Have I missed a local headline over the last 7 months? Something along the lines of “Isle of Wight does complete U turn on Climate Emergency”.
At a meeting of the Full Council on 24/7/19, councillors backed an amended motion for the authority to declare a ‘climate emergency’, and aim for the Island to become ‘carbon neutral by 2030’, with Councillor Hastings saying:
“The Environmental and Sustainability Forum will be the main mechanism by which we will draw experts, officers, members and residents together to progress actions to reduce our carbon footprint on the Island to make it a wonderful place to live, work and enjoy now and for generations to come”.
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Headline on 4th Oct 2019: Isle of Wight Council comes second place in England and Wales for tackling climate change… How then, has the door been left open for profiteering prospectors (UKOG) to cash in on our Island’s natural resources and drill for oil on the Island, adding further to any climate crisis by exploiting oil reserves which are under our care as well as under our feet?
Maybe, if it were offshore, there would be uproar, “it would spoil the views” etc… but as it is ‘only’ Arreton and Godshill … perhaps it’s OK? Or… is it that this plan is ‘flying under the radar’ due to so little media exposure? Are we really saying there is a ‘climate emergency’ and striving to be Carbon neutral within 10 years, whilst considering doing the complete opposite?… opening up to exploitation by UKOG to Drill the Wight for oil for financial gain!
The irony would be laughable if it weren’t so grave! While companies and governments are investing in technologies that will remove carbon from the atmosphere to store it underground, we are still considering extracting Carbon stored underground… to burn it and put it in the atmosphere!
Why not do the obvious thing … cut out the middle-man, and leave it where it is? Thereby, at a stroke, reducing localised HGV, noise and air pollution whilst cutting the Island’s contribution to future CO2 emissions – for free!
David Moorse, Shanklin.
Island Echo welcomes letters to the editor, which can be sent to [email protected]. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Island Echo.
And make the country even more reliant on imported energy. “Carbon Neutral” is pie in the sky rubbish. All we can do is build more HS2 routes and persuade people to leave their cars at home or make it possible for them to take it on the train with them.
A good article. I think its criminal to drill on the Island.
You cannot convince me that the huge amount of massive tractors pulling fully loaded trailers with grass cuttings, and other grown crops to go into the bio digester can ever be financially sound.
The wages of these drivers running early to late, and the huge cost of buying and maintaining the tractors, along with the huge use of diesel, can surely never cover the costs of the amount of gas produced.
How many work there I don’t know, but these vast tractors driven fast cause many near accidents.
I have heard that it is now German owned as it is EU funded and when we ‘left’ it changed to German ownership to ‘keep the project’ going
Has anyone the stats on outlay to income?
David Moorse – that is because there is no climate emergency – ….the climate changes over millenia, an emergency is something immediate and generally short lived.
The IW council just jumped on the bandwagon that is all, in the hope that they could find a way of rinsing more money from the public and nothing else.
The carbon neutral by 2050 is a responsibility by USERS not on production. There are also many uses of oil.
The fact is we are not ready to switch off the existing generators. We can only produce enough combined green electric on the perfect day to cover 50% of the current electric use. Never mind the 98% transport or domestic heating.
Domestic gas heating is under 3p per kw, or 14p electric heating. If you flick the switch tomorrow you will throw thousands into extreme fuel poverty.
Carbon neutral housing would be nice, but that means demolishing and rebuilding half our houses. Can you lend me £200,000 because I can’t get a mortgage for that at my stage in life!
Businesses need time to adapt too.
You cannot do any of this in zero timescale without economic disaster
carbon neutral is just a catchphrase and unachieveable, ever.
When London used to be covered in a smog – due to the sheer amount of pollution from coal burning and chimneys, they didn’t suddenly stop everyone using them – there was a change that took place over many years, that eventually got us to where we are today – virtually no properties ever have smoke coming out of a chimney or are even built with them. That problem was solved by society in a sensible and calm manner.
The same will now happen to the pollution from vehicles in london – slowly but surely more vehicles that are powered by other methods other than an internal combustion engine will be seen. In many years time, we will be in the position in this country whereby there won’t be petrol or diesel powered vehicles on our roads – this will be achieved slowly but surely over a protracted period of time, that allows the infrastructure to change and society to change with it, without destroying our way of life or economy in the process. No amount of ranting by that annoying troll greta thunberg or the other brain dead, climate activists will change
anything sooner.
Changes in politics and society generally move at a glacial pace and not much will change that. The only place where things change at the snap of the fingers is generally business – it is these changes in businesses that power the much slower and fundamental changes in society.
I just wish these climate zealots would realise that 66m people in this country are not all going to sit in cold homes and eat cold food, whilst wearing threadbare clothing just to suit the agendas of those that clearly haven’t got a clue.