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EDI is so woke, isn’t it?
EDI is so woke isn’t it? I mean it is only relevant to…..oh, well, hang on…..everyone! We are now online for the event below on 1 February. It’s free to attend (assuming you have the time and means) and open to all – even to politicians who are concerned that EDI may be getting too Read more
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First they came for…
It is quite chilling to read of such developments below – a “First they came for…” sensation. I find myself once again oscillating between chasing deadlines amidst a pile of day-job work and opening my eyes wide in shock at what is happening around us. “They shouted up: ‘If you don’t come down and open Read more
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Going solar decisions
We’re planning to get solar panels and a battery installed – do we take the Mr Spock or the Homer Simpson approach? Having catapulted ourselves into EV ownership at the start of 2024, we’re now sizing up options for installing solar panels and a battery. Wow, you really do start to enter super-geek territory once Read more
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Worried about an EDI-obsessed civil service?
Are you a civil servant wasting too much time on EDI, abusing your position as a ‘servant’ and comprimising productivity? Of course as a servant you will not be allowed to answer that here. I hasten to add that no productivity was harmed in the writing of this post: I am doing it on a Read more
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Go-to tonic for a mad, mad world 🤘
How has your start to the New Year been? Pretty intense this end I have to say. Car written off two weeks ago. Now in the EV owners club. Lots going on in terms of work – as ever, great people to work with but bewildered by some of the madness around us. This is Read more
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What can we do as Transport Professionals to Help Save the World?! (Or at least try…..)
My wonderful Mott MacDonald colleagues Leora Wilson and Anna Tyler decided to aim high with the first exam question of the year in their co-hosted technical webinar today in Motts. The panel with the privilege of sitting the exam was made up of Kim Yates, Damian Price, Stephen Luke and myself. Here is some of Read more
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The trigger event that has led us to EV ownership
Bang! Out of nowhere the other car hit our car. That was 2.15pm last Sunday. Our old petrol car written off. Insurance payout has already come through. Today we paid the deposit on an electric car. This time next week we should have the car at home and the EV charger installed. Some years ago, Ben Read more
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How to stop fascism
Are you ready for some insights into #fascism? I didn’t imagine as a younger man I’d be reading books like this. But the world is not the airbrushed one I once knew. As Derek Halden recently said to me – & it struck a chord – reading & writing is our way of coping. This book Read more
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Is Sky News being impartial or introducing false balance in this interview?
Is Sky News being impartial or introducing false balance in this interview? Why not take 10 minutes to watch the interview in full and weigh up what you make of it. In terms of the interviewees, Zoe Cohen is a prominent climate activist who makes it her business to draw upon understanding of reported science. Read more
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Transitioning to Net Zero
I’ve just taken part in the first 2024 webinar from the Association of European Transport’s Transport and Mobility Forum. Hosted by Conall Mac Aongusa, Chaired by Derek Halden and with Susan Krumdieck and Elizabete Arsenio alongside me on the Panel, we got stuck into the wicked matter of the future ahead of us and what Read more
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A New Year’s radio interview, and Jevon’s Paradox
The transition to electric vehicles is in full swing and in the news, while I’ve been worring about Jevon’s Paradox. I’ve just done my first BBC Radio Bristol interview of 2024 on the topic of the EV transition. Putting aside politics and other matters about addressing the climate emergency, transitions are fascinating – especially as Read more
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Extinction Rebellion – walk in your own shoes in 2123
Handmade Extinction Rebellion Christmas tree decoration from Robin Lyons and Catt Lyons. An intensely personal gift which I love 💚 As the season that marks the high point of our capitalist year comes to an end, have a think about XR and Just Stop Oil. These are not terrorist eco zealots, they are the voice Read more
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As many of us stagger into Christmas, dazed by the surreal existences we now lead where we simultaneously get on with the day job while facing the extential threat of climate change, peaceful protesters are being imprisoned. When I began my career in transport over 30 years ago I could not have imagined the digitalised…
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On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…. six triple access futures, and a mental model in a pear tree. Daniela Paddeu and I are pleased to share our new paper (free to access) which sets out how systems thinking can be used to make sense of the Triple Access System we…
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COP28 or COPOUT28? On the day the thrashed-out result emerged, I have been proudly attending the graduation ceremony of my son Robin Lyons. Alongside running Ergon Theatre (one of the UK’s leading climate theatre companies) and his own carbon literacy training company ‘Climate Leadership Training’ (https://www.climateleadershiptraining.co.uk/), Robin has studied full-time for his Masters in Environmental Governance at the…
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Just Stop Oil. How much plainer could it be? We are up shit creek. Oil lobbyists, right through into the heart of COP28 and with their tendrils into governments and the media, are fighting like cornered rats. They are banking on the fact that most people seem either ambivalent, in denial as the first stage…
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Climate action, Equality, diversity and inclusion, and Professionalism. And Megadeth🤘 The Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) Annual Luncheon is a gathering to behold. 1700+ people together in one sitting to reflect upon the year gone by and the imperatives ahead that require our attention. Our President Karen McShane was stateswomanlike in her speeches with heartfelt and eloquent…
What the hell is going on? 