Also by christian

What gives us more energy security? Deploying troops to secure gas pipelines, or building a renewable economy?

Since before their conference in October the Conservative party have been raising fears of energy blackouts in Britain. Greg Clark, Shadow energy minister, even claimed in his party conference speech that 'there must be immediate action to keep the lights on' - a speech which, for dramatic effect, began in a darkened room. The same language was trotted out at a debate about gas security in Westminster we helped organise, when Charles Hendry, Conservative Shadow Minister for Energy, raised the spectre of energy blackouts. He claimed that during the recent cold spell Britain had been ‘down to three days of gas storage' and had ‘reached the situation where we were at risk.'

What's going on here? Well, the thinly veiled subtext behind the Tory line goes like this: Britain is at the mercy of foreign powers - in particular the Russians - who supply us with our gas. It's a pretty strong challenge. But is it right?

Food, Inc. opens on 12th February and features factory farming, making it the ideal Valentine's day date film.

25% of us are obese. GM crops have slipped into our grocery stores and kitchen pantries without us knowing. Our food production systems stress animals, rely on ever-increasing quantities of pesticides, and leave one sixth of the world population without secure access to food. That's the contention of Food Inc, a forthcoming film from the same distributors that brought us ‘End of the Line'. It takes a look under the surface of the US food production industry to examine how we get our food in a modern, mechanized society.

While we don't campaign on food issues, it looks like it'll be pretty interesting - check out more details here: www.foodincmovie.co.uk The film opens on the 12th February, and as with other small but worthy films, (like Age of Stupid, for example) it's the first week that makes the difference in terms of getting rebooked - so maybe go along and check it out.

Is economic growth at the root of the environmental challenges we're struggling to get to grips with? That's a central tenet of the diagnosis for the 100 Months campaign from our hipster friends at the New Economics Foundation.

But how to illustrate this argument? Enter: The Impossible Hamster, twitchy growth-based anti-hero. nef have also produced a report, Growth Isn't Possible, and so both boxes of the modern campaigning strategy are very much ticked: solid research backed up by meme-hugging hamster video.

So, what do you reckon? Is growth the key problem? And does the hamster take your fancy as the unlikely hero of the fightback?

Today's the day that some of our colleagues head off to the ferryport, bound for Copenhagen. And when you're confronting challenges on this scale, it's good to remind yourself what's come before. So here's a little morning inspiration for you all on 'Copenhagen eve'.