Posted by Matt | Posted in Environment | Posted on 04-08-2010
Eco homes map is a new website that I’m setting up.
Eco homes map aims to provide a useful resource for people thinking about making their homes more environmentally friendly.
There are many options available for improving the energy efficiency of your home and for generating renewable energy. However, it’s difficult to know what would be best for your particular home. Would a wind turbine really be a good idea? Which type of solar panels should I get?
One of the best ways to answer these questions is to ask the people who have already taken the plunge. Preferably, someone nearby. Hence, this site.
Do you have an eco home?
If you have attempted to make your house a more environmentally friendly home, then I’d like to hear about it.
Go to eco homes map (www.ecohomesmap.org.uk) and fill in the eco homes form with as many details as you wish, including any pictures and where you are, and your eco home will appear on our eco homes map. If you are happy for people to contact you, either directly or through eco homes map, then please say so.
Posted by Matt | Posted in Worcester Politics | Posted on 03-06-2010
The Worcester News reported that six Worcester schools are being considered for lower speed limits outside their gates. The campaign by local residents and the Worcester Green Party to get 20 mph speed limits in their area looks like being successful.
There seems to be broad support for these reduced speed limits. However from reading some negative comments on the Worcester News website, I think it is important that people understand the bigger picture behind reduced speed limits.
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Posted by Matt | Posted in Climate change | Posted on 16-05-2010
Ben Goldacre, on his Bad Science blog, discusses some research into the effect of corrections on formerly held beliefs. The worrying outcome of this research is that for some people a correction, rather than changing their mind, actually makes them firmer in their belief. For instance:
conservatives who received a correction telling them that Iraq did not have WMD were more likely to believe that Iraq had WMD than people who were given no correction at all. Where you might have expected people simply to dismiss a correction that was incongruous with their pre-existing view, or regard it as having no credibility, it seems that in fact, such information actively reinforced their false beliefs.
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Posted by Matt | Posted in Politics | Posted on 16-05-2010
With the coalition government nearly a week old, the question many people are asking is if this is the start of a new politics. A full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats took most commentators by surprise, including myself. The key to the coalition forming was the agreement to have a referendum on the alternative vote. Both parties moved away from their chosen positions to compromise on this. It will upset a large number of their own members, as has been seen by those leaving the Liberal Democrats to join the Green Party or the Labour Party.
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Posted by Matt | Posted in Politics | Posted on 08-05-2010
The Liberal Democrats have a difficult choice to make over this weekend. Do they:
- Form a coalition with the Conservatives
- Form an agreement with the Conservatives to work together in some areas, but stop short of forming a coalition
- Form a coalition with the Labour Party
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Posted by Matt | Posted in Politics | Posted on 08-05-2010
With the general election result now in, this is the start of a new kind of politics. One which is less adversarial and more cooperative. The two main parties’ are losing their grip on the political landscape of Great Britain. It is highly likely that at future elections no single party will manage to gain an outright majority. The question is, should this be viewed as a bad thing?
My answer would be that it shouldn’t. It must be seen as an opportunity for politics to move away from the type of politics typified by Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, to a politics of debate, negotiation and compromise. Most other countries seem to manage this, so why can’t we?
