Blogposts tagged 'Ed Miliband'

More questions than answers from the government's coal policy

Posted by christian - 9 November 2009 at 6:11pm - 18 Comments

With Kingsnorth on hold, what's the future for coal in the UK?

National policy statements sound cool. They sound like they might actually sort stuff out. Instead of scrabbling around doing little bits of policy here and there, like some sort of policy tapas, a national policy statement means you're going for the policy hog roast - go on, have a big national slab of policy sir, there you go.

But no matter what you might have heard in the news, today's key announcement was about coal. If we're talking about climate change, we're talking about coal. Coal is responsible for over half the human-made carbon emissions in the atmosphere. If we, as a planet, carry on building new coal powered plants, we're all in a lot of trouble. That's why we spend so much time campaigning against new dirty coal plants - or ‘unabated' coal plants as they're known.

Article tagged as: climate change, coal, ed miliband, kingsnorth, nps

A big week for the Big If

Posted by leila - 15 September 2009 at 3:40pm - 0 Comments
Ed Miliband at the anti-coal vigil outside DECC © Joseph Cabon /Christian Aid

Since the close of the coal consultation last week, many Greenpeace supporters who've signed up to the Big If have been getting busy. Firstly, in Doncaster on Saturday, members of our Yorkshire network showed up to Ed Miliband's constituency surgery in Bentley, in Doncaster. They built a giant 'Big If' out of cardboard boxes right outside the door.

Article tagged as: big if, coal, DECC, doncaster, ed miliband, kingsnorth

Is our government helping the logging industry cut holes in the global climate negotiations? - Part 2

Posted by christian - 18 August 2009 at 11:08am - 0 Comments

Can we expect the logging industry to deliver 'sustainable' forest management? And who gets to decide what 'sustainable' means?

Over the past week in Bonn, thousands of people have been working on the draft version of a global climate deal, which could be agreed in Copenhagen in December. A big part of what's being discussed is how to stop deforestation globally - as you're probably aware, deforestation accounts for just under one fifth of human-caused carbon emissions into the atmosphere, and it's those carbon emissions which the REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) talks are trying to stop.

Not surprisingly, they're being heavily lobbied by all sorts of different interests - from countries rich in tropical rainforests, to countries which don't have much forest but want to be able to benefit from money earmarked for preventing deforestation, to environmental organisations, to the logging industry.

Article tagged as: ed miliband, forests, gordon brown, REDD, sustainable forestry management

Miliband's energy blueprint: more hot air or full steam ahead?

Posted by jamie - 15 July 2009 at 5:20pm - 6 Comments

While today is unlikely to go down in the annals of history as Green Wednesday, it's still a significant day for those of us concerned about climate change as climate and energy secretary Ed Miliband unveils his big energy strategy.

The strategy - the Low Carbon Transition Plan, no less - comes in the form of not one but a whole ream of papers (including an energy white paper) covering renewable energy, transport, industry and carbon budgets. Together, they form a blueprint explaining how the government hopes to achieve the emissions reductions it's legally obliged to deliver, thanks to the EU renewable energy targets and the UK's own Climate Change Act.

Was it a red letter day for green energy? Let's see.

Article tagged as: aviation, biofuels, climate change, climate change act, ed miliband, emissions, energy, renewable energy, transport

Live from Abe Lincoln's forehead... activists call on President Obama to show leadership

Posted by tracy - 8 July 2009 at 4:39pm - 0 Comments


Note - the live broadcast is no longer running.

We need to see real action from world leaders this year if we are going to save our climate. That's why over 100 Greenpeace activists from 15 countries occupied four coal-fired power stations across Italy today and they're demanding that the G8 Heads of State take decisive leadership on climate change. You can follow live updates from the Italy here.

And now our friends in the US have climbed Mount Rushmore and are challenging President Obama to be a leader on climate change, and they are broadcasting it live. The signal drops out occasionally, but when it works - wow. The park authorities have just reach the top of the monument.

The UK can set an example for the world by putting an end to new dirty coal-fired power plants. Tell Ed Miliband what you'll do if he consents a new dirty coal plant at Kingsnorth in Kent: The Big If

Article tagged as: climate change, direct action, ed miliband, g8, italy, mount rushmore, obama

Brown sets out his climate stall for Copenhagen

Posted by jamie - 26 June 2009 at 2:46pm - 0 Comments

It's been a long time since there were polar bears at London Zoo, but the famous attraction still houses many other species which are threatened by the effects of climate change. So I can't help but wonder whether this fact registered with Gordon Brown (himself an endangered species) as he stood up at the zoo to present his blueprint for a global climate action plan.

Article tagged as: climate change, copenhagen, development, ed miliband, gordon brown

Will Ed make Britain a global leader on climate change?

Posted by jossc - 17 June 2009 at 3:44pm - 6 Comments

Ed Miliband today announced the details of his new coal consultation. While recognising the need to reduce emissions from coal-fired power stations, as promised, it places equal emphasis on maintaining a "diverse, secure energy mix".

Article tagged as: CCS, climate change, co2 emissions, copenhagen, ed miliband, kingsnorth

Help save the climate: come to the Mili-band

Posted by jossc - 28 May 2009 at 1:27pm - 0 Comments

We've made some progress on the coal campaign lately, with Climate and Energy Minister Ed Miliband finally ruling out any new coal-fired power stations that don't capture a proportion of the carbon they emit. But that's not nearly enough to save the climate.

Article tagged as: CCS, climate change, coal, ed miliband, events, kingsnorth

If only it was as easy to move government as it is to move biscuits

Posted by tracy - 12 May 2009 at 4:20pm - 2 Comments

Coal campaigner Emma is next up in the blog relay, a whistle-stop tour of Greenpeace staff here in the UK. Click here to catch up on the other entries.

Emma Gibson When I applied for a job at Greenpeace and was then actually offered the job I couldn't believe it. In fact I asked them if they'd phoned the wrong person. A week before I was due to start I got a phone call asking if I could come in a bit earlier on my first day. At 4am in fact. Oh, and I'd be dressing up as a puffin and would probably get arrested. And I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about this phone call!

Article tagged as: blog relay, climate change, coal, ed miliband, kingsnorth, mcvities

At last a glimmer of leadership on climate

Posted by jossc - 23 April 2009 at 1:55pm - 6 Comments

Ed Miliband

It's certainly far from everything we've been asking for, but when Ed Miliband announced his new consultation on coal policy in the House of Commons this lunchtime it was clear that something had changed. For starters, E.ON isn’t going to get its way over Kingsnorth, at least not with its current plan.

Showing admirable signs of climate leadership in the face of resistance from Whitehall officials and his cabinet colleagues, the Energy and Climate Change secretary told MPs that no new coal-fired power stations would be built in Britain unless  equipped with at least some carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. In a key departure from previous policy, he said that from now on power companies planning to build new coal plants will be required to fit full CCS by 2025 at the latest, provided that the Environment Agency is convinced that the technology works. 

Article tagged as: CCS, climate change, coal, ed miliband
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