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The Observer view on SUVs: they are too dangerous and too big, their drivers should be made to pay

The Guardian - 3 hours 5 min ago

If a car generates more potholes, takes up more space and poses more risk, it is only fair that its owner pays more

Britain is facing an unusual crisis: carspreading. Our road vehicles are getting bigger as people buy more and more SUVs of increasing dimensions and weight. At the same time, our streets and parking places remain the same size.

The consequences of this uncontrolled vehicular expansion have become profound. Potholes are being created in greater numbers as our roads are pounded by heavier vehicles; multiple parking spaces are being taken over by single, giant cars; and road accidents are now producing more severe injuries to drivers and passengers of other vehicles. This last issue is of particular concern.

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Categories: Around The Web

Researchers release open-access global map of nature-based carbon offset projects

Carbon Pulse - 8 hours 36 min ago
A team of researchers has released a global open-access database containing the geospatial boundaries of 575 forest-based carbon offset projects across 55 countries, aiming to boost transparency in the voluntary carbon market.
Categories: Around The Web

King Charles will have to tone down support for net zero after Badenoch says 2050 is ‘impossible’

The Guardian - 15 hours 35 min ago

Constitutional expert says Tory leader’s break from political consensus over target for greenhouse gasses will require monarch to choose his words carefully

King Charles will have to temper his public support for net zero after Kemi Badenoch broke the political consensus over the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Senior royal sources have conceded that the 76-year-old monarch, who has spent more than half a century highlighting environmental challenges, will have to choose his words more carefully now that the Conservatives under Badenoch have said it will be impossible for the UK to hit net zero by 2050.

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Trump officials quietly move to reverse bans on toxic ‘forever chemicals’

The Guardian - Sat, 2025-04-05 22:00

EPA bids to change chemical risk evaluations, which could expose public to higher levels of PFAS and other pollutants

The Trump administration is quietly carrying out a plan that aims to kill hundreds of bans on highly toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” and other dangerous compounds in consumer goods.

The bans, largely at the state level, touch most facets of daily life, prohibiting everything from bisphenol in children’s products to mercury in personal care products to PFAS in food packaging and clothing.

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Categories: Around The Web

‘An exciting moment’: England’s urban and rural trees mapped for first time

The Guardian - Sat, 2025-04-05 17:36

‘Groundbreaking’ tool aims to help tree-planting efforts and identify areas to create nature-rich habitats

England’s non-woodland trees have been mapped for the first time, using cutting-edge methods of laser detection and satellite imagery.

Tree scientists at the UK’s Forest Research agency have built a comprehensive picture of trees in urban and rural areas in a “groundbreaking” map that goes live on Saturday.

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Farmers in England fear for nature after sustainable farming funding frozen

The Guardian - Sat, 2025-04-05 17:00

Government also considering blocking more profitable farmers from a revised future scheme

Farmers fear they will no longer be able to afford to restore nature in England and reduce their carbon footprint after government funding for doing this was frozen.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, recently announced that the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), which pays farmers for making space for nature on their land, would be paused and overhauled before June’s spending review. The scope of the scheme – and its budget – are being reassessed.

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My message from prison: Just Stop Oil may be ending civil disruption, but the struggle must go on | Indigo Rumbelow

The Guardian - Sat, 2025-04-05 17:00

We forced the government to take some action, but still it closes it eyes to the impending climate collapse. A new method of confrontation is needed

  • Indigo Rumbelow is co-founder of Just Stop Oil. She is currently on remand in HMP Styal

After three years, Just Stop Oil is ending its campaign of non-violent civil disruption: we are hanging up the high-vis. But this does not mean the resistance is over. Sitting here in a prison cell in HMP Styal, I am still demanding an end to oil and gas. Every prison key that rattles, every door that is bolted shut, every letter that is read by the prison staff – it all reminds me that 15 Just Stop Oil supporters are currently locked up for refusing to obey governments whose climate inaction is frankly murderous.

There has been some progress. The Labour government was elected last year on a manifesto including the pledge that they will “not issue new licences to explore new [oil and gas] fields”. This is a victory for civil resistance and the climate movement. To everyone who donned an orange high-vis, who leafleted on the streets, who got arrested for their actions, ran a social media page, gave a talk in a community centre, or answered a phone call from someone in custody, I say: you are part of this change.

Indigo Rumbelow is co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain. She is currently on remand in HMP Styal having been found guilty of conspiracy to intentionally cause a public nuisance. She is due to be sentenced on 23 May at Minshull Street crown court in Manchester

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Categories: Around The Web

US ethanol exports drop 30% in February -industry group

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 10:15
US ethanol exports declined “sharply” in February amid key market changes, an industry group wrote on Thursday.
Categories: Around The Web

CFTC: Traders pare down open interest in RGGI, V25 CCAs as regulatory uncertainty persists

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 09:45
Market participants cut down open interest (OI) in V25 California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) and RGGI allowances (RGAs) with lack of progress on the regulatory front, while building V26 CCA OI to new highs, data published Friday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed.
Categories: Around The Web

New aviation carbon levy proposals “deeply concerning”, risk global climate policy fragmentation -ICAO

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 09:08
The UN’s civil aviation agency has raised concerns over renewed international proposals to impose levies on aviation emissions, warning they could jeopardise more than three decades of progress towards a unified global approach to climate action in the sector.
Categories: Around The Web

Canada’s GHG reduction strategy needs a rethink -report

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 07:50
A new report by a Canadian policy think tank is pressing Canada’s next government to rethink the country’s GHG reduction strategy, amid uncertainty after the consumer carbon tax was cut.
Categories: Around The Web

Florida lawmakers advance bill banning weather modification and geoengineering

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 07:18
The Florida Senate approved legislation on Thursday banning geoengineering and weather modification activities within the state.
Categories: Around The Web

LCFS prices rip higher as ARB releases third 15-day notice in administrative approval effort

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 07:01
California regulator ARB published a third 15-day package on Friday reflecting updates to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) amendments that the state’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) had requested last month, which sent futures prices soaring 13.5% on the day.
Categories: Around The Web

Washington draws down total allowances on offer at Q2 auction, but raises number of available V25s

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 06:56
Washington's Department of Ecology (ECY) will offer a lower overall number of allowances at the second quarterly auction of 2025, but a higher number of V25s, according to a notice published Friday.
Categories: Around The Web

Cover crops can improve farmland carbon sequestration by reducing erosion -study

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 06:24
Introducing cover crops on farms between growing seasons can improve agricultural carbon stock by reducing soil erosion, according to a new study.
Categories: Around The Web

WCI compliance instrument surplus bloats 17% in Q1, general account exits higher

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2025-04-05 02:46
The compliance instrument surplus for the California-Quebec joint cap-and-trade programme at the end of Q1 jumped 16.7% over the prior quarter at the end of 2024, with 22 entities closing accounts as allowance prices have declined in the absence of regulatory clarity, state data published Thursday showed.
Categories: Around The Web

Mining firm withdraws plan for UK’s first deep coalmine in 30 years

The Guardian - Sat, 2025-04-05 02:12

Move ends bid for site near Whitehaven, Cumbria after planning permission was quashed by high court

The Whitehaven coalmine’s planning application has been withdrawn, bringing an end to a process that could have created the UK’s first deep coalmine in 30 years in Cumbria.

Planning permission for the mine was quashed in the high court last year which meant the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had to reassess the planning application. However, the company has now written to the government withdrawing its planning application.

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Categories: Around The Web

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