23-Dec-2006
On this day in History : 1964: Beeching to leave British Railways
Oh Doctor Beeching.........
Beeching presided as Chairman of the British Railways Board from 1961 and oversaw the closure of thousands of miles of rail infrastructure.
Following the publication of his report "The Reshaping of British Railways" in 1963, more than 8,000 miles (12,875 km) of track and 2,000 stations were closed at a cost of nearly 70,000 jobs.
The cuts were controversial at the time, as was his exit; it has never been clear whether he resigned or was in fact sacked.
Public transport in the UK is a disgrace.
A few years ago, I lived in the South East suburbs of London....if I wanted to travel to the West by rail, the only way to accomplish that was to travel all the way into London and then back out again like the spokes of a bicycle.
If ever people are to get out of their cars, it is vital that serious investment is made towards public transport to make it convenient and affordable. Government must create the commercial environment to enable a holistic UK transport strategy inmcluding appropriate subsidies or capital investment....even if it does mean holding it as a Nationlised industry. The major investments required today make it impractical to have a via
Punishing a motorist by taxation is not the way to generate revenue to compensate for years of under-investment apparently kicked off by Beeching's reforms.
Link
Beeching presided as Chairman of the British Railways Board from 1961 and oversaw the closure of thousands of miles of rail infrastructure.
Following the publication of his report "The Reshaping of British Railways" in 1963, more than 8,000 miles (12,875 km) of track and 2,000 stations were closed at a cost of nearly 70,000 jobs.
The cuts were controversial at the time, as was his exit; it has never been clear whether he resigned or was in fact sacked.
Public transport in the UK is a disgrace.
A few years ago, I lived in the South East suburbs of London....if I wanted to travel to the West by rail, the only way to accomplish that was to travel all the way into London and then back out again like the spokes of a bicycle.
If ever people are to get out of their cars, it is vital that serious investment is made towards public transport to make it convenient and affordable. Government must create the commercial environment to enable a holistic UK transport strategy inmcluding appropriate subsidies or capital investment....even if it does mean holding it as a Nationlised industry. The major investments required today make it impractical to have a via
Punishing a motorist by taxation is not the way to generate revenue to compensate for years of under-investment apparently kicked off by Beeching's reforms.
Labels: environment, Public Transport, taxes, This Day in History
Link
08-Dec-2006
Erase my Carbon Footprint
I have been writing recently about negating the effects of Carbon around car mileage and advocated http://www.targetneutral.com as a good starting point.What that site lacks though is the ability to calculate one's total Carbon footprint, including domestic fuels and holidays. I have come across this site "Erase my Footprint" this evening and it is something that I am definitely going to research further as I am shocked to see the Executive Summary of the full Stern Report commissioned by the UK Government talking of mass flooding in some areas, famine and up to 40% extinction of animal species.
The report shows that if nothing is done, then the modelling indicates that temperatures could increase by 2-5C by the end of this century with calamitous effects. Now, whilst I will not be around towards the second half of the century, I sincerely hope that my daughters are, and I do not want to go to my grave having not done my bit to ensure that I have done everything in my power to avoid my presence destroying the planet.
I am taking a measured approach to this and don't want to just land in the first scheme to eliminate my entire household Carbon footprint, but it was eye opening to find that I, as a heavy energy user and driving a large vehicle ~16,000p.a. with a hypothetical long-haul holiday each year for the family of 4 would need to plant 22 trees each year to erase the footprint at a relatively modest cost of ~£220pa considering the stakes involved.
That's not that much to pay if you think that it is protecting your child's future and who wouldn't do everything they could to protect their children.
The one fly in the ointment.......is everyone else so concerned as I am and will they look to make the commitment necessary to preserve the planet?
China is looking to bring hundreds of coal fired power stations with presumably devastating effects on climate and the USA as the biggest Industrialised nation on Earth has still to ratify the Kyoto agreement.
Clearly this is a multi-national issue and needs some determined negotiations to bring everyone to the same place at the table and put measures in place that take an appropriate proportion of GDP and redeploy it to good effect.
Labels: Carbon neutral, carbon offsetting, China, climate change, environment, Kyoto, USA
Link
02-Dec-2006
Carbon Neutrality per vehicle mile
With all the talk about Carbon Neutrality and respecting the environment, I am wondering what people think about their own driving habits and whether (& how) they might like to contribute to carbon neutrality.
At the moment, the choices would seem to be:
1. A fixed Government Charge (Tax) on owning a vehicle i.e. increased Road Tax
2. A voluntary contribution (e.g. http://www.targetneutral.com)
3. A pay as you go alternative
(a) Government increases Fuel Duty
(b) Fuel Marketer contributes from the pump price (maybe at a premium) avoiding government and contributes directly to a programme e.g. http://www.targetneutral.com - how much p/litre would you be prepared to pay extra?
I think we all need to think about our vehicle usage and contribute in some way to the environmental impact, but what is the best solution for society?
Please respond with your own thoughts on preferences 1., 2., 3a., or 3b. or maybe you have yet another idea to discuss?
Please post your comments with your reasons for suopporting them - I am really interested in others thoughts.
At the moment, the choices would seem to be:
1. A fixed Government Charge (Tax) on owning a vehicle i.e. increased Road Tax
2. A voluntary contribution (e.g. http://www.targetneutral.com)
3. A pay as you go alternative
(a) Government increases Fuel Duty
(b) Fuel Marketer contributes from the pump price (maybe at a premium) avoiding government and contributes directly to a programme e.g. http://www.targetneutral.com - how much p/litre would you be prepared to pay extra?
I think we all need to think about our vehicle usage and contribute in some way to the environmental impact, but what is the best solution for society?
Please respond with your own thoughts on preferences 1., 2., 3a., or 3b. or maybe you have yet another idea to discuss?
Please post your comments with your reasons for suopporting them - I am really interested in others thoughts.
Labels: Carbon neutral, emissions, environment, target neutral, vehicle
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