As world leaders make their Cop26 commitments, Westside business leader MIKE OLLEY explains why the worst-case environmental scenarios posed by the likes of Al Gore should be welcomed.
Al Gore said in 2009 that “the North Pole will be ice-free in the summer by 2013 because of man-made global warming.” Was that “inconvenient truth” a lie? Certainly, it may be a tad harsh to call Al a liar, yet it seems he certainly isn’t shy about exaggeration.
Just to be fair on Al Gore, www.politifact.com, a truth-searching web site, has determined that his suggestion about misinformation around melting ice caps is largely not one of his better moments. Check it out for yourself.
What does this mean for us who have been driving full on electric cars and riding a bike? Have we been conned by the likes of Al Gore, with outlandish, over-exaggerated claims, or lies? I do reflect on this, yet over the seven years or so I have had full-on electric cars and rode a bike, I don’t really care.
Watch and listen to a video version of this blog here:
I fully expect people to over-exaggerate. Indeed, such is the desire and self-delusion over their passion, I fully expect some green activists to tell blatant lies. It what most passionate people do: so engrossed in their “thing”, the truth often gets left outside.
Yet I would like to thank those in the green brigade who are liars and exaggerators. Because without them, I suggest we wouldn’t be saving the volumes of energy we currently are. Plus, it’s only going one way, it’s only going to get better.
Westside’s new tram is a positive green statement, as is the Clean Air Zone. Some lying and exaggerating went on there, I hate to report. But a state-of-the-art tram, and old, dirty, diesel-belching buses driven out into the suburbs. No bad thing for Westside.
Our pubs and clubs are doing their bit. I was talking to one landlord the other day and, just by turning to low the bottle chillers when they close, they are saving £4,000 a month on electricity.
Believe you me, the electric bill for a pub is incredulous when you compare it to a household bill. Stonegate, M&B, Wetherspoons and all the smaller and private pub companies in Westside are doing their bit. Looking to save the planet as well as a fair chunk of cash.
I can tell you that the thousands of lights on the wheel, rink, flyer and bar in Centenary Square are all run on state-of-the-art green engineering. The net result is they are only using one fifth of the electric they did five or six years ago.
Therefore, maybe Al Gore and the green brigade are silly exaggerating sausages, perhaps even liars. But bless them all, for at the end of the day it’s only doing good.
