You don’t need me to tell you that the scale of the disaster wreaked by Hurricane Katrina that struck southern USA in August was probably the direct result of climate change. Somehow the US administration was able to turn an ecological disaster with global ramifications into a localised human tragedy - and not for the first time.
I am always amazed by the sheer achievement of humankind whenever I visit a large city. The inter-connectivity of the systems generally run like a well oiled machine. Little seems to stand in the way of human achievement. However, a favourite saying of mine is “Nothing for nothing” i.e. everything has a cost. Our wondrous achievements - civil engineering, technology etc. are booked out on credit, the never-never so to speak. Are we getting near to pay-back time?

A friend sent me this note a few days ago:
“Scientists predict that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are doubling the risk of extreme heat waves, such as the European heatwave of 2003, which resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 Europeans,” said Matthew Davis, Director of WWF’s Climate Change Campaign. A recent WWF report shows European capital cities are warming up, some by more than 2°C over the last 30 years. Before the G8 Summit in July this year, Tony Blair described climate change as “the single most important issue we face as a global community.” Politicians have the power to take action on Climate Change and it is their duty to do everything in their power to deliver the solutions. But we need to make them do it.”

Can they deliver at this late hour? When centralised systems go down we start to look a little less clever with all our eggs in a poorly conceived basket. Our great cities could easily become rat traps, a hunting ground where natural instinct re-emerges and survival of the fittest kicks in. Witness how the largest and most powerful administration in the world is made to look like amateurs by the forces of nature reclaiming some of that built up credit.
Energy security is one of the main features of this issue of BFF. We need to move energy security to the regional/local level. We also need to head there fast. But think on - what are YOU doing personally about your own security - at neighbourhood level, home level and family level. Reading some of the things in the press and listening to the radio, we seem to be akin to lemmings. I’ll leave you to ponder on that one.

Keith Hall