Anonymous asked: Further to my question re "Welsh independence" it's clear that you want Wales to have more powers. Just as it is clear that the people of Wales want to have more powers, whilst UK Labour and Tory parties (who are the bosses of their Welsh versions) do not want to devolve more powers as proven by the fact that only 1 out of 34 Labour and Tory MPs for Welsh constituencies voted yes to Jonathon Edwards' recent bill. Surely then Wales must stop electing Labour and Tory MPs/AMs?
In truth, we wouldn’t be standing in elections if we believed that we wouldn’t be an improvement. - Chris Were
Redefining Prosperity
50 years of incessant advertising and lies has made us think that prosperity means having more money to buy more ‘things’. Yet each of us knows that beyond a certain level, the ownership of ‘things’ makes us no happier and certainly no healthier. There is a perception that a bigger car or house increases our social status, but that perception is marginal at best. It does not make for a better human being.
Prosperity is defined as being flourishing, thriving and successful. To be a flourishing, thriving and successful human being depends more upon health and happiness than the size of your bank balance. The misplaced clamour for economic growth has put many economies into decline, and economic notions of prosperity are at last being seen for what they actually are – a negative impact on personal and national self esteem. It seems that we have mistakenly equated the acquisition of monetary wealth with our feelings about ourselves.
If the crazy drive for economic growth has got us where we are – a society becoming less equal by the day, public borrowing at levels in excess of £1 trillion in the UK (US $15 trillion), shrinking tax receipts and rising unemployment - why oh why is the government baying for more growth?
Our socio–economic order is rotten. Greed and irresponsibility have fuelled little but disaster. Yet still we hear the cry for a return to ‘business as usual’. Certain groups and individuals know exactly what to do, because they know how much they have to gain from it. A return to the old order – as if that was possible – would continue to magnify the wealth of the few. We now know that the problems facing communities right now are a result of ‘growth’. We do not want a return to the old order.
We live in a world of finite resources. No matter how deep we dig, the fossil fuels will eventually disappear, so for starters an oil based economy does not make much sense. Uranium too is a fossil fuel, and its supply is finite. Gas, coal – all the fossil fuels can only be mined for so long, and they will be no more.
Life for us all is poised to change. There are a lot of mouths to feed, so we must look to ourselves and our communities for the answers. Big Money and Big Corporations will be dragged screaming into their own decline, because the last thing they want to see is ordinary people managing their our own way into the future – and it could be a lot better than the past.
A sensible government would be looking to real prosperity. It would be using sustainable energy sources and guiding us towards non-financial goals such as family life, health and community. The Buddhist definition of prosperity is based on collectivism and compassion, and that is not a bad place to start.
Right now the internet takes up 5.3% of global energy production. Therefore, as our mailing list is large, we will be sending out less emails, so please go the blog at www.coexister.blogspot.com for all our posts as they happen.
COEXIST is an ever growing community of people and organisations who believe that true and lasting Peace can only be sustained when economic, social and environmental justice have been achieved.
Our membership is open and free. All we ask is that you pass this email to people in your network who share our values and who would like to be part of the construction of a more just and sustainable future. To join or unsubscribe, simply send us an email at coexist@pippa-bartolotti.co.uk
Don’t forget to pass this email on! Enlightened contributions are always welcome. Catch up with past mailings at www.coexister.blogspot.com
Anonymous asked: What are your views on Welsh Indpendence and have you any published policies on this subject?
Hi,
The best answer I can give is probably to refer you to this article. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask them.
Chris Were
Deputy Leader Wales Green Party
Wales needs debate on “devo-max” powers
The Green Party in Wales has responded to the ongoing public debate over Scottish independence by calling for a discussion of further extending self-Government to Wales.
Pippa Bartolotti, recently elected leader of Wales Green Party said:
“It’s clear that people in Wales now want the Assembly to be the level of Government with most control over issues affecting Wales, expressed in the landslide ‘yes’ vote in last year’s referendum on further powers for the Assembly.
“But even with the new powers approved in 2011 the Assembly is still very constrained compared to Scotland and does not have the same scope to mitigate the appalling damage being inflicted on our country by the Tories and Lib Dems in Westminster. “
She continued by insisting that Scotland should choose the timetable for any independence referendum:
“We express our full solidarity with Scotland over their right to self determination and their right to decide the timing of any referendum free from Westminster interference. Surely the Scottish Government has more of a mandate for this that a party with one MP in Scotland? The people of Wales have long memories, and are watching this debate closely.
“If Scotland does become independent it will have dramatic consequences for Wales and its place within the UK, and this is something that must be discussed without delay. We think that Wales should in time have a referendum on ‘devo-max’, similar to the proposed 3rd option in Scotland, where almost all power is devolved but stops short of full independence.
“The Welsh Assembly is best placed to decide our future here in Wales, and with an increasingly malevolent Government in Westminster targeting the poor and vulnerable, it is essential that Wales has the powers to forge an alternative, fairer future.”
Anonymous asked: What are your opinions on Leanne Wood, the possible new leader of Plaid Cymru? She is as green as they come, would the Green Party support her if she is elected leader?
Myself and the Green Party are happy to work along side Plaid Cymru on policy areas we agree on, like we have done in the past, for example on the ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign.
If Leanne Wood truly is as green as they come, then the Green Party would be happy to support her in scrapping the subsidized North-South air link and reduce Wales’s dependency on nuclear energy.
Chris Were
Deputy Leader
City Spires, or City Ex-Spires?
By Pippa Bartolotti
It’s great news that Newport will be host to a new influx of jobs provided by Admiral Insurance. It is reported that there could be employment for up to 1200 people in the town, and very welcome it is too. That 1200 would provide a real boost to the local economy, and the positive knock on effect to jobs in the town could be 3 times that in terms of goods and services in the town centre. So we are more than delighted with the news.
However, there is one dark point - the building. Outline sketches show a horrid concrete and blue box, the likes of which are cheerfully demolished in most other towns. This building is about as far as you can get from the original City Spires plans for Newport, and it is definitely not good enough.
A building of this size is a landmark, a construction of future heritage, and should be something to be proud of. Instead we are given an ugly eyesore showing not one glimmer of innovation or quality.
Newport people deserve so much better. We have been plagued by monstrosities for decades. Cheap building materials and bad design have squandered the cultural backdrop of a beautiful historic heart.
Newport City Council : Wake up and polish your glasses. We need the jobs, but we do not need to be harmed by this type of building. Give us something to be proud of - and whatever you decide - don’t make it blue!
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/business-news/2012/01/13/new-admiral-office-seen-as-a-vote-of-confidence-in-newport-91466-30112852/
The original plan: http://www.newport.gov.uk/_dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=citycentre.homepage&contentid=CONT061295
A Marriage of Equals
A Guardian post by Peter Tatchell entitled ‘The ban on same-sex marriage is clearly discriminatory’
Incineration Policy
by Pippa Bartolotti
It looks as though the Wales Government are letting a software package decide incineration policy. They are not interested in the weight of evidence pointing out that incinerators damage human and environmental health.
The approval of incinerators as an alternative to landfill has depended on the modelling data obtained from WRATE (Waste and Resources Assessment Tool for the Environment). WRATE is the software tool used by Prosiect Gwyrdd for comparing different management systems treating MSW.
Modelling tools such as WRATE are supposed to contain scientific measures of safety, even though the method used has no more than a 30% accuracy of predicting pollutants levels correctly, and ignores the important problems of secondary particulates and chemical interactions. (The Health Effects of Waste Incinerators, 4th Report of the British Society for Ecological Medicine,2006)
Modelling produces the illusion of a scientific knowledge and a certainty that is entirely unjustified by the imprecise nature of modelling, and it is based on substantial scientific uncertainty and limited scientific data. It produces a mass of complex mathematical data, which implies unjustified precision, and it is difficult for people not familiar with the mathematics to disentangle the inaccuracies. This was summed up by the head of the EPA Carcinogen Assessment Group, Roy Albert, when he said
“Individuals with very different institutional loyalties can produce very different risk assessments from the same materials, where large uncertainties exist.”
In other words it is very easy to bias waste modelling towards the waste operator. It is often treated by regulators and Directors of Public Health as if it was an accurate assessment. In spite of these severe limitations WRATE is extensively used. These risks assessments have almost always concluded that incinerators are safe which flies in the face of epidemiological data which shows the opposite. It also flies in the face of the history of chemical use. The latter is littered with examples of chemicals once said to be safe which were later found to have devastating and unanticipated effects, often beyond the worst case scenario (eg DDT, PCBs, CFCs) The safety of new incinerator installations cannot be established in advance and, although rigorous independent health monitoring might give rise to suspicions of adverse effects on the foetus and infant within a few years, this type of monitoring has not been put in place.
The Environment Agency’s WRATE software is used to claim energy-from-waste is beneficial, but this depends on the uncertainties of user-defined assumptions at input. Proper lifecycle calculations using the better ATROPOS model found that “scenarios using incineration were amongst the poorest performing” while those using MBT were much better. ( Eunomia Consulting report.) [1]
WRATE does not provide an internal weighting of the different environmental impacts as further research is needed to provide a robust weighting methodology. (Emmanuel Gentil, Golder Associates)[2]
WRATE was developed by Golder Associates who also admit it does not model financial or social costs.[3]
Climate Change scientists internationally have called this a “critical climate accounting error” (T.D. Searchinger et al). Dirk Hazell, chief executive of the Environmental Services Association (ESA) said the waste sector felt that WRATE – which is already used by local authorities to procure new waste contracts and take into account emissions – is “inappropriate” for some decision-making because some of the default settings were too generic.
‘Care has to be taken in the use of the tool and the interpretation of the results. The users have a responsibility to understand the processes and interpret the results correctly, so ambiguous information is not provided thus compromising the mitigation of GHG and climate change. ‘Amaya Arias-Garcia – PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons), BEng (Hons).
[1] http://static.london.gov.uk/mayor/environment/waste/docs/greenhousegas/greenhousegasbalances.pdf
[2] http://www.iswa.org/uploads/tx_iswaknowledgebase/2c_-_1130_-_P_-_Gentil_-E_ISWA_2006_Paper_UK.pdf
[3] http://www.walesregionalwasteplans.gov.uk/pdfs/april08/South_West_Wales_LCA_SA_Report_Part_3-Appendices.pdf
Mainstream Media and the 99%
Over the last month now, thousands people have been protesting on the streets of New York against pay inequality and corporate greed, corporate influence over the government (particularly over public services) among other issues, We are the 99% refers to income inequality in the United States between the top 1%, who control about 40% of the wealth, and the rest of the population.
The original protest began on September 17, 2011, and soon after, similar demonstrations were either ongoing or had been held in 70 major cities. Internationally, other similar protests have modelled themselves after Occupy Wall Street, in over 900 cities worldwide.
These set of protests are still going on at time of writing, over a month since I’ve even heard about them. This could quite possibly one of the biggest non-violent protest in the history of the world, and yet I see very little news coverage on this. Of course the reasoning for this is simple. The people who own and profit from the mass-media don’t want this protest to gather momentum.
However this is not the only case of where the media and failing to do their job effectively. I’ve seen a fair number of reports where they take something technical, usually something to do with the internet or social media and explain it to people getting so much of it wrong. This is mostly likely for the people involved with the report itself not fully understanding what it is they’re trying to explain. You can usually see where they’ve taken a technical online term or kid’s slang and see where they’ve looked it up on wikipedia to find out it’s origins.
Where this concerns me is that mass media today has huge influence on the way people for their political opinions, and if they’re failing to report the facts to us as they actually are, we can only speculate as to other world events which are not being accurately reported or even reported at all.
Save Bethesda Field
Bethesda Field is a Greenfield site owned by Rogerstone Community Council and designated as “environmental” by the Welsh Inspectorate for the last UDP in 2005. It is home to a host of wildlife and valued by the community for its green open space in an area rapidly being eaten up by housing developments. The community council have refused to hold a public meeting to answer questions from the community despite over 1500 written objections. RCC have submitted the application for 22 houses to Newport City Council. We need support.
Further information can be obtained on save-bethesda-field.co.uk
Save Bethesda Field
We have been told that the application will be heard by the planning committee onWEDNESDAY 5TH OCTOBER AT 1.00pm. We need to show our strength of feeling to the committee, to make them aware that this is not just a small group of people who are objecting to this development.
We need to have as many people as possible attend the committee meeting as well as people to protest outside the council offices prior to the meeting while councilors are gathering so that they get the message.
THIS DEVELOPMENT IS NOT WANTED!
YOUR COMMUNITY COUNCIL HAS NOT ASKED YOU IF YOU WANT THIS DEVELOPMENT.
If you are able to/wish to attend please let us know. Contact ian@save-bethesda-field.co.uk We will be able to advise you on the plans for the day.
Stop Newport Incinerator Campaign
A group of SNIC campaigners travelled to Avonmouth to see a MBT (Mechanical Biological Treatment) plant which is in full operation. It was impressive to see such a safe and intelligent method of waste disposal, and an obvious improvement on incineration, to put it mildly.
The company is called New Earth Solutions, you can google it for more detailed information. NES tendered for Prosiect Gwerdd but were turned down because they did not have a high enough turnover – yet another example of how new technologies are stifled at birth. Instead, the preferred bidders are multinational conglomerates – all of whom major on big incinerators.
The main outcomes of the visit were:
1. The plant processes 170,000 tonnes of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste, commonly known as black bag waste) and cost £25m (£175 for an incinerator)
2. It was built in 10 months
3. Modular additions can be added in a matter of weeks.
4. Modules can be turned on an off as required – contrast with incinerators which have to burn permanently to be efficient
5. Despite green boxes, NES find that 58% of MSW is biomass – useable compost material primarily used growing energy crops.
6. They do not burn anything, plastic and metal is removed upfront, so there are no NOx and SOx poisons emitted
7. MBT is an 85 - 87% diversion from landfill – incinerators send 30% of the input to landfill as bottom ash - which includes burned recyclables.
8. Residual waste is 13-15% and that can be further used in energy production
9. Non ferrous metals are sold to Jaguar Land Rover in Swansea, plastics recovered are also sold on the market at £200 per tonne
10. No money was raised from banks.
11. Potential of carbon tax being added to Incineration – who will pay?
12. The majority of the workforce are from Wales.
13. Pyrolisis and Gasification modules are being added, which cut the overall residue to 6-8%, used in reclamation works and for energy crops.
The contract for this MBT plant is for 9 years, because the mix of waste is expected to change in that period, that is why modular facilities are such a sensible precaution. Contrast this to an incinerator contracted for 25 – 30 years which needs to burn biomass in the mix for it to work properly, which sends harmful particles into the air and which is heavily implicated in the destruction of health. Why on earth is Wales forcing incineration on us, when Bristol and Bath has moved forward with cleaner technology.
The company is happy to host visitors from Newport. Please contact your local councillor with an invitation
Are any of our elected officials truly interested in justice?
It appears that it is now more expedient to exchange silence for a seat at the top table. The trappings of power, the money, the TV interviews and the glory have become the aim. The fight for justice becomes a few forgotten words on the eve of polling day, and in the end we are left with poor leadership, and those who would benefit most from the effective use of power are unceremoniously abandoned in the posturing of high office.
Those who look good in the media, have charisma and charm, are heavily marketed. Those who know their stuff, but do not produce the right kind of sound bites are left trailing. In the end we are left with a few well-connected, well educated buffoons who can talk the talk, but under closer scrutiny cannot walk the talk, or even walk the walk. Career politicians are a global curse. They soak up money and maintain the preferred status quo of their sponsors. They clearly do not know what they are doing, or we would not be facing economic collapse, high level fraud and unjustifiable banksters bonuses for which the struggling poor and middle classes are expected to pay.
The rich use our transport systems and our communications systems. They benefit from advances in government sponsored healthcare and subsidised technological achievements, yet they do not like to pay taxes. It seems that some feel they are above it, and often they are encouraged to think this way, yet it should be a pleasure to pay tax, to contribute to the economy and to help the less fortunate.
The only reason we send people to occupy those seats at the top is to leverage the power of the community to enhance national prospects and to work on behalf of those who need help the most.
But we fall for the same old tricks every time. We do not recognise good people when they come before us. We are more inclined to be tricked by the hype, for the election leaflet which looks like a pizza menu – but with even less nourishment on offer.
Occupying these seats at the top table is important. Engaging in the struggle for justice is important, leadership is important. Yet the leaders of conscience are marginalized – maybe their hair is not trendy or their suit a little crumpled – and the result is that we do not have authentic representatives of our values to occupy those seats.
Therefore, we must pay attention and hone the skill of discernment. We must not give our vote to just anybody to occupy these positions of power. We must not allow fakes to represent us. Fakes are those who wear the jackets of pseudo-authority, but who do not engage in the artful use of power on our behalf. Discerning who is genuine and who is fake has been difficult, but, take a closer look. The arrogance of those who do not have the interests of the people at heart is getting easier to see by the day. Their actions are a clue that they are not interested in our values.
It is long past time to wake up. Few stand up and fight for truth and justice in this world of desperate need. When we look beyond the smoke and mirrors of politics and power, it hurts. We have to re-evaluate everything, our past, our present, our future - so mostly we turn away in denial, preferring the comforting surreal, disneyland media trance which is presented to us on a plate. But once awake, we have the choice of fooling ourselves indefinitely, or facing up to what needs to be done and acting. The transition takes time, but once our eyes are open, they can only see. And we find we are not alone.
The UN speeches from Palestine and Israel last Friday apparently meant little to Americans, where media coverage of any kind has been scanty. Nevertheless a recent opinion poll from the Pew Research Centre shows that 42% favour the US recognizing Palestine as an independent nation, with 26% against. Nearly a third (32%) expressed no opinion. The US veto obviously does not represent he American people, only the American elite.
Obama has been vacillating between his own conscience, and the wishes of those pulling the strings. he, like so many others, has traded his own sense of justice for a seat at the top table – the outward show of power, the trappings, the posh dinner parties. It may be an uncomfortable presidency for him, but it is a good deal more uncomfortable for those who most needed the justice he promised.
With thanks to Cynthia McKinney: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26734
Full results of Pew Research Poll http://people-press.org/2011/09/20/palestinian-statehood-mixed-views-low-visibility/
‘Fracking’
If you ask the average person on the street what ‘Fracking’ is I’d guess that 9 out of 10 people wouldn’t be able to tell you what it is. However, as the applications start to flood in to test drill for gas in the UK, more and more people are being made aware of the issues regarding this process.
So what is it you ask? Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking) is a method of extracting gas from underground using the process of fracturing the rock strata which contains the gas. A mixture of a large amount of water, sand and chemicals are blasted at high pressure to create cracks in the rocks allowing the gas to escape.
The worry with the process is that there have been many reported negative consequences to ‘fracking’. These have been prevalent especially in the US where hydraulic fracturing is now taking place extensively all over the country. Environmental issues such as gas spills, pollution of air and contamination of water have been reported which has subsequently lead to the documentary ‘Gaslands’[1]. This film highlights many of the aforementioned issues.
Hydraulic Fracturing particularly came to my attention early this year when an application was made at Llandow Industrial Estate in the Vale of Glamorgan to test drill for the presence of shale gas.
After reading more about hydraulic fracturing, particularly regarding operations in the US, it worried me that the UK government have not as yet undertaken extensive scientifically based studies into the possible consequences of ‘hydraulic fracturing’.
Soon after the Llandow application was submitted, The Vale Says No campaign [2] consisting of residents, business owners and political party members was formed. This has since snowballed into the No Fracking UK campaign. [3] Furthermore, through the help of work undertaken by the aforementioned campaigns, the Co-operative group have announced the ‘Frack-Free’ strand to their ‘Toxic Fuels’ campaign which was launched on the 23rd September at Bridgend College.[4]
All over the UK, more and more companies are placing applications to test drill, and more and more people are forming local campaigns because of the worry about what ‘fracking’ could mean for their local community.
These campaigns show the level of support against hydraulic fracturing and also the worries people have regarding the process. From a large proportion of the people I’ve spoken to, the least they expect is a moratorium called by the UK government. Thus, enforcing a halt to all applications and operations while investigations into the issues regarding this process are undertaken.
Blackpool is the first and only place so far in the UK where actual shale gas fracking operations have taken place and there have been earth tremors [5] which have yet to be explained. Understandably, leaving local residents anxious about how ‘fracking’ could affect them in future.
One thing you can guarantee is that UK awareness of what hydraulic fracturing is will continue to increase as more and more companies submit applications to test drill.
However, you can also guarantee that local communities will continue to want answers into what effects hydraulic fracturing can and will have.
Mark Gabb
Wales Green Party
[1] www.gaslandthemovie.com
[2] http://thevalesaysno.com
[3] http://www.nofrackinguk.com
[4] http://www.co-operative.coop/fracking
[5] http://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/earthquakes/BlackpoolMay2011.html
Newport Incinerator Update
Stop Newport Incinerator Campaign I am circulating this as the initial incinerator mailing list has had some new members and I want us to all be aware of the latest information It is accepted that incinerators produce particulate matter of less than PM2.5 during the combustion process, and that these very fine particulates are extremely difficult ( and very expensive) to filter out from flue gases escaping from the chimney stack. Particulates of less than PM2.5 are absorbed through the lining of the lungs and into the bloodstream, then circulated throughout the human body causing damage resulting in poor health and premature death. Here is the link to the Sniffer report funded by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency , the Environment Agency and Northern Ireland Environment Agency which we have recently uncovered: http://www.sniffer.org.uk/Resources/ER12/Layout_Default/0.aspx?backurl=http% The Sniffer report finds:
It is estimated that eliminating exposure to man-made PM2.5 will yield greater benefits than eliminating road traffic accidents or exposure to passive smoking.
There is no recognised threshold below which there are no health effects.
Local Authorities could be expected to help implement national measures to reduce primary PM2.5 emissions
EU limit values established to ensure there are no hot-spots with excessive concentrations of PM2.5
The UK target is for a 15% reduction in annual mean PM2.5 at background locations across the major urban areas
Regarding hot-spots, I have attached the 2010 Newport Air Quality report – you need pages 15/16 - which show that areas such as Malpas and Caerleon Road already suffer dangerous levels of emissions. If we add to this emissions from incinerators (including Merthyr and Cardiff both of which will deposit their deadly load over much of Newport due to the prevailing wind) It is clear that an already hot spot will get a great deal hotter. This is an intolerable burden on the health of Newport people. SNIC is fighting to reduce pollution at all levels in the EU and the UK. Prosiect Gwerdd is not Green, and will only add to the insidious load of ill health already prevalent in our society. If granted planning permission, an incinerator giving out poisonous air will gnaw at our well-being and add millions of pounds to our healthcare bill at a time when it is being forced to find savings.
