Greed Investment Bank?

Great to see Private Eye focused on the proposals for a Green Investment Bank ("The Green Stuff", p. 9, No. 1269).

On top of the objections I've mentioned previously, the Eye has rightly added its concern that the GIB would absorb billions in public funds by absorbing a hotchpotch of other green funding initiatives and quangos, yet "should not be accountable to ministers or to parliament [and] would be unlikely to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act". Or anyone, probably.

But don't worry. When the GIB hits the wall because no one understands the risks it's taking on, we can all bail it out.

It's as if the credit crunch never happened.

Image from Zazzle.

The Way of The Green Thing

Wonderful.

Do the Green Thing.

Clean Coal?

More genius from the Cohen brothers - giant hat tip to Do The Green Thing.

London's Super Sewer - Pro or Con?

I never thought I'd be giving a hat-tip to Hammersmith & Fulham Council, but thankfully its Leader has warned residents of the £2.2bn "Super Sewer" that Thames Water plans to build under the Thames.

Somehow I'd missed all the kerfuffle.

Not content with writing to residents, the Council has also launched a petition that's been signed by over 1,500 people, and we are invited to a public meeting on the subject at Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, on Monday 17 November 2008, at 7.00pm.

The Council is concerned that the Super Sewer is the "wrong solution to the wrong problem", is too costly (adding £200 p.a. to water bills), too disruptive (8 years of construction), will destroy open space, and is merely designed to avoid EU pollution fines that are open to challenge in any event. It recommends an independent study to review the problem, solutions and alternatives.

I confess to being somewhat perplexed, and would be interested to get a balanced view before choosing "sides", even if backing the Council only results in an independent study. It would be nice to see a concise summary of the problem, it's size, root causes and possible solutions - though not while eating a curry.

Having been less than impressed at the investment in maintaining London's creaking infrastructure to date, I'm wary of undermining Thames Water's enthusiasm on that front without a very good reason.

But the Council did a great job in opposing the West London Tram, and has shown itself to be very effective in arousing public support on this occasion too. Maybe it's on the right track again, if you'll excuse the pun.

Looks like I'll have to turn up to the debate.

Personal sat nav

Hot-footing it between meetings in the central areas of most cities can be a real heart-in-the-mouth experience if you aren't sure of your route. I found myself stuck the other day and used Walkit. I plugged in the two post codes and ended up with a series of alleys and cut-throughs in central London that I'd never have worked out on the fly. You even get a calorie burn and the satisfaction of knowing how much CO2 you saved against alternative transport.

Easy ways to do the Green Thing

Green Thing is a community that makes it easy and enjoyable to be a bit greener. Every month you’ll get a different Green Thing to do. All you have to do is do it.

October's Green Thing was "Walk Once", while November's Green Thing is a bit more open to interpretation...