Environmentalism - the last refuge of scoundrels.

(Long winded reply to Wakefield Express Green issue*)

We really ought reconsider Environmentalism. At its core it poses people as a problem; The Biggest Problem, not only to the planet and everything on it but also ourselves.
As it is the jury is still out that global-warming - also known as 'dangerous climate change' will prove detrimental or even that we are the main cause. And if it is actually warming. The climate is changing - always has, whether man's contribution poses a significant factor is guessed at via loaded models and 'the science' politically driven.

Even taking the disaster scenarios at their worst - which are the guarantors of our actions - then are we really to take our adaptive actions seriously? So many agencies churn out the same RRRRs but life goes on; we go to work, produce and consume; new technologies build on the capacity of previous and we always find ways to improve.

Environmentalism already greatly affects us - from restrictions on land for housing and the expensive and disappointing product to needlessly sorting through our rubbish and fairtrade schemes that may appease the consciences of liberals but entrap third world producers into western notions of sustainability.
Many claim that for the 7 billion+/- population of the earth to have developed lifestyles - or at least as developed as we in the west - would require 3 or more planets as we don't have the resources. This sees human achievement as static and destructive and fails to pay attention to our remarkable ingenuity eg increased yields in agriculture and even the ability to harness power from natural sources (perhaps just different versions of the same process). The lack of resources are to be found amongst our political leaders and the unimaginative.
Of course there are many shades of green and it's doubtful whether proposals from on high satisfy the eco-worriers amongst us - especially when it's almost business as usual and airports, power stations, roads and houses are still being built or proposed (albeit in dismal fashion) and we all go to work or indulge in activities deemed unsustainable.
Hardly a black and white issue let alone 'Green being the new Red'.

Traditional left vs right notions of the best way forward for us as individuals and as a society have collapsed and given birth to this seemingly radical ideology. Indeed, it is radical - radical in the ways we're going to have to adapt if we accept it as presented. From the spoutings of the green and good it doesn't look that rosy.
Despite the pontificating of our 'leaders' emissions targets haven't been achieved anywhere except in former Soviet bloc countries due to their industrial decline. It's telling that with the opening up of the North Pole - supposedly due to climate negligence - there was a rush to claim exploration rights. UK included. Much talk is made over environmental concerns yet it seems the green elite merely pay lip service whilst the rest of us pay through the nose - in guilt taxes and time wasting activities that actually do more 'harm' than good.

If we truly were to consider the environment then we'd contend ways of dealing with it resourcefully - in ways that benefit humans first. In this the UK seems to have lost its way with the days of great industrial pioneers gone and their contemporaries happier to indulge in the wistful and iconic - or go abroad.
It's only belatedly that sluices in Wakefield are being dredged - perhaps there ought be a major washout of the drains too as many of these are blocked with all manner of debris. These should be activities that are constant and upgraded; it's fine gentrifying the place but a bit more function over form seems necessary. And whilst we're encouraged to dwell on our history we ought remember that Wakefield has it's ings. Instead, and like everything else these days, the blame is laid at us for having patios or concreted drives - to the point that these are considered punishable in taxes.

It's naive and negative thinking such as this that's blighting the economy.