Environment minister Rory Stewart told Tory MEPs to support ‘get-out clause’

The British government has been accused of trying to secretly undermine new EU air pollution targets in favour of big business, as leaked papers reveal that Tory MEPs were told to support a “get-out clause” in proposed laws.

Legislation designed to force member states to strictly limit emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and ammonia by 2030 is being scrutinised in Brussels.

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Source: Guardian Environment

International project will use IVF and stem-cell technology in an attempt to resurrect the species

Under the watchful eyes of a group of heavily armed guards, three rhinos graze on the grassland of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Most of the world knows that the rhinoceros is threatened, but the status of these animals is in another league. They are the planet’s last three northern white rhinos. None is capable of breeding. The northern white, which once roamed Africa in its thousands, is in effect extinct. The three – named Sudan, Najin and Fatu – are the last of their kind.

In a few months, however, a group of scientists from the US, Germany, Italy and Japan will attempt the seemingly impossible: to rescue the northern white rhino – smaller and hairier than its southern cousin – from the jaws of extinction. In October, they plan to remove the last eggs from the two female northern whites and by using advanced reproductive techniques, including stem cell technology and IVF, create embryos that could be carried to term by surrogate rhino mothers. The northern white could then be restored to its former glory. The procedure would be a world first.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Walkers and other members of the public will be asked to help create new generation of healthy plants

A £1.2m project to recruit thousands of walkers and other members of the public to help save Britain’s ash trees is to be launched on Monday.

The aim of the AshTag project is to use “citizen science” to pinpoint trees that are resistant to ash dieback disease. Cuttings from these resilient trees could then be used to create a new, healthy generation of ash trees that could replace those ravaged by chalara dieback, which reached the UK in 2012 and is devastating many woods. In Denmark, the disease has killed 90% of the ash trees. Scientists hope to minimise the damage by building up details of resistant trees.

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Source: Guardian Environment

High costs keep the less affluent out of drama schools and careers, but surely acting is about transcending background, not being confined by it?

As somebody from a working-class background, I have considerable sympathy for those who feel they are excluded by the private-school dominance that seems to permeate society even more thoroughly than in my youth (“The loneliness of the working-class actor”, New Review, last week). Unsurprisingly, students from working-class backgrounds are not applying to drama school when the cost is so high and the earnings from acting are so precarious. However, are they really excluded, by their background, from the parts that are available? Surely the clue is in the job title, or do we only expect actors to play themselves today? Perhaps some of them need to develop a broader portfolio.
Andrew Ruff
Bedford

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Source: Guardian Environment

15 years on, our love affair with food is deepening…so are our problems

In the 15 years since the launch of Observer Food Monthly, the British food scene has changed beyond recognition. Artisan coffee shops are now a feature of many high streets; gastropubs, not just white-linen dining establishments, are awarded Michelin stars. Supermarket shelves are stacked with foods catering for most intolerances. Review sites such as Trip Advisor have democratised the experience of eating out, while the proliferation of online delivery services means we can order takeaway via the touch of an app. It feels as if we have more choice than ever.

A lively debate about what’s on our plate, and how it got there, has also emerged. In the past decade, celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have thrown their weight behind exposing the ugly truth about how some of our food is produced.

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Source: Guardian Environment

If the work is properly monitored, there is no reason not to trust the results

Corporate funding of multiple vaccine research was “exposed” again recently. This time it was in the latest round of MMR-causes-autism allegations, which we exported to the US.

We’ve seen the same “exposés” in the UK, on fracking, on genetically modified plants and on sugar. Last year, some of the best-regarded nutrition researchers were taken out and given a public beating when it was revealed that the food industry funds research in their institutes.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Villages in Ryedale, North Yorkshire, hope a landmark ruling this week will save them from the disruption of the shale revolution

Kirby Misperton, like many other villages in North Yorkshire, has enjoyed its obscurity for centuries. At this time of year, it has all the characteristic features of rural Ryedale: the medieval church that stands among the last of the cherry tree blossom, the poignant war memorial cross that stands at the tiny roundabout, the cottages with their neat front gardens blazing with scarlet and yellow tulips. This is the kind of community I grew up in, only a few miles away.

But this village of a few hundred residents unexpectedly finds itself in the national spotlight – the subject of a decision that could be a critical juncture in how a new and deeply controversial energy technology is shoehorned into the intricate and richly layered English countryside.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Record numbers of cruise ships, airport capacity pushed to the limit and on the roads. But the Balearics find welcome cash also brings headaches

The beaches are not yet packed on a windy weekend in the Balearic islands and few have ventured into the brusque waves. But even though the summer season is just under way, the bars, restaurants and roads of Mallorca are thronged with people and traffic.

Related: Barcelona’s tourist hordes are target for radical new mayor Ada Colau

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Source: Guardian Environment

Two more women file claims against Rajendra Pachauri after 29-year-old colleague from Energy and Resources Institute speaks out

A court in Delhi has ruled that Rajendra Pachauri, the former chairman of a Nobel prize-winning UN panel on climate change, will stand trial on charges of stalking and sexual harassment of a former employee.

A 29-year-old former employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), based in the Indian capital, filed a police report against Pachauri last year. She said Pachauri, who led the organisation, had made inappropriate advances soon after she joined in 2013.

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Source: Guardian Environment