Although the U.K. is often castigated by the Saint Greta of Thunderbird (you know, that wee Swedish school dodger sock puppet from Sweden) we (the U.K.) are phasing out coal powered power stations.
Between 1970 and 2017, sulphur dioxide emissions in Britain plummeted by 97 per cent. Levels of particulate pollution – such as soot – fell by 73 per cent, nitrogen oxides by 72 per cent and volatile organic compounds by 66 per cent. Ammonia emissions have been reduced by 11 per cent since 1980.
It ain’t just coal power we are gradually eliminating. Lead in road fuel was eliminated in the late 1980s and 1990s. Catalytic converters from the 1990s onwards have removed a lot of other pollution from cars too.
All car manufacturers have become far better at stopping gases from fuel to escape into the atmosphere.
I am sure there will be a few people reading this (few is the readership of my blog right enough) who like myself have memories of their dads warming up the car (Ford cortina in our case) in the late 1970s to run them to school and the reek of petrol they gave off. They no longer do so! So with such progress why does the fore-mentioned Saint Greta come to these isles to do her preaching? Here is an idea…get on your carbon yacht and set sail to China (with entourage and string pullers on a big jet to follow you)
But I do think you could actually put forward a good ethical argument for investing in coal mining and oil exploration, the black stuff has, directly and indirectly brought light, heat and comfort to billions of people worldwide over the last two centuries as well as allowing backbreaking toil to be largely done away with for most people in the advanced world( do a bit reading on the industrial revolution) Two hundred years ago working people could live their entire lives without leaving the parish they were born in now they can travel the world thanks to coal and the advancements it has created …bless these fossil fuels they have paved the way for the modern world none of which would have been possible without the burning of coal…without coal we may never have heard of Greta Thunberg.
Yet shouldn’t this wee Swedish truant be shouting her revelations and big licks with her “how dare you” in China as it is the world’s biggest polluter, responsible for 27 per cent of global emissions of greenhouse gases and that’s about to get worse with coal consumption is on track to increase this year by around ten per cent as is currently building new coal plants at more than 60 locations across the country.
But let’s also give them their dues which is that they produce more solar power than any other country (they are seeking to corner the global market in many green technologies) But fossil fuels still account for 85 per cent of energy used, and coal represents 57 per cent of that so let’s no get too carried away with saying China has green credentials which is about as popular across there as their human rights!
To out china’s coal use in a wee bit perspective here give they already have more than 1,000 gigawatts of coal power and another 105 gigawatts soon to be added. Britain’s ENTIRE electricity generational capacity is about 75 gigawatts…China now burns half the world’s coal.
Dear Greta, I don’t think you’d get the same attention (or your mammy and daddy get as much money) if you were to cry through your outrage in Tiananmen Square for frog faced Xi Jinping! But I dare you to go there Greta, I double dare you (that’s how I dare you)
Perhaps you may get ran over by one of his tanks… that may pollute the tarmac a bit with your blood and giblets but think of the cover of The Times magazine…surely that would get you a Post Humorous Nobel prize? …and the Tiananmen Square People's Liberation Army cleaning lady a headache untangling your ponytail braids from the tracks of the tank!
Mention it to your handlers Greta , it’s got a modern day Joan of Arc vibe to it … I am sure they could convince you … perhaps pull a few strings!
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