Tony Blews

Stick a fork in the socket, and see how green the power is...

This is a change from the normal rubbish that you might expect to see on this site.

Normally by now you'd be reading some self-deprecating drivel about how my latest animation is a pile of frozen equi-piddle. And then you'd probably watch it just to see how bad it was.

This post is different. This post attempts to make a valid point about the "Green" bandwagon. It will fail, but that is no excuse not to have a damn good rant for a change!

And, as the great Brian Blessed once advised us, "Lead on my brave Hawkmen!"

Over the past few weeks, a number of my associates (they cannot be called friends anymore, as I refuse to be friends with idiots) have become high-and-mighty about changing their electricity supplier to one which, and I quote, "only provides electricity from green and renewable sources". How very noble and fluffy. Tossers.

Have these people had a team of workers outside their houses putting new power lines in? No. Do they realise that they are getting their Watts from the same coal burning/nuclear/hydroelectric mishmash that I am? No. Does one of them think that a special device in the local substation is filtering power so that he only gets the "environment friendly green power" (his quote)? Yes.

Now I'm sorry about this, but it matters not a jot who you think you are paying for the juice to light your bulb. It is all coming from the same grid. Your electricity, just like everyone elses, is generated by either burning fossil fuels, disrupting wave patterns, exploiting Algerian peasants, annoying yokels, the beauty of wind-turbines, or smashing atoms together. (only one of those was false).

You, my candidate for Idiot of the Month, are paying more to power your toaster, merely because your brain is feeble.

Ah, you say, by my energy supplier is planting trees to offset my carbon footprint.

Ah, but I say, give me one shred of proof. A lot of companies say they are planting trees to offset carbon emissions, but i've yet to see any actual evidence. Most companies can't be arsed to answer the phone within ten minutes, never mind plant a tree.

Um. maybe thats it. "All our operators are busy planting trees. Your call is important to us, but not as important as the threat to the planet. You may be sitting in the dark, but Dave is out planting a tree".