Co2

Kingsnorth: now RSPB are demanding action

Posted by jossc — 14 March 2008 at 6:39pm - Comments

The anti-coal storm gathering around the head of Business Secretary John Hutton, the government minister championing new coal-fired power stations, is growing daily. Latest to weigh-in on the side of reason are the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). As you can see from the following quote, they are less than impressed with Hutton's stance;

If the UK government must use coal, the dirtiest fuel source there is, then it must also wait until CCS facilities are up and running. There is no rationale for using coal again until its climate damage can be contained.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, coal, kingsnorth, RSPB

Kingsnorth coal campaigners plead 'not guilty'

Posted by jossc — 14 March 2008 at 4:18pm - Comments

The Kingsnorth 5

Five of the 'Kingsnorth Six' at the top of the 200m chimney

Today five six of our volunteers faced their first court hearing over the shutting down of one of Britain's dirtiest power stations, at Kingsnorth in Kent, last October. They pleaded 'not guilty' at Maidstone Crown Court to charges of criminal damage and trespass. The charges relate to climbing a 200m smokestack on the site and painting a message to the prime minister - "GORDON BIN IT" in huge letters down the side. They took action because the government is considering considering proposals for a new generation of coal-fired plants.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, coal, energy, fossil fuels, kingsnorth

Hutton's coal-fired 'kite' shot down in flames

Posted by jossc — 10 March 2008 at 6:06pm - Comments

Coal: the most polluring of all energy sources

John Hutton, the man responsible for Britain's energy policy, gave his explicit support this morning for a new generation of coal-fired power stations.

Choosing the stormiest day of the year so far to deliver a speech to members of the right-wing think-tank the Adam Smith Institute, the Secretary of State for Business flew a dangerous kite when he insisted that coal has a "key role" to play in energy provision, and accused anyone who disagreed with him (that's us, folks, along with Prince Charles, Al Gore, the head of NASA, opposition parties and thousands of others) of playing "gesture politics".

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, coal, energy, fossil fuels, kingsnorth

It's the environment, stupid

Posted by jossc — 7 March 2008 at 12:48pm - Comments

One of the world's premier economic forums, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has openly identified environmental degradation as the greatest threat we face. While this is hardly news to those of us who've long been aware of the grave damage we've been inflicting on the planet in recent decades, for a mainstream economic organisation such as OECD it represents a fairly seismic change in thinking.

The key theme of its new report, 'Environmental Outlook to 2030', is that tackling climate change, pollution and other environmental hazards is urgently necessary to avoid irreversible damage.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, OECD, solutions

Five top tips for green summer living

Posted by jossc — 26 July 2007 at 2:22pm - Comments

Tips for green living

Although it doesn't feel much like it we're well into summertime now, our colleagues at Greenpeace Canada have put together a list of top tips to help you 'keep it green' whatever you're doing this summer. Among other things, they've got green ideas for organic gardening, keeping party food local and sustainable, and minimising your CO2 emissions should you decide to travel.

Article tagged as: book campaign, co2, FSC, gardening, impacts, sustainable agriculture

The new coal rush

Posted by bex — 30 April 2007 at 4:36pm - Comments

Ferrybridge power station

In 1974, the BBC launched Ceefax, Richard Nixon was kicked out of office and the last new coal-fired power station was built in the UK. Most things have moved on a fair bit since then – but apparently not for the UK's energy companies.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, coal, decentralised energy, fossil fuels, heat capture, kingsnorth, power stations

Climate change: We still have time!

Posted by bex — 30 October 2006 at 9:00am - Comments
Greenpeace activist climbs 700ft coal plant smoke stack

Greenpeace activist climbs 700ft coal plant smoke stack


In his review on climate change, economist and government advisor Sir Nicholas Stern says that "climate change represents the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen," but that there "is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we act now and act internationally." Which is exactly what we have been saying all along. The scientific and moral cases for acting against climate change have been known for some time - but it's taken an economist to spur the government into action.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, decentralised energy, gordon brown, hachette, stern review

Blowing more hot air

Posted by bex — 28 March 2006 at 9:00am - Comments

Drax is the UK's most polluting power station

A year late - the government announced the results of their review of climate change initiatives today and told us what we already knew. They are not going to meet their targets. But instead of taking this opportunity to put in place measures that would really make a difference to reduce climate damaging emissions, they've lowered their expectations.

Article tagged as: aviation, climate change, co2, decentralised energy, government, targets, tony blair, transport

Nuclear power - increasing carbon emissions

Posted by bex — 11 November 2005 at 9:00am - Comments
Sellafield

Nuclear power has justifiably had a bad press in recent years. It's expensive to the point of being uneconomic without massive government subsidies, produces dangerous radioactive wastes, and the consequences of a serious accident or terrorist attack on a nuclear plant could be devastating.

Recently the nuclear industry has seized on concerns over climate change and high oil prices to get nuclear power back on to the British political agenda. Tony Blair is being urged to allow construction of 10 new nuclear power stations. This would provide a lifeline for the beleaguered nuclear industry, which is arguing that new reactors would help the government as it struggles to keep its promise to reduce emissions of CO2 (the greenhouse gas primarily responsible for climate change) by 20% by 2010. The industry claims this is an obvious 'solution', because nuclear reactors emit virtually no CO2 at the point of electricity generation.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, nuclear power, uranium
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