Sheffield Telegraph Column - 40th Birthday

This article was written for the Sheffield Telegraph for publication on 9th October 2014

As a two year old child in 1974 my attention wasn’t focused on the OPEC oil crisis, nuclear testing or the energy shortages caused by the 3 day week. But for Jude Warrender and other concerned residents, these issues inspired the birth of Sheffield Friends of the Earth. During my childhood, the group successfully campaigned to clean up our rivers, save endangered wildlife and protect peat bogs. Motivated by their work, some 18 years later, I joined the group so I could protect bees and support clean energy. Now, 40 years on from the inaugural meeting, we are hosting a party at The Showroom to celebrate our achievements.

The first part of the evening will look at our victories which have created green jobs and more solar power. I’m sure our campaigns to fit catalytic converters to cars and removing lead from petrol has improved the quality of Sheffield’s air. There’s progress too with the ozone layer – it seems to be recovering after we campaigned to phase out CFCs in the 80s. 

We’ve played our part in transforming recycling from a fringe to a mainstream activity. In the 70s we went from recycling 7 tonnes of glass per collection to providing a door step recycling service in the 80s. We couldn’t have done this without the help of Barney the horse from Heeley City farm and later an electric milk float. In 1989 we helped Sheffield to become an official “Recycling City” with collections to around 3,300 homes by a social enterprise. In the noughties, collections were rolled out to all households because we had successfully encouraged our politicians to pass the Household Waste Recycling Act.    

After my home was devastated in the 2007 floods I was pleased to see that our Big Ask climate change campaign had persuaded the government to introduce the 2008 Climate Change Act which requires the UK to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.  

It’s impossible to mention everything we have done, so why not join us on Thursday 16th October to find out more? It’s a unique opportunity to hear Friends of the Earth’s national director, Andy Atkins, who is joining us to give his vision for the future. The finale will be letting our hair down and celebrating the last 40 years with live music and a party. To purchase tickets or to find out more about our work see www.sheffieldfoe.co.uk 

PRINTED ARTICLE

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/columnists/forty-years-of-changing-the-world-1-6884857 

Environment group celebrates 40th birthday with a gala party

Sheffield Friends of the Earth Press Release

For immediate release
Contact: [Shaun Rumbelow, campaigner, 99999 999999 or xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx]

Environment group celebrates 40th birthday with a gala party

Sheffield Friends of the Earth will celebrate 40 years of environmental campaigning by hosting a gala party at the Showroom on Thursday 16 October from 7.30pm until 11pm.

Jude Warrender, founder of the group in 1974, will start the evening by talking about the group’s work during the 1970s and 1980s.  Shaun Rumbelow, a member since 1992, will continue the 40 year review from the 1990s to the present day. Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director, Andy Atkins, will finish the presentation by looking at what the future has in store for both people and planet.

Jude Warrender said “It’s amazing that 40 years on, the group I set up is still actively campaigning to protect the environment in Sheffield and around the world. We have helped to transform recycling into a mainstream activity and we’ve managed to persuade people not to buy goods made from endangered wildlife.”

Shaun Rumbelow continued, “I was in a pram when Jude set up the group in the 70s so I’m looking forward to finding out about the group’s early history. We hope ex-members and the general public will be able to make it to the event as it will be a fascinating journey looking back at many of our successes from helping to clean up Sheffield’s rivers and improving our air quality to introducing new laws to reduce our impact on climate change.”

The party will continue with a buffet and live music from a local folk band and “What 4” a cappella quartet. The Showroom bar will be open for drinks.

Tickets (price includes buffet) cost £10 and must be bought in advance by 10th October. Full details are available on our website www.sheffieldfoe.co.uk

ENDS

Notes to editor

1. Sheffield Friends of the Earth was formed in February 1974 by Jude Warrender.

2. More information about our 40 years of campaigning can be found in the Star’s Retro feature. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/nostalgia/retro-a-friend-in-need-to-city-for-40-years-1-6433723

3. Background information for Andy Atkins, Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director.  http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/friends_of_the_earth_appoi_18032008

4. More details about the event can be found on our website www.sheffieldfoe.co.uk or http://sheffieldfoenewsletter.blogspot.co.uk/p/40th-birthday-party.html

5. Pictures of our group’s activities from the past 40 years are available on request.


PRINTED ARTICLES

Sheffield Telegraph - Thursday 18 September 2014

Turning up the heat on Sheffield

Press Release:  23rd March 2013

Turning up the heat on Sheffield - Voters get the chance to ask their energy questions

Sheffield residents braved the adverse weather conditions to attend a public meeting at The Circle on Rockingham Lane yesterday evening. They were invited to put questions to Clive Betts MP (Labour), Cllr Joe Otten (LibDem) and a panel of speakers, Simon Bowens (Friends of the Earth), Craig Jackson (SYHA LiveGreen) and Emma Bridge (Sheffield Renewables), about rocketing fuel bills, green jobs and climate change.

The event, on the theme of ‘Energy we can all afford’, was organised by Sheffield Friends of the Earth in collaboration with Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change.  It comes as MPs debate the Energy Bill in Parliament to determine how the UK sources its electricity for the next generation – as households feel the pinch of winter energy bills.

Maureen from Sheffield Friends of the Earth said: “Increasing costly fossil fuels and poorly insulated homes in Sheffield are driving climate change and making it harder for people to afford fuel bills – but there is an alternative.

“The Government should switch the UK to clean British energy from our wind, sun and waves, and use money raised from carbon taxes to better insulate our homes – this will stabilise bills and create new jobs across South Yorkshire.

“Clive Betts has agreed to back an amendment to the Energy Bill so that it includes a target to clean up our electricity by 2030 – this will give renewable energy firms the confidence to invest.  We also need Nick Clegg to back this amendment in line with Liberal Democrat policy.”

Jenny Patient and Lauren Dixon of Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change very ably chaired the meeting.

For more details of the meeting see: www.sheffieldfoe.co.uk

Contact details:

Maureen Edwards

Coordinator of Sheffield Friends of the Earth

4 Rainbow Way, Sheffield S12 4BJ

Tel: 0114 2511764

Mobile: 0750 239 7110

e-mail: med4u@hotmail.co.uk

Simon Bowens (Friends of the Earth), Craig Jackson (SYHA LiveGreen), Cllr Joe Otten (LibDem), Clive Betts MP (Labour) and Emma Bridge (Sheffield Renewables)

Craig Jackson (SYHA LiveGreen), Cllr Joe Otten (LibDem), Clive Betts MP (Labour) and Jenny Patient (Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change) 

Cllr Joe Otten (LibDem) and Clive Betts MP

Letter: To Frack or not to Frack

Maureen has written a letter about the lifting of the ban in Lancashire and the tax subsidy. The Sheffield Telegraph published it on Thursday 10th January under the heading of 'Question of frack or not to frack'.

To Frack or not to Frack?

Fracking has raised its head above the parapet once more, not only because the ban has been lifted but also the taxpayer is to subsidise it. So once again Cuadrilla will be allowed to Frack rocks in Lancashire near Blackpool. So what is ‘Fracking’?

Fracking (or ‘fracturing’ in full) is the exploration and extraction of coal bed methane, shale oil or shale gas. Hydraulic fracturing uses pressurised fluid to free trapped gas. Wells are drilled and the fracking fluid injected into them under high pressure to crack the rock. This can cause minor earthquakes and requires huge volumes of water. It is thought that the fracking process could potentially introduce harmful chemicals into the water table and therefore into the water supplies for the city and surrounding area.

The government says this could lead to lower gas prices but the fact is that Fracking is an expensive process. There is a glut of gas in the USA at the moment so low prices are leading to Fracking wells shutting down. Gas production in these wells drops off sharply after a few months. After a year, it may be down 75% and after 18 months, it may be down 90%. Refracking or drilling another well will then have to take place to continue supply, incurring greater cost. It is therefore not about having one well in the locality but there are new wells popping up year on year. It is estimated that following the ‘Dash for gas’, which entails generating much of our electricity from gas, will lead to at least a £600 increase in our fuel bills due to carbon tax and increased gas prices.

That aside the global scientific community is in agreement that our current level of greenhouse gas emissions will lead to catastrophic results for every person on the planet. These results are already being seen. The ‘Dash for gas’ can only escalate UK emissions.

Surely the answer to our problem is to invest in renewables, which could impact heavily in Sheffield with its engineering base providing jobs and leading the way in this growing market. The opposition to wind turbines may be solved by community projects where locals profit from the development rather than the large energy companies. While this may involve investment now the rewards in free energy will increase year on year and we won’t be drowning in the mire!

Sheffield could be asked to give licences to companies for the exploration of coal bed methane. Sheffield Climate Alliance has started a petition to make Sheffield a ‘Frack free zone’ which may be found on their website: http://www.sheffieldclimatealliance.net/. I hope you decide to say ‘no’ to Fracking and sign the petition. For more information go to http://frack-off.org.uk

Yours sincerely
Maureen Edwards

Sheffield Friends of the Earth

Press Release: Paul Blomfield MP endorses Sheffield Friends of the Earth’s call for more green jobs

PRESS RELEASE: Paul Blomfield MP endorses Sheffield Friends of the Earth’s call for more green jobs

Paul Blomfield MP endorses Sheffield Friends of the Earth’s call for more green jobs. He agrees that ‘Green is working’ - recent figures from the Green Alliance show that there are almost one million jobs already in the low carbon-sector.

We are calling on the Government to block the Chancellor’s expensive dash-for-gas, which would see us hooked on costly and dirty imported gas and undermine investment in renewables. Instead the Government should use the Energy Bill to develop more home-grown clean power from our wind, sea and sun, which boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.

Sheffield Friends of the Earth spokesperson Maureen Edwards said:
“Green is working – while the UK struggles in a double-dip recession the low-carbon sector is growing, paving the way to new jobs.

“Many more jobs and business opportunities could be created here in Sheffield if Ministers give the green light to renewable energy.

“We want Nick Clegg to make sure that the Government resists George Osborne’s attempts to keep Britain hooked on costly foreign gas.

The majority of the public want their homes to be powered by clean British energy from our sun, wind and sea.”

Paul Blomfield, MP for Sheffield Central, said:
“I’m backing the Green is Working campaign and want to see the Government put much greater emphasis on creating green jobs. By doing this we can rebalance our economy away from the City of London and tackle climate change at the same time. 

“Investing in clean renewable energy the UK would create thousands more green manufacturing jobs. The Government could also create green jobs by doing more to improve energy efficiency in homes, buildings and transport systems.”

A Populus poll commissioned by Friends of the Earth in September revealed that 72% of people in Yorkshire and Humberside think that the Energy Bill should give a high priority to renewable energy.

The Bill is being debated in Parliament from this November and will determine how the UK is powered for the next 20 years.

Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to include a target to green UK electricity by 2030 – as recommended by the independent Committee on Climate Change.

ENDS



Notes to editor:
1. The Green Alliance report ‘Green economy: a UK success story’ is available to download from:
http://www.green-alliance.org.uk/grea_p.aspx?id=6629 

2. Populus interviewed over 2000 adults in Great Britain between 19 and 21 September 2012. The poll for Friends of the Earth showed that 72% of people in the UK think the Energy Bill should give high priority to renewable energy (72% in Yorkshire and Humberside).

3. Government figures released in September showed that over three quarters of the public (77%) back renewable energy for providing our electricity, fuel and heat. For more information see http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/stats/6410-decc-public-att-track-surv-wave2-summary.pdf .

Letter: Oil Companies and Climate Change

Letters Page Article to Sheffield Star (February 2004)

Oil Companies and Climate Change

At a time when the world’s leading scientists are warning of irreversible climate change, the oil industry is paying professional lobby groups to damage the reputation of respectable scientists and down play climate change. These actions may have something to do with Shell and ExxonMobil making a combined annual profit of over 22 billion pounds.

Forward thinking oil companies should stop distorting the science of climate change and instead start investing significant amounts of their profits in to clean and renewable technologies as some companies and countries have started to do.

Norway, having realised that its own oil reserves will run out in the near future, is looking to use wind power to generate hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be stored and converted back to electricity when there’s no wind. Alternatively, the hydrogen could be used to fuel the transport sector. At the moment, London has three experimental hydrogen buses emitting water as the only emission.

Solar power offers another solution to reducing our dependency on polluting fossil fuels.
In California, there are plans to have one million homes producing solar power within the next ten years and researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a new technology to make solar power more efficient.

If the oil industry were to invest billions every year in alternative technologies rather than attacking scientists, maybe we would have a better and cleaner world to live in.

Letter: Time for action on climate change

Letters Page Article to Sheffield Star (February 2004)

Time for action on climate change

On February 16th the Kyoto Protocol comes into effect. This is the only serious international attempt to address the problem of climate change and aims to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases through a series of targets for each country. Scientists now estimate that we may pass the point of no return in as little as ten years, at which point a significant rise in global temperatures is inevitable and the risk of abrupt, accelerated and run-away climate change increases. The time for action is clearly upon us, so what are we doing here in Yorkshire?

Our region has a target of a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2010. Yet according to the environment agency emissions in this region have increased by 1% on the 1990 level. This is unacceptable, we must do more to accept and address our responsibility for what the Government’s Chief Scientist has said is a greater threat to the world than global terrorism.

What can the people of Yorkshire do while we wait for our politicians to get their act together? Here are a few simple suggestions:

· Don’t use Robin Hood International Airport when it opens, but holiday in the UK instead. Aviation already accounts for 3% of greenhouse gas emissions and is predicted to rise to 15%.
· Use the car less: avoid unnecessary journeys, cycle or walk for short trips. Transport is the fasts growing area of greenhouse gas emissions.
· Support local wind farm applications. Wind energy is one of our greatest resources – let’s use it!
· Change to a “Green Energy” tariff that is recommended by Friends of the Earth, such as Good Energy or Green Energy 100. This promotes the use of renewable energy sources, such as wind and biomass.
· Don’t waste energy: insulate your house properly, turn off lights and electrical equipment when you don’t need them and use low energy light bulbs.

These simple changes won’t cause you any great hardship and may bring some unexpected bonuses: less time stuck in traffic jams, lower bills, and a chance to discover our beautiful country!

Previous generations gave us great legacies, such as freedom, democracy, the NHS and the welfare state. Climate change will be our legacy to our children, unless we act now.