ed's website - Environment

The politics of Cranks: a follow-up

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:20:22 +0100

As I said in my last blog post, after I sent an email to the Cranks mailing list we discussed the politics of Cranks in one of our bi-weekly meetings. I haven't been able to post these thoughts up sooner because I have been offline for a month building a roundhouse with Tony Wrench in South West Wales. More on that later, but for now..

The politics of Cranks

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:30:43 +0100

(Source)

I have been helping out in Cranks, a community bike workshop in Brighton, since last September. A few days ago I sent the email below to our mailing list about the politics of Cranks. I thought I'd put it online because it reflects some of my current thinking as well as giving an insiders view of Cranks. Yesterday we discussed some of the points in the email in a group meeting. I'll be posting in a few days some of the outcomes from the meeting and my thoughts on them.

A short history of co-operatives in the UK by Molly Scott Cato

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:51:13 +0000

As you can see from my last blog post I am very interested in alternatives to capitalism. Co-operativism is one such alternative. Below is a short history of the English co-operative movement from Molly Scott-Cato in her book Market, Schmarket: Building the Post-Capitalist Economy (which I have put on my list of favourite books of all time). If people are interested in alternatives to capitalism, then I would recommend reading the extract below from chapter 3 below as well as the rest of her book.

Co-operatives UK Congress 2007

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:31:19 +0100

Anyone who reads this blog will know about my obsession with co-operatives (especially workers' co-ops). Therefore, it was amazing to attend the national co-operative congress over the last 3 days. I emailed the organisers a few weeks ago telling them that I definitely could not afford the £500 they were asking for attendance by non-member delegates and pleaded with them to let me come for a reduced rate or for nothing (see my email to them at the bottom of this blog). After a multitude of phone calls, the event organiser told me the day before the congress started that it was fine for me to come for free.

Real alternatives to capitalism? A talk by Derek Wall

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:32:27 +0100

Below are my notes from a talk I recently went to at Sussex University by Derek Wall, Principal Speaker of the Green Party, on 'Real Alternatives to Capitalism'. The talk was very thought provoking although I do wish he had expanded on the politics and power of introducing some of the alternatives he suggested (for example, how the hell do you get from an 'exchange value' system to a 'use value' system?)

Before you read it, please note that Derek expands on the points he made in the talk in his blog post on Real Alternatives to Capitalism as well as in his book BABYLON AND BEYOND: The Economics of Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Globalist and Radical Green Movements

A middle way: the possibility of a Life Cycle Assessment tax within the current WTO framework?

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:47:17 +0000

(Source: here - a picture of the protests between November 29, 1999 and December 3, 1999 when the World Trade Organization (WTO) held its ministerial meeting in Seattle)

Below is my paper on the possibility of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tax within the current World Trade Organization (WTO) framework (you can also read it as a Word Document or a pdf). The first section is semi-plagiarised from one of my other papers on 'The negative development impacts of a "food miles" approach to agriculture' (I had to write two extremely complicated 5000 word papers in one month and needed to self-plagiarise), but the rest is new. I ended up getting an A- grade for the paper. The comments that I received from the two professors who were marking it are at the bottom of the page.

What do I want to do with my life? 4 potential directions

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:34:14 +0100

"Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." - Henry David Thoreau

"We think of self-control as something that limits freedom, but in fact it’s just the opposite: the true freedom of the sailor is taking the helm of his boat and sailing in the direction he wants to go, thus being the master of his destiny." - Matthieu Ricard

I have been unsure for quite a while about what I should do with my life when my course finishes in September. I am especially worried about where I will work and live. To try and bring clarity to my mind, I have written down four potential directions that my life could take and the reasons for each one. Some of the options are not mutually exclusive, and hopefully I will be able to find some form of synergy between them, for example by working part-time within an agricultural workers' co-operative. As always, suggestions, criticisms and life lessons are welcome from anyone who comes across this:

Notes from Climate Change Conference

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:34:49 +0000

(Source: Dr Esteve Corbera's slides - see below)

I never got around to putting up the rest of the slides and papers from the climate change conference on the 18th November 2006 at Sussex University. So, for everyones benefit, here they are:

Slides by Dr. Jim Watson (from SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Sussex) on Micro-generation: generating energy in the home

Relocalisation and deindustrialisation literature

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:26:36 +0000

Please find below the notes on the relocalisation and deindustrialisation of agriculture from my recent term paper. In the end, I had to cut few thousand words of arguments surrounding the potential positive impacts of relocalisation from the paper. Therefore, I have put them below. I must warn you that not only are they in note form but that almost all of the points made below are extremely contested within their respective literatures. I have not presented the arguments from the other sides here.

Introduction

There is a vast literature that states that a relocalisation and deindustrialisation of agriculture is needed to reduce carbon emissions. For the purposes of this blog, I will touch briefly on the work of Dr. Vandana Shiva, Jules Pretty, Via Campesina, Tim Lang, Caroline Lucas and Mike Woodin. I will also outline some of the authors other arguments used, many of which are similar, for a relocalisation and deindustrialisation of agriculture. I will only be able to mention a few different areas which these authors cover: environment, concentration of power and ownership (and the importance of local communities), output efficiency of smaller farms, protection against fluctuating global prices, domestic food security and reconnecting people with land and nature.

The negative development impacts of a "food miles" approach to agriculture

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:41:42 +0000

UPDATE: I am putting the feedback from my two examiners near the bottom of this page. In the end, one professor gave me an A for the paper while another gave me a C! They couldn't agree on what mark it should get and so it then went to an external examiner who gave me a B+. I definitely agree with one of the professors who said that the paper could have been more academically concise and rigorous. To be honest, I didn't have time to polish it. However, many of the key ideas and concepts are in the paper. I might rewrite it at some point in the future if I have the time.

I have also added some text immediately below to expand on some of the points I make introducing the paper.

Agri-Culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:09:28 +0000

In his book Agri-Culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature, Jules Pretty argues for a sustainable agricultural revolution by showing that agricultural and food systems, and the landscapes they shape, are a common heritage to us all. For all our human history, we have been shaped by nature, while shaping it in return. In recent times Pretty argues that the shaping has been destructive, with food seen as a commodity and no longer part of culture. As Jules Pretty points out, Roman agricultural writers spoke of agriculture as two things: "agri and cultura (the fields and the culture). It is only very recently that we have filtered out the culture and replaced it with commodity." (p.7) In our modern and industrial ages, we are losing languages, memories and stories about land and nature. These disconnections matter because they serve to promote a persistent dualism - that nature is separate from people, that nature can be conserved in wildernesses and reserves, and that economies can succeed without regard to the fundamental significance of agricultural and food systems.

Responses to Des Turner Correspondence

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:56:24 +0000

After sending out the blog post about the correspondence I had with Des Turner to various people and mailing lists I had quite a few responses. Thought they might be of interest to everyone as they show how different people are thinking about (and responding to) the threat of climate change. I have removed peoples signatures so that they can keep their anonymity. I've also put the emails in alternative colours so you can easily differentiate from one to the next. The comments in bold are my own.

I'm still looking for more help on how to reply to him. In his last reply to me he really tried to close down the conversation. How can I constructively open it up again so that I get him to actually answer my questions? Email me at ed -AT- acrewoods -DOT- net

Correspondence with Des Turner MP about climate change

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 12:39:26 +0000

Before I begin, if anyone spots any errors in the following text, please email me and I will change them immediately.

Dear all who read this,

We are all naturally concerned with climate change and the UK's targets for emissions reductions. On this page I shall begin by sharing with you some of my concerns and will then highlight how one of our representatives - Des Turner MP - is responding to them.

First the concerns:

My main reason for writing to Des Turner was the serious disjunct between what various experts are saying about climate change and the degree of carbon emissions that we need to cut to avoid serious climatic impacts and the action that the government is actually doing about this.

The Gulf Stream Switch Off?

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:35:21 +0000

Below are notes from a climate change conference on the 18th November 2006 at Sussex University.

My brief notes from the talk are meant to be read alongside the Powerpoint presentation prepared by Dr Paul Williams (Most of the slides are self-explanatory, however there are a few which need a little explanation). I have tried to note down things that were either not mentioned in the Powerpoint presentation or that Paul elaborated on in the talk.

Shovelling shit

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 23:56:15 +0100

Spent most of today in the garden. I had seen a while ago the following message on the Brighton Free Cycle Network/mailing list.

"Hi we have a constant supply of good quality horse manure, ideally we would like someone with transport to remove it on a regular basis, we do not care what you do with it once taken away!!! It does not matter how large or small the amount you take at a time.

Please ring Carol or Russ 01273 301820 / 07801890989"

When I first rang up, Russ asked "How many tons of shit do you want?" I wasn't quite ready for that. I asked back "How many do you have?" He quickly replied, "Well, we have 10 horses which do nothing but eat and shit all day - come and take as much as you like."