Know Your Enemy

Where's the last place you'd expect to bump into a Green Party MSP? Well, yes, okay, picking up the keys to his brand new Hummer would probably be the last place.

So where's the second last place you'd expect to bump into a Green Party MSP? Right, yes, loading the grenade onto the harpoon at the front of a whaling ship would be a weird place to find him.

Ok, where's the third last place you'd expect to bump into a Green Party MSP? Oh, for fu-----yes, you're right, you'd not expect him to be dressed as Rambo and wielding a chainsaw in the Amazon.

Let me rephrase the question then. Would you expect to bump into a Green Party MSP wandering the corridors of a nuclear power station? Well actually, there's no reason why not.

There's an old adage about knowing your enemy, so in one respect it would have been churlish of Patrick Harvie to turn down an invitation to tour Hunterston B. And I'm sure the Green Party voters will know that the visit is unlikely to turn him into a cheerleader for the radioactive squad. But the issue has been divisive of late, not only in the Green Party but in the wider environmental community. May the photos have given some pause for thought?


Incidentally, I was going to write something extremely witty and erudite about The Steamie's David Maddox claiming that Patrick Harvie had "led a delegation of Green MSPs" to Hunterston B, but Malc got there before me.

Home

This is the trailer for a new film released on June 5th called Home. Rather amazingly, as well as being shown in cinemas around the world, the full 90 minutes is also going to be available on YouTube. It features aerial photography of our planet, to raise awareness of the issues facing our fragile ecology.

You can see more preview videos on their YouTube channel.

Radioactive Leaks At Clyde Sub Base

Photo by DVIDSHUB

Thanks to a Freedom Of Information request, the Royal Navy has admitted that it's submarines on the Clyde have been involved in three radioactive leaks in recent years. They informed the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency after each incident in 2004, 2007 and 2008, where contaminated water was discharged into the river by accident.

SEPA's response was that if Faslane was not a military base, it would have considered shutting it down. Unfortunately, SEPA have no powers over military bases.

So my first questions is, why not?? SEPA is charged with protecting the environment. Military bases are part of the environment. Just appending the word "military" to something shouldn't give it a status outside of the law.

My second question is, why does it take a FoI request to find this information out? Why didn't the Ministry of Defence inform the public at the time of the incidents?

How dangerous would the accident have to be before the populace would be informed?

The Thin Blue Line

Photo by Daveybot

It says something about our democracy that the police think it appropriate to infiltrate "green" campaigning organisations and pay informers for intelligence regarding their activities. If the groups such as Plane Stupid were in the business of blowing stuff up or causing serious injury to others, then I could see the point. But is preventing people from legitimately protesting a good use of police time?

The crazy thing is, if the groups are successful in raising awareness about climate change, and get people to change their habits about things like flying, then the whole of society is better off. So in a way, the police are acting against the good of society.

On the other hand, it says something about our democracy that we can point and laugh at the police, instead of cowering in a corner.

Green In The Media 27th April - 3rd May

Thursday sees a documentary on BBC4 about food science, looking at additives and "made-up food" like quorn.

Monday 27th April

Who Killed the Honey Bee?
On: BBC 4
Time: 20:00 to 21:00
With an affliction dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder wiping out bees worldwide, Martha Kearney explores the terrifying implications of their possible extinction and the loss of their most vital service to nature, pollination, without which global food production would collapse. The threat to keepers, farmers and our food supply is acute and growing, and yet the cause of this 'Marie Celeste syndrome' that causes bees to flee their hives remains a mystery.

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
Obama's Green Dream.
Tom Heap asks whether political and vested interests will shatter President Obama's dream of leading the United States and the world towards a greener future. Obama campaigned for a low-carbon economy and as soon as he came to power he set about laying the foundations for one. He wants to create green jobs in traditional industries like car making - electric cars of course - and construction, making American homes and offices more energy efficient. His biggest challenge will be to wean the country off its dependence on fossil fuels and make 'clean' energy profitable. For that he needs to bring in a system called carbon cap and trade and needs the support of senators and members of congress to do so. However, even members of his own party are reluctant to back what they see as a vote-losing policy and energy companies with investments in coal, gas and oil are lobbying hard against it. Can the President prevail?

Tuesday 28th April

Heavy Water
On: more4
Time: 22:00 to 23:15
On 26 April 1986, reactor four at Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded, sending an enormous radioactive cloud over Northern Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus. The danger was kept a secret from the rest of the world and the nearby population went about their business as usual.

Wednesday 29th April

Rain
On: BBC 2
Time: 23:35 to 00:35
Documentary series about the weather. This programme uncovers the true shape of a raindrop, shows how and why rain falls and tells stories of how we have adapted or succumbed to this elemental force of nature, such as James Glaisher's hot-air balloon ascent in 1862. The Victorians believed that they could master the rain, but today climate change threatens us with rain that is wilder and more unpredictable than ever.

Thursday 30th April

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:30 to 11:00 (Also 1630, 2030, 0130)
The programme that explores the biggest issues in global development and the environment.

British Isles: a Natural History
On: Yesterday
Time: 16:00 to 17:00 (Also Fri 0600, 1100)
Our Future.
Alan concludes his journey and asks what the future might hold for our landscape and its wildlife: global warming, a big freeze or something much more sinister?

Farm to Pharma: The Rise And Rise Of Food Science
On: BBC 4
Time: 21:00 to 22:00 (Also 2330)
Documentary which explores the history of British food science, taking a voyage through over a century of petri-dishes, vitamins and E-numbers. By the 1930s, George Orwell was complaining about the chemical by-products in food, but when war gave scientists a chance to remake the British diet the improvement in the nation's health was extraordinary. We meet the food scientist who pioneered instant soup for Batchelors and discover how Quorn was invented to prevent a global food crisis.


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

House Of Commons Debates Nazi Seagulls From Hell

The fight against the greatest menace of our times has reached the UK Parliament.

Well, okay, perhaps climate change is the greatest menace of our times. But Nazi Seagulls From Hell are right up there, along with Somali piracy, suicide bombers and Zac Efron*

Unfortunately, it appears that the government weren't listening to Don Foster's warning of a gathering storm - an increase in the gull population from 270,000 to more than a million in the next decade.

I can already hear the sound of jackboots against the nation's rooftops...


*The girlfriend dragged me to see 17 Again yesterday. I'm still paying a heavy price for last year's Die Hard 4.

Raising Money

Maybe they were short of change...

Mixed Emotions

The government has announced that there will be no new coal plants built in Britain unless they utilise Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), and that they will give the go-ahead to four such plants in due course. This has left me with mixed emotions.

Firstly, the positive - the government has finally done something right! They looked for a long time like they were on a "new coal" path and a piddly wee thing like environmental destruction would not stand in their way. The announcement of CCS being integral to the plants has been met with a silence from industry. I think the government expected a fight on their hands from the power companies, but they're not objecting.

Now, my negative thoughts. CCS hasn't been proven to work yet. If these four "demonstration plants" are built, and they can't get the technology to work, then we're going to be left with four dirty coal power plants increasing our annual emissions. Plus, there's all the pollution derived from mining and shipping the coal in the first place, and the construction of the plants. Burning coal is not a renewable resource - it's a 19th Century technology in a 21st Century world.

At the moment, I'm falling on the side of optimism. Hopefully, they can get the technology to work, and be able to retrofit it to existing plants throughout the world.

How Many Lightbulbs?

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland Rally

Today I joined a couple of hundred other people outside the Scottish Parliament for a rally held by the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland Coalition. The aims of the organisation are simple, to encourage the main parties to adopt tougher regulations as part of the forthcoming Climate Change Bill:

• Statutory annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 3% year on year starting now
• The inclusion of emissions from international aviation and shipping from the beginning
• Ensure that the action to tackle climate change takes place in Scotland and is not 'bought in' from overseas.

Unfortunately I forgot to charge the batteries for my camera, so you'll have to make do with a few crappy photos from my phone!

The crowd was just beginning to build when I arrived:

We were encouraged to "plant people" with a message on them for our MSPs:

Green Party MSP Patrick Harvie got a warm reception when he addressed the crowd:

One thing from the speeches stayed with me, and I think it was from the Tory (god help me!). If it wasn't, then please correct me! He said, and I'm paraphrasing "We have committed to cutting emissions by 80% by 2050, but we need to cut the majority of them now, not towards the end of that time frame".

Beating The Traffic

This guy cycles around Edinburgh using what the council calls "street furniture" in a rather novel way.

Quite frankly, there are some days this is the only way to get through the tramworks!

Scottish Green List Published.

The Scotsman has today begun it's countdown of the Top 50 most influential environmentalists in Scotland, the Scottish Green List. We're promised a poet in tomorrow's section. Hmm...

The winner will be announced in a ceremony on Wednesday, Earth Day, and published on Thursday.

I'll console myself with the thought that I was No. 51...

Summer Wind Faster Than Thought

There are some ironies associated with climate change, such as Arctic melting allowing more oil to be pumped out from under what used to be ice.

Now here's another one: Nasa has discovered that summer wind speeds around Scotland have increased over the last 20 years, making wind turbines more economic. It should be good news for the renewables industry which has been suffering lately after the price of oil fell.

Actually, I can top the Nasa study. I've noticed a correlation between wind speed and the length of my shift when I'm cycling home. The longer the shift, the stronger the wind in my face!

Green In The Media 20th April - 26th April

Doctor Who doesn't know what's going on with the bees, so I'm not entirely sure Martha Kearney can work it out. You can watch her efforts on Thursday evening.

Monday 20th April

Taste
On: Sky3
Time: 06:00 to 07:00
We review organic supermarkets... and aphrodisiacs.

The Food Programme
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 16:00 to 16:30
From farm gate to the school plate and to the high-end restaurant menu, Sheila Dillon looks at the farmers' co-operative that is supplying quality organic produce from Essex.

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30
Virtual Warming.
Using your computer for business, socialising online shopping and leisure saves massive amounts of energy, doesn't it? But do you ever stop to think where all that stuff we post on Facebook, You Tube and all over the web is actually stored? The answer is in dataprocessing warehouses the size of football fields, strung together by fat cables and inside which air-conditioning fans cool rows of computing servers 24 hours a day. Far from being low energy, the expanding digital cloud is really an enormous web of steel, silicon and concrete. Technology analysts estimate that the manufacture, use and disposal of ICT equipment contribute around 2 per cent of global emissions of carbon dioxide, about the same as aviation. As the use of ICT grows, its emissions are likely to increase despite improvements in efficiency. The programme finds out how it works and why the City of London is running out of power for its IT use.

Thursday 23rd April

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:30 to 11:00 (Also 1630, 2030, 0130, Sat 2035, Sun 2335)
The programme that explores the biggest issues in global development and the environment.

Live Energy and Climate Change Questions
On: BBC Parliament
Time: 10:30 to 11:30 (Also 0100, 0330. If you're insomniac)
Live coverage of questions in the House of Commons to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband and his team of ministers.

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 13:30 to 14:00
Obama's Green Dream.
Tom Heap asks whether political and vested interests will shatter President Obama's dream of leading the United States and the world towards a greener future. Obama campaigned for a low-carbon economy and as soon as he came to power he set about laying the foundations for one. He wants to create green jobs in traditional industries like car making - electric cars of course - and construction, making American homes and offices more energy efficient. His biggest challenge will be to wean the country off its dependence on fossil fuels and make 'clean' energy profitable. For that he needs to bring in a system called carbon cap and trade and needs the support of senators and members of congress to do so. However, even members of his own party are reluctant to back what they see as a vote-losing policy and energy companies with investments in coal, gas and oil are lobbying hard against it. Can the President prevail?

Who Killed the Honey Bee?
On: BBC 4
Time: 21:00 to 22:00 (Also 2330, Sun 2200)
With an affliction dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder wiping out bees worldwide, Martha Kearney explores the terrifying implications of their possible extinction and the loss of their most vital service to nature, pollination, without which global food production would collapse. The threat to keepers, farmers and our food supply is acute and growing, and yet the cause of this 'Marie Celeste syndrome' that causes bees to flee their hives remains a mystery.

Sunday 26th April

Countryfile
On: BBC 1
Time: 19:00 to 20:00
John Craven investigates why fishing quotas mean that for every cod we eat, another is thrown back dead into the sea.


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

Keeping Momentum

We hear a lot about efficient driving these days, or "eco-driving" as it has been greenwashed. So how about efficient cycling?

There's a Bill before the Idaho authorities that would allow cyclists to keep moving at stop signs, thus increasing their efficiency. Before you all cry "Huh?", here's a video that explains:


Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

Get Rid Of The Bowler Hats

I would have laughed at you a couple of years ago if you had said that the Tories looked greener than the Labour government. But with Labour wanting to build new nuclear power stations, new coal power stations, and new airport runways, then it's pretty clear that the government as a whole just Don't Get It.

Actually, someone once told me that the problem with green issues isn't with the politicians - it's with the civil servants. The mandarins usually have long-standing links with the business community and therefore resist any possible change to the "way things are done". After all, the politicians are here today and gone tomorrow, whereas the civil servants actually have to run the country and keep it going in the direction they want.

Perhaps, then, if we want to see a change in the way things are done in this country then we don't just change the government - we change the whole lot of them.

A Bag For Everything

There's a Scotmid Co-op store right across the road from my flat. It's not big enough for a huge shop, but it does for things like (organic) milk and emergency bread supplies. Oh, and it fulfils my yoghurt fetish. If it was physically possible, I would live on yoghurt. I buy lots of it, particularly those big 500g pots that Onken and Rachel's Organic produce.

Which is how "bag lady" first came to my attention. She's not a bag lady in the traditional sense of the phrase, that's just what I have nicknamed her. She's an older woman who works in the co-op, I think part-time because I don't see her too often.

So why "bag lady"? Well, she has a thing for plastic bags. Not the big carrier bags, but the small ones that you can only fit one item into. Like, say, a 500g tub of yoghurt.

The first time I met her, there was a pensioner in the queue in front of me. Bag Lady had already started scanning my groceries before I could get near the bagging area, so I wasn't paying much attention. I was more frustrated by the slowness of the old dear in front of me. Eventually I got to where my groceries lay, and whipped out my cloth shopping bag - to be confronted by 4 individually bagged 500g yoghurts, an individually bagged block of cheese (which was vacuum-packed plastic-wrapped already) and my bunch of bananas which had been forced into two small plastic bags, because one obviously didn't cover them all. The queue had built up behind me, so I muttered to myself and put everything into my bag as was, while wondering if Bag Lady had everything in her home individually wrapped in tiny wee plastic bags.

So now I know to keep an eye out for her, I can head her off at the pass. I'm always polite when I ask her not to bag my yoghurts, even though she usually raises an eyebrow at my strangeness. Occasionally, I have found myself walking to another till to avoid her. Today, though, there was no avoiding her. As I waited my turn in the queue, rehearsing my line about not needing my yoghurts put into individual tiny wee bags thank-you-very-much, I watched as she served the woman in front of me. The woman was buying a tin of beans and a birthday card.

The birthday card got individually bagged.

Edinburgh In Shock: No One Wants To Build A Hotel

It used to be that whenever there was a gap site in Edinburgh needing to be filled, some consultant would earn thousands of pounds by uttering the words "office space!" Then the redevelopment of the old Post Office building at the end of Princes Street proved a disaster as it lay empty for years, unable to find anyone willing to move in.

So developers moved on to their next Great Idea: hotels! A city needs hotels, lots and lots and lots of them. So whenever a gap site became available, someone would apply for planning permission for a new hotel in the area. I've mentioned them before.

I've nothing against hotels per se, I'm just infuriated by the lack of imagination on the part of the developers and the city planning authorities. So it's nice to see them get their comeuppance every once in a while - the developers on the old Fountain Brewery site can't find anyone willing to build a hotel or office complex on the commercial part of the site, so they're going to landscape it and turn it into a garden. Which I'm sure will be much more appreciated by the local residents.

My fear is that they'll still hold commercial use planning authority for the area, so may rip up the gardens when the economy improves.

Waverley To Get New Roof

Photo from MykReeve on Wikimedia Commons

Revamping Waverley Station in Edinburgh is getting to be like painting the Forth Bridge - neverending!

Network Rail have only just finished putting in new platforms and walkways and escalators, and now they want to replace all the glass in the roof so that daylight actually comes through.

The reason the existing glass is so dull is that it's wired safety glass. Waverley Station sits underneath a bridge which is so popular with people wanting to commit suicide, there's a telephone hotline to The Samaritans on it! Perhaps being able to see through the glass will make some of the jumpers think twice.

Still, it's better than what the now-defunct Railtrack wanted to do with the station. They proposed building a shopping mall on the top of it and turning it into an underground hub!

As for the rest of the station, they started building it in the 1840s. It'll be nice when it's finished.

Australia: The Front Line On Climate Change?

Overthinking Overpopulation

Sir David Attenborough has become the new patron of a group called the Optimum Population Trust, calling for a debate on the one issue that the OPT says green groups and governments shy away from.

Actually, I don't think I've ever mentioned my views on overpopulation. That's probably because they're completely hippy-dippy!

You see, I believe that overpopulation is a non-issue. Mother Nature has ways of trimming the fat, of reducing infestations. A disease here, a natural disaster there. If the planet cannot sustain 9 billion people, then there will not be 9 billion people on the planet!

There will come a time when we hit "peak population", when the number of persons on the globe starts to decrease. Dwindling resources coupled with dwindling habitats from climate change will see the human race start to contract. Hormones in the water supply are already having an effect on the fish population, I'm sure it won't be too much longer before we find more than a few of our human males born sterile. But then can we blame that on Mother Nature or ourselves?

You might think I'm being naive or sticking my head in the sand, but whatever the fate of the human race, I doubt the population will continue to grow indefinitely.

Green In The Media 13th April - 19th April

Most of the broadcasters are still in holiday mode, but this week sees the start of a three part series on BBC Four about the weather. The next episodes are about snow and wind, with the intriguing nugget of trivia that a Scotsman invented an electricity-producing wind turbine in 1887. Oh, how the world could have been different...

Monday 13th April

The Food Programme
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 16:00 to 16:30
Larchfield Community.
Sheila Dillon joins the Larchfield Community, where food is at the heart of community life, to celebrate the approach of Spring and Easter. A biodynamic livestock farm, with onsite butchery, bakery and gardens, Larchfield is also home to adults with learning disabilities.

The Jet Stream and Us
On: BBC 4
Time: 20:00 to 21:00 (Also 0105)
Documentary tracing how human understanding of the jet stream - a ribbon of fast moving air high in the atmosphere - has grown. It has been responsible for bewildering effect on bomber pilots in World War II, turbocharging modern transatlantic flyers, the infamous 1987 hurricane and the devastating floods of recent years. Scientists now believe this powerful weather phenomenon is changing its pattern of behaviour and could have an even bigger impact on our climate and the way we live our lives.

Rain
On: BBC 4
Time: 21:00 to 22:00 (Also 0205)
Documentary series about the weather looks at rain. The programme uncovers the true shape of a raindrop, shows how and why rain falls and tells stories of how we have adapted or succumbed to this elemental force of nature, such as James Glaisher's hot air balloon ascent in 1862 and how Charles Macintosh invented the waterproof coat. The Victorians believed that they could master the rain, but today climate change threatens us with rain that is wilder and more unpredictable than ever.

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
Investigating the range of biomass heating schemes in the UK, from small-scale wood-burning stoves that can effectively heat a home to a massive biomass power station planned in Port Talbot. But, with the plant set to import a lot of the biomass from Canada, how sustainable is the project? Plus an environmental maverick in Barnsley, where government renewable targets have been reached decades in advance.

Thursday 16th April

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:30 to 11:00 (Also 1630, 2030, 0130, Sat 2035)
The programme that explores the biggest issues in global development and the environment.

Open Country
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 15:02 to 15:27
Countryside magazine. Helen Mark finds out if Canon Frome, an eco-community in Ledbury, could offer a solution to the challenges faced by those who wish to live sustainably outside of cities without building village suburbs.

Sunday 19th April

The Food Programme
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 12:32 to 12:57
From farm gate to the school plate and to the high-end restaurant menu, Sheila Dillon looks at the farmers' co-operative that is supplying quality organic produce from Essex.


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

So Long, Old Friend

Environmentalists don't often turn to the business section of The Times to hear the latest green stories, but occasionally it throws up a nugget. For example, today it has the start of a series looking at Britain's future energy needs. It's heavily pro-nuclear, but interesting nonetheless.

But it was the business section which also prompted a personally devastating moment for me today. One of those moments when you scream "Nooooo!" before realising that you're sitting in a crowded railway carriage and everyone is staring at you:

The Ecologist magazine is to stop print publication.

It's going to continue as an online magazine, which in any other case would be the signal that it would close completely in 6 months time. But I think/hope/pray that it can succeed using that model. Us greenies can be quite loyal, and I can't imagine for a minute that Zac Goldsmith would allow the magazine to fail completely.

I'm no luddite. I've said before that I have absolutely no problem with reading a book on a computer screen or a PDA screen. But The Ecologist was different. I took it to bed with me. I took it to work with me. With the digital edition, I'll have to sit at my desk and read it. A pain, but I'll do it.

The Ecologist themselves are touting this as a "green" thing to do. They've got a point there, but it's not making me any happier.

The Green Budget...Again

Gordon Brown is once again hyping this year's budget (April 22) as the "green budget". He also hyped last year's budget as the "green budget", and it turned out to be nothing of the sort.

I've never been convinced by Gordon Brown's pronouncements on the environment. There are times when he's speaking where you know he just doesn't get it. But then I think that he's only the figurehead, that there should be people surrounding him that do get it and who can point him in the right direction.

There should be, but there's very little evidence of it. I won't hold my breath that this budget will be any "greener" than last year's.

Bus Boss Bikes

Photo by Akuppa

The Managing Director of Lothian Buses took a little cycle ride on the streets of Edinburgh recently to "experience" what it is like for us cyclists to negotiate traffic. Scary, is his not-so-startling conclusion!

Actually, I have to admit I've been quite fortunate on my bike travels around the city. I bought the bike last year to help me get to work on shifts where the public transport is practically non-existent, so most of my cycling is done early in the morning or late at night. Of course I also have to cycle in traffic at the other extreme of those shifts, but in the main I avoid rush hour.

Bus drivers, I find, are mostly courteous, except when you start playing leapfrog with them and they have to try and get around you three or four times in the one street. As for car drivers, I've only had one incident (last week) where a driver pulled into the kerb, slammed his brakes on and swung open his door, all without looking in a mirror. We had words.

My biggest bugbear is reserved for pedestrians. Specifically drunken ones. I've noticed that there is a certain type of individual who, after a late night session, sees a cyclist and thinks that would be the perfect way to get themselves home. I've been lunged at quite a few times now.

Maybe all car and bus drivers should be forced to take a bike out on the streets as part of their driving test, to "experience" using the road from a different perspective?

Backing Up

Should I laugh or cry?

My toilet started getting blocked on Friday, so I've just had the plumber out. He quickly unblocked it - a 2 second job! - but then pointed at my recycled toilet paper.

"There's your problem", he said. "That stuff doesn't absorb the water well. I see a lot of blocked toilets because of recycled paper. You cannae beat Andrex you know"

I pointed out to him that the toilet was blocked before I even moved in here, and that the previous plumber had blamed the piping since I hardly have a u-bend. So, nothing to do with the toilet paper.

"Yeah, the pipes aren't good," he said, "but still, you shouldn't use recycled toilet paper. It's evil."

Not as evil as cutting down a tree to wipe your arse - especially if the only drawback is a blocked toilet every six months that takes 2 seconds to solve.

You Wait Ages For One Bus To Come Along...Then Hit An Iceberg

The Times has over the years had a long-running "joke" with it's readers about relative sizes. It appeared that almost everything in the world could either be compared to the size of a London bus, or compared to the size of Wales.

Hence the Amazon rainforest having an area the size of Wales cleared every month* or a building being as tall as six London buses.

Prompted by the letter-writers, The Times started getting creative with its relative sizes but it quickly became apparent that people needed to visualise scale in their heads. The nadir was reached when something was compared to the size of Flemish Belgium.

So imagine my nationalistic pride yesterday when The Observer compared something to the size of Scotland, or more accurately, half the size of Scotland. Which is apparently the same size as Connecticut.

It's just unfortunate that the object in question was an Antarctic ice-shelf. And it's no longer the size of half of Scotland. In fact, it's the size of several thousand London buses now:

*Actually, I've no idea how many Wales' are lost each month in the Amazon. And I'm too lazy to look it up and make the calculations.

Who Actually Pollutes?

It's a recurring question - just who is responsible for the pollution produced in manufacturing a product? Is it the consumer who demands it or the company who makes and supplies it?

And if that product crosses international boundaries, which country created the pollution? The importer or the exporter? Who is responsible for the emissions produced by the whisky industry - the Scots who make it, or the Americans who consume it?

Intellectually, I tend to fall into the camp which says the consumer creates the pollution. Without them demanding the product, it will never get made. For that reason, the importer should also be responsible for the embedded emissions in making that product.

After all, it doesn't really matter to the planet where the pollution occurs.

Far greater minds than I have pondered over the concept, and today's Sunday Herald has an advance copy of a report detailing Scotland's carbon emissions if imports are included. The Scottish Government doesn't like to include those, as it paints a somewhat grimmer picture - instead of our much-vaunted 13% cut in emissions since 1995, we've actually increased our carbon footprint by 11%. (On the other hand, I see nothing in the article to suggest that our exports will be taken off the final figures.)

It's the ethical thing to do to include emissions made on our behalf on foreign soil. But it hurts.

Green In The Media 6th April - 12th April

We're into the Easter holidays, so don't expect much this week.

Monday 6th April

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
Tom Heap reports on the Antarctic Treaty, a unique but little-known beacon of global co-operation which has kept the soldiers at bay and the scientists in harness on the continent for the last 50 years. It has survived Cold War tension, the Falklands war and rapacious fishing to emerge as a textbook study of how diplomacy can avoid conflict. But can it rebuff the pressures of the next 50 years, with tourists, bio-prospectors and energy companies all scouring the planet for scarce resources?

Tuesday 7th April

Hitting the Buffers
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 11:00 to 11:30
Transport.
First of two programmes in which Gareth Mitchell looks at our need for speed in different areas of modern life and asks what is stopping us from getting faster. Promises of quicker and more comfortable travel seem to have disappeared in the push towards greener transport. But does greener mean slower? And have faster speeds become elusive for both technological and financial reasons? Gareth travels to El Mirage dry lake bed in the Californian desert, where 'hot rodding' was born, and to the Estorick Gallery in London which houses the UK's largest collection of Futurist art, the early-20th century movement that expressed a love of speed.

Wednesday 8th April

The Political Slot
On: Channel 4
Time: 19:55 to 20:00
The Liberal Party.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is in Islington looking at green solutions for unemployment.

Thursday 9th April

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:30 to 11:00 (Also 1630, 2030, 0130, Sat 2030)
The programme that explores the biggest issues in global development and the environment.

Friday 10th April

The Weather Show
On: BBC News
Time: 10:30 to 11:00 (Also 1430, 0130, Sat 2230, Sun 1530)
The Weather Show looks at the arguments surrounding climate change and the mechanisms that make changes in the weather. Also, how are the snow in the UK and the wildfires in Australia connected?

Saturday 11th April

Open Country
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 06:07 to 06:30
Countryside magazine. Helen Mark finds out if Canon Frome, an eco-community in Ledbury, could offer a solution to the challenges faced by those who wish to live sustainably outside of cities without building village suburbs.

Beyond Westminster
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 11:00 to 11:30
Looking at politics beyond and outside the Westminster parliament. Elinor Goodman examines a 'Green New Deal' which has been promised to fight global warming and the recession at the same time. She discovers, however, that tensions between short and long term priorities are making green politics a challenge.

Eco Solutions
On: CNN
Time: 00:30 to 01:00
Eco Solutions gives the viewer a unique peek into the situations that plague our planet and proposes real solutions to help us understand why we should make a change.


Excerpts taken from DigiGuide - the world's best TV guide available from http://www.getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=20818
Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

Would Al Approve?

I did wonder just what type of advertising there would be during Saturday's terrestrial premiere of An Inconvenient Truth on Channel 4. Would the advertising agencies seize the opportunity to push their "green" products, or would it just be business-as-usual with ads for household chemicals following ads for scientifically-suspect beauty products, with a smattering of car adverts thrown into the mix.

Actually, that last one is not wide of the mark - Honda have booked the entire first ad break for their new campaign. In fact, the ad that will be shown will only run once on TV, although I'm sure it will go viral on t'internet.

Not only that, but they've also block-booked the first eleven pages of advertising space in Saturday's Guardian.

So the question is Why? And the quick answer is, they have a new hybrid car to promote. But when all is said and done, it's still a car company doing a spot of greenwashing.

I wonder if there are any airline companies with the balls to advertise during the movie too?

Developers Get Creative...Or Maybe Not

You can picture the scene: Edinburgh City Council gets a group of developers together for a brainstorming session.

"Right lads, we've got this gap site in the city. Any ideas on what to do with it?"

"Umm"

"Ahh"

"Hmm"

"Hey, here's one...why don't we build a hotel?"

"A hotel? On a gap site? That's quite original, I like your thinking!"

Yup, yet another hotel is to be thrown up in Edinburgh, this time on Leith Walk. Is there no end to the number of hotels this city can sustain?

And more importantly, is there no start to the imagination of a developer???

Giant's Footstep Family Festival

Looking for something different to do at the start of next month?

The Isle of Eigg invites you to explore and celebrate all things ‘GREEN’ at our first Giant’s Footstep Family Festival.

Our family focused programme of TALKS, DEMONSTRATIONS, WORKSHOPS, PERFORMANCES, and DISPLAYS means there should be something for everyone. Whether you want to DEBATE ‘TIL YOU DROP, ASK AN EXPERT, or just mess around at our RECYCLED ART workshop and enjoy the best of LIVE MUSIC, the Isle of Eigg is the place to HAVE FUN while finding out what YOU can do to combat CLIMATE CHANGE.

What’s on offer?

Talks and Workshops on Energy Production, Transport, Waste, Food, What is CO2, Peak Oil, Climate Change, Energy Saving, Transition Towns

Bellestar Ceilidh Band ,Sharon King, Eco-Drama Workshops, Performances, Circus Skills, Ceilidh Club, Music Workshops, Bevvy Sisters , Willow Workshops, Local Food

Help and advice on Energy Saving, Recycling, Insulation, Renewable Energy, Funding … and more!

Full Programme to be published soon at www.isleofeigg.org

All day time events are FREE. Weekend ticket for Saturday night ceilidh - £12.00 full, £7.00 concession, under 16s free, on sale at www.thebooth.co.uk

Come by Public Transport and you’ll get further discounts on food and other Eigg goodies while you’re here!

If you need any more information, please get in touch Tasha Lancaster or Kathleen Millar Email: greenisland@isleofeigg.net Tel: 01687482476