Posted by bex — 24 September 2008 at 10:44am
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Yesterday: "I want British companies and British workers to seize the opportunity and lead the world in the transformation to a low carbon economy and I believe that we can create in modern green manufacturing and service one million new jobs" - Gordon Brown.
Today: British Energy is sold to French nuclear company EDF for £12.5 billion, exporting thousands of potential UK jobs to France, dealing a hammer blow to our chances of meeting our legally binding Renewables Obligation.
Posted by bex — 11 March 2008 at 6:37pm
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Alex Steffen of Worldchanging recently wrote an excellent piece called Who Will Tell the People? And How? about the yawning chasm between the reality of climate change and the failure of government to bring in the massive changes needed. Talking about US emissions cuts, he writes:
We're running into a situation here where the acceptable political action is to move from A to C, but where realism demands that - if we want to dodge a catastrophic collision with ecological reality - we move from A to say Q. And that gap, between C and Q, is large enough to lose a future in.
As you're reading this blog, you probably don't need reminding about the catastrophiccollisionwithecologicalreality Steffen mentions. With stakes this high, the changes needed (Steffen's A to Q) are profound, fundamental and cross all facets of human existence - from our energy and transport systems to, dare I say it, our social and economic systems.
Posted by bex — 14 December 2007 at 2:47pm
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For environmentalists partial to a mild bit of schadenfreude over their tea and toast, this morning's Today Programme was a treat. You can listen to it here, if you're quick (Fiona and farnishk, I think you'll like John Humphreys' stance).
Environment minister Hilary Benn was invited on to talk about how things have been going in Bali (not so well). As Benn waxed lyrical about the urgent need for action to reduce emissions, Humphreys pulled him up on the yawning gap between the government's rhetoric and reality, what with the government wanting to build new runways and all. Then he pulled him up again. And again. And again. And again. It was a little like listening to a kitten being mauled by a teddy bear.
It was a bad day for the fight against climate change. The G8 has met and published their deal (pdf) and, despite the spin, it wasn't the deal the world needs.
Since coming into office in 1997, New Labour has overseen a rise in overall carbon emissions. The use of coal in power stations, the most carbon intense of all fossil fuels, has risen. Centralised power stations, which waste two thirds of the energy they produce, still account for the vast majority of our energy production. The government is now set to miss its own emissions targets.
Reacting to news that Tony Blair has written to EU leaders warning that the world has ten to fifteen years to avert catastrophic climate change, John Sauven of Greenpeace said:
Former New Labour advisor says Blair lied to Commons committee
Reacting to Tony Blair's comments this morning in support of new nuclear power stations, Greenpeace executive director Stephen Tindale said:
"Tony Blair wants his legacy to be new nuclear power stations, but his obsession threatens to scupper this country's renewable energy industry. He wants to tie the country into a centralised energy generation system that relies on huge, inefficient, polluting power stations instead of pushing money towards clean cutting edge technologies."
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has publicly stated that tackling climate change and African poverty are to be his two top priorities during the UK's presidencies of the G8 and the EU. Blair has repeatedly spoken of his climate change commitments while failing to reduce the UK's climate changing CO2 emissions since coming to power in 1997. In the run up to the G8 in July, Blair needs to match his rhetoric with action.
Posted by bex — 19 November 2004 at 9:00am
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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?"
