climate change

Jayapura (image by sandranahdar, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0)

As I write this, I'm sat in a hotel lobby looking out on to a market place where women are sat on the hard tarmac, blankets with tomatoes, lemongrass, onions and chillies spread out before them. Towering behind them is the incongruous bulk of the local KFC and, although there was torrential rain an hour ago, the streets are bone dry. That's because it's very very hot which is not surprising when you're a few degrees south of the equator.

TANC - making headlines in the Shropshire Star

Telford Against New coal (TANC) yesterday launched their campaign to stop an opencast coal mine at the foot of the Wrekin Hills from getting planning permission. Besides the obvious climate change implications, the proposed 230 acre site would encroach into the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and ruin some of the largest and most valuable areas of ancient woodland in the county.

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She's our world famous flagship, she's helped to win Greenpeace campaigns across the globe and now she's coming to the UK to persuade Gordon Brown to Give Coal the Boot.

The Independent Climate Change Commission has warned the government that it should cut all greenhouse emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 to tackle climate change.

In itself, this isn't particularly surprising; scientists have been recommending this for some time. More interesting - and very welcome - is that the commission wants to include aviation and shipping in the target. That means, for once, that 'all greenhouse gas emissions' pretty much means 'all greenhouse gas emissions'.

Ed Miliband (image by Christian Guthier, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0)

Big news from this morning's Cabinet reshuffle: Gordon Brown has created a new department for climate change and energy, and Ed Miliband has been appointed its head.

This is, potentially, fantastic stuff. Until now, one department has been dealing with climate change and another - the department for business (DBERR) - with energy. This entirely nonsensical division hamstrung any chances of a coherent, low carbon energy policy and kept business and environmental interests at perpetual loggerheads. No prizes for guessing who usually won.