It seems to be getting harder to separate national events from local ones but it’s increasingly clear events around the world are going to have effects on our own doorsteps soon.
The protests by farmers in the Netherlands are spreading around Europe, the first major opposition from those most affected by green policies.
Farms seem to be disappearing everywhere and it would be naïve to think we can carry on as normal without them. It’s common to see planning applications to build homes on farms and airfields, two indicators of the way the world seems to be shifting. We might have lots of homes but little military and not enough food.
While it seems everyone wants to be seen as the greenest, most sustainable in what they do, it might be time to stop and ask if the emperor actually has any clothes.
Solar farms, wind turbines and insulation systems are springing up everywhere so logic would suggest energy bills should be reducing – not doubling.
Are people just following the mantra of the private jet set, who talk of rising sea levels but live on their own islands?
Back in May, Julia Benning, from CPRE Oxfordshire, wrote in Thames Tap how farmland in the county is being targeted for very large solar farms.
Giving up farms and countryside for the benefit of the environment seems riddled with irony but it’s not the only unfathomable point.
On a recent visit to the Earth Trust, visitors were told of the remarkable straw insulation system and designs that harvest rainwater at its award-winning Earth Lab. Someone made the point that this ought to be standard in new homes. It’s hard to argue with that but how many homes do you see with these kinds of features?
Developers increasingly install electric vehicle chargers but a few pipes and a water butt might have more environmental benefits.
Let’s hope the new occupant of 10 Downing Street will not be a groupthinker, sticking to the ‘accepted’ line but is prepared to question it. Experience suggests that could be being optimistic.
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“Solar farms, wind turbines and insulation systems are springing up everywhere so logic would suggest energy bills should be reducing – not doubling.” – it’s the cost of OIL AND GAS that has gone through the roof. The recent round of Contracts for Difference showed all forms of renewable energy being offered much more cheaply than oil and gas – a quarter the cost, in the case of offshore oil. And I haven’t noticed any new onshore windfarms springing up in my neck of the woods, which is a pity as they offer the cheapest energy of all.
And yet the bills continue to go through the roof.