Press Releases for 2004

FIGHT FUEL POVERTY AND GLOBAL WARMING

1st January 2004

Every winter, about 170,000 households in Kent will have difficulty keeping warm (1). Each winter, between 24,000 and 49,000 people die in England and Wales from the cold and damp conditions in which they live. Our record concerning avoidable deaths in winter compares unfavourably with far colder countries like Finland and Russia (2). Steve Dawe comments:

"The British record for tragic, avoidable deaths in winter has been appalling. Gradually, through initiatives like the Kent Health and Affordable Warmth Strategy, local authorities are beginning to address the issue of 'fuel poverty'. However, partly as a result of Government spending too much of our taxes at the centre, local authorities are severely restricted in their resources. We would all like to see more of our taxes spent locally to prevent deaths from fuel poverty by ensuring that the poorest homes are well-insulated. Addressing this serious problem also allows us to cut the emissions which create global warming (4).

"These are arguments for the creation of socially and environmentally valuable jobs throughout East Kent. We should be employing more people to provide energy conservation advice and to insulate homes and enterprises. We should be ensuring rapid development of renewable energy technologies(3) to replace old and inefficient power stations. But is the political will available?" ENDS c217 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, 01233 645167 or 07904 382203. Contact address: 10 Hillbrow Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 4QH.

Notes:
1. Kent Health and Affordable Warmth Strategy Kent Energy Efficiency Partnership (Kent's 13 local authorities), p.4.
2. John Carvel 2500 will die unnecessarily this week, Met Office warns The Guardian, 23rd December 2003.
3. See this problem in a European context: Renewable Energy, public spending and the Euro www.eastkent-greenparty.org.uk under 'Europe'. See also the likely impact of global warming on the South East: Global Warming, local warning Dr Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for the South East Region: www.carolinelucas.org.uk
4. Understanding Global Warming by Marion Walter

When the Sun's rays reach the earth, The earth warms up. Much of this heat used to be radiated back into space BUT now the heat cannot escape like it used to because the heat, instead of escaping into space, is reflected back to Earth. Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and certain other gases in the atmosphere prevent this radiated heat escaping.

Carbon dioxide comes mainly from the burning of fossil fuels coal, oil and petrol and gas something we are doing more and more of as we travel in cars and aeroplanes, and expect central heating and sometimes nowadays air conditioning.

So the earth is warming up and the carbon dioxide acts like the roof of a greenhouse and actually prevents this heat from escaping hence the related term 'the Greenhouse Effect.'

The effects of this Global Warming are serious:

* Ice caps melt so land in coastal regions becomes more liable to flooding
* Weather patterns are disrupted so some regions become more drought-prone while others experience more storms and higher rainfall

The solution is to cut down on the use of fossil fuels and develop alternative sources of energy e.g. harness the wind for energy as proposed off the coast at Whitstable or harness the Sun's energy for our hot water and central heating through the use of solar panels instead of generating electricity with coal or gas.

There are also other ways of supplying energy which do not involve the burning of fossil fuels.

The Kyoto Agreement 1997 - An Agreement designed to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the world's atmosphere.

38 developed countries have now signed up to the Kyoto Agreement. The nations signing up agreed to reduce their contribution to global warming by 2012 by reducing their output of carbon dioxide.

But the largest producer of carbon dioxide, the United States of America, refused to sign. It is reckoned that at least 25% of the carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere comes from this country. As a result Russia and many others did not sign up.

For more information see 'Global Warming' by F. Pearce published by Dorling Kindersley (Essential Science Series) or see policies on Climate Change at www.greenparty.org.uk/policies and the Global Commons Institute site: www.gci.org.uk

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