Climate protests in Bristol

[whole diary]

[Phantom]

Story being reported on radio Bristol that a man has called in to say he'd received a call to say his fathers health and taken a turn for the worse and he should get there as soon as he could
He got delayed in the long jams on the M4 / M32 into Bristol this morning because of these idiots chained to a bath
Arrived at the hospital a few minutes after his father passed away !!

[broadgage]

A tall vertical ventilating pipe or tower is almost essential for a composting toilet for several reasons.

1) A steady supply of fresh air assists the composting.
2) Excess moisture evaporates
3) Foul air is removed to above head height.
4) Flies are killed. The waste tends to attract flies, these pests tend to go up the vent pipe attracted by the daylight at the top. Fine mesh covering the top of the vent prevents escape of the flies, which then die and fall into the waste.
For this to work, the interior of the toilet should be dark in order that the flies go towards the daylight at the top of the vent pipe.
The vent pipe should be black externally in order that daylight may slightly warm it and thereby encourage an UPWARD draught.

[Timmer]

Story being reported on radio Bristol that a man has called in to say he'd received a call to say his fathers health and taken a turn for the worse and he should get there as soon as he could
He got delayed in the long jams on the M4 / M32 into Bristol this morning because of these idiots chained to a bath
Arrived at the hospital a few minutes after his father passed away !!

I just shake my head at the disruption these people are causing to people's lives. If they think for a minute they are furthering their cause by causing all this disruption they are very much mistaken. The police have taken a light touch approach so far much to mine and many others annoyance, but blocking the M32 crossed the line and the police finally took action:
https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2019/07/arrests-made-following-protest-activity-affecting-m32-in-bristol/

[IndustryInsider]

PMQs dominated by environmental questions today.  Would that have been the case if these demonstrations weren’t taking place?

[broadgage]

PMQs dominated by environmental questions today.  Would that have been the case if these demonstrations weren’t taking place?

Indeed, the prevalence of this sort of protest is  keeping climate change firmly in the public mind, and therefore politicians have to at least pretend to be interested.

[phile]

The police have been taking their PC Brigade patter saying that they have to balance the right to protest against taking action as it may infringe their human rights.   They have a right to protest, agreed, but they are committing an offence by blocking roads which prevents the human rights of people to get about their daily lives.

[Phantom]

The police have been taking their PC Brigade patter saying that they have to balance the right to protest against taking action as it may infringe their human rights.   They have a right to protest, agreed, but they are committing an offence by blocking roads which prevents the human rights of people to get about their daily lives.

This is the thing that really gets me, they had the pre-agreed closure of Bristol bridge which in itself is a ballache
But then they started wondering about the bear pit junction and then this morning just off of the end of the M32

Somebody should be saying you either stick to the pre-agreed area or we move the whole lot of you away

The sooner this nonsense ends this week the better

[Bmblbzzz]

Story being reported on radio Bristol that a man has called in to say he'd received a call to say his fathers health and taken a turn for the worse and he should get there as soon as he could
He got delayed in the long jams on the M4 / M32 into Bristol this morning because of these idiots chained to a bath
Arrived at the hospital a few minutes after his father passed away !!

I just shake my head at the disruption these people are causing to people's lives. If they think for a minute they are furthering their cause by causing all this disruption they are very much mistaken. The police have taken a light touch approach so far much to mine and many others annoyance, but blocking the M32 crossed the line and the police finally took action:
https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2019/07/arrests-made-following-protest-activity-affecting-m32-in-bristol/

It seems like they moved their bath tub from the journalistic "the M32 we mean Newfoundland Way" to the actual M32 and at that point the arrests were made. The organisers reported at the weekend they had 300 people prepared to be arrested, so they would seem to have plenty in reserve. Though of course people saying they're prepared to be arrested for a cause might decide otherwise when it comes to it.

[Bmblbzzz]

A tall vertical ventilating pipe or tower is almost essential for a composting toilet for several reasons.

1) A steady supply of fresh air assists the composting.
2) Excess moisture evaporates
3) Foul air is removed to above head height.
4) Flies are killed. The waste tends to attract flies, these pests tend to go up the vent pipe attracted by the daylight at the top. Fine mesh covering the top of the vent prevents escape of the flies, which then die and fall into the waste.
For this to work, the interior of the toilet should be dark in order that the flies go towards the daylight at the top of the vent pipe.
The vent pipe should be black externally in order that daylight may slightly warm it and thereby encourage an UPWARD draught.

Useful knowledge after the applecalypso has sung, sorry I mean apocalypse has struck!

[jamestheredengine]

I just shake my head at the disruption these people are causing to people's lives. If they think for a minute they are furthering their cause by causing all this disruption they are very much mistaken.

I think the lack of caring about other people's lives derives from all to many of them being unempathetic failures in life. If only they had jobs to go to, or at least were actively looking for work.

[Timmer]

I think the lack of caring about other people's lives derives from all to many of them being unempathetic failures in life. If only they had jobs to go to, or at least were actively looking for work.

The thing is there are genuine environmental campaigners who have campaigned almost all their lives regarding climate change. Then you have the part timers who have joined in because they see the word rebellion. They’ll be the ones you’ll see at Bristol Airport next week boarding a low cost airline to somewhere hot for their two week holiday after causing misery for those trying to go about their daily lives this week.

[froome]

I just shake my head at the disruption these people are causing to people's lives. If they think for a minute they are furthering their cause by causing all this disruption they are very much mistaken.

I think the lack of caring about other people's lives derives from all to many of them being unempathetic failures in life. If only they had jobs to go to, or at least were actively looking for work.

You obviously haven't actually met any XR^▸ (Crossrail) people. I know many of those active in XR here in Bath and they are all the very opposite of the description you have used.

[TonyK]

PMQs dominated by environmental questions today.  Would that have been the case if these demonstrations weren’t taking place?

Indeed, the prevalence of this sort of protest is  keeping climate change firmly in the public mind, and therefore politicians have to at least pretend to be interested.

This is at least slightly unfair on politicians, or at least some of them. From the 1970s when the Arabs realised how much oil was worth, and a link was made between dead forests and industrial use of fuels, especially coal, a lot has changed in energy use. Very little of that change has come about through altruism on the part of either consumer or industry, but has been driven by government. Vehicle standards have changed, with a blip for the diesel generation, and building regulations now specify a minimum energy performance in new houses that would have been completely unattainable a couple of decades ago. Much of this change was derided when introduced, but it works. My own present house is a 15-month old detached building in a fairly exposed place. It uses a lot less fuel than the mid-terrace Victorian place I first bought in Bristol, and is a lot warmer in winter, entirely because of changes made by government.

That same government has announced an end to the building of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, an end to gas boilers and cookers in new homes, and a raft of other smaller measures. The first two raise huge questions of infrastructure and supply that I think may scupper the timescales, but although there may be a few hiccups along the way, we will arrive at those goals one day, if for no other reason than that we have no choice.

In contrast, some of the demands made by the apparent heads of the group of protesters have a sense of unreality about them, such as being "carbon neutral" by 2025. Another protest in London sought to end the manufacture of concrete, calling for a return to stonemasonry for major infrastructure and homes. Nice idea, taking us back to the stone age, but what that would do to the supply of "affordable" housing is anyone's guess. New railway bridges would presumably need the sort of inexhaustible pool of cheap labour enjoyed in Brunelian days, plus a few master masons.

The reason it has become an issue at PMQs is undoubtedly because of the protests, but not because any one party is going to do much about it. They are simply vying for influence and votes, each prtraying itself as the party that will deliver what the protesters want. Read no more into that, and Michael Gove's promise of stutory clean air, than that.

[eightonedee]

Having largely been away from the forum attending to family business in the north, I am catching up with the posts on this issue.

I largely agree TonyK's points. It is not the case that government/industry/the sectors of society who make decisions etc ignore climate change, and indeed other pollution problems. Although there is still a minority of climate change deniers, the problem is now largely part of public consciousness and policy. It is though a very difficult, almost intractable problem, as to how these are fixed without considerable hardship to many, often those most vulnerable economically.

Personally I do not think these protests add much to help solve the problem or promote the cause. Indeed, a well-produced Attenborough documentary would be more effective. The message could be delivered in a measured way causing no-one unnecessary inconvenience and not alienating members of the public who may not be so engaged. If we are going to have mass shows of support, orderly marches and rallies please.

The real heroes of the search to solve this problem will not be these people.They will be the climatologists and meteorologists who monitor and provide the weather evidence, the zoologists, botanists and ecologists who will monitor the effects and model and predict them in future, the engineers and scientists who will (hopefully) develop the technology and new ways of doing everything (food production, power production and transmission, transport and all the other activities currently creating the problem) to solve the problem and those who will make the decisions and implement them. Thugs advocating breaking the system will not. Those serious about engaging the young in this issue should be encouraging our brightest and best to embark on careers in these fields if they want to do something constructive to help.

There is a dark side to all this. The human instinct being engaged by those encouraging participants to join in activities like this is the same harnessed for Kristallnacht. Get a crowd whipped up with some kind of "righteous" rage and get the adrenalin flowing, then let rip a destructive force.

Alexander Fleming, Joseph Bazalgette, Edward Jenner and Joseph Lister did not to do this to save millions of lives. Hitler, Lenin, Mao and Pol Pot used these methods, and their actions cost millions of lives 

[Bmblbzzz]

That same government has announced an end to the building of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, an end to gas boilers and cookers in new homes,

Just to address these two points: the first one is not quite accurate. What they've announced is an end to the registration of purely petrol or diesel cars after 2040. Hybrids, which might only have enough batter power for 30 miles then revert to petrol, will still be allowed. (In practice I think it's likely that technological developments will make petrol and diesel unattractive by about 2030 if not earlier, so it's a bit of an empty law.)

And the end of gas boilers and cookers in new homes I hadn't heard of. When did/does that come in?