The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has just begun to take oral evidence from a very select group of witnesses, writes Paul Mobbs in this open letter. Sadly its choices betray a systematic bias to industry and establishment figures - while community groups are entirely excluded.
… which the Royal Society and other subsequent reviews, due to prematurity or through taking … carried out such a study. In my view, what reviews of Government policy have taken place …
Medact, the organization of health professionals for a safer, fairer and better world, has called for a five year moratorium on fracking due to its serious hazards to public health, writes Paul Mobbs. Their new report is a powerful challenge to government policy that cannot be ignored.
… review considers a number of existing reviews of the evidence of 'fracking' on … actually reviewed the evidence The report reviews a number of existing studies from … and public health than the Government's reviews have been willing (or politically …
Little publicised government plans to 'reform' court costs are intended to foreclose access to environmental justice for all but the wealthiest individuals and communities, writes Paul Mobbs. Meanwhile cuts to agencies and regulators will make it ever harder for them to do their jobs - making public participation in environmental protection all the more important.
… "Consultations, impact assessments, audits, reviews, stakeholder management, securing … this. Here's how: "Cutting back on judicial reviews. "Reducing government consultations. …
Public Health England is guilty of gross scientific misconduct, writes Paul Mobbs, for its apparently deliberate whitewashing of the public health impacts of fracking. But it's all part of a pattern of maladministration that reaches to the heart of government.
Shale gas and public health - the whitewash exposed Paul Mobbs | 6th May 2014 News Fracking Health UK Law Fossil Fuels Pollution Radiation gasmasks-cut.jpg Public Health England is guilty of gross …
A wholesale corruption of science underlies the UK Government's insistence that gas from fracking offers a 'low carbon', low cost route to energy abundance, writes Paul Mobbs. On the contrary: it's expensive, over-hyped - and just as bad for climate change as coal.
Fracking 'as bad for climate as coal' - UK's dodgy dossier exposed Paul Mobbs | 30th May 2014 News Energy Fossil Fuels Fracking UK Climate Change Science fracking-bakken-ndakota-cut.jpg A wholesale …
A consistent pattern is emerging in the UK government's plans and policies, writes Paul Mobbs: the stripping away of human rights and freedoms; the detachment of public institutions from democratic accountability; an increase of the powers of the state; and the empowerment of corporations at the expense of people. We must act to preserve our liberties, while we still can.
… held back due to legal processes and judicial reviews and appeals and actually I think what …
Just as long term research into the health impacts of the 'electrosmog' created by wifi and mobile phones is yielding its first results, it's at risk of sudden termination from President Trump's budget cuts, writes Paul Mobbs. But the cuts have little to do with saving money - and a lot to do with protecting corporate profit and economic growth from harsh truths, including evidence that electrosmog causes cancer in laboratory rats, and maybe humans too.
… 1990s, but the result of initial scientific reviews was essentially, ' we don't know '. …
As Michael Gove gives his first speech as Justice Secretary, promising to update our 'creaking and outdated' courts, Paul Mobbs writes that 'reforms' to date have only deepened the injustice that afflicts poor defendants: penalising the innocent, burdening those who plead 'not guilty' with heavy charges regardless of ability to pay, cutting legal aid, and halving the number of duty solicitors.
A 'poll tax' for English justice - subjecting the poor to 'trial by ordeal' Paul Mobbs | 23rd June 2015 News Law UK Politics Human Rights. justice-old-bailey-cut.jpg As Michael Gove gives his first …
Why does the fracking lobby refuse to engage in open, public debate? Because, writes Paul Mobbs, it has already got its way, with the uncritical support of all the 'mainstream' media and political parties. You and I simply do not matter. So what are we going to do about that?
Fracking - you are not important Paul Mobbs | 24th June 2014 Comment Fracking Politics Corporations Science Health Fossil Fuels barton-moss-steven-speed-cut.jpg Why does the fracking lobby refuse to …
A new scientific paper presents the radiation produced by fracking as 'natural' and harmless. But it's based on sketchy data, hyperbolic statistics and questionable assumptions, writes Paul Mobbs. Is it an attempt to stifle an essential public debate?
An abuse of science - concealing fracking's radioactive footprint Paul Mobbs | 8th July 2014 News Fracking Radiation Fossil Fuels Science Regulation UK ikaria-spring-cut.jpg Some springs on Ikaria, …
In the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 we have found oil slicks and debris everywhere - none of it connected to the missing plane, writes Paul Mobbs. The seas are littered with human trash, and it's killing the oceanic ecosystem.
What MH370 told us - the oceans are awash with trash Paul Mobbs | 5th April 2014 Comment Waste Oceans Transport ocean-rubbish-2.png In the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 we have found oil …
The UK government claim that fracking is a 'clean' energy source rests on the conclusions of a single scientific paper, writes Paul Mobbs. And now that paper has been conclusively invalidated: it uses misleading figures that understate the methane emissions from fracking, and subsequent findings have left it totally discredited. Yet the paper is still being quoted to justify fracking, and the fool the public on its climate change impacts.
Whitehall's fracking science failure: shale gas really is worse for climate than coal Paul Mobbs | 24th May 2017 News Fracking Climate Change Science Fossil Fuels USA UK ch4-cut.jpg The UK government …
Fracking is just another step on the fossil fuel treadmill, according to 'Snake Oil' by Richard Heinberg. High costs, diminishing returns and growing pollution will ultimately nail its future. Paul Mobbs urges readers - give a copy to your MP before it's too late!
… our future Paul Mobbs | 20th March 2014 Reviews Fossil Fuels UK USA Fracking …
Economics is much more than the study of money, writes Paul Mobbs. It is a belief system, and in its 'mainstream' incarnation, one that serves a very useful purpose - for those that reap the benefits. But as Brian Davey shows in his insightful new book, it's letting the rest of us down: failing to deliver human wellbeing, while driving ecological calamity.
… Paul Mobbs | 6th November 2015 Reviews Economics Books Politics …
A new financial crisis is threatening to dwarf the 'subprime' mortgage debacle, writes Paul Mobbs. Cheap money from central banks has fuelled some $1.3 trillion of risky investments in high-cost 'unconventional' oil and gas. Now, with oil sinking below $60, all that paper is turning to junk - and that's putting the entire economic system at risk.
With sub-$60 oil, fracking and tar sands losses threaten the whole financial system Paul Mobbs | 17th December 2014 News Finance Oil Gas Fossil Fuels Economics fracking-burns-cut.jpg A new financial …
Politicians are forever citing 'terror' as a reason to expand the security state and restrict civil liberties, writes Paul Mobbs. But when it comes to the real threats that face the world - ecological breakdown, climate disruption, resource crises, and an unjust and rapacious world order ... well, that's all 'green crap'. Isn't it?
Britain's real 'terror threat': eco-sceptic politicians Paul Mobbs | 3rd September 2014 Comment War Oil Water Climate Change Society Politics Iraq Syria drought-santafe-arg-cut.jpg Politicians are …
Political support for fracking is not just about energy, writes Paul Mobbs. It reflects the greater ecological and resource crisis at the root of our current economic woes - and only postpones the essential shift to a new kind of economy.
Fracking is the death spasm of a defunct economic order Paul Mobbs | 5th March 2014 News Fossil Fuels Economics Green Economy Fracking UK Club Of Rome banksy-poundland-bunting.png Political support …
The 'death of peak oil' has been much exaggerated, writes Paul Mobbs. Take out high-cost 'unconventional' oil and production peaked ten years ago, and even North America's fracking and tar sands boom has failed to open up new resources both big enough to make good the shortfall, and cheap enough to reward investors. We really do need to be thinking 'beyond petroleum'.
'Beyond petroleum' - fracking's collapse heralds the arrival of peak oil Paul Mobbs | 5th May 2015 News Energy Oil Economics syncrude-cut.jpg The 'death of peak oil' has been much exaggerated, writes …
The UK's insistence on opening up the UK to fracking is symptomatic of a deeper malaise, writes Paul Mobbs. Of course we need a change of government, but more than that, we need a deeper, enduring change of the nation's governance if we are ever to effect the transition to sustainable policies on energy and environment. It's time for the UK to become truly democratic.
Fracking plans are driving an even more damaging ideological agenda Paul Mobbs | 21st December 2015 News UK Politics Energy Fracking Regulation Farming Natural World not-for-shale-cut.jpg The UK's …
As Cameron 'cuts the green crap' Paul Mobbs remembers how the decisions of a Conservative government 20 years ago to go easy on the owners of contaminated land and old waste dumps have led to present day blight, ill-health and death. Now brow-beaten regulators and politicians in hock to party funders are doing it all over again.
Death by landfill - cutting 'green tape' costs lives Paul Mobbs | 22nd December 2014 News Waste Toxics Politics Regulation UK chemical-site-w-yorks-cut.jpg As Cameron 'cuts the green crap' Paul …
After over a century of coal ash and colliery waste dumping, the Tyne and Wear coastline is no stranger to industrial pollution. But soon a horrific new technology - underground coal gasification (UCG) - will endanger human health and the environment, backed by unflinching Government support and generous lashings of taxpayers' money.
'Underground coal gasification' hell-fires threaten Tyneside and the North Sea Paul Mobbs | 3rd April 2015 News Oceans Energy Gas Fracking Fossil Fuels UK Finance Mining seaham-pier-cut.jpg After …