news
drinking beer, saving carbon
15th November 2010
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How much carbon does the Lake District produce? And what difference would it make if we only drank local beer? The answer is here, in Mike Berners-Lee’s fascinating report setting out the carbon footprint of the National Park. We’ll use the work to develop a carbon budget for the area, setting year-on-year reductions and finding ways to meet them. I’ll report back.

news
should seventeen-year-olds feel guilty about flying?
4th November 2010
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I do very few talks for schools or undergraduates – maybe two or three a year. But I really enjoy them. This morning, I ran a workshop for sixth formers, as part of a conference for secondary schools organised by some amazing volunteers from the local branch of the World Development Movement.

I got the students drawing up carbon budgets for a local area, and they did a brilliant job of working out where carbon savings could come from. I’m always impressed by how much schoolchildren know about climate change. Much more than most adults. I think that it is » Continue Reading.

news
Talking to a Brick Wall
20th October 2010
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I’ve just read, in only a couple of sittings, the new book by pollster Deborah Mattinson, Talking to a Brick Wall. A fascinating and readable account of New Labour’s rise and fall, seen through the eyes of swing voters in focus groups.

Mattinson was there when all the big decisions were made, and the book is a gratifyingly intimate portrayal of the Blair-Brown-Mandelson psychodrama. More importantly, though, it’s an all-too-rare insight into the minds of Middle Englanders.

The book has really made me think about how we talk to people about climate change and environment, and the link to politics. » Continue Reading.

news
A carbon budget for the Lake District National Park
15th October 2010
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This week, we met to discuss the idea of setting a carbon budget for the Lake District National Park. Helped by Mike Berners Lee, author of the fabulous How Bad Are Bananas, we have worked out how much carbon the Lake District needs to take responsibility for – and we’re working on how we can reduce emissions, tonne by tonne, year by year. I’ll publish Mike’s report here shortly.

news
Why do we care about the Chilean miners, and not about climate change?
15th October 2010
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Like millions across the world, I’ve been engrossed by the story of the Chilean miners. Strange, really. It happened thousands of miles away, and I’ll never meet them or their families. But I was very moved to see, live on the evening news, a miner emerging to hug his wife and small son.

So why is it that we are all so hooked on the mine rescue, when we find it hard to care about climate change? After all, the miners’ misfortunes, dramatic though they were, are nothing compared to the likely human cost of climate change, as shown most » Continue Reading.