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  • From: lbsaltzman@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] "Green fundamentalists"
  • Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 12:03:28 -0400

Rising energy prices and the talk of global warming have been threatening
people and scaring them. Some of the more extreme media (Limbaugh, Colter,
etc.), joined by some who work for think tanks funded by Exxon/Mobil and
other energy companies, have carefully developed rhetoric full of
semantically loaded terms and are using it with some effectiveness to
discredit those who are warning about global warming and peak oil. I have
heard claims that Al Gore has started a new religion around global warming,
that those taking action on global warming are fascists etc. etc. Just
yesterday I was listening to a radio documentary on Rachel Carson and found
that she was attacked with similar irrelevent, but effective language. They
called anybody concerned about the dangers of pesticides as "food faddists"
etc. Demonizing and denigrating the opposition is an old tactic.

-----Original Message-----
From: lfl@intrex.net
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Mon, 14 May 2007 4:57 AM
Subject: [permaculture] "Green fundamentalists"


BBC tossing this new term around as Limbaugh uses "Environmental wackos"
Good article but why attach the word fundamentalist to the environmental
movement?
><

Last Updated: Monday, 14 May 2007, 10:01 GMT 11:01 UK
8am: Shower. Save the water. Save the planet
By Robert Greenall
BBC News Magazine

Light switch
Craggers use natural light

Would you switch everything off and rely on natural light to save the planet?
It's the only answer for the families
going to extreme measures to cut emissions.

Most families get up in the morning, switch on the lights and start their
ablutions. The Robinsons do not.

The Robinsons get up, leave the lights off and open the curtains a crack so
some
light gets in but little heat escapes.

This is the world of "carbon rationing".

The term may fill some people with horror - conjuring up images of wartime
austerity measures and queues for bread and
sugar.

Using the streetlamps and other tips

For others it may suggest green fundamentalists forcing us to swap our
central
heating for woolly jumpers and run our
cars on chicken dung.

A recent poll suggested only 28% of Britons thought the idea of setting
mandatory limits on individuals' carbon
emissions - raised by Environment Secretary David Milliband - was socially
acceptable, even though most feel lifestyle
changes are needed to reduce the impact of climate change.


Peter Robinson
It's not draconian, you're not leading the life of a monk
Peter Robinson

But the term does not trouble Peter Robinson, and dozens like him around the
country who have signed up to voluntary
groups whose aim is to substantially reduce the CO2 their members are
releasing
into the atmosphere.

These Carbon Rationing Action Groups advise their members, known as Craggers,
on
how to minimise energy use.

The Robinsons have eagerly set about finding ways to cut their personal
energy
use, many of which have also proved
financially beneficial.

"It's only when you stop and start looking that you realise that you do waste
a
lot of energy, not out of spite or just
being lazy or anything, it's just your normal lifestyle," Peter says.


PETER'S ENERGY SAVINGS
Lightbulb
Use jug to collect hot water in shower for shaving
Open curtains a fraction instead of switching on light
Walk or cycle to school/work

"Our lifestyles were very energy-rich whereas now... there are things you can
do
in your life that don't stop you having
a really nice time... but you can still make really substantial savings.

"It's not draconian, you're not leading the life of a monk, it's just stuff
that's really easy to do."

The 36-year-old school administrator may not think it is draconian but there
are
some who would raise an eyebrow at the
prospect of using only the upstairs bathroom during the hours of darkness and
relying on ambient light from streetlamps.

But Peter has been an enthusiastic "cragger" since joining his local Crag, in
Worcester last year.

Though he, his wife Sarah, and children Jacob and Molly, have been actively
trying to reduce their carbon footprint for
some time, he believes being members has helped to focus their minds on the
task
in hand.

"Being involved in the Crag... has really made a difference - monitoring how
you
produce your carbon... is what really
has driven me and enabled us to look at what we do, how we live our lives,
make
those savings," he says.


RISE OF THE CRAG
Currently at least 23 groups throughout the UK
Each group sets individual targets, but most going for 4.5 metric tons per
person for 2006/7
In some Crags, a financial penalty for those who exceed limit
Aim is to reduce personal footprints by about 10% a year, to achieve a 90%
cut
by 2030

It is easy to see the Robinsons as driven. They do not watch television, but
for
reasons that have nothing to do with
the environment. Their children are allowed to watch DVDs at the weekend but
the
brightness control has to come down.

Developing habits is the key, Peter says. He described how he once visited a
prison with a group of psychology students.

"One thing you notice there is that each time any of the prison staff went
through a door they would close it and lock
it, it becomes second nature. And when I started going round at home turning
lights out it reminded me of that routine."

Most of the family's savings have come from using less heat (turning it off
altogether from April to October and
restricting its use at other times), less light and turning off electronic
equipment at the wall. Peter has also pledged
not to fly this year.

He says they reduced their personal carbon emissions from 12.7 metric tons in
2005 to 10.9 in 2006, well below the
national average. He is hoping savings this year will have knocked another
10%
off their emissions by December.

Financial penalties

Frustratingly for him, his local Crag has not offered any guidance or
reduction
targets. But in nearby Hereford one of
the first groups to be set up recently finished its carbon "accounting" for
the
year April 2006 to April 2007.

It set a limit of 4.5 tons per person. Some Crags have elected to impose
financial penalties for those who exceed the
limit, but Hereford decided not to.

Carpenter Steve Ball, 36, who joined Hereford Crag last year, found a
combination of his car use and a flight to
Slovenia had pushed him well over the limit to more than seven tons.

Peter Robinson puts in energy-saving lightbulb
Craggers do not like energy-hungry tungsten bulbs

But although he had never previously calculated his footprint, he believes
changes he has made have already cut deeply
into his emissions - for instance, converting his car to run on a biodiesel
mix
and resisting regular calls by friends
to fly off to Tallinn or Prague.

Like Peter, Steve has taken small steps across the board - like using a small
motorbike for some journeys or insulating
his converted loft.

He plans to insulate his floor as well, but his dream is to build afresh.

"Renovation is quite a hard thing to do, to make an old house efficient
energy-wise, but I'm looking into building a new
house," he says.

Both Peter and Steve have made massive changes and are prepared to go
further.
But they both seem wary of the Crags'
ultimate aim - to reduce personal carbon emissions by 90% by 2030, which the
movement says is necessary to avoid
dangerous and potentially runaway climate change.

"We would struggle as a family to get 90% cuts," Peter says.

"If it's do-able, then great idea," says Steve. "We can strive for it, but
whether or not it's realistically possible I
don't know."

One thing is sure. If anyone can do it, it's the Craggers.

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