Averting power cuts

The constancy and speed of change, its relentless advance and undeniable force, have become a motif of our times.

We are assured that the future is already here, but are comforted by being told that we may not have recognised it yet, that we will more easily recognise it when it is more evenly spread around the world.

No matter how it is expressed, even if in around-the-house-and-mind-the-dresser psychobabble, we all have had to adjust our world view and maybe reconsider truths we thought immutable. The storms, floods, and chaos of recent days must shake the certainty of the most ardent climate change sceptic. It seems pretty obvious that we have to change a lot about how we live and where we live if we are not to feel the brunt of winter storms regularly.

In that context, might the widespread power cuts of recent days have had less impact on our lives if the damaged power lines had been buried rather than strung across the countryside on poles? Could a changing climate be another good reason to bury the power lines that in today’s received wisdom should be draped across rows of hideous pylons?