28th February 2008
Colofn Golwg
Llywodraeth y Cynulliad ydi’r unig un ym Mhrydain â chyfrifoldeb statudol i hyrwyddo datblygu cynaladwy. Mae yn eironig felly bod ganddi gartref ar lan un o’r datblygiadau mwyaf anghynalwadwy ac annemocrataidd y chwartef canrif diwethaf: Morglawdd Bae Caerdydd. ‘Roedd fflatiau mwd aber yr afon Taf yn edrych yn hyll i’r Ysgrifennydd Gwladol Nick Edwards. Ond nid felly i’r wyth mil o adar mudo (gydag enwau rhyfeddol fel y pibydd coesgoch a hwyaden yr eithin) a oedd yn heidio yno. Dyma’r Safle Arbennig o Ddiddordeb Gwyddonol (SSSI) cyntaf mewn hanes i gael ei ddinistrio – ac hynny yn erbyn gwrthwynebiad lleol, diolch i lywodraeth-drwy-gwango yr oes Dorïaidd.
Crewyd gwarchodfa natur ar wastadedau Gwent i ‘wneud yn iawn’ am y difrod. Cyd-ddigwyddiad creulon ydi hi bod y Llywodraeth wedi etifeddu ymrwymiad i adeiladu traffordd yno. Mae dyfr-ffosydd y gwastadeddau wedi bodoli ers bron i 1800 o flynyddoedd ac mae nhw’n gartefi pwysig i ddyfrgwn a llygod pengron. Mae’r gwastadeddau eu hunain yn rhan, wrth gwrs, o ardal ehangach Môr Hafren sydd yn rhanbarth o bwys ecolegol rhyngwladol cydnabyddedig. Mae’r ‘mega-morglwadd’ sy’n cael ei hyrwyddo gan Lywodraeth Llundain yn destun pryder mawr i naturiaethwyr ac ymgyrchwyr amgylcheddol.
Mae’r holl syniad yn nodweddiadol o hen feddylfryd dynion mewn cotiau labordy a siwtiau pinstripe breision mas o’r 50au – y math o bobl oedd yn gwirioni ar ynni niwclear fel ateb i’n holl broblemau. Mae creu prosiectau anferth fel hyn yn bell oddi wrth y defnyddiwr ac yn wastraffus oherwydd bod cymaint o’r ynni yn cael ei golli wrth ei drosglwyddo i’r grid. Ond pam ddylai amgylchedd Cymru, gollodd cymaint o ganlyniad i garbon yn y lle cyntaf, ac sydd yn dal i ddioddef glo brig, aberthu ei hunan unwaith eto mewn ymateb simplistaidd o un-ddimensiynol at greisus yr hinsawdd sydd wedi ei greu yn ei sgil? Gwell o lawer fyddai cefnogi cadwraeth ynni a systemau datganoledig o generadu trydan – yr ateb mwyaf cymhleth ond hefyd y mwyaf radical.
Cariad at bobl Cymru, ei hiaith a’i diwylliant, a thir a daear ydi tri pen cenedlaetholdeb Cymreig. Gwyrddni’r Blaid a’i chrêd mewn datganoli, yn sicr, sydd yn gwahaniaethu’r mudiad cenedlaethol fwyaf oddi wrth dechnocratiaeth gwladwriaethol Llafur. Thoreau a Tolstoy, yr athronwyr gwth-fateryddol, yw tarddiad ein traddodiad ni. Ni lwyddwn i ennill pob brwydr, ond, weithiau, y brwydrau yr ydym yn eu colli sydd yn ein nodweddu fwyaf: cofiwch Dryweryn.
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The Welsh Assembly Government is the only government in Britain with a statutory obligation to promote sustainable development. It is, therefore, ironic that the WAG’s home is on the banks of one of the least democratic and the least sustainable development of the past quarter of a century: the Cardiff Bay Barrage. The mud flats on the banks of the Taff river looked ugly to the Secretary of State Nick Edwards. Not so, however, to the eight thousand migrating birds (with amazing names, such as the redshank and the shellduck) which used to flock there. This is the first Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in history to be destroyed – and that in light of local objections, thanks to the government-through-quango of the Tory age.
A nature reserve was created in Gwent to ‘make up’ for this damage. Its a cruel coincidence that the Government has inherited a commitment to build a motorway there. The watercourses of Gwent have been in existence for nearly 1800 years and they are important homes to otters and other animals. This area is of couse part of the wider area of the Severn Estuary which is an area of great international ecological importance. The ‘mega-barrage’ which is being promoted by the Government in London is of great concern to naturists and enviornmental campaigners.
The whole idea is typical of the old mentatlities of men in laboratry coats and pinstripe suits from the 1950s – the type of people who thought of nuclear power as the answer to all energy problems. Creating huge projects such as this one is far removed from the user and is wasteful because so much energy is lost when being transferred to the grid. Why should the Welsh enviornment, which lost so much because of carbon in the first place and which is still suffering outcrop coal, sacrifice itself once again for a one-dimensional response to the climate crisis which was created as a result of this? It would be much better tosupport the reserving of energy and devolved systems of generating electricity – the most difficult solution but also the most radical.
Love for the people of Wales, the language and culture, and land are the three parts of Welsh nationalism. Plaids commitment to green issues and her belief in devolutions are the main elements that differentiate Wales’ biggest nationalist movement from Labours state technocracy. Thoreau and Tolstoy, the anti-materialism philosophers, are the soruce of our nationalism. We will not win every battle, but, perhaps, we will be defined mostly by the battles we lose: remember Tryweryn.
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