Climate change and the impending apocalypse

[Stairway 2 7]

Interesting if depressing. 3 years since the US banned flavoured and disposable vapes, they have grown over 4 times to make up over 50% of us vape use. People want them so order easily online mostly from China. The new war on drugs with similar success. I guess its better legalising them and have a deposit return scheme for recycling

[Paul1642]

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Interesting if depressing. 3 years since the US banned flavoured and disposable vapes, they have grown over 4 times to make up over 50% of us vape use. People want them so order easily online mostly from China. The new war on drugs with similar success. I guess its better legalising them and have a deposit return scheme for recycling

The streets near my house are absolutely littered with these things and their packaging. They make up a sizeable amount of litter and as if all the crisp packets and juice cans weren’t bad enough we can now add plastic coated used batteries to that. When I drive at night it’s increasingly common to see the wee blinking blue lights at the roadside for vapes that have been tossed out of car windows and ran over. Great. Kids are smoking them on levels much higher than cigarette usage in young people ever was and it’s much easier to hide from parents because you don’t go home reeking of smoke.

Unfortunately I have zero faith in a deposit return scheme helping this, especially when half the people using them are under age.

Whilst the USA stats are pretty depressing and and I’m not sure how we do better than that, the current system is not working earlier. There is just no need for these to exist in our society.

I’m recently home from Turkey where their sale is banned and genuinely never seen a single one being used by a local or on the ground anywhere (although litter as a whole wasn’t really noticeable anywhere) so it can be done. On the flip side of this cigarette use was definitely much more common but it think that was already the case long before vapes.

[ballengeich]

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I totally agree, sure when I checked it works out £16 per week cheaper, which sounds ok but in reality not that great when it then costs me £13 per week less in fuel than the train saving, and that's what matters most at the minute

You're not comparing like with like here. You're looking at the fuel cost of using the car, but not taking into account the other costs of having the vehicle. There's the cost of buying a car which you write off over a number of years, and the expense of maintenance and repairs. To get an accurate comparison you'd need to assign some of these other costs to each journey you make.

I don't know how to do that or how the comparison would then look. For train costs to be compared with car costs in the way you're doing, the rail companies would need to have all their train maintenance and replacement costs met from taxation and only charge paying passengers for the fuel costs of journeys.

[Stairway 2 7]

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You're not comparing like with like here. You're looking at the fuel cost of using the car, but not taking into account the other costs of having the vehicle. There's the cost of buying a car which you write off over a number of years, and the expense of maintenance and repairs. To get an accurate comparison you'd need to assign some of these other costs to each journey you make.

I don't know how to do that or how the comparison would then look. For train costs to be compared with car costs in the way you're doing, the rail companies would need to have all their train maintenance and replacement costs met from taxation and only charge paying passengers for the fuel costs of journeys.

Of course it should be subsidised and nationalised imo. Germany has introduced the 49€ a month train pass so £42, our average is £200 a month.

[Ozyhibby]

https://twitter.com/stvnews/status/1...dxJXScFNwz8V4A

This is a protest I can really get behind.


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[lapsedhibee]

Technical question:

Did Greenpeace dig up the road or cut up the SUV to stage this protest?

Brandenburg.jpg

[Smartie]

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https://twitter.com/stvnews/status/1...dxJXScFNwz8V4A

This is a protest I can really get behind.


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I'm anti monarchy and I'm largely supportive of climate change protesters... but I'd say that one of King Charles' few redeeming features has been his consistent commitment to green issues, so this is a strange protest.

[Keith_M]

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It was from the environmental team at wsp, they push many green engineering ideas. It will vary for individuals like yourself. Nationwide I think it would definitely be best working in office in the winter if its purely about the environment, with gas prices it might be cheaper for some people too especially if they live close to work


"WSP’s calculations show that working from home rather than the office in summer saves around 400kg of carbon emissions, the equivalent of 5% of a typical British commuter’s annual carbon footprint. This is because homeworking staff cut out their carbon emissions from their commute which would otherwise be greater than their home’s energy consumption.

This is a seasonal benefit, however. If an average employee worked at home all year round, they would produce 2.5 tonnes of carbon per year – around 80% more than an office worker. This is because working from home in the winter means most heating systems in Britain heat the whole house which produces far more carbon emissions than what would be produced from the commute.

David Symons, UK Director of Sustainability at WSP, explains: “Much of the information around the benefits of working from home centre on flexible working and increased wellbeing of employees, which are very important, but it’s exciting to see that our data shows it can also be good for the environment.

Working from home in the summer and from the office in winter, is only a small step towards a zero-carbon economy, but an easy one for companies to consider

That's really interesting, mate, it's not something I'd given much thought to.

[Keith_M]

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https://twitter.com/stvnews/status/1...dxJXScFNwz8V4A

This is a protest I can really get behind.


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What about this one?

https://www.euronews.com/video/2023/...imate-protests


It definitely drew people's attention, especially the watching Carabinieri ;-)

[Hibrandenburg]

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Of course it should be subsidised and nationalised imo. Germany has introduced the 49€ a month train pass so £42, our average is £200 a month.

Worked for me. I used to commute to work in the car, now I use the train. A combination of cheap public trans port and drastically reducing the available parking space and replacing roadside parking with cycle paths has made Berlin City centre a hostile environment for cars. Whilst I personally feel it has improved the quality of the town centre, I can't help but think it's a policy that favours the well off.

[Hibrandenburg]

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Technical question:

Did Greenpeace dig up the road or cut up the SUV to stage this protest?

Brandenburg.jpg

That was right outside my work. Didn't see it happen but it was on a kind of frame/plinth so I'm guessing it was placed there like that.

[lapsedhibee]

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That was right outside my work. Didn't see it happen but it was on a kind of frame/plinth so I'm guessing it was placed there like that.

That's good. Because the last thing needed to encourage cycling in a city centre is badly relaid setts. See: all over the New Town.

[grunt]

[grunt]

Worth repeating ...

• In the UK, the record-breaking 40C temperatures of 2022 will be seen as a cool year by the end of this century, the Met Office says

[Ozyhibby]

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Worth repeating ...

I’m in Turkey just now and it was an unbearable 44degrees yesterday. Much better 36 today.


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[CropleyWasGod]

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I’m in Turkey just now and it was an unbearable 44degrees yesterday. Much better 36 today.


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You're lying, according to Neil Oliver.....


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66314338

[Hibrandenburg]

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You're lying, according to Neil Oliver.....


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66314338

He doesn't believe that himself, but he's cornered a market and it pays the rent pandering to idiots.

[neil7908]

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He doesn't believe that himself, but he's cornered a market and it pays the rent pandering to idiots.

And this is why we are ****ed. Too many would rather listen to lies and get angry at the wrong things whilst we burn.

I know conspiracy theories and stupid people have been around forever but it feels like our collective IQ has dropped off a cliff in the last 10 years.

[Paul1642]

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And this is why we are ****ed. Too many would rather listen to lies and get angry at the wrong things whilst we burn.

I know conspiracy theories and stupid people have been around forever but it feels like our collective IQ has dropped off a cliff in the last 10 years.

They also have so much more of a platform than at any other stage in history making there lies much more contagious.

[Pagan Hibernia]

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You're lying, according to Neil Oliver.....


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66314338

Neil Oliver has a wonderful voice that I could listen to for hours. If only there was a way to mentally block out the absolute rubbish he speaks these days.

[Ozyhibby]

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Neil Oliver has a wonderful voice that I could listen to for hours. If only there was a way to mentally block out the absolute rubbish he speaks these days.

Posh people are well spoken


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[He's here!]

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Worked for me. I used to commute to work in the car, now I use the train. A combination of cheap public trans port and drastically reducing the available parking space and replacing roadside parking with cycle paths has made Berlin City centre a hostile environment for cars. Whilst I personally feel it has improved the quality of the town centre, I can't help but think it's a policy that favours the well off.

That does seem to be the problem with Khan's London plans. The scheme basically impacts most on those of more modest means while leaving the less polluting (tho not much) cars of the most wealthy untouched. Little wonder Starmer/Sunak see rolling back on such policies as potential vote winners.

[Ozyhibby]

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That does seem to be the problem with Khan's London plans. The scheme basically impacts most on those of more modest means while leaving the less polluting (tho not much) cars of the most wealthy untouched. Little wonder Starmer/Sunak see rolling back on such policies as potential vote winners.

We need to start charging based on size and weight of cars as well, similar to road tax.


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[Ozyhibby]

Forget net zero based on today’s announcement. The UK govt have given up on it and they are doing it with Scottish oil.


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[Scorrie]

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Forget net zero based on today’s announcement. The UK govt have given up on it and they are doing it with Scottish oil.


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I fear you’re right. This is the desperate new culture war designed to win the next election. They’ve seen what happened in Uxbridge and think it’s a vote winner. Absolutely horrendous policy but goes to show the depths a Conservative govt will go to retain power

[danhibees1875]

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Forget net zero based on today’s announcement. The UK govt have given up on it and they are doing it with Scottish oil.


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Disappointing.

Why is it that issuing licensing for fracking is devolved (and so theres currently a ban in Scotland), but not for gas/oil? Seems counterintuitive.

[Pretty Boy]

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Disappointing.

Why is it that issuing licensing for fracking is devolved (and so theres currently a ban in Scotland), but not for gas/oil? Seems counterintuitive.

Looking at the comments made today is there not a bit of a split in the SNP when it comes to new offshore licenses? Stephen Flynn seems tentatively supportive of the new licenses albeit with caveats, given his constituency that is hardly surprising:

Mr Flynn, who is the MP for Aberdeen South, said new licences should be granted on "an evidence-based approach which takes into account the climate situation and wider energy security."

He also emphasised the importance of a "just transition" to protect North Sea jobs and employment.

That doesn't seem entirely consistent with the stance of the Scottish Government who have previously stated their firm opposition to new licenses. I suppose a cynic might say it's easy to be totally opposed to something when you don't have to make the decisions that will inevitably have to balance job losses against climate concerns.

The biggest issue is there is still going to be an over reliance on fossil fuels for a long time yet because the transition is far too far behind where it should be. Because of decades of dithering the UK is in a position of either having to grant these new licenses or having to buy fossil fuels from elsewhere. A perpetual shambles.

[Smartie]

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Looking at the comments made today is there not a bit of a split in the SNP when it comes to new offshore licenses? Stephen Flynn seems tentatively supportive of the new licenses albeit with caveats, given his constituency that is hardly surprising:

Mr Flynn, who is the MP for Aberdeen South, said new licences should be granted on "an evidence-based approach which takes into account the climate situation and wider energy security."

He also emphasised the importance of a "just transition" to protect North Sea jobs and employment.

That doesn't seem entirely consistent with the stance of the Scottish Government who have previously stated their firm opposition to new licenses. I suppose a cynic might say it's easy to be totally opposed to something when you don't have to make the decisions that will inevitably have to balance job losses against climate concerns.

The biggest issue is there is still going to be an over reliance on fossil fuels for a long time yet because the transition is far too far behind where it should be. Because of decades of dithering the UK is in a position of either having to grant thee new licenses or having to buy fossil fuels from elsewhere. A perpetual shambles.

I expect all parties will be split on this issue.

On a personal basis, even I am a bit torn. I could get on board with the idea that it is done in the greenest possible way, with every possible penny of revenue being sunk into research into renewable energy. If it's used to keep the Tories in power and continue to establish a super rich elite, much as the oil revenues of the past 50 years have done then it can, er, get in the sea.

[Ozyhibby]

I could get behind it if we were doing everything else in our power to get to net zero but we are not. UK govt basically wants Scotland to provide all of the energy while they have a ban on wind farms. They then want to charge us more for the privilege. It’s mental we are putting up with it.


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[Ozyhibby]

https://twitter.com/telegraph/status...dxJXScFNwz8V4A

Net zero targets to go?


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