Consumption needs to be cut to sustainable levels to ensure a quality of life for all. Our eating habits will need to be modified, supply chains rationalised. Our population on the planet needs to be ultimately reduced. No change to public behaviour is sustainable if dictated from the top of the manure keep in Westminster.
So Mark Drakeford was not consulted – leader of a nation with huge amounts of green potential. I am sure Nicola Sturgeon was also ignored. This government will need to disappear. before we have any chance of a green future, but Starmer and his red tories will not be a solution.
Incidentally the first move in social behaviour will come with electric cars and how the government replaces the huge tax take -£40 billion or 5% of government expenditure or £750 per head! That will have the right wing tories squealing like the piglets they are. Increase income tax would be reasonably fair although increasing the average income tax by at least £10 a week will cause outrage unless properly informed. Or could car tax be increased by £1300 per car? Road charging I have discussed yesterday.
So transport and housing are areas where the government can have a positive input towards carbon neutral.
A carbon tax on electrical goods related to their longevity would help – washing machines, etc. but I am thinking about mobile phones. How many of us have a phone with numerous functions never used, how many old, perfectly good phones are in drawers at home. I happen to quite like Apple, but it does not need to bring a new phone out every year with the sole (or at least 95%) reason of keeping profits up.
No, the stock market needs to become green too. Growth is not sustainable for humans or companies. Johnson, silly man, talking about hair shirts (I do not even know what that means, although he probably has wooden or mohair suits? Apparently London has at least 150000 supercar owners (cost at least £150 grand). I.e. people who have more money than sense! I have thought about this! How much thrill/pleasure would I get from driving one of these things? maybe a couple of hours of bragging/showing off – then asking whether the shopping will fit in the boot, or will someone jealous bastard key it? Or give £150 grand to a charity I care about – this sense of paternal self-righteousness is also perhaps rather obnoxious but preferable (more preferable would be the inability to generate that sort off cash for frivolous purchases, and disappearance of the need for charities on which peoples lives become dependant.