SWRDA's Greening Progress - Invites James Lovelock to Talk

south west | local government | news report Friday March 06, 2009 10:34 by SWRDAwatch - SouthWestWatch

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Following dropping airport expansion grants from its operations (due to the fact it looks a bit diodgy supporting airport expansion while peaching the low-carbon mantra) the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) is going further into the green with the high-profile lecture at the Festival of Ideas by Gaia-guru James Lovelock.

Yes, after spending £22 million of our money on expanding airports (http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688786) SWRDA decided back in July '08 to stop supporting the expansion of any more - and instead concentrate on 'greening' them.

Dan Oakey from the South West Regional Development Agency said: "We won't be investing in further airport expansion across the region. We will be investing our money in greening airport operations." He also said that airports are very important to the South West, contributing £420m to the economy and over 8,600 jobs. Andrew Mitchell from Cornwall County Council, which owns Newquay Airport, said the policy change would "absolutely not" affect plans to expand the airport in order to double the number of passengers it serves and make it profitable. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7503349.stm

This does beg the question how much support airports should get at all from the public purse? Airport opperators are still pushing the 'it's important to the economy' line despite the fact that the cheerleading of SWRDA for airport expansion ground to a halt when internal documents revealed even they didn't know if there was a business case for them ("there remained a concern about the assumptions underlying the forecasts. It was widely agreed that passenger air duties and fuel price rises would inevitably have an impact on growth forecasts." http://www.nobristolairportexpansion.co.uk/files/swrda_...8.pdf)

To keep its green-image push, SWRDA is the sponsor of a talk by James Lovelock;

One of the world’s greatest scientists James Lovelock is best known for Gaia theory, the most useful way of understanding the dramatic changes happening to the earth. The Vanishing Face of Gaia is Lovelock’s warning about the terrifying environmental problems we will confront in the 21st century. The earth as we know it is vanishing, moving inexorably to a new, hot state. That we can ’save the planet’ by reducing carbon emissions is, Lovelock says, nothing but a sales pitch: the earth, as it always has done, will save itself. It is up to us to survive. http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/?p=240#more-240

Controversially, Lovelock came out in support of nuclear power (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/james....html) - given that the SW is a prime site for nuclear expansion (http://stophinkley.org/) is the talk part of a long-game strategy by SWRDA to soffen public opinion up for more nuclear power (and waste)?

Our investigations continue...

Related SouthWestWatch articles;

'Scuse Me Gov'nor, Could we 'ave our £22 million quid back?
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688786

'Small Is Beautiful' Meets 'Big and Quango'
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688761

Is SWRDA Going Nuclear?
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/689078