Ladywood local election candidate James Robertson’s hopes for a greener Birmingham

• May. 3 by Katie Fox (1)

James Robertson is standing in the local elections on 6^th May for the Ladywood seat. He has high hopes for Birmingham City Council and wants to see a greener future for Birmingham if elected.

Mr Robertson is a member of the Green Party, which has a candidate standing in every ward of Birmingham. He urges voters to vote for the environmentally-friendly party because:

‘They are the only party that puts the welfare of the people and the planet above short term profits; they are the only company not morally bankrupt and in thrall to big business; the only party seemingly aware of the multiple approaching crises in the world and the only party with any kind of plan as to what to do about it.’

Mr Robertson maintains that if elected, he would focus on improving Birmingham’s environmental policies.

Specifically, he would work towards implementing the requirement for all council suppliers to commit to a minimum environmental code of conduct; the switching of the council’s energy company to a 100% green supplier; the insulation of all council-owned buildings, both saving energy and creating jobs and the reduction of the city’s waste through ceasing incineration.

Mr Robertson also said he would address:

‘All green issues involving reducing our impact on the environment and how much carbon we produce, but also our preparations for the implications of Peak Oil.  We eat oil – almost literally; almost all fertiliser and pesticides are made from oil, and all food is transported using oil and almost all plastic packaging comes from oil. My question is – what do we do if there is a massive spike in oil costs and suddenly it gets too expensive to ship food?’

‘We would start to build more council houses and make sure they were not sold off to benefit individuals but kept in public ownership to benefit successive generations.  We would invest in local transport and stop building so many roads that get filled up by new traffic as soon as they are completed.  We would stop building so many vanity projects like new libraries and instead refurbish existing buildings and make them more energy efficient.’

The Green Party candidate has many ideas to improve the ward which he represents and aims to make Ladywood a better, ‘greener’ place to live. He plans to get the council house insulation project underway and also bring about his party’s ‘Green New Deal’.

‘We would invest in renewable energy and the training necessary to maintain it. We need to start to worry now about what will happen when oil starts to run out and if we generate our own energy on a local basis then we will not only create jobs but prepare for the inevitable decline of oil.  We would invest in local services and support, especially for young people.