Dear Bob and Richard, Chris and Jules
Late last night, I came back from three glorious days bikepacking and using the train for a spot of wild camping, walking, cycling and exploring part of the beautiful countryside on the western side of the Rhinogiau hills in N Wales. Thinking, too these thoughts I scribbled down in the back of the paperback, 'Soil and Soul' I'm reading. It has the excellent subtitle, 'People versus Corporate Power' by Scottish climate activist, Alastair McIntosh.
Humanity is racing to catastrophe by ignoring the UN Secretary General's "Code Red Warning" to us all. I am thinking of Andy Street's January 2020 intention that the WMCA must build his £15 BILLION, 150 miles, 8 lines and 380 tram stops of Metro trams to replace some bus routes and train lines in our region. This is climate emergency denial in a big way in using up yet more finite fossil fuels and boosting GHG emissions very nicely after they had declared a climate emergency in 2019, I believe it was. Lots of lovely climate busting cement and steel for all the 150 miles of totally unnecessary tram lines. Hundreds of millions of pounds are diverted from relieving poverty; from feeding the hungry and housing the war and environment refugees fleeing to the UK.
For me, this is stealing from the impoverished to destroy a railway "of national strategic significance"
AND to bring about a worse public transport provision at Five Ways and Hagley Road for a temporary 3 years that has now been made permanent!
What the authorities are doing is the exact opposite of building that very basic and rather obvious eco-socialist society of greater sustainability, fairness and social justice. Billions are to be spent without any democratic approval, to worsen the lot of us all and, especially, the lowest incomes who are struggling the most.
Please join me in writing for a rethink of this crazy, immoral and foolish policy where the money can be spent more responsibly. Better, not spent at all except on insulating and giving free solar electricity to the least well-off in our sick, sad, off-the-rails, society.
Here, in parts, is my attempt at faint humour:
Another list of suggestions:
Best wishes
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