Well as widely expected the third runway at Heathrow is today likely to get approval by the Labour government, but it is far from certain that it will go ahead and should not be a cause for panic just yet.

It is however worrying nonetheless that the government still think this is a positive project to approve despite the widely acknowledged environmental issues with adding an additional 125,000 flights a year, never mind the environmental impact of the existing Heathrow operation which is far from fit for purpose!!

When oh when will governments, not just in the UK, but across the world begin by valuing natural capital in the way it should be, and less of this hell bent desire for economic growth and crazy drive to push consumerism to its limits.

I was however heartened to see that Greenpeace had managed to purchase a bit of land on the proposed site of the development.  Please take a look at their website and join the airplot campaign.

We have the International Court of Justice, now how about the International Court of Environmental Justice?  This is one of the ideas mooted in the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland.

The failure of the Kyoto Protocol to be taken seriously or implemented by a number of countries leads me to believe that an International regulalory body/enforcer would be a massive step in the right direction.  Although alone it would not be enough.  For more information on this story see:

Telegraph Report - Court for Environment

Tidal power… the way forward?

I read with interest the headline news story in today’s edition of the Scotsman - the prospect of a new 500 turbine project - not on land but on the seabed in the Pentland Firth, which is widely acknowledged as the UK’s premier resource for tidal energy.

Scotsman article

Despite Mr Trapp’s concerns (perhaps he has his own motives??) about the ability of a project such as this to deliver I can certainly see the great potential of this project from a purely renewable energy generation perspective.  I think it would be very wrong not to encourage R&D in this area.  Although obviously a full EIA must be part of this development.

Although I would still maintain that we as individuals, businesses and societies should be doing all we can to reduce our reliance on electricity.

I must say that I welcome the news of Obama’s success yesterday.  During his campaign his policies suggested that he is taking environmental sustainability seriously.  And it is needed!  The USA has the highest level of CO2 emissions in the world and has not signed up to the Kyoto agreement.

His targets point towards him looking in the right direction:

·         10% of power from renewable energy by 2012 and a quarter by 2025

·         No more new drilling in US waters

·         No more coal-fired plants

·         Increased fuel efficiency standards on cars

And best of all he aims to stimulate the sector in order to create 5 million new jobs, striving for the American people to see the environmental push as an opportunity and not a cost.

His work as an environmental activist back in his university days suggests he means what he says, and lets face it he cannot be any worse than George Bush!  But as with all things the proof will be in the eating.