You drive - they watch - you pay

Given that most of the comments and emails I received re road-pricing were anonymous, it's no wonder Pay-As-You-Drive is such a hard sell. Post 9/11, we're all pretty paranoid ... or does it go deeper than that? I don't think all 1.8million anti-road-priving petitioners fully agree with the attitude of the Ass. of British Drivers (the group who started the petition). But they are against the tracking device, dubbed by the Daily Mail as: "the black box. Would readers be less concerned if it was painted white?

Ironically, I never read Brave New World or 1984, because the Orwellian Apartheid regime in old South Africa banned such publications. I am however sympathetic to the fears of BME groups because during Apartheid, black people faced serious restrictions all the time. White opponents were beaten up and ostricised. After Apartheid, I struggled to get a job because I was now an ethnic minority of the wrong colour. When I moved to the UK, I kept meeting closet-racists who assumed they met someone they could confide in.

Back in SA, my own cousin couldn't face telling me he was gay. People live in gated communities with armed-guards at the entrances of their once public roads who would stop me from cycling through. I don't live there anymore and if I don't read certain papers and watch certain channels, I can believe that I live in an advanced society, which is a part of modern Europe. Groups like Liberty provide well thought-out arguments and ensure that this society is (usually) far better than the one I grew up in.

I enjoy conspiracy theories but am always aware that most of them are thought up by people who smoke way too much dope and are trying to justify their self-inflicted paranoia. The Home Office can't even keep track of offenders so I don't see the risk involved in Oyster cards or monitoring 34,000,000 vehicles. I may eat my words, but our towns and cities are so densely populated that in most cases I don't think knowing which station you get off at or where you park your car is particularly revealing. Unless of course you plan to rob a bank or join a militant animal rights group.

I have criticised old South Africa, but at least back then I could cross a road without any difficulty, cycle home from school on my own and breathe clean air. Nowadays, in increasing numbers of towns and cities:

• Pedestrians are herded towards traffic lights where they wait for the cars to let them cross.
• You're basically encouraged to buy a 4x4 to deal with the all the speed bumps.
• The UK has one of the highest rates of people with asthma in the world. (air pollution can aggravate the airways and worsen an attack.)
• There are constant complaints by the emergency services that they couldn't get to the scene of a tragedy in time because they were stuck in traffic.
• You can't use your mobile on the high street because of the road noise.
• The Ass. of British Drivers still refuses to accept any responsibility for global warming.
• This is being repeated across the world. These issues, in my view, are a real and everyday infringement on civil liberties.

I don't expect pay-as-you-drive to solve all these problems, maybe it'll only be capable of stopping them get any worse. So what are the alternatives:

• Impose higher taxes on fuel? - we know how difficult that is.
• Ban heavily-polluting vehicles? - the car industry is fighting the EU every step of the way.
• Impose carbon-emissions restrictions on cars? - California has the strictest limits in the world, but the car industry found a loop-hole and made SUVs fashionable.
• Establish carbon-emissions-trading and a system of contraction & convergence, whereby every person in the world is given an equal ration of carbon-credits which is gradually reduced over time? - I'm still working on a related project now and hope to get it on the web soon. Despite this, I think it'll be a while before I've managed to convince the entire world.
• Build more roads? - I have a theory that one reason trains are so expensive and railway lines are closing is because of declining revenues from rail-freight. More roads = more lorries and less trains.
• Move to a less-developed country? - old cars from the developed world often end up in other countries, making it more affordable to drive. e.g. Modern Johannesburg is close to gridlock with hardly any public transport to fall back on.
• Wait for congestion to put people off? - the UK will get hotter in the summer and wetter in the winter but at least in your car you can stay cool and dry.

Like Big Brother, you decide!

Anti road-pricing petition - Is this real democracy?

More than a million people have signed a petition against road-pricing. Do they realise that it was started by an organisation that still refuses to believe the link between man-made emissions and global warming.

Is this real democracy? Will the government again be bullied into backing down on dealing with the problem of congestion and climate change by another knee-jerk reaction? I for one hope the Government remembers their indifference to the million-people-march against the war in Iraq.

The petition argues that the distance we drive is already taxed via fuel. This may be true for now, but - as more environmentally-friendly fuels are used - won't there be a proportionate decrease in revenue from these vehicles?

There are already approximately 32million cars on British roads and this figure is rising all the time. It is doubtful that more roads would ever be able to meet the increasing demand. The more congested our roads become, the less efficient combustion engines become. Put simply, more congestion = more emissions.

Luckily, not all motoring organisations are in denial. Check out this future car rally planned for World Environment Day (050607): Revolve: Towards Zero Emissions

For the sake of media headlines, if nothing else, you can sign one/all of these counter-argument petitions here:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TRACK-CARS/
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/proroad-pricing/
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/yes2roadpricing/

Proper Education!

After years of impotent, government-backed energy efficiency campaigns; a new charity: Global Cool has finally found a credible way to get the message across to the 'yooff' of today... via MTV.

Eric Prydz made a name for himself by re-working a classic eighties track and crucially making a steamy video full of G-string leotards (directed by Huse Monfaradi) which became the highest-downloaded music video of all time in Australia. It was filmed at Deptford's funky Laban Centre.

Now that he'd got everyone's attention, Eric decided to remix Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall. Staying true to Floyd's tradition of adding a message to their medium, Prydz enlisted the help of Global Cool to subvert the meaning of the song, i.e. we can all put a brick in the wall to stop global warming.

I like the fact that Eric casts himself as one of the people wasting energy... cleverly avoiding looking preachy.

Watch the videos and read what Ministry Of Sound fans think... some more education is obviously needed.

Google oggling Wiki style

Today I stumbled across Google's Image Labeler, which helps to improve the quality of Google's image search results. I was randomly paired with an online 'partner'. Over a 90-second period, he/she and I were shown the same set of images and asked to provide as many labels as possible to describe each image in the set. Presumably, matching labels are added to Google's list for that image.

At the time of writing, it's still in BETA stage and is a little shaky. There's no financial reward but it's a very useful little procrastination device. If you've done as many image searches as I have, you may find this quite fascinating because you get a small insight into other people's instinctive perceptions of what they're looking at. The trick is not to get suckered into providing really obvious labels just to guarantee there'll be a match with the other player.

It struck me that - like many attempts at democratising web-services - it could just end up dumbing down (and slowing down) the search process. I then decided to do a bit of armchair eco-activism.... or reality-checking. For this image, my partner came up with: "blue", "sky", "flying", "plane".
I on the other hand, offered: "vapour trail", "pollution", "emissions" and "climate change".

If you and your partner don't get a match, you won't be able to see each other's suggestions at the end, so it's important to add in an obvious word before the 90 seconds is up. That way, even if you haven't succeeded at influencing Google's search results, you will be able to challenge the perceptions of the dude you've just partnered with (as long as they choose to view your suggestions at the end of the game).

Right, now that the future of the planet is safe again, I think I'll make a cup of tea.


P.S. If you're ever partnered with Katspike, you'll be playing me.

BBC NEWS | UK | Many councils 'bug' rubbish bins

My Rubbish Rant

Did anyone else catch Real Story on BBC2 last night? It was an expose piece on the move to fortnightly rubbish collections.

Residents were complaining of rats, flies and maggots. One woman has started an online petition to increase rubbish collections because the stench of her bins has became too much to bear - “especially this year as it has been unusually hot” - why is that do you think? Could it be that the amount of shit you consume and then throw away is contributing to global warming? She printed out all the emails supporting her petition – completely oblivious to the irony!

I say: What about the health risks of overflowing landfill sites, groundwater contamination, the impact of the resulting methane gas on our atmosphere?

People are protesting on the streets, driving to the outskirts of town to fly-tip, beating up the bin-men. None of them can face the fact that they’re simply creating too much rubbish. Eastleigh southhampton doretta cox “exceptionally hot summer”
http://iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/chesterchronicle/tm_objectid=14364940&method=full&siteid=50020&headline=-rat-lady--shares-dirty-secret-name_page.html
“These changes are putting public health at risk” she says. - What is the risk of climate change to public health, rat lady?

These protesters are getting their point across; 11 councils have reverted back to weekly collections. And yes, they do have some valid arguments:

On different coloured/shaped bins in different boroughs
"it should be the same across the country”
“people are angry and confused”
“councils just do their own thing”

Lincolnshire council has a recycle bins people complaining bins are too small. 1`
Family (3 kids) in Scunthorpe recycle as much as possible, including their teabags and rainwater, They've even got chickens. And yet every two weeks they still fill 6 black bin-bags with rubbish and end up driving to the local tip. Granted, the council does not provide paper and cardboard recycling - which is pretty pathetic - but that's probably because residents wouldn't agree to a council tax increase. At the end of the day, we've all got to stop bitching and just stop consuming so much in the first place.

I dispose roughly 50% less waste and recycle +/-50% more than most of my neighbours but have to pay the same council tax. I welcome the introduction of monitored waste and look forward to finally being rewarded for taking some responsibility! And yes, I do feel worthy!

Cork County Council (previously one of the worst recycling rates in Europe – now recycles 47%) Due largely to "Pay As You Throw" bin-weighing technology. One family saves 250 euros a year. Of course, fly-tipping is a growing problem. But with CCTV, and detectives with hidden cameras, more and more people are being fined.

Why fan the flames?
Fiona Bruce whispered: “secret ID chips are fitted under the lid of every bin”. If they’re so secret, why was the BBC allowed to film the factory installing them and why did the chief exec agree to explain the entire process. So, he didn’t reveal which councils have installed the chips. So what! Until the councils start charging, it’s irrelevant. The BBC needs to grow up!

Pluses & Minuses of Climate Change

When it comes to climate change it's not all doom and gloom. A report from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing (publ. 1997) was more optimistic about the effects than UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's report produced two years earlier (Climate Chane 2005).

Check it out:

China has experienced global warming in the past and flourished in past historic warm periods.

Global warming will make China's climate slightly warmer and moister.

Global warming will bring benefits such as extended growing seasons and more moisture to north China as well as harmful effects such as more and stronger typhoons in south China and flooding of densely populated coastal areas.

It seems as if many farmers are making a plan, i.e. 75-year old boatsman Hu Zeshen is seeking a patent for his amphibious vehicle and plans to use it on vacations. [more]

Illinois Governor Establishes Climate Change Initiative

"...The impact of global warming from greenhouse gases in Illinois and around the globe could be devastating. We can’t wait for the federal government to act because experts have warned that if we don’t address global warming within the next decade, it may be too late to avoid serious and irreversible consequences."
—Governor Blagojevich, Illinois, US

Illinois will join the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). As a CCX member, the state makes a voluntary, but legally binding, commitment to reduce GHG emissions from the electricity and fuel needed to operate state facilities and motor vehicles; the reduction target only applies to state government operations.
"By acting now we can take important steps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and realize the economic development benefits that strategies to confront climate change can offer. Promoting energy efficient technology, homegrown renewable energy from wind power and biofuels as well as systems to trap and store carbon dioxide emissions will curtail our greenhouse gas emissions while triggering greater investment and job creation in Illinois."
—Doug Scott, Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and Chair of the Advisory Group
CCX is the world’s first, GHG emissions registry, reduction and trading system. CCX members are required to reduce GHG emissions by six percent by 2010, compared to their average emissions between 1998 and 2001. Members that cannot meet their emissions reductions targets can buy credits from members that have exceeded their required reductions, or from farmers or others who have reduced carbon releases to the atmosphere.

Onward and upward!

Climate Change - Big Ask

The Big Ask is calling for a Climate Change Bill to be passed in Parliament, which will make year-on-year cuts in carbon dioxide a law. This Friends Of the Earth campaign is backed by tens of thousands of people across the UK, and over half the MPs in Parliament. Now they (and all of us) need the Government to include a Climate Change Bill in the 2006 Queen's Speech.
Big Ask. Big Month. Big Lobby.
12 September - 11 October

Of course, many would argue that what they're asking for is not enough, but at least it's a realistic step in the right direction towards reducing our carbon footprints to a more sustainable level.

The Beautiful Game

WDM have produced this handy tool to help you choose who to shout for when your own team isn’t on the pitch.

Reduce: Bye Bye Bed

"Getting rid of my bed actually changed my life"
- Ben Weeks, Canada

Refresh & Reuse: train poster + 6yr old

Twin sisters, Ellen & Julia aim to reclaim the term 'designer' from empty styling. On their blog they attempt to apply design theory and practice to some basic problems of daily living. This example is of an innocent and well-intentioned act of train vandalism.
Design Your Life - Ad-aptive Reuse