Green House Pamphlets
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This Moment: the emergency, the opportunity
By Robert Hutchinson, July 2017
Time is the scarcest resource in facing up to climate change, which is both a global emergency and historic opportunity. It is an emergency because lives are being lost or destroyed by climate change and we are not on a path to reduce this loss of life.
Unless the global emergency is fully recognised and acted upon, it will become increasingly difficult to take the opportunities arising from the ending of the fossil fuel age. It may still be within humanity’s collective capabilities to transform economies so that they work better for everyone, and within the carrying capacity of the planet; to reduce demand for energy while moving to healthier lifestyles; to develop communities and neighbourhoods that are convivial and mutually supportive; and to recognise that, along with the needs for clean water, decent housing, nutrition and education, human well-being is largely a product of building trust, of the quality of our empathy and solidarity and the co-operative use of our imaginative powers.
Robert Hutchison argues that all self-respecting nations, the UK included, should see themselves as leaders towards a net zero carbon world. At present, on climate change, the UK government combines self-congratulation, disavowal, missed opportunities, incoherence and delay.
This pamphlet is available in printed form for £2+P&P, by emailing info@greenhousethinktank.org.
By Robert Hutchinson, July 2017
Time is the scarcest resource in facing up to climate change, which is both a global emergency and historic opportunity. It is an emergency because lives are being lost or destroyed by climate change and we are not on a path to reduce this loss of life.
Unless the global emergency is fully recognised and acted upon, it will become increasingly difficult to take the opportunities arising from the ending of the fossil fuel age. It may still be within humanity’s collective capabilities to transform economies so that they work better for everyone, and within the carrying capacity of the planet; to reduce demand for energy while moving to healthier lifestyles; to develop communities and neighbourhoods that are convivial and mutually supportive; and to recognise that, along with the needs for clean water, decent housing, nutrition and education, human well-being is largely a product of building trust, of the quality of our empathy and solidarity and the co-operative use of our imaginative powers.
Robert Hutchison argues that all self-respecting nations, the UK included, should see themselves as leaders towards a net zero carbon world. At present, on climate change, the UK government combines self-congratulation, disavowal, missed opportunities, incoherence and delay.
This pamphlet is available in printed form for £2+P&P, by emailing info@greenhousethinktank.org.
Ideas for a Radical Green Manifesto
Many in the wider Green movement were disappointed during 2017’s General Election by the marginalisation of green issues, and also perhaps by the slightly scant attention paid to them on occasion even by one or two national Green Party speakers. The agenda was largely dominated by Europe and austerity, and little attempt was made to shift that. Some of us in Green House have been giving some thought as to how a stronger green element could be injected into political manifestos, and this pamphlet offers some practical suggestions. This is not, we emphasize, a complete manifesto or anything like it, but a suggestion for some ingredients to alter the balance between ecological and social justice concerns. We are not for one second saying that issues of inequality and social justice should be ignored, but we do see a need for a substantial change of emphasis. This is simply right in its own terms because of the enormity of the ecological crisis, but also as a matter of simple political strategy for the Green movement, now that Corbyn’s Labour is firmly occupying much of the social justice ground, and looks likely to do so for some time. Thus leaving g/Greens free to concentrate on what remains their USP.
Rupert Read
Many in the wider Green movement were disappointed during 2017’s General Election by the marginalisation of green issues, and also perhaps by the slightly scant attention paid to them on occasion even by one or two national Green Party speakers. The agenda was largely dominated by Europe and austerity, and little attempt was made to shift that. Some of us in Green House have been giving some thought as to how a stronger green element could be injected into political manifestos, and this pamphlet offers some practical suggestions. This is not, we emphasize, a complete manifesto or anything like it, but a suggestion for some ingredients to alter the balance between ecological and social justice concerns. We are not for one second saying that issues of inequality and social justice should be ignored, but we do see a need for a substantial change of emphasis. This is simply right in its own terms because of the enormity of the ecological crisis, but also as a matter of simple political strategy for the Green movement, now that Corbyn’s Labour is firmly occupying much of the social justice ground, and looks likely to do so for some time. Thus leaving g/Greens free to concentrate on what remains their USP.
Rupert Read
The Progressive Alliance - Revisited
The idea of a Progressive Alliance - with 'progressive' candidates standing down in elections to help 'progressives' from other parties to get elected - was influential in the 2017 general election but controversial, perhaps especially so in the Green Party. At times it seemed as though Greens were the only party in the alliance! Greens stood down in many constituencies and may have played a crucial role in preventing the Conservatives from winning an overall majority. But the Green Party arguably gained very little for itself, making sacrifices which Labour candidates benefited from. This pamphlet explores the issues from a range of perspectives, looking at the arguments for and against a Progressive Alliance and the questions it raises for the Green Party. It includes contributions from Rupert Read, Victor Anderson, Neal Lawson, Jonathan Essex, and Sara Parkin.
This is a follow up to our 2016 pamphlet on a Progressive Alliance. That can be down loaded here.
The idea of a Progressive Alliance - with 'progressive' candidates standing down in elections to help 'progressives' from other parties to get elected - was influential in the 2017 general election but controversial, perhaps especially so in the Green Party. At times it seemed as though Greens were the only party in the alliance! Greens stood down in many constituencies and may have played a crucial role in preventing the Conservatives from winning an overall majority. But the Green Party arguably gained very little for itself, making sacrifices which Labour candidates benefited from. This pamphlet explores the issues from a range of perspectives, looking at the arguments for and against a Progressive Alliance and the questions it raises for the Green Party. It includes contributions from Rupert Read, Victor Anderson, Neal Lawson, Jonathan Essex, and Sara Parkin.
This is a follow up to our 2016 pamphlet on a Progressive Alliance. That can be down loaded here.
SINISTER INTEREST - REFORMING THE MEDIA
The political turmoil in the UK over the last two years has drawn attention once more to
the questionable role of the media in our democracy. In our latest pamphlet, three Green House authors - John Blewitt, Molly Scott Cato and Rupert Read - argue that Britain’s mainstream media is no longer fit for purpose. Its coverage of the EU and Scottish referendums, the General Election, and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as the unethical practices revealed by the Leveson Inquiry and its woefully inadequate coverage of climate change and other escalating ecological threats, have made the need for fundamental reform both more obvious and more urgent. The structure and concentration of media ownership, and the interference of shady anti-democratic organisations in the public sphere, are endangering one of the essential institutions that a liberal democracy requires to function effectively.
This polemical pamphlet is a significant contribution to the current debate about what needs to be done if democracy is to flourish in a world of ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’. Only the enemies of democracy and of open public debate and discussion benefit from an unreformed media and the widespread assumption it engenders - that everybody lies.
The political turmoil in the UK over the last two years has drawn attention once more to
the questionable role of the media in our democracy. In our latest pamphlet, three Green House authors - John Blewitt, Molly Scott Cato and Rupert Read - argue that Britain’s mainstream media is no longer fit for purpose. Its coverage of the EU and Scottish referendums, the General Election, and the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as the unethical practices revealed by the Leveson Inquiry and its woefully inadequate coverage of climate change and other escalating ecological threats, have made the need for fundamental reform both more obvious and more urgent. The structure and concentration of media ownership, and the interference of shady anti-democratic organisations in the public sphere, are endangering one of the essential institutions that a liberal democracy requires to function effectively.
This polemical pamphlet is a significant contribution to the current debate about what needs to be done if democracy is to flourish in a world of ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’. Only the enemies of democracy and of open public debate and discussion benefit from an unreformed media and the widespread assumption it engenders - that everybody lies.
The Green Case For A Progressive Pact
This Green House pamphlet, published in July 2016, looked at the case for a progressive alliance and how Greens could benefit. It includes contributions from Molly Scott Cato MEP, Victor Anderson, Rupert Read, Jonathan Essex, and Sara Parkin. This briefing was written before the EU referendum and the economic and political turmoil which followed.
This Green House pamphlet, published in July 2016, looked at the case for a progressive alliance and how Greens could benefit. It includes contributions from Molly Scott Cato MEP, Victor Anderson, Rupert Read, Jonathan Essex, and Sara Parkin. This briefing was written before the EU referendum and the economic and political turmoil which followed.
Post-growth localisation by Rupert Read and Helena Norberg-Hodge
Localisation is a process. We need to start moving away from dependence on the global system to source resources closer to points of use. Truly localised systems are no guarantee of social or environmental protection but they are inevitably more benign, more convivial. They also allow us to see more clearly the impact of our decisions and actions on the real world. This short 20-page pamphlet outlines the fundamental features of economic globalisation and localisation, how a shift towards the local might be accomplished, and what it asks of us in terms of action.
Produced in conjunction with Local Futures.
Localisation is a process. We need to start moving away from dependence on the global system to source resources closer to points of use. Truly localised systems are no guarantee of social or environmental protection but they are inevitably more benign, more convivial. They also allow us to see more clearly the impact of our decisions and actions on the real world. This short 20-page pamphlet outlines the fundamental features of economic globalisation and localisation, how a shift towards the local might be accomplished, and what it asks of us in terms of action.
Produced in conjunction with Local Futures.