On Sunday a default speed limit of 20 miles an hour in urban areas came into force in Wales. A public health study estimates that this will result in 40% fewer collisions every year, saving 6 to 10 lives and avoiding 1,200 …
Corporate courts threaten climate action
The EU is planning to withdraw from a treaty which holds back climate progress and allows fossil fuel companies to sue governments in a special court. The UK Government seems content to stick with it, risking the transition away from fossil …
Communities and offshore wind
The Belgian government have just agreed to encourage citizens’ co-operatives to have a stake in major offshore windfarm projects. In Scotland, communities are already losing out. Having lots of sea and lots of wind, Scotland has massive plans for the development of offshore …
German nuclear phaseout signals the end for nuclear in Europe
Future generations will look back at our flirtation with the most unsustainable and most expensive form of energy production – nuclear power – and curse us for the mess we have left them. But the end is beginning to be in sight …
UK climate plan still falls short
Revised UK climate plans continue to fall short of delivering on internationally-agreed targets while new energy plans continue to back expanding oil and gas production. Last week the UK Government released 44 climate and energy documents, including a revised version …
Nuclear still not the answer
The nuclear industry and their friends are stepping up their propaganda war but their terrible track record shows that new reactors are still not the answer to reducing emissions or supplying affordable power. The UK Committee on Climate Change, official …
What the Energy Strategy really said about fossil fuels
In response to last week’s Scottish Government Energy Strategy one newspaper ran a front page headline announcing the end of the oil and gas industry. The truth is less clear. The long-awaited new Strategy is a draft and public responses are …
Home insulation war effort needed
Last week an influential committee of MPs called for a national ‘war effort’ to insulate people’s homes. Although the Scottish Government has been consistently better on this that the UK Government, much more needs to be done. The Environmental Audit Committee …
The environment in 2022
In the midst of war and a cost of living crisis, some good things were achieved for the environment but we also went backwards in 2022. The climate scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change produced a report on …
Nuclear at Ineos – a gift to campaigners
The talks between Ineos and Rolls Royce about siting a nuclear reactor at the Grangemouth refinery are a huge early Christmas gift to campaigners opposed to a new generation of nuclear. The idea contains the perfect combination of elements needed to …
Climate COP or fossil capture ?
As COP27 grinds slowly towards its conclusion, the battle over what any final agreement might say about fossil fuels is reaching its peak. Last year’s COP in Glasgow produced an agreement that finally actually admitted fossil fuels might be a …
Diplomacy and duplicity at the seaside
The baffling, frustrating and occasionally inspiring circus that is the UN climate talks is in full swing in the Red Sea tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Impenetrable as they are these talks are the only place countries can negotiate to act …