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Climate Change and Energy Policy
Global warming and climate change are spiralling out of control. It could soon be too late to reverse the trend. A sustainable energy policy must be framed in this context. A disastrous rise in sea levels is under way as the polar ice caps melt, posing catastrophic threats to low-lying countries such as Bangladesh.

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe. Agricultural production and biodiversity are under threat as the deserts extend and fresh water becomes even scarcer.

This situation is created predominantly by human activity, in particular by a reliance on fossil fuels, resulting in the release of huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Transport, industry and domestic use, are the main producers of greenhouse gas. If this goes unchecked carbon dioxide concentrations are likely to rise above 550ppm by 2050. This, it is generally agreed, would make life on the planet intolerable.

Unfortunately, government and corporate responses to this challenge have been woefully inadequate. Energy policy remains fossil fuel based. Even the modest provisions of the Kyoto Protocol (which would not of themselves resolve the problem) are flouted, most notably by the oil-dominated Bush administration.

Only a serious challenge to corporate interests and government inaction can tackle this problem and bring about a big change to sustainable ways of living.

Renewable forms of energy – wind, wave, solar, bio-mass – have an important role to play in this and must be central to an energy policy for this country. But they have to go alongside a big reduction in fossil fuel usage – at least 60 percent by 2050. The nuclear power option is unacceptable. It is expensive, remains dangerous for thousands of years, and can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

As part of a planned reduction in fossil fuel usage Respect would take back into public ownership the North Sea oil and gas industry and what remains of the North Sea reserves. We would put massive investment into energy conservation and alternative transport systems to replace the car. We would end the tax breaks to the airlines and stop runway expansion.

We would put big investment into sustainable housing, the localisation of food production, and the sustainable design of towns and cities.

New Labour’s “green” policies have been largely cosmetic. It levies massive taxes on petrol, but like the Tories, has not invested in public transport in order to create a viable alternative to car use.

The oil companies make vast profits. New Labour’s embrace of the big corporations – including agribusiness – along with capitalist globalisation has compounded the environmental crisis.

RESPECT CALLS FOR:

> Emergency steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels – 60 percent by 2050 – alongside massively increased investment in sustainable energy – including solar, biological, and wind and wave power.

> An international treaty which goes way beyond Kyoto.

> A cheap and integrated transport system to provide an alternative to car use, making the current road building programme unnecessary.

> Localised food production with a big reduction in food miles.

> Sustainable city planning.

> Tough action against corporate polluters.

> Halt airport expansion and end the £9 billion tax-break to the airlines.

> No return to nuclear energy, close all nuclear plants.

> Increased public investment to make homes energy efficient.

> High quality facilities to maximise recycling. No to incinerators. The aim should be the full recycling of waste.

> Support for campaigns against climate change and the initiatives they call.
 

News and articles of interest

Here are some articles and news reports we think are worth looking at

From Triumph to Torture by John Pilger
Two weeks ago, I presented a young Palestinian, Mohammed Omer, with the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Awarded in memory of the great US war correspondent, the prize goes to journalists who expose establishment propaganda, or "official drivel", as Gellhorn called it.

SATs school tests criticised by official report by Harvey Thompson and Linda Slattery
In May, millions of school children throughout England undertook their Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs) in English, mathematics and science. The statutory tests are widely considered to be flawed and almost universally reviled by teachers and children alike.

Health: Who asked for choice? - Morning Star
IF Health Minister Ben Bradshaw believes that there is political capital to be made by taking on our NHS doctors, he will quickly come unstuck.

Afghanistan troop deaths outnumber those in Iraq by Angela Balakrishnan and agencies
Militants in Afghanistan killed more US and Nato troops than those in Iraq in June after a fresh spate of rebel attacks that highlighted the growing strength of the Taliban.

Iran legally entitled to develop nuclear energy, says UK MP
Iran is legally entitled to develop nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to a British MP visiting Tehran for the first time. George Galloway, who was expelled from Britain's ruling Labor Party for his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war, also criticized the hypocrisy of Israel's belligerence towards Iran, which has its own illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons.

In the Cause of Fear and Ignorance by John Pilger
Muslims are alone as they watch the British state, with its "obstinate incomprehension" of their faith, do to them as it would never do to those of other faiths. Imagine Jews treated this way. You cannot imagine it; the profanity is too great. The silence of British Jews, who have the history, is also great.

Migrant Myths by Adam Ford
As part of her degree course, Kurdish migrant Filiz Celik researched the conditions that workers from overseas face in the United Kingdom. The full text of her study can be read here, but this summary by Adam Ford gives some idea of the reality behind the media-generated myths.

Tesco shareholders reject TV chef's chicken welfare call
Tesco shareholders today voted against a resolution from TV cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall which called for the retail giant to improve its chicken-rearing standards.

Academies expelled 10,000 pupils
Academies have been accused of excluding disproportionately high numbers of students after it emerged that they excluded nearly 10,000 pupils for poor behaviour last year.

Let companies run state schools for profit, says Sir Simon Milton
Private companies should be allowed to run state schools at a profit and be free to dismiss teachers who are not up to the job, the head of the Local Government Association (LGA) said yesterday.

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