Cambridge Chat (previously New Cambridge Students Entry 2004)

Jacob, it IS a free country.

Last term, I met Jacob for coffee. We went to Indigo and he was well behaved.

Random question, Visesh- do you know Devan, a Clare Fresher Compsci?

He reckons he really shouldn't be here- he's only just got a computer () and keeps doing himself down.

just...

Hmm when I saw this thread title I couldn't think what I had done. And then I read your post and I decided that perhaps Reuben might not have been the best person to tell!

Yeh I joined the tory party which does seem a bit strange after having worked for the greens and done all the protest marches and all that malarky. But at the end of the day my main concern is the environment. If we have a look at all the parties we can come to these conclusions:

Greens: Obviously have a great environmental policy and some very talented people there but unfortunately it has to be the worst organised group of people I have come across.

Lib Dems: on the face of it have a good environmental policy. However when you start looking at the local level and what some people say you have to wonder. The head of the Lib Dems in Norwich (where is a fairly strong green contingent) "Norwich should use as much fossil fuels as they can, as they are running out, and Norwich will miss out on its fair share." I got sick of their two faced policies and the do what I say not what I do attitude of their councillors. And also some of the crpa they put out in leaflets, I have never seen such manipulation of statistics. Plus lynne featherstone really bugs me.

Labour: well we don't have to go there, see Monbiot article on the stuff: http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/09/20/a-world-turned-upside-down/

BNP: Have actually a rather good environmental policy, but obviously not the party for me.

Respect; Well recent events have proved what I thought. I was green party campaign manager in bethnal green and bow and I didn't like a thing I saw about this party. They were rude and agressive to our members, to the extent where we stopped allowing people to canvass in less than groups of three, one of which must be a man. And we had it far easier than Labour did. Also his statements on how he would like to see the return of the chimney stack etc etc puts me off.

Tories: David Cameron is making the right noises on environmental policy. He has spent 10 grand on turning his own home into amore environmentally friendly house, which is more than all the other leaders put together. A lot of local tory councils are making the right steps, not all of them obviously but the one nation tories tend to be extremely green. Also, with regards to the Monbiot article, unfortunately the tories are the only party that can tell big business what to do without fearing being called antibusiness. I still regard the whole enterprise with a degree of scepticism but if people don't join up with the same ideals as he is talking about then it won't change and the Tebbits will reclaim the party. Also in my defence Zac Goldsmith, editor the Ecologist, the leading environmental magazine, has joined. No one can accuse him of not being extremely radical. He is heading up their environmental policy group now: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1656656,00.html

My political views have not changed that much, just as I'm sure Zac Goldsmith's haven't. Given that there are signs of positive feedback in the environment now with the Siberian peat bogs leaking carbon like there is no tomorrow we will soon, if not careful end up having to agree with bjorn lomborg's thesis that its cheaper to protect ourselves against global warming rather than try and stop it. Becuase it will be impossible to stop. We are rapidly reaching the point of no return, unless we have (as some scientists increasingly suspect) already hit it. Given the circumstances I felt it was best to do something, rather than just sit in the political wilderness like I have been. And its not like I've done it for personal gain. My ex girlfriend pretty much equated me to a baby killer and a lot of my ex colleagues in the greens are aghast and I've had an earful from a number of people at cambridge. Including long drunken debate with your brother and a slightly shorter one with Sal - "You are no son of mine any more" was the jist of it (inthe college sense jsut in case anyone is wondering!). If I genuinely didn't believe it was the best move then I wouldn't have bothered to deal with all the people having a go at me for it.

Incidentally let me make a plug for http://www.climateprediction.net/index.php This is basically a website designed by a few universities for the reason that predicing climate change takes up a lot of computer power and so it allows individuals to download modules and let their computer process it. It only runs on full memory when you aren't using your computer and chunters along when you are using it. The easiest way to help save the planet.

i know him! (well, kind of, friend of a friend, who teases him mercilessly for not having had a computer)

Actually, a CompSci can get away without a computer for 4 terms... then he must have one.

Hmm when I saw this thread title I couldn't think what I had done. And then I read your post and I decided that perhaps Reuben might not have been the best person to tell!

.

why? what do you do that you can no longer do using a pwf?

It's better a tory than a BNPer.

Your name is Greg?!
I dont know why i always thought you were a girl....

Looking merely at Cameron's 'noises' on anything is naive, and extremely shortsighted. You have to take into account the environmental implications of his fundamental politics, and the inherent inability of his ideology to ever provide a general solution to environmental problems (and any solution HAS to be universal). Unless you are of the opinion that he is changing the Conservative party's politics in general (the way Blair changed Labour's), then aiding the Conservatives is a betrayal of social and environmental issues, in favour of degenerative Capitalism.

Umm I think not. Misguided or not the planet would be in a much better state if they ruled the world rather than neoliberal organisations like the WTO, IMF who pay scant regard to the planet.

As for a universal solution to environmental problems, small is beautiful. There may have to a (near) universal consensus that something must be done. But what must be done will be different in different areas, depending on a large number of factors (ie alternative energy usage)