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The result of this lack of meaningful numbers and facts? We are inundated with a flood of crazy innumerate codswallop. The BBC doles out
advice on how we can do our bit to save the planet - for example "switch
off your mobile phone charger when it's not in use;" if anyone objects that
mobile phone chargers are not actually our number one form of energy
consumption, the mantra "every little helps" is wheeled out. Every little
helps? A more realistic mantra is:
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For the benefit of readers who speak
American, rather than English, the
translation of "every little helps" into
American is "every little bit helps."
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if everyone does a little, we'll achieve only a little. |
Companies also contribute to the daily codswallop as they tell us how
wonderful they are, or how they can help us "do our bit." BP's website, for
example, celebrates the reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution they
hope to achieve by changing the paint used for painting BP's ships. Does
anyone fall for this? Surely everyone will guess that it's not the exterior
paint job, it's the stuff inside the tanker that deserves attention, if society's
CO2 emissions are to be significantly cut? BP also created a web-based
carbon absolution service, "targetneutral.com," which claims that they can
"neutralize" all your carbon emissions, and that it "doesn't cost the earth"
- indeed, that your CO2 pollution can be cleaned up for just £40 per year.
How can this add up? - if the true cost of fixing climate change were £40
per person then the government could fix it with the loose change in the
Chancellor's pocket!
Even more reprehensible are companies that exploit the current concern
for the environment by offering "water-powered batteries," "biodegradable mobile phones," "portable arm-mounted wind-turbines," and other
pointless tat.
Campaigners also mislead. People who want to promote renewables
over nuclear, for example, say "offshore wind power could power all UK
homes;" then they say "new nuclear power stations will do little to tackle
climate change" because 10 new nuclear stations would "reduce emissions
only by about 4%." This argument is misleading because the playing field
is switched half-way through, from the "number of homes powered" to
"reduction of emissions." The truth is that the amount of electrical power
generated by the wonderful windmills that "could power all UK homes"
is exactly the same as the amount that would be generated by the 10 nuclear
power stations! "Powering all UK homes" accounts for just 4% of UK
emissions.
Perhaps the worst offenders in the kingdom of codswallop are the people who really should know better - the media publishers who promote
the codswallop - for example, New Scientist with their article about the
"water-powered car."∗
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∗
The
awful details of New Scientist's "water-powered car"
are discussed in this chapter's end-notes, which you can find in the
book proper, or in the pdf file on the website.
(Every chapter has
endnotes giving references, sources,
and details of arguments. To avoid
distracting the reader, I won't include
any more footnote marks in the text.)
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In a climate where people don't understand the numbers, newspapers,
campaigners, companies, and politicians can get away with murder.
We need simple numbers, and we need the numbers to be comprehensible, comparable, and memorable.
With numbers in place, we will be better placed to answer questions
such as these:
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Can a country like Britain conceivably live on its own renewable en ergy sources?
- If everyone turns their thermostats one degree closer to the outside
temperature, drives a smaller car, and switches off phone chargers
when not in use, will an energy crisis be averted?
- Should the tax on transportation fuels be significantly increased?
Should speed-limits on roads be halved?
- Is someone who advocates windmills over nuclear power stations
"an enemy of the people"?
- If climate change is "a greater threat than terrorism," should govern ments criminalize "the glorification of travel" and pass laws against
"advocating acts of consumption"?
- Will a switch to "advanced technologies" allow us to eliminate car bon dioxide pollution without changing our lifestyle?
- Should people be encouraged to eat more vegetarian food?
- Is the population of the earth six times too big?
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Figure 1.1. This Greenpeace leaflet
arrived with my junk mail in May
2006. Do beloved windmills have the
capacity to displace hated cooling
towers?
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