tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35299834.post4922020815124263082..comments2023-12-18T17:08:57.450-08:00Comments on Kev's Climate Column: Blue Peter emailsKevin Listerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243536863193796008noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35299834.post-8199095489593865892008-12-23T12:51:00.000-08:002008-12-23T12:51:00.000-08:00Dear Anoymous, as you may be aware the telegraph a...Dear Anoymous, <BR/><BR/>as you may be aware the telegraph also reported on our complaint to Blue Peter, I followed this with a follow up article, but they have not printed it, but so you can fully understand where we are coming from, I include it below:<BR/>-------------------------<BR/><BR/>Plane Stupid were surprised but delighted to see the complaint that we made to the BBC about Blue Peter's report on Terminal 5 published in this paper and several others. We were however, less than impressed with the on-line comments on various web sites suggesting that any critique of Blue Peter was akin to blasphemy. This somewhat misses the point. <BR/><BR/>The complaint that we made to the BBC is not just about Blue Peter, and most definitely is not about the young people in Plane Stupid complaining about a children’s programme; as a 46 years old and firmly of the “parent generation” I am not actually a regular viewer of Blue Peter. Instead, the complaint goes to the heart of the wider response that our society needs to make to address climate change and the conflicting messages it receives. <BR/><BR/>Runaway climate change has now started and our response to it will be the defining issue that will face us today. Feedback mechanisms that were merely academic hypotheses 10 years ago have activated and are accelerating the process of global heating. The Arctic ice cap will soon be gone, and well ahead of schedule. When this happens the earth will absorb more heat from the sun than is currently trapped by all the CO2 we have released. Methane releases have started in the tundra and sea surface temperatures are rising inhibiting the oceans ability to absorb CO2. These effects will trigger more feedback mechanisms, the implications of which we can not hope to understand even with the most powerful computer simulations. <BR/><BR/> <BR/>Despite this desperate situation, full discussion of the impacts of these changes and our responses are obscured with political correctness and conflicting statements leading to an approach that focuses on the small and easily deliverable, and avoids addressing the biggest problems. Not only is this delusional, it is dangerously delusional by giving false hope. <BR/><BR/>And this is where Blue Peter falls in the trap. On one hand they report on small and easily deliverable initiatives such as solar powered cars, yet on the other hand completely avoid the implication of the aviation industry on the environment with reports such as their recent one on Terminal 5, which was presented as if climate change did not matter. This is a hugely conflicting and cruel message to present to our young people. <BR/><BR/>The BBC's dismissal of our concerns by saying that "the report from Terminal 5 was just showing the facts and figures of the baggage handling system that young viewers would find impressive," shows how limited their thinking is on the responsibilities entrusted in them. There is no doubt that the baggage handling system is an impressive piece of technology, but then so is a production line of cigarettes. There would be howls of protest about Blue Peter giving free advertising to the cigarette industry if it were to do a similar article in cigarette factory. However, the BBC are unable to appreciate that a similar uncritical report on Terminal 5's features is not free advertising for BAA; a company which is as morally bankrupt as the cigarette industry given its continued habit of lying to cover the environmental damage it is causing. <BR/><BR/>Any hopes that we have of tackling climate change will vanish if we fail to persuade the wider population that a complete change in consumption and expectations is a necessary prerequisite for our survival as we strive to achieve the 80%cuts in CO2 necessary. To achieve this change our media and education system need to be fully focused on what is needed, and not to present the contradictory messages that many people are currently receiving. <BR/><BR/>Tony Blair came to power on a promise that his three priorities were education, education and education. But he never said what education was for. Was it so our young people can develop into good consumers and producers that could compete against the rest of the world, or was it so our young people can develop into responsible stewards of the planet? These two objectives are mutually incompatible, one leads to destruction and one to survival. Until our media and education system, which includes programmes such as Blue Peter, works out which one of these is the most important, contradictory thinking will continue to roadblock progress. And where there is contradictory information, the aviation industry and others will always be able to exploit it with billion dollar advertising budgets. <BR/><BR/>This is the reason why Plane Stupid members sent complaints to BBC. It is part of our third demand to stop advertising for the aviation industry, both explicitly by companies, and implicitly by placements in other medias such as education sites. It is this advertising that is leading to our societies self-destructive response to climate change.Kevin Listerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11243536863193796008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35299834.post-71764680888968741352008-12-23T11:21:00.000-08:002008-12-23T11:21:00.000-08:00Wow, you're clearly nuts!Wow, you're clearly nuts!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com