Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

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Thames Water absent from industry’s £180m anti-pollution drive

Mon 11 Mar 2024 06.01 GMT

Thames Water has risked a fresh backlash over its commitment to tackling sewage dumping after it declined to commit funds to a £180m industry-wide initiative to fast-track efforts to reduce pollution in England’s waterways.

The government said on Monday that the sum would be spent by six companies over the next 12 months to prevent more than 8,000 sewage spills, as water companies attempt to address their woeful record on tackling spills.

However, Britain’s biggest water company, which has a £14bn debt mountain, has not taken part in the drive and it is understood that government officials are disappointed in its refusal to do so.

The Guardian understands that Thames Water, which plans £18.7bn of investment between 2025 and 2030, has said it is unable to accelerate its investment despite the government request.

Thames Water’s finances are already under close scrutiny after it emerged that its parent company had been warned by its auditors that it could run out of money by April if shareholders do not inject more cash. It needs to repay a £190m loan due next month.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ion-sewage

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UK government overturns plans to phase out badger cull

Thu 14 Mar 2024 14.36 GMT

The government has U-turned on its plans to phase out the badger cull, with proposals to exterminate the vast majority of some local populations across much of south-west and central England.

Ministers plan to introduce controversial targeted culling, also known as “epidemiological culling” or “epi-culling”, whereby populations of badgers can be reduced to almost zero in some areas where cattle are deemed to be at high risk of contracting bovine TB (bTB).

Tom Langton, an ecological consultant and badger expert, said: “Sunak now wants all the badgers dead.” He said the consultation launched by the government on Thursday included “chilling plans to kill 100% of badgers in bovine TB affected areas, an increase on the limit previously imposed since culling started in 2013”.

The cull, which has failed to get support of eminent scientists over more than a decade and has caused some badger populations to go locally extinct, was initially going to be phased out under plans announced by the then environment secretary, George Eustice, in 2021. After campaigning from farming unions, the government has announced it will continue to issue licences to shoot badgers.

Langton criticised the proposed introduction of epi-culling, saying it “is based on a single ‘model’ trial in Cumbria where over 1,100 badgers were shot dead between 2018 and 2022, but where a published report states no demonstrable benefit was achieved in terms of reduced TB breakdowns in cattle herds. It is also based on incompetent misunderstandings by government scientists of their own findings and the misbriefing of their minister.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... adger-cull

You wonder why the UK has a wildlife ecological problem?

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Here's a failed energy prediction from 18 months ago.

Of course, it’s not the rich countries of North America and northern Europe that will suffer the most through the energy crisis, whether this year or next. This energy crisis is global. Already poorer countries are facing blackouts, protests, and worse because European and Asian demand has driven fuel prices higher than developing countries can afford. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ecuador, and Haiti are just a few of the cash strapped countries rocked by energy inflation, fuels shortages, and the violent protests they triggered. Continued food insecurity due to lack of fertilizer and fuels will worsen, too, and unrest with them. And as scarce energy resources pit countries against each other, it is the those that were already behind that will lose on the market. These trends will accelerate when the real energy crisis hits in 2023 and 2024.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/think-energy ... 36670.html

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Toxic asbestos is now fully banned, a move that EPA calls 'historic'

Source: Washington Post

March 18, 2024 at 11:31 a.m. EDT

The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday finalized a ban on chrysotile asbestos, part of a family of toxic minerals linked to lung cancer and other illnesses that the agency estimates is responsible for about 40,000 U.S. deaths each year.

The federal ban comes more than 30 years after EPA first tried to rid the nation of asbestos, but was blocked by a federal judge. While the use of asbestos in manufacturing and construction has declined since, it remains a significant health threat.

"Folks, it's been a long road. But with today's ban, EPA is finally slamming the door on a chemical so dangerous that it has been banned in more than 50 countries," said EPA administrator Michael Regan.

The agency's ban targets chrysotile asbestos, also known as "white asbestos," the only one of the six forms of the mineral still being used in the U.S. Resistant to heat and fire, the mineral is used by companies that make vehicle braking systems and sheet gaskets. Chemical manufacturers have also defended its continued use in making chlorine, which utilities use to purify drinking water, as well as in pharmaceuticals and pesticides.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate- ... s-ban-epa/

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https://phys.org/news/2024-03-higher-te ... links.html

Higher temperatures mean higher food and other prices. A new study links climate shocks to inflation

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