Tony Whittaker obituary
Co-founder of the People party, later to evolve into the Green party When the Coventry solicitor Tony Whittaker was handed a copy of Playboy magazine by his wife, Lesley, in a Warwickshire pub in the summer of 1972, he could not have envisaged that it would lead to the couple co-founding one the world’s first […]
'We simply want to be able to afford to keep going': UK farmers on their industry
Whether it is falling dairy prices, land costs or the pressures of paperwork, we asked British farmers which area of their industry they are most worried about ‘I find it hard to understand the lack of rationality in the industry’ Emma King lives on a farm in Dorset that has been in her husband’s family […]
China's anti-pollution tech is going premium, but it can't make dirty air go away
Air purifying technology may be a sticking plaster for China’s pollution but is it better than nothing for the country’s chronic problem? Behind a red wooden door, down a Beijing alley, lies what is allegedly the cleanest air spot in the smog-sodden city. Numerous air purifiers gently whir in the Breathing Space Courtyard, in the […]
Greenhouse in the sky: inside Europe's biggest urban farm
A disused office in The Hague has been revamped as a sprawling rooftop greenhouse, with a fish farm operating on the floor below. Are we entering a new age of urban agriculture? At the top of an empty 1950s office block that once belonged to the Dutch telecommunications powerhouse Philips, above an abandoned reception desk […]
Michigan official suggested gaming water tests to 'bump out' lead results
State environmental analyst in a 2008 email asked a technician collecting samples of a water system in Fenton to collect more to avert a ‘lead public notice’ A Michigan environmental official suggested a technician collecting samples for a suburban Detroit private water system “bump … out” a test result that found very high levels of […]
The story behind Prince’s low-profile generosity to green causes
An anonymous $50,000 check marked the start of the notoriously private star’s donations to climate change and clean energy causes, reports Grist In the outpouring of media coverage after Prince’s death at the age of 57 last week, fans around the globe began to learn more about the notoriously private star – including that he […]
Montserrat's last two mountain chicken frogs to be reunited to save species
Conservationists pin hopes of the species’ survival on breeding the Caribbean island’s last known male and female in the wild In what could be a fairytale ending, conservationists are hoping to reunite the last two remaining wild mountain chicken frogs living on Montserrat and help their species breed on the Caribbean island for the first […]
Why Coalition climate scare campaign is not credible and makes no sense
Malcolm Turnbull is attempting to discredit Labor’s new emissions plan. Here are six reasons the government’s campaign is wrong 1. The prime minister says that by promising to cut emissions by 45% by 2030, rather than 26% to 28% (as the government has pledged) Labor is “doubling the burden” on Australians. But modelling commissioned by […]
It's getting steamy in the hedgerow
Wenlock Edge Hawthorns push their little cheesy shuttlecocks, oaks are in their bronze Cuckoo pint, lords and ladies, Jack-in-the-pulpit – these names are medieval nudges and winks about genitalia and sex. They belong to wild arum, a trick flower that jumps out of the earth with a bawdy country humour that mocks the righteous and […]
Business council praises Labor's 'bridge' to emissions trading scheme
Surprise praise from business lobby group centres on ALP climate policy’s potential to become bipartisan, despite Coalition criticism Labor’s climate policy has won unexpected praise from the Business Council of Australia’s chief executive, Jennifer Westacott, who said the plan could provide a platform for bipartisanship and “build a bridge” for an emission trading scheme. Related: […]