Car for sale (maybe)

I'm thinking about selling my car (and joining the Edinburgh City Car Club).

Anyone interested in purchasing a 1999 Ford Fiesta Zetec? If so, drop me a comment or an email, and we can chat about it.

Cheers,

Malc.

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Green Scotland: does it matter?

Caught a bit of Sean Lock's act on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow on Saturday and though he was being funny (as comedians tend to be) he raised an interesting point.

I like to think I've become much more thoughtful with regards the mark I'm leaving on the world. I recycle practically everything that I can. I wear about 4 jumpers before I think about sticking the heating on. And even though I own a car, it gets used sparingly - I prefer using the buses to get round Edinburgh. But does it matter? I mean, I was recently doing the recycling at Sainsburys and a woman arrived in a BMW to recycle some glass. She jumped out the car - leaving it running - and chucked the bottles in the recycling bin. If you're going to leave the car running, what's the point of doing any recycling at all?!

Broader point though. Well, the same point, just on a larger scale.

The Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the Climate Change (Scotland) Act in June, widely accepted as being one of the most ambitious of its kind (though some didn't think it went far enough). If, as a nation, we're going to stick to this policy and do our bit to reduce our impact on climate change, what difference will it make if other, larger countries - the United States, for example - don't bother their arses? I mean, for all the talk of "change you can believe in", American views on the environment can roughly be translated as "we'll do what the hell we like and screw the rest of you."

I guess my question - to more knowledgeable folks like James and Patrick - is what difference will our small efforts to help the environment make in the grand scheme of things? And has the new Nobel prize winner actually done anything on this score...? And, I guess, will the upcoming Copenhagen summit deliver anything substantial or am I right to be my usual cynical self?

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No nukes is good nukes

I see the BBC is at its biased best again with the following headlines:

Scots nuclear stance criticised

Governments fall out over nuclear

BBC reporting aside, there's a proper story behind this.

The SNP, who have been anti-nuclear since Alex Salmond was a boy, have continued that policy from opposition into government, with the result that - for the forseeable future while the SNP remain in government - there will be no new nuclear power stations built in Scotland.

Which is tremendous from an environmental point of view. The Scottish Government has focused on renewable energy, promoting wind and tidal energy in particular, harnessing the power of nature to power our nation.

But that is not the story that the media - nor the UK Government - is focusing on.

The BBC tells of "battlelines being drawn between the two governments" which is simply a distortion of the truth. Ed Milliband, UK Energy Secretary simply said:

"I disagree with the position the Scottish Executive has taken on this, I don't think it's good for Scotland."

"It's a huge number of jobs - it's 9,000 jobs per nuclear power station with huge benefits for the economy... but it does remain a decision for Scotland."

His quotes tell two things: One, that the UK Government is focused on economic issues (understandable given the mess they've made of it in recent months) at the expense of a long term environmental strategy. And two, he understands devolution. Something that can't be said for many of his colleagues at Westminster.

Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998 sets out the areas of policy which are reserved to Westminster. Included in that is energy policy (including Section D4 nuclear energy and nuclear installations). However, that only covers current power plants. To build a new power station requires planning and electricity laws, both of which are devolved - giving the Scottish Government an effective veto over any plans to build nuclear power stations in Scotland.

Thus, under an SNP Government, Scotland can look forward to a nuclear-free future.

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A leader leading...

After he was fairly critical of President Barack Obama's mode of transport whilst attending the G20 summit in London, Jeff may wish to turn his attention to this piece, from today's Scotsman as evidence of a leader "leading".

Apparently the Provost of Aberdeenshire Council has gone slightly green in his choice of car for civic duties... and chosen a Skoda.

Yeah, a Skoda.

He better not take the roof off it or people might think it is a skip. (boom boom)

Seriously though, while Skoda have been universally trashed as rubbish since before I was born, they have made great strides. 55MPG and some of the lowest emissions of any car. And only 17 grand.

Maybe our councils aren't completely useless after all.

If only we could get the Edinburgh Provost to sell the "S0" registration plate - which is apparently worth £500,000. That would save a few council pounds - maybe keep a school or two open as well...

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Green Formula

The 2000 green Jaguar Formula One car driven by Eddie Irvine.

This is the only way the words "green" and "Formula 1 car" will go together.

So what's this I see? Formula One goes green?

Nope... just some stripes on the tyres.

Oh well... nice idea. Might be more environmentally friendly to go back to racing in daylight though. Just a thought.

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