It would also be great to have as many people as possible in the audience and taking part,
so put it in your diary!!

PRESS RELEASE (As seen in this week’s Gazette):

QUESTION TIME WILL CLARIFY PARTY DIFFERENCES

Monday, February 28 is Chance for the Bridgend Public to find out what
Their Election Candidates are Offering

A public Question Time is being organised by charity, Sustainable
Wales, inviting people to discover political party policies on a host
Of issues.

It takes place at EVERGREEN HALL, ANGEL ST., BRIDGEND (next door to
Bridgend County Borough offices) at 8pm on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2011.

Director of Sustainable Wales, Margaret Minhinnick, said today: The
Question Time will provide a valuable opportunity for voters to measure
differences between the main parties.

Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative and Wales
Green parties all back the Yes campaign in the referendum on March 3.

Questions might be asked on any mainstream subject the economy,
jobs, youth unemployment, the environment. Obviously, questions need
local emphasis such as Bridgends recycling and rubbish disposal,
Porthcawl regeneration, the cost of public transport.

Sustainable Wales is organising the Question Time, as we do for most
elections, to encourage public debate.

March 3rd is the referendum date in Wales, and the Question Time is
held on the February 28th, making it the ideal occasion to learn what
our parties are promising.

Remember there is an Assembly election in Wales on May 5th this
year. The special Question Time will provide evidence of how to think
of our would-be representatives.

Sustainable Wales urges the public to make use of a rare political
opportunity.
It invites questions to be e-mailed to the charity office, at
mm or brought in and deposited in a special
Question Time box, in the charitys office, at 41, John St.,
Porthcawl, CF36 3AP, between 10am and 4pm.

Sustainable Wales believes a Yes vote in the referendum on March 3
will help streamline the Welsh legislative system, and make our AMs
more accountable.

More information: 01656 783405 <mm>

Saturday 5 February, Channel 4, [S]<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />

(Just before the C4 news)

Britain’s first Green MP Caroline Lucas and some of her local councillor colleagues

talk about the policies Greens are fighting for in parliament and town halls around the country.

I simply cannot allow the letter from the climate change sceptic, David Lewis of Porthcawl, to go unchallenged.

Mr Lewis is typical of the sort of science sceptics who question evolution by natural selection; the extent of the holocaust; and the shape of the Earth. The science is established and incontrovertible – human activity, in a wide range of fields, is contributing to accelerated global warming. It may be a bit too complicated for Mr Lewis to get his head around and may not be happening quite quickly enough (the timescales involved are tricky for small minds to grapple with) for him to be prepared to acknowledge it as a problem to him in his cosy little world, but denying facts in no way changes facts. You do not achieve a balanced debate, Mr Lewis, by countering well-grounded scientific research with ill-informed drivel.

He probably has enjoyed watching self-publicising buffoons like Lord Christopher Monckton on television recently preaching his pseudo-scientific nonsense, rather than spent his time, rather less entertainingly, wading through the decades’ worth of mountains of properly scrutinised and endorsed peer review research by proper climate scientists.

The fact that it makes people feel better about themselves to deny the evidence, and carry on as ever they have without a sense of guilt, is exactly the attitude that allowed the holocaust to happen and that allowed churches to burn scientists as heretics.

The one thing that I thoroughly agree with Mr Lewis on is the importance of children, in fact everyone, questioning everything and demanding evidence to support claims they are asked to accept. This way we have a hope of ridding the world of superstitious nonsense and self-interested purveyors of cultivated ignorance.

For those that still cannot be bothered to do the due diligence, think on this. If the climate scientists are wrong, what will be the consequences for the world? Now compare this scenario with the consequences of the climate change sceptics being wrong. This ought to scare people out of their complacency. However, complacency is the order of the day in too many corridors of power and we are probably doomed to contending with serious consequences in my lifetime, and certainly my children’s lifetime.

I hope Mr Lewis and his Lordship are around long enough to perhaps say “Oops, sorry!” as high tides lap at the door of the Ancient Briton one day.
 
Andy Chyba
Bridgend Green Party

PROVISIONAL AGENDA

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Apologies for Absence
3. EAGM minutes and matters arising
4. Election of Officers
5. Local Party Constitution adoption
6. Local membership rates – adult & junior
7. Bank account status
8. Campaigns update
9. Conference
10. Fun fundraising
11. Any Other Business

http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=599:the-empty-press-room-how-corporate-journalism-happily-lost-interest-in-climate-change&catid=24:alerts-2011&Itemid=68

It is a serious issue that, I believe, ties in with some of the points I have made about ‘greenwashing’.
As everyone, rarely with any great sincerity, jumps on the Green bandwagon, there seems to be generally widespread acknowledgement that we have a climate change problem on our hands, but people seem prone to believing that it is being taken in hand, and therefore they can stop worrying and taking an interest – as they do their bit by using a few low energy lightbulbs so what let’s all just relax.

One tragic mistake after another, methinks.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110127090533.htm

“Democracy is still a work in progress,” say the two project leaders Marc Bühlmann (Zurich) and Prof. Wolfgang Merkel (Berlin). Sustainable democratization is needed, even in established democracies.”

Tell us something we don’t know!

Sustainable Wales is pleased to welcome more artists to its Green Room
Series of events, held at 41, John St., Porthcawl.

On FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, at 8pm, writer Zoe Skoulding, musician Alan
Holmes, and community artist and academic, Nick Clements, will discuss
Their work with the public and local artists.

Zoë Skoulding is a poet and editor, now in charge of the international
Quarterly, Poetry Wales. Zoes latest book, Remains of a Future City (Seren)
Was on the Welsh Book of the Year list, 2008.
One of the most exciting aspects of Zoes work is her combination of poetry
With experimental soundscapes, based on collaborations with many
Musicians.

One of these is Alan Holmes, who has played in a host of adventurous rock
Groups in Wales, including Ectogram, and is praised by critics for his sheer
Inventiveness. This is Alans first visit to Porthcawl, an occasion modern
Music-lovers should not miss.

Nick Clements helped found Pioneers Art Group in 1981, which created
Hundreds of murals, mosaics, sculptures, stained glass, ceramic, and many
Media art works until 2004. Pioneers worked with tens of thousands of local
People to create landmark art, as well as developing public art commissions.
Nick is now Visiting Professor at Staffordshire and Warsaw Universities.

For a fascinating evening, Sustainable Wales hopes to see you
February 4, at 41, John St., Porthcawl, for the latest GREEN ROOM
Event. Remember: those who have art have all.

Entrance is £4 for a wonderfully varied evening of performance and
Debate.

For more information you can call Margaret Minhinick on 01656 783405
Or email us at mm@sustainablewales.org.uk

(Published in the Gazette on 10/02/11)

I was delighted by the response in the Gazette from Bridgend Conservative Association Chairman, Wayne Buffett Warlow, to my call for more constructive politics in Bridgend. Delyth Miller and I were also pleased to accept his invitation to the launch of their local Environment Action Day. It was, perhaps, a disappointingly low key affair, but it did give us the opportunity to sit down with colleagues from both parties (including WAG candidates from both parties) and convivially discuss issues of mutual concern. I think we were all pleased to find numerous areas of mutual interest and areas where we should be happy to support each other.

For example, the Conservative campaign is keen to see the promotion of a wider range of renewable energy sources, believing that there is too much emphasis on wind energy. We have been promoting this for a long time – and we were happy to share ideas on how this can be pursued. We all recognised the immense untapped potential for all sorts of renewable energy in South Wales.

I was also pleased to see a recognition of the reality that flooding is inevitably going to be an issue of growing concern. I was delighted to see the term ‘Blue Belt’ land on their literature. Similar to ‘Green Belt’, it means very tight planning constraints, but in this case on areas of high flood risk. This needs some further ‘joined up thinking’ as current national government policy, embodied in the Sustainable Communities Plan, actually encourages new development on flood plains – but hopefully we can ensure that this does not happen around Bridgend.

I hope this will be a start of ongoing constructive dialogue between all parties locally. We will always have ideological differences, but we all live in the same environment and have the same things at stake. As a minority party, we know we are a long way away from holding the reigns of power. We need constructive dialogue to help steer the powers that be, and I was pleased to hear positive comments from Conservatives about how much the Green Party has achieved in this respect. Our role is to support steps in the right direction and to hold the other parties to account for pledges that they make, not just in terms of environmental issues, but in all policy areas.

We have seen that broken promises are the biggest cause of problems in our politics (as the Lib Dems know with regards to tuition fees). Words and promises are cheap and ‘greenwashing’ as a publicity stunt is all too common with big companies and some politicians. The most encouraging thing from this meeting of Greens and Conservatives was the sentiment that it should all be about getting things done – before it is too late for all of us! Let it be.

Andy Chyba
Chair of Bridgend Green Party
Blog: https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/
Mobile: 078 1066 3241
Email: greens@chyba.go-plus.net