I chose the Orkney sheep simply because they are demonstrably zero fossil fuel, but the majority of UK sheep are close to zero, only fed some supplements and minerals to keep them healthy in the winter. If little Orkney is able to become self sufficient in renewable energy, why can't the USA? It is not actually that remote, your president's mother comes from another of the Scottish islands not far away and a little more remote. The reason Orkney produces its own hydrogen gas from renewable energy is mainly because it makes economic sense due to not having a gas pipeline to import gas, hydrogen is produced from spare wind power, generally overnight. They installed their first grid connected wind turbine in the 1950s and have been leading the world with experimental wind and tidal power since the 1980s, the USA is 30 years behind, only because they failed to take action when the issue of climate change was raised at the United Nations over 30 years ago. The USA use of fossil fuel is not "required", it is through choice and lack of necessary action.
Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister, New York 1989, Speech to United Nations General Assembly,
https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/107817
(Orkney already had an experimental wind farm when that speech was made, and the content of the speech shows that the science and the future impact of climate change was already well understood more than 30 years ago, at least by the UK Prime Minister, maybe not by other world leaders.)
It's astonishing and almost hard to believe that you are really still at this Nigel but then again, I can hardly be surprised knowing you. This all began three days ago when
@jokiin posted some images and info about the historically high temperatures his country is experiencing at this time.
Your response to jokiin's post was to offer up a highly critical post about Australia's current emission standards, along with a dramatic news photo representing the severe bush fires the country is undergoing right now.
I find it absolutely appalling (but again, not surprising) that you feel the need to indulge in this sort of blame-the-victim mentality at a time when a nation like Australia is in the midst of a tragic and historic crisis.
Australia is a great nation with important historic ties to Britain and is a long time stalwart friend and ally of the UK as well as the United States. At a time like this the people of Australia deserve our concern, compassion and support. They do not need or deserve to have a smug, condescending prig self-righteously rubbing their noses in a national emergency in the very midst of it occurring. But hey, that's you, Nigel.
Of course, from your first comments about the historic temps in Australia you immediately took the opportunity to go on to post a photo of the town of Paradise, California lost to the horrific wildfires of a year ago along with further hyper-critical remarks and excoriations now directed towards the USA.
Your contempt and misplaced resentments regarding the United States of America are palpable at this point as evidenced by your longtime, chronic and ongoing criticisms, complaints, disparagements and passive aggressive knocks directed at the USA, all of which are a violation of rule #9 of this forum regarding the concept of "nation-bashing". In fact, with members from nations all over the world visiting this forum, YOU are the ONLY member I can think of who ever makes negative remarks about other nations, always with a conceit that the UK is somehow superior to everyone else on every score. With the exception of YOU I am always delighted and gratified to witness how despite national, cultural, social, religious, racial and political differences people of so many different countries get along quite so very well here. Not once, have I ever seen
anyone other than you make a critical or mean spirited remark about another country.
In any event, I am always amused by the boastful air of UK superiority you strut around this forum with along with the dubious false narrative you put forth. Here, specifically, I refer to your final commentary in reply to jokiin's high temperature post. After offering belittling quotes directed at Australia and the USA where you present us with ridiculously idealized images of the UK such as a pristine, pastoral, over-photoshopped landscape and an idealized image of wind turbines poking through the clouds (albeit, with an oil platform ironically lurking in the distance
) And of course, it is just so very lovely to hear about your remote population of seaweed eating sheep, as well as your ultra green sheep that allegedly don't fart like every other mammal on earth because they apparently don't eat anything other than being laughably (in your words)
"only fed some supplements and minerals" or your little pocket of green wind and hydrogen power as if such things don't exist in many other parts of the world as they have for now for decades.
It must be amazing to live in such an environmentally coruscating paradise of a city on a hill as you claim the UK to be, aloof and removed from the ecological tempests raging in other parts of the globe.
But this self delusional propaganda is merely a fake and false narrative, Nigel. If you are going to boastfully hold the UK up as some sort of amazing example, all the while posting images of disasters in other countries that you don't happen to like or happen to feel superior to, why haven't you bothered to mention what is really going on in the UK?
What about the horrific Great Britain and Ireland floods of 2015-16?
What about the 2018 severe, record breaking drought and British Isles heat wave?
What about the terrible wildfires that decimated thousands and thousands of acres in the UK, also during 2018?
What about the devastating, widespread UK flooding on October 1, 2019?
Widespread Flooding Hits UK – A Week of Rain in Just an Hour
How convenient of you not to mention these events when you want to trash other nations and act as if the oncoming climate crisis isn't going to affect every one of us all around the globe including the UK and many smaller nations with lower carbon footprints that are more easily managed, as well as huge countries like the USA or Australia that may be more difficult to turn around for a variety of reasons, both strategic, economic and political, and we all must strive for the best outcome despite the obstacles. But excoriating others while acting scornfully superior is inappropriate, uncalled for and counterproductive. I've had enough of it.
