Intensive farming v the environment | Letters
If we were to redesign the farm financial support system so that, instead of encouraging agro-industrial approaches, it required recipients to practise the sort of agro-ecological methods advocated by Felicity Lawrence (Hyperintensive farming will never feed the world, 3 October), we would be able to re-conceptualise it as not a “subsidy” or “welfare payment” (Letters, […]
Scotland bans controversial gas extraction technique
Ministers heed expert advice warning that underground coal gasification poses ‘numerous and serious’ risks to the environment and climate Scottish ministers have banned the use of a technique to extract methane by burning underground coal beds, after expert advice said it posed too many risks to the climate and environment. Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish environment […]
Fracking given UK go-ahead as Lancashire council rejection overturned
Communities secretary, Sajid Javid, has accepted an appeal from Cuadrilla against an earlier decision to turn down their plans to frack on the Fylde Sajid Javid has overturned Lancashire council’s rejection of a fracking site, paving the way for shale company Cuadrilla to drill in the county next year and provoking outrage from local groups, […]
'He’s rewriting the rules': locals furious at minister's fracking intervention
Campaigners in Lancashire say Sajid Javid’s decision to overrule council is an affront to local democracy In Heather Speak’s immaculate back garden in the Lancashire village of Roseacre, the only sound was the tranquil rustling of trees and the singing of the budgerigar, finches and miniature Chinese quail in her aviary. But a gloomy atmosphere […]
Made from bamboo, pig hair and yogurt pots: can eco-toothbrushes take off?
There are greener alternatives to the billions of plastic toothbrushes discarded annually – but consumers may not be ready to bite It’s one of the first things we do in the morning and one of the last we do at night. Yet brushing our teeth sees billions of plastic toothbrushes bound for the world’s rubbish […]
UK fracking decision is nothing short of hypocrisy | Damian Carrington
The UK government supports unproven, climate-polluting and unpopular fracking, while undermining proven, clean and popular renewables Spot the difference. Fracking, which is climate-polluting and unproven in the UK, gets “all-out” government backing, with ministers steamrolling over local opposition. Onshore windfarms, proven to be low-cost and low-carbon, get undermined by the government, with local opposition given […]
Wildscreen’s Witness the Wild open-air exhibition – in pictures
The Wildscreen festival is the world’s biggest celebration of screen-based natural history storytelling which takes place every two years in Bristol. Among the highlights is the Witness the Wild open-air photography exhibition, which runs on College Green from 7-28 October and features large-scale images by several of the world’s top wildlife and conservation photographers Continue […]
See the lab where plants grow in the dark
An abandoned underground trolley station in New York City’s lower eats side has been transformed into a thriving “concrete jungle”, where plants and crops are being grown, with a somewhat remarkable level of success. We highly recommend this short video where Fast Company’s Mark Wilson takes a quick tour of the lab space. Described as […]
Flint warnings as Atlantic City may be forced into state takeover of water
The near-bankruptcy of the financially ailing resort town was caused in part by the failures of casinos such as those previously owned by Donald Trump Atlantic City may be forced by New Jersey into an unprecedented state takeover of its water as the result of a bailout, something experts have warned has worrying echoes of […]
Pew survey: Republicans are rejecting reality on climate change | Dana Nuccitelli
Only 48% of Americans – and 15% of conservative Republicans – realize that humans are causing global warming Climate scientists have 95% confidence that humans are the main cause of global warming over the past six decades. Their best estimate attributes 100% of global warming since 1950 to human activities. 90 to 100% of climate […]