Council's strategy must lead with sustainability (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Council's strategy must lead with sustainability

11:13am Tuesday 1st September 2009

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The council are consulting again, to help them fine tune their strategy for our district's future.

They have a 'sustainable communities strategy', and claim that it is at the centre of their vision. Yet it will take more than a bit of tinkering with park and ride to create a district that is in shape to meet the challenges of the future.

Just 150 years ago the USA's first commercial oil was pumped out of the ground. That country's production has long since declined, and the rest of the world will soon be pumping the last of the easily-reached oil. This moment of world decline is 'peak oil', and it's a simple geological fact.

But the implications are far from simple. We will have no choice but to change into a low-carbon economy. That will take imagination and long-term planning. There is little sign that our council understand the scale of this challenge, judging by their timid plans that will barely stabilise C02 emissions, let alone reduce our oil dependency.

They need to be much cleverer, much braver, and quick about it.

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