Year of the wind farm

Last year saw a bit of a renaissance for green thinking and I think this will continue in 2007.

Al Gore gave us a glimpse of what could have happened for global warming if he had been President instead of George Bush.

Now that the Democrats have control of Congress and the Senate, I think we will see a shift in policy towards tackling global climate change.

Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to confound his image by being the biggest proponent of tackling global warming (didn't he drive a Hummer once?) and I think that he could use his influence in shaping policy for the 2008 presidential election.

Pressure on this front continues to build and I think we'll see some more conciliatory language from George Bush on this topic during 2007.

Global warming is already shaping many of our policies, especially in the areas of transport and energy.

Wind farms are springing up all over the place and we can expect to see more applications for these facilities, especially offshore.

This will undoubtedly cause a great deal of discomfort among many people living in the vicinity of proposed wind farms, but these battles will be minor skirmishes when the government continues with its plan to replace ageing nuclear power stations.

Transport continues to be a major headache, but I don't expect any progress on trying to reduce the number of road or air journeys or massive new investment in the rail network.

On a more local note, I hope 2007 will be the year that Teville Gate is finally redeveloped.

This could be the catalyst for many other developments in the town centre, changing how the town is then viewed by not only the residents but visitors, too.

The introduction of wheeled bins later in the year for some readers will also have an impact on how we manage our rubbish and recycling.

If experience from elsewhere, including Arun, is replicated in Adur and Worthing, both authorities should see a massive increase in the amount of recycling collected.

The introduction of new powers under the Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005 will help to tackle many of the nuisance environmental problems that we encounter such as fly-tipping, litter and dog fouling. Hopefully, 2007 will also see the introduction (after much delay) of new responsibilities for producers to deal with waste electrical and electronic equipment and end-of-life vehicles.

This could mean the introduction of new in-store collection facilities for old household appliances, computing equipment and televisions.

Old vehicles should also be a lot easier to dispose of, reducing the abandoned vehicle problems still further.

I think that,on the whole, 2007 should see more progress on the environmental front, although I don't anticipate a revolution just yet.