INTRODUCTION FROM THE EDITOR
Here we are at the end of 2010; this year seems to have slipped away like quicksilver. It is almost incomprehensible that we are bringing you Issue 11 of Environment Industry Magazine! The final issue of the year, and what a year.... we spent the first few months eagerly anticipating the election, expecting a new Government to fix everything and when it finally dawned on us that all three parties lost, we settled for a coalition and immediately began complaining about them. We, the people are such fickle creatures that despite the evidence of history, we still believe that miracles can happen, we still believe manifesto promises and we are still incredulous when it turns out that our politicians are not superhuman, they are actually just people.
You cannot bestow such expectation and responsibility on to anyone, the last person we did that to ended up being crucified.
It is quite sweet that following an election we actually wake up expecting something tangible to have changed, that we will open the curtains to find the sky has changed colour or the air smells like cinnamon. Unfortunately, as with all politicians, (even Obama,) the most exciting thing that happens is that the winner moves house.
After a few days we realise that life goes on and we start to grumble about everything again.
It seems that of a direct consequence of the election the UK student population has managed to prize itself from its collective beds to protest about changes to funding which won’t even affect them. Interestingly, prior to the election a student poll suggested that 30% of students would vote for the Conservatives and 21% for Labour and only 19% would for the Lib Dems.
My point being that the Liberal Democrats had no chance of election; when you are the underdog you can make any claims you want, you never expect to have your bluff called. No-one is more surprised that the Lib Dems are in power than the Lib Dems themselves.
In my view, you should not expect from others more than you expect from yourself.
Not being allowed to change your opinion based on new evidence sounds a bit like fascism. I think that a Liberal influence on a Conservative Government is actually a good thing and in the light of there being no serious opposition to this situation, we should make the most of what we have. It will be a long time before the Labour party are considered to be a serious contender to lead the country again.
Anyway, whilst we are on the subject of politics, I am pleased to announce we have not one but two Government ministers writing in this issue. Firstly as part of our big Bah Humbug, conscience-kicking editorial focus on food ethics and food security, we have Jim
ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE |1|
Paice MP, Minister for Food and Agriculture, discussing the UK food industry and its impact on the environment, also Gregory Barker MP, Mister of State for Energy gives us his first of 2 installments on the Renewable Heat Incentive. This issue we have an overview of the Government’s stand on RHI, which will be followed in the February/March issue with an in-depth breakdown of how the RHI will be administered and managed, as well who and what will qualify.
Also in our food focus, we have Dan Welch, Director of Ethical Consumer Research Association and Co-Editor of Ethical Consumer Magazine, discussing the Ethical Buyers Guide to Supermarkets; and we have Dr Joan Kelley, Global Operations Director at CABI, on the need to include plant health when considering food security; finally, we have Liz Barling from the Food Ethics Council talking about the environmental impact of Christmas. And what Christmas issue of an environmental magazine would be complete without a feature on food waste? Peter (Ecolateral) Jones OBE, ex Director of Biffa Waste draws our attention to this mountainous problem.
We also have Neil Strong, Vegetation Specialist at Network Rail, Dr Peter Bonfield CEO of BRE, and Vincent de Rivaz, CEO of EDF Energy, to name but a few.... If only EnviroMedia did stocking fillers*......
What better way to kick off the festive season?
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year as well as a big thank you to our contributors and advertisers. If that doesn’t help to green up your Christmas nothing will.
Alex Stacey Managing Editor
*...you would end up with a big sock full of paper on Christmas morning!
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