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CARBON NEUTRAL POLITICS
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EXTINCTION OF SPECIES - From blue planet to scorched earth because vested interests prevented climate criminal politicians from putting the brakes on. Economics stopped them thinking about the safety of life on earth, including the future of our children. They'd rather die richer, than live comfortably, gambling with the lives of our offspring and every other species on planet earth.
What is happening on your doorstep is an indicator of what is happening on all the other doorsteps of millions of local kleptocracies all over the world that are empire building as fast as they can go to levy taxes for their coffers based on never ending inflation.
Each one of them is saying that it won't matter if we add to climate change with just a few more houses, a few more factories and a bit more forest clearing. What dummies. These local fiefdoms are killing not only the future for our children, but also indirectly killing men, women and children in displaced locations via desertification where humanitarian aid is sparse. All for a bit more nest feathering.
Each house and factory built in the developed world melts more polar ice, raises sea levels and adds to the area of deserts that cannot be farmed.
SO, YES IT WILL MATTER!
The hardest thing of all is to CHANGE. CHANGE your dirty habits. PLEASE! Stop increasing your Carbon Footprint. Start afresh to combat the Climate Emergency. Build only sustainable homes. Drive electric cars and stop wasting tax dollars trying not to be transparent.
POLITICAL MADNESS V POLITICAL SANITY
Old School politicians and policy makers have it ingrained in their makeup that we need constant growth. Whereas the opposite is true for a circular economy. We need to preserve the status quo. Better still, be more efficient to get things back to 100% below 1990 levels of greenhouse gases - and even that may not be enough. Local authorities are adding more greenhouse gases at quite an alarming rate - where the UK has declared a Climate Emergency and changed targets by amending the Climate Change Act 2008 from the previous figure of 80%.
INFLATION Vs DEFLATION
Inflation is a process whereby home owners profit by an increase in value of their homes for no work done and property developers also benefit by doing nothing - at the expense of the next generation. This increases the price of property making it difficult for new grass to grow, for youngsters to aspire to low cost housing, the cheapest method of housing being owned homes, rather than rented.
Inflation also means pay rises and goods increasing in price. Inflation is the enemy of sustainability. Politicians love inflation as a mechanism to make free money at the expense of the planet.
The answer to inflation is controlled deflation. Back to a state of equilibrium in harmony with the natural limits of the planet.
Mature property owners are not going to like it. Councils are not going to like it. They love looking at their property artificially rising in value. It makes them feel good. But when a squirrel stores nuts for winter, the nuts don't multiply all by themselves. In a stable economy, the nuts remain at the same value as they were when stored. In an inflationary society, the value of your nut stash decreases, necessitating investment in something that keeps up with the decrease.
To contain the disease that is inflation, we need a controlled descent to 0% inflation. This would be a situation where wages were linked to houses that workers could afford, with food and energy supplies reliably valued the same way.
At that point the only problem is population growth, that demands more of planet earth, than planet earth can afford.
ADMINISTRATIVE INEFFICIENCIES
Another difficult step in the move to a cleaner planet is the adoption of policies that reduce administrative wastages in terms of the spend of public money (taxes) where such expenditure is not warranted, by simply claiming office hours and expenses that are not needed. Recharge budgets should be on a reducing cycle with efficiencies.
PLAYING FOR TIME
Present policies are more aimed at playing politics, rather than getting the job done. This has got to stop if as a species we are to be able to react fast enough to world challenges like climate change and ocean plastic. Politicians pontificate and prevaricate to give industries like the oil giants time to make a killing, when it is their exploitation that is killing the planet - we might add with some justification - in providing stop gap energy to tide us over until we can sustain life with renewables. We need energy security compliant with sustainability. We don't yet have that. It should be a priority.
The responsible thing to do would have been for an exit strategy at the earliest opportunity, not the last possible moment. Why? Because we do not know for sure when the last moment is. PLAY SAFE should be the name of the game. Gamblers have no place in politics.
THE G20 HEADS OF STATE (2020) A - Z
PROTESTS
Governments must be more proactive in dealing with international crisis. It should not be that the population has to protest to put something as urgent as potential human extinction on the agenda. Only governmental heads have the power to enact laws to force change. There will always be local corruption and empire building authorities that will thumb their noses at adaptation, where they will resist change in favour of customary profiteering and favours for old school chums.
TAKE THE REIGNS
Policy makers need to apply iron rules, not wishy-washy guidance that allows business as usual either locally or internationally. It is business as usual that has caused the extinction of species, ocean temperature rise and melting of our ice caps. Look to what is happening right on your doorstep and then multiply such failures by your nation's districts. Finally, apply that level of complacency internationally. Then you will begin to understand why we are in this mess.
FUNDING POLICIES
Present funding rules prevent many social problems from ever seeing a solution. You need to incentivize social entrepreneurs who are not out to make profits for shareholders or stakeholders.
By way of example, again local, the Charity Commission in the UK do not recognize our Foundation as being charitable. Despite the fact that we are seeking solutions and lobbying for social change in connection with global warming and ocean pollution. We tested the water (we do a lot of water testing) with an application for registration and were given the run around for 150 days, before forcing a letter from this organization giving reasons for not registering us. They wanted us to appeal, possibly leading to a high court judicial review. They knew we could not afford such litigation. This is climate negative politics at its best. This is Great Britain. How is it in your locality? There is nothing "Great" about it, save for being an enormous cluster f*@*.
EU funding policies rule us out as being ineligible to lead not for profit climate and pollution research. It should be the other way around. There is no profit in forcing change or providing potential solutions. Swimming against the tide costs money. Any fool can go with the tide, set up a stall and sell widgets cheaper or fresher than the next guy. But that is just earning a living, and doing this creates millionaires - with all that money typically carrying a high carbon or plastic footprint. Trying to ensure that stall holders sell the right kind of widget or clean up after trading is a loss making situation for us. Supermarkets are an example of very successful stallholders, that need tighter controls.
Where Governments get it wrong, they 'U' turn. Each 'U' turn costs the people millions of tax dollars, in turn generating more carbon dioxide and methane to put right what was a policy boob. The CO2 is from running the offices, the methane is from the food consumed while putting things right.
Ministers and Secretaries of State appear not to be qualified for the posts they sometimes hold, bouncing from one position to another, without making any real contribution to the problems that such positions of trust are supposed to deal with. In the UK, Secretaries of State routinely change posts having made no real progress as they pursue a political career, mostly leaving behind a situation much the same as they found it - such as potholed roads that are dangerous to the public.
What then is the chance of dealing with climate change and ocean plastic waste? If politicians cannot arrange to put some tarmac in holes as they appear despite gigantic revenue from road tax, we have little chance of any real action on other pressing matters, where they can simply bury their heads in the sand. It may help to reserve taxes for the reason it was introduced - in the interests of transparency. Allowing taxes to cross boundaries is a recipe for disaster, destroying accountability. Policy makers seem to love that, to smooth over their blunders. We must stop hiding mistakes. Admit them and move on as efficiently as possible. Sweeping errors under the carpet costs far more then telling the truth.
Performance tables may help. What problems did politicians face on assuming a role, and what did they do about it?
One of the secrets to an advanced society where all Governments work towards a common goal is to adopt carbon neutral policies. These can even be computer programs with feedback loops built in, so cutting out the need for oratory, endless meetings and debating, where in reality each country is empire building and trying to gain financially or geographically, to get one up one their neighbours. Feedback loops would constantly monitor the performance of policies or statute, suggesting tweaks to improve performance.
Politicians do not react that quickly. Old laws prevent advancement, causing injustice and further wastages.
Typically, old thinking based on historic aggression is one of the grass root causes of public spend that is to prevent another country gaining in one form or another. Such aggression is aimed at obtaining minerals, materials, energy or food, or taking control of such mineral wealth, to include water as an asset. Oil was the main honey pot, for energy security, the cause of many conflicts. Renewable energy moves the goal posts, providing cheap energy for all and potential peace in the making as per SDG 7.
Food and energy security is vital, along with balanced trading, where for so long sanctions have been used to combat industrial advantages of another country that may be advancing in terms of technology. Food security is another issue, unrelated to climate change, except where acid oceans are helping to reduce fish stocks that are needed to feed a good proportion of the world.
By understanding the need to cooperate to prevent human extinction, traditional political competition becomes of lesser importance in the quest for survival.
THE G20 HEADS OF STATE A - Z
SIX (SUGGESTED) STEPS TOWARD A COOLER PLANET
1. TRANSPORT: Phase out polluting vehicles. Governments aim to end the sale of new petrol, and diesel vehicles by 2040 but have no infrastructure plan to support such ambition. Such infrastructure should exceed the performance of fossil fuel filling stations, prolong EV battery life and provide power grids with a measure of load leveling. Any such system should seek to obviate the provision of millions of fast charge points to include fuel cell cars, where implementation could otherwise prove to be a logistical nightmare. This may involve international agreement as to energy storage format and statute to steer OEM vehicle makers to collaborate as to future proofing, to include green hydrogen.
Marine transport can be carbon neutral given the right policy incentives, with phased transition in specific stages such as not to unduly penalize present investment in LNG shipping and other recent MARPOL compliant IC powered vessels. Future cargo vessel should be at least in part powered by renewable solar and/or wind energy, on the road to zero carbon, making allowances for technology catch-up. A scrappage scheme might encourage fleet operators to accelerate shipping upgrades, and a fund for radical innovation that would not otherwise qualify under in-situ programmes (such as Horizon Europe) might be introduced - with fast-track, reduced, form-filling and open-loop decision making, such that applications may be tweaked rather than struck out.
Air travel powered by kerosene should attract hefty mitigation offset, where low carbon alternatives should be encouraged such as electric air transport.
2. RENEWABLES: Renewable energy should replace carbon-based fuels (coal, oil and gas) in our electricity for homes, factories, heating and transport. Coal and nuclear power plants should be phased out.
3. HOUSING: On site micro or macro generation is the best option, starting with new build homes that are both affordable and sustainable by design to replace crumbling housing stocks. Encourage building in timber to provide carbon lock from a renewable natural resource. Planning policies should be updated to outlaw unsustainable development, with harsh financial penalties for kleptocratic local authorities, especially those with a history of corrupt practices (from historic similar fact evidence files).
4. AGRICULTURE: We need to grow more trees to absorb carbon emissions from a growing population, unregulated/unrestricted air travel. New homes should be timber where practical as a priority. We should promote reductions in food waste and the eating of foods that use less energy to produce. Educate children on these matters in schools and via campaigns such as no meat Mondays, should be part of ordinary study. Polluted fish from fisheries, might be replaced with fish farmed by aquaculture inland, rather than risk carcinogens from our seas.
5. INDUSTRY: Factories should be aiming for solar heating and onsite renewable energy generation. EV parking and even service facilities should be part of new industrial estates as part of any building permissions - with subsidies or tax reductions as incentives to property developers.
6. POLITICS: - National governing bodies need to adopt rules to eliminate administrative wastages, to include scaling down spending on (showboat) war machines, increasing spend on educating the public and supporting sustainable social policies that mesh with other cultures. This includes fostering policies and making funds available to close links in the technology chain to make up for lost time. Kleptocratic empire building must cease in the search for natural equilibrium.
International aid should not be provided to regions that cannot support life naturally. Land reclamation should be outlawed, and a solid currency system based on the ability of the planet to provide food for a growing population, such as a $Food Standard, such as to index link food production (security) to prevent unrestricted (artificial) money lending and superheated economies. There should be a policies of zero trust and full accountability.
Taxes collected from citizens in any form should only be spent on services they are collected for. Road Fund Licences, for road building, National Health Insurance Contributions, for health facilities, etc. The spend of other taxes such as Income and Value Added, should be fully accounted for to prevent slush fund payouts, for defence contracts, for example.
All policies should be SDG and Human Rights compliant, with exceptions needing to be openly qualified and justified, with effective remedy (right of challenge) to a higher national tribunal/court at every level, and to the international court of justice, where a national remedy conflicts. A lack of transparency and accountability would be one of the main reasons for challenge - because such decision making is highly suspect.
CHANGE OR DIE
The dinosaurs could not adapt in time, they were cumbersome creatures that needed an energy intake to support their mass rendering them vulnerable in food security terms. This is just like our present economy, based on giant corporations, taxation at every level to support the state and money lenders, living off the sweat of an honest man's toil - as unearned income. There are too many chiefs riding on the backs of the workers like immoral leaches in society. This is unsustainable and it's all based on inequitable loans for overpriced housing (and cars), that should perhaps be index linked in a fair society.
Dinosaur politicians should be replaced with representatives who understand sustainability and what a circular economy means. The dogs that grew up accepting fossil fuels and nuclear power as being normal, are unlikely to be able to grasp new tricks that are alien to them. They will be unwilling to change, rather seeking to resist obvious solutions to those who do not have investments in old technology - so think more clearly. These relics of overheated economics based on continuous growth, caused global warming. With only one planet to exploit, growth could never be continuous. These were hollow election promises for prosperity, based on borrowing, that led us to the brink. World economics should be based on just the planet we have.
Divide the planet by the geographical area of each administration, gives each Government their equilibrium targets. There is only so much sunshine per meter, roughly 1,100 watts per square meter in space, reducing to 1,000 watts by the time it hits earth in a straight line. Latitude dictates further transmission losses. But, even with such reductions there is ample energy for every country to become energy and food self-sufficient.
LINKS & REFERENCE
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2020 - Was another year of non-action, in fact no talks at all for the big cheeses to squabble and cloud issues for all the smaller nations that are being exploited. Can we expect anything of value to come out of the 2021 Highland fling?
Interestingly, the Covid 19 pandemic may have the effect of braking the economies of many nations - hence slowing global warming. This should be a lesson to all politicians.
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