June 2016 Newsletter - A bit late! oops

Apologies for the unusual delay in getting our news and views this month.

A round up of news and views: (rumour has it that the Referendum vote in Marlborough was equally divided between 'Leave' and 'Remain'...)

Hub Meeting has moved in July and AGM plans:

There is a Meeting of the Green Party at the Lamb in Marlborough in the evening of the 14th which a lot of TM folks want to go to, so as a special one off we are moving the Hub Meeting to The Wellington Arms on the 21st of July at 8pm - LOVE to see you there!

We have also decided that we will not have a hub meeting in August but hope everyone will join us on 8th of September at St Peters church for the TM AGM and a REALLY exciting talk from Peter Smith the Chief Executive of the Wildwood trust - which opened in 1999 as a centre of excellence for the conservation of British wildlife, and was established as a registered charity in 2002. Wildwood is Kent’s best British wildlife park. Home to over 200 native animals, past and present and set in 40 acres of beautiful ancient woodland, you can see wolves, bison, deer, owls, foxes, red squirrels, wild boar, lynx, wild horses, badgers and beavers plus many more. As one of the leading British animal conservation charities in the UK Wildwood Trust is dedicated to saving Britain’s most threatened wildlife. Wildwood Trust have taken part  in many ground-breaking conservation programmes to date, which include, saving the water vole, using wild horses to help restore Kent’s most precious nature reserves, bringing the extinct European beaver back to Britain and returning the hazel dormouse and red squirrel to areas where they have been made extinct.

Catch it on iPlayer - The TM Chair Rich Pitts was lucky enough to attend the RHS Hampton Court flower show. There is a section of conceptual gardens and the Near Future Garden was really interesting https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-hampton-court-palace-flower-show/Gardens/2016/Near-Future-Garden. This item really should be in the July Newsletter but catch it on iPlayer before it goes - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07k77wt/hampton-court-palace-flower-show-2016-episode-1 - really very inspiring and considing our involvement with Marlborough in bloom something to consider for us to look at for next year !!!! Other Conceptual gardens tackled difficult issues - the refugee crisis and Rolawn the grass specialist's look at mental health was also interesting.

What are the environmental consequences of the vote to leave the EU?

What have we achieved so far? - The key environmental achievements of EU countries working together within a common legislative framework that would have not occurred at the same level if they had acted alone, are as follows:

• A substantial decline in most industrial sources of air and water pollution, particularly in improving urban air quality and in tackling diffuse water pollution, for example from farming.
• A fall in greenhouse gas emissions and rapid recent growth in the deployment of renewable energy.
• Significant reductions in the pressures on human health from environmental pollution.
• A significantly improved system of protection for species and habitats.
• A transformation in waste management, with a major increase in recycling rates and the first steps towards the creation of a more circular economy.
• The establishment of a thorough system for the review of the safety of chemicals that can be expected to lead to the future withdrawal and substitution of various toxic substances.
• The foundations for addressing the mounting pressures on the marine environment in the form of a legislative framework which is starting to have an effect.
• Improvements on access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters at EU level.
• The wide application of environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment procedures (also adapted and used by the European Investment Bank as conditions for all infrastructure investment decisions inside and outside the EU).

You can read the full report: 'The potential policy and environmental consequences for the UK of a departure from the European Union'

Could we have a 'Progressive Exit' from the EU? - Rob Hopkins (founder of the Transition Movement) says  "One side effect of Brexit is that people now feel emboldened to say things that haven't been acceptable for years.  But at the same time, we need to feel similarly emboldened.  To talk about the kind of world we want to see, to challenge racism and xenophobia wherever and whenever we encounter it, to point out the context in which these challenges are arising.  I loved the story of the guy in Huntingdon, where 'Go Home' letters were put through the doors of many Polish residents, who created a counter-campaign of notes saying "You are welcome here". Speak your truth.   

But at the same time, it's vital that we really practice deep listening.  It's only through good listening that we can hear and connect to the longings, fear, loneliness and so on that underpins much of what we've seen during this whole debacle – and seem to reside at the heart of most 'leave' votes.  Building common ground requires a foundation of good listening." 

Rob implores us to become more emboldened at grass-roots level to fight for a more self-reliant and just society.

You can read more here...

David Powell of the New Economics Foundation (NEF) -  says that as far as energy and climate change is concerned, there are 3 important questions that we should ask:

1. Which of the EU’s policies will we keep?

2. What about our own climate laws?

3. What other impacts will Brexit have on climate change?

It’s critical that whatever happens the UK doesn’t try to back away from a leading position on climate. An economic slowdown could increase the chances of this. While good for emissions in the very short term, economic crises don’t generally tend to be good news for a focus on environmental policy.

Just about the only thing we know for certain is that there’s a great deal of uncertainty around – never a good thing for investor confidence. You can read the whole NEF blog post here... 

Did you know that Vote Leave is backed by climate change deniers? - You can see the links between some of the leading Vote Leave politicians and the Global Warming Policy Foundation (that campaigns against scientific evidence of climate change) by clicking on this link: 

http://littlesis.org/maps/1451-the-brexit-climate-deniers-at-55-tufton-street

Some of these groups are said to be undermining the democratic process and aim to repeal the Climate Change Act. Read more here...

There is some grim news above and some POSITIVES - The Transition Marlborough group depends on you, our community to support and get involved .... so please consider what you can do? Stand up and be counted in developing our community into a sustainable  one. There has been a vote that has dramatically changed the course of this country. Being interested and reading this newsletter is your first step to making a contribution. No matter how small!!! Come to a film night! Come to the AGM - think about WHAT you can do. ABOVE ALL don't stand by, get involved!

Thanks

The Transition Marlborough team