Boring democracy stuff

Happy solstice day everyone. So, politics is boring and too difficult and they always do what they want anyway.

A totally understandable position. And yet ... isn't it things like Make Poverty History and Greenpeace occupying incinerators that makes them change tack? Or p'raps you think they're a waste of time too and we should just blow up the House of Commons.

Well whatever you think, energy, waste and planning are the subjects of three public consultations running until September-ish.

Want more or less nukes? Motorways and runways in your back yard? To be able to have a loft conversion without going to court? Lots of flytipping? Exciting stuff, eh?

But these policies - once enshrined in law - will shape the country's future for the next decade and be implemented by Gordon Brown's government.

So, only 'cause it's my day job mind, to write these in the first place, I've kindly posted up handy summaries of the points in three pdf downloads to help you have your say.... if you feel like it.

Or you could just go and drive a car bomb into number 10 and go down in history. Who knows, we may be lighting bonfires for you in 500 years' time.

UK Energy White Paper 2007 | UK Planning White Paper 2007 | UK Waste Strategy 2007

Miliband's complacency

The Planning White Paper has been attacked by many on the grounds that it would increase, not reduce, overall greenhouse emissions

This is because it will permit fast-tracking of motorway widening, new ports, runways, bypasses and so on.

The overall climate impact of all of this has, unbelievably, not been calculated by the government despite "lip service" to the topic in the white paper.

Nevertheless, at Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival, David Miliband asserted that the central philosophy of the government's climate change programme is that "as long as overall emissions from the UK come down it doesn't matter where the cuts are made” and therefore transport emissions could continue to rise without necessarily contradicting policy.

Such complancy is shocking. How can he know that overall emissions will come down if the impact of the planned transport expansions haven't been calculated?

The plans will make it easier for homeowners to install microgeneration, but grants for these are pitifully few and low. You have to be rich to do it like David Cameron.

The Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) has just received and from yesterday made available an extra £11.9m for housdeholders' solar, wind, groundsource etc.. power. This will last a month and then that's it.

What a way to support the renewables industry and meet the overwhelming public demand.

> Respond to the Planning consultation
The deadline for responses is 17 August.