The Guardian
What will Boris Johnson do for cyclists?
PM should use his majority to push for investments, but he may lack the political bravery
The election is over, Boris Johnson has an 80-strong majority to wield, and many are now wondering what the prime minister will do with all this power over the next five years. So here’s an idea: let’s look at what he plans for everyday cycling.
Cycling? Yes, cycling. In political terms it’s not exactly Brexit or the NHS, and if you were to list the average voter’s national concerns it would probably struggle make the top 100. But I’d argue that for Johnson it is a bellwether issue, one that will point to whether he plans to use his majority boldly or complacently.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson urged to take world lead on climate action
PM told UK has ‘fallen short’ on its commitments to tackle greenhouse gases
Boris Johnson has been urged to follow in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher by taking to the world stage to lead international action on the climate emergency – but to put the UK’s own emissions-cutting efforts back on track first.
The prime minister was told on Wednesday that the UK had so far “fallen short” on its commitments to tackle greenhouse gases, in a letter from the committee on climate change (CCC).
Continue reading...Zero-carbon ships on horizon under fuel levy plan
Climate groups say 10-year ICS plan not urgent enough to cut carbon from ‘dirty’ sector
Shipping companies would have to pay a small levy on every tonne of fuel they use under proposals aimed at developing zero-carbon vessels within 10 years, transforming the high-carbon global shipping business.
Ships running on hydrogen or ammonia as fuel are thought to be technically possible, but more research and development is needed to bring forward the development of prototypes.
Continue reading...Why cutting cattle can’t solve the climate crisis | Letters
It is too simplistic to say that cutting livestock numbers everywhere is the most efficient way of reducing emissions, as your article suggests (Governments urged to set deadlines for cutting livestock production, 12 December). The world’s livestock systems differ too significantly for them to be generalised, and doing so hinders the countries that are practising sustainable farming methods and which have an ambition to do even more.
Compared with the mass-scale intensive systems in the US or Brazil, our livestock systems are unrecognisable. British farmers do not clear rainforest to make way for beef production. Our meat does not come from the ashes of the Amazon. We value our carbon sinks.
Continue reading...Inquest to determine if London air pollution caused child's death
Ella Kissi-Debrah, nine, who lived near South Circular Road in south London, died in 2013
A fresh inquest into the death of a nine-year-old girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack will examine the role of the government as it looks at whether air pollution caused or contributed to her death.
Ella Kissi-Debrah died in February 2013 after three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital for breathing problems.
Continue reading...Clean water group denounces Tucker Carlson's 'racist' litter comments
- Fox News host blames immigrants for littering Potomac River
- Potomac Conservancy calls remarks ‘racist plain and simple’
Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host denounced as a white supremacist sympathiser by prominent liberals, is facing the ire of a new set of detractors: water conservationists.
Related: Steve Bannon: 'We’ve turned the Republicans into a working-class party'
Continue reading...Rainwater in parts of US contain high levels of PFAS chemical, says study
Levels high enough to potentially impact human health and trigger regulatory action, which only targets two of 4,700 variants
New data shows that rainwater in some parts of the US contains high enough levels of potentially toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to possibly affect human health and may, if found in drinking water, in some cases be high enough to trigger regulatory action.
PFAS chemicals appear in an array of everyday items, such as food packaging, clothing and carpeting. Chemicals in this family are the subject of the film Dark Water, which chronicles the real-life efforts of a lawyer seeking to hold a polluting factory to account in West Virginia.
Continue reading...Rio Tinto’s plan to clean up Ranger uranium mine in doubt after hedge fund objects
Company’s plans for remediating mine surrounded by Kakadu national park amid fears of uranium leakage are in disarray after Singapore-based fund’s complaint
Mining giant Rio Tinto’s plans to clean up the controversial Ranger uranium mine have been thrown into doubt after objections from a Singapore-based hedge fund.
The mine is owned by ASX-listed Energy Resources Australia (ERA), which in turn is 68% owned by Rio Tinto.
Continue reading...Ten amazing new plant and fungi discoveries in 2019 – in pictures
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has chosen its top 10 species discovered in 2019, celebrating the diversity of plants and fungi. From a bamboo-dwelling medicinal fungi to a snowdrop spotted on Facebook, this year’s picks represent the breadth of discoveries made by Kew and its collaborators around the world every year
Continue reading...Superglue plant and ‘miracle berry’ among 2019’s new finds
Other species identified by Kew experts include a snowdrop and cancer-fighting fungus
A snowdrop discovered on Facebook, a miracle berry that tricks your tastebuds and a rubbery shrub that oozes its own superglue are among new plant species that were discovered in 2019.
Others identified by experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, include a ylang-ylang tree of which just seven individuals are known to exist, a new candy-striped violet and a fungus with pink fruiting bodies that can fight cancer and viruses.
Continue reading...Global engineering firm GHD concludes work on Adani's Carmichael coal project
Exclusive: GHD announcement it has ‘no ongoing contracts’ on project comes as Siemens considers backing out
The global engineering and services firm GHD has told staff it has concluded its work on Adani’s Carmichael coal project after a 10-year association with the company.
The announcement follows an intense campaign by activists, a movement of engineers to shift their industry away from fossil fuels, and significant internal pressure on management by GHD staff.
Continue reading...World demand for coal falls despite growth in Asia
Renewables help fossil fuel’s decline in Europe and US but capacity rises in China
Global demand for coal has fallen this year for the first time in two years as Europe and the US turn their backs on coal-fired power plants in favour of cheap gas and renewable energy.
A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that the world’s appetite for coal declined in 2019 after a two-year resurgence following the steepest ever drop in the use of coal-fired power plants.
Continue reading...Number of brumbies in alpine parks more than doubles in five years
Conservationists condemn New South Wales government as feral horse numbers increase by 16,000 since 2014
The feral horse population in Australia’s alpine national parks has more than doubled in the past five years, with conservationists blaming what they have called a disgraceful lack of management by the New South Wales government.
The updated population figures come from an aerial survey of the alpine national parks and surrounding state forests in NSW and Victoria conducted in April and May of this year. It mimicked a survey of the same area in 2014.
Continue reading...Haggling begins as EU prepares to set 2020 fishing quotas
Tonnage numbers already creeping up on day one of talks, say campaigners
Haggling over EU fishing quotas for next year has begun in Brussels, and fisheries ministers from member states look likely to ignore scientific advice and argue for higher quotas for key stocks.
Fish populations have shown signs of recovery in some areas but key stocks including cod, seabass, hake and herring are still overfished, scientists say. The EU pledged to end overfishing by 2020 as part of changes to the common fisheries policy agreed in 2013.
Continue reading...Two giant fatbergs removed from sewers in central London
Water company issues Christmas plea for customers to stop pouring fat down drains
Two huge fatbergs together weighing almost 100 tonnes and threatening to cause floods in homes and businesses over Christmas have been cleared from sewers in central London.
Thames Water said a fatberg weighing 63 tonnes – several tonnes of which was concrete – was cleared from a Pall Mall sewer after being broken up by engineers with power tools and by hand.
Continue reading...People v mosquitos: what to do about our biggest killer
These tiny pests adapt so successfully to changing conditions that they have become humankind’s deadliest predator. We might soon be able to eradicate them – but should we? By Timothy Winegard
Continue reading...Mekong basin's vanishing fish signal tough times ahead in Cambodia
River waters fall to a record low as dams continue to be built, putting hundreds of species at risk
Tbong sits in the shade of a makeshift stilt hut over the edge of Tonlé Sap lake, surrounded by curious children.
Continue reading...Converting coal plants to biomass could fuel climate crisis, scientists warn
Experts horrified at large-scale forest removal to meet wood pellet demand
Plans to shift Europe’s coal plants, including the giant Drax complex in North Yorkshire, to burn wood pellets instead could accelerate rather than combat climate crisis and lay waste to forests equal to half the size of Germany’s Black Forest per year, according to campaigners.
Climate thinktank Sandbag said the heavily subsidised plans to cut carbon emissions will result in a “staggering” amount of tree cutting, potentially destroying forests faster than they can regrow.
Continue reading...Bad taste in the moth: study reveals insect's chemical defence
Unsavoury flavour may explain why certain species do not flee from predators, scientist says
It might seem like they are being lazy but some moths do not bother to flee from predators because they make themselves taste disgusting.
That is the case for a certain species of tiger moth, which researchers have found displays a nonchalant approach when faced with potential predators, on account of its disgusting flavour.
Continue reading...UN climate talks: Australia accused of 'cheating' and thwarting global deal
Morrison government criticised for planning to use accounting loophole to meet emissions target
Disagreement over Australia’s plan to use an accounting loophole to meet its climate target will spill into 2020 after a United Nations conference in Madrid failed to reach consensus on rules to implement the global deal.
As talks dragged past the scheduled Friday close into Sunday afternoon, Australia was accused of “cheating” and named by other countries and conference observers as one of a handful of nations that thwarted a deal on the rulebook for the Paris climate agreement.
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