Extinction Rebellion - For or Against or on the Fence — Scope | Disability forum
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Extinction Rebellion - For or Against or on the Fence

GettinOlde
GettinOlde Community member Posts: 495 Pioneering
Considering the possible adverse effects that reducing pollution, particularly that caused by cars, aircraft, etc., are you ...
For or Against or on the Fence
Have a read of this before you make your choice ...
https://e360.yale.edu/features/air-pollutions-upside-a-brake-on-global-warming

Resident joker - not to be taken too seriously ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Extinction Rebellion - For or Against or on the Fence 5 votes

For
20%
KittyTinker 1 vote
Against
40%
redchicken43easy 2 votes
On the Fence
40%
April2018momGettinOlde 2 votes

Comments

  • GettinOlde
    GettinOlde Community member Posts: 495 Pioneering
    edited August 2019
    On the Fence
    Had one of those Extinction Rebellion rallies going on right outside my window today.


    Resident joker - not to be taken too seriously ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,586 Disability Gamechanger
    edited August 2019
    With the evidence we currently have, I agree we need to do more to reduce pollution.  The article linked above doesn't change my mind on that...I'd need to see more evidence first.

    However, I don't agree with the Extinction Rebellion at all.  They don't have any answers, they're just out to cause trouble and disruption.  If they had come up with suitable and sustainable ideas, which the government then ignored or dismissed, I would be with them to an extent, but they haven't.  I also don't see how disrupting the general public is achieving anything at all, while we can all make small changes, it's ultimately down to the government and major corporations to offer us something different on a large scale, those people won't be affected by this is any way.  Personally, I hate the amount of plastic I use but until the supermarkets give us another option there's very little I can do about it.
  • pollyanna1052
    pollyanna1052 Community member Posts: 2,032 Disability Gamechanger
    The article is too long for me to read all at once. Plus I`m not so good at taking in so much information. I dont mean to sound disinterested in the topic...but I will do my bit to conserve and use less plastic. I have a drinking glass, with a screw on lid and a plastic straw. But it`s one I can wash and re-use for a very long time.It has no BPA content, so wont slowly poison me!

    When it comes to mass public demos, I`d keep clear.....if trouble starts I can`t get away in a wheelchair like others.


  • GettinOlde
    GettinOlde Community member Posts: 495 Pioneering
    edited August 2019
    On the Fence
    @OverlyAnxious The image above is taken from the balcony of my maisonette where I have lived for more than 20 yrs. It shows the main London to Bristol trunk road that runs through my city and is purportedly one of the most polluted areas in the UK. The image does not do it justice in regard to the volume of traffic it can carry, which you can see is being blocked at the crossing to the supermarket in the distance.
    Over 20 yrs living on this road and no related breathing problems [yet].
    Resident joker - not to be taken too seriously ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,586 Disability Gamechanger
    Over 20 yrs living on this road and no related breathing problems [yet].
    That's an interesting point, although of course everyone is different.  It always surprises me just how many people still smoke in their 80s and 90s, having done so for 70+ years, without any major breathing problems!  Yet people with asthma only have to sit on a dusty cushion and they're struggling to breathe!

    My late Nan moved into a town centre sheltered flat from a countryside cottage a few years ago.  Her breathing problems got much worse with the windows open in the flat so she had to keep them closed.  Although the road wasn't hugely busy, a lot of taxis used to park along it and leave their engines idling for several minutes at a time waiting for fares.  That was probably the first time I'd seen the effects of vehicle pollution directly.  And that's just one road in one town...  I never could understand why they didn't just switch the engines off while waiting, but I am very careful with wasting anything I've spent money on, especially diesel at £1.30 a litre!

    There are of course other issues as well as the carbon and particulates, NOx is a major issue currently, causing damage to buildings as well as humans.  NOx is at it's worst when idling or light load cruising...all these ultra-efficient combustion engines we produce now are adding to it instead of reducing it.

    I'd be more than happy to drive an electric car...if they were affordable, practical and the infrastructure was there, but it isn't.  I live in an upstairs flat like yourself, so would have nowhere to plug it in for a start.  And then there's the issue of range...and having to wait ages for it to charge again. Currently 5 minutes at the petrol station gets me about 600 miles worth of fuel!
  • Birdsnbees
    Birdsnbees Community member Posts: 75 Pioneering
    I wanted to add to this discussion in my local city where the protest took place the bus and traffic routes were changed and there was probably more pollution caused by the extended diversions
  • GettinOlde
    GettinOlde Community member Posts: 495 Pioneering
    edited August 2019
    On the Fence
    My council announced plans to introduce a Clean Air Zone around the city centre and its fringes. The idea was to charge private cars £9 and HGVs/coaches £100 to enter or cross the CAZ in any 24hr period. This meant anyone who resided within the zone could not avoid the charge at all and anyone outside the zone couldn't get from one side of town to the other without creating rat-runs in outlying areas; some, like myself, would have had to make a large detour just to get to the local hospital.
    The only way to avoid the charges would be to upgrade your vehicle to comply with the new emissions legislation if you could afford it, but fortunately, a petition forced the council to drop plans to charge private vehicles.
    Resident joker - not to be taken too seriously ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • veriterc
    veriterc Community member Posts: 241 Pioneering
    One problem re demos is often over:  the cost to local residents in paying for policing (on our rates) and the fact it takes scarce police resources stretched to their limits away from fighting crime.  I used to approve of demos, thinking everyone had a right to an opinion;  now I just wish they didn't cause me to be late for work, cost me money and mean when my purse is stolen the police can't investigate because they are busy on the demo!
  • redchicken43
    redchicken43 Community member Posts: 48 Pioneering
    Against
    I honestly think they are well meaning but the shear amount of disruption this causes looses them a great deal of sympathy. I can only image the amount of stress shop owners must feel when nobody is coming in to buy anything, not to mention the strain that it puts on the already over stretched police. The reality is simply that all governments have to work with manufacturers across the whole spectrum from foods packaging to car production to bring in meaningful legislation to force companies to change, as unless it effects their bottom line then they are unlikely to do anything.
  • veriterc
    veriterc Community member Posts: 241 Pioneering
    As you say, they are well-meaning, but friends who live in Westminster and other 'popular' places for demos are having their lives disrupted, losing money, and no police available - but furious because they are still paying police.  E.R. should take a leaf out of Countryside Alliance March - Police were astonished how well-behaved everyone was;  couldn't believe that there was no litter (Marchers cleared it up themselves) and I am sure it was at weekend so caused least amount of disruption - but tried to avoid streets with shops. E.R. has caused friends who live in London to abandon work - and must have lost a packet. 

Brightness