A Sensible Approach to Climate Change
You can take what I said about Climate Change Deniers and Fascists with a pinch of salt or tongue in cheek, but in some ways they are part of the problem. Politicians poncing around in Copenhagen are another part. Pictures this morning of Obama coming out of Air Force One just don’t go down well with me, when the conference is all about cutting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
I hope that Copenhagen completely fails.
Only then, we might get some sense, as those that are worried about the future, will be given another kick to do something positive about it.
Politicians should keep well clear of the free market, as their meddling and well-meaning initiatives at best come to nothing and at worst they distort everything and push us down blind alleys.
But what they should do is nudge not corral us in the right direction.
For instance, every country should raise the price of carbon based fuels, in much the way that Kenneth Clarke did before Prudence removed it to court popularity. It must also be done on a world-wide or at least continent-wide basis. At present aviation fuel is untaxed and this should also be changed as soon as possible.
I don’t think there is much hope for this sensible measure, so that is why anything more savage that might be proposed will always be destined to fail.
It will be innovation by engineers and scientists that gets us out of this mess. And this is something for which no world-wide consensus is required. So if an engineer in Britain or Denmark say, has a brilliant idea, it is in their country’s interest to support it. Think of all those exports and licences.
We have a technological race, where the prize will be immense in monetary terms. It will also be very good for the world. Is that a win-win situation? I do hope so.
Climate Change Fascists
I really get sick of selfish Climate Change Fascists. They feel that they have a right to stop everyone enjoying themselves and curb their lifestyle. Some have an awful lot in common with the Taliban and want us to live back in the Stone Age.
I’ve just been listening to the phone in on BBC Breakfast on Radio 5 and you can just see them sitting there, picking at their lentils, drinking carrot or cabbage juice before they walk or cycle their kids to school.
Climate Change Deniers
I really get sick of selfish Climate Change Deniers. They feel that they have a right to continue to pollute the planet, use up all the resources and generally give two fingers to anybody who wants to curb their lifestyle.
I’ve just been listening to the phone in on BBC Breakfast on Radio 5 and you can just see them sitting there, fat or even worse, smoking their heads off and wheezing as they struggle into their 4×4 to take their fat kids 200 metres to school.
It’s Snowing
We’ve had some of the heaviest snow in some years today.
I just had to test it was real.
Testing the Snow
An Elan and an Escort Cosworth
This tale happened many years ago, probably in about 1997 or so.
I had to go and visit a client at Motherwell just outside Glasgow and decided that the best way to do the journey would be to take the Elan up the A1 and then take the A66 across to the M6. If you don’t know the A66 it is now mostly dual-carriageway road, fairly straight and rolls up and down the hills. In those days, it didn’t have as much fast road, but it was still a good road for a burn-up.
I got to Scotch Corner at about seven in the morning and I remember it was warm and sunny, so the top was down and I’d intended to drive in a relaxed manner all the way to Penrith, at or around the legal limit. A few miles from the A1, an Escort Cosworth appeared alongside me on the road. These rather rare cars were instantly recognisable by their large rear spoilers.
The driver who looked to be in his late teens drove alongside me for a few hundred metres honking his horn and gesticulating at me. He’d obviously nicked the car, as no-one his age could have afforded the insurance. I suspected that he wanted to have a race.
He then pushed off showing the acceleration of the car. I thought that was that, but it wasn’t! He then slowed and braked in front of me.
So I thought that the best thing to do was get out of here!
Luckily he missed a gear as I went past and I booted it all the way to about a hundred and thirty or more. After a few miles, there was a couple of bends and to say he was not a good driver was an understatement, as he fell behind. I think luckily that he wasn’t very brave, as he seemed to be receding on the straight bits too. After the last bend there was a Little Chef to the right, so I said that was enough and pulled through the gap in the central reservation and hid behind the cafe. I heard him going through very fast!
After breakfast, I continued on my way and after a mile or so, there was some roadworks where they were dualling the road. The Escort had been stopped by the Police and there was a heated discussion going on. As I drove through, the kid pointed at me in a very agitated way. He was shouting a lot too, as if to say it was all my fault. But the Police were having nothing of it and then I saw him being hit with a truncheon and bundled into the Police Car.
I never heard anything more of it.
But it was certainly the fastest, I have ever driven the Elan.
The Anonymous Widower 