Pushers of the 'doubt' drug.

Don't call them Climate Deniers.

They’re really 'Pushers' of a Drug called 'Doubt'.

I had a nightmare about deniers. Truth deniers, and how honest people can get drawn to them.

My field of speciality is a big muddy field: humankind’s collective denial (by their actions) that there's any real climate problem. In this muddy field it’s important to remember there are two very distinct types of 'denier' animal that you will encounter. With totally different response strategies needed.

Actually "doubt pusher" may be a better name than 'denier'. Get this:

Doubt is a popular feel-good drug.

Whether we seek escape from the pain of being part of the species that 'allowed' the holocaust, or escape from the dull ache that we are now complicit in mass suicide and the future deaths of billions including our own children, we seek escape, distraction, cold comfort.

These are big emotional 'charges' in the air Dave! But watch out when the climate taboo next crops up in polite conversation. We are talking about (or not talking out) latent near-universal abuse of our own children's Home planet. Hardly small talk :-)

So what are these two types:

My hero Miles Kington used to say "There are two types of people in this world. People who divide people into two types. And people who don't." Think about it. I honestly don't know why but this is one of my favourite sayings of all time!

Here goes:

Type 1 (or Class A!) Upstream - misanthropic - clever - bad - aware they are wrong - the doubt pushers

and

Type 2 (or Class B) The carefully selected victims and prey of Type 1's: infected and used - the smidgeon of doubt addicts

Now it turns out that doubt takers, soon become doubt addicts, and some fast become doubt pedlars. (And of course some pedlars become pushers.)

Pedlars of doubt experience new found or fresh popularity - for the welcome relief they bring (e.g. at dinner parties) to the throbbing headache of dealing with the climate reality backlog. Think David Bellamy - one of my childhood heroes - and someone I still believe to be a good man.

I don't think there are that many Class A's left - but they are very toxic - very clever - motivated - and often superb at hiding what they do.

All we can do is help expose them, and hold them to what they have said.

And we need to hope less Class B's will get infected/poisoned/duped. Which is more likely if we love them. (Class A's are usually immune to this tactic.) This is a big learning point. You won't love a Class A into the light.

What also gives me hope is belief that someone like Ann Widdecombe is not rotten to the core, she's just been duped. (Not at all easy to do in her case, and certainly not easy for her to admit.) She will get there eventually. She might want to listen to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He doesn't suffer fossil fools easily.



Dominic Lawson though - I struggle to give him benefit of doubt. Maybe I'm wrong. But I sense a man who justifies his immoral stance as being in some way 'right'. Extreme right maybe! History will judge Class A's harshly, very harshly indeed.

All we can do is calmly and courageously expose them, and hold them to what they have said.


Dave Hampton is The Carbon Coach. You can sign up to his newsletter, Co2mmunique by visiting the Carbon Coach website and view past issues.

Is A Fulfilling Relationship Possible?

How can a relationship fulfil you?

It simply can’t.

The only person that can fulfil you is you.

So, the only thing we can work on is making sure that you are fulfilled, and that you do not need to look for fulfilment in anybody else, as this is a myth.

You have heard it so many times before; clear your own baggage before you come to a relationship.

If you leave your partner with the old baggage still there, you will take it to the next and run into the same problems in the new relationship.

Is that true?

Yes, it is, so how are we going to make sure you get rid of the old baggage?

You need to work on you.

The word “work” is so heavily loaded, so let’s just say you need to play on you.
Sound a lot better already?

You can get fulfilled relationships by making sure the first relationship of your life is fulfilled; the relationship with yourself.

How do you feel about yourself?
Are you married to yourself?
Daft question.

Are you your own best friend?
Another strange question.

Well, do you like yourself?
Sometimes, not always.
Ah, there is a place to start.

Do you think you could ever like someone else?
Yes, of course.

Do you have a best friend?
Yes…. Where are you going with this?

Do you have a spouse, partner, girlfriend/boyfriend?

Ok, so now let’s look at the following.
You are in the bathroom, brushing your teeth, squeezing a spot or two in front of the mirror. You look at your face. Mostly what you do, is look at it in a clinical way. A hair out of place here, bloodshot left eye, how can I remedy that? Rummage through cabinet for eye-drops, tilt head back, pull down lower eyelid and squirt a small drop of liquid into left eye, blink a few times, inspect eye in mirror again and yes, or is it my imagination? The white looks clearer and does not show any of the previous night’s bacchanalia that went on at my friends’ party.

Further inspection, down to the nose, oops! Forgotten to trim those hairs lately, they are getting out of hand and show their ends OUT of the nose, not a pretty sight. Well, shall we use tweezers, or just a pair of nail scissors to trim them down? Must get those blunt ended ones, as we have managed to nick the inside of our nose on so many times now, it is not funny. And it makes our eyes water for a few hours, especially when we have a cold, it totally defies our object of looking handsome. Anyway, trim the hairs against the odds, luckily did not cut ourselves. Don’t know how those girls cope with having their noses pierced. Can’t understand for that matter how anyone can get anything pierced, somehow. Carry on with inspection. Spot on chin can no longer be ignored, we rest one elbow on the shelf and squeeze the other in between the mirror and the chin. Too close, the mirror gets steamed up by the breathing from our nose. Breathing through mouth doesn’t help here, just means that a larger area is fogging up, not as thickly, but still enough to obscure the vision of the offending spot on chin.

All that self talk stuff going on in our heads. Tapping into the universal mind-chatter.

How about looking into your own eyes next time you look in the mirror? As if they are someone elses? Someone who you love deeply? What do you see? The eyes-mirror of the soul….where is yours?....the person who is looking at you from the mirror….just the eyes, remember?.....what beauty do you see…. Boundlessness….infinity…..look for it and find it.

Do once daily for 3 weeks and notice what is different…. Have fun with it and let me know your experiences at Brigitte@brigittesumner.com

Brigitte Sumner, Relationship Coach

MAIL ME YOUR CARBON!

Hi. I’m Dave Hampton and I’m offering some free help. In schools I’m known as Carbon Dave, or, more professionally - “the carbon coach”.
Pssst. I'm a ‘carbon shrink’. You can tell me!
You speak your weight, and I'll hear you.

I am ‘trialing’ a 'Mail me your carbon' scheme, before I roll it out globally.. and beyond...!

I am offering this to Passion for the Planet listeners and blog readers. (I may have to ‘cap’ the offer, but I will take at least the first 30 to contact me.)

By participating, asking awkward questions or providing challenging feedback, you will be helping me to help others chip away at the carbon fat; leading the way for us all to ‘Cut The Carbon’

At the heart of all this is my conviction that to know our own personal carbon footprint is more important than we might think. Not knowing our number is potentially holding us back in all sorts of ways. Our carbon shadow (the CO2 emissions we are responsible for) without really knowing it - is ‘behind us’. It is much easier to face this shadow once we know it is always following us. Like in the panto!

I strongly recommend that you sign up for the 10:10 campaign as well - if you haven’t already! (10% footprint reduction by this time in 2010).

Mission Possible:

Email me your best estimate of your current overall carbon footprint and what you make of it. There are several carbon footprint 'calculators' but I recommend you use:

The Resurgence Quick Carbon Calculator

It is quick and simple to use – as well as educational and illuminating. It's also very friendly!

You can see the ‘working total’ (bottom line) start to add up, and you can see the carbon mount up - real time - as you enter your data.

Tell me how it worked for you, and which part you'd most like to tackle over the next 12 months.

I will reply. The heroes - in my book - are those who know their number. Confidentiality is assured.

If you find you are a 200 tonner (200 TCO2e per year) but you didn't realise it before, and you tell me, then you'll have made my day, by sharing this with me. Chances are you'll feel better too. After all, a footprint shared is a footprint halved - well almost! And you are nearly in the company of Prince Charles, who last year estimated his Estate at some 2800 tonnes! (And falling year on year impressively.) Don't be downhearted. I can help you find ways to reduce your carbon.

If you find you are a 20 tonner, that’s better, but you are above the UK national average of 13 tonnes.

If you are a 2 tonner, I salute you. We can learn from you.

Who me? Well, since you asked, I am coming in at around 5 tonnes on this estimator, which is around half the national average. And I’m working on further reductions.

Keep a copy of the email you send me - it will come in handy next year when you calculate whether or not you made your 10% reduction, and when you set yourself a new reduction target for next year.

One last thing! Happy Birthday Gandhi!!

On October 2nd it is Gandhi’s birthday and that day is also National Carbon Footprint Day!

Gandhi used to say “Be the Change that you would wish to see in the world” – and nowhere is this more true than with carbon leadership.

National Carbon Footprint Day was launched last year by Donnachadh McCarthy. The website is simple and functional. This time last year I entered my gas, elec, and water actual meter readings - on 2nd October 2008, along with my actual car milometer readings, and details of flight miles. Hey presto – the next year - it feeds all that info back to you - on Gandhi’s birthday, so you can keep track of the longer term trend in your carbon footprint.This is helpful, as you don’t need to keep the meter readings or do the working out.

So I warmly encourage you to make use of this NCFD site: use it to record where you were in 2009. Who knows, in 2012 we may look back with much pride at how much carbon weight we have lost!



For more ways to reduce your carbon, sign up to my newsletter, Co2mmunique.
Past issues can be viewed here.

How to create an Abundance Mentality

When I showed my Mother in Law an article I wrote a few years ago, about having an abundance mentality versus a scarcity mentality, she asked me where Scar City was.

And that is actually exactly what it is. If you live with an attitude of scarcity, you do live in Scar City! There are little scars all over your abundance mentality. However, you can ensure that they heal!

Here are a few little pointers that will help you create an Abundance Mentality:

1) Focus on what you already have. That means that you must look at what is already present in your life in the way of finances, health, wealth, relationships, and people. Focus on what you can do versus on what you cannot do.

I had a terrific triathlon trainer and coach for many years of my triathlon career, and he always asked me to tell him what I could do versus what I could not do.

In my coaching practice, I ask my clients what they have been doing versus what they have not been doing (of course if there is a persistent pattern of not doing, we do address that in our sessions).

2) Be generous. That means in the first place to yourself and about yourself. And then to others.

3) Believe in yourself and your dreams. Again, a matter of focus. You must envision yourself having already made your dream come true. This counts for any area of your life.

4) Compare yourself to those worse off than you. Realize that we in the Western world really live in abundance. An abundance of material things, opportunities, chances to do most anything we want to do and be in life.

5) Live in a constant state of gratitude. Realise at all times what you are grateful for. And the small things in life are just as important.

6) Declutter your space. When we hang on to material things and have not used them for at least two years just in case we may need them in the future, we may send out the message that we feel we could not afford to buy a new, up to date version in the future!

GUEST BLOGGER: Brigitte Sumner, Coach and Feng Shui Expert

www.brigittesumner.com