Two issues made me move over to the Green Party in 2003 - one local and one massively global with local implications.
The first was health. I was concerned about the health of Halton’s residents. Research was indicating that we had one of the highest mortality rates in England and Wales and a feature of this mortality was disease related to chest conditions and/or cancer.
The council, to their credit, in response to this had initiated a limited research project by Lancaster University. Its conclusions indicated that poor health, as in so many other geographical areas, was linked to lifestyle.
No significant associations were discovered between high mortality and the high levels of pollutants present in the area. Halton has the largest tonnage and widest range of pollutants released to the atmosphere than any other comparative area in England and Wales. However they did suggest caution in relation to developments in the area that might increase levels of atmospheric pollution.
The other issue was climate change and the linked globalisation and economic growth at all costs mantra of most governments and political parties. This issue pushed me the way of the Green Party as I couldn’t see any of the other parties having the political will to grapple with this important issue.
As time has gone on media interest in climate change and its consequences for us all has fluctuated from a high level in the mid 2000’s to a lower level currently. Factors I suppose such as media exposure, apparent debunking of the science and more pressing economic problems has added to this waning.
To me our attitude to climate change is similar to our attitude to death. When we are confronted with death directly it normally has a dramatic affect on us and remains but lessens over time.
It can have the effect of pushing us to live ‘life’ to the full – to get as much out of life particularly materially that we are able to and b****r the consequences. We can be running away from the greatest insecurity promoting factor in our lives - our death.
Also in the sort of lives we live in our small family units our contacts with our extended family particularly our older members are reduced. Death and the process of dying tends to be made remote and sanitised. Culturally we wish to avoid the subject at all costs.
With climate change there are similarities. When it's experienced (ie the media presents examples) some of us are moved to at least recognise it for a time and then its resonance diminishes. It doesn’t affect us, (especially with some saying it won’t even happen) we don’t have to bother. Is this some sort of adaptive evolutionary process to get on with the hectic lives we lead at all costs?
The problem with climate change, as I understand it, is that our adaptive capabilities might be out of synch. with the process of climate change. We haven't the time to respond naturally. We haven’t faced such potentially extinction threatening natural events since the last ice age.
I hope I’ve not depressed you too much. I think facing up to our own death properly can be liberating it puts life and how we ought to be living it into perspective. Equally spending some time considering what is happening globally in relation to climate change can have the same affect on us. It makes us realise more fully our responsibilities to our children and grandchildren, poor third world countries and the planet generally. And last but not least how we might start enjoying the simple things in life that really matter the most.
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