I think most of us probably accept by now that something has to be done about global warming and reducing emissions of CO2 but in my opinion the politicians have got it wrong once again. Yes 4x4's are gas guzzlers, and I don't own one by the way, but taxing people for their choice of vehicle is not a fair way to tax people. They are being taxed for their potential to pollute and not by how much they actually pollute. e.g. a small car returning 50 mpg travelling 25K miles each year is more polluting than a 4x4 returning 20mpg travelling 5K each year. Does the government think that large car manufacturers are going to suddenly stop production or switch to small car production. Some people need a large vehicle for personal reasons and they are not all wealthy people so why penalize them ?
Simple solution put the tax on fuel so the more you use and pollute the more you pay. Concessions of course for transportation of essential goods i.e food, medicines etc.
This "green" tax is just another source of income for the exchequer which our politicians think will be more acceptable wrapped in its green cloak than a straightforward increase in VAT or income tax.
The people who can afford them will still drive their gasguzzlers; people who have to get from A to B using their cars will still do so as you can be sure the revenue raised won't be going on public transport.
Call me a fatalist but I doubt whether anything we do in the UK will make much difference to the overall problems of this earth.
Oh well, OK then, let's turn on the central heating and open the windows, open some more coal-fired power stations and sit outside by the patio heater while the world falls apart around us.
And when our grandchildren look up at us as we wander around the devastated countryside and ask why we didn't do something to stop it when we had the chance, what will your answer be?
Well said lyskerrys. We are all custodians of this world, this country, this county and what will we tell our grandchildren we did to protect it for the future ?
But it's not just transport and fossil fuelled power stations that are poisoning us and our environment. Right here in Cornwall the County Council is proposing to build something that will contribute to the existing pollution...a mass burn incinerator.
Even now, faced with all the evidence about global warming and the need to cut carbon emissions, CCC are pushing ahead with this polluting, unwanted, unnecessary, inefficient, outdated incinerator.
What will Mr.Whalley and Mr.Paynter be telling their grandchildren they did to preserve our beautiful county...."well kids we ignored all the evidence at the time and went ahead and signed a thirty year contract to build an incinerator which pumped dioxins, particulates and heavy metals into the atmosphere. Then we dumped the highly toxic fly ash in a hole in the ground and buried it so that it's out of sight".
I'm afraid lyskerrys that apathy is the biggest problem. The majority of people do not believe it effects them but it effects all of us.
* In view of the way the topic has expanded I have added pollution to the title.
What we need is a funding into Wave power - which has much more potential for power than wind - better grants for solar power for homes... and more nuclear power plants! The greenist kind of energy around.
We should look at rationalising the road / rail network... Making them more efficient - but in an attempt to decrease the amount of road surface/network. Convert more brown belt / disused land back into nature reserves. How bout wooding some of the disused clay tips?
More frieght by rail taking the really polluting trucks of the road. Again a more efficient rail network would help.
Better Bus networks would help... perhaps the buses could be converted to Biofuel?
You may care to revise your fanciful pro-nuclear thinking in the light of this fundamental obstacle:
:idea: http://www.sundayherald.com/53111 :idea:
Consider this:
How many acres of marginal land could be acquired and planted with indigenous woodland with the £100-150M misspent on the ridiculous and grotesquely misleading urbanising plastic greenhouses exercise at Bodelva Pit?
TK, probably more on Parliaments mind is that, before any of the nuclear sites become inundated, most of London and all of Westminster would also be awash!
Honestly, being on a soggy tidal riverbank like they are, you would have thought it would have focussed their minds......
TeamKernow I'm somewhat with you here. Tim Smit has been conspicuous by his absence when it comes to commenting on this ludicrous incinerator idea.
Shouldn't Mr.Smit be at the forefront of any campaign against something that will be a big threat to our environment and health especially when it will be sited just seven miles from The Eden Project ?
Isn't this what Eden is all about....protecting the environment ?
Perhaps its truer function, in both purpose and practice, is to serve as a London Club Trojan Horse machine to facilitate the progressive marginalisation and dilution of the Cornish in their own land.
Some time ago TIMSMIT announced he would need £50M (how ridiculous and cosmic does it get!) to build another greenhouse. Lo and behold! -along comes a BIG Lottery Fund bidding competition with precisely that figure as the ' prize ' - along with massive funding to each of the 6 ' finalists ' to put a proposal together.
On the Icons of ' England ' nonsense web site the Bubblewrap Greenhouses somehow got into the top 25 when the public vote actually left it struggling in the 300s.
It would not be surprising to learn that this BIG Lottery fund distribution of £50M following a public vote to be broadcast on ITV is actually a gerrymandering London Club ploy to orchestrate the £50M towards TIMSMIT, depending on the slick Bubblewrap Greenhouses PR Spin machine to deliver the prize via its cumulative and under-informed visitor database in conjuction with misleading statements.
Stranded dolphins returned to sea
Vets, volunteers and marine experts battle for hours to rescue a dolphin and her calf stranded in Cornwall.
Airport closure was 'responsible'
The Civil Aviation Authority says the decision to close Newquay Airport was difficult but responsible.
Christmas tree is really rubbish
A giant Christmas tree made from recycled plastic bags and bottles goes on display at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
NEWQUAY AIRPORT CLOSURE: “HEADS MUST ROLL”
Stephen Gilbert, the prospective local MP for Newquay, has said that “heads must roll” over the unexpected closure of Newquay Airport and has called for a full enquiry into what went wrong.
Important Information regarding Air Southwest flights to/from Newquay Airport.
We have been advised that Newquay Airport will be closed from 1 December to 19 December 2008 inclusive. This is due to issues with the handover of air traffic control from the RAF to the airport authority.
English Heritage get one thing right at least
English heritage have joined with a variety of other organisations in opposing the planned incinerator in St. Dennis on grounds that they have failed to recognise or address the impact that the proposals will have on the wider landscape of St. Dennis.
MANX GOVERNMENT SUFFER WORST HUMILIATION BY THE UK IN LIVING MEMORY
The Isle of Man government and its Chief Minister have been shown to be inept and marginalised following comments from the United Kingdom Prime Minister and his Chancellor Alistair Darling over the past few weeks.
Population is older and lonelier
People living in Devon and Cornwall are generally older and lonelier than elsewhere in the UK, a BBC survey finds.
