Some readers might not be familiar with George Monbiot. Mr. Monbiot is a columnist with The Guardian newspaper and has written on issues ranging from the Iraq war to globalization to race relations, &c. In recent years though, his main focus has been climate change and he’s been quite vociferous in calling for both government action and personal responsibility in dealing with the problem.
Which makes his recent comments on microgeneration all the more confusing. In an article for the New Scientist, Monbiot writes that “small is useless” and lambasts “those who maintain that our own homes can produce all the renewable electricity and heat they need…[they] have harmed the campaign to stop climate chaos, by sowing complacency and misdirecting our efforts.” He cites Bill Dunster and Jeremy Leggett as examples of those who have been, shall we say, overly optimistic in estimating the potential contribution of microwind and PV. As a green architect and director of a PV installation firm respectively, the cynical reader might believe that the claims of these men were intentionally misleading.
I think it’s worth a detailed rebuttal of Monbiot’s column:
Read more on The baby and the bath water…
