Greens face divisions over flying ‘organic’ fruit and eco damage cost of harvesting renewable energy from the sea

Environmentally aware consumers face a double whammy of new difficulties on quests for the greenest food and ways to generate energy from renewable sources. A plan to ban food suppliers from calling produce ‘organic’ if it travels by air was reversed by the Soil Association this week – says Ben Webster of the Times. Meanwhile, a plan for the worlds largest-ever renewable energy project could match the output of eight coal fired power stations but comes with a big environmental catch. The sea-power harvesting scheme requires the building of a £20bn Severn Tidal Power Barrage in a ten mile stretch of sea between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare. But some critics say this cause “unprecedented ecological damage to one of our most important natural habitats.” Well, so says Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor of The Independent. And McCarthy goes on to explain that Friends of the Earth believe that tax payers’ money could be better spent fighting climate change in other ways, while Greenpeace say the Government should make wind a priority. Choosing the greenest way to go seems to be an increasingly difficult task for all concerned. Correspondingly, TC looks forward to the next round of comments and suggestions on what will be best for most and of course our planet.

Permalink | Comments (1) Posted in About, What’s happening | Labels: Ben Webster, coal fired power station, Environment, Friends of the Earth, Green, Greenpeace, Michael McCarthy, organic, power station, renewable energy, sea power, Severn barrage, Soil Association, tidal power, Treehugger, wave power, wind power
27th January 2009 by Leon Mannings

One Response to “Greens face divisions over flying ‘organic’ fruit and eco damage cost of harvesting renewable energy from the sea”

  1. Paul Biggs Says:
    January 27th, 2009 at 10:59 am

    Ah! The consequences and dilemmas of the agenda behind the unjustified demonisation of CO2.

    Wind power is, of course, intermittent and has to be backed up by other more reliable 24/7 energy sources. Wind Farms are aoosciated with destroying landscapes, plus killing birds and bats. Not environmentally friendly.

    On the other hand, the Severn Barrage would provide reliable power supplies.

    I get the impression the ‘greens’ want us to sit shivering in the dark by forcing the adoption of unreliable energy supplies, regardless of the environmental cost of wind farms, not to mention the fact that wind power is much more expensive than coal or gas.

    As for food ‘air miles,’ this is yet more absurdity from the ‘green’ agenda.

    Anyway, the ‘fight’ (LOL) against ‘climate change’ (was ‘global warming’ until the world started cooling) seems to be over according to Susan Solomon et al in PNAS:

    BBC: Global warming is ‘irreversible’

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7852628.stm

    Good – can we now just enjoy ourselves until we drown, fry ot freeze!?

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