It’s bad when a town loses its last bank but really we don’t need to be too sad about Cockermouth losing Barclays. Barclays has a long history of unethical investing from apartheid-ridden South Africa in the 70’s, through Amazon rainforest trashing in the 90’s to fossil fuel investing right now. Barclays is the biggest financier […]
Down on the organic farm
Farmers get a bad press being blamed for river pollution (chemical fertilisers and pesticides and animal excrement), wildlife deserts in the countryside, again due to chemical use in lowlands, field enlargement, overgrazing on the hills and fells, mud on the roads from large tractor wheels and a high carbon footprint from meat production and chemical […]
2024 Year of Opportunity
I hope readers had a Happy Christmas and are looking forward to a better 2024. We may well have a General Election in the coming year with smart money on an autumn poll. There is so much that is broken in our society that it will take an awful lot of fixing. Our country is […]
Right Homes, Right Place, Right Price
The UK is one of the wealthiest European countries, but has the highest level of homelessness in Europe. Shelter recorded 271,000 people homeless in 2022. A survey of housing stock in 2021 identified that 23% of private rented housing did not meet the basic Decent Homes Standard set by the Government. At a time when […]
Green Party Conference
It’s party conference season and, while I was away at Green Party conference in Brighton, a shocking but not totally unexpected thing happened: the Old Courthouse in Cockermouth fell down – a striking metaphor for the state of society. The building was neglected, declared unsafe and evacuated. There is money around, plenty of it, but […]
It’s Not Easy Being Green
In the words of Kermit the Frog, “It’s not easy being Green” and watching other political parties ignore or ditch their environmental credentials one by one in the perceived interest of getting votes. A fortnight ago, the Conservative Government announced it’s scrapping ‘nutrient neutrality’ rules as a way to boost house building. This could lead […]
While Rome Burns
Have you woken up any day recently, looked out of the window and wondered what season it is? The hottest June on record followed by what could be the wettest July! 2023 will be the tenth successive year that temperatures have reached 1⁰C above average pre-industrial levels. It’s no wonder we’re all mixed up. We’re […]
Cumberland Climate Advisory Group
June was one of those quiet months, which still manages to be busy, somehow. I was struggling with internet problems at home (as ever) but right at the end of the month the wonderful Council IT man did manage to get my new sim card so after 15 months I do have a fully functioning […]
Love your bike
There has been a quiet revolution going on in the recent decade and I am delighted to have joined it with my recent purchase of an electric bike. I grew up on a farm at Loweswater just at the end of the last period when cycling was the way to get around. My older sister cycled […]
How Green are your Lights?
LED technology has transformed lighting’s energy efficiency, supporting the need to reduce our carbon footprint and electricity consumption. Poor lighting though has some major negatives: The cool white colour temperatures of many of the cheaper LED lights, mimicking daylight throughout the night, is highly harmful to wildlife. It stops animals, like songbirds sleeping properly overnight, […]
