Blackout Britain- Labour's Legacy

[atlantis]

Welcome back to the 70's when we had regular blackouts under the Labour government, that was due to the miners strikes, this is because Labour couldn't organise a p* up in a brewery.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210297/Blackout-Britain-warning-Government-predicts-severe-power-s hortages-year.html

I think we need to be forced to be less wasteful. Why are US cars getting 20 mpg while ours get 50? Why do people drive half a mile? Leave lights on? throw away a third of their food?

I know - the food waste thing is unbelievable. If higher taxes to stop people from being wasteful worked and the money went to green technology I wouldn't object, but there is no evidence to say that taxing heavily changes behaviour (look at drinking) and, as ever, the poorest will be the hardest hit. I think it would be better if, for instance, car manufacturers were forced to meet very strict emissions criteria for new cars by paying whopping taxes, but that R&D into green tech (battery, solar, electric etc) is taxed very lightly if at all to encourage growth in this sector. Demand for greener cars is there (and especially in the US) but the car and oil lobbies are so powerful, and it is in their interests to keep the status quo, that it is very difficult to change things.

I reckon car manufactureres could make more efficient cars but don't. The US ones certainly could. When I lived there and had to buy a car the salesman was actually bragging that the model I looked at 'made 22 mpg'. I went 'whats wrong with it?' and told him how many mpg our cars get.