Alex Singleton

On The Guardian’s coverage of tomorrow’s budget on its Comment is Free site, I have a piece critical of the proposed “showroom tax” on new cars:
…just as it took time for the colour laser printer to move from being a frustrating and ugly £10,000 beast to being a £99 sleek machine, it will take time […]

The environmental debate is changing. Yesterday’s debate was all about living simpler, more basic lives, banning foreign holidays and beating up the market economy. But today, more environmentalists are recognising the importance of business and economic vitality in promoting good environmental ends.
This change is starting to materialise in Brussels. I was pleased when recently one […]

Working out how to use fewer resources is an in-built feature of the market economy - because fewer resources means a lower cost. Green campaigners work most effectively when they combine an argument for being green with an argument for saving money.
GreenGuardian.com has an Economically Preferable Purchasing Guide. It makes a many worthwhile points, but […]

General Electric’s founder, Thomas Edison, is best known as the inventor of the incandescent light bulb back in the 19th Century. It was a major step forward which has enhanced the life of billions of people. But now, new more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs are consigning the incandescent bulbs to the history books. So it […]

I have the following letter in today’s Independent newspaper:
Thank goodness the BBC has cancelled its day-long Planet Relief. Fighting climate change is essential, but discussions about how to solve it are already too often hijacked by those who simply want to attack globalisation and the market economy. Having comedians urge viewers to do […]

Many supposedly green measures, like worrying about food miles, can be counterproductive (as crops grown in hotter countries need less heating). But one green measure that really makes sense is pay as you throw rubbish.
Each rubbish bag costs money to collect. It is inequitable that those who throw out less should have to subsidise those […]

Often when I give talks about globalisation, someone from the audience will ask whether the wealth-creation globalisation brings is environmentally sustainable. I say that it is because on most measures the environment in rich countries has been improving, and that over the next fifty years, the link between carbon emissions and economic growth will be […]

“Environmental activists don’t use logic or reason” - Stan in South Park episode 505, fleeing the Earth Day Brainwashing Festival

Sheryl Crow has been on a tour around the USA to raise awareness of the environment. Alas, she is very much part of the negative environmentalism school, wanting us to descend into a simpler, more basic existence, with an emphasis on banning things. According to BBC News:
Singer Sheryl Crow has said a ban on using […]

The Wall Street Journal reports that Hollywood is increasingly looking to “direct-to-DVD” as a distribution channel for films. Warner Bros, in particular, is making a “new push”, the paper says. “Even though DVD growth is slowing, low-budget and well-marketed made-for-DVD films targeted at specific audiences are enjoying pockets of success.” The “specific audiences” audiences bit […]