Absolutely brilliant. All these ecological experts flying around the world to massive conferences in beautiful places like Bali to discuss just how we are going to save our planet from overheating. All these forests that are being felled to produce mighty tomes, featuring 'hockey stick' theories and complex strategies to tackle global warming. And all the time its been staring us in the face. At long last Powys County Council has come up with the answer. All we have to do is turn off the street lights.
This is an even better idea than it looks. If the Council invests all of the money it will save in power bills, it can spend it on providing thousands more street lights which it never switches on, thus making yet further massive contributions to the fight against damaging climate change. And this brilliant idea can be extended. Why not withdraw public transport, and spend the savings buying new buses which can be left in the garage. Just think how much carbon that would save. And why not stop all these refuse collection vehicles running around, burning up fuel. Sometimes, reality is odder than fiction.
14 comments:
If one travels out into the rural areas like Montgomeryshire you will find that lighting doesn't exit on ordinary roads 'never mind being switched off' - there are no street lights to switch off.
Has anyone noticed that China has surpassed the USA in CO2 output but the press hardly mentions it, it is like a "passing in the night".
Chris. - You're right. It is much more difficult for a rural council to plaster its area with street lights that it can then switch off to reduce carbon emissions.
In lots of suburbs in the USA there the density of street lighting is very low compared to say the burbs around Cardiff.
I was shocked to see many streets lacked pavements ('sidewalks' as they call them here). My ex-wife's parents place was so dark at night - no street lighting, and only one side of the road had a sidewalk, and that was only put in because parents of school children complained that their kids had to walk in the road to get to school. I guess not all kids take the school bus.
Al Gore just loves to fly around in a private jet and spout how we should cut back while he lives in a HUGE mansion. He can afford to fly in a private jet because he earns so much money from talks to audiences of elitists who forced governments into 'solutions' like biofuels that is leading to MASS LOSS OF LIFE as basic foods like wheat and corn skyrocket in price because such foods prices are now linked to the price of OIL.
Could anyone promote such a stupid scheme that links corn to the price of oil? Thank Al Gore and his elitist friends for doing that.
Actually, I don't think it's such a daft idea! Just think how much money and carbon would be saved if all the shops and offices all over the country switched off every single light in every single room in your average office block. Whcih blaze away all night long. Why don't they install low energy lighting and one or two lights inside that detect movement in case of a break-in? Have you seen the lights in the new Spar shop in Llansantfraidd?
anon - I'm in favour of street lights, within reason of course - for security reasons as much as anything else. But it has to be crazy to incur the cost of installing lights and then not switching them on.
Christopher - at least the world seems to be waking up to the madness of mad dash for biofuels. Its been an issue I've sought to highlight for a couple of years, and I enthusiastically welcome on board all those who are joining in.
anon - Personally, I think that turning off street lighting is daft. But turning off other lights is very sensible - as would be lowering the stifling and stuffy heating in shops and offices. I cannot accept that jumpers and jackets should not be worn in offices. Its madness that everyone is walking around in shirtsleeves throughout the winter. And I have not seen the lighting in the Llansantffraid Spar, but will call in when we next go to Juggs for supper.
Apropo of nothing - are you going to watch our esteemed MP making an ar**e of himself in the nasty tacky prog advertised in the CT? It's on ITV (of course) tonight at 7ish. When is his obsession with being on the telly for the wrong reasons going to stop? How much longer are we the Montgomeryshire peeps going to have to put up with him?
anon - No. I've been out supporting Russell Gearge who would like to represent Newtown Central on Powys County Council. Russell is a terrific candidate. All this TV coverage certainly helps Lembit with his name recognition, and Mrs D told me he was quite good on Question Time this week.
A colleague at work referred me to a website-www.iceagenow.com.It does not seem to deny the greenhouse effect of carbon emissions but refers to solar fluctuations evidenced by sunspot activity as influencing global climate to a far greater extent and purports to explain the "hockey stick".
After the last month I am beginning to believe it!
Glyn> you're so right on this issue. I hope more people take notice of your campaign to stop the mad dash to biofuels. Linking basic farm crops to the price of Oil was just insane - but that's Al Gore for you.
PS - Stewart Jackson MP just joined "Gordon Brown SHOULD GO NOW!" on Facebook. nudge nudge wink wink
Glyn, you MUST stop this obsession you have with name recognition!
Grope-it was, as usual, a complete idiot on Mr & Mrs. No change there then. You don't quite get it, that every time he goes on with the Transexual, eh sorry, Transylvanian, next to him, he looks like a total twat. Max Mosley also has name recognition at the moment. It's meaningless unless it's for the right reasons. Grope-it is a car crash, as mentioned by Phil Scourfield, one of the hosts of the show.
penlan - what I do find daft is the way some commentators base opinions of a ridiculously short period. "Its cold this spring, so global warming is not a problem" etc.. or "temperatures have been falling this century". I tend to read everything about climate change with a fair degree of sceptism, and no certainty.
Chris - it is now becoming orthodox opinion. Funny what a few riots in Africa can do to opinion.
Anon - I'm not obsessed, but consistant in my view that name recognition is an important electoral factor. Personally, I dislike the way modern politics has become so 'celebrity' focussed - but it has. But you may be right. What does seem unusual is the way Liberal Democrat council candidates here in Montgomeryshire are almost totally ignoring their MP in their local election campaigns. They seem to agree with you.
At least the local Lbido-dems are doing the right thing in distancing themselves from the Car Crash MP. What upset a lot of people locally was the way in which they saw fit to lay into Sian Lloyd over her book. Lembit Opik's lifestyle is no secret around here. Their snide comments - and the sad desperate fact that they even brought Alex Carlile on board - speaks volumes. It has not gone down well locally, simply because we're all sick of his liberal anything goes attitude ( alas this does not extend to allowing Sian to tell her story, so the usual hypocrisy from LO ) and some of us have done our best to get Sian to do a signing of her book locally. She's refusing to do so, probably because of scared of being bullied by the nasty Liberals once more. They are fooling no one. I also saw him on that show last night and quite frankly it was hugely embarrassing. Of course they are keeping their distance from hom. I just wish he'd keep his distance from Montgomeryshire and allow somo
eone who cares about the area to stand instead of him.
anon - I have to say that I also found the negative attitude of Montgomeryshire's weekly newspaper, the County Times towards Sian as both surprising and disappointing.
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