COP 27 is this month. Overwhelmingly, vitally important. On November 12^th, crowds of people will be coming out on the streets of major cities in support of climate justice. The nearest gathering to Milborne Port is Bristol; meet at noon on College Green. Some of us will be going; get in touch if you’d like to join us.

(Google ‘climate justice COP 27’ to find out more.)    

Remember, remember… Hedgehogs & Bonfires don’t mix! As hedgehogs respond to danger by curling into a ball rather than fleeing they will die; so please only light a bonfire that you have just made or moved that day in case hedgehogs may be hibernating there. (They get up periodically during the winter for a drink and may move to a new spot so this precaution is necessary throughout the winter and, indeed, at all times of year).

Hedge planting  11-1pm & 2-4pm  Sunday November 13^th We aim to finish the new line of hedge on the outer side of the recreation ground fence that day. Any extra volunteers welcome. Please email Sarah for details and updates. Our previous two years’ plantings are doing well, helped along with judicious weeding and watering.

Try out a pedal-assist electric bike on Saturday 19^th November 2-4 pm! Meet by Kingsbury Bridge. (Men and women’s sizes only). Described as a silver bullet for climate-friendly transport, they are way more than a cheaty-bike and can take the place of a second car. You can go much further in the same time since you can pedal faster on the flat and much faster going uphill. Furthermore, you don’t arrive in a sweat at the other end. If you’re striving to follow the call for active local journeys, an e-bike may help. You’ll be able to try them on the flat and uphill. We may ask to hold onto your mobile phone as a deposit while you have a go.

Personal steps to net zero  Lucy MacArthur writes: “I bought an E-bike two years ago, to have an alternative to using our car (we have always been a one-car couple – for carbon footprint reduction) when a journey might seem too far, too daunting, or too time consuming by my non-E-bike.  I have never looked back!  Mostly used for getting to and from Sherborne (for work – on the back roads) but gradually venturing a bit further.  It provides a reasonable amount of the exercise goal I set myself, it often gets me to Sherborne as quickly as the car (and is a quicker journey than the bus, in view of the walk to the bus stop) and it gives me confidence when I have to negotiate a main road, especially going uphill!

“It is an Easi-go Commute X from Riley’s in Sherborne.  The battery can give me 35 miles plus from a full charge (depending on how much I use the power).  I aim to visit a friend who lives east of Shaftesbury soon, charge up overnight and ride back the next day.

“Our next carbon cutting plan (in addition to those already being used) is to get our loft re-insulated to make our home more energy efficient – this may have to wait until Spring 2023 but is definitely on the way!”

Pre-Christmas Freecycle weekend! November 26^th -27^th. All day. Weather permitting. We’ll postpone to the following weekend if it’s wet. Please make sure you remove anything that’s leftover and take care not to obstruct pavements or walkways – you’re responsible for what you put on your doorstep until someone rehomes it. We’ll do another in the New Year. If you’d like a poster to put up please email Sarah on the address below. Look out for updates on Milborne Port News and Everything Facebook page. And by all means let others know where and what you are offering on Facebook.

Energy saving & the cost of living crisis There are compelling reasons to save energy (money; climate; Ukraine) and so many ways to do so.

Milborne Port Climate and Nature Action group

The Facts and Fictions of the Energy Crisis & Our Way Out

To verify the following facts, please use the links to expert sources below.

Everyone is all too aware that energy bills are high with multiple knock-on adverse effects. Households and businesses are suffering. Estimates vary but one is that 7 million households are expected to be suffering from fuel poverty from October. This is as unnecessary as it is unacceptable. Source: End Fuel Poverty. See links below.

What is the true cause of the global energy crisis? One narrative, a dangerous fallacy, is that it is because of renewable energy. But as Faith Birol, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency puts it, this is absurd. Russia and the gas supply crunch are the cause. The energy policy makers he talks to acknowledge that they regret not having built more wind and solar plants and improved the energy efficiency of buildings and vehicles. The unfortunate UK government green policy blocks in 2017, for example, have added £2.5 billion to UK energy bills. We mustn’t compound this mistake now.

Aren’t renewables too costly and slow? No! Quite the reverse! Solar energy is cheaper than gas. Analysis by energy and climate think tank Ember showed that record levels of solar power across the EU this summer avoided the need for 20bn cubic metres of gas, which would have cost £25bn to import. 

Building more UK onshore wind brings new electricity supplies on stream more quickly and more cheaply than fracking. A  UK government auction in August secured a record 11 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity that will generate electricity nine times (nine times!!!) more cheaply than current gas prices (£48 per MWh vs £446 per MWh). These are due to start operating within the next five years up to 2027. Their 11GW alone will be able to generate 14% of UK demand but overall there is enough renewable capacity due to come onstream by 2027 to generate nearly a third of UK demand! (Source: Carbon Brief).

Compare this with how much gas we could we get from UK fracking, according to the trade body for the UK onshore oil and gas industry UKOOG itself: it’s less than 5% of UK gas needs over the next 5 years, even in the best-case scenario, with no planning issues or protests. And will of course exacerbate the climate crisis into the bad bargain.

How will we balance supply and demand? You can create hydrogen when you have excess solar and wind, and use it to generate electricity when you have a renewable energy shortage. Excess renewable energy can also be used to pump water uphill to a reservoir; energy is generated later by releasing water back downhill, passing through a turbine.

What about the huge cost of converting to green energy? A new study calculated the cost of global renewable energy would be $62 trillion. But the big upfront investment would create jobs, drastically reduce carbon emissions, and pay for itself in six years or less. (Source: Business Green). How so? It has been calculated that a decarbonised energy system is not only feasible but will prove at least $12tr cheaper to run than maintaining current levels of fossil fuel use. (Source: a paper in the journal Joule).

Are solar fields a threat to farmland? At the moment, less than 0.1% of all land in the UK. Plans to increase the land under ground-mounted solar panels would bring this to 0.3% of the UK land area, roughly half of the space already taken up by golf courses. Many farmers are positive about this technology, not least because they can use less productive fields for solar panels and still produce food.

The Profits It’s not just fuel and food bills that are rising fast; so are the profits of the fossil fuel industry. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General called on all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies to help countries suffering loss and damage caused by the climate crisis and people struggling with rising food and energy prices – “The fossil fuel industry is feasting on subsidies & windfall profits while household budgets shrink & our planet burns”. Meanwhile, the unsustainability and dangers of an energy supply system dominated by fossil fuels have never been clearer than this year. As the IEA CE says, “The world’s biggest economies are pushing hard on clean energy. And with all the readily available, highly competitive clean energy technologies there are good reasons for optimism that others will follow”. Let’s hope the UK government does.

What can we do about it? With COP27 climate talks looming, private investors could make a huge contribution to our cheaper, green, clean future, says the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership. The 3^rd issue of National Savings and Investment Green Savings Bonds has been launched – “it’s about saving more than money”.  Also, Friends of the Earth will be behind a united fight for urgent additional financial support to people in the energy crisis; for a nationwide insulation programme and for permanent sustainable fixes to our failed fossil fuel energy system in a United for Warm Homes campaign. Come to our next meeting (or email) to find out more.

About fuel poverty

https://adventure.com/global-cost-of-renewable-energy/

https://businessgreen.com/news/4056195/study-clean-energy-transition-generate-usd12tr-savings

https://cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(22)00410-X

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2022-09-14-decarbonising-energy-system-2050-could-save-trillions-oxford-study

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-solar-power-saved-the-eu-29bn-this-summer per
https://carbonbrief.org/analysis-record-low-price-for-uk-offshore-wind-is-four-times-cheaper-than-gas/…  NB The article has since been updated with the latest power prices, giving the current 9x cheaper difference.

Building more UK onshore wind would bring new electricity supplies on stream quicker than fracking

(And given current record-high gas prices vs the latest govt CfD auction, wind is 4x cheaper too)

FYI @RishiSunak @trussliz

THREAD pic.twitter.com/vHoiou3299

— Simon Evans is on holiday (@DrSimEvans) August 5, 2022

Analysis: Cutting the ‘green crap’ has added £2.5bn to UK energy bills

https://raconteur.net/sustainability/private-investors-help-combat-climate-change/

https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth

 How can land be used for both solar and agriculture?

https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/record-solar-summer-in-europe-saves-billions-in-gas-imports/

https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-is-solar-power-a-threat-toMy-uk-farmland/

Next meeting Tuesday October 11^th 7.30pm Town Hall  Please join us

Milborne Port Freecycle Event – all day Friday 15^th and Saturday 16^th July.

Free to join in! Do you have things you no longer want? Like the idea of finding free gifts? Providing the weather is settled we’ll try out this successful idea from Bruton for the full two days on those dates. Join in this community event by leaving any pre-loved items by your front gate for people to walk by and choose, and/ or having a wander around the village and choosing some lovely items to take home.

All you need to do is find a spot by your front gate or doorstep where you can discreetly display some items you no longer want or need, and which you are happy to gift to someone else, above dog wee zone and preferably with a note saying something like “Free to a good home”. Then have a wander around the village to choose the pre-loved gifts you’d like to re-home!

Please make sure you remove anything that’s left at the end of the day so as not to litter the streets – you’re responsible for what you put on your doorstep until someone has claimed it, and also please make sure not to obstruct pavements or walkways.

If the weather is poor, we’ll try a week later. Look out for posters and updates on Facebook (Milborne Port News and Everything). And by all means let others know what you have on offer on Facebook.

The more people that join in the merrier, and hopefully we can stop many things going to waste. Plus have lots of fun!

Visit a Wilder Open Garden!

You’re invited to enjoy free tea, scones or cake and wildlife at a Wilder Open Garden in Lower Kingsbury on Saturday 16^th July 2pm- 4.30pm.

RSVP before to the email address below to ensure sufficient baking is done!

Please bring your own mug!

In aid of Somerset Wildlife Trust:

Donations to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/s-warren6

milborneportclimateaction@gmail.com    https://network23.org/milbornecan/ Get up-to-date with a range of fact-based articles by experts on the environment, especially climate change and biodiversity loss; join our new group on Facebook, Milborne Port Climate and Nature Action

Who doesn’t want to leave a better world for our children?! Yet none of us needs reminding that we are at a really critical point in history, with the world facing multiple crises over climate, food security, health and biodiversity. So, it’s good to know that the government has a plan “A Green Future: our 25 year plan to improve the environment”. And we can all do our bit and have fun by helping record what wildlife is around us. (Don’t know a dandelion from a daisy? There’s an app for that! See below).

Currently only 10% of the country supports abundant and diverse wildlife, so Defra’s aim is to triple this by 2030, creating space and expanding a network where wildlife can thrive. Every area, however tiny, counts, whether it’s a garden, a churchyard, school grounds, farms or a community space; these all add up and make a difference.

Somerset Wildlife Trust is heading this vital endeavor in our county, with its plan Create A Wilder Somerset 2030. Each of us, in our own and other communities, can help to record the baseline, and then track positive changes over the decade. They’ve made it so easy! There are two free apps, which work together, Seek – to identify what you see – and iNaturalist to record it – the one feeds information to the other. You don’t have to give away where you live – there are 3 location settings – open, obscured (blurred to within 100m) and private.

Wilder Somerset 2030 will deliver thriving wildlife: carbon storage; protected soils, peatlands, meadows and woodlands; new meadows, hedgerows, woodlands and grasslands; ‘wilded’ gardens and urban areas, and clean and healthy restored rivers and wetlands slowing flow and reducing flooding.

Nature has a huge role in our health and well-being. So, do come and find us at the fete on 4^th June to find out more and try out the apps (please download them in advance) on some wildflowers we’ll bring from our garden. We’ll be operating a Climate Hub too – to chat about what we can all do about it.

Hear what’s it like to be a kid right now: take 7 minutes to read The Kids are Not Okay by Julia Steinberger (Google those words); it’s important. There is a link within the article for what to do.

“Public and private finance flows for fossil fuels are still greater than those for climate adaptation and mitigation (high confidence)”   IPCC AR6 Mitigation Report, SPM p.15

Not good news:

And what I can do about it:

https://jksteinberger.medium.com/the-kids-are-not-ok-c518fffb475

What to do about it: Link within article: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2973tOyZ-TA

Milborne Port Climate and Nature Action group

Tackling the cost of living…

Here are two really good web-sites that may or may not be helpful with options and information in the struggle with soaring fuel bills and/ or saving energy for the climate:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/energy_saving_tips – provides many tips and also comparisons of the energy used in the kitchen, for example in cooking different ways (best to worst: microwave, induction hob, electric hob, oven; slow cookers are good energy savers too).

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/heat-the-human-not-the-home-save-energy/ Heating the human not the house can save a lot of money; for next winter, as well as clothing tips, the web-site provides information including both initial and running costs per hour/week of reusable handwarmers, hot water bottles, electric blankets and heat pads, and (more expensive to buy but cheaper to run) electric gilets, which can all help save money and fuel.

Spring is free to enjoy!

We’re lucky to have East Hill (below the bend in Wheathill Lane) with its variety and succession of wild flowers and butterflies through spring and summer on our doorstep. And the fabulous Butterfly Conservation reserve, Alners Gorse, between Kings Stag and Hazelbury Bryan is within a fit cyclist’s reach. The nightingales will still be singing when this magazine reaches you. If you’d like to take part in conservation tasks in Somerset and Dorset, take a look at the eucan.org.uk web-site. They’re a really cheerful bunch and the tasks make a worthwhile day/ half day out.

At the time of writing, there is no sign of Swallows and House Martins having returned to breed. They will have a late start. Every garden that has a wildlife area, however small, perhaps with No Mow May, Let It Bloom June, will have wild flowers that help support those extra insects which may make all the difference to the future of all our much-loved summer visitors.

Have you seen the Climate Game? Get to lead the world! https://ig.ft.com/climate-game/

It’s fun, hopeful and informative.

Milborne Port Climate and Nature Action group

Working together in the village to help wildlife to flourish.

Who is not looking forward to spring? Warmth and longer days for sure; hopefully plenty of sunshine and flowers, the song of birds, the hum of bees and colourful flights of butterflies and more to delight us?  Sadly, though, we have gradually become one of the most nature-depleted nations and that affects us all.

More than 97% of hay meadows have disappeared; insect numbers are crashing – and we learnt recently from BBC’s Winter Watch that there are now 900 million fewer birds over Europe  than 40 years ago. 900 million. The good news is that there are now many initiatives to start to address these losses. Many of you will know about Plantlife’s successful Let it Grow and Roadside Verge campaign, for example.  

Last summer SSDC trialled a few No Mow areas in Milborne Port, and we will be liaising with them to add to these. The sizeable piece of grassland opposite Crackmore Garage supports a good number of wild flower species and South Somerset Highways who we have been in contact with do not cut more than a metre length along the edge; please respect this area and leave it uncut to let the wild flowers flourish; (we will be sowing some local wildflower seed over the recently patch of churned up ground).

Working together with Adam Gale from West Coker and EUCAN, our group will also be helping with advice for and management of Wheathill Meadow, the churchyard and, of course, East Hill.

It’s also encouraging and helpful that South West in Bloom was actively looking for evidence of such initiatives last year. By cutting a band along the edge of these bits of grassland, they can have a neat, cared for look. Let’s tidy away litter but not cut wildlife!

Please get in touch if there’s an area of grassland near you you’d like advice on to see it managed to encourage wildlife.

More wild flowers and uncut grass; more insects; more hedgehogs; more birds; more joy and inspiration!

When daisies pied and violets blue 
And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue 
Do paint the meadows with delight… 
Love’s Labours Lost

Don’t forget the opportunity from 14th-21st March to have thermal imagery of your house / community building. Contact us via the email below.

milborneportclimateaction@gmail.com    https://network23.org/milbornecan/

And find us on Facebook.

Is the fear of climate change keeping you up at night?

The piece below explores how we can learn to live with climate anxiety, and transform our fear or paralysis into hope and positive action

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a38760123/eco-climate-anxiety/

Milborne Port Climate and Nature Action group

Hunting Heat Loss! Thermal Imaging Camera comes to Milborne Port!

SSDC is trialling a thermal imaging camera loan scheme this winter (you may have seen a piece about it on BBC News, see link below) and we have booked it for Milborne Port for the week 14^th-21^st March. The idea is to undertake prearranged thermal imaging of our communities’ homes and buildings. The thermal imaging camera will identify heat loss areas which may indicate where the installation of insulation could help in reducing fuel bills. Our homes account for 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions, so as SSDC says “there needs to be an urgent application of energy efficiency improvements if we are going to hit the carbon reduction targets necessary” to arrest climate change.

Please register your interest via our email below, putting Thermal Imaging as the subject, and provide your house name / number and street, and we’ll get back to you in March when we have worked out how best to survey the most homes in the limited time available!

Find details of what to do once areas of heat-loss within your home have been identified here: https://www.southsomersetenvironment.co.uk/thermalimagingproject; these include some cheap and simple options too such as heat reflective aluminium foil behind radiators and draught excluders for letter boxes and doors.

For more info please go to the South Somerset Website here.

BBC News – Energy bills: Thermal imaging used to help with cost of heat loss

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-60023918

Happy New Year!

We are alive in a pivotal decade in human history so I’m thinking ahead to 2030 – by which time greenhouse gas emissions need to have been halved to keep our planet habitable. We don’t and can’t know whether that will have happened though we can decide what part we will have played.

When I think of my loved ones in 2030 I know how I want their lives and future to be looking. It won’t be the same as now. It could be looking immeasurably better for them if we have achieved the 50% cut or, frankly, terrifying if we haven’t. We are truly in a race against time.

It’s good to imagine how green and bright our lives could be by 2030. Here’s one picture. We are well on the way to a cleaner, safer, greener and fairer world, powered by renewable energy provided freely by nature, maybe from within our own community. Our village is less noisy, smelly and polluted, and we all have more access to natural green areas where everyone can relax and connect with nature. There are more trees growing along our streets to mop up any pollution, soften the storms and capture carbon. The sky is bluer, there’re more birds and bees and butterflies, and the air is filled with birdsong and the humming of bees in the spring. We are healthier because we’re walking and biking around more, making use of accessible active transport routes and enjoying the clean air because a brilliant, fast and cheap public transport network has taken loads of vehicles off the road.

We are suffering less from air pollution not only when we’re out and about but also in our own homes (with heat pumps and induction hobs). We are enjoying taking greater care of our possessions, being able to get them repaired and making sure they were necessary and made to last when we bought them. It is a more delicious world with more varied foods too as we eat more plant-based foods, knowing they are not only healthier for us and the planet but leave much more space for nature. We are glad to live in a fairer world. We have slowed down and spend more time with friends and family and less time rushing around; and find we are less stressed and more contented as a result.

I’m aware that being in the richer half of this country’s population, I am among the wealthiest 10% of the global population and co-responsible for half of all global emissions. I therefore feel my responsibility to act and use any influence I have positively. Our household supports organisations lobbying for change; regularly writes to our MP and PM; makes sure our money is not doing harm, and has already halved our greenhouse gas emissions which are now below the UK average.  Whatever state the world is in by 2030, we will feel glad to be playing our part.

Doing something helps reduce anxiety, and everyone’s voice and decisions are important in advocating for change wherever we live, work, study, shop, bank, save, invest and more. It feels better to be part of the change we wish to see! And it’s reassuring to recall how quickly change happens – it’s usually slow at first. Think of where we were with the internet in 2000. Businesses and entire industries have made many significant transitions in less than 10 years.

Our responsibility now is to ensure that future generations will look back and be proud of the actions we take.

Will you be making any resolutions? Please look for links and more information on Facebook, and let’s share ideas.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/ten-ways-confront-climate-crisis-without-losing-hope-rebecca-solnit-reconstruction-after-covid

milborneportclimateaction@gmail.com    https://network23.org/milbornecan/

And find us on Facebook.

PS Dubious about climate change? Read the verifiable, fact-based science below to bust the myths and misconceptions! It’s not a matter of opinion. Sadly.  Yes, the earth has had these concentrations of greenhouse gases before (but not during human history) and virtually the whole suite of life on earth then, because it had slowly evolved to be adapted to the accompanying climate, was different. Most species cannot evolve to adapt at the current rate of change – over decades. Unfortunately, anyone who says differently is not a climate scientist, is misinformed or believes they have a vested interest in continuing business as usual. (Not an option that will last).

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

skepticalscience.com/argument.php

COP26  On a misty Saturday morning in October, fuelled by tea and biscuits, a lively group of people of all ages were to be seen marching 1.5 km through the lanes and fields of Milborne Port, led by drums and flanked by the Grim Reaper of Climate Change. People all over the world have committed to walking 1.5 km before the COP26 talks between 1st and 12th November as part of the World Climate March – a coordinated global march for those who cannot go to the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, and who want to show their concern about keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees. A photo and video montage of these World Climate Marches will be shown in Glasgow. 

Members of the Milborne Port Climate and Nature Action group will also be joining the rally and march through Bristol at noon on Saturday 6^th November on the Global Day of Action for Climate Change. We will catch the 9.36 train from Yeovil Penn Mill to Bristol Temple Meads that day to join us. For details please Google Global Day of Action Bristol. Email us if you‘d like to link up.

Hedgehogs By the time you read this, Guy Fawkes night will be upon us. Please think of hedgehogs, beloved by children of all ages and now a species vulnerable to extinction, and reassemble or relocate any pile of wood before you set it alight. Piles of wood are favoured nesting and hibernating places for hedgehogs. If hedgehogs visit your garden (lucky you!) providing food for them (complete kitten food with protein as the prime ingredient) will help young hedgehogs put on enough weight to start hibernating, and all hedgehogs wake up a number of times through the winter and need to feed.

Hedge planting in the village More volunteers needed. Please email if you’d like to help.