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email this page to a friendWITH the impact of climate change beginning to show on the natural world around us right here in the Dales, moves are afoot across North Yorkshire to raise to raise awareness among those in the generation that will actually be here having to live with global warming - our school children.
Education bosses at North Yorkshire County Council are set to appoint a full-time officer to raise awareness in schools right across the county of the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions; and it's hoped they will have a willing audience with young people that are generally more open to the concept of climate change than any generation before them.
We are constantly being told that the future of the planet is at stake, and it's vital that we all do everything within our power to make a difference
Carl Les - County Councillor
As part of what the council calls its commitment to fighting the threat of global warming, once in post, the new officer will visit schools around the county to assist in identifying and implementing energy saving opportunities.
County councillor Carl Les, executive member for corporate affairs, said: "Global warming and the need to do something positive about the reduction of greenhouse gases is a priority for us all.
"Plans for the appointment of a dedicated officer to offer informed advice to our schools are well advanced. There are around four hundred schools in the county, so clearly if we can introduce and implement some energy saving ideas, we will be able to make a significant impact."
North Yorkshire has drawn up a Carbon Management Strategy and Implementation Plan, which is being launched next week, to coincide with national Energy Saving Week, beginning on October 23.
Among the proposals in the plan is a scheme to replace older fluorescent tubes with slim, modern equivalents that reduce electricity consumption by half. Other key initiatives include improving building insulation and raising awareness amongst staff and pupils.
Over the next 12 months, the county is hoping to see a nine per cent reduction in its overall carbon emissions. This follows a deal announced earlier this month which sees "green electricity" supplied to a number of schools and council run offices.
Councillor Les added: "There is a long way to go for all of us, but it's important to make as big a commitment as possible to reducing greenhouse gas. We are constantly being told that the future of the planet is at stake, and it's vital that we all do everything within our power to make a difference."
Your views:
I have been working on a scheme to install Biomass stoves and improve insulation at various stations on the Settle-Carlisle line, including two stoves at Settle station. I have been fortunate in receiving support from the Railway industry - both Northern Rail and Network Rail have given the scheme their full support and funds.
I have been very fortunate also in having guidance and support from the Sunrise Project in Leeds and the Business Environment Forum in York. However, the new Low Carbon Buildings Programme funding renewable energy options was delayed in its implementation and it's also extremely complicated to understand. Once you have explored the renewable energy options available to you, you then have to try and make sense of the application form!
Whilst I am pleased to read that NYCC is taking the business of global warming seriously, I wonder whether our Regional Assemblies really value the on-the-ground work carried out by renewable energy support agencies. My own experience with this project has been that funding for the actual projects is piecemeal and that the posts which offer advice are not secure with Yorkshire Forward or with the North West Development Agency.
Its good to talk and teach but carrying out the task of actually making a difference takes effort and money - so thank you to the railway industry for giving our project just that. Lets hope the major fund holders in the Country, such as the government, really start to take it seriously too and fund renewable energy options substantially and easily. It may be that otherwise all the knowledge imparted to children by NYCC will make very little real difference.
Marion Armstrong - Settle, North Yorkshire
