South Somerset Climate Action

Sat 2 May
9am-12 noon
Sustainable Gardening Group are having a plant and information stall in the Market Place, Ilminster.
We shall be giving away free vegetable seedlings, planting seeds at the stall, giving advice and generally promoting vegetable growing, the eating of home-grown/local food, enjoyment of growing, sustainability issues etc
Please do come along and support us!!
Tue 5 May
7.30 South Somerset Climate Action meeting
GLADE Centre, Frog Lane, off East Street, Ilminster TA19 0AP
Reports and plans on: Severn tidal meeting conclusions, Energy Generation, Gardening, Tree Planting, Food issues, etc
Tue 2 June
7.30 South Somerset Climate Action meeting
GLADE Centre, Frog Lane, off East Street, Ilminster TA19 0AP
Reports and plans on: Energy Generation, Gardening, Tree Planting, Food issues, etc
Tue 5th MAY
5pm
HP Lecture: The Severn Barrage and Other Options Hydro-environmental Modelling Studies Professor Roger A. Falconer FREng School of Engineering, Cardiff University to be held at CABOT Auditorium, Hewlett Packard Labs, Building 3, Long Down Avenue, Stoke Gifford, BRISTOL BS34 8QZ
This lecture is hosted by HP Labs, Bristol. Members of the public are very welcome to attend (no charge) but all attendees are asked to register their attendance with the Administrator, Julie Lanfear, beforehand. T: 0117 3128550 E: julie.lanfear@hp.com
Sun 14 Jun
10am – 6.30pm Green Fair and Scythe Festival at Thorney Lakes, Nr Muchelney
Workshops, activities, displays, stalls, good food and drink and entertainment to: raise environmental awareness through fun activities, promote sustainable projects, revive rural skills and engage the local community in green issues
To book a stall (no later than15 May) or for further information call Louise Finnis (01308 425 018) or email: finnisl@yahoo.co.uk

The event was attended by 77 adults and created a lively discussion at the end. The issue is does not lend itself to simple conclusions. Readers will make up their own minds. The following may be of assistance.

Summary

While huge resources of cement, steel and fossil fuels would be needed to construct a tidal power unit, there is great potential for generating electricity for many years thereafter with very little need for anything other than the flow of tides.

Concerns were expressed that:

n The wildlife of the estuary should be given all reasonable protection.

n Innovative technologies should be investigated.

n Long term sustainability of our community and the planet should take precedence over corporate ownership and profits.

n Renewable energy will not solve all our problems. Government must make clear that our current way of life is unsustainable however much renewable energy capacity is installed because:

l Fossil fuels will become increasingly expensive – probably quite soon.

l Other resources – particularly metals - are being consumed at an unsustainable rate. This is already a matter of serious concern – coming generations will curse us for our wastefulness.

l UK dependence on imports makes the country vulnerable.

l Burning fossil fuels is rather like using a piano for firewood – it works but there are so much better uses.

l Pollution from the burning of fossil fuels causes breathing disorders, acid rain and many of other problems.

l Climate changes have already occurred. The climate scientists might be right in saying that carbon dioxide will make them very much worse.

Sunday 5 April at 3pm

Chard Guildhall, Fore Street, Chard TA20 1PP

SEVERN BARRAGE – Are there better options?

Everyone knows that we could have cheap renewable electricity from the tides that surge up the Severn Estuary twice a day, every day — or so they believe!Renewable? Yes! Cheap? No! Damage to wildlife? Awful! And yet, easy-to-get-at oil will soon be gone and we now have to import much of our gas. Something must be done!All this and more will be debated and, with only 18 days after that to respond to the official consultation, the matter is urgent.

It is also complicated — there are no easy answers.

The Government has looked at ten schemes – and chosen five for further study. One of those rejected by Government engineers is for a ‘reef’ rather than a simple ‘barrage’. Could a reef be better for wildlife? Better for shipping? Less silting? Quicker to construct and get into electricity generation? And cheaper? RSPB asked engineers, Atkins, to take an independent look at the reef idea. Atkins supported some of these claims but the Government’s team does not agree. The argument rages.

The main speaker at the event will be Rupert Armstrong Evans who has put his own money into designing the ‘reef’ scheme. This he believes would cause much less disruption to fish and bird life. Michelle Osbourn of Somerset Wildlife Trust will describe how some hundred different types of fish swim in and out of the Severn. Around 70,000 birds a year feed on the mudflats. Joe Burlington, Chairman of South Somerset Climate Action will say that the most any scheme could produce is 5% of our electricity. Each year however, UK electricity use increases by 1%. So Severn tidal energy alone will not solve our problems. We need to cut back whichever scheme is adopted – and they might all cost too much anyway.

Technically, tidal power is exciting. We really could be on to something but there are questions at every turn. Would a 13-mile barrage be best — all the way from Weston to Cardiff — or would a reef be better? What’s a lagoon? Will it just fill with mud? How do they work? How will ships get through? Will one of these stop floods – or make things worse?

Nobody who comes should expect answers to everything but Somerset Wildlife Trust and South Somerset Climate Action believe that ordinary people should be told about the project and urged to say what they think.

‘The time is right for more innovative, modern and less environmentally damaging tidal energy schemes to come to the fore’ Simon Nash, Somerset Wildlife Trust‘Surely the Government can find a tidal power scheme that is sustainable, one that doesn’t sacrifice this estuary’s natural environment?’ Mark Robins, RSPB ‘Will our grandchildren thank us … or curse us? Maybe we should use less … a lot less!’
Joe Burlington, South Somerset Climate Action The Department of Energy & Climate Change wants our views by 23 April. The evidence gathered in phase 1 is on the web - and to take part in the consultation go to: http://SevernTidalPowerConsultation.decc.gov.ukTickets: Chard Guildhall 01460 65710 — Somerset Wildlife Trust 01823 652400 or South Somerset Climate Action 01460 55323 or email Joe@JBurlington.co.ukAdmission free — Tea, coffee, cake — Donations will be requested

South Somerset Climate Action has taken the lead in encouraging shoppers to bring their own bags for one day at least.
The question is, can we break old habits? In the days before plastic bags, people would often carry string bags in their pockets but now there are some fold-up bags that are very compact. So please bring baskets, cotton bags, bags for life, or whatever suits you best!

Most shops are fully behind the scheme and the Chamber of Commerce Committee has been most helpful.

Members have been discussing plastic bags for some time and this one-day experiment may help traders to decide whether they could soon declare the town “plastic bag free!” Nobody wants to see a customer upset and shopkeepers cannot afford to lose a sale, so shoppers themselves are asked to say, “No thank you!” to new plastic bags. Some traders are investigating bags made of corn starch for products like fish and meat. These bags are ‘biodegradable’ but don’t worry, you will certainly be able to get home before they fall apart!

The bigger message, of course, is that we would be wise to make and use things which last, to use only what we really need, and to treat our planet and its resources as the treasures that they are. Future generations will thank us if we learn to be more careful.

The inspiration for the event came from a BBC film Message in the Waves and press reports such as the Guardian profile which starts: “Last year Rebecca Hosking was filming wildlife on a beach on Midway Island, a remote Hawaiian atoll when, instead of finding wilderness, she and a colleague were confronted with the horror of hundreds of albatrosses lying on the sand.The great birds’ stomachs had been split open by the heat, and bits of plastic were spewing out between the feathers and the bones. All kinds of plastic - toys, shopping bags, asthma inhalers, pens, cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, combs, bottle tops. The birds had swallowed them and choked to death. It got worse …”

For the full article, headed, ‘She has changed the national perspective about plastic bags in a few months. She should be Prime Minister’. see: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/23/plasticbags.recycling Rebecca returned to her home town of Modbury, near Plymouth and, within months, the town was “plastic bag free”. see: www.plasticbagfree.com/facts.php

South Somerset Climate Action members who organised the recent rubbish clearance in Old Road, created the idea of a single “plastic bag free” day to get things moving. They have printed flyers and leaflets, negotiated with the Chamber of Commerce and the Managers of Tesco and the Coop and visited almost all the shops in town.

The free newspaper, “View from Ilminster”, has taken up the cause. They have designed our poster and devoted almost the whole of the front page of the 14 March issue to the campaign. Not only that, an entire double page spread inside recreates the poster, lists the facts, and even explains how to make your own reusable bag!

“Nearly everyone we have spoken to is behind this.”

• Poster for display in shops or elsewhere
• Leaflets to inform shoppers

John Burbidge has booked the minibus to take us up to the Climate Action march in London on Saturday December 8th.  It will be picking up from Yeovil Bus Station at around 8.30am and in Sherborne at 8.45. 

Fare - full £12, unwaged £7.

Please book by phoning John on 01935 873028 or email Lesley l.docksey@yahoo.co.uk

INFORMATION — DEBATE — ACTION

Minster Rooms, Court Barton off Silver Street, Ilminster
£2 at the door including tea or coffee & biscuits

Professor John Bowman, Chairman of the local Lib-Dems is giving a Climate Change talk on The Liberal Democrats’ latest policy proposals. John was a member of their committee which devised the policy
Hinton Parish Hall. Non members most welcome. £3.50 to inlcude a non alcoholic drink and biscuits. Non-Lib-Dems are welcome

Global warming and related issues – Dr John Baxter
Some of us have missed the first one but John will repeat it for us.
Scientific but excellent and intended for the non-scientist I am assured.
DO COME AND JOIN US.

Planet Earth as a dynamic structure, constantly changing. What affects our atmosphere and climate and how lifestyle changes and technology might come to our rescue.
£30 St Mary’s Church Rooms, North Street, Ilminster - Workers Educational Association Call 0845 458 2758 or www.wea.org.uk or turn up on Tuesday.

A one day event at the Genesis Centre, SCAT, Taunton with workshops about how you can help to reduce your environmental impact with your local community. Guest speaker is Chris Goodall, author of How to Live a Low Carbon Life. See www.ecostrust.org.uk/seminars.html or Ecos Trust, Old Town Hall, Bow Street, Langport TA10 9PR     T: 01458 259400

Our third showing of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth attracted only 40 people compared with 150 at each of the two previous screenings but it was followed by a thoughtful discussion led by David Gordon, Chairman of the award-winning eco-house builders, the Ecos Trust.
I like to think that our 340 film-goers – and all those who saw or heard the publicity for the movie on, for example, BBC Somerset Sound – contributed in some small way to Al Gore’s Nobel Prize announced this week.
Al Gore’s update, and the two GreenPeace films, A Convenient Solution  and What are we waiting for? about combined heat and power was better attended and former County Councillor Catherine Le Grice Mack fascinated us on aspects of organic farming as well as stimulating a number of new people to get involved with us.