Carbon ration cards demanded

Published Date: 15 July 2008
By Jenny Haworth

SCOTS should sign up to the idea of emissions rationing in order to become a zero-carbon community, according to the scientist behind a radical new environmental campaign.
Dr Justin Kenrick believes climate change should be approached in a similar manner to living through a war – and our use of should be rationed in a similar way to food during the Second World War.The social anthropologist at Glasgow University said he believed the Scottish Government targets – to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 – do not go far enough, and we should aim to become a zero-carbon society.In order to achieve this, Dr Kenrick said rationing must start within 12 months. He is now preparing to launch a campaign, Holyrood 350, to encourage supporters to sign up to the idea and put pressure on government.Each adult would have an annual quota of carbon, and in order to go beyond that limit they would have to buy rations from those who use less.Every year, the annual quota would shrink, in order to reduce annual output by forcing people to lead greener lifestyles. A swipe card could be used to record use of carbon every time petrol or a flight was bought.Dr Kenrick said: "The idea is to put pressure on Holyrood to bring in measures to cut emissions dramatically. "What the government is doing is setting targets for the future. We need to have action now and the idea is to build a majority view."His campaign will be launched at The Big Tent festival in Fife later this month. Last year the festival, which hosts environmental debates about the future of the planet, led to the creation of Fife Diet, which has seen 300 people in the region take the challenge of eating only local food. Dr Kenrick hopes Holyrood 350 will meet with similar success, with many of the festival's thousands of visitors signing up. The number 350 was derived from a research paper by Nasa chief scientist James Hansen, which concluded that to avoid climate catastrophe, the amount of in the atmosphere must be cut to 350 parts per million (ppm) from its current levels of 385ppm.The idea of carbon rationing has attracted some political support. The all-party parliamentary group on climate change at Westminster has called for it and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, showed an interest in the scheme when he was environment secretary.What life would be like in an emission-free Scotland . . no meat, no flights, no fumesA ZERO-CARBON Scotland may sound like a futuristic dream, but the reality is that in some ways it would be a step back in time.There would be cutting-edge technology offering electric trains and buses and solar panels and turbines would be fitted to homes.On the other hand, life would mirror the past, becoming more community oriented, with fewer foreign flights taken, food grown locally and meat an expensive delicacy.Air travel to the United States would be out of the questions, as a return flight alone produces an estimated four tonnes of carbon dioxide. "Air flights are something we will look back on and say 'that was fun, wasn't it?'" says Dr Justin Kenrick, an academic at Glasgow University. Similarly, a car that runs on petrol would become a relic of the past – an average vehicle is estimated to produce 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.Instead, Dr Kenrick predicts there would be electric public transport systems. "You would probably need fewer roads," he said. "You could turn them over to gardens and allotments. It would be a much greener and healthier environment."A food shopping trip would involve a walk to a shop stocked with produce grown locally to reduce food miles.Less meat would be eaten, as livestock produces methane – a potent greenhouse gas – and takes up valuable space and resources that could be used for growing food and fuel. As a result, meat would become a delicacy rather than a staple. Smart meters would be used so households could keep an eagle eye on the amount of energy being used.Houses would all be insulated to the highest level, and heating and power would be provided by clean home energy kit such as solar panels, wind turbines, ground-source heat pumps and biomass boilers."The prospect of climate change can either paralyse us into inaction or radicalise us into taking action," he said."If we act, we can build a far better world. If we don't, then our species will become extinct. There is nothing to lose in taking rational radical action now."Dr Kenrick admits that becoming zero carbon is "impossible" but he added: "If it isn't done we are extinct, so we have to push for it now."He compared the need for change with the shift in attitude required to bring in votes for women or to abolish slavery."These things looked impossible at the time. It's one of those shifts which looks impossible within the current thinking."There's no way anybody is going to do this on their own. It needs collective action," he says.Dr Kenrick compared current events to a war situation, but with potentially worse consequences."One of the most difficult things about it is that when you look out of the window now it looks fine. It feels quite normal."If it was a war we would see things happening. But there's nothing to indicate the situation we are in. But the predictions are basically far worse than a war, because it is extinction of a species."As well as imposing carbon rationing for cleaner lifestyles, Dr Kenrick thinks the Scottish Government should increase funding for community projects to tackle climate change, building on the £18.8 million available in the Climate Challenge Fund.He also wants legislation to ensure that corporations have to put cutting carbon emissions ahead of shareholders' profits.