Thoughts On - Eco Warriors 2

 Hi Everyone,

                     I have my Green hat on again. I was chatting with one of my mates regarding the Pro's and Con's of protesting, leaving the legal argument aside. This had been prompted by a protest group demonstrating outside oil terminals recently. My friend stated that most of the protestors would be only there for the sake of protesting and causing disruption, regardless of what the actual issue was. As he put it, they belonged to "Rent-A-Mob".

                     I agreed that the "Any protest will do" attitude was not a good basis for protesting, but stated that some may be there for that reason, but that there would still be the vast majority of people who did care about the actual issues involved and whose voices should be heard and their views considered, none the less. He did give way on the vague possibility, but I don't think my argument gave him any misgivings.

         Another friend mentioned the problems that we face going along this route. I reminded him that these green activists are fighting for HIS future along with everybody else’s. I asked him "What would you prefer in your senior moments, to be relaxing in the back garden on a nice summer’s day, sipping a cool drink in hand, or coughing and spilling the warm drink all over your trousers, peering through smog and heat haze".

    There is a very good Podcast authored by The Guardian newspaper in the UK, entitled "Carbon Bombs". This gives an insight into what the energy companies are planning, against what they say they are doing. Have a listen. Then start worrying and do something to help the situation.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2022/may/18/the-carbon-bombs-set-to-blow-up-the-worlds-climate-pledges

To our Green Warriors out there, please keep plugging away, don't give up heart. Your voices and actions DO COUNT FOR A GEAT DEAL. You will prove to history that at least some of us had heard the alarm bells ringing and were trying to do something about it before it was too late. I personally think it is already too late, but we have got to mitigate the problems as much as we can.

Have you been on a protest march ? Would you go on another one ? How were you treated ?

I would like to read your comments below.

Regards to all,

Ivor Cogdell.

 

Thoughts On - Eco Warriors 1

 Hi everyone,

                    This is swerving on a bit of a tangent to my usual blogs, in that it takes its subject matter to be Eco Warriors and the climate change. I have been following the climate battle since I have been knee high to a duck. Well, maybe not quite small, but you get the idea. I started going on proper rambles into the countryside in 1982. At the time I was an unemployed year old and Action Sport showed up at the jobcentre offering free waterproof  kit and use of a minivan. I jumped at the chance, along with some others. I soon learned the use of  Landranger Ordinance Survey maps and compass bearings and they stood me in good stead for many years of enjoyment.

                  The years passed and I was well and truly a fan of nature. Then the warnings of man made pollution started coming along. More and more of them and I, like many others heard the promises of the governments down  the years, but nothing, or certainly nothing near enough got done about it.

                2015 - The Paris accord. At last, People could see we were in real trouble and were going to do something about it. Or so we thought. All the right words were there, but there was no substance. The people want it. But the governments and the big companies in power just kept rolling along, doing the same old thing.

                Here we are now in 2022, the big fanfare of UN COP 26 at Glasgow has come and gone, with a mixed reception. They say a lot was achieved, I hope it was. But that voice at the back of my head kept saying, we want action to go with the words this time around.

What was the old saying ? "You can't moan at the government, if you did not use your vote". (Assuming the voting is fair., that is).

This is a slightly different version, "The Government can't give you what you want if you don't tell them what you want."

I intend to add my very small voice to the booming masses out there telling them loud and clear,

We demand climate change action, not in 2050, when it will be far too late for us and the animals on the planet, but now, when it can do some good!"

All new car designs to be hybrid. Older cars to be retrofitted with hybrid systems. All homes to be converted to double glazing. No green belt land to be touched unless all brown field sites in the area have been used. Convert more industrial sites to be reclamation centres or hydro farms. Supermarkets to grow and pack their own veg in the roof storage areas. More pavements converted to be green soakaways, even if it is just one at a time. All lamposts to come with mini blades to feed energy back into the grid or charge batteries .Do more research into recycing items. No more polluting our rivers with sewage, or chemicals. If they do fine them Big time and put the money into cleaning up the waste. More unemployed clean-up squads picking up litter or craft classes to recycle waste.

            The age old cry, "Where is the cash coming from ?" Oil companies, Shipping fleets, airlines (less flights = less pollution and less covid spread). Big business say they want to help. Now is the time.

Petitions: Read them, Write them, Sign them!"

Phew, rant over for today. I hope you see that you can be a force for change too. Keep poking the politicians with a big stick. Over and over again. Lobby them, when they show up near you, give them a hard time. Whenever there is a choice to make, we want their first question to be will this be better or worse for the climate and the environment, is it sustainable?. Make the government prove they are doing what they say they are going to do.

Thank you for caring and taking the time to read to the end of this. Hopefully, we can make a difference together.

Ivor Cogdell