Sunday 20 May 2012

Carbon Footprint

There is no truth in the rumour that global warming is caused by the many journeys undertaken by scientists to conferences on the greenhouse effect. Similarly the film crews criss-crossing the planet looking at climate change here, there and everywhere probably have had little to do with the overall problem.

Burning of fossil fuels is generally accepted to be the problem but the question of who is to blame remains. Yet perhaps we should look elsewhere instead of blaming the motorist, the airlines, and industry. Look back and we find the ecologists started warning us during the 1980s, a decade which saw the advent (at least in the UK) of firstly breakfast television, then daytime television and, all within six short years, live coverage of the Houses of Parliament.

While I'm not singling out the BBC, it is worthwhile taking a look at a schedule which includes Homes Under the Hammer, Car Booty, To Buy or Not to Buy, Cash in the Attic, Escape to the Country, and numerous other examples of supposed entertainment filmed in 'ordinary houses'. I have no doubt these progammes are highly entertaining for some, including a certain elderly relative who insists on 'having them on in the background for company' when I'm visiting. Yet such individuals would be just as entertained if the programme makers turned the bloody lights off!. In every room in every house (and in broad daylight!) every single light is turned on. Maybe once good illumination was required for the cameras but not today.

I'm sure if we removed every ton of carbon produced by Lorne Spicer and her myriad lightbulbs the planet would be much better off.

No comments:

Post a Comment