New Statesman ‘The former Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, will this week demonstrate how desperate the right wing of the Conservative party has become in its attempts to force energy and climate change policies into an ideological straitjacket. In a speech on Wednesday to Lord Lawson’s lobby group for so-called climate change sceptics, the Global Warming […]
RenewableUK has condemned the unprecedented interference of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles in renewable energy projects in England. He has now intervened in 50 wind farm planning applications since June 2013, taking decisions personally projects means higher bills for UK consumers, goes against public demand for renewable energy instead […]
Plans for the Hinkley Point C reactor have been a agreement by the EU that the project does not break legal rules. For those who bring up the level of subsidy for renewable technologies the £17.6 billion for this project is a reminder of the scale of support nuclear energy still receives. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/22/hinkley-point-nuclear-reactor-gains-eu-approval As the […]
Sept 24th Update commentary: Peter Jones and other comments: See blog at: http://openchannels.org/blog/pjsjones/prospects-achieving-good-environmental-status-europes-seas-be-undermined-new Prospects for achieving good environmental status of Europe’s seas to be undermined by new appointment and brief? The new president of the European Union recently appointed a whole new team of commissioners, including the appointment of the Maltese politician, Karmenu Vella, as […]
This consultation seeks comments on Defra’s plans to simplify environmental guidance. We want to make it easier for users of government guidance to understand environmental regulations. We will be focussing on different topics throughout this consultation period. Find out what topics are currently being reviewed. The regulations themselves will stay the same. Flood and Coastal […]
As people are reading the fine print of the Government’s proposals the alarm bells are ringing louder, and promises to make this one of the most contentious pieces of legislation of the Parliament. Gone is all pretence of the greenest Government ever. Click here for more information. George Monbiot – the Guardian How the coalition […]
Energy efficiency and conservation are a no-brainer and yet the Government in their management of the Green Deal have gone from bust to boom to bust in a few short weeks. From being almost the least successful programme a Government has run it has opened and then closed unable to cope with demand. Another peculiar […]
SuDS are great but not if they affect development. Defra 23 May email: verbatim: ‘The Government remains committed to implementing SuDS at the earliest available opportunity, but not in a way that affects development. While several departments are working hard on this, it has become clear that we will not be in a position to […]