Sandsculpture marking the campaign to stop Hunterston power station (picture courtesy of blueriverstudios)
Looking back through the year’s posts it’s clear that there’s been a focus on estuaries and coastal wetlands. While I’m happy to admit a personal bias towards these particular special places – that isn’t the reason they are such a dominant theme, it’s simply that there’s a lot of pressure on the coast to develop major infrastructure.
Airports in the Thames, ports in the Humber and tidal power barrages across the Severn and Mersey are some of the headline issues we have tackled. The coast and estuaries in particular are always going to be under pressure – working with planners, industry and regulators to understand how development can be achieved alongside effective protection of natural resources of global importance; that is our preferred approach.
Occasionally a proposal is so outlandish, so damaging and so flawed in its conception that our opposition is fundamental – one such is the proposed construction of a new airport in the Thames. One variant – known as Boris Island has gathered the lion’s share of media attention, but there are others.
‘The barrage is dead, long live the barrage!’ Seems to be the refrain as the Government moves away from plans to construct a tidal impoundment barrage across the Severn from Cardiff to Weston however, the focus now moves north to Merseyside. Where plans – rejected two decades ago – are being dusted off for a barrage across the Mersey! The frustration we feel is both driven by the fact that barrages are repeat offenders in the world of site protection – and also they risk deflecting funding and innovation away from the search for more sustainable ways of harnessing tidal power, a potentially crucial technology in the fight to combat climate change.
Getting the fixes for climate change right is vital in so many ways – a warming climate is the biggest long-term threat to life as we know it and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels through a renewable revolution is essential. But selecting the right approach is crucial – barrages are but one example – in Kenya special places like the Tana River Delta and communities living there are directly affected by the thirst for biofuels in the UK and Europe.
Rushed polices are driving indirect landuse change in the developing world with scant regard to local communities and the natural environment. Our own Government and the European Commission are waking up to the absurdity of polices that result in the destruction of important ecosystems and which could actually lead to greater levels of greenhouse gas emissions. We’ll be pressing that message home in the new year.
On the subject of greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) I had a three letter acronym (TLA?) crisis recently when thinking we were talking about greenhouse gas emissions I suddenly realised that my colleagues were referring to the aspiration of the Coalition to be the Greenest Government Ever (GGE2)!
While on the subject of Governments being green – the credentials of the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling climate change will be tested in their reaction to proposals to build a brand new coal-fired power station on the Clyde at Hunterston. Barrages may be harking back to decades-old technology, but consenting new coal plant risks going back to a darker age altogether. The sand sculpture produced as part of the campaign is one of my favourite images of the year - so that is why I've used to illustrate this post.
The new year holds many challenges that, together we need to tackle. My collegues (both staff and volunteers) on the front line deserve the credit for the arguments won, the cases well put and the special places saved - and then in 2011 it will be time to step up to the challenge once again.
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