Food for thought - how getting on your bike, and asking your MP to do the same, will help.

Food for thought- if we are heading for a food crisis related to peak Oil, how getting on your bike and asking your local MP to do so, can help.

Ask your local politicians if they own a bicycle? If so, do they ever use it?

Ask the next government to tax bank bonuses 100% and reinvest the billions of pounds in buying bicycles for students and the long term unemployed; Einstein would have approved of this.

Until huge inequalities are addressed by our politicians (pay gaps between bankers' bonuses and tax payers' average salaries are tackled) many people will have little faith in their elected representatives' ability to govern responsibly or for the good of the majority of the population.

Ask the politicians what their policies will be on peak Oil and how they propose to plan for the long term shortage that oil and other fuels will bring?

What would you and your friends like to see happen? Ask for this when they ask for your vote.

What exactly are all the main parties' manifestos on Peak Oil? No one knows...

What are their timescales? No one has any...

China is buying up huge tracts of land reserves in Africa and other parts of the world. This is to ensure that it will have food in the future. What is the UK and US investing in for the long term? No one knows...We suspect that nothing is being done about food reserves/land acquisition. Why not?

China is investing in high speed rail links.. Not so the UK or the US. Why not? It is clear that oil supplies are going to peak in 10-20 years and then we will be reliant on rail and communal transport, or the country will grind to a halt.

China is putting in place long term sustainability policies right now. What are we doing in the UK?...No one knows...

In 10 years time, we will not be able to make up the lost ground on our misplaced investments (nor recoup the lost benefits.) We only have enough food in the supermarkets for 5 days if Peak Oil happens and we run out of oil. Essential food and other resources that we can no longer import will have to be bought locally. So, what can we start doing about this? Build local resilience, local food supply chains now. We should make a start.

Some other things that you might be able to help with. Small is beautiful. Try to consider your own position in this scenario.

Downsize on car numbers and size- 3 is too many.(2 is also too many.)Do you really need a 4 wheel drive if you live in the suburb of a town. Really? If you don't live on a farm you do not need it.
If you live in a city consider using public transport.
Share lifts and rationalise journeys where possible.
If you can be flexible, look at adjusting your life style. You will be freer and healthier as well as having more money to spend on enjoyable things (that cost less and bring quality of life)
At least down size your car(s) next time you have a chance to.( You will also be creating less air/dust pollution as well as using up less fuel!)
Buy/share a bike,walk, take the train/ tram/bus..even occasionally.
Car sharing/car pools. If you haven't got one locally, perhaps look at setting one up?
This will all save you money.

You can also join a local Transition Towns group. Look at some on the web. Chichester, Lewes, Stroud and Brixton all have them. We have set one up in Wadhurst recently. Celebrate local food, local diversity and activities that build your local community and make it what it is.
They are about raising awareness of Peak Oil and building resilience locally.
Consider your lifestyle choices.
Take the train/boat once in a while.
Recycle.
Grow your own food- it not only tastes better it also works out cheaper than buying it.
Buy local food and services as much as you can. This should work out cheaper, as food will have travelled less far. It will encourage local markets to expand, building links in your local community- more resilience.
Services – using local staff who travel less far to work saves everyone time and resources.= Better value for money.
Feeling reluctant? Can't see the need to change? Why should you do anything at all?
If you take a look at our landvision blog on Climate change (Sept 2009) and the flooding one (Dec 2009) you will understand where the climate is heading (El Nino effect and other changes) and try to begin to take steps now to redress the balance. Its about buying time for our children to act when they need to.

Look into installing solar panels, rainwater harvesting, insulation. Each year if you invest in these alternative energies and conservation measures, as fuel prices rise, you will be glad that you did. Ask local politicians on funding for these changes- we need encouragement to start these changes now.

Set up local meetings, to raise awareness about peak oil; increased understanding will bring solutions and a better world. Green Drinks anyone?

Discuss Peak Oil and other global issues/ or the latest news. They are not going to disappear; better to face them and find solutions now, rather than wait for the impact later. It will also help to give our children more time and their children more opportunity to do things if we start now.

If your job allows it (not all jobs do) maybe you could home work for part of the week and try to cut down on your working week. It cuts out the commute and is green, as well as saving you more time that would have been spent on travel;increased quality of life is worth a lot in money terms.

Just remember, you do have a choice..and a responsibility. Everyone does.

Some solutions are simpler than they might first seem...They just require a shift in awareness and increased understanding. Lets get everyone back on their bikes, including politicians.

Einstein said that whenever he saw someone riding a bicycle, he felt that there was hope left for humanity.

Email us with any comments or queries;
charmaine@landvision.co.uk

or visit www.landvision.co.uk

The Copenhagen Agreement - a long delayed case of Risk Management aversion is confirmed.

Changes in the Qori Kalis Glacier, Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru, are shown between 1978 (top) and 2002. © Source: Professor L. Thompson


The Copenhagen Agreement, a long delayed case of Risk Management aversion is confirmed. While we live in a society that is increasingly ruled by Health & Safety Assessments, on nearly everything under the sun, the world’s leaders have ironically appeared to play Russian Roulette with the world’s future at Copenhagen this week. Shall we, or shan’t we intervene in global warming? Squabbling like children over the minutae which have delayed agreement until later- yet again. What are we supposed to think? Well, one thing is for certain, there has never been a better time to start thinking for ourselves.
In one way, it would be tempting to say to hell with vicarious responsibility. But if we do that, we are falling into the trap that was laid for us more than 30 years ago, when limited supplies of oil began to run out and then flow again. The trap? Reliance and over reliance on oil...It really up to each company and individual to make a choice now. No more prevarication or excuses.
“At the end of the day... its a level playing field...” oh yes and various other platitudes have all been trotted out again. They seem to abound in the public arena when what we really need is free and open, impartial statistics which are available to everyone, to make their own informed choices where possible, plus balanced and impartial advice on what those choices actually mean in terms of risk.
The Copenhagen Agreement impasse on climate change reminds me of Pension advice I received 20 years ago. “We can’t make the decision for you, we don’t know what the markets will do...” but I was expected to choose a product, based on virtually unknown risks. Except that in this case, we do know that global warming exists, we can also actually see the evidence of it and we can if we so wish, put that evidence into context and judge that as time is ticking way, opportunities to act are still being squandered. You can’t buy back time. You can’t step into the same river twice.
The banks were given 10, 000 billion dollars in the recent bail out, to survive, but what price do we put on humanity...? Just 200 billion dollars it seems. Mmmm, the maths don’t quite add up here.
Virginia Woolf once said that writing a novel was like walking through a room holding up a lantern which lights up what is already in the room anyway. This is what writing on the Copenhagen Agreement feels like. It is already blatantly clear and very simple what the course of action should be. Don’t wait to be told, take action yourselves.
Try starting today with one of these tasks. How? Well, there are a whole raft of things that we as companies and individuals can all start doing that will make a real difference to global warming, albeit with the time lag involved;
Reduce waste.
Change electricity supplier to Green suppliers.
Install water meters and harvest and recycle rain water.
Join a group like Transition Towns. There are many groups of sincere, green minded, community orientated people who really care. At least we act. Join one.
Share resources and pool local knowledge.
Travel less. Share car journeys and use public transport when possible. Walk or cycle for short journeys. Have staycations.
Recycle unwanted goods.
Grow your own food.
Look for ways (& grants) to make your house more energy efficient.
The population of the world is expected to decrease by 2050, if current rates continue. However,despite this, Resource Management, of water,food, energy and skills, will be vital.

The last question that no one seems to have asked, what if the projections turn out to be worse and faster in global warming terms, than those presented by our governments; what if that happens?
Acting now will help; a journey of a 1,000 miles really does begin with one single small step; why not begin to do something great today. Show our leaders an example of how to act.

www.landvision.co.uk