TEQs update - 20 March 2013 - Our ignorance is not so vast..

[Shaun Chamberlin]

Copied from the TEQs mailing list:


Our ignorance is not so vast...


As yet another high-profile report (this time from the European Parliament) concludes that "the transition to a post-oil society is inevitable", the dominant response to the tripling in oil prices over the past decade seems to be the desire to move to even more carbon-intensive fuels, such as coal, tar sands and methane hydrates.

Meanwhile, as new satellite data confirms that Arctic sea ice volume has reduced by 80% since 1980, voices as unexpected as U.S. Forces Admiral Samuel Locklear - Commander of America's military in the Pacific - are stating that climate change is the greatest threat we face, and the UK public are strongly supporting activists who go head-to-head with the big energy companies in protest at the emissions produced in supplying our electricity.

A little joined-up thinking would go a long way. It is clear that we cannot continue scraping the barrel of dirtier and dirtier fuels - that we must instead accept the need to curb our energy demand, and strive to do it in the fairest, most equitable way possible.


The new TEQs team - be a part of it?

With this in mind, our big news is that we are looking to ramp up our advocacy for TEQs.

A new Board has been formed (although we are still seeking one or two additional members with complementary skills), and we plan to bring in new staff over the coming months. Full details on these organisational developments in the next update, but if you might be interested in an internship with us, take a look at this piece inviting interest, that went up today on the Sheila McKechnie Foundation's Campaign Central website.


Academic research

An excellent working paper was forwarded to us for discussion by Suryapratim Roy and Edwin Woerdman of the University of Groningen Faculty of Law, examining the legal nuances of implementing TEQs or, as they term it, End-User Emissions Trading. It has since been published in the European Energy Law Report (IX), which presents an overview of the most important legal developments in the fields of EU and national energy and climate change law

The team at the Centre for Sustainable Energy have also produced a new series of papers looking at the likely social distributional impacts of UK energy and climate change policies, including one on "personal carbon allowances". They are critical of the government's fiscally regressive current policies which disproportionately benefit the richer members of society and, in line with their prior work, they find that PCAs could play a key role in a more progressive policy solution that would not disadvantage the poor.

Also of interest is this informal interview between perhaps the UK's leading climate scientist, Prof. Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre, and one of our leading climate/energy activists, Rob Hopkins, creator of the Transition Towns movement. Both are long-time advocates of TEQs, and the scheme is discussed towards the end.

I should also mention a rather disappointing report put together by The Carbon Trust and the Coca-Cola company, which showed little awareness of the existing work in the field.


Other publications

Outside of academia, the New Economics Foundation's second 'New Home Front' report (commissioned by Caroline Lucas MP) featured a 600 word piece from me on TEQs, and I also contributed a chapter - "The Struggle for Meaning" - to Pluto Press' book What We Are Fighting For: A Radical Collective Manifesto (out now), discussing TEQs within the wider context of shifting cultural stories. Finally, we are in touch with the Zero Carbon Britain team as they prepare the third in their series of important publications, which have been advocating for TEQs since 2007.


Events

Although we were unable to participate directly this year, the European Resource Cap Coalition met in Spain from the 1st-3rd March to discuss the practicalities of politically implementing caps on energy/resource use. We look forward to discussing the outputs.

We have also been invited to participate in CCS13: the 2nd International Conference on Complementary Currency Systems in the Netherlands from 19th-23rd June.


Bonus link

I recently happened across the best explanation of global energy/population I've ever seen, with real, deep historical perspective. It's from the legendary geoscientist M. King Hubbert, and I'm not sure whether it's inspirational or depressing that someone could see the issues now shaping today's world with such clarity, back in 1976. It's well worth a watch, either way. As he himself put it "Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know".

Thanks, as ever, for all your support and encouragement,
Shaun Chamberlin
--
TEQs Development Director
The Lean Economy Connection
www.teqs.net

TEQs Facebook group
TEQs LinkedIn group

"TEQs have long been Green Party policy, as we believe that we need a fair and transparent system to reduce energy demand and give each person a direct connection to the carbon emissions associated with their lifestyle. The TEQs scheme would guarantee that the UK's targeted carbon reductions are actually achieved, while ensuring fair shares of available energy."
- Caroline Lucas MP, Vice Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil

[emordnilap]

As yet another high-profile report (this time from the European Parliament) concludes that "the transition to a post-oil society is inevitable", the dominant response to the tripling in oil prices over the past decade seems to be the desire to move to even more carbon-intensive fuels, such as coal, tar sands and methane hydrates.

Nice line; I'll remember that.

[woodburner]

Another petition type website. Stir the population, unfortunately there are many already, why do we need another one? What is to be gained when everybody is revolting?