All occasions doth conspire...

It was put very succinctly for me today, so rather than try and paraphrase i'll just paste.

Thanks to Jo Abbess;-

THE CARBON PIPELINE

Imagine, if you will, a long pipeline, with crude oil flowing through
it.

At one end are the hydrocarbon producers, and at the other, are the
consumers.

The rate of flow equates to the amount of Carbon Dioxide emitted into
the atmosphere.

All sorts of energy can be made to flow down that pipeline, including
natural gas, lumps of coal, and secondary forms such as electricity.

The start of the pipeline is what we call "upstream" and the outflow
is called "downstream".

There are only a few organisations "upstream" and many billions of
consumers "downstream".

CARBON RESISTANCE

There is, my friends, a resistance to cut the flow of Carbon from BOTH
ends of the Carbon Pipeline.

The producers want to make more money. The consumers wantonly consume
and consider it a birthright to burn Carbon.

If you place restrictions on the producer end, through laws, Peak Oil,
price of exploration rights, the consumers complain so badly they can
bring down governments, the producers go to court.

If you place restrictions on the consumer end, through Rationing,
price mechanisms, economic recession, the consumers complain so badly
they can bring down governments, the producers start doing propaganda
in all the mainstream media.

HARMONY

The only way to harmoniously achieve a reduction in the flow of Carbon
in the Pipeline is to constrict the flow AT BOTH ENDS.

Thus, we should have both producer caps and consumer rations.

This is also the ONLY strategy that will stabilise the Economy. I will
leave the reader to think this through. Suffice it to say that the
value of money is underpinned by the flow of Carbon, since we are so
dependent on it...

THE FRAMEWORK

The overarching framework, to enable us to decide how much, where,
whom, is Contraction and Convergence, the simple, powerful arithmetic
about the fractions of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and the
inevitable logic of survival that means we must make Carbon Cuts, and
we must do so with Equity to preserve the Peoples, the Environment,
the Biodiversity of Life and the Economy too.

Within C&C, we need both producer and consumer caps and controls.

Thus it is essential that the nations do Cap-and-something at the
upstream end of things.

But they must ALSO do Carbon Rationing for the Citizens, or the whole
thing will tip into chaos.

Look at what is happening to the Economies as a result of Peak Oil,
and you will understand my meaning.


Today's links (copy and paste)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/19/fossilfuels.environment

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/19/climatechange.biofuels

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gm-crops-needed-in-britain-says-minister-849991.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/think-you-love-shopping-its-the-marketing-scam-of-the-century-849922.html