to John Davison

9 May 2020

Thanks, John for sending this to me.

My view is that the virus crisis is a foretaste of a greater tragedy and disaster to come unless we think, plan and prepare, now for The Really Big Crisis, ie the complete breakdown of our life support systems from rising greenhouse gases and rising temperatures to copy what happened to venus.  ("Because the bulk of its atmosphere is made of carbon dioxide, an extreme greenhouse effect is warming the surface of Venus." SOURCE: https://www.space.com/15988-venus-planet-weird-facts.html)  Attenborough's warnings, below the coloured paragraphs, will then be fulfilled, I fear.

Hence, the situation is urgent to 'Build Back Better' and to try and retain individual, group and national reductions in greenhouse gases that we are seeing, now from lockdown.  Household carbon allowances might help to keep these gas emissions down.  A more acceptable phrase than rationing of fossil fuels that, of course, it amounts to.

Rationing of fossil fuels is urgent and must be done fairly and quickly.  But how, exactly?  Ration cards/coupons for motorists were printed and sent out during the energy crisis and three day week over 1973 to 1974 (Andrew Marr: 'A History of Modern Britain', pub 2007, page 340 to 341).  It must be done again.

BUILD BACK BETTER

• Prepare for the climate crisis with PV everywhere to provide electricity for the building and cars below.
• Retrofit every building with insulation and efficiency measures to reduce the demand for electricity.
• Digital and working from home as much as possible.  Maximise phone and Zoom working.
• Rediscover cycling and walking with cycle-walkways renovated and made upmarket to encourage their use.  Try out stages 1 and 2 of the Dowery Dell Trail - 6 Kms on, or next to, the Halesowen Railway line to Longbridge.  Adventure walking at its best (and hairiest!) and, right on our doorstep!
• Listen and act on Lord Stern - the future is low carbon economies.  "Don't turn the clock back to the dirty fragile times."
• Don't bail out the airlines.  Discourage travel and redeploy their workers to slash fossil fuel use in every building in the land.
• Go for fare-free public transport (FFPT) - the brainchild of Bob Whitehead.
• Scrap big infrastructure schemes like HS2, the railway equivalent of Concorde.  Build the 24 railway projects chosen last year in the Great British Transport competition of the Taxpayers' Alliance.
• Scrap Midland Metro "bus on rails" trams - the bus equivalent of HS2 and, when it comes to construction, the 2nd most expensive transport mode after HS2 and 2 to 3 times more expensive per Km than motorway building.  Just electrify the buses to avoid the childish obsession with Metro glitz, glam and gold to rack up greenhouse gases.
  
   THE TRAGEDY OF TRAMS WRECKING OUR RAILWAY NETWORK
• Bring in annual household carbon allowances to restrict flying, travel and commuting.
• Bring in basic income or citizens' income for all to allow the Gospel/Christ teaching of the parable of the talents.
• Shop for what you genuinely need rather than shop 'til you drop.  Make stuff last.
• Economics to serve ecology.  Nature before economics.  Learn from the more successful civilisations of the past.