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Consumers take one, carry it around for a bit, then drop it. Thin, disposable, flimsy, people pleasing, but ultimately rubbish, they never quite disappear. Why can't we have lasting, sustainable ones, well made, which achieve their purpose and deragade or last the course, helping people into the future?
Of course I'm talking about environmental policy.
The Chancellor's announcement that he will make supermarkets end the practice of dishing out free plastic bags next year is shallow and glib. The PM knows he's got a headline in the Daily Mail from where he most recently got wind to push this policy. It's an easy win, rather than a hard choice. Of course, in some ways, it is revolutionary because this Government is much against the introduction of anything that looks like direct action: that's why it prefers the Renewable Obligations Commitments to Feed In Tariffs, for example. That's all very well, expect that Germany, Spain and Portugal are jumping all over us in terms of percentage of renewable energy production. It's almost as though it is scared of actually achieving anything; of changing people's behaviour to make a difference. Perhaps it is, having fought hard to win its New Labour label.
But it's wrong on this. People want to be led in behaviour that makes a difference. As Paul King said, they want to be incentivised to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and their businesses, charge for the roads and put the proceeds into improving public transport they need stamp duty, rebates and all this other stuff; they might even need a carbon tax. They might need to understand the true cost of oil for energy, plastics and fertilisers, socially in terms of war and strife, financially in terms of dwindling stock and environmentally in terms of climate change. Perhaps people would like an excuse to end their joyless cycles of consumption and oneupmanship, a way out of the competition. On the other hand, green fatigue (same old stories and buzzwords) is growing and the time for implementing necessary and hard measures is ending. A cynic might suggest the Government realises this.
Like it or not, however, behaviours will need to change to achieve the required 60 or 80% reduction in CO2 and it is the Government who can legislate to make these changes. Darling and Brown missed the opportunity to rally the troops and lead us to victory in this most important fight.
Instead of policy for life, we got a cheap, flimsy, disposable item, that is right now blowing over the horizon looking for a leafless tree to get snagged on.
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