The ostrich approach to government
Australia, the US and the UK — three English-speaking nations united in being led by chaotic and dysfunctional right-wing administrations that remain committed to fossil-fuel energy generation in the face of all the environmental and economic evidence.
Australia’s Malcolm Turnbull, who once said he didn’t want to lead a party that was not committed to climate change — but did so anyway — couldn’t persuade his own party to set even the most modest target for emissions reductions and ended up being forced out of office.
The US’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a new policy to replace the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. Its proposed Affordable Clean Energy Rule is aimed solely at extending the life of coal-fired plants.
The EPA admits that the plan will push pollutants into the atmosphere that would lead to 470-1,400 premature deaths a year by 2030.
It’s hard to see how the words "environmental" and "protection" fit into this plan.
The UK government may contain fewer out-and-out climate change deniers than the Australian and US federal administrations, but its commitment to shale-gas fracking remains undiminished.
The UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s own opinion poll showed that 32% of the public opposed fracking, against 18% that supported it, with the remaining 50% falling into the don’t-know category.
Now, on the eve of the first large-scale exploration of shale gas in the country, the department has simply removed the fracking question from its public attitude tracker.
That isn’t strategy. It’s just putting your fingers in your ears and saying: "La, la, la, I can’t hear you."
Marking a million-household milestone
To mark the impending full commissioning of Belgium’s 309MW Rentel offshore project, the owner consortium arranged for 15,000 paper windmills to be placed on the beach at Ostend on 17 August.
They were arranged to form the number 1,000,000 in recognition of the number of families’ annual electricity usage that can be supplied by Belgium’s offshore wind sector.
Visitors to the beach were invited to pick a windmill, each of which had a unique code. Those who picked a winning code win a free boat trip to the wind farm on 15-16 September.
UK policymakers figures and facts
8% of UK MPs are aware that onshore wind is the cheapest way to add electricity-generating capacity in the country. Of the 100 MPs sampled (out of 650 in total), 12% thought it was new nuclear.
52% of MPs believe that the level of strong opposition to onshore wind stands at above 20%. In fact, only 2% of the UK population strongly opposes the technology.
1% of UK MPs are aware that energy bills have fallen since the introduction of the Climate Change Act in 2008 (by an average of more than £100 a year). More than 60% thought they had risen.
Source: Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit
Quote of the month
"This is a declaration of war against America and all humanity — it will not stand. Truth and common sense will triumph over [Donald] Trump’s insanity"
Jerry Brown, governor of California, responding the EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy Rule
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