Archived copies of the article:
Just in case anyone jumps to conclusions and just reads the headline. This isn’t a response to the latest wave of protest crackdowns. JSO were always a group with one specific demand (it’s in their name) and that demand is now UK government policy.
We’ll never know how much a role JSO played in this, and they aren’t the most popular outside of environmental circles, but as a UK resident, I’m pretty stoked we have people fighting this hard to protect the climate. Hopefully we’ll see some of the same faces in newer groups and movements soon.
What is the policy? Unsurprisingly the media isn’t particular keen to highlight when labour do something positive
Labor have banned new north sea oil projects[1], combined with inland fracking being a non-starter this means no new oil projects in the UK.
If you’re looking for good labour climate policy, clean power 2030 is probably their flagship, they also announced a new national forest the other day, plus upped our international climate commitments at COP. Far from perfect, but easily a step up from the conservatives.
They’ve definitiy gained points from me here. I’m no fan of Rachel Reaves and the policies they implemented so far looked like a crossover between Lib-Dem and Torries.
Please. Just stop doing things that only impact the average person. Go bother the elites who actually pollute the world.
The vast majority of pollution is created by the vast majority of people. The impact of the ultra-wealthy is large individually, but small collectively.
Or rather, the vast majority of pollution is created by a relatively small set of companies on behalf of the vast majority of people in the world (or at least in certain wealthy countries.) I.E. oil companies which generate oil used to power plants that generate electricity and plastic that are used by ordinary people, whose options are restricted such that they are reliant on the set of companies generating pollution. Thus, people need to reduce their reliance on (and therefore usage of) said industries (which would stop operating (and thus polluting) if they were not used), but can’t do so without cooperation from governments that are often paid off by the corporations generating the pollution. The wealthy generate pollution corporately, not individually, most climate actions will necessarily affect the average person, because they will affect corporations whose actions have an unjust effect on the lives of the average individual…
But that’s not catchy
The average person in the developed world is an active part of the problem - not much out fault to be honest, we are (all here I assume) part of a social system and it’s very hard to live within limits when the whole country is functioning much beyond. Just by BEING in the UK your carbon footprint goes +1.5TonsCO2/year from public service and infrastructure emissions… (if you’re in Switzerland it’s 4+Tons)