Green Groups Campaign Together

The Big Green Debate on April 17th at The Hub in Edinburgh promises to be the biggest of the Scottish Votepod Events. There'll be music from Capercaille and most of the party leaders are taking part. It's being organised as part of the Everyone Campaign, by a network of charities

'dedicated to establishing the environment as a serious mainstream issue in Scotland, with political decisions taken in the interest of the environment, not simply social and economic considerations'.

Groups involved include the National Trust for Scotland, RSPB, Ramblers Association, Sustrans and Friends of the Earth. A full list and links to their campaigns can be found here.

If you'd like to submit a question for possible inclusion add a comment to this post or email us.

Incidentally the Everyone campaign is organising a whole series of smaller hustings meetings at locations throughout Scotland. Have a look here to see if there's one near you, and make your voice heard.

Comments

[Ruthie]

1. Do you accept that the maximum temperature rise we can safely adapt to is 2 degrees?

2. Do you accept that we need to cut our Greenhouse Gas emissions by at least 60% by 2050?

3. Do you accept that while Scotland is only directly responsible for 0.2% of global emissions, it still has a role to play in tackling climate change?

4. Do you think a reduction in emissions can be achieved without economic harm?

5. Is it more up to the Government or up to individuals to take action?

6. Do you think Scotland can provide significant amounts of its energy through renewables and if so how can this be achieved?

7. What are your views on nuclear power?

8. How much do you think can be achieved through improved Energy Efficiency and Building Standards?

9. What are your views on the potential of Biofuels?

10. How can we adapt our transport system to help tackle climate change?

11. What is your view on carbon offsetting?

12. What balance do we need to strike between mitigation and adaptation?

[Gus Abraham]

I know we've to wait politely till the polticians answer your questions Ruthie, but here's what my responses would be.

1. Do you accept that the maximum temperature rise we can safely adapt to is 2 degrees?

Yes

2. Do you accept that we need to cut our Greenhouse Gas emissions by at least 60% by 2050?

Yes

3. Do you accept that while Scotland is only directly responsible for 0.2% of global emissions, it still has a role to play in tackling climate change?

Of course

4. Do you think a reduction in emissions can be achieved without economic harm?

Define economic harm. If you mean do you think capitalism and consumer madness can continue while the ice-caps melt and that not leaving the telly on stand-by is going to be about the scale of the changes we face, er no.

5. Is it more up to the Government or up to individuals to take action?

We are being conned into green individualism which is fatal. We need to have collective action for which we need to reclaim a sense of what 'the collective' is as its been banned and shunned by consecutive Old Tory and Blue Labour govts

6. Do you think Scotland can provide significant amounts of its energy through renewables and if so how can this be achieved?

A mix of all the renewables, a big boost of micros and significant energy saving. Its easy if we want to.

7. What are your views on nuclear power?

Insane.

8. How much do you think can be achieved through improved Energy Efficiency and Building Standards?

Loads

9. What are your views on the potential of Biofuels?

Great but dangerous - better to re-use waste products than create another cash crop from afar.

10. How can we adapt our transport system to help tackle climate change?

Make it free.

11. What is your view on carbon offsetting?

Its bollocks greenwash

12. What balance do we need to strike between mitigation and adaptation?

Dont understand your question.

thanks
Gus

[Judy Wilkinson]

Given the importance of gardens and allotments to biodiversity (as well as the economy, health, communities and education) why are gardens and gardening not recognised and supported in Government policies and strategies? Why does the Executive not have a mechanism in place to co-ordinate, interface with or receive feedback from the overall gardening sector as it does for sports and sporting activities?

[Judy Wilkinson]

Given the importance of gardens and allotments to biodiversity (as well as the economy, health, communities and education) why are gardens and gardening not recognised and supported in Government policies and strategies? Why does the Executive not have a mechanism in place to co-ordinate, interface with or receive feedback from the overall gardening sector as it does for sports and sporting activities?

[Dariush (Dah-ree-yoosh) Bazazi (bah-za-zee)!]

Scotland has approximately 1/3 of Europe's wind potential and 1/10 of Europe's wave & tidal energy. With these valuable renewable resources what will each of the parties do to ensure that Scotland becomes a world leader in renewables?

[Dariush (Dah-ree-yoosh) Bazazi (bah-za-zee)!]

Aviation is the UK's fastest increasing source of greenhouse emissions. Westminster plans to expand airports and increase passenger numbers to the extent that scientists fear all of our other efforts to reduce emissions will be made redundant. With green air fuels several decades away how will each of the parties tackle this problem?

[Dariush (Dah-ree-yoosh) Bazazi (bah-za-zee)!]

In Scotland the majority of the general public and our MPs are against Trident replacement. Do the parties believe that to tackle the real challenge this century, climate change we must not waste billions on replacing nuclear weapons?

[Joe Harvie]

Question to the SNP: You focus largely on energy policy when you talk about the environment. What will your party do to protect Scottish Biodiversity?

[Andrew Morris]

What do the panel members think are the key priorities for improving the environment in urban spaces? And do they agree that woodlands and green spaces are essential to improving the urban landscape and the local communities health and well being?

[Gordon Wilson]

When are you going to wake up and seriously address global warming and climate change?

I don't see how it can be any more obvious that this should be your number 1 priority. The increase in temperature is accelerating, It is all over the papers that things are happening to increase the speed of the process, melting ice caps, soil not absorbing carbon dioxide etc.

George Monbiot says that the Labour target of a 60% cut in emissions by 2050 is inadequate. He has said we need an 87% (I think 90% is mentioned in his book 'Heat') cut by 2030 in the UK to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than two degrees above pre-industrial levels.

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/09/21/an-87-cut-by-2030/

The book details various measures to bring about this cut.

Do politicians think that climate change will go away because they are unwilling to campaign for and implement robust, evidence based and water tight policies to address it?

Will you leave politics aside and work together to agree or support such policies?

I have only read Lovelock and Monbiot and the newspapers papers and I am sure people could argue with some of their assertions but the following questions /statements seem obvious just from common sense.

Do you agree that alternatives to fossil fuels should be effective and produce no or substantially less greenhouse gases? And not damage the environment in other ways?

Biofuels do more harm than good. Will you campaign against and exclude biofuels from your policies?

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2007/03/27/a-lethal-solution/#more-1051

There are too many people in the world and in this country to be sustainably supported in the way we now live.

What measures will you take to reduce population and thus hardship in future?

Will you support international initatives for population control?

Will you campaigen for and support the cessaition of all road and building and airport expansion immediately and then reduce capacity?
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/12/19/preparing-for-take-off/

Will you include flight and shipping in all carbon accounting?

Will you campaign for and introduce mandatory fair comprehensive personal carbon rationing? Some rations to be allocated to essential services. There will then be market for these rations.
To be aligned with a cut in emissions as soon as possible of 90% cut by 2030?
http://www.carbonrationing.org.uk/

Do you agree that carbon offsetting is an ineffective means of addressing climate change?
If so, what will you do about it?
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/10/19/selling-indulgences/

Will you campaign for carbon capture and sequestration from the use of fossil fuels nationally and internationally?

As the developed nations are the worst offenders in terms of past and present emissions, will you support aid and expertise to assist countries such as China and India to cut their emissions including carbon capture and sequestration?

Will you campaign against government finance for fossil fuels?

Will you similarly support paying nations with rainforest and other important carbon rich ecosystems to protect and preserve in perpetuity?

Will you support carbon scoring on all food and goods to be used against carbon ration? This should encourage use of local produce etc

[Alessandra Asteriti]

On 24 May 2005, Lord Reed ordered ScottishPower to stop co-firing sewage sludge pellets at Longannet Power Plant by 28 December 2005. More than a year later, ScottishPower still has not stopped this illegal practice and it has been allowed to continue by SEPA, provided a new bio-mass plant is built by 2009.
ScottishPower says that co-firing is the "best practicable environmental option in the interim".
Can the panel explain how is it possible that an illegal practice can at the same time be "best practice"? What would the parties currently in the opposition do to ensure that environmental laws and regulations are not allowed to be violated in Scotland by the same agencies that are supposed to enforce them?

[Morag]

QUESTION FOR CANDIDATES: HEALTH/ ENVIRONMENT

Considering the shocking number of people getting cancer every year; considering that the numbers of many, if not most, cancers are increasing year on year; considering that many, if not most, of these diseases are now considered by leading scientists to be preventable, and considering the April 07 report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and its projections for the health of all of us by 2030*, if you are elected, in order to protect the Public Health from this rising toll of chronic, and mostly incurable, disease, first, and most importantly, will you consider promoting a policy of Prevention of Preventable Disease and will you apply the Precautionary Principle as the only viable options, and second, how do you propose to fund the cost of the rising incidence, the increasing costs of new drugs and other therapies that will keep more and more people alive on treatment for longer?

*The International Agency for Research on Cancer- the cancer wing of the World Health Organisation published a report on cancer (April 07). Worldwide there are currently, in a year, eleven million new cases of cancer, seven million deaths and twenty five million people living with cancer. The projections for 2030 are 27 million new cases, 17 million deaths and 75 million living with the disease. These figures are more than the combined rates for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. These are staggering statistics!!

For the best part of the last century a substantial body of human, animal, laboratory and field research has provided evidence that this depressing and disgraceful state is predominantly the result of occupational and environmental exposures to cancer- causing and endocrine (hormone) disrupting substances, and that they are therefore largely preventable diseases. In addition, these environmental toxins are increasingly being associated with a number of reproductive, developmental and neurological disorders.

[Katharine Melville]

Given increased commitment to sustainable transport, would the panel support dualling the rail line from Perth to Inverness in preference to dualling the A9 over the same route?

[Chris Byrne]

QUESTION FOR THE PANEL
From today there are 990 days left in the countdown to halt biodiversity loss by 2010

If elected what will your party do to ensure this target is met?

[Gordon Wilson]

Do you understand that if you wait for the disasters that will result from Accelerating global warming since about 2000, to make the electorate support effective, sufficient and equable national and international measures to mitigate and adapt to it, then it will be too late for these?

[Fiona Sinclair]

Do you think that a healthy environment is a human right? If so, what do you and your party intend to do about the continuing rise in cancers, neurological disorders and diseases (such as autism, Tourettes Syndrome, Parkinsons Disease and Alzheimers) and Diabetes Type 1, both in terms of
prevention and treatment of these disorders and diseases and in terms of service provision, such as education and social services? All of these
disorders and diseases have been linked to environmental toxins in the environment.

[Calvin McDonald]

Why has Labour accepted Ship to Ship oil transfers in the Forth, and what will the parties do to stop this?