Oh misery, it’s been a bad couple of months for the climate change lobby with a series of happenings that have done much to undermine the evidence on the effect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They say things come in threes.
Firstly back in November last year there was ‘emailgate’, the University of East Anglia email hacking affair which was widely reported as indicating that evidence on global warming had been manipulated by scientists to support the climate change argument.
This was followed by reports in early January that claims by the United Nations climate watchdog, IPCC, that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035 was false. Finally stories appeared in the media later in January reporting that IPCC (yes them again) was warning that global warming might wipe out 40% of the Amazon rainforest. This also turned out to be ill founded and the threat originated from a study relating to logging activity and not by a change in rainfall resulting from climate change as claimed. You would think these august bodies would make sure of their facts!
As if all that wasn’t bad enough only yesterday it was reported that the rather grandly named Independent Climate Change Email Review set up to investigate emailgate has lost one of its members who has been forced to resign over questions about his impartiality.
All this just undermines the whole climate change argument and the belief in the detrimental effect that emissions of greenhouse gases are having on our environment. It is no wonder that something like 40% of the population do not accept that the way we behave has any effect on the climate.
You may well ask does this matter? Well I think it does because whether or not you accept that the way we pollute the atmosphere is affecting the climate the argument for reducing GHG emissions is still sound. Just think about air pollution and the effect it has on health. People living in badly polluted areas suffer greatly from respiratory problems and benefit from moving to areas with cleaner air. Who remembers the infamous smogs of the 1950s when many people died? Smokeless fuel in highly populated areas has solved that problem.
The undeniable fact is reducing emissions can be good for business and the household budget so get on and cut your energy consumption and you will save money. That makes sense whatever you believe.
The big news in the last couple of weeks is the Government consultation on the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. In case this has not come across your radar there is something in this for everyone from small households to large businesses. It is not about ‘if’ but ‘how’ you can make money. By taking the right approach to your energy requirements you can actually generate an income. There is quite a lot to it but if you are thinking about installing or changing your heating system or if you are in any way connected to the energy business check it out, RHI may be for you.