Ippoippo

New PM here in the UK, and now a new cabinet.

So, from a Peak Oil tinted view of the world, what does this mean.
Well, there’s some disappointment that (the PO aware, we suspect) David Milliband is no longer Environment Secretary (especially given that the ‘Energy’ brief has been moved from the DTI to DEFRA).
However, this could be viewed as a good thing. Milliband is effectively ‘No.3′ now in the UK, in a rather important role. Hopefully, he’ll be able to exert some useful PO pressure on other countries (and no… I don’t mean wanting to start wars and nick other peoples oil ).
Mind you, if we take the more cynical view, this new posting my end up showing us that in fact Milliband was never a ‘believer’ in Peak Oil and was just doing it to work his way up through the hierarchy. I suspect not… but I can never fully trust these politicians.

Finally, talking of Politicans, there is a small glimmer of hope…

On Tuesday 26th June 2007, Tony Blair’s last full day as Prime Minister, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas (APPGOPO) held its inaugural Annual General Meeting, ensuring that the issue of declining global oil supplies will feature much more prominently in Parliament in the Gordon Brown era.

APPGs are composed of politicians from all political parties and have members from the House of Commons and the House of Lords. APPGOPO will enable interested MPs and Lords to discuss Peak Oil and all its surrounding issues. The interest by MPs and Lords in Peak Oil, and indeed the All Party Parliamentary Group, was much higher than the average Peak Oil commentator would expect. Often it is charged that politicians are not willing to talk about such a difficult subject, but the APPGOPO has the support of over twenty MPs and Lords. This actually makes it the largest political grouping looking at Peak Oil in the world.

The AGM, held at 6.30pm in Committee Room 19 in the House of Commons, made the election of officers the first piece of business. Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who has been vocal on this issue since becoming an MP, was elected as Chair, while Colin Challen MP, highly respected for his work on pushing the issue of Climate Change with the APPGCC, and Lord Robin Teverson took the positions of Vice Chair. Labour MP Austin Mitchell, with 30 years of Parliamentary experience, took the position of Secretary, while Mark Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Ceredigion, was elected Treasurer. David Drew, Labour MP for Stroud, was also present. Many more Parliamentarians have offered their support for the group, but could not attend.

The AGM also established the initial parameters for its mission. It will use available Parliamentary processes to raise the issue, and there is likely to be regular meetings, open to the public, discussing the issue. The first APPGOPO event may take place before the end of July. The group wants to look at the technological and geological issues, the geopolitical issues, the government viewpoints and those of the industry, the impact of alternative fuels such as biofuels, how peak oil and climate change relate, and mitigation and solution options. Although the group will not produce its own prediction for the date of Peak Oil, it will analyse the various predictions that exist.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas is the result of several months work of collaboration between PowerSwitch.org.uk, The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC), and John Hemming MP. Although it has no formal powers, and receives no funding, this group is a vital step in raising the necessary awareness of the issue, from which a rational response to the challenges can come. Educating key decision makers and challenging established views on the issue is a task this group must, and can, achieve. The formation group also provides further evidence that Peak Oil is far removed from the days of being a fringe subject. Many of those concerned about the impending decline of global oil supplies may take hope that a significant group of their representatives are finally going to speak about the Peak openly in the corridors of power.

Taken from Powerswitch.org.uk

Grrrr. I still can’t get over the fact that this guy gets to have dual nationality. How come he’s allowed to, and most ‘normal’ people are not allowed to be Japanese AND ’something else’. Pahh!

If/When Yuko and I have kid(s)… I really resent the fact that one day (20, according to Japanese law) they’ll have to choose to be ‘officially Japanese’ or ‘officially British’.

In Geek News, Adobe’s fantastic Lightroom software has been updated to Version 1.1.

My God… I dread to think what that would be like!
Interesting though that they’d set it Queensland though.

Meanwhile, back home here in the UK. It’s wet, wet, wet still. Good weather for slugs however… who’ve been swarming around near my veggies. Soon fixed that though… without the use of nasty chemicals and pellets. Yep… get them pissed and get them to drown in the pot of beer they’ve been drinking. Last nights experiment with 4 beer filled pots as slug traps has wiped out a fair few slugs. Maybe I’ve found a use for really cheapo ‘Economy’ beer from Sainsbury!

I think Japanese Rainy season has migrated from Japan to the UK with our move over here. Apparently, Japan has had a very weak Rainy Season (and Shikoku is suffering severe shortages)… but it’s been raining quite a lot here in the UK.

Saturday wasn’t too bad. Yuko and I enjoyed the sun in the afternoon to get some gardening stuff done. We cooked up a Mexican style chilli… home made stuff, and not a packet or jar of sauce in sight.
Sunday was a complete wash-out however. We spent the day chilling out, reading the papers, and watching some DVDs.
The latest James Bond Film, Casino Royale, was a cracking film. Much better than previous two films.

The most recent Wallace and Gromit film though was a disappointment in comparison to the earlier films.