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Nigel & Pip's Climate Change Concerns

• Message 1. 

  Posted by rutharcher (U10623131) on Sunday, 9th December 2007

  I keep expecting Nigel and Pip to realise that the best fastest way to reduce CO2 emissions is to stop consuming meat and dairy.
  
  The Archers was set up as an educational programme for farmers and the general public. I would like to see this tradition continue with lively, (shocking) and informative programmes putting the case for veganism now.
  
  I think that both Nigel and Pip should decide to become vegan, then the issues could be aired on both sides. It would be a very likely outcome considering the concern that each of them shows. I attended a huge march and demonstration in London yesterday which included a considerable number of vegans who having the evidence are no longer able to consume animal products.
  
  The arguments are compelling:
  
  The meat-intensive diets of the developed world contribute to global warming, deforestation, desertification and water pollution.
  
  Global warming is predicted to have devastating effects, some of which have already begun. Climate change, sea level rise and loss of plant and animal species are just some of the possible consequences of increasing global temperatures. Methane is one of the three 'greenhouse gases' thought to be the main source of the problem. 16% of methane caused by humans comes from farmed cattle. The most problematic greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, produced when fossil fuels are burned to provide energy. Production of plant foods uses less energy than production of animal-based foods, so contributes less to climate change.
  
  Forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate - not just for wood, but also to provide land to graze cattle and to grow food for cattle. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that total forest loss in the 1990s amounted to an area larger than Venezuela. Forests are home to millions of species, which can become endangered when they lose their habitats. Trees also absorb carbon dioxide, so fewer trees mean more global warming.
  
  And it's not just the land that suffers. Every year farmers in the UK spread about 80 million tonnes of animal manures and other organic farm wastes on to the land as fertiliser. Much of this runs off into nearby rivers or streams, endangering the health of fish and other animals in the area.
  
  At the demonstration yesterday one speaker, an MEP made the point that giving up meat and dairy has a vastly greater effect on carbon emissions (20%), than flying (8%) or driving a 4x4 (8%).
  
  The planet belongs (is on loan) to all of us not just those who control the purse strings.
  
  I know that you will open the biggest can of worms by doing this story, if you do it right you will be able to say that you were there at the forefront of the most important issue ever.
  
  We can save the planet with our knives and forks if you are willing to be brave with your pen...
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by smarttedebear (U3614285) on Sunday, 9th December 2007

  Quite so ruth, couldn't agree more. However, that particular storyline you suggest is not going to happen, I fear. Neither is a storyline about a carer looking after an Alzheimers sufferer who is not a millionaire and have relatives at their beck and call; nor a storyline about a person living on their own; nor a storyline about a totally nasty person who just happens to be a stalwart of the church.
  I for one would love the storyline you suggest. It would bring a much needed dose of realism. And to all those who say TA is not meant to be realistic, unfortunately it is. If not, why are some storylines embarked upon with such a fanfare? eg. the gay wedding and the Peggy as carer story.

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by rosietonthemove (U2260932) on Sunday, 9th December 2007

  We've had Shula turning vegetarian (not for long): Lucy Perks being an activist (then selling out): Kate being The Only Green In The Village (and she left the county to end the storyline). Pip using a computer to track someone's energy use, er, that uses energy, innit? And she's just so desperate- and flat-sounding, she'd never inspire anyone to join a movement, Nigel is a dabbler, he does not stay long with any of his brainstorms.
  
  I fear Ambridge really is the village of the damned...
  
  [Bring Back time Order]

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by aeroDellboy (U5186879) on Monday, 10th December 2007

  Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:31 GMT, in reply to rutharcher in message 1
  
  Well said! The only thing is that Governments won't embrace this because there is nothing for them to tax.

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by bob larkin (U2297537) on Monday, 10th December 2007

  
  
  Could be.
  
  I read the suggestion that HMG (well the Treasury) despite all lip service about persuading people not to use cars so much, getting them on to trains (which is why rail fares always outstrip inflation!) etc. etc. in actuality can't accept a drop in taxation from petroleum products so do sweet FA.
  
  Sounds outrageous, but fits the facts.
  
  (Why don't they tax aviation fuel?)
  
  bob

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by Urban 'Reg' Chronotis (U2338993) on Monday, 10th December 2007

  Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:32 GMT, in reply to smarttedebear in message 2
  
  nor a storyline about a totally nasty person who just happens to be a stalwart of the church. 
  Oo, that's a good one! Although, now that Joan Sanderson is no longer with us, I'm not sure that anyone else could quite do it justice!
  
  Reg

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by theImprobablyNamed (U7123337) on Tuesday, 11th December 2007

  Actually it was Lizzy (nee Archer) who was a vegetarian (not for long) - one holidays when she came home from school, aged about 13 or 14.
  

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