Government

The future for nuclear power?

Posted by bex — 19 May 2006 at 8:00am - Comments

Friday the 13th

A secret document has revealed that the new breed of nuclear reactor Blair is considering building is highly vulnerable to terrorist attack.

The Electricite de France (EDF) document looks at the vulnerability to terrorist attack of the new European Pressurised Reactors (EPR). These reactors are already under construction in France and Finland and may be built in the UK if Tony Blair has his way.

Article tagged as: government, nuclear power, reactor safety, terrorism

Blair backs a nuclear (and more dangerous) future

Posted by bex — 17 May 2006 at 8:00am - Comments
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant at sunrise, USA

Tony Blair has announced that nuclear power is now "back on the agenda with a vengeance".

Speaking at a CBI dinner last night, Blair made his strongest admission yet that the Energy Review is a smokescreen for a decision that has already been taken: to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.

Article tagged as: climate change, decentralised energy, energy review, government, nuclear power, tony blair

Greenpeace's recommendations to the 2006 Energy Review

Posted by bex — 28 April 2006 at 8:00am - Comments

Drax power station

Greenpeace has called on the UK government to recognise that our existing energy system is outdated, fragmented and inherently wasteful - and to start a wholesale regulatory and market reform to make decentralised energy the mainstay of the UK's energy system.

Article tagged as: climate change, decentralised energy, energy review, government, nuclear power

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

UK government makes 'clear-cut' decision on timber

Posted by admin — 29 November 2005 at 9:00am - Comments

In July 2000 the UK government introduced a policy requiring all of its departments and agencies to 'actively seek' to buy timber from legal and sustainable sources. Given that central government procurement accounts for approximately 15 per cent of timber used in the UK (and that the broader public sector may account for as much as 40 per cent), this was seen as a positive move to push the wider UK timber market towards environmentally and socially responsible sources.

Article tagged as: certification schemes, CPET, CSA, forests, FSC, government, illegal timber, MTCC, PEFC, SFI

Future radiation doses from waste dumping to exceed 2005 limits

Posted by bex — 4 November 2005 at 9:00am - Comments
Estimates of radiation doses to the public in the future, from the release of radioactive materials from the Drigg nuclear dump site, could reach up to 30 times than the legal maximum permissible now! Moreover, Drigg, the UK's main low-level waste dump is likely to be destroyed by coastal erosion in 500 years.

Article tagged as: BNG, drigg, environment agency, government, hachette, nuclear waste, radiation, waste dump sites

Power to the people: decentralised energy not new nuclear plants

Posted by bex — 10 October 2005 at 8:00am - Comments

Solar panels in Germany

With the pressure on from the nuclear lobby to build a series of ten new reactors, the Environmental Audit Committee of the House of Commons is holding an inquiry into future electricity production in the UK. The inquiry, Keeping the Lights On: Nuclear Power, Renewables and Climate Change, is being seen by many as the preliminary to an expected energy review in early 2006 which might result in proposals for new nuclear power plants.

Article tagged as: climate change, decentralised energy, energy review, government, nuclear power

Only action will clear the air

Posted by bex — 8 December 2004 at 9:00am - Comments

Tony Blair says he is personally passionate about solving the problem of climate change, but his passion for business has dominated the agenda for too long. There is only one way Tony Blair is going to regain our trust - take urgent action on climate change.

Article tagged as: climate change, co2, government, kyoto protocol, renewable energy, tony blair

Why we no longer trust Blair on climate

Posted by bex — 19 November 2004 at 9:00am - Comments
Tony Blair

Tony Blair

At regular intervals over the last few years, Tony Blair has given strong speeches on the importance and urgency of tackling climate change. He has told us that this is the single greatest challenge facing the international community, and that the scientific evidence is alarming. He is certainly right about that. He has also said that he is personally passionate about solving the problem.

Greenpeace has been sharply critical of Blair on other issues - on GM, nuclear power and, above all, Iraq. But on climate we have tried to believe in his sincerity. We need politicians to take the lead, and we need to support them when they do. It's not our style to ask automatically, as Jeremy Paxman does, "why is this bastard lying to me?"

Article tagged as: CBI, climate change, government, kyoto protocol, renewable energy, rhetoric versus reality, tony blair, transport, UK policy
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