@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

thecommongreen

@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot

Head of Policy and Research -
@Common_Weal
.
Wrote a book - http://tinyurl.com/AllofOurFutures
Used to play with lasers.
All of Us First.

Contact: craig@common.scot

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

Parenthetically: I run a blog, and I regularly get emails from grifters who want me to publish their "content" for ... reasons?

Anyway, until late last year it was all cryptocurrency, all the time. Then the cryptogrifters went dark. Can't think why.

Well, I just had my first "please publish our essays about why ChatGPT is great and you should invest in AI" spams. Which, predictably, seem to be wri…n by ChatGPT ...

Tulip bubble time, folks.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@cstross This was essentially my realisation with the crypto bubble.

"We're free from banking regulations" meant "We're going to do ALL the things that they did in the 1600s that led to those financial regulations."

Every safety rule is a monument.

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

How about an extra 5% VAT on all goods sold in mixed-materials packaging?

How about an extra 5% VAT on all goods sold in non-recyclable packaging?

How about an extra 5% VAT on all goods sold in non-standard bottles and jars?

How about an extra 5% VAT on all goods sold with labels stuck on with non-water-soluble glue?

So that's an extra 20% for non-recyclable mixed-material non-standard bottles with bastard glued on labels...

Packaging would get sorted QUICK.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@peterbrown @simon_brooke @susandye As a general rule, ScotGov is quite constrained when it comes to creating new taxes (They need WM agreement and WM is /supposed/ to err on the side of agreement but recently...)

However, they have almost unlimited power to give new taxes to Local Authorities so long as the revenue is collected and retained by the LA.

This requires ScotGov to trust LAs though and, if anything, their track record on meddling with "downstream" powers is worse than WMs.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke I could quibble on the technicals (Semantically, is VAT the best tool given that non-compliance technically means subtracting from the value of the product as it pertains to a Circular Economy?) but yes, this. Producers must be regulated and taxed into the Circular Economy.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@peterbrown @simon_brooke @susandye One slight quibble from my oil boiler though. Last year when I was replacing my oil tank, I took the chance to upgrade the boiler to be biofuel compatible. Easy to do, just a couple of widgets to replace in the burner and filter.

Can't actually buy any biofuel mind you as noone in Scotland supplies it...

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke Agreed and no matter what we call the tax it'll do that. I'm in favour.

The "free market" we have only exists so long as Producers are able to dump their pollution costs on someone else (and that goes for emissions all the way down to uplifts of our grey "recycling" bin). This can no longer be allowed.

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

"Democracy may possibly be a good system of governance – I don't believe representative democracy can be, for reasons I shall give below – but we don't know, because at least in the English-speaking world, it's never been tried"

New essay by me, On representative democracy, and citizens' assemblies

https://www.journeyman.cc/blog/posts-output/2023-08-12-on-representative-democracy-and-citizens-assemblies/

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke On the direct question however, we know what a Citizens' Assembly on climate is capable of because we've done one and it produced some of the strongest consensus for some of the most radical climate policy that's ever been seen in any democracy anywhere.

(Just a pity the Government decided they knew better and largely ignored it)

https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20220321134004/https:/www.climateassembly.scot/full-report

thecommongreen, to Energy
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

My article in this week's @common_weal newsletter.

Why has the Scottish Government handed devolved powers over heat regulation back to Westminster?

https://commonweal.scot/giving-back-power/

gerrymcgovern, to random
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

We have defined the wrong problem.

It's not an energy production problem. It's not about to EV or not EV.

It's an energy and materials consumption problem. We consume vastly too many materials and too much energy and produce vastly too much waste, because we have societies captured by the Growth Death Cult.

The Culture of Growth is the problem.

It is a cultural transition we require to degrowth societies.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@hembrow @simon_brooke @pebcak @gerrymcgovern Aye. PLA is biodegradable but not compostable. It'll break down in a high temp bioreactor. Unless it is in one though, it's just as much of a pollutant as most other plastics.

(which is a good argument for community bioreactors...)

thecommongreen, to climate
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

My column in this week's CW newsletter.

If "It's Scotland's Oil", then it's also Scotland's responsibility. Here are some suggestions for devolved powers the Scottish Government could use if they truly believe that Sunak's new oil licences should be blocked.

https://commonweal.scot/its-scotlands-responsibility/

thecommongreen, to random
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

Three philosophies that aren't outright climate denial:

Green Transition - Inequality remains but we reduce carbon.

Green Deal - Here's an insulation loan. It's your fault if you don't change.

Green New Deal - A collective solution to climate change AND inequality.

http://robinmcalpine.org/the-three-philosophies-which-arent-climate-change-denial/

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

You can read @common_weal's Green New Deal blueprint here:

https://commonweal.scot/shop/downloads/e-book-the-common-home-plan/

thecommongreen, to Podcast
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

New Policy Podcast!

This week, I talk to Ellen Joëlle Dalzell about the Scottish Government's new citizenship White Paper.

https://commonweal.scot/podcast/the-common-weal-policy-podcast-episode-177/

thecommongreen, to UKpolitics
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

Of the 49 megatonnes* of oil and gas extracted from the UK in 2020, 38.3 megatonnes (78%) were immediately exported. This new Tory plan isn't about helping the UK economy. It's about enriching their mates on the back of the climate breakdown.

*unit used intentionally. It's both accurate and climate breakdown is at least as big a threat as nuclear war.

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

"The electric bicycle is a game-changer, much more significant than the overhyped, expensive and insufficiently green e-car: global sales of e-bikes are projected to reach 40 million next year, compared to 9 million for electric vehicles. Globally, most trips are less than 10 kilometres, which e-bikes can cover within half an hour."

https://www.treehugger.com/stop-ignoring-ebikes-5324307

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@SiobhanVohn @simon_brooke This is precisely where I am too. Also can't afford to buy one.

My ideal goal is a local rental/community owned scheme and someone to fix the road out of the village so that it's not intentionally designed to kill cyclists.

In short: I want what Simon has and I'm exceedingly jealous.

https://thecommongreen.scot/2022/11/25/on-yer-bike/

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

@thecommongreen do you have any figures comparing the per-household capital and running costs of district heating schemes vs individual air source heat pumps?

Is a district scale heat pump (either air or ground source) more efficient than a domestic scale one? If so, by how much?

All these questions triggered by Robin's latest essay.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke One of the go-to comparison papers is here: https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/277910/1-s2.0-S1876610218X00071/1-s2.0-S1876610218304958/main.pdf

Short version: District scale pumps are more efficient but higher capital costs put the overall cost/MW at about 10% more than individual solution.

We believe that a strong national building programme would bring that capex down substantially though and other sources of heat (e.g. solar thermal) are cheaper still and can also be integrated into a heat network - i.e. they're more future-proof than home heat pumps.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke (A network driven by public works infrastructure can also spread the cost over space and time too so folk who can't afford a £6 grand heat pump now can still be part of a heat network)

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke Precisely. There's a lot of scope for a public energy company based on heat (thus avoiding the devolution restrictions on electricity), leveraging funding from SNIB, Public Works Loan Boards and other sources of finance. If it needs private funding on top of that...that's a second option to me but if need be, fine - so long as ownership remains as public as possible.

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke It's something we're already working on but I'd love your input especially from a rural community and collectivist angle. I'll send you an email next week and we can arrange to have a chat. (Or if you'd prefer a shorter or more inflammatory form than a formal policy paper, our weekly newsletter is always there)

thecommongreen, to science
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

I'm maintaining healthy and hesitant scepticism about the room-temp/ambient-pressure superconductor news (https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.12008)

BUT...if it pans out then, in the words of a friend, it's almost easy enough to make with Iron Age tech. It'd be a "Road Not Taken" type technological advance.

Also, the base material is Lanarkite - first discovered in Leadhills, just south of where I live.

thecommongreen, to random
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

My article in this week's @common_weal newsletter.

I agree with the ban on single-use vapes...but it won't ban the next single-use product to come along. We need to develop Circular Economy regulations that actively prevent such products from ever reaching the market.

https://commonweal.scot/single-use-policy/

thecommongreen, to LateStageCapitalism
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

Financial carcinisation.

Sooner or later, every sufficiently large business evolves into a bank or a landlord or both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSuByDys44M

thecommongreen, to random
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

My article in this week's @common_weal newsletter.

We appear to be the lone voice of dissent against the Scottish Government's plan to offer devolved tax cuts to Freeports...but only because they appear to have silenced trade unions and other activists (while keeping secret the views of the Freeports themselves).

https://commonweal.scot/a-deal-with-the-devolved-part-two/

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

The argument for , @thecommongreen, -- the ONLY argument for monarchy -- is that in medieval times, peaceful transfer of power from one regime to the next was extremely difficult, as Scotland has reason to know.

We no longer live in medieval times.

https://commonweal.scot/podcast/the-common-weal-policy-podcast-episode-175/

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke I watched a good documentary a few years ago that made the case that the history of Europe is entirely defined by the problem of succession crises.

(As we also know in Scotland, these can affect democracies too...)

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

@Eceni as a self-confessed tech bro, I'm loving the idea of larping in decision making, and I think the proposal is really interesting. But please, what value does add, to offset its disproportionate energy and consequently environmental cost?

Surely, we want to burn less carbon, not more?

https://pca.st/episode/69ae9284-64bd-4599-8da4-1ffa59fcedea

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@simon_brooke My thoughts on electronic voting from a few years ago:

https://thecommongreen.scot/2018/08/12/how-to-break-a-democracy/

thecommongreen,
@thecommongreen@mastodon.scot avatar

@peterbrown @simon_brooke They're pretty conventional off-the-shelf pencils, usually chosen for price rather than than anything else (you can buy them on ebay etc for a couple of quid a box). The real advantage of pencil is that, unlike ink, if you fold your ballot paper there's little risk of your mark bleeding over to another part of the page and voiding your vote.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • osvaldo12
  • DreamBathrooms
  • InstantRegret
  • magazineikmin
  • cubers
  • tacticalgear
  • Youngstown
  • khanakhh
  • slotface
  • rosin
  • everett
  • kavyap
  • thenastyranch
  • provamag3
  • Durango
  • GTA5RPClips
  • mdbf
  • tester
  • ethstaker
  • ngwrru68w68
  • cisconetworking
  • modclub
  • normalnudes
  • Leos
  • anitta
  • megavids
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •