Is it Fair?

The consequences of anthropogenic climate change (ACC, also known as AGW) could be far-reaching. We have no guarantees that the new equilibrium the climate will reach will be conducive to the survival of our civilisation.

ACC is caused by each and every one of us when we consume something that causes or has caused greenhouse gases to escape into the atmosphere. It's a collective impulse built of many individual contributions, some greater than others. Saying that we should do nothing because the Chinese are doing nothing is both counter-productive and actually wrong. It's equally wrong to say we don't want to adopt a particular measure such as installing onshore wind farms because they will spoil the view from our bedroom window.

If we fail to curb emissions driving climate change, we are likely to find that in time that view is lost anyway. It might be flooded as sea levels rise; it might be denuded of the familiar trees, plants and wildlife we treasure as the local micro-climate is altered - becoming too wet or too arid or too prone to extreme weather events.

And if loss of the view is not solely a matter of aesthetics but concern for property prices, what is the value of a house under half a metre of flood water?

To do as the Conservative Party is promising, to ban the development of onshore wind farms from 2020 is hardly fair. In playing to their core, Shires, constituency, the party is saying let's ignore the cheapest renewable energy technology and rely on one of the more expensive to reduce our emissions. It means the cost of electricity to consumers must be higher than it need be. That impacts the poor (whether in town or country) more than it does the well-off, for whom higher energy prices are not a matter of whether or not to heat their home in winter; of life and death as they are for those in poverty.

If a party said "we're going to cut the vehicle duty on SUVs in favour of our voters who do drive them and pay for it by raising fares on buses, which are used by people who don't voter for us," no-one would consider that "fair." Why then should we accept such a twisted view of the best ways to combat climate change as equitable?

If you support the Conservatives, consider urging them to change their thinking on this damaging policy.