Blog: Climate

US climate change policy will deliver hell and high water
© Greenpeace/Bill Auth

Last night, a day after George Bush's final State of the Union speech, Greenpeace volunteers in the US used one of their nation's most iconic monuments to paint a clear picture of what his climate change policies will mean for the planet.

The guys at Biofuelwatch have been cooking up a week of protests around (what else?) biofuels. Like us, they're concerned about the rising demand for biodiesel etc and the implications that has for the climate, as well as deforestation, food prices and a host of other related issues.

The government's consultation on Heathrow is fixed.

• There is evidence of extraordinary collusion between the government and BAA working together to influence the outcome of the consultation. [1]

• The prime minister and government ministers have made repeated comments that they want the expansion to go ahead, pre-empting the outcome of the consultation. [2]

• The evidence put forward within the consultation is confusing and incomplete, making it impossible for people to make an informed response to the consultation. [3]

• The consultation document is heavily biased, presenting leading commentary on the economic benefits of Heathrow expansion, and down-playing the effects of the proposed expansion on the climate and on Londoners. [4]

As much as any announcement from the EU can generate enormous anticipation, the proposed renewable energy targets for member states has been eagerly awaited by our climate change team. It's been pretty much public knowledge for some time what the target for the UK is expected to be but never the less, being told to produce 15 per cent of our energy from renewable sources by 2020 will necessarily kick-start a clean energy revolution - currently our renewable energy total is less than 3 per cent, just behind Malta in the EU league table.