Climate Change,the Stern Report and Dog Fouling

I read this week of a climate change expert who has moved his family to higher ground because he thinks we are past the point of no return. Someone said to me that they believed the Stern report which the government commissioned on climate change is basically saying we are heading for the stone age and we should all stop worrying about recycling and flying and instead practice our survival skills. Personally I refuse to give up like that but its hard when you get idiots like the fool who wrote into the local paper last week and said that it was his right to drive three cars and so what if they were “gas guzzlers” (his words)? I would like him to come and tell my children why his gas guzzlers are more important than their lungs. I would like him to to go to every school in the city and tell the pupils why his right to gas guzzlers is more important than their future. The car is not a bad invention. Used well and thoughtfully it can and does enhance lives. There are people whose livelihoods depend on them and any transport policy should reflect that also. But the sheer sick selfishness in that letter made me want to weep. Yet again this week I had folk at my surgery complaining about dog fouling. They rightly made the point that there are very few if any stray dogs in the area (thanks in part to our wardens). This means the owners are letting them use our common space as a toilet. My constituents are right to be angry and I share their anger. How would the dog owners who don’t clean up after their dogs like it if we went and defecated in their garden or front room.That may sound disgusting and I have no intention of doing such a thing but that's how ignorant it is not to clean up after your dog.

Declaration on Climate Change

Yesterday (16th January), I was greatly privileged to be the first Councillor Leader in Scotland to sign the Local Government climate Change declaration at a ceremony in Towerbank primary school in Portobello (Click here for story) . For me this issue is the most important we face today. All the evidence (not least the weather at Hogmanay) tells us that we, as humans, are damaging our most precious resource, our environment. The debate is over. It is change or die time and it is right that the Council should lead by example. Although I said a few words, two 11 year olds spoke far more eloquently that I could about the need to everyone to take part in the kind of activity that will make a difference. They spoke of how their school had become very energy and waste conscious recycling not just paper but clothes and other items also. They spoke of how they had started to do this at home. They said every choice they made could make a difference. It was a powerful reminder that climate change is in all our hands. In the several interviews I did after the signing I was asked if I thought raising taxes for example, on waste, would be helpful. My view is that berating and punishing people will not work here. This is a hearts and minds debate. Our citizens track record on the recent increase in recycling suggests that with good education and easy processes, people will choose to change. May be too, experiences like Hogmanay will help us all realise that the time has come for action. As one of the wee girls put it, every little does really help.