andy_ross |
Below is an invitation we have received in the website mail box. Please feel free to comment. I have posted below my own initial response to Wendy.
Andy
Wendy Barnaby sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.carbonrationing.org.uk/contact.
Dear CRAGs,
I edit Science & Public Affairs, the magazine published by the British Association for the Advancement of Science (see http://www.the-ba.net/spa). It goes to science policy-makers in government, Parliament, higher education and industry, as well as to the
members of the BA. It is available free of charge to anyone who registers for it at http://www.the-ba.net/register.
In each issue of the magazine we have what we call a spat – an email debate between two people. I’m wondering whether you would like to take part in the next one, please.
The provisional title of the topic is: Carbon trading: a valuable way of cutting carbon emissions?. I see from your website that you are enthusiastic about emissions trading. I’m asking Rising Tide (http://risingtide.org.uk) if they’d like to argue that carbon trading is not valuable.
The mechanics are that each person sends emails to the other. Each writes three pieces, each of 200 words. Each person has three working days for each piece. We print the resulting exchange over a double page in the magazine (you can see one at the magazine’s website in the list of contents under SPATalk).
As to the timing: the spat would have to be finished by 5 April, so we could do it even if we didn’t start until mid-March. We certainly have time to take account of participants prior commitments.
Please would you let me know whether you would like to be in it, in principle, and we could have a chat about it. I do hope you will. The issue is important and our readers would be fascinated.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Wendy Barnaby




Andy's initial reply
andy_ross
Thanks for the invite, Wendy.
I will post it on the website to see what people think.
http://www.carbonrationing.org.uk/fora/threads/media-invite-with-a-diffe…
Unlike Rising Tide we do not have a clear and agreed position on “emissions trading”.
http://risingtide.org.uk/about/political
So it may not be appropriate for one CRAGger to attempt to speak for the whole network on this potentially emotive issue.
What we certainly have in common with Rising Tide is our concern to help promote the cause of climate justice.
best wishes
Andy
PS. I have copied George Marshall in on this email as he was a founder of Rising Tide and now runs COIN
http://coinet.org.uk/
an organisation which helped with the formation of the Oxford CRAG.
I would welcome George’s thoughts on the usefulness of our participation
in such a “spat”.