As part of a global week of action campaigners from Divest London have gathered to ‘Raise the Heat' on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, writes Hal Rhoades - protesting its plan to invest in a ‘carbon bomb' coal project that endangers global climate and threatens to finish off the Great Barrier Reef.
… of the Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland, over 50% of the …
This week Finland cancelled its option for a second European Pressurised Reactor as the existing EPR project sinks into a abyss of cost over-runs, delays and litigation, writes Jim Green. It now looks like the EPR is a failed technology and its owner, French nuclear giant Areva, is fast running out of both money and orders as its 'hot prospects' evaporate.
… design is a "handicap" . Likewise, Cambridge University nuclear engineer Tony Roulstone … unlikely. Steve Thomas from Greenwich University says reactors built by Areva and …
The Government's reckless pursuit of fracking and nuclear power, combined with its irrational hatred of renewables, onshore wind in particular, is taking the UK down a dangerous energy cul-de-sac, write Peter Strachan & Alex Russell. A redical rethink is due, or we'll be stuck with soaring fuel bills for years to come.
… Department of Management at Robert Gordon University. Alex Russell is Head of Department … at Aberdeen Business School at Robert Gordon University. This article was originally …
An elite group of aid donors and agribusiness corporations met in London this week to plan the takeover of Africa's seeds, writes Ian Fitzpatrick, replacing traditional seed breeding and saving by small farmers with a corporate model of privatized, 'improved', patented, genetically uniform and hybrid seeds in a profit-driven market.
… Ian has an MSc in ethnobotany from the University of Kent, and a DPhil (PhD) in anthropology from the University of Oxford. Oliver Tickell edits The …
Somerset is experiencing its most significant flooding in decades. As the political right calls for ever more dredging, Karen Potter trawls Defra's archives ... and finds a shocking history of sound policy sacrificed to short term political expediency.
… Colin Thorne , fluvial geomorphologist at the University of Nottingham, responded that … Karen Potter is a Lecturer in Planning at University of Liverpool. She receives funding …
Opinionated and outspoken, often wildly at odds with the government’s line, the UK’s environment minister Michael Meacher is, by his own reckoning, a lone voice in the wilderness.
… research fellow in social gerontology, Essex University 1965-66 Lecturer in social administration: York University 1966-69 London School of Economics … professor to Department of Sociology, Surrey University 1980-86 Politcal career Joined the …
Magnox has applied to dissolve spent nuclear fuel canisters and release the liquid into the sea near Bradwell nuclear power station in Essex, writes Chris Busby. This will wash radioactivity onto mudflats in a populated area already suffering from excess cancers, however the publicly available documents ignore this key fact. We must make sure this dangerous application is refused.
… in 1998. He has held a number of honorary University positions, including Visiting … Professor in the Faculty of Health of the University of Ulster. Busby currently lives in …
Despite the best efforts of the GM industry and Government, no GM trials are to take place in the UK in 2014. Could this spell the beginning of the end for genetically modified crops in the country?
2014 - the UK's GM-free year! The Ecologist | 30th December 2013 News Gm Food GMOs UK Politics Despite the best efforts of the GM industry and Government, no GM trials are to take place in the UK in …
The US's Nuclear Regulatory Commission just cancelled its study into cancer near nuclear plants citing the 'excessive cost' of $8 million, writes Chris Busby. Of course that's rubbish - similar studies in the UK have been carried out for as little as £600 per site, and in any case $8 million is small change for the NRC. The real reason is to suppress the unavoidable conclusion: nuclear power kills.
… in 1998. He has held a number of honorary University positions, including Visiting … Professor in the Faculty of Health of the University of Ulster. Busby currently lives in …
Climate policy should be the big issue for voters heading for the polls in May's Euro elections, writes Olaf Corry - the EU's emissions are plenty high enough do matter, and the European Parliament is at the heart of the action.
… Open Democracy . Olaf Corry joined The Open University in 2012 after post-doctoral … Relations and Security Studies at Cambridge University. He worked for three years first as …
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?
… last week. With little fanfare, Durham University issued a press release to publicise …
As the UK's electricity supply margins drop to new lows, the government's punitive approach to renewables will only make matters worse, write Peter Strachan & Alex Russell. Likewise its threats to boycott Scotland's wind power is utterly irrational - we will need it to keep our lights on.
… Department of Management at Robert Gordon University. Alex Russell is Head of Department … at Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University. The authors do not work for, …
A polite knock on the door of a Mr John Shaw of Hastings got Emily Johns a visit from the police. How so? He's the CEO of a secretive 'non-profit company' that's using tens of millions of pounds of public funds to build white elephant business parks and destroy valuable nature sites. And avoiding accountability looks like a major point of the exercise.
… Moray Crampton, Vice Chancellor of Brighton University. As a "major contributor to the … an honorary Master of Laws degree from the university in 2014. A few days after knocking …
A recent scientific study found the same long-chain omega-3 oils that are engineered into a new GM Camelina oilseed variety make butterflies grow up with deformed wings, writes Claire Robinson. Attempts by the 'pro-science' non-scientist Mark Lynas to discredit the study are a mixture of ignorance, research failures, 'straw man' arguments and outright errors.
… professor of agronomy at Fort Valley State University, confirms that cabbage whites feed …
Cancer is just one of of the outcomes of the genetic damage inflicted by nuclear radiation, writes Chris Busby, and perhaps one of the least important. Of far greater long term significance is the broad-scale mutation of the human genome, and those of other species, and the resulting genomic instability that causes cascades of heritable mutations through the generations.
… year Prof. Inge Schmitz-Feuerhake, of the University of Bremen, Dr Sebastian Pflugbeil … father. He has made a disclosure order to the University of Dundee to release the veteran …
Greens are celebrating a decision by the main UK broadcasters to include them in the 2015 TV election debates alongside the SNP and Plaid Cymru - as their UK membership exceeds 58,000!
… hands to a £10 minimum wage by 2020 to zero university tuition fees - will now be heard …
The safety assessment for the Hinkley C reactor design has failed, reports Emma Bateman. Faced with 724 unresolved concerns about the EPR design, the UK regulator went ahead and issued the licence anyway.
… a Professor of Energy Studies from the University of Greenwich authored a report, ' …
With the 6th International Conference on Bovine TB under way today in Cardiff, Lesley Docksey reports on Defra's latest statistics. BTB in England is falling - and it's falling fastest where the strongest biosecurity measures are in place, confirming the experience of Wales and Scotland.
… in wildlife." At a debate held at Bristol University in May on the policy of badger …
Even the most conservative estimates of sea level rise caused by climate change will cause a redrawing of the physical map of the planet. Here Cleo Paskal, Associate Fellow at Chatham House, looks at the potential consequences.
… its EEZ retreat by the same amount? The UNEP, University of Dacca, World Bank and others …
A year ago six London cyclists were killed in a horrendous spate of road violence, writes Donnachadh McCarthy. A demonstration this Saturday will mark their deaths, and demand Government action to improve road safety and reduce traffic pollution - moves that could save over 210,000 lives over the next decade.
… alone and Professor Garthwaite, from University of London, calculates that up to …
English Nature's decision to licence England's badger cull has no scientific basis, write Iain McGill and 26 other distinguished vets in this Open Letter to EN's Chief Scientist. Science Advisory Committee and Board. The body must urgently re-examine the entire issue before issuing any more licences to kill badgers.
… BA(Hons) MRCVS. Department of Philosophy, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New … Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of Winchester Jo Lewis BSc, …
All 193 UN states will sign a declaration today to fight the spread of drug-resistant 'superbugs', writes Alastair Kenneil. The problem is often blamed on over­prescription of antibiotics by doctors. But that's to ignore the massive use of antibiotics on animals in factory farms, both to prevent infection and to assist weight gain - turning farms into superbug breeding centres.
… conducted by Dr Mark Holmes from Cambridge University, is the first study to examine …
As the Greens announce anti-austerity policies in their election manifesto, Bennet Francis & Rupert Read examine the austerity narrative - and find it doesn't add up. By insisting that deficit reduction is necessary for growth, the politicians of austerity undermine the very meaning of the 'prosperity' they promise us.
… of Politics, Philosophy and Languages at the University of East Anglia, and the Chair of … is an MPhil Research Student in Philosophy at University College London. What kind of …
A new report shows that the UK's farms can easily generate as much power as the proposed Hinkley C nuclear plant, writes Jonathan Porritt. Not only would it all be renewable, but if could all be in place by 2020. Here he offers some friendly - but strictly confidential - advice for Energy Secretary Ed Davey.
… Future, Farmers Weekly and Nottingham Trent University has analysed the potential for …