Helen And I Were Out Walking On Arran Today. We Walked Part Way Up Glen Rosa. A Lovely Glen And A Lovely

Space and the city

        BUY land, advised Mark Twain; they’re not making it any more. In fact, land is not really scarce: the entire population of America...

We did a really fun hill walk today. This is Tinto Hill from the Wiston side. The walk was around 5km with 450m of elevation gain.

WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

The place I would most like to visit is Patagonia.

During today's swim there was a downpour. The raindrops on the water made for a fascinating sight. #RWSABC #inverclyde #greenockesplanade #Greenock #openwaterswimming #downpour (at The Royal West of Scotland Boat Club)

Thoughts on Prague

We just came back from a break in Prague. We had a good time by walking around a lot, eating & drinking and being with each other. Given my interest in dome cities what would I take away from the visit to guide me about my dome city design. This is a list of things go liked about Prague and I would hope that these things would be available (if required) in a dome city. 1 - Great walk ability 2 - green space easily accessible from the city centre 3 - affordability 4 - friendly and honest people 5 - good public transport 6 - a lively centre in the evenings with plenty of entertainment, bars and places to eat I will discuss these things more in future blogs.

Reflections on Scottish Independence as set out in "A Green Yes"

On September 18, 2014 Scotland will vote whether or not to become an Independent Country.  Currently I am reading the White Paper issued by the Government of Scotland titled "Scotland's Future".  I am about 45% of the way through it and expect to reflect on it once I have finished it.  Currently I am undecided as to how I will vote.  That is why I am reading "Scotland's Future".  

The Scottish Green Party supports Independence and they have issued a document which sets out their main reasons for supporting Independence.  This blog is to reflect on this document.  

Extracts from "A Green Yes" that I like:

Whichever way Scotland votes, the referendum will leave some people celebrating, and others deeply dismayed. It’s vital that celebration does not turn into divisive triumphalism. The result will be far more readily accepted by the losing side if the winners act with respect and a constructive spirit; that will be as difficult for some as losing would be. (page 4)

Oil and Gas

Some still make the case for a Yes vote with tired old slogans about “Scotland’s oil”. Even if there was no environmental consequence from burning fossil fuels, Scotland’s remaining reserves would only offer an economic future for a few more decades. Greens want an independent Scotland to be successful far longer than that! 

But the hard truth, for all fossil fuel nations, is that we can’t even afford to burn what we have. The world has far more fossil fuel in existing reserves than can safely be used, if we’re remotely serious about preserving a liveable environment. So as well as opposing new extraction from deep-water oil drilling, opencast coal, and unconventional gas technology such as fracking, we need to leave a great deal of our oil and gas in the ground, or support a more diverse range of petrochemical uses which don’t involve greenhouse gas emissions. 

Scotland has the skills to do that, and with the usable portion of oil and gas funding public investment in renewables to replace future revenue, we have the opportunity to make this transition rapidly. The UK will only ever see North Sea oil as a revenue source; Scotland could see it as a springboard, taking us from reliance on polluting and finite energy sources to the cleantech of the future. (page 6) 

The document "A Green Yes" has the following section titles:

A Green Yes

Could Westminster Deliver?

Will Holyrood Deliver?

Transition

Developing a Constitution

Parliament and Democracy

Currency

Ending the 'Tyranny of Big'

Oil & Gas

Welfare

Closing the Wealth Gap

Peace & Security

Employment

Immigration/Asylum

The document is quite short, only 8 pages long. From reading this document the main points that I take away are:

They remind us that the White Paper sets out the current Government of Scotland's view on what should happen post independence but that post independence these policies would need to be decided democratically by whichever parties form a new government.  To that end they state, "The development of a written constitution should be led by a new constitutional convention, to be established before the end of 2014, with political parties involved but not in sole charge.  

"A Green Yes" suggests that the Government of Scotland should have a "Plan B" with regards to currency because in the longer term they expect Scotland to have it's own currency and as an interim measure having a "Plan B" would improve the negotiating position of the Government of Scotland when discussing a Currency Union with the Rest of the UK.  

"A Green Yes" recognises that if every other oil producing nation in the world takes the view that it is their right and duty to produce every barrel of oil then there are significant implications with regards to climate change.  Based on the above extract they seem to have a realistic view that Scotland will not shut down the oil wells the day after independence but are suggesting that after this Scotland should be striving to leave the oil in the ground and using what oil is produced as a springboard to "Cleantech of the future".  The document is silent on Nuclear Power but I am not optimistic about the ability of the Scottish Green Party to embrace nuclear power.

"A Green Yes" has a strong emphasis on reducing inequality.

"A Green Yes" reminds me that when/if Scotland becomes an Independent Country that the expectations set out in "Scotland's Future" are uncertain.  The future is like that.  I would expect that some of the things that Government of Scotland wants will not come to pass or will only be achieved with greater than expected cost.  Other things will go better than expected.  If we want certainty we are in the wrong world.  

I am still undecided about which way to vote in the referendum.

You can find "A Green Yes" at:

http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/11/Green-Yes-document.pdf

You can find "Scotland's Future" at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/11/9348

The Economist | Land-shackled economies: The paradox of soil via @theeconomist

A view from The Clyde during today's swim. High tide at 13:00. Entered water at 13:10. Swam by myself. 422m in 15m50s. Fresh westerly breeze Force 5. 6 minutes out and 9 minutes back against the waves. Water temperature 9.9 degC. (at Greenock Esplanade)

Europe: Carnivore Paradise?

Bears, wolves, lynx and wolverines are flourishing in Europe, largely in humanized landscapes and not in parks. Can North America learn from the “coexistence model” that characterizes the continent’s approach to conserving big carnivores?

Tonight was the first night of Open Water Swimming at RWSABC. A beautiful evening with sun, clear sky and no wind. We swam in the direction of the Battery Park. The tide was coming in so it was a hard swim out (35 min) but fast (15 min) coming back.😊