Tag Archives: Oil and Gas

Let’s Make Hope Normal Again

I find it increasingly strange, and frankly disturbing, how we’re being conned by politicians, much of the media, and mega-corporations. From birth, we’re bombarded by advertising designed to shape our thinking; by MPs who chase votes with half-truths, misdirection, or outright lies; and now by social media echo chambers that trap us in a cycle of misinformation.

As a Green Party member, I find it refreshing to have leadership that isn’t afraid to tell the truth. As a district councillor, I can vote in the best interests of my constituents – and with my conscience – rather than following the orders of a party whip. Zack Polanski’s election as Green Party leader, by a huge majority, has brought articulate and intelligent debate to the forefront again – on immigration, the climate crisis, renewable energy, and human rights. His policies on taxing the super-rich (the top 1%), reforming the private rental sector, renationalising water companies, and providing universal free childcare are resonating deeply with people across the country.

Green Party membership is now over 140,000, making us the UK’s third-largest political party. Polls put us around 15% of the vote, level with the Lib Dems and closing in on Labour and the Conservatives. Reform UK may be polling slightly higher, but perhaps that’s unsurprising when they’re not bound by things like telling the truth, or avoiding donations from dubious sources. People are joining the Greens in their thousands because we’re the only party that speaks plainly, answers questions directly, and puts people before profit.

Why don’t other political parties do the same? Surely an MP’s job is to represent their constituents – and by acting in their best interests, you’d think re-election would follow naturally. But that’s not how it works. Other parties are deeply influenced by corporate lobbying. Labour, for instance, met oil and gas company representatives over 500 times in their first year of power – that’s an average of two meetings every working day between ministers and fossil fuel lobbyists. Meanwhile, the Conservatives, Labour, and Reform continue to accept large donations from oil and gas interests, climate denial think tanks, and polluting industries. Is it any wonder, then, that their policies serve those industries – while the public is distracted with talk of immigration and welfare spending?

There’s a growing frustration with politicians who dodge questions or distort the truth. Brexit was, in part, a reaction to this. Westminster has become synonymous with elitism, corruption, and detachment from reality. It’s not even a criminal offence to lie in the House of Commons. Again and again, politicians mislead the public with impunity, aided by a media that too often fails to hold them accountable—especially those on the right.

Why isn’t Nigel Farage grilled about the £350 million-a-week NHS pledge that vanished after Brexit? Or challenged on the fact that immigration is essential to sustain our NHS, care sector, farms, and schools, as well as to support an ageing population and pensions system? Why aren’t we hearing that renewable energy is cheaper, faster to build, and infinitely safer than oil and gas?

In 2008, I was fortunate enough to visit the Great Barrier Reef on my honeymoon and swam among the coral and turtles – a breathtaking experience. Last week, I read that we’ve passed the planet’s first major climate tipping point: warm-water coral reefs are dying and will soon disappear. Hundreds of millions of people depend on them for food and livelihoods. Other tipping points – Amazon rainforest dieback, ocean current collapse, permafrost melt, and ice sheet loss – are not far behind. Each accelerates the next, creating feedback loops that speed up climate breakdown.

Then, this morning, I received an email from the Government responding to a petition to halt airport expansion. Part of it read:

“The Government therefore supports airport expansion where proposals contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding climate change commitments, and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.”

The list of planned expansions – Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, and beyond – was all about “economic growth” and maintaining the status quo. But if we don’t act decisively to cut emissions, climate breakdown will destroy any chance of growth – and in some regions, any chance of survival.

Carbon dioxide levels are still rising. Meanwhile, the fossil fuel industry funds anti–net zero campaigns and uses politicians as mouthpieces to protect their profits. Green energy offers a massive opportunity: it can create jobs, cut bills, and reduce emissions. We could lower bills immediately by cutting the link between electricity and gas prices, but that would hurt oil and gas profits, so it doesn’t happen. These same companies continue to receive huge public subsidies that dwarf support for renewables.

Airport expansion is simply incompatible with our climate goals. No amount of greenwashing through “sustainable aviation fuel” or dodgy carbon offsetting schemes will change that.

If we’re serious about telling the truth, we need to be honest about green energy too: why we need to decarbonise, why solar panels (covering just 0.7% of UK land – less than golf courses) can help power our future, and why upgrading the grid and installing battery storage is essential – even if that sometimes means projects are built near where we live. Time and money are tight, and we don’t have time to always wait for the perfect solution.

The clock is ticking. Hundreds of millions in the Global South are already dying from floods, fires, famine, and disease linked to climate breakdown. We’re not immune here either: UK farmers face failing harvests, rising food prices, and more frequent flooding. Some truths will be uncomfortable and require lifestyle changes – but that’s a small price to pay compared with a world of famine, fire, and forced migration.

Scientists and even insurance companies are warning us. The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) recently projected global GDP losses of up to 50% between 2070 and 2090 and warned that a +3°C world – possible as soon as 2050 – could cause over four billion deaths, social collapse, and mass extinction events. GDP loss seems almost trivial in comparison.

The Green Party tells it like it is – guided by science, compassion, and a commitment to act in the best interests of the majority, not a privileged few. Our membership continues to grow rapidly. We’re out on the streets, talking to people, telling the truth, and offering real solutions not tainted by corruption or corporate influence.

The good news? If we act now, we can still build a fairer, healthier, and more hopeful future – for ourselves, our children, and the countless other species we share this planet with.

Come join us – and let’s make hope normal again.

Promoted by James Harvey on behalf of Broadland Green Party, a constituent party of the Green Party of England & Wales PO Box 78066, London, SE16 9GQ

What does it mean?

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A friend said to me today that it’s still really hard to compute what it could mean, after I sent them a link to this article.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/15/we-should-have-better-answers-by-now-climate-scientists-baffled-by-unexpected-pace-of-heating?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

What’s published in the media on climate collapse isn’t usually the full view of scientists, not as bad as they think the situation really is. If you talk to climate scientists you’ll largely find them depressed, sick of not being heard, of being ignored by politicians. They have to ensure the information they publish is backed by facts, by peer reviews, but in private they’ll tell you it’s probably a lot worse than that, we just can’t prove it yet.

It is hard to compute. Our brains don’t want to think about it. We are averse to thinking about our own demise. It has got me thinking about it all again this evening.

The Mediterranean Sea is apparently 28^oC in some places. It’s like walking into a hot bath. This is incredibly bad for habitats and wildlife.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/08/07/the-mediterranean-is-on-fire-experts-sound-warnings-about-why-marine-heatwaves-are-so-dang

Temperatures records are being broken year on year, month on month, and sometimes day on day. We’ve just seen the wettest 18 months on record. Wildfires have burnt down half of Jasper in Canada and threaten Athens, California ablaze, similar in parts of Russia and South America: Patagonia, the Patanal in Brazil which is the world’s largest wetland, Venezuela and Chile. And in Australia, South Africa, Turkey, Cyprus, the list goes on, hardly anywhere is left untouched. We have field fires in Norfolk too, where I live.

Norfolk straw fire 15 August (source EDP)

Norfolk field fire 15 August — Norfolk straw fire 15 August (source EDP)

Heatwaves in India approaching wet bulb mass mortality range. Tasmanian and Boreal (northern) forests dying. Harvests failing; Norfolk farmers had a hell of a time of it earlier this year, due to flooding, when they couldn’t plant crops or graze livestock. Italian and Swiss villages destroyed by floods, similar in Germany. 20,000 washed out to sea in Libya. 2022 floods in Pakistan impacting 33 million people. Sea level rise threatening low lying island states already. Amazon not absorbing carbon dioxide anymore and at risk of turning into desert. Bats and birds dropping out of the sky due to heat stroke. Caribbean islands being hit by record hurricanes which have destroyed all the buildings in some places, leaving women to give birth in the dirt. Devastating famine and water shortages in Africa. Water is now monetised, it’s being bought and sold to the highest bidders, traded on the stock market.

We’re on track for +2.7^oC global heating, above pre-industrial averages, by end of century. It’ll probably be more than that due to the acceleration we’re seeing and tipping points being crossed such as the loss of albedo, meaning less of the sun’s radiation is reflected back into space, and methane being released from the permafrost. And the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is still going up.

What does this mean? It equals food shortages, the mass migration of 1 billion people by 2050, if not earlier as it’s happening now, more wars for remaining resources which means more emissions, pollution and death. More holidays to places that are too hot to live in, or on fire, or flooding, or where the native populations are being made homeless or starving. It means economies will crash, people will lose their jobs, their pensions, their savings, their houses. There will be more civil unrest as people feel failed by the system. It means the rise of the far right, again already happening, which occurs when people are scared and need someone to blame; we know this from history. The breakdown of law and order follows, disease, pandemics and health service failure. Then, eventual societal collapse and the death of billions.

It’s not me saying this, it’s not my cause, it’s not Just Stop Oil or Extinction Rebellion’s cause either. It’s what climate scientists are stating, 99.9% of whom say we’re in big trouble due to global heating caused by our carbon emissions.

It’s what the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, who is advised by climate scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) is saying; “we’re on the highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator“. The IPCC itself has said “the world is facing a “rapidly closing window of opportunity” to secure a sustainable future.” This window of opportunity is only a few years long, perhaps by the end of this decade, if not sooner.

And if you don’t believe them, or the International Energy Agency, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth or the Red Cross, maybe you’ll believe Sir David Attenborough who said, amongst many other powerful things:

“Climate change is also really important. You can wreck one rainforest then move, drain one area of resources and move onto another, but climate change is global. If my grandchildren were to look at me and say, ‘You were aware species were disappearing and you did nothing, you said nothing’, that I think is culpable.“

Small communities might survive by the end of the century, in Northern territories, but they could all be screwed too if AMOC (Atlantic Meridian Overturning Circlation) stops. If that stops all bets are off, people could be squeezed into a very narrow habitation zone, where they’ll no doubt fight to survive. Here’s what Laura Jackson, a scientist from the MET office had to say on it. Her view is perhaps a moderate one, with other scientists saying the collapse of AMOC could come a lot quicker. We just don’t know for sure.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in a changing climate

Some, if not all of this, is locked in. But we can still try to stop making it worse. We can come together, stop emissions that are causing global heating, stop burning oil and gas for energy, change the way we live (recycling just doesn’t cut it), grow food locally, stop eating so much meat, build resilient and well connected communities, reject consumerism and infinite growth, adopt doughnut economics. We can accelerate the transition to renewable energy, equitably across the globe, stick solar panels on every roof, paint stuff white to reflect solar radiation back into the atmosphere. We can stop building new roads, stop building houses in areas at risk of flooding or which include important wildlife habitats, preserve and restore nature, reuse and yes, recycle.

We could tax the super rich and use funds to build renewables and for adaptation. Tax the fossil fuel companies and put their execs on trial for genocide by oblique intent (see Rome statutes). Prosecute the media for spreading lies and half truths which have led so many astray. Prosecute corrupt politicians and business persons who have done the same and profited from it. Set up legally binding Citizens’ Assemblies to decide what we need to do. Change the whole system. If we do all this we might stand a fraction of a chance. We might not die.

At the moment though governments, the oil and gas industry, some banks and a lot of the media seem intent on waging war on humanity. We are being led astray by people we are told we should trust. I find it devastating when I hear people planning for 10, 20, 30 years in the future, for their kids futures, when the world is already on fire or flooding. What do you think our children are going to face in 10 years time, let alone by the time they are 50?

I’m not doom-mongering, I refuse to be complicit, even though we’re all trapped by the system we’re in and hypocrites to one degree or another. I refuse to stick my head in the sand and wait for someone else to sort it out. I refuse to be a bystander whilst millions die; that’s happening right now. I’m not being self righteous, or virtue signally, I’m panicking, I’m scared, I’m raging at a system which thinks we can just carry on as normal, and spends billions of dollars trying to convince everyone we can. More recently I’m massively saddened to see rampant racism and hate out on the UK streets, with young kids being swept up by it, I’m anxious due to receiving telephone threats from far right thugs after I attended counter protests. But I have to carry on, taking action is the only thing that gives me hope when I lie awake thinking how the lives of my niece and nephew, my godchildren, all children can and are being cut short. And that’s hard to write.

I will no doubt perish far sooner than my Mum. She lived to 83. I won’t.

But, I, along with thousands of other ordinary people will try to make a difference by taking non-violent direct action. I hope you do too.

Couldn’t leave without a picture of Gideon, he is judging you, are you culpable?

Feel free to message me if you would like further information on how to take action with Just Stop Oil or Extinction Rebellion, or with local ’causes’ in Norwich and Norfolk. I am growing to hate that word…’causes’.

General Election now

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Our illustrious Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, laughed or maybe giggled nervously yesterday when asked when the General Election will be. The BBC presenter asked him why he was laughing.

It’s not a joke you horribly out-of-touch person. You already had a green card to live in the US, and clearly want to go back there, so please just get on with it and leave. The Conservatives have had 14 years in power and I’m struggling to think of anything that’s improved. I quite like the fact bus fares are capped at £2, but it’s hardly game changing. A lot of people can’t even get a bus because they don’t run through their villages.

I started to make a list of reasons not to vote Tory. I expect some of these will be the same when Labour get into power too, but they can’t do a worse job can they? Surely not. Unfortunately, with our first past the post voting system it’s only ever going to be a two party race. Neither party is brave enough to bring in proportional representation. As the Green Party peer Natalie Bennett said on a recent visit to Norwich, we don’t really live in a democracy. No wonder so many people don’t vote. We need to change the system, it’s corrupt and broken.

Here’s my list of reasons not to vote Tory, in no particular order.

The destruction of the NHS: This really is unforgivable. They’ve privatised parts of it, made ludicrous contracts with Private Finance Initiatives, poor management, over-worked an underpaid staff. Not sure where to stop. People have and will continue to suffer and die because of Tory neglect and ineptitude.
Dentists and GP Surgeries: Getting an appointment ain’t exactly easy is it? I don’t exactly blame doctors for moving abroad to work.
Licensing of North Sea Oil and Gas: Driving climate breakdown and ecological destruction. Licensing Rosebank/Cambo. No energy security, no new jobs, and no cheaper bills. More death and suffering due to climate breakdown, whilst they are at the same time degrading the NHS to the point it won’t be able to cope. Also means we won’t hit our emissions targets; they lie about our carbon emissions anyway as they don’t include goods produced abroad which we consume, or aviation, or shipping.
Energy company profits: Tied to the above, during a cost of living crisis with a bogus windfall tax that has too many loopholes. The oil and gas companies are making billions at our expense, and still don’t think they are making enough money.
Lack of investment into green energy: No new onshore wind, solar panels still aren’t mandatory on new builds, behind on targets for heat pump installation, behind on training skilled workers in the industry.
Subsidies for oil and gas companies: The Government subsidises the oil and gas industry to the tune of about £236m a week, that’s billions more than it subsidises the Green energy industry. Why are we subsidising an industry that is wrecking our lives and the planet, especially when they’re making grotesque profits?
Lack of investment in public and active transport: We are so far behind many European countries. Very little in the way of segregated cycle lanes. So much remains car centric. Why is it often more expensive to take a train than it is to fly? Underinvestment and mismanagement of our railways and rail stock. Lack of active transport options puts more strain on our NHS too.
Brexit lies: We were lied to. Where is the extra £350m a week for the NHS? Where are the amazing trade agreements? It’s now harder to trade with Europe, harder to travel, and prices have gone up. Immigration has gone up. Nothing is better. Why aren’t the Tory politicians that lied to us in jail? And oh good, I have a blue passport.
Failure to support farmers post Brexit: They’ve been hit by more regulations, a failure to deliver promised subsidies, and no benefits. Look at the poor mental health and suicide rate amongst famers; I read an article suggesting 3 suicides a week amongst agricultural workers.
Politics by division: That’s how they are desperately trying to cling on to power, by wedge politics, dividing the country on issues such as Brexit, stirring up hatred, lying, profiting from conflict. Look at the hatred and language used around immigration such as ‘invasion’, and the de-humanising, whilst refugees fleeing persecution die in small boats or commit suicide on the Bibby Stockholm.
No team work or statesmanship: Division within the cabinet, fighting and one-upmanship rather than working together. No continuity, roles change to often, and no long term strategy or vision.
Water companies: Shit in our rivers. Pollution in our lakes and coastal waters. Our water infrastructure is so poorly maintained we’re losing millions or litres of water in leaks. No new reservoirs despite water shortages. And all the time they’re paying out millions to shareholders, and bonuses to their executives, and saying they’re going to put our bills up. All started by the Conservatives privatising the water industry. Enough is enough, renationalise them now. Hold the execs to account with criminal trials. Get our money and our clean rivers back.
COVID: Tories partying whilst ordinary people couldn’t visit their relatives in care homes, or when they were dying in hospital. The Queen sitting alone at her husband’s funeral, whilst Boris partied in Number 10, and then lied about it. PPE scandals, with contracts worth millions given to friends of the conservatives that then failed to deliver – Baroness Michelle Mone and £200m springs to mind. We will not forget, we will not forgive. You should all stand trial.
Truss mini-budget: Truss was only PM for 50 days, the lettuce lasted longer. Her ‘mini’ budget with Quarteng cost the economy billions, and hiked interest rates. It meant many people couldn’t retire as their pension funds took a massive tumble. It meant lots of peoples mortgage repayments went up, including mine by £200 a month. She added to the cost of living crisis, and has the audacity to still show her face in public. Shame on you.
Trickle down economics: Well, something is trickling down, but it ain’t wealth.
Tax con: Trying to con the electorate with tax/national insurance cuts that aren’t really tax cuts. They’ve frozen thresholds and allowances rather than lift them in line with earnings or inflation, which is in fact a massive tax rise. We are not stupid. And what about a wealth tax, and closing down tax loopholes, and chasing companies that operate here but fail to pay tax?
HS2: Billions of pounds into a railway few will use, which has destroyed large swathes of countryside and farmland and doesn’t even go all the way into London. This is not levelling up, it’s a scandal.
House building: Massively behind plan, and not social/affordable housing or building in the right places – more brown field sites needed. People paying rent have to pay more than people paying mortgages, with little in the way of security, or a chance of getting on the housing ladder.
Stifling freedom of speech and the right to protest: A new raft of anti-protest laws including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, and the Public Order Act. Peaceful protest is part of true democracy, even if you don’t agree with the cause. Peaceful protesters are now being arrested in ever greater numbers, and even thinking about taking action can land you in hot water; the Thought Police are coming.
Corrupting the judiciary/legal system: Allowing private companies to take out injunctions – money driving laws. Silencing defendants, and not allowing juries to make decisions based on conscience. Judge Silas Reid is prime example of this. If the Tories don’t like the Legal system they just try and change the law – see next point on Rwanda.
The Rwanda Bill and immigation: The Tories want to send 300 people to Rwanda. How is that going to discourage people from trying to get into the UK, often when they are fleeing persecution? The courts said this wasn’t legal, so the Tories try to change the law. They think they are above the law. It was always a stupid idea and besides, we’re going to need immigrants to pay for pensions because we’re having less children. Plus we have a massive number of job vacancies that need filling. And I’ve just read that Sunak is hinting we might leave the European Convention on Human Rights if the Rwanda Plan is blocked; pretty sure most of the UK population will be appalled if this happens.
Gaza: Labour are just as guilty here, for not calling for an immediate ceasefire, and continuing to sell arms to Israel that are killing civilians and aid workers. Collective punishment is a war crime. The Tories have massively misjudged the public mood on this, as have Labour, and they will both suffer for it in the polls; allowed George Galloway to become an MP again.
The Climate and Ecological Crises: Failure to give the Climate and Ecological Crises the priority they need, putting us and future generations in peril. Doing the opposite of what is needed, often for profit and short term gain. The UK is the most nature denuded country in Europe.
The three-line whip system: Alright, this one isn’t just the Tories either. It means MPs often can’t vote in line with their constituents wishes, or with their conscience, like on Gaza. It’s corrupt and undemocratic, and should be banned or severely restricted to issues of national security.
Lobbyists: Again, not strictly just the Tories, but why are they so influenced by the right wing media, oil and gas companies, the building industry, all giving them money in the hope of influencing policy and decisions. It’s corrupt. I’d be up on criminal charges for such behaviour in my job.
Tory donors: Why are Tory donors given peerages in the House of Lords? In fact, why do we allow private individuals to give money to political parties for their campaigns? Wouldn’t a central fund of some sort make more sense, and be much fairer?
GB News: Why are Tory MPs allowed to use GB News to promote their agendas, whilst also failing to be impartial when reporting the news; as stated by Ofcom in the case of Jacob Rees Mogg. This news channel is toxic, tells lies, and promotes a nasty right wing agenda. I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of doing interviews with them just so they can say they give a balanced view. They’re rubbish, and thankfully losing millions of pounds a year, but their owner doesn’t care about that.
Homelessness: Is on the rise, despite Tory pledges to end it by 2024. I certainly see more rough sleeping in Norwich. We have more billionaires in the world than we have ever had, yet we can’t give people basic food and shelter. Redistribution of wealth please.
Food banks: Why are nurses and other essential workers having to use food banks. More and more people are being forced to because of the cost of living crisis caused in a large part by Tory policy. You can’t blame it all on the conflict in the Ukraine, or COVID, or Brexit. Other countries are doing far better than we are. Even Russia’s economy is growing faster than ours.
Inflation: I am sick of hearing the Tories talk about cutting inflation. It doesn’t make prices go down. They are already high and still going up. Get real, please.
Road building: They want to build new roads, but can’t even maintain our existing ones, with a pandemic of potholes across the country. We don’t need new roads, we need better public transport; bus and rail. New roads means more traffic, more emissions, and more opening up of our already denuded countryside to more unwanted development.
New coal mines: Nearly forgot about this one. They want to build a new coal mine in Cumbria, even though the steel industry has told them it’s the wrong type of coal for coking. I think they want to take us back to the Victorian age, and increase carbon emissions whilst they’re at it.
Drax: Have you heard about the Drax power plant. It burns wood chips from prime untouched forest in Canada, and claims to be carbon neutral. What utter nonsense. Destroying nature, burning it, with the associated carbon emissions. And stop peddling the lies about carbon capture and storage technology which is unproven at scale. And stop giving them subsidies.
They are unkind: We need politicians that are kind, that have some empathy. Not the likes of Braverman or Patel, Sunak, Johnson, Baker, Coffey etc. Please can we have some kindness from politicians?

I am sure there are lots more reasons to vote for someone other than the Tories, I might add to the list over the next few days. They are degrading the UK, dividing society, destroying our public services, making us poorer, and both mentally and physically sicker. We’re still supposed to be the 6th biggest economy in the world, how can you have made such a complete mess of things? Do the right thing and call a General Election now, then go off and sort yourselves out.

That being said, the current political system and main political parties just aren’t fit for purpose for the challenges ahead. We can’t reform what is fundamentally broken. We need a revolution. Visit https://umbrella-org.com/

I think I might take a leaf out of Gideon’s book and just sleep a lot more.

Self Propelled

Self propelled adventures through life; blogging on cycling, touring, micro-adventures, general shenanigans, and environmental news

Tag Archives: Oil and Gas

Let’s Make Hope Normal Again

What does it mean?

General Election now