Dear Sir,
CLIMATE ACTION
This week I attended two events which deserve more than a line each in my County Newsbits column.
FUNERAL FOR
OUR FUTURE
Last Saturday I went through to Durham to join Extinction Rebellion Durham’s ‘Funeral for our Future’: bit.ly/FFOF419
The Extinction Rebellion people have been in the news recently for some very disruptive demonstrations, but on Saturday they simply conducted a number of symbolic funerals – at a number of locations in the city – mourning the loss of species, the planet and potentially the human race. “We refuse to bequeath a dying planet to future generations by failing to act now,” they chanted solemnly.
For my sins, I ended up being a steward at the march, and it was an honour to be able to join these earnest, principled people as they campaigned for all our futures.
CLIMATE EMERGENCY SCRUTINY
Whilst the Extinction Rebellion people have successfully raised awareness of climate change, we need also to do something about it and, in February, Durham County Council passed a ‘Climate Emergency’ motion, pledging to achieve carbon neutrality in both Council and County. One of my roles as Cabinet Support for Economy and Regeneration at DCC is to usher in safely the Council’s Climate Emergency strategy, so I was delighted this week to attend a Special Meeting of Cllr Eddy Adam’s Environment Scrutiny Committee, which looked at the issue: bit.ly/DCCENS419
The committee heard a learned presentation on minewater heating, reports on what the Council has already achieved as regards climate change and low carbon, and an outline of the work being done to prepare a Climate Emergency Plan for the Council meeting in July.
Cllr John D Clare
