If the Lights Go Out

Last week the Dept for Energy and Climate Change’s new chief Scientific Adviser – David MacKay – warned that the UK could face blackouts by 2016 as green energy is coming on stream too slowly.

 But Mr Miliband said, on the Andrew Marr show, that there is no danger of power cuts in the next decade.

Phew.  Thankfully Mr Miliband is more knowledgeable than David Mackay, or we would have been a little worried there.

So who is this man, David Mackay, and why is the government appointing him as an adviser if he is so seriously wrong in his assessment and scare-monger-y when it comes to energy predictions?

Well, according to Cambridge University’s website, he is Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics.

Ah, Physics.  That supreme science.  Using that pesky scientific method – methodical and fact based.  Wrote a book – available free online at http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c1/page_2.shtml

I am sure Mr Mackay will be very happy to discover the reasons why the lights will not go out in 2016 once he is settled in his new role in October 09. 

Anyone who has read this blog knows I disagree with politicising climate change.  However, I do have rather a soft spot when it comes to believing physicists and their tenacity for fact and method.  So, just for fun, let us entertain the idea that Professor Mackay is correct in his assessment.

What would it be like if the lights went out?  If we had intermittent cuts in electricity supply?  Take a few moments and close your eyes, how would impact your life?

I’m thinking this; maybe I should all take another look at photovoltaics before I start shelling out on an electric car.

Dangers of politicising Climate Change

With the recent floods raising the profile of climate change even higher, can direct action be justified to help combat climate change? Is the direct action involved in the camp planned at Heathrow on 14th August reasonable? Here’s a quote from the climate camp website “This is the only way to stop the actions of those vested interests that watch the planet burn while counting the money they make from the fire.“

Ok, here’s my point. Does demonising business leaders get results? Does aligning yourself with the acts of political extremists get you public sympathy? I don’t think it does. I think those who politicise climate change and promote direct action (a phrase which can mean much more extreme things than peaceful protest) need to realise they may be risking alienating exactly the people who they need as allies.

Do these people want to overturn the capitalist system that currently governs the way the world operates? I’m not just talking fat cats here, I’m talking about interest rates and pensions, things many of us rely on for our financial security.

Now I understand the issue with climate change, yes we need to act. Businesses of all sizes, people wherever they live, need to change how they emit greenhouse gases like CO2. That is why I set up my business, Ems2. The best way to make this change is to find ways of doing profitable business that reduces GHGs, or those of others. This keeps our futures safe in more ways than one. We don’t need anarchy, we need to work with people.

Even corporate CEOs are human beings. Those of us trying to help organisations take positive steps to combat climate change need to relate to them as such. Let’s stop radicalising people into extremist behaviour; it’s the climate change we need to fight, not each other. Let’s allow the police to spend their time on more useful stuff than dragging people away from the outskirts of Heathrow because of some misguided sense of doing the right thing.

Smaller businesses can join in

The funny thing about climate change is how much it is bringing different groups of people together.

I’m not just talking about social groups like Friends of the Earth, schools, other charities and householders, where Climatexchange is doing such a great job here in Oxfordshire.

Big corporates, getting help from the Carbon Trust, are having to involve all different parts of their business in their new carbon strategies, from HR, Risk assessment, health and safety to environment and facilities and energy managers – right across the board, they are having to get everyone involved.

Smaller businesses are being a little left out – it’s time to join in folks!