Climate Change and the Alternative Vote

So the date is approaching when we have the chance to say ya or na to the alternative vote. I’ll put my cards on the table strait away mine will be a resounding ya! As I’m sure it will be for many people who have never felt able to vote for the party they really want to.

As anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a big fat greeny it shadows most of my thoughts on a daily basis. i know its the most pressing issue humans have to face over the 21st century. 

For me its as simple as this folks the more we do to live in balance with our environment the more lifes we save. Its a difficult concept to get our heads around sometimes. Its much easier to see how lifes are lost say in a war zone some one pulls a triger some one else dies so the aim is to try and stop people pulling the trigors. we can see it we can understand it our morels are clear shooting someone is not good and must be avoided at all costs.

The enviroment is not so clear it is a very complex system actions taken in one part of the globe which can seem very harmless (e.g. getting a new pet, buying a second car, having the heating on high) can have dramatic effects in another and we find it very hard to connect the two things. But the science is clear our actions effect the climate, we depend on the climate to live and there for we are creating an enviroment that is more and more hostile for humans to live within. I don’t think i need to go into the science this is documented in enough places and if people aren’t going to listen to the scientists there not going to listen to me! So as I see it the more we do to deal with climate change the more lifes we save the less we do the more lifes are lost. 

So whats important now is to get a goverment in power that can aggressively yet also rationally deal with these issues. But how is this possible when someone as profoundly disturbed by climate change (i.e. me) doesn’t even vote Green for the simple fear that a Conservative government would be much worse for the environment than a Labour one. (A fear that has been very much relised over the past year.)  If I’m not voting green who in the UK is? (Apart from those rather beautiful people in brighton) the answer not many. It is so important that this alternative vote goes through so we can have a government that more accurately reflects the will of the people.


I believe in coalitions or more to the point i believe coalitions can be a positive thing which i know is hard to believe at present! I also believe that even if you don’t think coalitions are a good thing tough luck eventually where going to be getting a lot more of them which ever way we choose to vote. It might go back to labour and conservative for another ten years or so under first past the post due to the libdems messing up so badly but eventually that desire for choice will become as normal in politics as it is in every other part of our lifes. The question is weather we see the positives in that change and push forward or linger on holding on to outdated systems of voting.

Therefore I think if we had the alternative vote more green party MPs would be elected possibly even enough to create a working majority coalition with labour.

What labour are very good at (most of the time) is finding the middle ground or at least the labour party i’ve know since the late 90’s. and I’ve always felt this is the best one can hope for in a political party and I still do on everything apart from the environment. Its time to take action and I’m still not sure those ‘swing’ or ‘working class’ voters which labour depend on have fully woken up to that. Meaning the drive that is needed in that department can’t be accomplished solely by labour. Basically labour need to have the Greens giving them a quick jab in the arm when there not stepping up to the challenge. And they need to be able to say to the electorate ‘sorry where in coalition with the greens we have to make compromises its how it works and ha anyway you want to save the planet right?’ 

If this happened we could really start to get some where and actually have some hope for the future. But it starts with getting AV through which sadley is not looking too hopefully at the moment due to Mr Clegs bad press.

So my reason for writing this is simple i’m hoping just one person reads it and thinks in the long term and thinks what do i want to see in the long term. 

This time last year there where a lot of people saying its time for change well we got change! Like it or lump it we got it! Maybe now its time to think about what sort of change we’d like.