Friday, April 14, 2006

Paul Palmer, Green Party candidate in the forthcoming council election, has written to the Hebden Bridge Web and local newspapers complaining of Bernard Ingham's recent attack on local Green sympathisers, accusing him of meddling in the local election.

In the same issue of the Hebden Bridge Times that announces the candidates for the local elections, Bernard Ingham uses his column to make a vicious, unfounded attack on the Green Party and local Green community. I see this is a deliberate attempt to interfere with, and affect the outcome of, the 4th May election in the Hebden Bridge’s Calder Ward.

Bernard Ingham rubbishes green and clean micro-electricity generation. But here in the upper Calder Valley we are in an ideal position to take advantage of these technologies – both for the future of our planet and to bring worthwhile employment to our area. Kirklees are leading the way in Solar Electricity generation by outputting 1/20th of UK’s total PV electric capacity.

In a recent compilation of industry and here’s something for Mr Ingham to ponder over; official data published in June 2005 by Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) found that “micro power” worldwide has already surpassed nuclear power in both annual output (in 2005) and installed capacity (in 2002), and is growing far faster in absolute terms.

Bernard Ingham is employed by the Pro Nuclear lobby and attempts to deliberately mislead people by using comments such as “Greens are lifestyle wrecking”. His former boss, Margaret Thatcher closed the mines and moved electricity production to gas. This is why we are now net importers of Gas. And this is why our bills are going up by around 20% this year.

£100 billion is the cost so far to clean up old nuclear power stations. Just imagine if this money and all the rest squandered on the nuclear white elephant had been invested into sustainable technologies. Britain would be leading the world in fighting climate change. In the meantime, the government is intending to spend less than £50 million into research on wave and tidal power which some experts see as being able to supply up to 50% of all our domestic need if the will was there.

Bernard Ingham would like us to waste even more money on the nuclear option. Where are these going to be built? On the same coastal sites as existing plants even though climate change is almost certainly going to bring coastal erosion and the threat of sea level.

What about global security? Roger Higman, a climate change campaigner for Friends of the Earth has said, ”If we are going to be using nuclear to combat climate change, it will be impossible to persuade anybody else to reduce their emissions without giving them access to nuclear power... and that also enables them to build bombs."

Would Hebden Bridge Times readers be happy to have a Nuclear Power Station built in the Upper Calder Valley? Would Bernard Ingham like one to be built in Purley where he now lives? We have a choice here, a real green choice. Let us use it to embrace renewables and “micro power” generation, for example **; in 2004, 52% of the electricity generated in Denmark, 39% in the Netherlands, 37% in Finland, 31% in Russia, 18% in Germany, 16% in Japan, 16 % in Poland, 15% in China, 14% in Portugal, 11% in Canada (a mix of hydro, wind, solar, biomass etc).
(These figures are often omitted from many official statistics and projections)

The other parties are listening are all now adopting a “greener” agenda. Are they coming round to the “Green” way of thinking or simply moving into our ground due to fear of losing votes?

Bernard Ingham is trying to influence local politics, about which he now knows very little.Let’s show him what we think: vote for the “real Green option”.

From Paul Palmer, Calderdale Green Party

Also on the Hebweb

News: 2006 election candidates

Discussion: May election

John Morrison, Bernard Ingham and the Hebden Bridge Times

Question Time in Mytholmroyd - Bernard Ingham calls advocates of renewable energy "enemies of the people"

John Morrison's farewell to Hebden Bridge . . . and Bernard Ingham

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