Drastic Action on Climate Change is Needed Now.
Here's the Plan
By George Monbiot

Read the full article in the Guardian newspaper (UK) here:
Tuesday October 31, 2006

Excerpt from the article.
Ten Point Climate Change Plan

1. Set a target for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions based on the latest science.

The government is using outdated figures, aiming for a 60% reduction by 2050. Even the annual 3% cut proposed in the early day motion calling for a new climate change bill does not go far enough.

Timescale: immediately.

2. Use that target to set an annual carbon cap, which falls on the ski-jump trajectory.

Then use the cap to set a personal carbon ration. Every citizen is given a free annual quota of carbon dioxide. He or she spends it by buying gas and electricity, petrol and train and plane tickets. If they run out, they must buy the rest from someone who has used less than his or her quota. This accounts for about 40% of the carbon dioxide we produce. The remainder is auctioned off to companies. It's a simpler and fairer approach than either green taxation or the EU's emissions trading scheme, and it also provides people with a powerful incentive to demand low-carbon technologies.

Timescale: a full scheme in place by January 2009.

3. Introduce a new set of building regulations, with three objectives.

A. Imposing strict energy-efficiency requirements on all major refurbishments (costing £3,000 or more).

Timescale: in force by June 2008.

B. Obliging landlords to bring their houses up to high energy-efficiency standards before they can rent them out.

Timescale: to cover all new rentals from January 2008.

C. Ensuring that all new homes in the UK are built to the German Passivhaus standard (which requires no heating system).

Timescale: in force by 2012.

4. Ban the sale of incandescent lightbulbs, patio heaters, garden floodlights and other wasteful and unnecessary technologies.

Introduce a stiff "feebate" system for all electronic goods sold in the UK, with the least efficient taxed heavily and the most efficient receiving tax discounts. Every year the standards in each category rise.

Timescale: fully implemented by November 2008.

5. Redeploy money now earmarked for new nuclear missiles towards a massive investment in energy generation and distribution.

Two schemes in particular require government support to make them commercially viable: very large wind farms, many miles offshore, connected to the grid with high-voltage direct-current cables; and a hydrogen pipeline network to take over from the natural gas grid as the primary means of delivering fuel for home heating.

Timescale: both programmes commence at the end of 2008 and are completed by 2018.

6. Promote the development of a new national coach network.

City-centre coach stations are shut down and moved to motorway junctions. Urban public transport networks are extended to meet them. The coaches travel on dedicated lanes and never leave the motorways. Journeys by public transport then become as fast as journeys by car, while saving 90% of emissions. It is self-financing, through the sale of the land now used for coach stations.

Timescale: commences in 2008; completed by 2020.

7. Oblige all chains of filling stations to supply leasable electric car batteries.

This provides electric cars with unlimited mileage: as the battery runs down, you pull into a forecourt; a crane lifts it out and drops in a fresh one. The batteries are charged overnight with surplus electricity from offshore wind farms.

Timescale: fully operational by 2011.

8. Abandon the road-building and road-widening programme, and spend the money on tackling climate change.

The government has earmarked £11.4bn for road expansion. It claims to be allocating just £545m a year to "spending policies that tackle climate change".

Timescale: immediately.

9. Freeze and then reduce UK airport capacity.

While capacity remains high there will be constant upward pressure on any scheme the government introduces to limit flights. We need a freeze on all new airport construction and the introduction of a national quota for landing slots, to be reduced by 90% by 2030.

Timescale: immediately.

10. Legislate for the closure of all out-of-town superstores, and their replacement with a warehouse and delivery system.

Shops use a staggering amount of energy (six times as much electricity per square metre as factories, for example), and major reductions are hard to achieve: Tesco's "state of the art" energy-saving store at Diss in Norfolk has managed to cut its energy use by only 20%. Warehouses containing the same quantity of goods use roughly 5% of the energy. Out-of-town shops are also hardwired to the car - delivery vehicles use 70% less fuel.

Timescale: fully implemented by 2012.