Wales Green Party has welcomed news that E.ON and RWE npower have pulled out of building Wylfa B, providing a 'shot in the arm' for renewable industries.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of Wales Green Party said:

“Nuclear power, once heralded as being so cheap it would be practically free, is choking on its own extravagance.Costs to the taxpayer of unwanted nuclear sites were always going to be unsupportable.

"The nuclear industry is shying away from shouldering the burden of nuclear because it knows that electricity prices cannot realistically keep pace with the spiralling  costs of clean up and decommissioning. These toxic installations serve little more purpose than to provide lethal weapons of mass destruction.

"Germany and Japan know the price is too high for the environment. With new Nuclear going way over budget and with no safe build in sight, we can at last reflect on the wisdom of using this type of energy.

"The intelligent way forward is to invest in renewables such as solar, tide and wind. Green energy will always provide us with more jobs, safer living and greater energy security.

"We call on all political parties to put aside their ideological differences in pursuit of a clean ecological model of development for Wales.”

ENDS

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Green Party in Wales hit out today at the spendthrift ideas behind the M4 corridor enhancement scheme.

She said: ‘As usual the Welsh Government is looking at ways to spend huge amounts of money on a badly thought out scheme. Low cost solutions should be given a proper chance to solve the congestion problems between Magor and High Cross, which is made up of 40% local traffic according to the Government’s own figures. This stretch of motorway is only congested at peak times. It makes no sense to spend tens of millions of taxpayers hard earned money on a piece of road which only needs to see different travelling options for 2 or 3 hours a day.

The Wales Government should be looking at Greener options such as compulsory school buses, properly integrated public transport which everyone wants to use, and support to businesses to enable a major increase in flexible working hours.

Why spend more than £500 million on a massive tunnel building scheme for a form of transport which will be out of fashion in 25 years. Malpas Road and Caerleon Road have been consistently shown as areas experiencing danger levels of pollutants caused by vehicle traffic. It would be better to spend the money on a network of charging points for electric cars and clear our air of harmful pollution. It would be better still to overhaul our public transport infrastructure and develop a truly sustainable transport system which goes to where people need to be, costs little, and runs often.

As always, the Green solutions are cheaper, more sustainable, and create more jobs. Yet the Wales Government has not the imagination to do more than offer us expensive schemes to concrete over swathes of the precious Gwent Levels, bore holes through the Brynglas hillside, or prop up the failure of the ill thought out Southern Distributer Road.’

Carwyn Jones announced in the Senedd yesterday that the UK's Nuclear Fleet would be more than welcome at Milford Haven if an Independent Scotland wanted to get rid of them.

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said today: "The sight of the First Minister yet again fawning to the Westminster government over military contracts destroys the self-respect of the people of Wales. It is already unacceptable that Wales facilitates the testing of military drones at Aberporth. These unmanned aerial vehicles are responsible for the execution of countless innocent families in Pakistan, Gaza and beyond.

"And now we are opening Welsh arms to Trident and the storage of nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Wales needs jobs, but a job of this type could only be taken under sufferance. Were these weapons to be used in anger, you can be sure that the people of Wales would be ashamed of their part in it. The First Minister has a duty to provide us with decent jobs, not to make us purveyors of weapons of mass destruction."

The Green Party believes that nuclear weapons remain a costly distraction from the real security threats the UK faces, like climate change and energy security. The billions being spent on Trident replacement could be much better spent on developing the infrastructure urgently needed for a zero carbon economy, and protecting public services.

Pippa Bartolotti also said: "It is adding insult to injury to axe historic Welsh Regiments to save the MoD money, then invest the savings in a Cold War weapons system which is the most destructive on the planet. At a time when the cuts will be biting hard, Trident will be siphoning billions from the public purse. To facilitate a project that will make Wales and the world a far more dangerous place is politically irresponsible and morally bankrupt."

The SNP Government in Scotland have stated categorically that Scotland will not be home to the UK's Nuclear Fleet. There are very few options available to the UK Government. Milford Haven is one of the few deep water harbours available to accommodate these submarines. The UK Government at present have no alternative to Faslane and Coulport - there is nowhere else in the UK with the necessary infrastructure to handle the warheads.

Pippa Bartolotti is the Leader of the Wales Green Party

The Siemens offshore substation, which is the latest milestone for the Welsh offshore wind farm, Gwynt y Mor, arrived by sea from Belfast this week. This month also saw the start of the laying of foundations and subsea cables for the first of the 160 wind turbines, which will make up the 576MW offshore wind farm. When completed, the wind farm will generate green energy for almost a third of the homes in Wales.

Said Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Welsh Greens: “The announcement from Siemens that the last phase of infrastructure in the Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm is being put in place, vindicates our long held policy that wind power is a practical solution for much of our energy needs.”

The Green Party in Wales has been campaigning for renewable energy sources to power our homes and industries for decades. They have been putting pressure on senior ministers to end ongoing uncertainty over support arrangements for green power technologies as industry has hesitated to invest because of mixed messages and incoherent policy.

Pippa Bartolotti went on to say: ““We are over the moon at this announcement. This is a huge step forward in the reduction of CO2 by Welsh homes, and a massive confirmation in our belief that green energy is possible, preferable and achievable.”

“I look forward to the day when all our energy can be sourced from sustainable industries. Wind power is just the start. With more investment in wave and solar, more money invested in innovation, research and design, and a clear lead from government that these industries are the source of good quality and sustainable jobs for the future, Wales can be the prosperous zero carbon nation it has long aspired to be.”

Gwynt y Mor’s construction so far has already supported hundreds of design, engineering and construction jobs in Wales, the northwest of England and Northern Ireland, and generated over £300m for the UK economy.

The IPCC has stated that we have a window of roughly 10 years to mitigate the effects of climate change.

“N.B. These are the results for the Leader and Deputy Leader of The Green Party of England and Wales, not to be confused with Wales Green Party Leader and Deputy who are still Pippa Bartolotti and Christopher Were respectivly.”

Leader

3,127 ballot papers were returned (a turnout of 25.1%), of which 16 were spoilt, giving a total valid vote of 3,111.

The quota required for election is therefore 1,555.6

First preference votes were distributed as follows:

Bartolotti - 389
Bennett - 1,300
Cranie - 902
Phoenix - 492
RON - 28

No candidate achieved quota and so Bartolotti is eliminated and her votes redistributed as follows:

Bennett - 187 
Cranie - 74 
Phoenix - 93 
RON - 7 
Not transferable - 28

The totals for the second round are therefore:

Bartolotti - eliminated 
Bennett - 1,487 
Cranie - 976 
Phoenix - 585 
RON - 35

No candidate achieved quota and so Phoenix is eliminated and her votes redistributed as follows:

Bennett - 270 
Cranie - 228 
RON - 27 
Not transferable - 60

The totals for the third round are therefore:

Bartolotti - eliminated 
Bennett - 1,757 
Cranie - 1,204 
Phoenix - eliminated 
RON - 62 

I therefore declare Natalie Bennett elected as Leader.

Deputy Leader

3,127 ballot papers were returned (a turnout of 25.1%).

In line with the election rules set out in the Green Party constitution, the Deputy Leader cannot be of the same gender as the Leader and so Caroline Allen and Alexandra Phillips are eliminated and their first preference votes will be redistributed to the highest expressed preference for an eligible candidate.

There were 353 spoilt papers (including papers expressing a preference only for a feemale candidate or candidates), giving a total valid vote of 2774 and the quota required for election is therefore 1,387.1

First preference votes were distributed as follows:

Allen - not eligible
Duckworth - 1,329
Mallender - 1,245
Phillips - not eligible
RON - 200

No candidate achieved quota, but Green Party rules require that RON not be eliminated, so the candidate with the highest vote is elected.

I therefore declare Will Duckworth elected as Deputy Leader.

Jon Nott 
Electoral Returning Officer 
3 September 2012

The Green Party has welcomed calls from the Trades Union Congress to build on the Olympic and Paralympic example to create a golden legacy of social cohesion and investment for the future.

Wales leader Pippa Bartolotti, said the Greens hoped to work with Wales TUC to ‘change Britain’s political direction’.

Brendan Barber, the TUC’s General Secretary, delivered his keynote speech to the Congress’ annual conference in Brighton.

He said: ‘It’s right to celebrate the Olympics, but it’s even more important to learn from them.

‘Just as the Olympics needed new infrastructure, so does the rest of the country. New schools and colleges, new houses – let’s build the council housing Britain is desperately crying out for. And... let’s build a new banking infrastructure, with a state investment bank, regional banks and a financial transactions tax.

He also called for regulation of the financial system: ‘strong clear rules and proper penalties for those who break them’ before adding: ‘Austerity simply isn’t working. There has been no growth since the government came to power. Economic beliefs that failed in the 1930s and the 1980s are being applied once again.’

‘The economy is on its knees, services are being devastated and our society is becoming more fractured. Britain deserves better than this. Let us build a new Britain we can all be proud of.’

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Green Party in Wales, commented: ‘Even the IMF says austerity is wrong. The TUC is right to call for investment in our future.

‘We in the Green Party want to work with all unions to change Britain’s political direction. Austerity isn’t working.’

‘We will ensure decent levels of pay and benefits for all who need them. The Olympics and Paralympics showcased the UK’s diversity, talent and determination, and their legacy should be to build a better future for all.’

WALES Green Party has congratulated Plaid Cymru for following in its footsteps with the ‘Green New Deal’ announced by the Welsh nationalist party.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood announced a package of environmental measures designed to create manufacturing jobs, increase renewable energy production, and improve home energy efficiency.

At the party’s conference in Brecon, she said it would: ‘Aim to provide skills, work, hope and opportunity for young people, building resilience into the economy and weaning Wales off our addiction to oil.’

Wales Green Party leader Pippa Bartolotti welcomed the announcement, saying it signals a shift towards Green policy priorities.

She said: ‘We support Plaid Cymru for following up on our own Green New Deal and the One Million Climate Jobs, both of which have been fully costed, are achievable, and urgently needed.’

Ms Woods also criticised the Coalition government – or the ‘heads of UK Plc’. She said: ‘The coalition has used the economic crisis as an excuse to attack the Welfare State. We must work to strengthen the economy.’

But Ms Bartolotti argued Wales must go even further than Plaid Cymru suggests.

She said: ‘More than a quarter of Welsh people are employed in the public sector. This make Wales the single most vulnerable community to the ideologically driven cuts forced on us by Westminster.

‘Talent in Wales is being wasted, and the hopes of a generation dashed because money is going straight into the pockets of the banks and not being made available to support small businesses. The struggling indigenous SME sector in Wales should be the job creators and innovators of our time, and urgently need support.

‘When nurses, and other workers bringing us the vital services on which we all depend are now £124 a month worse off than their English counterparts, it’s time for a total rethink of government strategy.  

‘The Welsh Government must wake up and put the future hopes and needs of the people of Wales firmly in the forefront.

‘Wales Green Party gives absolute priority to the creation of extra jobs and training places which would address our employment and environmental security.’ 

The badly devised plan to bring incinerators to Wales has gone seriously over budget. Even before the contract has been awarded, taxpayers are being asked to find more yet money for a project that has already cost nearly £2Million.

Said Pippa Bartolotti, spokesperson for SNIC, “At a time when wages in Wales are in real terms going down, squeezed Local Councils are being asked to find another £415,000, to fund what appears to be a pro-incineration propaganda unit.

“The Wales Government are desperate to keep the incinerator wagon rolling, despite overcapacity in Europe, where incinerators are being closed down. This money could so easily be spent on waste reduction and packaging improvements, yet more than £1billion of Welsh taxpayers money will be directed into a dirty industry which no-one wants and may be pumping out pollutants for 30 years””

Prosiect Gwyrdd has had to extend its timeline from December 2012 to July 2013, incurring yet more costs whilst it dithers over awarding a contract to Viridor in Cardiff, who say they will build an incinerator whether or not they are awarded a contract. Newport Planning Committee have already turned down planning permission for an incinerator which was to be built near the new settlement of 4000 homes at Glan Llyn.

Expenditure on the ill-fated Prosiect Gwerdd has ballooned. Robert Hepworth, Chair of SNIC said: “Newport has already said a resounding NO to incineration in favour of Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT). This project has been running for over 5 years – more than enough time to do the job. I would like to know the reason for the delays, and why Prosiect Gwyrdd has the authority to commit to unfunded expenditure.”

SNIC wants the Wales Government to step back and re-think its plans for incinerators throughout Wales. New technologies are available, and the amount of waste being produced is going down year on year.

Said Pippa Bartolotti: “Incineration is now seen as harmful to recycling, and it really is the most expensive way of dealing with our landfill problem. A total rethink is required, and quickly.”

The leader of Plaid Cymru has done a U turn on nuclear power. When questioned by the BBC she indicated that her party would not interfere with any move to build a bigger nuclear power station on Anglesey.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Greens in Wales said: ‘Just a few months ago Leanne Wood was proud to say that she was against nuclear, and that Plaid was against nuclear, and on this basis she was elected. It is very sad to see how easily a person can change their views when there are a few votes in it.’

‘This is where the Greens are different from all other political parties. We have the courage of our convictions, and when we say no to nuclear, we mean it!

The island's nuclear station was due to end production by 2010, but extensions are currently in place. Any new reactor will take between 10 and 15 years to build. By contrast, one single off shore windfarm at Gwynt y Môr is on the brink of generating 40% of Wales’s energy needs.

Ms Bartolotti went on to say: ‘Our stance on the tragedy of nuclear power is clear and longstanding. We simply cannot condone any process which makes a waste product so toxic, so dangerous, and so long lasting as to be an insurmountable burden on many generations to come.’ 

Wales has the potential to be a truly Green nation. Our natural resources are outstanding, and there are far more jobs in the renewables sector than in nuclear power generation.

A statement from Jane Davidson in 2010 stated that Wales has the potential to generate twice its electricity demand from renewable energy sources within 15 years.

Pippa Bartolotti added: ‘What the Wales Government should do is to put the evidence on the table for all to see. If the government of Wales was modern and progressive it would be keen to replace old technologies with new, and train us all accordingly. Alas, the government, and Plaid, to their detriment, are pandering to the nuclear lobby. ‘

‘Basing a nuclear power station in a land rich in renewable energy sources is an insult.’

The Horizon nuclear project for Wylfa B was put up for sale in March by German utilities RWE and E.ON who came under pressure when Germany decided to phase out all nuclear power in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident in Japan. The Wyfa plant is now the subject of French and Chinese investment interest.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Welsh Greens was alarmed to hear from a Senior Policy Manager at Gwent Police, that the election of Police Commissioners could result in a justice lottery.

At a meeting on 27th September in Newport, Pippa Bartolotti asked a Senior Policy Manager what steps were being taken to stop justice in the UK being a postcode lottery.

The Wales Green Party leader said: “This is poor use of democracy. I am shocked that my worst fears could be realised: Policing and Crime is likely to be a justice lottery. For example one Police Commissioner near you may favour restorative justice, but in the region next door they may be more in favour of lengthy prison sentences.”

The Police Commissioner website states that the job is ‘to play a leading role in how crime is tackled in your area’.

Pippa Bartolotti added: “Policing is a complex business. I have yet to see a meaningful manifesto from any of the candidates, and with the election date looming I don’t see how people will have the time to make a serious choice. Commissioners will have to rank the importance of domestic violence against, for example, rural crime. We urgently need to see what these candidates stand for, and how they would work with other agencies to prevent crime and promote the rehabilitation of offenders.

“It costs £5000 to stand as a police commissioner – not the sort of money an ordinary and independent person would be prepared to lose, and if funding has to be raised, this could compromise the morality of an individual.”

Simon Weston, the well known Falklands veteran, withdrew from elections for the South Wales police commissioner because he said the campaign was “too political".

The Electoral Reform Society estimates turn-out in the elections, due to be held on 15 November, may well be the lowest in modern political history. Last month the ERS projected that only 18.5% of voters would participate.

The Green Party in Wales are not standing a candidate because they believe the formation of elected Police and Crime Commissioners will contort the face of justice in the UK. The Green Party is particularly concerned about protecting community policing teams and the need for the police to engage with local residents and councillors about community safety issues.

The Wales Green Party got together with Cardiff Friends of the Earth and took a stand outside Cardiff Job Centre last Saturday to back the call from industry to for more green investment.

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader said “Industry is sick and tired of being messed around by a government which doesn’t know which way it’s heading. Solar Energy companies have been hit with ever decreasing Feed in Tariffs, and subsidies for other renewable energies are being slashed.

“Yet already one million jobs have been created in the Green industries. What we need is more of the same. Green is good for growth. Creating more green jobs will help industry, the environment and will give us all a future of employment.”

In the last week, more than 60 UK businesses have put their names to two letters, in one of which seven firms threaten to withdraw investment in the UK if green targets are reduced. In the other, business leaders warn such reductions will cause the economy to lose billions of pounds.

Seven firms, including Siemens, Gamesa and Alstom UK, wrote to Energy Secretary Ed Davey, Chancellor George Osborne and PM David Cameron warning they will withdraw investment in the UK if the government relaxes plans to decarbonise the energy industry.

The seven employ 17,500 people and are vital to the development of renewable energy production in the UK.

Raoul Bhambral, Friends of the Earth Co-ordinator said: “Friends of the Earth is calling on local MPs to tell the government that green jobs are good for the economy. And we want the forthcoming Energy Bill to give a high priority to renewable energy.”

And more than 50 other companies, including Aviva, Microsoft, Marks & Spencer, and the Co-operative, sent an open letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne warning that his energy and environmental plans will lose the UK £110bn in energy investment, as well as £400m in exports in 2014-15 alone.

The Green Party leader added: “Industry is now in accord with environmental groups. Renewable energy is the future, and George Osborne has got it wrong. We need Green jobs, and quickly.”

Industry groups are concerned that Mr Osborne’s insistence that gas, rather than renewable energy, should provide the UK’s power production to 2030 will see it miss decarbonisation targets.”

1. http://www.redpointenergy.co.uk/images/uploads/Decarbonising_the_GB_power_sector_v1.pdf

2. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/osborne-offers-tax-breaks-for-shale-gas-8202949.html

 Pippa Bartolotti is the Leader of the Wales Green Party

Yesterday, outside the Senedd in Cardiff over 150 people came to demonstrate their unease at having Trident nuclear missiles based in Wales.

Three huge dragons played on the steps of the Assembly building, before dismantling a Trident submarine. There was music, street theatre and the singing of choirs. Speakers from five political parties came to voice their deep misgivings regarding the statement from First Minister, Carwyn Jones, that Wales would house Trident if an independent Scotland threw them out.

Said Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Green Party in Wales: “Wales is a peaceful country.  Weapons of Mass Destruction based in Milford Haven would make Wales a prime target in the event of a nuclear strike. The only reason the UK government wants WMD is to pose as a great power. The vast majority of countries do not have them. We do not need them.

“Trident costs £2billion a year to run; The Trident replacement £100billion. At a time of enforced ideological cuts, diminishing wages and jobs becoming ever more scarce, the Green Party does not see this as good use of taxpayers money. The Cold War is over.

“The First Minister’s announcement has undermined confidence in the existing industries in Milford Haven. He has in effect given private sector jobs the thumbs down, just when we need them most.”

There were performances of excerpts from ‘The Trident Oratorio’ by Camilla Cancantata of Knighton, Powys and other music sung by Côr Gobaith (Aberystwyth) and Côr Cochion Caerdydd.

Messages were read out from the Archbishop of Wales, Dafydd Iwan and Bruce Kent. The event was organised by CND Cymru and Trident Ploughshares.

Each Vanguard class submarine would have 8 missiles and 58 warheads. Each warhead would have 8 times the potency of the Hiroshima bomb. Only 8 states, plus Israel, have nuclear weapons.

http://www.cndcymru.org/

http://www.tridentploughshares.org/

Pippa Bartolotti is the Leader of the Wales Green Party

WALES Green Party leader Pippa Bartolotti took part in a huge protest against the government’s economic policies on Saturday.

English Party Leader Natalie Bennett and MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, led the March for a Future that Works, in which around 300,000 union members, political party representatives and members of the public marched through London to protest against the coalition government’s economic policies.

And Wales Green Party members followed them in the march from Embankment, past the Houses of Parliament, to Hyde Park.

Ms Bartolotti said: ‘It’s very important for all parts of the Party, from all parts of the country, to show our solidarity with the unions, who represent so many people who are being so badly hurt by this government.

‘We have a lot of trades union members in the Wales Green Party, and we’re very close to what’s happening there. We are building stronger ties with the unions because we must stand together against what the government’s doing to all of us.

'We’re here for several reasons; to voice our concern and anger at the effect of the cuts; to show solidarity with other people who are being punished for an economic situation they didn’t cause and couldn’t do anything about; to continue to exercise our democratic right to protest.

 Many people here may have voted Conservative, thinking that things may be better under them, and the fact is that they have been hit as hard as anyone. So we are here to help show them there is another way.’

The Green Party took part in the march to show solidarity with people who are being crushed by the coalition’s economic illiteracy, and to reiterate a vital point: far from reducing the deficit, as the government promised, the cuts have actually increased it, at the same time as putting people out of work, killing any chance of economic growth.

In their place, the Green Party would introduce the Green New Deal, in which every citizen receives a decent living wage, led by investment in the Green economy – which delivered a third of UK economic growth in the last year.

In an email from the Chair of the Prosiect Gwyrdd  Steering Committee, Councillor Russell Goodway states categorically that  “PG is predicated on a solution which involves incineration. We are advised that this is a solution preferred by Welsh Government.” 

The email goes on to say “As they say, the "incineration ship has already sailed" and whether Veolia or Viridor will be the successful bidder will be determined by the procurement process which was put in place before the May elections.”

Robert Hepworth, Chair of Stop Newport incinerator Campaign, said “This is an astonishing admission, and reflects the position we had always suspected – that Prosiect Gwyrdd was always an incinerator project, and not technology neutral as we had had been led to believe. We did not believe what they said, and according to Cllr Goodway we were quite right not to believe it”

“This is a clear change towards fully accepting a public pro-incineration position under pressure from officials, but without taking any vote of the 10 Councillors. WAG and PG officials in particular are now cruelly but justly exposed.”

Pippa Bartolotti, spokesperson for SNIC added “For 2 years we have been fighting to demonstrate that incineration is not a wise choice either environmentally or financially. For 2 years Welsh Government officials have been stringing us along in meetings and exchanges of correspondence. This is a colossal waste of public money.”

“Prosiect Gwyrdd has overrun its timetable and overrun its budget. 2 weeks ago it asked for more money from the 5 councils involved. I do not see how such wastage of time and money can possibly be justified at a time of enforced austerity.”

Veolia are appealing the refusal of planning permission in Newport. Viridor have started work in Cardiff pending the award of contract from the Welsh Government.

SNIC are in possession of QC advice that re-tendering can take place without financial or legal penalty and the arguments for doing so in the public interest, and as a result of changes in the facts on the ground - notably reduced waste flows, new policy statements from the EU against use of incineration and advances in alternative technology.

The Green Party has announced Anthony Slaughter as the Green Party candidate in Cardiff South and Penarth by-election.

He said: 'I am standing as the Green Party candidate in Cardiff South and Penarth by-election to give local voters the chance to vote for a party that offers real alternatives to the tired, discredited policies of the others.

I have lived and worked in Penarth for the last eight years and for several years have been actively involved in the community based environmental group Gwyrddio Penarth Greening (GPG) of which I am now Chair. My involvement with GPG has included organising the planting of the Community Orchard at Cosmeston and I am part of the small team that organises the very popular
Penarth Local Food Festival.

My involvement with various community led projects has shown me that there is strong interest in community issues and a keen desire amongst people to work together to make the area a more sustainable and fairer place to live and work. There is also a growing awareness of the bigger picture and the fact that we cannot as a society continue to act as if we inhabit a planet of endless resources. At a time of growing social inequality and increasing costs of energy and food people are realising that ‘Business as usual’ politics has failed to deliver a fair and sustainable society.

While the political establishment insists that there is no Plan B, no choice but their damaging policies of Austerity, the Green Party offers a real alternative. People will argue that Green issues are irrelevant in these times of economic hardship; in reality Green policies are essential if we are to move beyond the current financial and environmental crisis.

Green Party policies would ensure a fairer society that meets everyone’s needs.

- A Green New Deal would create jobs in sustainable, clean industries such as renewable energy. Industries that would replace dirty, inefficient projects such as the Viridor Waste Incinerator at Splott that is shockingly being allowed to continue with construction despite being in breach of planning permission that should never have been granted.

- An economy working with nature rather than against it. There is no need for the proposed Severn Barrage mega project with its years of polluting, disruptive carbon intense construction to harness the energy of the tidal flow.

There are cleaner, more sustainable, less environmentally hazardous ways to harness this energy source, such as tidal lagoons as supported by Friends of the Earth.

-Investment in sustainable public transport. Cleaner, safer streets for all users. In the absence of a joined up sustainable transport policy Cardiff and Penarth have become increasingly congested. Air quality in some areas has been regularly in breach of legally binding European standards yet our local
politicians do nothing.

These are some of the issues where Green Party policies would be a real investment in a fairer future. Most major financial institutions and commentators now agree that the Coalition government policies are trashing the economy and causing ever greater inequality. Only the Green Party has the
policies to address social and environmental justice and deliver a fairer society.'

The Green Party has announced Anthony Slaughter as the Green Party candidate in Cardiff South and Penarth by-election.

He said: 'I am standing as the Green Party candidate in Cardiff South and Penarth by-election to give local voters the chance to vote for a party that offers real alternatives to the tired, discredited policies of the others.

I have lived and worked in Penarth for the last eight years and for several years have been actively involved in the community based environmental group Gwyrddio Penarth Greening (GPG) of which I am now Chair. My involvement with GPG has included organising the planting of the Community Orchard at Cosmeston and I am part of the small team that organises the very popular
Penarth Local Food Festival.

My involvement with various community led projects has shown me that there is strong interest in community issues and a keen desire amongst people to work together to make the area a more sustainable and fairer place to live and work. There is also a growing awareness of the bigger picture and the fact that we cannot as a society continue to act as if we inhabit a planet of endless resources. At a time of growing social inequality and increasing costs of energy and food people are realising that ‘Business as usual’ politics has failed to deliver a fair and sustainable society.

While the political establishment insists that there is no Plan B, no choice but their damaging policies of Austerity, the Green Party offers a real alternative. People will argue that Green issues are irrelevant in these times of economic hardship; in reality Green policies are essential if we are to move beyond the current financial and environmental crisis.

Green Party policies would ensure a fairer society that meets everyone’s needs.

- A Green New Deal would create jobs in sustainable, clean industries such as renewable energy. Industries that would replace dirty, inefficient projects such as the Viridor Waste Incinerator at Splott that is shockingly being allowed to continue with construction despite being in breach of planning permission that should never have been granted.

- An economy working with nature rather than against it. There is no need for the proposed Severn Barrage mega project with its years of polluting, disruptive carbon intense construction to harness the energy of the tidal flow.

There are cleaner, more sustainable, less environmentally hazardous ways to harness this energy source, such as tidal lagoons as supported by Friends of the Earth.

-Investment in sustainable public transport. Cleaner, safer streets for all users. In the absence of a joined up sustainable transport policy Cardiff and Penarth have become increasingly congested. Air quality in some areas has been regularly in breach of legally binding European standards yet our local
politicians do nothing.

These are some of the issues where Green Party policies would be a real investment in a fairer future. Most major financial institutions and commentators now agree that the Coalition government policies are trashing the economy and causing ever greater inequality. Only the Green Party has the
policies to address social and environmental justice and deliver a fairer society.'

"The Green Party of England and Wales wish the US Green Presidential candidate Dr Jill Stein and her vice-presidential candidate Cheri Honkala good luck for tuesday's contest.  Stein and Honkala are inspiring candidates in a sterile electoral system.  While climate change will lead to greater instability and hurricane Sandy has smashed New York, neither Romney nor Obama will even mention the issue.  Both Romney and Obama are promoting coal extraction, more oil exploration and policies that threaten not just every American citizen but every global citizen with a more dangerous future.  From promoting a Green New Deal to protecting the poorest Americans the Green Party is doing vital work.

Green Party International Coordinator Derek Wall continues:

"We have also been sadden to hear how undemocratic the US presidential systems is.  We are shocked that Greens and other third party candidates have not been allowed on the ballot in every state.  The billions of dollars spent also mean that this election is fought between followers of the super rich, 99% of Americans do not have their interests represented by corporate candidates.  The restrictions on voting in some states are also undemocratic and discriminate against the poorest American and those of colour (1).

"The Green Party campaign has been vibrant and has attracted attention right across the planet.  We believe that Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala have launched a campaign that will promote practical solutions to climate change, poverty and war.  Our hearts and hopes are with them."

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/07/republican-voter-id-laws-civil-rights

Pippa Bartolotti, Wales Green Party Leader

We are not on a sustainable trajectory.

For 10 thousand years this planet’s systems have been stable, and this has enabled humanity to develop into the ‘civilization’ we are today. However, economic growth has brought instability.

Economic Growth, and the unreasonable capitalism which has accompanied it, is touted as a solution to everything. How can that be? We have only one Planet, and it’s resources becoming ever less finite as biodiversity is diminished, and the ecosystems ability to clean up after us is dangerously compromised.

The ecosystems which sustain us are collapsing under the weight of excessive human consumption. We have already overshot some of the limits to stability. It’s a simple equation: Where there are limits to growth, Overshoot = Collapse

The remarkably intuitive study by the Club of Rome in the ‘70’s projected 5 measures which could take humanity (and the biodiversity on which we all depend) to the brink of collapse. They modelled:

Persistant Pollution

Population

Food Production

Industrial Output

Consumption of non renewable resources

Whilst we have already overshot some of those limits, we have undershot on others, but it turns out that some count much more than others.

Population has not increased as sharply as predicted. Food production has tripled since 1961. BUT Greenhouse gasses, notably CO2, have increased exponentially – 310ppm in 1958 to 391ppm last month. The safe level of 350ppm was surpassed in 1988. This is our most serious overshoot.

It turns out that C02, and the burning of fossil fuels which creates it, co-relates directly with wealth creation. Finance, or maybe we should call it greed, appears to be the weakest part of the system. We live under a debt based fractional reserve system, and moving from a system of increasing debt to a system of decreasing debt has all governments in shock and denial. They only understand growth, because the success of their policies depends entirely upon growth. We have been in or near recession since 2008, and traditional ways of stoking the economy such as low interest rates and large budget deficits, are no longer working.

Here is an example: Plant growth is not governed by the total resource available, but by the input of the resource in least supply - such as nitrogen. If oil becomes the resource in least supply (and why else drill so deep, so recklessly and so desperately - tar sands; fracking) , and if our addiction to it is not cured, then here will lie the first serious stresses. And of course oil is directly related to wealth and markets, speculation and derivatives, the dollar, food prices, transportation and all points in between.

Today’s markets do not seek to understand a system of dynamic equilibrium, or steady state, where an economy can work and prosper within the churn of it’s own means, taking no more than it needs, and replacing that which it does take. Dynamic Equilibrium is Green Economics; localism; community based prosperity, full employment and a higher sense of well-being.

The world of money, natural resources and well-being has become distorted on a global level, where the money is seen as the goal, and the latter two needs barely get a look in. Conventional economics is a form of brain damage. (Eco, from oikos – home) ECOlogy and ECOnomics are from the same root. The Study of home and Management of Home are 2 disciplines which any sensible person would co-manage. Alas, traces of sensibility are sadly lacking.

We may look to China as a huge CO2 emitter, but look again. Where do we buy our stuff from?  In reality many developed countries are offshoring their emissions and pollution all round the world. The manufacturing base stupidly becomes anywhere but here where it is needed.

The study done by the Club of Rome way back in 1972 showed that only drastic measures for environmental protection could change behaviour. Climate change is the most tangible evidence of our stubbornness not to take drastic measures. There is no replacement for good arable land or fresh water. In the industrialised ‘west’ there is certainly no sign of drastic measures.

The current danger is that instead of searching for solutions through investment in innovation and green technologies, governments are grabbing share –land grabs: buying up land in other countries, disenfranchising local farmers, whilst the people of Tuvalu and Kiribati ( who did nothing to add to global warming)slowly drown under rising sea levels. Fertile deltas are becoming salinated and many crops will not grow in these conditions. Arctic ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, yet the reaction is only to industrialise the northern coasts of Russia and Canada, exacerbating the problem. Climate change is death by 1000 cuts.

Preservation of what we have requires analysis : our energy needs, planetary food needs especially as developing nations adopt a high protein diet, land needs. Yet these items for our very survival are subordinate to the needs of the creation of wealth. In every company there is a war between money for innovation, and money for profit.

Ever increasing consumerism adds little to human happiness – it may even impede it.Global warming is here, and there is little evidence that we can correct the imbalance we have caused. Yet we must devise a new path which does not rely on the cult of economic growth. Fulfilling a vision of an economy based on natural capital and redefined prosperity is the most urgent task of our time.

Sadly the response to changing conditions is too slow. The same conditions which keep the system rigged in favour of a small and privileged class are behind our inability to tackle climate change and environmental degradation. We need an economy working with nature instead of against it. Drastic change never resonates with the ballot box, yet that is what is needed. The voting population will continue to vote against wisdom, because wisdom is not on offer.

Limits to Growth in 1972 predicted ‘The most probable result will be a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in population and industrial capacity’ or to put it another way: a massive population crash in a starving polluted, depleted world.

The best way to solve a problem is not to create a bigger one. Yet that is exactly what we are doing by our inaction.

May you live in interesting times.

Pippa Bartolotti, Leader of the Wales Green Party said, “The Welsh Government has dragged its feet over this issue, and is likely to announce a blanket increase very soon. This is simply unfair on those already struggling with forced austerity, but it is doubly unfair to make the poorest in our communities shoulder this burden.A home levy of over £9 a month will hit hardest in the areas with the highest levels of deprivation”

“We believe that councils should design schemes which protect vulnerable groups as well as pensioners, and which maintain strong work incentives. Rushing these measures through without taking the care to consult flies in the face of the more equal society Wales aspires to be.”

The Wales Green Party condemns this further drain on resources from Westminster. At national level, the Green Party believes the Government's cuts programme is unnecessary and is economically damaging.

Pippa Bartolotti added, “There are going to be significant new administrative costs attached to this new scheme. Councils throughout the country will face trying to collect relatively small sums of money from households that simply don’t have it. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies has pointed out, this will be extremely difficult, and costly.

“We challenge the Welsh Government to delay this decision and consult on alternative options so the funding gap can be met in a fairer way, by people on all incomes."

Many local authorities are beginning to worry that a 10% reduction in government grant for council tax support now looks more likely to be more than 12%, when calculated using the grant illustrations outlined by government. Scotland is delaying implementation of the 10% cut.

Pippa Bartolotti is the Leader of the Wales Green Party