Blog – Page 18 – Tom Chance

Published 7th August 2009

Some thoughts about the Green Party Exec elections

With the autumn conference weeks away, some of the candidates have started to make noises to get voted onto the Green Party Executive (GPEx). As a soon-to-be-ex member of GPEx I thought I’d share some thoughts on criticisms that candidates are making in their bid to replace standing members. Read on, they’re quite long!

If Jason and Rupert replace Tracy I really hope they continue her very strong work on building up that “glossy” stuff they don’t seem to like. The election broadcast video won us amazing plaudits from the media; mailing lists, twitter and blogs were flooded with positive comments from friends and onlookers. It’s easy to say “we will focus on everything” but much harder to square that with a very limited budget.

GPEX gpex09 Green Party Personal

Published 1st July 2009

Help turn RBS into the Royal Bank for Sustainability

People & Planet, WDM and Platform have just launched an audacious campaign against the Treasury, seeking a judicial review to transform RBS from the UK’s largest “dirty development” investor into the foremost green finance institution. Check out the Financial Times story for the lowdown (it made the front page!) and lobby your MP to sign the Early Day Motion supporting this move. AS Jonathan Porritt said at today’s SDC Breakthroughs event, the Treasury has held the UK back for too long. It is years behind the public, and even business, on climate change. Using our 70% public share in RBS is exactly the kind of initiative that could unlock the green new deal, using the skills and experience of RBS staff to finance investment in low carbon industry and infrastructure. I’m very proud of P&P! After contacting your MP and pestering the Treasury, support People & Planet to help them…

Green New Deal Green politics People & Planet RBS

Published 26th June 2009

A campsite of smaller tents

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like mainstream journalists and celebs are starting to talk about the Greens in a totally unprecedented way. With a few exceptions we’re seen as credible, with good policies and a great leader. Notwithstanding the occasional backlash, we’re definitely on the way to establishing ourselves as the fourth “main party”. Just the increased number of nods to the Green Party shows that – in our largely first past the post scene – fewer people think Labour will always be the only viable progressive force in British politics. Caroline evoked a lovely analogy at the recent Compass conference to sum up the change in mood: we no longer need New Labour’s big tent to bring all progressives together. From now on, we should have a campsite of many small tents, cooperating to progress environmental and social justice, and competing where we disagree. Maybe 2010 will…

Elections Green Party Green politics Labour Liberal Democrats

Published 2nd June 2009

European Parliament elections, the Green Party and free stuff

Gavin Baker, a really fantastic free data activist from the US, nudged me recently about his post on the position of different European parties on open access to research. Scott Redding, one of our Green Party candidates in the elections and also doing amazing work getting more online activism for the party, gave a fairly strong statement on his intention to support the cause of open/free data. So where do we stand? It’s easier to explain by talking about our wider policy and activism around intellectual property. So here’s an update on a previous post: The Green Party in England & Wales has very strong, explicit policy on intellectual property with specific statements on open source software, public data (especially maps) and open data generally. Lots of Green MEPs and candidates have signed the Free Software Pact; In Liverpool City Council, Greens have passed a motion encouraging the use of…

Free culture Free data Free software Green Party Open access Open standards OpenStreetMap Software patents

Published 1st June 2009

Addressing Peckham

In preparation for the Peckham Mapping Party this Wednesday evening (3rd June) I tried out the house numbering system in OpenStreetMap known as the Karlsruhe Schema around the south east corner of The Lane area of Peckham. Well, mapping and leafletting again with the all-important Euro elections on Thursday. With all the buildings, points of interest and house numbers it’s getting pretty crowded! It will be good if this is picked up by the search function on the OpenStreetMap homepage, so one could search for “15 East Dulwich Road” and get at least the right end of that rather long road. All that time in the sun left me completely wiped out, though. I’ll be glad when the elections are over so I can spend a few consecutive weekends and evenings with no leafletting on the horizon. Just the Exec meeting in June, and lots of local events to do…

OpenStreetMap Peckham Southwark

Published 3rd May 2009

Power for Peckham

What a bank holiday! Saturday morning out leafletting for the European elections with Jenny Jones, followed by an afternoon in the wonderful Bussey Building with the Peckham Power Company. Never mind the sandwiches, the sun brought out a great mix of people, including a policy expert from DECC no less. Anna from the PPC took us through the mix of energy we currently use — nice to see people quite so shocked by the proportion of energy ’embodied’ in the stuff we buy; next, the mix of energy we could physically generate in the UK; and finally some realisation of the challenge both for the UK and for Peckham in responding to the triple crunch of the recession, climate change and peaking fossil fuel reserves. The recipe for Peckham and The Lane area? That’ll be lots of refurb, solar thermal & PV, a ground-source heat pump system under Peckham Rye…

Climate change Peckham Southwark

Published 9th April 2009

Greens secure a Southwark food strategy

Jenny Jones, our Green councillor in Southwark, cheap jerseys last night secured the unanimous backing of Southwark Council for 2 the cheap nba jerseys development of a borough wide food strategy. Great news! This will help deliver more allotments, free school meals, more and better paid jobs in the local food industry Mina and Living above all cheap mlb jerseys better quality food Anti that will also help reduce our carbon emissions. The strategy will cover climate change, health, poverty reduction, Greens local economic benefits and our I’m diverse food cultures (e.g. the amazing range of African food to be found in Peckham Rye, my patch). We’re working to try wholesale jerseys and maximise food growing spaces in the plans for Green Dale in East Dulwich, which will definitely be boosted by this strategy!

Food Green Party Southwark

Published 19th March 2009

Why I’m not an eco-angel

I cheap mlb jerseys gave up flying a few years ago, and my carbon footprint is 46% lower than the UK average. I really like this calculator and action plan tool, which helps individuals work out how they of can reduce their carbon emissions and ecological footprint. But I’ve gone past the suggestion that it’s our individual responsibility to somehow reduce our impacts down to a sustainable level on our own. Not cheap jerseys only is this message impossible to sell to anyone outside the “keen green” demographic (because it’s too hard); it’s also fundamentally wrong! Here are 3 reasons why: We won’t change people’s values by being angelic, we merely reinforce how different we are to the norm, which is heavily marketed by government and business. It’s good to avoid charges of hypocrisy, but it’s also important to explain cheap jerseys with humility why you — like most other…

Climate change Green politics Personal Sustainability

Published 30th November 2008

I support the London Living Wage

Joseph and I went Miami Dolphins Jerseys along to the Insidertipp: South London Citizens assembly on Thursday, where the recent Green successes in Lewisham and Southwark wholesale NFL jerseys got a big cheer. It’s great that Jenny Luxury got the motion through cheap jerseys from China council, but now we need to make sure the council follows through on its campaign commitment! So Southwark Greens hit the streets yesterday to start gathering public support. We’ve launched a photo petition en and have some exhibition plans Form afoot in the near future. Now on to Southwark Trades Council to get more broad-based support, and to the London Federation of Green Parties again with a campaign pack so all local parties in the city can ratchet up the pressure!

Green politics Living wage Southwark

Published 15th October 2008

Southwark Greens launch campaign to end poverty wages

No household piso? with a parent at work should be cheap jerseys living in poverty, but an IPPR study shows that six Apparel in ten households in the UK suffer that fate. As families struggle with high energy and food prices, and with a recession Филармония looming, the Southwark Green Party have launched a campaign to end working poverty in our Borough. We are calling on Southwark Council to pay all employees, direct and subcontracted, the London Living Wage, and wholesale mlb jerseys to promote the Living Wage Employer’s Award throughout the Borough. Lewisham and Oxford Green Parties have pioneered Tinnitus this campaign, now we’re hoping to take it wholesale jerseys one step further Batch in Southwark with a council commitment and Green campaigning in the private sector. Tom Chance, Jenny Jones and Joseph O'Reilly launch the campaign

Green politics Living wage Southwark

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