Category: Environment

So Zac Goldsmith has resigned with a bang! He has spelt out the PM’s indifference and eregious apathy to climate change, animal welfare and international treaties. What this means on a practical level is a set back for the endangered wildlife of this country. Is it too much to surmise that he will now put all his eggs into the culture wars and migration issues? People may be subsumed by the credit crisis and the cost of living but they are not blind to the woes of our planet? The LibDems are ably placed to pick up votes from environmentally minded toriesm whilst Starmer will need to stop pandering to the economic growth at all costs element of the centerist Labour Party.

The main stream right wing media will continue to bang on about “Just Stop Oil” whose rather childish tactics are seen to be futile. Jeremy Corbyn will be criticised for his allotment whilst Sunak may offer a bail out the sewage shovelers.

Boss Sarah Bentley resigns without making te reason public. Could it be that the job is impossible? Thames has a £14bn debt pile it has built up over successive ownerships – largely the Aussie bank – Macquarie, it is owned by a number of pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. Besides its awful environmental record it has seen leakages increase, whilst all the time paying out high dividends and wages to its management, and the increase in interest rates will mean higher repayment costs. Will it default and be taken back into public ownership – another blot on Thatchers record? There would seem to be 2 scenarios – both disasterous for the government. Hiking water costs by 40% has been suggested by some (Thames Water charges went up by 11.6% on 1st April; this would be completely unpalatable given the mortgage hikes and cost of living crisis; or, let it go bust. The government may find this impossibkke given the sovereign wealth funds including China (8.6%), Abu Dhabi (9.9%) (and pension funds including Ontario (31%) and British Universities Staff Pension Fund (20%). Presumably the Universities fund would need to be underwritten by the government, but allowing the companny to go bust could cause all sorts of knock on impacts for foreign investment? Present profit is £1 billion, but whilst leaving the EU has halted some of the fines they would have accrued, they can expect an increasing public pressure to cut the sewage and price rises. OFWAT is tasked with moderating costs and setting targets – now is the tie to do so.

This also has implications for Starmer who seems set on wining approval from the city

TW claim that the weather hasincreased the leaks in its system, at present thought to be 650m litres a day! Note to TW – in summer the UK regularly gets periods of drought. Perhaps less spent on dividends and more doing your job properly would help? Plans to pump 100m litres of treated sewage should be refused as we know that important environmentally altering chemicals and medicines are not removed. Further plans to transfer 155million ltres a day from Wales should also be refused. Measures to reduce consumption with mandatory planning rules should be imposed by the government, water butts subsidised. Our weather seems to becoming warmer and more settled – this year we had a prolonged period of daily rain followed by a dry period with easterly winds then another dry spell.

My water butts have received some water but are not full.

Some innovative new plans from Labour regarding renewable energy. Given the financial black hole waiting for the next government it needs new ideas. OK so they arecopied from Germany and Denmark – but community owned renewable energy schemes look like a positive response to the problem. Could a similar scheme be introduced for water supply? 52% public ownership with water rates for households. And Sunak continues to talk about things whilst the migrants pour in, inflation and interest rates rocket,

Meanwhile the Mirror leads with lockdown party at Tory HQ, the Torygraph has a foeld day targeting Sue Gray, Whitehall civil servants and Macron all on the front page (no wonder they are the only spreadsheet!), the Mail continues with blue on blue attack on Sir Bernard Jenkins, and the Observer feeds the Sunak supporters with space.

Gove says report was excellent but he will abstain on Monday.

If you go down in the sea today, you’d better go in disguise
For every turd that ever there was 
Will gather there for certain because 
Today’s the day water companies issue their profits

Every child who’s ever been good is sure of a treat today
There’s lots of floating things to eat and wonderful diseases to catch
Beneath the waves where nobody sees 
They’ll hide and seek as long as they please
That’s the way the water companies have their picnic

Picnic time for holiday makers
The little children are having a lovely time today
Watch them, catch them unawares 
And see them share the sea on their holiday

See them gaily gad about
They love to play and shout
They never have any cares
At six o’clock their mummies and daddies 
Will take them back home to bed
and treat the vomit and shits that come about

If you go down in the sea today, you’d better not go alone
It’s lovely down in the sea today, but safer to stay at home
For every turd that ever there was 
Will gather there for certain because 
Today’s the day the rich cats have their picnic

Interesting to see a new look at our perilous economic position. It totally debunks liberal capitalism and the need for growth. To occur will require a massive disruption of the economic and thus political systems. More seriously what can we do to bring about change when the economic and political systems are dominated and protected by wealthy corporations and their supporters. Both the social and environmental boundaries are theoretically achievable but look unobtainable despite all the warniings by thousands of climate scientists and environmental models. The last being the disruption in ocean temperatures. In the western world with the media controlled amnd manipulated by the rich and wealthy leaving protesters the only option of physical disruption by groups of protesters like Just Stop OIL and Extinction Rebellion.

A court of law that was equitable and fair would look at the protest, the climate change, the stupidity of governments and award the protesters damages not lock them up! “You prevented my wife from getting to the shops, and that deserves a prison sentence “-I have heard people say they would throw away the key! But there will need to be a bigger disruption than they can muster to disrupt the system. I doubt that it can be done peacefully, we have seen how desperate the rich and powerful like Johnson, Trump, JR-M will use anything to retain their position.

Even the war in Ukraine has had little effect. Countries like the UK with massive potential for clean power generation are using the war as an excuse to open more oil well in the seas around us. Electric cars do not come without environmental and social cost (Cobalt mines in the Congo), perhaps we all need to have better more affordable public transport Cost of running a car is £5-6000 per year – transfer most of that to public transport and we could have virtually free buses and trains.

Basically we need to live within the constraints of the doughnut – something I am not sure Conservatives (free market) or Labour (basically the same with modifications) would agree with?

Canada has the worst wild fires at the moment 1400% up on last year. New York is making 1million masks available for use, free in public buildings due to the air pollution. Time to change from growth to sustainability in economic policies. This summer may bring a new reality to food production and sustainability. The knuckle draggers may not like “Just stop oil” but will be proved to be as neathderthal as they look and behave.