when open source programmes are free, easy to use and green?
This week, the Greens have joined together with Friends of the Earth, New Internationalist, People and Planet and the Free Software Foundation to call on other social and activist groups to reject Microsoft's Vista operating system and encourage the use of free software.
Free and open source software (FOSS) is written by teams of developers from different companies and organisations, and can be used and shared ... read more
I wonder how many people have decided this week that, actually, they don’t think expanding airports and ruining all our other efforts to stop climate change is a good idea
I joined the Camp for Climate Action near Heathrow on Sunday, a few hours before the start of the 24 hours of ‘mass action’. As I walked up from the A4, chased by the dreadful roar of planes landing behind me every 30 seconds, I wondered if I was heading in the right direction. Where were the posters and stickers on every lamppost – the typical signs of being ... read more
Sian calls on opponents of big polluting cars to stand up and be counted to make sure owners get hit with higher charges
This time last year, we were having a little party at Alliance Against Urban 4x4s HQ after Ken Livingstone announced plans to charge 4x4s (and other gas-guzzlers) a £25 congestion charge just a few weeks after we delivered our petition calling for almost exactly that. Now the hard work really begins as the plan is going out for public consultation this week.
In case you missed them, the ... read more
Efforts to stop demonstrations over Heathrow expansion will only increase the determination of protesters.
In a week when thousands of families (including mine) in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham and Gloucester are languishing without basic services due to the kind of ‘extreme weather event’ climate change will encourage, it seems particularly crass that the British Airports Authority is using crude legal bullying tactics to try to stop a peaceful protest about their expansion plans.
BAA’s injunction against the 14-21 August Camp for Climate Action, was ... read more
Is it just me, or does it look like people are flying less and less?
I have just got back from a few days in Cornwall (via train of course) and I think I have spotted something strange happening.
No, not that half of England is disappearing under water. In fact I missed the bad weather completely, being in St Ives, which was practically the only place with sun this weekend. Instead what I have noticed is that everyone around me seems to have ... read more
When it comes to footing the bill for this ruinous enterprise, let’s not forget who got us into this mess. It was Gordon Brown, who pushed through the PPP
So, tube repair and upgrade consortium Metronet is poised to go bust, having failed to get £551 million in extra money from Transport for London. I can’t say I’ll be sad to see it go.
The amount Metronet wanted in total (the £551m was just an interim demand) was nearly £1 billion, which is a proper scandal, amounting to a pound on every fare paid by every passenger in a ... read more
Celebrating the opportunity to get rid of lots of WEEE - that's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
The big news for me this week wasn't the spanking, all-new cabinet being put together by Gordon Brown. The only thing I'll say about that is that David Miliband's shift from Environment (where the one thing he did well was talk about climate change a lot) appears to confirm that the policy of saving climate change for fine words at summits rather than effective policies at home will continue. Miliband ... read more
How Tony Blair's foreign farewell tour contributed 600 tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere, writes the Green Party's Sian Berry
So Blair is on his way at last. I must admit that even though I know nothing will be different on my first post-Blair dawn, I do feel a sense of relief at seeing the back of him. But until then, he’s been saying goodbye, and what a long goodbye it’s been.
Blair’s farewell tour has taken in four continents and about four hundred self-congratulatory photocalls. In the past ... read more
Sian assesses the environmental impact of the famous festival
Along with about 200,000 others, I’m in recovery from the Glastonbury festival at the moment. I was there to help promote the 4x4 campaign, sharing a marquee in the Greenfields with a wide range of groups taking direct action to help make our transport more sustainable.
Along with ‘antis’ like the brilliant Plane Stupid and activists fighting to stop the pointless and expensive widening projects for the ... read more
Will it take a British New Orleans before we take flooding planning seriously?
It's starting to seem normal. Storms since Friday, accompanied by frighteningly heavy showers across the UK, have caused floods, havoc and tragedy.
Workers trapped in a factory in the West Midlands; the Gardener's Question Time summer garden party almost ruined by rain 'like stair-rods'; the death of a soldier swept away by a swollen river in Yorkshire; schools closed in Sheffield; and thousands of homes ruined in towns and villages ... read more
A British Day would mean an extra day off work, so why should we stop at just one?
There’s been a lot of discussion this week about the possibility of having a ‘British Day’. Ruth Kelly and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne, in a Fabian Society pamphlet, are proposing this as a new public holiday, and have stimulated a wide debate and many headlines along the lines of ‘What is Britishness anyway?’.
The Daily Mail was on fine, frightening form, ridiculing the emphasis on better community relations ... read more
comment4, 1, ivhunw, 3, swz, 2, 2129, 3, vvh, 3, :-[, 3, 595, 3, 800646, 1, jomv, 2, =DDD, 2, 1497, 1, :-PPP, 3, 444, 1, >:[[, 1, %-PP, 1, =-DD, 1, 226397, 2, twv, 1, 491115, 3,...
From jonn3, 11 May 04:03
I wanted to say that it¡¯s nice to know that someone else also mentioned this as I had trouble finding the same info elsewhere. This was the first place that told me the answer. Thanks.
From Google maps uk, 02 January 19:00
Can the UK achieve it’s commitment to carbon reduction targets by 2020?
RSS
Twitter
