Environmental Momentum

Environmental Taxing will influence people's choice by taking account of costs and benefits of an activity.

But it is likely that by tax rise polluters continue to pollute and pay higher prices or try to find ways and franchise if they remain ignorant of the consequences.

While tax rise will increase prices of basic goods and further deprive those in lower income. Damages incur by pollution and environmental degradation, are beyond functions relevant to tax rise.


Environmental momentum is when we have found the opportunity to revise our consumption habits, not only based on the cost but based on rational and humanitarian motive for collective benefit.



Mill, Chapter III Liberty:

That mankind are not infallible; that their truths, for the most part, are only half-truths; that unity of opinion, unless resulting from the fullest and freest comparison of opposite opinions, is not desirable, and diversity not an evil, but a good, until mankind are much more capable than at present of recognizing all sides of the truth, are principles applicable to men’s modes of action, not less than to their opinions. As it is useful that while mankind are imperfect there should be different opinions, so is it that there should be different experiments of living; that free scope should be given to varieties of character, short of injury to others; and that the worth of different modes of life should be proved practically, when any one thinks fit to try them.




The Urban Environment
Two kinds of environmental issue
Environmental issues that impact urban areas fall into two broad, but overlapping, categories. The first category, cumulative issues, can arise anywhere, but are worse in towns and cities because of the concentration of people and activities there. For example, emissions from traffic are not a problem of urban areas alone, but the highest levels of pollution often occur there. By contrast, systemic issues arise from the unique characteristics of urban settlements. An example is the urban heat island effect that can raise the temperatures of towns and cities 1؛ to 6؛C above those in the surrounding countryside.

Good quality urban areas can be stimulating and offer opportunities not found elsewhere. But the urban environment places stresses and strains on human health and wellbeing that contribute to tens of thousands of deaths each year and a considerable burden of ill health. Major issues include air pollution, climate, obesity and mental health. Most of these problems are not unique to urban areas, but are important because of the high numbers of people living there and the aggravating impact of factors associated with urban areas, such as high levels of vehicle emissions, poor housing and a lack of good quality green space.

Environmental controls can help tackle some problems like air and water pollution. However, health concerns also need to be integrated into the design and management of urban areas so that, for example, urban layouts promote sustainable transport and provide green space to encourage social interaction

Policy and practice have tended to undervalue the natural environment of towns and cities and misunderstand its role. The natural urban environment incorporates not only parks and gardens but also air, soil and water, and a diversity of habitats, including neglected areas like brownfield sites and land along transport corridors. The natural environment in urban areas often experiences faster and more extreme rates of change than in rural areas. For instance, river flows may be faster and more prone to extreme variations.

The diverse habitats in urban areas create a variety of ecosystems providing important ecological services for biodiversity, climate, water and flood management. They are also important for individual health and wellbeing and for local communities, providing opportunities for exercise, leisure, education and employment, as well as creating a sense of place.

There is a drive to create new urban areas and at the same time a need for a radical rethink on the provision of associated transport, water and energy infrastructure to cope with new demands and to lessen environmental impacts. We also need to deliver the same level of infrastructure improvement in existing areas which, despite new development, will still make up the majority of the built stock in 2050. In the case of transport, the UK has experienced 50 years of rapid growth in road traffic, and the volume of traffic in urban areas is forecast to grow further by about 40% between 2001 and 2031. This predicted growth will squeeze out other more sustainable forms of transport in urban areas, as well as imposing considerable costs on the economy, seriously reducing the quality of life and causing high levels of pollution.

The environmental contract would be a high level agreement setting out the top priorities that all local authorities would tackle, such as climate change, but it would also encourage a large degree of local discretion in identifying and addressing other environmental issues. The contract would encourage innovation and the spread of good practice within local authorities by identifying

• minimum standards to be achieved by all local authorities in different policy areas;
• aspirational objectives based on the experience of the best performing
local authorities; and
• innovative action to find new ways of improving environmental performance, incentivised through a Local Government Environmental Innovation Fund.

Environmental standards also need to be raised systematically across a range of issues, for example, energy and water use, transport and waste generation. The reduction of environmental impacts should be encouraged through appropriate environmental taxes, subsidies and charges. Technologies that reduce environmental impacts will then become increasingly economically viable, especially where this is backed up by public purchasing.

We recommend that the UK government and utility regulators create packages of measures for water and energy that:

• provide customers with frequent billing information showing how much they are using in comparison with past use and average consumption levels. Bills should also provide information on the environmental impact of consumption and ways of reducing use;
• include appropriate smart metering; and
• encourage utility companies to set tariffs that reward conservation, do not provide discounts for high use and are structured to protect vulnerable groups.
We recommend introducing a similar incentives-based package for waste, including equitable charging related to waste generation.

We recommend that the UK government and devolved administrations:

• introduce a Water Efficiency Commitment on water suppliers, along the same lines as the Energy Efficiency Commitment;
• strengthen the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme; and
• establish a Water Saving Trust to provide advice on water efficiency to households.



Source:

- Royal commission on environment pollution: www.rcep.org.uk

- Palmer, J., Boardman, B., Bottrill, C., Darby, S., Hinnells, M., Killip, G., Layberry, R. and Lovell, H. (2006). Reducing the Environmental Impact of Housing: Final Report. Consultancy study in support of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s 26th report on the urban environment. Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. Available at: http:// www.rcep.org.uk.

- Campaign to Protect Rural England, website: www.cpre.org.uk




Top 10 Energy Tips
1. S1. Set your thermostat at between 19 and 21° C. Every 1° C above this adds 10% on to your fuel bills.
2. Remember to turn lights off when leaving a room. It's a myth that florescent tubes use more energy to switch them on than they use when they are on. Switch them off when not required.
3. When the TV is not in use, turn it off rather than use standby. To find out how much your TV and other appliances use when they are left on standby use our calculator.
4. Don’t overfill the kettle for just one drink, but remember that with electric kettles the element always needs to be covered. Jug kettles need less water as they have smaller elements.
5. Replacing ordinary light bulbs with energy saving ones will use around a quarter of the electricity. To find out how much you could save use our light bulb calculator
6. A hot water tank jacket costs only a few pounds and can pay for itself in energy savings within a few months.
7. Don’t leave the fridge door open for longer than necessary, and try to avoid putting warm food straight into the fridge - wait until it has cooled down.
8. Wait until you have a full load before using the washing machine, or use the half-load or economy programme if your machine has one.


Source: http://www.tvec.org.uk/Energy_tips.asp
http://www.carbon-savers.co.uk



Evident cultural divide:

A shared heritage corrupted by increased burden for the poor
A yawning differential that corrupts respect for law
Behold a house divided distressed by burden long
By burden unremitting in the service of the strong.

Do you favour for the future where the carrot leads the law
One beholden to the dollar with scarce reverence for the poor
One where those who pose as victor can present at every chance
To pursue their self advantage. once again to self enhance?

Where silence is coerced the price paid by the free
To give succor to those privileged to preserve their destiny
To promote the healthy margin, those corrupted terms of trade
That are fuel to power of market, raw consumption, early grave.

One reads resource as bounty, those riches for the fair
As prized in heat of conflict, from unworthy heir
A bounty for the righteous who can by scheme and plan
Redistribute to the needy and the others of their clan

Yet for others wealth is nurture, an investment made with care
A building for the future, provisioning that’s fair
Through thought more for the morrow, than mere avarice today
A sacrifice of self, less a debt to be repaid

But for the future with wealth, resource more rare
And with ever increased number, how then will seek the fair?
Can still they hope through conflict to prosper, cause supreme?
Or make common cause with others to craft a new Shared Dream?

The Dream to husband Eden to restore to Life, her cloak
To rebuild the forests verdant and oceans sapphire, that bespoke
This world that Man in childhood has so torn with disregard
With new equity of purpose for a melding of the shards

Comments, Guardian