Conservatives Stubb out Climate Change?

These are strange times in which we live. Ray Stubbs, a former credible sports presenter, is singing karaoke in front of millions on Fame Academy. At the same time, David Cameron, the leader of the conservative party in the UK, is trying to get back into power by running counter to usual Tory philosophy and arguing for HIGHER taxes on airline fuel. In both cases, there seems a smack of desperation by trying to persuade an increasingly fickle public to vote for their particular approach. The fundamental problem with the conservatives' ideas is their complexity - each passenger will be allowed one short haul flight per year without the higher tax as well as an VAT exemption for business travel - but the bureaucracy required to manage the scheme will allow loopholes and dodges for the usual beneficiaries of such schemes (i.e. those with the money to outmanoeuvre the rules).

In fairness to the Tories, personal flight allowances are but one of several options being considered. But they should be taking their traditional stance and rather than meddling, should be looking to market based solutions such as carbon trading. This is one area where the Prime Minister elect, Gordon Brown, actually has stealt a march by publicising the idea of a World Carbon Trading market being based in London.

Financial organisations lead the way

A recent article in computing magazine reported on the initiatives undertaken by the likes of HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide to be more energy efficient. HSBC is piloting virtual boardrooms across the world from June 2007 in a bid reduce both the cost and the environmental impact of air travel – a flight to New York is equivalent to 1.2 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. Amongst other initiatives is the drive by both Nationwide and HSBC to encourage customers to stop paper statements and complete all banking online. As an avid online banker I find the convenience of paying all my bills and transferring money part of my everyday life and would be severely inconvenienced without it.

However, I am still guilty of receiving my paper statement every month and will continue to do so as there is some part of me that thinks this big IT system containing all of our information will one day fail and I will have to rely on my trusty paper statement to remind me who and what I pay every month. This leaves me asking myself the question, “am I a laggard” for not wholly embracing e-banking? The argument becomes more compelling when I realise that I didn’t know what blogs, mash ups, and flickr were until January 2007. Moore’s admittance in Crossing the Chasm that he too falls into this category when adopting personal technology offers me slight solace (that and the fact that when I read on in the article, the take up of online statements is less than 18%)!

Having diverted slightly, I want to finish my blog by telling you all that the article also taught me something I will think about as I leave the office every night – switching off the lights will provide enough energy to make 1000 cups of tea. Maybe I will educate my colleagues by advertising this at the door, on recycled paper of course!