Posted on 04/21/2007 10:49:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For most of us facing gridlocked roads and packed trains, the Monday morning commute is a more pressing concern than climate change.
Staggering rush hours could tackle climate change
But there may be a single solution to both, according to business leaders.
The Institute of Directors is calling for flexible hours and more home working to help tackle global warming.
Miles Templeman, the institute's director-general, said offering employees greater flexibility would ease pressure on transport networks and cut rush-hour power demand - thereby reducing emissions. Mr Templeman urged ministers not to rush into policies that risked harming the economy, such as caps on emissions and carbon taxes.
Speaking ahead of the institute's annual convention later this week, he criticised the Government over its "ideological" approach to climate change.
"The politicians are still hooked up on this global leadership on climate change, which has become a political bandwagon," he said. "You can see all the politicians trying to out-green each other. There is a danger they will damage competitiveness and companies will move jobs to other countries."
His comments come weeks after Chris Gibson Smith, the chairman of the London Stock Exchange, said the Government's policies on climate change risked damaging British business.
He said Britain could not tackle climate change on its own and carbon emission penalties put the country's competitive edge at risk.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "The UK environmental industry is already a success story and worth some £25 billion annually.
"Boosting energy efficiency makes good financial sense for business and also helps cut carbon emissions."
New!!: Dr. John Rays
GREENIE WATCH
Please ping me if you find one Ive missed.
OKSooner and I are doing the POGW
ping list while xcamel is on vacation.
One of these days some” other world news whatever” is gonna report that licking your butt is healthy, in fact it adds 5 and for some, 10 years to your life.
Amen! I don’t ever want to go back to that hellish cube slave environment. Being in a cubicle at 47 would make me feel like a 23 year old again, and not in a good way.
Try being stuck in a “hellish cube slave environment” with 5 very vocal Liberals and me the only conservative.
More work done from homes (”telecommuting”) makes good sense for families, the economy, and for cutting down on traffic, too.
I’ve been there a few times. ...like trying work in a house of ill repute—department heads from antagonistic, foreign nations and American wives gone wild. More of us should see what temps./consultants see. It’s bizarre.
If I caaaaaaaare about Global Warming, I’m a Good Person. I don’t have to deal with real problems, because I caaaaaaare about Global Warming.
It`s true, this whole global warming hoax is completely out of control now. And if you think it`s bad now, wait till this coming July when all the duped get together for this “Earth live” concert
My cubicle flies!
As if “Mother Earth” or “Gaia” gives a hoot about some naked apes prancing around and singing for “her” benefit!! Let me guess: proceeds go towards building a oceanfront home in Malibu for Al Gore, so he can be near Hollywood.
The great majority of jobs, are not the kind that allow people to work from home.
When you do a job from home, it is usually something that can’t be shipped overseas or outsourced. I currently do mortgage loans and have also recruited from home.
Aside from the basic and unquestioned premise that global warming exists, there's nothing ludicrous about staggering work hours or telecommuting.
Even assuming that global warming is a hoax, smog isn't; spreading the traffic out over more hours won't change the number of miles driven each day, but it'll get rid of a lot of the idling, which puts crap in the air and serves no useful purpose whatsoever.
Telecommuting is also a grand idea. I wouldn't want to do it every day, because I'd start to feel kind of isolated, but I would love to be able to work from home two or three days a week. If I didn't have to shave and dress nice, sit in my car each way, deal with random people stopping by to chat, a supposed 8-hour workday would actually be contained in something like eight hours rather than stretching to ten or more. And I wouldn't have to pay for gas, sit in the car, and buy lunch on those days. And I could listen to whatever music I want without bothering anyone.
Now, imagine that these practices become widespread -- instead of a massive morning rush hour from about 7-10, you spread that out from 6 to noon; the evening hour is spread out from 3-10 instead of 4-7. And if even ten percent of workers on any given day aren't commuting at all, that would take a lot of strain off the roads and subways.
I think the only reason these ideas haven't caught on is that too many managers are wedded to the nine-to-five, punch a clock model of work -- they see "face time" as a way to measure productivity, which couldn't be more wrong. I'm more productive, creative and focused on my porch with an iced tea than in a cubicle with ringing phones and people gabbing all around.
If government would only adopt some of their own ideas.....
BTW, I also do my work overnight rather than during the daytime. This means I can see movies in the afternoon and do my shopping at the 24-hour Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. and almost never have to wait in any lines.
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