Friends of the Earth Birmingham Action Briefing Aug 98/Sep 98

Vernon's World

Vernon is on holiday at the moment and he has asked Joe Publicsun to write his column....

"I take it as a great honour being asked to write for your journal . My hero Princess Diana was an environmentalist. She campaigned for the banning of landmines . I think it is disgusting that any country could manufacture mines that specifically target the land .

"So I do have a lot of respect for you lot but I do feel you protest too much and it is not helping the situation . Take the roads : this camping up trees and under the ground not only looks unsightly but is slowing down road building ! I’ve got this lovely little number, 2.3 litre , turbo charged , twin exhaust , top speed 180 and I rarely get it above 50 in the cities and a ton on the motorway because of the traffic. Anyway you lot should be in favour of more roads because you’d be able to get out to the countryside quicker to play your guitars and dance around in the alltogether.

"That’s what you should be doing, not complaining . I mean if we were in the pre-industrial era you would have a point but we are in a technological age. There are thousands of environmentally friendly products (I have not bought them but have read the labels in the supermarket) . For example , according to the telly there is green and clean nuclear power now . Also there are recycling centres all over the place (Okay I don’t recycle but if we all did the binmen would be out of a job ).

"Yeah I’ve noticed that all your campaigns seem to either cost jobs or cause chaos . What about the global warming calamity. You got CFC’s banned in aerosols and whats happened ? We have had two wet and cold summers.

"What I am trying to say is we would appreciate you more if you did not campaign or complain. Anyway thank you for letting me write for you and I hope you appreciate my support."

(Er, thanks, constructive support is always welcome. Maybe you'd like to become a Birmingham Friend of the Earth and actually learn a bit more about what we do? Why not completet the form opposite and return it to us for more information? Vernon will be back next issue following his extensive cricket tour of the southern counties -Ed)