Hi all,

in unexpected and massively-upsetting news, the co-editors of Manchester Monthly have not been short-listed for the job of chair of the “Steering” “Group”  (one blog post on its site in the last 6 months, and even that full of ‘inaccuracies’ – bravo!!) We had thought that having been explicitly banned from attending the “stakeholder conference” on the say-so of one individual was punishment enough, and that after our tremendously honest job application we would be welcomed back into the fold. Sadly, it was not to be. Next time, perhaps…

Wanna flex your creative muscles, and maybe win £200?   Here’s the details of our short story contest all sorted.  Two thousand words (in English) on the subject “Manchester (UK) in a warmer world.”

 Arwa Aburawa and Marc Hudson

Coming up this week

Monday 20th 4pm to 6pm “The UK government should increase support for bioenergy. Discuss …” University Place Lecture Theatre A (3.102) Details.

Tuesday 21st, 2pm  Update on City Council’s Waste and Recycling efforts to the Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee, Manchester Town Hall, Albert Square.  All can attend, no booking needed.

Tuesday 21st, 6pm to 8pm “A Sustainable Future for Manchester” “in conversation” series. Biodiversity with Matthew Holker, Greater Manchester Ecology Unit Manchester Museum, Oxford Rd. Free. See here for details http://events.manchester.ac.uk/event/event:q8r-hcrtq73c-c5o4cm/a-sustainable-future-for-manchester

Weds May 22nd 10am Economy Scrutiny Committee meeting of Manchester City Council.  Professor Kevin Anderson speaking on Steady State Economics.  Committee Room 11, Manchester Town Hall. NO NEED TO BOOK/ASK PERMISSION. JUST. TURN. UP.

Weds May 22nd, 4pm To EV or not to EV Choices and trade-offs on the path to a
decarbonised transport sector. C1, George Begg Building, Sackville Street, University of Manchester

Dr. Jillian Anable, Centre for Transport Research, The University of
Aberdeen
Many different carbon plans, climate change reviews, and transport and
energy White Papers over the past decade or so have proposed more or
less similar packages of policies to ensure the transport sector
‘pulls its weight’ in climate change policy in the UK. These have
emphasised developments in vehicle technology and fuels and associated
fiscal incentivisation, with relatively little attention given to the
management and reduction of travel demand. In recent years, however,
the attention given to the ‘technical fix’ has intensified as most of
the policy effort and expectation has been increasingly placed on
projections of plug-in electric vehicle uptake.

This talk will suggest that the recent focus on electric vehicle
technology could result in more carbon emissions over the long run. It
will review current proposals and projections for the uptake of these
vehicles in the UK and elsewhere. By drawing on recent work for the
Energy Technologies Institute and the Committee on Climate Change,
including research on the psychology of vehicle choice, it will offer
an understanding of the real role that electric vehicles are likely to
play in future patterns of mobility and car ownership. By reviewing
the recent policy direction and evidence on potential EV uptake, it
will pose and attempt to answer the question: have EVs damaged
transport and climate change policy?

Thursday May 23rd, 10.00-21.30* Manchester City Council Environmental Strategy Programme Board meeting.Room 1.10 One First Street Open to the public? I’m sorry, you must have mistaken this Local Authority for one that is genuinely interested in transparency and democratic engagement!
(*PRESUMABLY A TYP0 IN THE JULY 2012 MINUTES FOR “12.30.” Unless they re going to pull an 11 and a half our meeting to catch up on all the work they haven’t been doing?

Stories you may have missed on the MCFly website

• Video: Didsbury Food Trail 2012 – Barlow Moor Road community garden.
• Book Review: Beacons – Stories for our not so distant future
• #Trafford Breathe Clean Air Group on the Barton Renewable Plant go-ahead #pressrelease
• Interview with John Broderick, Tyndall Research Fellow #shale #gdp #activists and #academics
• University of #Manchester on BP money: “Social responsibility one of the 3 core goals for the University” #climate #monbiot
• #Manchester City Council to examine #climate and #steadystate economics Weds May 22nd #climatescrutiny
• University of #Manchester gets £60m from BP. #Monbiot unhappy. #polarbearfacepalm
• Freedom of Information Act request about #Manchester #climate #stakeholder “steering” group #mcc
• Cross-post: GreenbuildEXPO and the Green Deal

Local news

The campaigners against the Barton Renewables Energy Plant in Trafford say the fight is not over (London over-ruled all the locals, in a fine display of Pickles-localism).

A cycling consultation starts imminently, with the headline-grabbing notion of making Oxford Road all Dutch. More soon.

Nationally, lots of advisers are fleeing the Department for Energy and Climate Change. Rats, ship, much?