Photo: Caroline Lucas MP addressing Extinction Rebellion demonstrators 1 May 2019
A few days ago I chatted with Extinction Rebellion (XR) colleagues in North Devon about the movement and its future. I found myself stressing that XR had already achieved a major objective by prompting the House of Commons to declare a Climate Emergency on 1 May 2019.
Many of us from North Devon XR were in Parliament Square that evening, when Caroline Lucas MP (as she then was), came straight from the House to give us the news. She stood on top of a fire engine. I videoed the whole wonderful speech.
That declaration led to councils – town, city and county – across the country declaring Climate Emergencies too. The councils then set targets for achieving net zero. North Devon Council has a Climate Action Team led by Green Cllr Ricky Knight.
We have already switched to LED light bulbs in all council offices. We have particular challenges in moving over to electric vehicles for our Recycling collections, given our terrain and the long distances involved, but hope to get to net zero in 2034. PV panels will be going up on the roofs of the council offices and the Crematorium. So XR has a lot to be proud of – as do local authorities, and of course Just Stop Oil.
Photo: Easter eggs, St James church, Swimbridge
Easter came with its large embrace of Spring, resurrection and renewal. Soon after came the death of Pope Francis. His spirituality, empathy, compassion and moral clarity stood out in sharp relief against the abject, power-obsessed pygmies who profess to lead our countries.
I loved the story of how Pope Francis, meeting a British cardinal recovering from drastic cancer treatment, simply placed his forehead against his colleague’s forehead for 20 seconds.
BBC reporters from Rome kept referring to the Pope’s coffin as a ‘casket’. This is part of the BBC’s cultural cringe. Have you ever heard a BBC presenter interrogate a US Republican on climate change? On Friday’s Any Questions several panelists used the US circumlocution ‘bathroom’ for toilet. Cringe.
Photo: Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum webinar
Councillors are invited to a lot of policy webinars, many of which are prohibitively expensive – nearly £300 a go. Thanks to North Devon Council paying, I attended this one with Cllr Ricky Knight last Thursday morning.
I hope the recording will be available to all the other cllrs. It was packed with important presentations by major players in the energy transition now under way. I need to watch it back to get the full value but I was impressed by how much brain power, creativity and finance are waiting to be unleashed.
It must be unleashed, of course, without devastating the already much depleted biodiversity of our environment. I’m worried that the Labour government’s Growth, Growth, Growth agenda will sweep aside the statutory consultees like Natural England whose expertise is vital in informing decisions about new infrastructure.
Photo: Ilfracombe
We spent Saturday canvassing for Cllr Sara Wilson. Sarah is standing in the county council elections to be held on 1 May. Ilfracombe is a wonderful town in a fabulous setting but it needs an energetic and capable councillor – which Sara would be.The town is full of her posters and we had lots of positive doorstep chats. Many have already sent off their postal votes for Sara and many more have pledged their votes.
I was so pleased to see the Ukrainian flag in the left foreground of the view above. May competence and compassion win here and everywhere.
Thanks for Reading
Mark