Cris - even the dogs which Liz, Lord B. etc. have recently been writing about are more honourable that that bunch in Westminster, no matter which political side of the fence they sit.
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The trouble about any proposals like the ones made by the government or anyone else is that they are so often carried to extremes just to prove a point. Of course I'm not going to get rid of my car nor am I going to row a boat across the Channel in order to get to the UK but I will (and already do) think twice about whether a journey is absolutely necessary or two trips can be combined into one. And the car will be replaced soon by one on Euro 4 emissions. So much can already be achieved by avoiding wastage that there is no need to reduce the quality of life.
Hi Lutz, just on your last point there re Euro 4 engines. Just before Xmas i started looking for a replacement for my Renault trafic van and was impressed that the new Euro 4 engines were zero % for CO2.( i had to look twice to check) and thus attracted the lowest band for VED tax at
Thank you Colin, it goes to prove that at least you take in the overall picture of the state of the countryside, unlike some who need to see their opticians ;O)
If this is so serious why are speed limits not reduced to say 80 KPH on Motorways, and 50 KPH on urban roads ?????????????. Quote Tony " Global Warming is the biggest problem facing the world today " So we will raise Passenger Duty on Aircraft so only the rich can afford to Fly or Drive. The whole thing stinks.
Lutz did you not vote in a Goverment that shuns Nuclear Power ??? Whilst the French continue to expand Nuclear and sell it to the Chinese ??
Ban Caravans only Trailer Tents will be allowed on the roads, from say the Easter Weekend. Shut down the cross Channel Ferries they do run on Hydrocarbon fuel don't they ??? Global Warming is the most serious issue facing the world today say the Goverment, so we should be happy with the above points when they are implemented.
Val & Frank
Lutz did you not vote in a Goverment that shuns Nuclear Power ??? Whilst the French continue to expand Nuclear and sell it to the Chinese ??
Ban Caravans only Trailer Tents will be allowed on the roads, from say the Easter Weekend. Shut down the cross Channel Ferries they do run on Hydrocarbon fuel don't they ??? Global Warming is the most serious issue facing the world today say the Goverment, so we should be happy with the above points when they are implemented.
Val & Frank
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Here we go again. Extreme examples are being used to prove a point. Bringing the speed limits down even further, banning caravans, shutting down cross Channel ferries - nobody is seriously asking that. What is being asked is what do we have to do to maintain our standard of living by at the same time avoiding wastage. Cars of today are cleaner and use less fuel than, say 20 years ago, it's just a matter of keeping the pressure on the industry. Why shouldn't it be possible to tow a 1500kg caravan at current speeds on the motorway and still achieve, say 60mpg or more? Why don't the lights go out automatically as you leave the room? Do we really need strawberries flown in from some far flung country in the middle of winter?
I think what people are trying to get accross, Lutz is that if global warming was "the greatest threat to mankind" then these, as you are right in saying, extreme measures would be absolutely necessary. The question we are asking is why aren't they being implemented? Why is it always taxation that is used and as i said before why always at a low enough level so almost all can afford it?
I totally agree with you regards the technology of today not being quite as good as it should be. My peronal beef is that we can now have lightweight mobile phones doing zillions of things with a minute battery thats lasts longer than a third world government but our 120 Ah leisure batteries still have to weigh more than a baby elephant.
I totally agree with you regards the technology of today not being quite as good as it should be. My peronal beef is that we can now have lightweight mobile phones doing zillions of things with a minute battery thats lasts longer than a third world government but our 120 Ah leisure batteries still have to weigh more than a baby elephant.
You should have come to expect such replies by now Lutz. Be thankful he isn't insulting you, that is with the exception of your intelligence :O(
think what people are trying to get accross, Lutz is that if global warming was "the greatest threat to mankind"
We need to do something drastic, all we are doing is playing at the edges WHY ??? Don't aircraft run on Bio Fuels everyone should give up access to these fuels for vehicles etc at allow it all to go to the Aviation Industry the Largest and Fastest growing polluter.
Lutz don't get me wrong, I am for running things more efficient but I am against the Green Lobby for trying to make the General Public to blame. Why does every town not have the latest incinerator for rubbish disposal, and the generation of power ???
because local politics are involved. Never mind the Global Warming on that one !!!!!!! So far the Goverment response has been Pathetic
Val & Frank
We need to do something drastic, all we are doing is playing at the edges WHY ??? Don't aircraft run on Bio Fuels everyone should give up access to these fuels for vehicles etc at allow it all to go to the Aviation Industry the Largest and Fastest growing polluter.
Lutz don't get me wrong, I am for running things more efficient but I am against the Green Lobby for trying to make the General Public to blame. Why does every town not have the latest incinerator for rubbish disposal, and the generation of power ???
because local politics are involved. Never mind the Global Warming on that one !!!!!!! So far the Goverment response has been Pathetic
Val & Frank
Lord B and Frank were having a debate about the state of this
country concerning rubbish.
Heres my
country concerning rubbish.
Heres my
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Everyone is knocking the government for using global warming as an excuse to extract more money from the public but fact is that until we grasp the extent of the problem many of us won't do anything unless it hits our pockets. Being complacent individuals that many of us are, statements like "greatest threat to mankind" are needed to get even small measures to be implemented. By doing so, it is the hope that we, here in Europe at least, will be spared more drastic steps that may later become necessary.
So where will all the old style light bulbs go?
Apparently there was a report saying that the idea of banning traditional bulbs has not been researched or talked about with scientistific experts!
The bulbs as they are slower to light up present dangers in some applications and need to be left on longer to reach full brightness and be energy efficient.
Apparently Angela Merkel has said that she often can't find things on her carpets when she switches on her low energy bulbs.
The use of the new low enerhy compact flourescent bulbs may not give anything like the savings they are suggesting and the materials and processes used for making them are said to be far more harmfull to the environment than the old incandescent bulbs.
So who is on a bung from the producers, which politicians and environmentalists are having their back pockets filled by the bulbs producers and the electrical industry?
No doubt the accelerating guilt trip re stand-by lights will lead many people into buying repalcenment TV's and Recorders before they need to.
The new products will be neatly marketed to increase sales and profits and the gullible fashion followers will blindly spend their cash.
No doubt some of those in power and in so called advisory positions will be profiting as well.
I know of one manufacturer who is keenly marketing its more eco friendly cars whislt offering de-badged
Apparently there was a report saying that the idea of banning traditional bulbs has not been researched or talked about with scientistific experts!
The bulbs as they are slower to light up present dangers in some applications and need to be left on longer to reach full brightness and be energy efficient.
Apparently Angela Merkel has said that she often can't find things on her carpets when she switches on her low energy bulbs.
The use of the new low enerhy compact flourescent bulbs may not give anything like the savings they are suggesting and the materials and processes used for making them are said to be far more harmfull to the environment than the old incandescent bulbs.
So who is on a bung from the producers, which politicians and environmentalists are having their back pockets filled by the bulbs producers and the electrical industry?
No doubt the accelerating guilt trip re stand-by lights will lead many people into buying repalcenment TV's and Recorders before they need to.
The new products will be neatly marketed to increase sales and profits and the gullible fashion followers will blindly spend their cash.
No doubt some of those in power and in so called advisory positions will be profiting as well.
I know of one manufacturer who is keenly marketing its more eco friendly cars whislt offering de-badged
Lutz
I am not that articulate, so i will use an example.
Your car will not start. is it out of petrol? is the immobiliser
faulty? batery flat? starter motor stuck? ecu fault? ect ect.
So global warming exits, that is not in dispute, but like the
car problem, no piont putting more fuel in if the fault does
not lie there.
Its ok saying we need to take action, but we need to take the
right action not just any.
There is still a dispute of how mans infintisamal amount of CO2
could be the core problem of global warming.
If global warming is indeed a cycle in the earths timeline, then
why does man yet again stick his nose into something he does not
fully understand, and cannot be certain of the results of his
interference.
Too many people are confusing global warming with using our
resources better.
Really that is a different issue, and this is where politicians
come into the equation.
By now you should know when a politician is lying......
HIS LIPS MOVE..
I am not that articulate, so i will use an example.
Your car will not start. is it out of petrol? is the immobiliser
faulty? batery flat? starter motor stuck? ecu fault? ect ect.
So global warming exits, that is not in dispute, but like the
car problem, no piont putting more fuel in if the fault does
not lie there.
Its ok saying we need to take action, but we need to take the
right action not just any.
There is still a dispute of how mans infintisamal amount of CO2
could be the core problem of global warming.
If global warming is indeed a cycle in the earths timeline, then
why does man yet again stick his nose into something he does not
fully understand, and cannot be certain of the results of his
interference.
Too many people are confusing global warming with using our
resources better.
Really that is a different issue, and this is where politicians
come into the equation.
By now you should know when a politician is lying......
HIS LIPS MOVE..
Correct gio, I was stating how filthy how countryside is due to irresponsible people with no pride in where or how they live. I also agree with you regarding how the U.K. deals with it's waste mountains but that is at the expense of other countries. We ship a lot of our waste to countries to be re-cycled but we are also polluting them in the meantime, appropriately enough, the very country that Frankie boy was talking about, China.
Quote from the Guardian .....
More than a third of the waste paper and plastic collected by British local authorities, supermarkets and businesses for recycling is being sent 8,000 miles to China without any knowledge of the environmental or social costs - and to the complete surprise of most consumers.New government figures suggest that exports to China are running at 200,000 tonnes of plastic rubbish and 500,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard a year - a huge increase on just three years ago.
Much of the plastic sent to China is packaging but a Guardian investigation has found that agents for Chinese companies are now buying up and exporting thousands of tonnes of unwashed bottles, containers, and other household waste.China drives the global waste trade, importing more than 3m tonnes of waste plastic and 15m tonnes of paper and board a year. Landfill charges are rising steeply, making it relatively cheaper to send the waste abroad.
"I would say that Britain is dumping its rubbish in the name of recycling. It is not responsible recycling that is being done. It is reprocessing, but the methods being used are still mostly rudimentary. There are some good factories, but on the whole it is small scale, done in backstreets with little environmental standards. People are burning plastic, sorting it by hand, the water gets polluted and it goes back into the rivers," he said.
Frank said I don't understand filth until I see China but now we know whose filth it is.
It doesn't just stop there though, we are now dumping millions of tons of used computer equipment in Africa.
Quote from the Guardian .....
More than a third of the waste paper and plastic collected by British local authorities, supermarkets and businesses for recycling is being sent 8,000 miles to China without any knowledge of the environmental or social costs - and to the complete surprise of most consumers.New government figures suggest that exports to China are running at 200,000 tonnes of plastic rubbish and 500,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard a year - a huge increase on just three years ago.
Much of the plastic sent to China is packaging but a Guardian investigation has found that agents for Chinese companies are now buying up and exporting thousands of tonnes of unwashed bottles, containers, and other household waste.China drives the global waste trade, importing more than 3m tonnes of waste plastic and 15m tonnes of paper and board a year. Landfill charges are rising steeply, making it relatively cheaper to send the waste abroad.
"I would say that Britain is dumping its rubbish in the name of recycling. It is not responsible recycling that is being done. It is reprocessing, but the methods being used are still mostly rudimentary. There are some good factories, but on the whole it is small scale, done in backstreets with little environmental standards. People are burning plastic, sorting it by hand, the water gets polluted and it goes back into the rivers," he said.
Frank said I don't understand filth until I see China but now we know whose filth it is.
It doesn't just stop there though, we are now dumping millions of tons of used computer equipment in Africa.
In the Stormy Down area of Bridgend ar huge crators from limestone quarrying. The local authority has refused for thes redundant holes to be filled in with refuse and then topsoiled. They are transporting our waste to a recycling/incinerator plant aprox. 30 miles away on the outskirts of Swansea. Every refuse lorry from Bridgend, when full, makes this trip to Swansea. All the way!!!! Can you believe it?
Colin,
I understand your puzzlement on the `limestone crater` issue, but as you say it`s usually down to planning, as the civil servants dont want the nasty private sector to make a profit on back-filling such holes, and invariably impose conditions when planning for extraction is granted to prevent its use as landfill.
This is understandable if the quarry is in an area of outstanding natural beauty, where its restoration to a boating lake/nature reserve would benefit the community and the environment, but if its surrounded by slag heaps, spoil or redundant industry it is lunacy not to use it as landfill and THEN restore it to benefit the community.
I understand your puzzlement on the `limestone crater` issue, but as you say it`s usually down to planning, as the civil servants dont want the nasty private sector to make a profit on back-filling such holes, and invariably impose conditions when planning for extraction is granted to prevent its use as landfill.
This is understandable if the quarry is in an area of outstanding natural beauty, where its restoration to a boating lake/nature reserve would benefit the community and the environment, but if its surrounded by slag heaps, spoil or redundant industry it is lunacy not to use it as landfill and THEN restore it to benefit the community.
Just to let you now that the program is show againe on Saturday on More4 (SKY 142) 10.30pm (There is all so a More4 +1 (SKY 189) which is show it 1 hour later).
Mark
Mark
I get frustrated that all our political parties don't look at simple logical things to play a part in solving the problem. Why don't we turn off traffic lights between midnight and 6am, or reduce the amount of street lighting in the country. Banning shops from leaving lights on overnight would help. Then look at the issue with speed ramps, we all know the most efficient way to drive is at a consistent speed something which is impossible to do in vitually all our urban areas due to speed ramps.
Angus the disused quarries are in a rural setting but they had permission to excavate the material so why not now backfill the hole and top soil it so that nature can once again provide a natural appearance and not leave it in a dangerous and ugly state as it is.
In response to Richard the A48 trunk road which runs from Carmarthen to Gloucester is lit as far as the eastern boundary of Neath Port Talbot CBC and from the western boundary of the Vale of Glamorgan BC. Where it passes through the Bridgend CBC district every street light has been turned off. In other areas of the borough they have lit every alternate light on A classified trunk roads. Regarding traffic lights the amount of electricity consumed in Bridgend must be fantastic as there are more traffic lights in this area than I have seen in any other town. We even have traffic lights on all our roundabouts. I believe the firm who act as traffic consultants for the borough are from London - mind you we employ traffic and highway engineers on the council - what they do goodness only knows.
In response to Richard the A48 trunk road which runs from Carmarthen to Gloucester is lit as far as the eastern boundary of Neath Port Talbot CBC and from the western boundary of the Vale of Glamorgan BC. Where it passes through the Bridgend CBC district every street light has been turned off. In other areas of the borough they have lit every alternate light on A classified trunk roads. Regarding traffic lights the amount of electricity consumed in Bridgend must be fantastic as there are more traffic lights in this area than I have seen in any other town. We even have traffic lights on all our roundabouts. I believe the firm who act as traffic consultants for the borough are from London - mind you we employ traffic and highway engineers on the council - what they do goodness only knows.
Colin,
The other problem you have is NIMBYism. Everyone produces waste, but no-one wants landfills, or waste powered CHP`s (combined heat and power plants) anywhere near them. (admittedly, I don`t want to live next door to a landfill site either), but as the methane produced in landfills can now be captured, burnt and the resulting electricity fed back into the National Grid it can go someway to helping the lack of disposal options, producing `clean` electricity (a lot cleaner than coal), and cutting down transport journeys.
You must first get around the `BANANA` culture.
The other problem you have is NIMBYism. Everyone produces waste, but no-one wants landfills, or waste powered CHP`s (combined heat and power plants) anywhere near them. (admittedly, I don`t want to live next door to a landfill site either), but as the methane produced in landfills can now be captured, burnt and the resulting electricity fed back into the National Grid it can go someway to helping the lack of disposal options, producing `clean` electricity (a lot cleaner than coal), and cutting down transport journeys.
You must first get around the `BANANA` culture.
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