by Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Justin Stoneman on (#64SBN)
Thames and Southern worst in England and Wales, as complaints to Thames on bills, sewerage and supply double in five yearsThames Water is at the top of a league table charting the number of written complaints made to water firms in England and Wales last year, with the number more than doubling since 2017.The number of written complaints received by the firm from household customers has risen from 17,039 in 2017/18 to 40,060 in 2021/22, according to the most recent figures from the Consumer Council for Water (CCW). The firm accounted for nearly half (47%) of all written complaints to water and sewerage firms in England and Wales last year. Continue reading...
Only 5% of species now expected to survive as disease hits harder than first thought and prevention costs mountWarburg Nature Reserve is one of the gems of the Chiltern Hills. In the autumn, its beech, birch and oak trees are transformed into a blazing canopy of red, yellow, brown and golden leaves. Buzzards and red kites swoop overhead while a startling array of fungi – from milkcaps to collared earthstars – push up through the woodland floor of the 100-hectare site.This curtain of multicoloured delights hides a grim secret, however. A stroll through the reserve, which is owned by the Wildlife Trusts, reveals gaps that have recently appeared in the foliage. Continue reading...
Causes being researched but likely included increased predation and stresses from warmer waterAlaska officials have cancelled the upcoming snow crab season, due to population decline across the Bering Sea.The fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest will not happen. The winter harvest of smaller snow crab has also been cancelled for the first time. Continue reading...
Suella Braverman to reveal plans to grant police new powers to counter tactics favoured by Just Stop Oil and Extinction RebellionMinisters are pressing ahead with a dual crackdown on climate protests and strike action, a controversial move that followed a day of direct action in London including clashes with the public and milk poured on the floor of Harrods.Home secretary Suella Braverman will unveil plans on Sunday to grant police new powers to take a more “proactive” approach to counter tactics favoured by climate activists such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. Continue reading...
An army of lobbyists is trying to persuade the government of the case for the combustible gas as a valuable weapon in the climate crisis, but questions remainStanding in front of a lime green doubledecker hydrogen bus, Jo Bamford posed for a photo alongside transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan at the Conservative party conference’s “hydrogen zone” in Birmingham.A week earlier the JCB heir’s team was busy with photocalls featuring Labour heavyweights Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Ed Miliband at the Labour conference in Liverpool. Continue reading...
Scorching summer left reservoirs depleted and unlikely to recover, as growers warn of supply chain collapse in leaked meetingFarmers have warned they will not be able to grow crops next year if predictions that the drought will last until next summer prove accurate.Leaked slides from a national drought group meeting, seen by the Observer, show there are concerns that because reservoirs are still empty due to record dry conditions, the fruit and vegetable supply chain could collapse. Continue reading...
by Kate Olson with photographs by Greta Rybus on (#64RMW)
Soft shell clams are declining and those who depend on the state’s second-most-valuable fishery are having to adaptClams have long been a source of food and income for a variety of people in Maine: the Indigenous Wabanaki, commercial harvesters or anyone willing to dig in the mud. But their populations are declining steeply.Maine produces 62% of the nation’s softshell clams. They are the second most economically valuable fishery in the state behind lobster and sustain people’s livelihoods up and down the coast. Continue reading...
A Louisiana power company’s plan to capture climate emissions is raising concerns about the state’s water suppliesA carbon capture proposal for a central Louisiana power plant has been titled “Project Diamond Vault” by its owner, Louisiana utility Cleco. The utility says the project will have “precious value” to the company, customers and state.Yet less than six months after announcing the project to capture carbon from the plant’s emissions and store them underground near the plant, Cleco revealed in a recent filing to its state regulator the $900m carbon capture retrofit could reduce electricity produced for its customers by about 30%. Continue reading...
An end to new oil and gas projects remains a key demand, but protesters now want taxes on big polluters and basic energy for allFour years ago, when Extinction Rebellion started blocking London’s roads in a call for climate action, they brought a DIY carnival atmosphere that transformed their protests into festivals of resistance.On Thursday morning, when climate activists staged road blocks close to Waterloo, just south of the Thames, they were about two dozen grim-faced campaigners, wearing sensible clothes and hi-vis vests, and enduring abuse from passersby as they tried to superglue their hands to wet asphalt. Continue reading...
Exclusive: critics say stripped-down Environment Agency has not levied a fine in 12 years so no point to higher capThe government’s pledge to raise the cap on the amount of money the Environment Agency can fine water companies for sewage pollution to £250m has been described as “hot air”, as the Guardian can reveal the regulator has failed to levy any such penalties since it was given powers to do so 12 years ago.Variable monetary penalties (VMPs) were introduced in 2010 to enable the Environment Agency to directly levy fines for serious environmental offences without having to go through expensive and lengthy court proceedings, but to date the agency has not levied a single VMP against water companies. Continue reading...
Major shipping delays and backlog of vessels after region experiences lack of rainfall in recent weeksThe water in the Mississippi River has dropped so low that barges are getting stuck, leading to expensive dredging and at least one recent traffic jam of more than 2,000 vessels backed up.The Mississippi River Basin produces nearly all – 92% – of US agricultural exports, and 78% of the global exports of feed grains and soybeans. The recent drought has dropped water levels to alarmingly low levels that are causing shipping delays, and seeing the costs of alternative transport, such as rail, rise. Continue reading...
by Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent on (#64QQC)
Alok Sharma’s intervention puts pressure on Trump-appointed Bank chief who faces calls to resignThe UK has joined calls for sweeping reforms to the World Bank, to focus much-needed funding on the climate crisis, saying that its current structures are not working.The intervention from Alok Sharma, the current president of the UN climate talks, heaps further pressure on beleaguered World Bank chief, David Malpass. He has faced calls to resign over an apparently climate-dismissing stance, and the Bank’s perceived failures to deliver climate finance. Continue reading...
Though there is situationist wit in throwing soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the protest is more likely to provoke eye-rolls than actionIf you’re going to make a political statement by attacking an artwork then pick a big one. In the absence of the Mona Lisa, Just Stop Oil protesters today threw soup over one of the 19th century’s most recognisable images – immortalised on biscuit tins and tea towels the world over – Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. The National Gallery attack is the latest in a campaign that saw them glueing themselves to a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper in the Royal Academy in July.Such assaults are now so common that the Mona Lisa – most recently pelted with cake at the Louvre in Paris back in May – now smiles on from behind a pane of bullet-proof glass. The sunflowers themselves are unlikely to have suffered any damage, beyond the indignity of being eclipsed by a brighter shade of orange. The protesters will have known this, and there is a certain situationist wit in their choice of weapon – not a spray can but a tin of tomato soup, as immortalised by Andy Warhol, in the pop artist’s critique of exactly the sort of industrialisation that Just Stop Oil sees as responsible for the destruction of the planet. Continue reading...
Protesters then glue themselves to wall beneath painting at National Gallery in LondonActivists from Just Stop Oil have thrown tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.There were gasps, roars and a shout of “Oh my gosh!” in room 43 of the gallery as two young supporters of the climate protest group threw the liquid over the painting, which is protected by glass, just after 11am. Continue reading...
Rainfall levels have not been sufficient to dampen soil and refill reservoirs after scorching summerEngland could be in drought beyond spring 2023, ministers have said, after record low rainfall has left the country short on water.The news will be particularly problematic for farmers, who were hoping for a damp autumn and winter to refill reservoirs so they could plant and harvest crops into next year. Continue reading...
Sackett v EPA – an attack on the Clean Water Act – is by no means the only threat to climate policy before the courtThe supreme court is back in session, and once again corporate interests and Republican attorneys general are taking aim at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this time via an attack on the Clean Water Act. But given the current bench’s proclivity for expanding corporate rights while restricting civil rights, that case – Sackett v EPA – is by no means the only threat to climate policy before the court.National Pork Producers Council v Ross, for example, is ostensibly about whether California’s law regarding pork sold in the state, requiring the humane treatment of the animals in states it came from, but could also potentially threaten states’ abilities to set renewable energy targets. Two university affirmative action cases (Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v President and Fellows of Harvard College), have implications for the Biden administration’s environmental justice programs. Brackeen v Haaland, challenging the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act, is a direct threat to tribal sovereignty and a potential boon for fossil fuel companies that would rather not have to deal with Native land and water rights. And of course the two big democracy cases – Moore v Harper, which would give states the ability to run roughshod over federal elections, and Merrill v Milligan, which would deliver yet another nail in the coffin that is the withering Voting Rights Act – would likely be catastrophic for climate policy. Continue reading...
Proposition 30 would raise up to $5bn annually to help buy zero-emission cars, trucks and buses; Newsom calls it a ‘Trojan horse’Two years ago, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, issued an executive order banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.This year, he’s opposing a ballot measure to fund the transition to electric vehicles – siding with Republicans and against fellow Democrats, environmental groups, firefighters and labor unions. Continue reading...
Plants damaged by extreme temperatures are most at risk of disease, Royal Horticultural Society saysSummer’s prolonged droughts and extreme heat have made plants more susceptible to problems such as fungi and insects this coming autumn, the Royal Horticultural Society has warned.Plants stressed or damaged by the heat are most at risk of disease, but the charity’s experts say gardeners should also look out for specific plants that are typically more vulnerable such as tomatoes. Continue reading...
A project to revive the crop, once grown across the Netherlands, is boosting pollinators and a renewed interest in the seedOrganic farmer Kees Sijbenga looks at the sea of white and pale pink blossoms before him. It is mid-July and millions of tiny buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) flowers sway in the wind on the plot he is cultivating in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Sijbenga is delighted that the crop is buzzing with a multitude of insect pollinators. “I’m so happy to be growing buckwheat,” says the third-generation farmer.Sijbenga is one of 23 farmers in the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe in the north-east of the Netherlands who are part of an ambitious, nature-inclusive agricultural project to re-establish buckwheat farming in the country. Continue reading...
Denman glacier in remote part of the continent could become unstable, possibly contributing to more sea level rise than predictedThe Denman ice shelf in east Antarctica is melting at a rate of 70.8bn tonnes a year, according to researchers from Australia’s national science agency, thanks to the ingress of warm sea water.The CSIRO researchers, led by senior scientist Esmee van Wijk, said their observations suggested the Denman glacier was potentially at risk of unstable retreat. Continue reading...
The Maribyrnong River has burst its banks in Melbourne, Forbes and Wagga Wagga residents have fled in NSW and rainfall records have been broken in Tasmania
by Nina Lakhani climate justice reporter on (#64Q9V)
Failure to address country’s abuses will obstruct rollout of meaningful climate action, director of Human Rights Watch saysThe Egyptian regime has successfully silenced the country’s independent environmentalists in the run-up to hosting this year’s UN climate talks, as part of a wider strategy to repress human rights that also threatens to derail meaningful global climate action, according to a leading advocate.In an interview with the Guardian, Richard Pearshouse, environment director at Human Rights Watch, said failing to address abuses by Egypt and other authoritarian regimes will obstruct the rollout of ambitious climate policies needed to transition away from fossil fuels and curtail global heating. Continue reading...
Fossil fuel emissions are the easiest to curb yet plans to expand the sector are in the pipelineMethane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, trapping heat 80 times more effectively over a 20-year period.The amount of methane in the atmosphere is two and a half times pre-industrial levels and increasing steadily. There is little hope of keeping below the 1.5C target unless methane emissions are drastically reduced in this decade. Continue reading...
Ed Miliband criticises Liz Truss’s ‘anti-green-energy dogma’ after plans to ban solar projects revealedLabour has criticised prime minister Liz Truss’s plan to ban solar power from most of England’s farmland and vowed to treble the renewable energy source in its first term.Ed Miliband, the shadow climate secretary, will visit a solar farm on Friday. He is to lay out his opposition to plans by Truss and her environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, who the Guardian revealed earlier this week are hoping to ban solar from about 41% of the land area of England, or about 58% of agricultural land. Continue reading...
There is no mandate for the anti-green agenda of Liz Truss’s governmentThe latest schism to open up in Liz Truss’s cabinet is less surprising than it might have been, had divisions over tax and welfare policies not already emerged. But the decision by the business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, to oppose her publicly over solar energy plans is still a dramatic one that leaves her looking even weaker and more exposed. Having previously stressed his support for fracking, and oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, Mr Rees-Mogg used an article in the Guardian to deny that he opposes green energy. While Ms Truss wants to restrict new solar installations on farmland, Mr Rees-Mogg’s deregulatory fervour extends beyond fossil fuels to renewables as well.Ms Truss’s anti-solar scheme is so ill-judged that all voices raised against it are welcome. But Mr Rees-Mogg’s enthusiasm for new oil and gas means that he must never be mistaken for a friend to green causes. He is right to point out that carbon-intensive imports are just as damaging to the atmosphere as UK-based industries. But while his backing for solar and wind may make him a more consistent free-marketeer than the prime minister – who is against red tape except when it blocks something she dislikes – the risks to the environment from all those like him who champion growth at the expense of nature remain huge. Continue reading...
Farmers have long experience in balancing the needs of food and energy production, says Stuart Roberts. Plus letters from Mark Sullivan, Duncan Forbes and Peter CampionThe new environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, appears to believe that farmers and local communities are unable to make the right choices about which land should be used to produce food and which to produce energy (Ministers hope to ban solar projects from most English farms, 10 October).This is not a new problem for farmers. In the 19th century, my predecessors chose to produce energy on one-third of my farm and food on two-thirds. Without the oats grown on a large part of the farm, we could not have fed the horses enough energy to allow them to help us to produce human food on the rest of the farm. Continue reading...
Fylde council, home to Preston New Road shale gas site in Lancashire, unanimously backs motionA Conservative-led council in Lancashire has voted unanimously to demand the government stick to its manifesto commitment against fracking, and to demand clarity on what constitutes “local consent” for the controversial form of energy extraction.Fylde council is home to Preston New Road, the only site in Britain which has been fracked, by the energy company Cuadrilla. Operations there caused small earth tremors, breaching the regulated limits and prompting the government to implement a moratorium on fracking in November 2019. Continue reading...
by Sandra Laville Environment correspondent on (#64P6Q)
The climate minister says new domestic drilling for oil and gas will help the UK reach net zero by 2050. Is he right?The UK climate minister, Graham Stuart, has urged Britons to support domestic drilling for oil and gas, which he claimed were green policies that would help the country reach net zero by 2050.Do his assertions reflect reality? Continue reading...
Caroline Lucas will table bill which would extend countryside access to woods and green beltPeople across England are right to trespass to stand up for their right to roam, Caroline Lucas has said.The Green MP will table a bill later in October to allow the public to access woodlands and the green belt in the same way they can currently walk on the coast path. Continue reading...
‘We won’t have a world to show our customers if we don’t act soon,’ delegates are told at tourism conferenceThe travel industry has been urged to prove its commitment to sustainability with “rapid decarbonisation” to avoid a climate disaster.James Thornton, chief executive of Intrepid Travel, one of the first carbon-neutral tour operators, warned delegates at the Abta travel convention in Morocco that urgent change was required. Continue reading...
Natural England chief says pledge to stop biodiversity loss by 2030 will not be met if scheme is cutThe government will not meet its commitments to stop biodiversity loss by 2030 if it scraps new payments to incentivise wildlife-friendly farming in England, the head of its nature watchdog has said.Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, told the environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, in a letter this week that if the government did not keep its commitment to move from area-based farm payments to “public money for public goods” – rewarding farmers for work to replenish soil, prevent floods and restore pollinators – it will not meet its legally binding target to halt biodiversity decline by 2030. Continue reading...
A California clinic is one of a growing number of healthcare centers looking to achieve energy independence as environmental challenges increaseIt is not easy to rattle Rosa Vivian Fernandez. The chief executive of a California healthcare clinic, she sees the harsh realities that the low-income, largely Hispanic community served by the clinic faces every day.But when Fernandez traveled to Puerto Rico in 2017 to visit family, she was shocked to see how deeply Hurricane Maria had devastated the island. Continue reading...
Government’s oceans review also presents grim picture of species under threat of extinction including seabirds and mammalsMicroplastics are found in three of every four of New Zealand’s fish, huge portions of indigenous seabirds and marine species are threatened with extinction, and warmer oceans are becoming uninhabitable to native species, a stark new government report on the state of the country’s oceans has found.The ministry of environment’s marine stocktake, released on Thursday, lays out a grim picture of species under threat. It found that 90% of indigenous seabirds, 82% of indigenous shorebirds, 81% of assessed marine invertebrate species and 22% of marine mammal species were classified as threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened with extinction. Continue reading...
Science body’s information on shale gas fracking treads lightly when it comes to naming methane’s role in global heating, despite it being second only to CO2Gas companies have their eyes on the Northern Territory where they hope to frack their way to – in the words of the federal government – a “world-class gas province”.This week, one executive claimed the territory’s Beetaloo Basin held “Australia’s greatest emissions reduction opportunity” – a claim swiftly ridiculed by climate groups. Continue reading...
Huge scale of human-driven loss of species demands urgent action, say world’s leading scientistsEarth’s wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 69% in just under 50 years, according to a leading scientific assessment, as humans continue to clear forests, consume beyond the limits of the planet and pollute on an industrial scale.From the open ocean to tropical rainforests, the abundance of birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles is in freefall, declining on average by more than two-thirds between 1970 and 2018, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) biennial Living Planet Report. Two years ago, the figure stood at 68%, four years ago, it was at 60%. Continue reading...
Findings highlight how Endangered Species Act has failed in recovering flora and fauna through its 50 yearsThe Endangered Species Act (ESA) has long been hampered by inadequate resources, leaving the US’s foremost law for protecting plants and animals filled with delays and failures in species recovery, researchers said on Wednesday.The findings, published in the scientific journal Plos One on the eve of the law’s 50th anniversary, helped shed light on why, despite hundreds of species listed, only 54 in the country have fully recovered. Continue reading...