Sian Berry

Green Party Spring Conference this week. We're in Swansea, soon to be the scene of the election of our first Welsh Assembly member. Rhodri Griffiths, our lead candidate for South Wales West region, opened proceedings with a thoughtful attack on the ruling Labour Party in Wales. First Minister Rhodri Morgan having handed us a gift recently by saying that he sees global warming as a bit of a business opportunity ... read more

Having been selected to stand for Mayor of London last week, I hadn’t planned to blog about the subject every week from now until next May. Apart from risking boring the readers of newstatesman.com into a campaign-induced coma, it wouldn’t be much fun for anyone outside the M25.

But the people of London have surprised me. Judging by the number of comments generated by my last posting, it seems they ... read more

Voting and democracy are what make the world of politics go around, and there has been a lot of it about this week. Like the proverbial bus, you can wait for ages for a vote that will take you in the right direction, and then three come along at once.

First up, MPs were voting on proposals for reformed House of Lords on Wednesday. We’ve had quite a wait for ... read more

If you have ever fancied the idea of getting a government grant to help you put a wind turbine, solar panel or wood-burning stove in your house, then by the time you read this it will probably be too late – for this month at least.

The Low Carbon Buildings Programme was set up by the DTI last year to boost the take-up of renewable energy technologies on houses and ... read more

That petition, with more than a million people travelling to London and marching for miles through a freezing February afternoon to oppose... Oops, sorry I was thinking of something else for a moment. Let me start again.

That petition, with more than a million people sitting at home and clicking on a website to object to road pricing, has been the subject of hot discussion this week among my Green ... read more

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Love is compulsorily in the air and we’re all being urged to buy, buy, buy to prove it. But marking the day with more than a simple (recycled) card is full of ethical pitfalls. If you’re a Green, what are the options?

A short-haul mini break to hold hands in a European city is obviously out of the question. Similarly, diamonds have been tainted with every ethical ... read more

You probably noticed that Microsoft launched their latest operating system ‘Vista’ this week. Three years late and containing about half the promised innovations, it’s already in for criticism, not least from me and my colleague Derek Wall, Male Principal Speaker for the Greens.

We are not only disappointed Vista isn’t better, but have some serious concerns about consumer rights and its impact on the environment too. The comment I ... read more

I can rarely be found waiting on tenterhooks for a Communication from the European Commission, but that is what has mainly concerned me this week, since the document in question will cover a subject close to my heart. It will determine whether the EU will finally force car manufacturers to cut the carbon dioxide emissions from their vehicles.

In case you’re not a follower of the goings on in ... read more

The Royals have been all over my ‘to comment on’ list lately - a rather odd situation for a committed republican to find themselves in. Normally I just ignore the lot of them and hope they’ll go away, but twice since December I’ve had to comment on the will-he-won’t-he eco credentials of Prince Charles, and a few weeks ago his niece Zara Phillips practically jumped up and down and demanded ... read more

Unlikely allies appeared all over the place this week in the battle against urban 4x4s. First Jeremy Clarkson, in his review of the new Volvo SUV in last Sunday’s Times, seemed to concede defeat, then on Tuesday even Blair was on their case. Blimey.

Clarkson was in a particularly thoughtful mood last week, at least compared with his usual bluster. Restricting his abuse of anti-4x4 campaigners to merely calling us ... read more

So at last someone in the Government broke ranks over aviation. On Friday, with Climate Change Minister Ian Pearson calling Ryanair the ‘unacceptable face of capitalism’ and describing plans for US airlines to sue the EU over new landing at European airports as a ‘disgrace’, it seemed for a moment that perhaps his tough language might translate into some tough action.

Alas, only a day later, Mr Pearson was ... read more

Over the Christmas break, between handfuls of chocolates and dozens of board games, I have been having fun working on the Green Party’s response to a DTI consultation, which closes at the end of this week, on amending the Renewables Obligation. As usual, the more I read about the Government’s chaotic energy policies, the more depressing it all becomes.

If you haven’t heard of the Renewables Obligation, it is the ... read more