Glasto is in for a special treat this year - the Young Greens  will be helping 3 'villages' to run sustainably.  Which is what festivals are all about: modelling an alternative lifestyle and set of values.  Why else do we go to festivals if it isnt for a dose of how things might be if we could only set aside corporate-powered materialism...?  Go Young Green Glasto!!

Welcome and apologies

Well hello and welcome and thanks for opening this...we haven't exactly been conscientious in writing this blog!   Just too too busy. The reason we are so busy is that we are running Green campaigns, particulalry in the run up to May's General Election.  Have a look at Shan's blog http://shanoakes.blogspot.co.uk/ , fb and the Green Party sites for what we are doing.

So here's a start: a word about our lovely eco-house project in York - Fairfax Corner.   

The house continues to welcome families and groups  - more and more returning year after year.

If you haven't yet stayed at Fairfax Corner, it's a treat in store: cosy, spacious, generously kitted out, table tennis in the cellar, central and away from noisy roads.  People say its a home from home.  We used to live here ourselves when we worked in York and it still has most of our book collection in it because we have moved to a much smaller house!   These, of course, are available for guests to read.
We hope you visit Fairfax Corner one day!

Green Party Conference Aston Uni Birmingham this weekend...Equality and Diversity  

We are dedicating activity on this site to promote Shan's bid for the number one position in the list for the candidates for the Euro elections in 2014

Shan has a separate blog which can be found here  She also is running a Facebook campaign page "Shan Oakes No1 for Europe"

You may also follow @shanoakes on Twitter

Why vote Green?

Just unearthed this interview by Winkball a couple of years ago. Of course today the main issues would be casino banking, cuts to jobs, pensions and services - and yet more devastation of the planet.

LATER AMENDMENT - this link is now not working! apologies to those who tried!!

Job losses in Yorkshire - letter to Yorkshire Post

Iwrite further to your article, ‘ Recession fears grow with wave of job cuts inregion’ (8^th Feb).  The loss of bank jobs is, of course, very sad for the employees concerned, but unsurprising in the currentclimate of takeovers and megacorporate rule.   Ethical banks, on theother hand,  such as Triodos,  the Cooperative  Bank  andthe Ecology Building Society in Baildon are doing very well.  More andmore people are looking for ‘good’ banking.  Perhaps redundant bank staffcould consider starting up or supporting  the growth of local creditunions which will deal transparently and fairly with local people’smoney. 

Localauthority cuts are due to misguided government policy which  results incuts to services for the most vulnerable, as well as a reduction in taxreceipts and spending – a lose lose situation.

 Regardinga traditional firm such as Oakworth,   no doubt they make good qualityproducts which could be used to improve energy efficiency , such as double andsecondary glazing.  A shame that they were trading with one major customerrather than lots of smaller clients.  All these job losses boil down tothe need to start rebuilding relationships in communities instead of allowingourselves to be run by  corporates and multinationals.  

Nowthe Bank of England has announced a new batch of quantitative easing (£50bn orso),  and the Green New Deal Group  is calling for such cash to beinjected into a programme of green investment to support badly needed renewableenergy and energy efficiency projects. Rather than handing the money over tothe banks, who then sit on it and refuse to lend, green QE would put money intothe wider economy - creating thousands of new jobs, improving energy securityand tackling climate change at the same time.

Shan Oakes

Green Party (Hulland East Riding)

Turbines versus oil wells on the Wolds

I 've been asked by BBC Radio Humberside to discuss theissue of wind turbines – again  (we Greens get a little bit annoyed whenwe are asked only about environmental issues when we have the full range ofeconomic and social policies).  Anyway, to get to the point -  EastYorks Council (ERYC) is wanting to make the Wolds an area of outstandingnatural beauty (AONB) in order to stop wind farm applications there.  Ifind this incredible.  Not that I don’t think the Wolds are beautifulbecause I do.  It’s the fact that ERYC doesn’t want wind turbines, butthey don’t mind oil drilling!  They have agreed to let a Canadian oil firmstart exploratory drilling near Walkington!   It’s ironic becausewind turbines harness free clean energy, and polls tell us that most peopleapprove of them and  like how they look, whereas  oil is a fossilfuel (carbon laid down millions of years ago) which produces CO2 when burned,which  is responsible for  climate change  - which is killing150,000 people a year (World Health Organisation).  How crazy isthat?  Or don’t they/we mind because the people dying are a long way away?