Hay on Wye Festival – China & droughts (Jun07)
The China Question When I wrote the original Green Consumer Guide there was one question I was unfailingly asked by journalists. It was ‘if there’s one thing that you can do to save the world what would it be?’ Answer that in a sound bite without sounding trivial… Of course there isn’t just one thing […]
Australian PM prays for rain – at Hay on Wye (Jun07)
When I wrote the original Green Consumer Guide there was one question I was unfailingly asked by journalists. It was ‘if there’s one thing that you can do to save the world what would it be?’ Answer that in a sound bite without sounding trivial… Of course there isn’t just one thing there are lots […]
EU Bureacratic nightmare… (May07)
It’s been a long time since I’ve done any work for the EU. I hope it will be even longer before I do it again. Having agreed to speak at a conference on ‘Climate Change and Civil Society’ in Brussels, I felt I couldn’t back out. But the administration required to claim back the modicum […]
Personal Carbon Allowances (May07)
In principle personal carbon allowances seem like a good idea. Everyone in the country would be allocated a certain amount of carbon that they could emit from their homes and for travel. If they exceed this limit they would have to pay someone else who has not used so much. This is called carbon trading. […]
A McDonald’s experience (Apr07)
I thought I’d do a bit of comparison on fuel efficiency between the UK and the US. Went to Heathrow in an 8-seater vehicle – it was on its way to collect a large group. But at 36mpg even that was less thirsty than the flashy black Lincoln that collected me from Chicago’s O’Hare airport […]
Easter holidays (Apr07)
Juggling Easter holidays with work commitments is a lot easier with an au pair! Alex is Australian and only with me until mid June but she’s wonderful. Had lunch last week with Arthur Llewellyn (www.hfhmanagement.co.uk), who worked with Green Spirit fuels until December last year, promoting bio-ethanol. He introduced me to a nearby pub, the […]
Some thoughts – Fish, John Travolta, Home grown, Standby TVs (Apr07)
Eco-hypocrite I think that having 5 private jets and an airport in your garden really does preclude you from encouraging people to do their bit for the environment. John Travolta’s carbon footprint is apparently around 800 tons a year, which is about 100 times more than the average Brit. But he claims to be concerned […]
National Trust Question Time on Climate Change (Mar07)
Arriving at the Royal Geographic Society early turned out to be a good thing. I was able to participate in discussions about topics covered in the Question Time style debate ahead of time – and meet a number of people from the National Trust who were involved in organising the event. Talked to Fiona Reynolds, […]
A week away (Mar07)
When I say I’m going to be out of the office this week, people assume I’ll be on holiday. Actually this couldn’t be further from the truth. – I’m spending Monday in Brussels advising Procter & Gamble – they have asked me to sit on an Environmental Advisory Panel relating to their cleaning and detergents […]