Green In The Media 1st February - 7th February

There's a welcome repeat of the documentary Pig Business on Tuesday. If you missed it last year, then make sure you catch it this week.

Monday 1st February

Start the Week
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 09:00 to 09:45 (Also 2130)
Tom Sutcliffe finds out why green activist Stewart Brand is now advocating urbanisation, nuclear power and genetically-modified crops.

Costing the Earth
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 21:00 to 21:30 (Also Thu 1330)
The New Diggers.
Alice Roberts travels across Britain to meet the new breed of growers, guerilla gardeners and part-time farmers determined to make Britain's wasteland fertile once more.

Tuesday 2nd February

Pig Business
On: more4
Time: 23:50 to 01:25
Eco-campaigner Tracy Worcester, a former actress and now Marchioness of Worcester, has campaigned for years for quality food, animal welfare and environmental protection through a revitalisation of rural economies. Pig Business is her four year exploration of intensive pig farming. She argues that intensive production systems can harm human and environmental health, and is pushing traditional farmers out of business. In the film, she travels from the UK to the US and Poland to meet local people who claim to have been adversely affected by the new industrial pig production methods, as well as leading politicians and environmental campaigner Robert Kennedy Junior. Worcester also confronts industrial farming executives with her findings and argues that supermarket labelling is not a reliable guide to where pork is actually sourced from.

Thursday 4th February

Live Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
On: BBC Parliament
Time: 10:30 to 11:30 (Also 0100)
Live coverage of questions in the House of Commons to Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Hilary Benn and his team of ministers.

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sun 0630)
One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

The Material World
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 16:30 to 17:00
Take the carbon dioxide from a power station or factory chimney and use it to grow algae which are then turned into biofuel. It sounds too good to be true and of course there's a snag; you have to disolve the carbon dioxide in water before the algae can use it and that only happens slowly - unless you inject it as microscopic bubbles, and that takes a lot of energy. Quentin Cooper hears how researchers in Sheffield have developed a much more energy-efficient way of producing microbubbles and are applying it both to biofuel production and cleaning up pollution.

Sunday 7th February

The Food Programme
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 12:32 to 12:57
Seeds.
Sheila Dillon asks if seed legislation is inhibiting farmers' and growers' ability to adapt to climate change.

Countryfile
On: BBC 1
Time: 18:00 to 19:00
Matt Baker and Julia Bradbury are in the Yorkshire Dales, to see how conservationists are restoring peat bogs destroyed during the 60s and 70s. Meanwhile John Craven investigates the demise of our dairy farms.


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

The Week In Green Numbers

462,000

- gallons of oil spilled in Texas after an oil tanker crashed #

$11 billion

- collective losses of the airline industry in 2009 #

10,000 MW

- amount of new wind generation installed in the US last year #

£160 million

- tax relief that North Sea Oil companies will receive for opening new fields west of Shetland #

10%

- drop in water vapour in the stratosphere since 2000 #

Dear Green Place Launches Ten Year Plan

Glasgow has decided to come out all-guns-blazing with a ten year plan to make itself more sustainable.

They reckon that they can reduce carbon emissions from the city by 30% from 2006 levels in a decade, which they reckon equates to the Scottish Government's 42% target, but crucially they seem to have made the connection between sustainability and job creation. If only other politicians could see this!

Their plan involves:

• creation of systems to turn the city’s sewage and municipal waste into biogas

Hmm, that sounds suspiciously like "incinerators" to me. I'd rather see more and better recycling, the one thing that doesn't seem to be mentioned in the report.

• creation of urban woodlands in the city’s vacant land – literally making Glasgow greener

I can't believe they have the brass neck to include this. When local residents turned some wasteland into the North Kelvin Meadow, Glasgow City Council took them to court!

• development of a district heating system for the city –starting in five identified zones

I'm wholeheartedly in favour of decentralising things like heating and power generation

• development of a smart grid system

Again, this goes hand in hand with decentralising power generation, leading to more micro-renewables

• development of light rail systems for passenger and freight

Trams? Did they say trams? Can I hear every resident of Edinburgh pissing themselves laughing?? Glasgow has an extensive bus and subway system, and the largest urban railway system outside of London. Do they really need trams?

There's points awarded to the first person to ask Glasgow City Council how demolishing Buchanan Street Bus Station conforms with their sustainable "vision".

All cynicism aside, it'll be interesting to see them deliver this plan, and good luck to them.

Monckton Goes To Oz

Way back in the mists of time - 2001, to be exact, I found myself in a little place in Australia called Noosa.

Well, okay, I didn't find myself there, I went deliberately. Visiting friends in Brisbane, we went for a weekend up to Noosa to stay with a couple that we'd given refuge to in Edinburgh a few years before.

The town was absolutely gorgeous and quite obviously not afraid to show it's wealth, but there were two things I remember about it.

The first was a planning row which was going on at the time. There was a tree-covered hill above the town, rather like Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh. A developer wanted to cut down all the trees and build houses. I've no idea if they ever succeeded, but the plan was jaw-dropping in it's audacity.

The second thing I remember about Noosa is the beach in the photo above. We hiked there mid-afternoon along the clifftops and through a forest. It was only when we were on the beach and wandering along it that our "friend" informed us that it was a nudist beach! Naked middle-aged men started finding excuses to walk by us as we sat recovering from the hike out there.

I've now got a third reason for Noosa to stick in my head - the Dishonourable Lord Monckton is working his way there at the moment. Some idiot from Noosa has shelled out a staggering $100,000 to cover all of Monckton's expenses as he tours Australia lying to the population about climate change.

Quite how someone can think he is worth that amount of money is beyond me. Perhaps it is that developer who wanted to desecrate the hill.

The Definitive List Of Green Books?

Photo by greeblie

I was pondering at the turn of the year that I hadn't read many "green" books during 2009. I mentioned previously that Conversations with Green Gurus came on holiday with me, but beyond that there was...well, nothing really.

It's not as if there's a lack of material out there to keep the green reader satisfied, although a cursory glance at Amazon's Top 25 selling environmental books will send shivers down your spine - climate skeptics abound!

Cambridge University has just released a Top 50 list of environmental books, and I don't know whether to be proud that I've read four of them, or ashamed that I've only read four of them!

For the record, those four are Silent Spring, Heat, No Logo and Fast Food Nation.

There are certainly some on the list which have been in the back of my mind for some time, like Collapse and Cradle to Cradle.

Perhaps this year I'll make more of an effort on the book front. On the other hand, I do still have most of the James Bond series of books to read...

VideoConferencing

I've never taken part in one, but I'm pretty sure this isn't how videoconferencing actually works...

The Impossible Hamster

You may have seen this already, or you may not. It's from impossiblehamster.org, and was also mentioned in this BBC News "Green Room" article

Jings, Crivvens And Help Ma Boab

Wullie: Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin' race!
Fat Boab: Who are you callin' a puddin'?

By one of those strange quirks that gets imprinted on your subconscious when you're a kid, whenever I hear the words "Great chieftain o' the puddin' race" I think of Fat Boab from the Oor Wullie strips.

In one of the annuals I had, Wullie has to memorise a Burns poem. Walking the streets, book in hand, he gets into all manner of "hilarious" scrapes, including accidentally calling Fat Boab a puddin'.

The Great Chieftain is, of course, the haggis, and today is Burns Night where traditionally Scots around the world eat haggis and recite Burns poetry and maybe, if the mood takes them, drink a very small glass of whisky.

Which presents me with a dilemma. Today is also Meat Free Monday. Haggis and Meat Free Monday are not compatible.

I could, of course, cheat and eat a real haggis. After all, you'd never know! But I think I'm going to stick to my own self-imposed rules and take my life in my hands and try a vegetarian haggis. I'm told that they're actually rather good so perhaps this will open up a whole new vista of taste sensations for me.

Still, there's nothing like cutting into a sheeps stomach lining, is there?

Green In The Media 25th January - 31st January

As far as I'm aware, the Newsnight Special about environmentalists being bad for the planet was never shown - something to do with a wee earthquake in Haiti. It is, however, adapted for radio on Monday evening.

Monday 25th January

Analysis
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 20:30 to 21:00 (Also Sun 2130)
Are environmentalists bad for the planet? 'Ethical man' Justin Rowlatt asks if it is time the green movement ditched some of its ideological excess baggage. Although apparently united in their goal to tackle climate change, some environmentalists attach other dogmas to the cause - from a preference for the natural over the hi-tech to a hatred of consumption, capitalism and urbanisation. Could these extraneous aspects of green politics be undermining the environmental cause?

Panorama
On: BBC 1
Time: 20:30 to 21:00
What's Really in Our Kids' Food?.
One in five children starts school already overweight and, according to the latest research, children who are fat by five are likely to stay that way. Shelley Jofre investigates the food being dished up to pre-schoolers at nurseries and at home. There's a rapidly growing market in ready meals specifically for toddlers, but are they really a healthy option? The programme looks behind the marketing claims of some of the most popular children's brands and comes up with some surprising results.

Tuesday 26th January

Night Waves
On: BBC Radio Three
Time: 21:15 to 22:00
In the first of a series of special interviews broadcast as part of the BBC Year of Science, Anne McElvoy talks to David King, the Government's chief scientific officer from 2000 to 2007. Anne gauges his opinions on the perceived failure of the Copenhagen summit and asks about the nature of scientific orthodoxy after the furore over the climate change emails from the University of East Anglia, where he used to work. And what does he think about the status of scientific knowledge in the political process, an issue brought sharply into focus by the recent resignation of David Nutt, the chairman of the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs?

Thursday 28th January

One Planet
On: BBC World Service Radio
Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sat 2030, Sun 0630, 2330)
One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

Jimmy's Global Harvest
On: BBC 2
Time: 20:00 to 21:00
Kenya. Episode 4.
Jimmy Doherty investigates new techniques and technologies that may help to meet the increased demand for food across the planet. Jimmy visits Kenya and meets farmers near Lake Victoria who use ingenious new ways to combat pests, and scientists who produce bananas in the lab. As he travels across the country, Jimmy picks roses, milks camels and discovers Masai sheep could save farmers around the world billions of pounds. But can Kenya ever feed itself?

Sunday 31st January

Country Tracks
On: BBC 1
Time: 11:00 to 12:00
At Hockerton, Ellie sees how an eco housing project has galvanized the whole community, before ending her journey in Sherwood Forest, home to the famous Parliament Oak.

The Greening of the Deserts
On: BBC Radio Four
Time: 13:30 to 14:00
Second of two programmes in which Ayisha Yahya explores predictions from some scientists and meteorologists that some deserts, including the Sahara, could get greener in the future and experience more rainfall. Ayisha visits the Egyptian settlement of Abu Minqar, which is entirely dependent on water from the ancient Nubian aquifer.


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

The Week In Green Numbers

1.8%

- fall in greenhouse gas emissions in Australia in 2009 #

3,980 kg

- CO2 emissions per person in Scotland from food #

12.7 million tonnes

- yearly food waste from retailers in the UK #

136 kg

- yearly carbon emissions of a pink-footed goose, 4 times larger than a patio heater #

0.55%

- proportion of Americans who commute by bicycle #

If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Marcus Brigstocke's Copenhagen rhyme in the style of Dr Seuss.

Unfortunately at that point you had to jump through hoops to hear it.

Luckily, someone has now put it on YouTube. Remember this was radio so the static pic doesn't change when you play it. And, if you received this post via email then sometimes the video doesn't appear so you'll have to visit the blog to see it:

New Green Voices Join The Blogosphere

Last year, Two Doctors made a clarion call for Scottish Green politicians to hit their PC's, laptops and Macbooks and to get with the Social Media phenomenon. In particular, James highlighted a lack of Green Party bloggers relative to the other parties.

Unfortunately the silence was deafening. Debra Storr joined the party and revamped her existing blog, and Patrick Harvie finally admitted that he did actually have a blog, but beyond that there hasn't exactly been a rush to the keyboard. (I have a sneaky suspicion that Jeff at SNP Tactical Voting is a closet Green and can be turned but I doubt he'll admit it in public!)

Now though, a group of Scottish Green Party members has got together to start a new blog called Bright Green Scotland. Although not a wholly green enterprise - they say their writing will be from a "progressive" standpoint and inclusive of all parties - their voices will be welcome in the Scottish political blogscene.

The internet allows people to punch above their weight. For a small party, the SGP should be using all tactics at their disposal to get their voices heard.

Two Potatoes, A Courgette & A Tin Of Tuna - There's An App For That!

Waste Aware Scotland have gone all high tech!

They've relaunched their Love Food Hate Waste website, and launched a fancy-pants iPhone app. In the words of their website:

The new app will provide consumers with easy to use interactive tools such as a portion size planner; recipe finder for leftover ingredients; weekly meal planner and various hints and tips on how to reduce food waste. The app asks users to put their ingredients into an on-screen blender, (these could be leftovers or ingredients they already have but are not sure how to make into a meal) then simply shake it to create an easy, healthy recipe.

Unfortunately I don't have an iPhone, I have an Android phone, and they haven't extended the App to other smartphones, so I can't test-drive it for you. You'll have to rely on the short video below.

But don't fret if you're iPhone-free like me - the website also has portion planning and recipe-finding tools.

Phenomenal!

AG Barr, makers of Irn Bru, are to install a 400ft wind turbine at their factory in Cumbernauld.

Their marketing bods aren't shy of spotting opportunities, but I'll give them this one for free:

Paint the turbine shaft orange and blue like a giant Irn Bru can, and voila! Free advertising.

I'm sure the local council won't mind in the slightest...

Budget Bargaining Begins

In one of those weird twists that only a minority government can bring, the Scottish Budget is fast becoming the political highlight of the year* north of the border!

A quick recap of last year's machinations: Labour & the Lib Dems assumed that they could happily oppose the budget from the sidelines and the Greens would back it, allowing it to pass through parliament. The SNP assumed this too, only to realise that the Greens weren't backing it unless they got money to insulate every home in the country.

The budget therefore failed at the first attempt, at which point there was a collective "Oh, fuck!" from the political establishment as the implications became clear. There was much running up and down corridors as Ministers started promising the world to all and sundry - except the Greens. They had been sent to the Naughty Step, and when the budget was finally passed there was a large middle finger raised skyward across the chamber at Patrick Harvie.

This year's thrust and counter-thrust will begin this week, with the stalls set out in yesterday's Sunday Herald. The Greens are, once again, after a package to insulate every home in the country, along with more money for marine renewables and a Boiler Scrappage Scheme along the same lines as the English one. The Lib Dems are also after money for marine renewables, and Labour want the Boiler Scrappage Scheme and the reinstatement of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

And the Tories...don't seem to want anything. Certainly nothing that could be termed "green".

So what will happen? Will the Greens get what they** want this year? Will the Government keep that finger raised in Patrick Harvie's direction? Will the Lib Dems meekly concede to passing the budget while getting no benefit from it (as they did last year)? Will Labour be left empty-handed after getting themselves tangled in knots trying to oppose and support at the same time? Will the Tories figure out if they actually want anything this year or is Annabel Goldie just biding time till she's replaced?

Or will the whole thing once again just descend into a farce that delights the spectators?


*Of course, this year the political highlight will be the UK General Election.

**I joined the Scottish Greens late last year, so I should start thinking of them as "we" instead of "them". But I don't speak for them, so I think I'll continue to write "them" instead of "we". Clear as mud, yes?

A Bit Of Shameless Self-Promotion

I discovered this weekend that I've been nominated for a Scotblog Award. Thank you, Anonymous Nominator!

You don't have to be Scottish to vote in the awards, and you might find some great blogs to follow that you didn't know existed.

Voting can be done here, and it ends on Wednesday 27th January.

Now, try saying Anonymous Nominator three times fast...

Green In The Media 18th January - 24th January

Monday 18th January

The De-Railing of Transport 2010

On: BBC Radio Four

Time: 20:00 to 20:30

In the 1990s, a new way of thinking about transport emerged. Sustainability became the buzz word, advocates of a so-called New Realism had the ear of government and a ten-year plan was hatched. But many of its ideas got no further than Whitehall. Chris Ledgard looks back at the revolution which never happened and asks if transport is one of the hardest ministerial briefs in government.

Wednesday 20th January

Afternoon Play

On: BBC Radio Four

Time: 14:15 to 15:00

Carbon Cleansing.

By Sophie Woolley. When ex-banker Tabitha knocks 'green' activist Will off his bicycle with her 'Chelsea Tractor', two worlds literally collide. A tale of ecological responsibility, guilt and grimy hot tubs. With Doon Mackichan, Joseph Kloska, Gemma Saunders, Tessa Nicholson.

Night Waves

On: BBC Radio Three

Time: 21:15 to 22:00

Philip Dodd is joined by a round table of guests for a special edition dedicated to assessing science in America under Barack Obama. The President's inaugural address pledged: 'We will restore science to its rightful place...our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed'. Obama had made many science-related promises on the campaign trail, so a year on how comfortably does science sit in the American landscape? Had the US lost touch with the rest of the scientific world as some claimed, and has that ground been made up by the new administration? In a year that has been dominated by the road to Copenhagen's Green summit, has anything changed? How much political independence exists today?

Thursday 21st January

One Planet

On: BBC World Service Radio

Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sat 2030, Sun 0630)

One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

Jimmy's Global Harvest

On: BBC 2

Time: 20:00 to 21:00

USA. Episode 3.

Jimmy Doherty investigates new techniques and technologies that may help to meet the increased demand for food across the planet. Jimmy visits the USA, where the farmers have put their faith in new technology to increase food output. He visits the tomato fields and bioscience labs of California, a high-output pig farm in Iowa, and gets a taste of the Wild West while herding buffalo in South Dakota. Yet it's a farm in North Carolina that offers the most surprising approach of all.

In Business

On: BBC Radio Four

Time: 20:30 to 21:00

Ready to Wear.

Many of our clothes are made by low-paid workers in low-cost countries. But when In Business got involved, a factory was closed and working conditions improved. From Bangladesh, Peter Day found out what happens when westerners intervene.

Saturday 23rd January

Build a New Life in The Country

On: Five

Time: 12:00 to 13:00

Property and lifestyle show with Charlie Luxton. Lisa and Michael attempt to convert a 400-year-old barn into an eco-friendly family home. The project begins well, but progress is slow thanks to problems with planning permission, bad weather, illness and damp. Will the couple manage to complete the build before another winter arrives?

Between the Ears

On: BBC Radio Three

Time: 21:30 to 22:00

Empty Ocean.

Islanders from Fair Isle, Britain's most remote inhabited island, talk about the loss of fishing and seabird colonies caused through over-fishing by trawlers and global warming. They also speak about the loss of traditions that bind the community together and have been handed down from generation to generation. With music by composer Damian Montagu and Fair Isle musicians, including his collaboration with singer Lise Sinclair on the song Empty Ocean, setting Paul Rich's poem The Halibut Fisher's Saturday Night, about the great hauls of the past compared to today, where the ocean is empty of fish and the seabed smooth from over-fishing. There is also Sinclair's poem Silent, portraying the disappearance of seabirds from the skies because of the lack of sandeels for feeding.

Sunday 24th January

The Greening of the Deserts

On: BBC Radio Four

Time: 13:30 to 14:00

First of two programmes in which Ayisha Yahya explores predictions from some scientists and meteorologists that some deserts, including the Sahara, could get greener in the future and experience more rainfall. This runs contrary to more usual predictions about the future of global warming in Africa that envisage more drought, floods, land degradation, epidemics and resource wars. Ayisha travels to Mali and Egypt to explore the arguments.

Countryfile

On: BBC 1

Time: 18:00 to 19:00

Tom Heap finds out about controversial plans to dispose of the waste from ten new nuclear power stations underground.

The River Cottage Treatment

On: more4

Time: 20:00 to 21:00

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has again invited a select few to his farm for a taste of the River Cottage grow-your-own philosophy, takeaway townies who are too lazy to cook, shop or even bung something in the microwave. The group are all fish out of water in the countryside, and Hugh's aim is to persuade them to try their hand at cooking using only the freshest local and organic ingredients. But when the gang are faced with their old foodie favourites will they give in to their cravings?

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

Copyright (c) GipsyMedia Limited.

The Week In Green Numbers

£7.2 billion

- estimated yearly expenditure on offshore wind industry over the next 20 years #

13.6 million

- cars sold in China last year, the first time it has been higher than the US #

6 hours

- gas reserves that the Guardian said Britain had at the start of the week

7 days

- actual reserves that Britain had #

10 million tonnes

- amount of fertiliser that goes into Chinese water every year #

Have We Not Been Through This Before?

Photo by Ole Poulsen

Here we go again: plans for an incinerator to reduce Edinburgh's landfill waste.

The difference this time is that it is not a private company that is proposing the incinerator but Edinburgh City Council itself, along with their Midlothian counterparts.

Naturally, they're only highlighting the good - the power and heat which could be generated by burning all the rubbish.

None of the bad - a 15 mile fallout zone shortening people's lives by up to 12 years, for example - are mentioned in the news story.

Hopefully the proposals will be kicked into touch. After all, it's less than a year since the Scottish Parliament voted to condemn the plans as unnecessary.

And the Scottish Parliament always sticks to it's word...doesn't it?

Why We Must Trip Up Trump

This is beautiful:

Cause And Effect

On Tuesday I was telling you about the rubbish piling up in the streets of Edinburgh as the bins got fuller and fuller. I'm not the only one pointing this out - Kezia Dugdale has some photos of her bins too.

Then on Tuesday afternoon as I was walking home from work I noticed the bin lorry in the street, bags of trash being thrown into the back of it. 'At last!' I thought.

Well, actually, no. The binmen did indeed take away all the bags which were littering the street. But they left the full bins alone!

Maybe actually emptying the bins which were causing the rubbish that they were clearing was a step too far for them. Maybe some management bod at the city council hasn't quite put two and two together on this one.

Whatever the reason the actual bins weren't emptied, the rubbish bags have started piling up again.

The Silent Majority Speaks

There's a story on the BBC News website today about two new wind projects being approved by the Scottish Government.

All good, of course, but my attention was drawn by the last line of the story:

During the planning process, the bid attracted 829 letters of support and 433 objections.

I'm astonished. It's perceived wisdom (well, it is by me) that people are more inclined to complain about something than they are to write in support of something. Particularly when it comes to wind farms.

The anti-wind campaigns around the country are so shrill that it is easy to forget that there will be those sitting in the background - the silent majority? - who either support a wind farm proposal or have absolutely no opinion.

But still, I'm astonished that more people would take the time to write and support a proposal than opposed it. Well done those people!

A Heart-Warming Heap Of Rubbish

I was on the bus early on Sunday morning nebbing in to the conversation between the two old women sitting in front of me. They were discussing the state of Edinburgh's bin collection - the communal bin in the photo above is the one at the front door of my tenement. According to one of the women, it's the same all over the city, "even in Marchmont!"

I'm happy to be corrected here, but I don't think the bins have been emptied since before Christmas. Certainly not this year. The rubbish is not only piling up next to the bins but is blowing around the streets. The foxes and Nazi Seagulls From Hell must think it's...well, Christmas.

So anyway, back to the conversation that I shouldn't have been listening to. One of the women turned to her companion and told her that she had noticed the recycling bins were still getting emptied. "Well," she said, "I've been looking at absolutely everything I throw away to see if it can go in the recycling".

Ah, it fair warmed the heart to hear that!

When the binmen went on strike last year, Edinburgh's recycling rates shot up. I expect the same will happen this month.

Reading The Anti-Green Bile

Yesterday's Sunday Herald was a joy for those of us with a pro-renewables bent to our environmentalism. Not only did wind power warrant a double-page spread in the main section of the paper (part of a week-long series looking at Scotland's energy which continues today in The Herald) but it also made the business pages and a wonderful opinion piece by Tom Morton about the Viking Energy Shetland proposals.

Unfortunately, it also contained an article by Muriel Gray. More of that in a moment.

The Tom Morton piece brought us a history of the goings-on in Shetland regarding the plans to site a wind farm there and the campaign against it which has divided the community. Mr Morton was of the same opinion as me, that the fightback from the pro-wind groups took a long time to get going but now the momentum is with them.

He also left us with little doubt as to his opinions of those who have led the anti-wind campaign and their tactics, which was brave for someone in the public eye so closely associated with the islands. Although I was saddened to see him resort at times to the old standby of berating the incomer who has no idea how a real community works.

You can read the article on Mr Morton's blog here.

And then we get to Muriel Gray's diatribe, on the Herald website here.

I've always liked Muriel Gray, but yesterday's article was so full of bile for the green movement that it left a bitter taste.

Attacking the decision to upgrade the Beauly-Denny powerline, she begins by aligning herself with the anti-pylon campaigners with the phrase

those who are anxious about the fragility of our Scottish landscape

She doesn't seem to realise that we are pro-pylon precisely because we are anxious about the "fragility" of our Scottish landscape. Throughout the article she seems to take the view that climate change is something that will happen elsewhere, not to Scotland, calling our emissions targets "utterly miniscule" and not "globally important". She must have missed the announcement of the North Sea Supergrid last week, in which Scotland will play a big role.

In her hyperbole, this one power line equates to trashing the entire country at the whim of a power company. She attacks those who call the anti-pyloners names on blogs, then goes on to rebrand Friends of the Earth as

Friends Of Corporate Management, Capitalist Shareholders And Vested Political Interests

Finally, she rounds it off with an anti-SNP, anti-Green rant in which she seems to call for a moratorium on all renewable energy schemes until we can develop the technology further. Which funnily enough is the same sort of thing spouted by the pro-coal Republicans in America.

Again, I come back to the point that if we don't build renewable energy schemes, if we don't build the transmission lines to get the power to the populations, then Scotland isn't going to look like it does now. Ms Gray can go and bag a Munro and while sitting at the top she can ponder why there's a New Town built on the lower slopes to house all of the Bangladeshi refugees who have found themselves with nowhere else to go, and by the way didn't Scotland used to have a skiing industry not so far from this mountain?

Green In The Media 11th January - 17th January

Unless there's a major news story breaks, Newsnight has a special edition on Thursday which looks at the green movement. Expect the footage of the nude hippies from last year to be dusted off!

Tuesday 12th January

Home Planet

On: BBC Radio Four

Time: 15:00 to 15:30

Richard Daniel and the team discuss listeners' questions about the natural world and our impact on it.

Thursday 14th January

One Planet

On: BBC World Service Radio

Time: 10:32 to 11:00 (Also 1530, 2030, 0130, Sat 2030, Sun 2330)

One Planet looks at how we use our planet.

Project Runway

On: Sky3

Time: 19:00 to 20:00

This week's theme is eco-fashion: the colourful characters must create cocktail dresses from green materials. Whose design deserves to be dumped and recycled asap? Heidi Klum hosts.

Jimmy's Global Harvest

On: BBC 2

Time: 20:00 to 21:00

Australia. Episode 2.

Jimmy Doherty investigates new techniques and technologies that may help to meet the increased demand for food across the planet. In Western Australia, Jimmy finds out whether farmers can overcome the global problem of soil salinity. He heads deep into the outback to catch wild animals, and takes a trip to the Murray-Darling river basin to see if vineyards can still produce good wine with only half as much water.

Build a New Life in The Country

On: Five

Time: 20:00 to 21:00

Lisa and Michael attempt to convert a 400-year-old barn into an eco-friendly family home. The project begins well, but progress is slow thanks to problems with planning permission, bad weather, illness and damp. Will the couple manage to complete the build before another winter arrives?

Newsnight

On: BBC 2

Time: 22:30 to 23:00

Newsnight asks whether the Green movement is harming its own cause - whether a lack of realism on issues like nuclear power is hindering attempts to tackle climate change. Presented by Emily Maitlis.

Saturday 16th January

Eco Solutions

On: CNN

Time: 23:30 to 00:00

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.

The Week In Green Numbers

0.3%

- proportion of the light which falls on the Sahara that would meet all of Europe's energy needs #

14 million

- cars scrapped in the US last year #

10 million

- new cars sold in the US last year, the first time since World War II that less cars were sold than scrapped #

39%

- cut in emissions by 2020 that became law in Brazil this week #

1,000

- factor by which methane coming from the Arctic sea bed in some regions is greater than the normal background level #

Conversations With Green Gurus

One of my favourite books from last year was Conversations with Green Gurus, a collection of interviews with some people who have made a difference in various fields with regards to the environment.

The interviewees ranged from CEOs to lawyers to activists, and they all had a fascinating story to tell of how they ended up as a "Green Guru".

Now the authors of the book have put some small interviews online, and those interviews prove equally as fascinating as their printed cousins.

You can find them at TheGreenGurus channel on YouTube. Here's the trailer for the series:

My Big Snow & Ice Filled Fear

Apparently, it's winter.

I know, I'm shocked too.

I mean, who'd have thought that it gets cold in January?

Well, okay, it gets cold in winter but I'll concede that this year is extremely cold. Still, it beggars belief when the BBC runs this kind of nonsense, which I witnessed this afternoon:

Presenter: "Can you tell us the latest where you are?"

Reporter: "The latest is it's cold"

I've only had two people say to me "So much for global warming", but it's an easy enough argument to dismiss. It's weather, it's not climate.

But my big fear is this: every 15 minutes the Great British Public is being told that the only way to get about is by 4 wheel drive, and this is accompanied by shots of cars skidding around side streets or being abandoned for the night.

I wouldn't say it's a complete lie, but it is overegging the pudding somewhat. Most people are managing to get around fairly easily.

However, I'm sure there will be more than a few who are swallowing this wholeheartedly and are now thinking that they simply must get a 4x4.

After all, however will they get Wee Johnny to his closed school once every twenty years when we have a cold spell?

EDIT: I've just come across this picture, which has a bit of a Wow! factor to it.

Japanese Whalers' Bloodlust Let Loose

This is, quite frankly, outrageous.

A Japanese ship attached to a whaling fleet has deliberately rammed and sunk the Sea Shepherd ship Ady Gil.

I was on board the ship a couple of years ago when it visited Edinburgh during it's previous incarnation as 'Earthrace'. At that time, it was attempting to break the record for circumnavigating the world in a speedboat, and was using biofuels.

Sea Shepherd then bought the boat last year and strengthened the hull, believing the trimaran would give them an edge in finding and confronting the Japanese whalers.

I'm not sure if it's too strong to call this attempted murder, but the Japanese must surely have to answer for their actions in court.