Press Release - 26th February 2001 - Public Transport Strategy
Efficient use of energy resources, research into renewable energy and consideration of carbon tax makes economic and environmental sense. The Climate Resolution, an FoE UK document, sets out a reasoned and practical approach to the efficient use of energy for local government and communities. This was presented to Advisory & Finance at the beginning of 1994. FoE is part of a British/Channel Island/French liaison which objects to the nuclear industry on financial, environmental and health grounds. French nuclear plant in particular has a dubious safety record, and we have two nuclear facilities almost on our doorstep.
Guernsey has the highest car-ownership figures in Europe. Dramatic improvement of the bus service, provision of cycle tracks and the restoration of the traditional network of Green Lanes for pedestrians would help wean people away from their cars. The quality of the air we breathe is threatened from many quarters - power generation, motor vehicles, industrial activity and bonfires to name but a few. FoE want to see proper monitoring of air quality, along with controls on emissions from the power station and motor vehicles. Clean air is essential to good health. In 1994 we published a major report, "Less Traffic for a Better Island" which details the many steps which could be taken to tackle traffic and transport issues in Guernsey. A summary is available here.
Ecologically important peatlands are stripped to meet the demand of horticulture and the world's gardeners. This destruction of wild habitats is needless when alternatives such as coir and home-produced composts are available for soil conditioning. Tropical hardwood extraction destroys whole ecosystems and communities, while timber from sustainable forestry is not yet widely available. We are exposed to a barrage of toxic chemicals which contaminate our food, water and farmlands, leaving a worrying legacy of environmental and health problems. Organic growing is safer for us, safer for the land, safer for wildlife.
The Environmental Charter was produced by FoE UK as a guide to Local Government on changing to more sustainable practices, and was presented to Advisory & Finance at the beginning of 1991. It lists 15 main ways in which the States can improve the environment, ranging from developing a transport policy and improving environmental education to reviewing the whole policy planning process, with 193 detailed, practical measures that the States of Guernsey could take to effect positive changes in the environment. FoE works with the States to try to influence the development of a sustainable strategy for the Island. An economy based on sustainable practices utilising, conserving or recycling local resources would reduce our dependence on imports and reduce local and global pollution.
A centralised system of processing the Island’s rubbish incorporating separation, recycling and composting would remove the problems associated with landfilling our putrescible waste. Part of the solution must be to stop creating so much waste in the first place - our aim must be to Reduce, Reuse, Repair, and Recycle. For an Island with a justifiable pride in the quality of its beaches and coastline, it seems incredible that raw sewage should be pumped straight into the sea. FoE is constantly calling for proper treatment and utilisation of this valuable resource, which only becomes an embarrassing source of pollution when mismanaged as it currently is. Sewage can be used to produce either energy or compost, or both.