黑洞社区

Plum Job

Some new hope for the New Year in the form of , San Francisco, a 13,500 settlement on a decommissioned naval base originally manmade from 18.3 cubic metres of sea bed, topped with loam.

An attempt to 鈥榮tart from scratch鈥� according to the director of the City鈥檚 Department for the Environment, the super-eco project will feature its own 220 acre ecosystem, street orientation optimised for solar exposure and a 60% reduction in carbon emissions from the current conurbation. There鈥檚 even a concentration on residential towers and an increase in density of eight to 75 units per hectare. Those Californians are nothing if not .

Plum line

"If you were told that you had a fatal disease and a doctor told you how to get better, but then an economist came along and told you that the cost of treating you would be too high so it would be better not to do anything - would you sit there and wait to die?鈥�

Emily Murgatroyd on critiquing the Senior fellow, Jerry Taylor after he said, 鈥渟cientists are in no position to intelligently guide public policy on climate change.鈥� Quite, Emily. It鈥檚 almost as cynical as the Sun鈥檚 .

Fruit corner

There are this week from the ever-entertaining Bollocks to Architecture, who, for our money, is one of the few commentators who says what鈥檚 on his mind whilst being entertaining and 鈥� sadly for us 鈥� usually right.

For 2008 he predicts more hot air from the Brown Government on sustainable homes (hey, he never claimed to be Nostradamus!) and suggests most of the hypocritical Cabinet鈥檚 houses would 鈥渇ail either the carbon test (鈥檆os they鈥檙e nice Victorian and Edwardian houses with solid walls and sash windows) or the design test (鈥檆os they鈥檙e ghastly developer 鈥榖oxes鈥�.)

鈥淎nd whose fault will it be when the Government鈥檚 absurd targets can鈥檛 be met? Why the long-suffering construction industry of course!鈥�

Meanwhile has a post-modernisty resolution 鈥� to stop writing to do lists. 鈥淚t gives me a headache trying to keep track of the Triple Bottom Line; the Three Main Components (and Four System Conditions) of The Natural Step; One Planet Living鈥檚 Ten Guiding Principles; the World Wildlife Fund鈥檚 Three Forms of Solidarity; the Copenhagen Agenda鈥檚 Ten Principles for Sustainable City Governance; the Framework of Eight Doorways of the Sustainable Schools Network; and the ten Hannover Principles promulgated by Bill McDonough.

鈥淓nough already?鈥� he asks. Certainly, Doors! You鈥檙e beginning to sound like .

And as the longest, craziest, election process in the world for good and proper, Craig Rubens of earth2tech offers a guide to the of each candidate.

Green Gauge Issue

Coal. It鈥檚 cheap, there鈥檚 loads of it and it鈥檚 dirtier than the outtakes from a Britney Spears video. In short, it鈥檚 the fuel that . But it鈥檚 not just that鈥檚 lumping it. This week, Kent鈥檚 Medway Council plans to build the UK鈥檚 first coal-fired power station in 24 years. There were howls of protests from Friends of the Earth and . Supposedly, carbon capture technologies hold the key to reducing coal鈥檚 impact on the environment, by storing the carbon underground. But the process has not been proven, takes up to 30% more energy and, is a plaster not a solution. No wonder that Brown is to veto the plans. At least German power group, E.ON is happy, although, peculiarly, it seems to think its for a Kent rambling association better merits a press release. It鈥檚 almost like they have no news sense whatsoever those silly PR people.