Unthreaded
£5 says George Monbiot will show up at the "Citizen's Climate Assembly"
tomo
"Carbon-neutral in 15 years?
The country with an ambitious plan"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/MtJYmYFONq/finland_carbon_neutral_in_15_years
"Finland has pledged to be carbon-neutral by 2035 - that’s twice as fast as the UK government target. But to achieve this, it will have to make big changes, particularly in the peat industry, which currently provides energy, heating and jobs.
Can the Finns turn an ambitious plan into reality?"
"What does Trump actually believe on climate change?"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51213003
"Call for north east of Scotland to be 'energy transition zone'"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-51222582
"What can school strikers learn from protest veterans?"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-51223256/what-can-school-strikers-learn-from-protest-veterans
"Do today's school strikers think protests lead to change and what can they learn from the past? Xiye Bastida, a school climate strike campaigner, meets Mary-Beth Tinker, a veteran Vietnam protester.
This video was made by BBC My World, a brand new programme for teenagers who want to know about the issues shaping our world."
Meanwhile, the Guardian runs with the same BBC story, derived from their same news source?
"‘Hypocrisy’: 90% of UK-Africa summit’s energy deals were in fossil fuels
Exclusive: Almost £2bn went to oil and gas despite a UK pledge to support cleaner energy in African countries"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/24/90-pe-cent-uk-africa-energy-deals-fossil-fuels
Quelle surprise:
"David Attenborough to appear at citizens' climate assembly
People from across Britain will join TV host to discuss ways to cut emissions to zero by 2050"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/24/david-attenborough-citizens-climate-assembly
"Air-filtering bus to launch across six regions in the UK
Nitrogen oxide emissions from Bluestar bus, trialled in Southampton, are less than a diesel car"
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2020/jan/24/air-filtering-bus-to-launch-across-six-regions-in-the-uk
"Australian bushfires will cause jump in CO2 in atmosphere, say scientists
Fires released vast amounts of carbon dioxide and reduced vegetation, pushing planet closer to point of no return"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/24/australian-bushfires-will-cause-jump-in-co2-in-atmosphere-say-scientists
Does this mean that "greens" have increased CO2 emissions yet again by virtue of reduced protective burns?
Mark Hodgson
M Courtney - my thoughts exactly. Sadly, I suspect the angle is that this "story" enabled the BBC to give a free advert to a "green" business of which they approve, and also it's just part of the propaganda effort to link everything in our lives to climate change. There doesn't have to be a story for the BBC to create a "news" item. It's now obviously reduced to the level of pure propaganda.
Mark Hodgson
Wrap want in on the lucrative market. All those charity CEOs won't pay for themselves you know.
TinyCO2
According to waste charity Wrap, there are £30bn worth of clothes hanging unused in UK wardrobes.Giving old clothes to charity shops is a tradition dating back over a century.
And in the UK for several centuries before that by the aristocracy and middle class to their servants.
It's not new. Where's the angle?
M Courtney
It's a very tired argument to say that if you're annoying Labour and the Tories, you're unbiased. It's like Swinson hoping to be PM because both Boris and Corbyn were unpopular.
The evidence of people using the BBC's offerings is not evidence of support. If I've paid for something I'm not so childish as to not use it. The BBC spends a lot of our money being a handy information service. On election night I flicked channels to watch the guests either celebrate or slide into depression. McDonnel, Bercow plus all of the Channel 4 team were especially tasty.
TinyCO2
Jan 23, 2020 at 6:26 PM stewgreen
Apologies, wrong deletion and link
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/22/bbc-director-general-rejects-claims-election-bias-says-people/
golf charlie
Oops sorry Mark I see you noted the JV between Greenpiece and Newsnight - Since I know UKEF and have dealt with them - I feel that there is very likely some deliberately dishonest attribution going on - the idea is that an exporter who cannot afford the risk of being bilked by a rotter in some foreign land has their invoicing guaranteed by HMG - it isn't as far as I'm aware a subsidy .... these activist creeps really are lowlife.
tomo
Mark Hodgson:
Not the brightest move:"Trump rolls back US water pollution controls"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51225604
I wouldn't be too sure. It would be nice if the reports gave some details of the proposed changes, but googling around just turned up other vague articles like the BBC one. This sentence in the story was particularly striking:
landowners and property developers will be able to pour pesticides, fertilizers and other pollutants directly into millions of miles of the nation's waterways for the first time in decades.
At a nitpick level, they've always been able to do this. Regulations don't stop pollution -- enforcement does.
I suspect what's really going on is that, with a narrowing of the regulations, there will be a clearer focus on the most important problems. The broader powers may have just allowed bureaucrats to indulge their "whim of the day", since you could probably find a technical breach anywhere.
Just my speculation. If the reporters did their jobs, rather than just join the pile-on to the plutocrat Trump, we might have a better idea. I'm pretty confident we won't be seeing evil men in black capes tipping drums of insecticide into rivers.
As for the nasty troll, I'm sure His Grace keeps a weather eye on the blog and isn't above doing a bit of hoovering when the need arises.
Robert Swan
Greta Thunberg is a very divisive character. She is loved and scorned in equal measure. Why?
Economically the debate has been won by the sceptic side. China, India and the rest of the developing world has decided that growth is more important. This was agreed by the world at COP 24 when they were given a pass for decades on AGW so as they could grow.
Politically the debate has been won by the sceptic side. No-one is fulfilling their commitments except the USA and that is a natural result of technology (by private companies) not political will.
Scientifically the debate is refused. Despite the reverses by the newsworthy AGW camp the scientists refuse to publicly debate their critics. So they are increasingly not listened to.
In media terms the debate has been won by the newsworthy side. Obviously, The End of the World is NOT Nigh is not news. But how can the story be kept going without anyone in power caring about it? Two ways:
A) Hype up every weather event as climate change even if it's against the expected and observed trend (see the NSW wildfires).
B) Use celebrities. Unfortunately jetting in from NY first class to join XR or flying your own private jet to go to the UN is so hypocritical it gets nowhere. Thus a pure, untainted celebrity is needed. This why Greta Thunberg gets her press. She makes news.
But cynics see through a manufactured celebrity. Which is why she is do divisive a character. Her fans adore her. But those who don’t adore her see her as just another internet influencer; the climate Kardashian.