Owen Paterson’s plans for “biodiversity offsetting”: the view of an expat American

A guest article by Christopher Strickland, an American expat living in Britain for the last 10 years.

Having read Environment Secretary Owen Paterson’s plan to let developers build in National Parks and compensate for the damage they cause through “biodiversity offsetting” elsewhere (“Beware the Paterwock my son“) I find it astonishing and frightening. It is typical of the thought process of developers though. The only line they see is not a timeline, but the bottom line …of their profit margin.

This proposal not only flouts the efforts of so many past and present who have devoted their time and resources to the purpose of setting aside special areas to preserve them because of their uniqueness and beauty for posterity, but it also undermines the very spirit of the law which created these sanctuaries and heritage sites. If I steal a persons wallet in London, take their money and give a few pounds of it away to a person living in York…how is that fair and justifiable? It is still a crime against the person in London.

If developers win….every person who lives in Britain that enjoys the use of these special places will lose…including all future generations yet unborn. This MUST be voted down if it ever rears its ugly head in parliament. It defies common sense…in every way. Mr. Paterson is a good example of a politician who cares nothing for the greater good of Britain and its people, but only for his personal job record at appeasing special interest groups who are well-heeled and unscrupulous in their approach to “progress”.