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Official: burning fossil fuels has changed rainfall patterns in the UK
Posted by bex on 24 July 2007.
The Red Cross is stretched to their limits, in Tewkesbury. Thousands of people previously living in Gloucestershire’s rolling hills suddenly find themselves homeless. A third of a million people have no drinking water.
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The politics - UK
Since coming into office in 1997, New Labour has overseen a rise in overall carbon emissions. The use of coal in power stations, the most carbon intense of all fossil fuels, has risen. Centralised power stations, which waste two thirds of the energy they produce, still account for the vast majority of our energy production. The government is now set to miss its own emissions targets.
You can't lock up a sunrise...
Posted by bex on 2 March 2007.
Part of the Trident: we don't buy it tour blog 
On the Trident: we don't buy it ship tour
After nearly a week of being impounded at Faslane nuclear weapons base, the Arctic Sunrise is now free! At 10 am this morning the ship was towed by two police tugs to the mouth of the Clyde, and the crew allowed back onboard. The challenge for us now is to make our way around the coast to London in time for a rendez-vous with London Mayor Ken Livingstone next Tuesday. The Sunrise will anchor close to Tower Bridge, and Ken will be helping us promote the 'Trident: we don't buy it' message ahead of the House of Commons vote on Trident replacement - now scheduled for March 14th.
Greenpeace wins nuclear legal challenge
Posted by jamie on 15 February 2007.
It's been a good day here in the office. Several months ago, we launched a legal case against the government's flawed energy review which backed a new generation of nuclear power stations. The case we brought to challenge that decision was upheld by Mr Justice Sullivan in the High Court who stated that "something has gone clearly and radically wrong" with the process. As a result, the government's decision has been ruled unlawful and they have to go back to the drawing board.
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Artists on Aldermaston
Posted by bex on 2 December 2006.
One of the hundreds of citizens inspecting Aldermaston earlier this week was the artist Kurt Jackson. He’s best known for his paintings of the Cornish landscape, but it turns out he’s also a dab hand at sketching nuclear weapons facilities. In the rain. Under the scrutiny of nosy police officers. Here's are a few of his sketches of the weapons inspectors outside Aldermaston, done in pencil, ink and charcoal (click on the thumbnails for to see them full sized):
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Citizens inspection of nuclear bomb making factory at Aldermaston
Posted by bex on 27 November 2006.
© Greenpeace
Hundreds of citizen weapons inspectors have just spent this morning patrolling through the muddy fields of England. They came from all over the UK, converging on the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) facility at Aldermaston. They arrived from all directions, by bus, train, bicycle and on foot.
Their mission? To carry out the world's largest ever inspection of a nuclear weapons factory, following reports that Tony Blair is building a new nuclear weapon.
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The "I Count" in Trafalgar Square, London
Posted by dave on 3 November 2006.
© Greenpeace/Dave Walsh
Here in London, we're all recovering from a hectic day at the Count in the Square - 25,000 people packed into London's Trafalgar Square. We were gathered to make a call for action on climate change - everyone from the Women's Institute to the rock band Razorlight. Quite a mixture.
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Climate Change: It's not too late, according to the UK government
Posted by bex on 31 October 2006.
In a UK review on climate change, British economist and government advisor Sir Nicholas Stern has said that "climate change represents the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen," but that there "is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we act now and act internationally."
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Help stop climate chaos and get backstage access to Glastonbury for two!
Posted by bex on 26 October 2006.
Remember, remember, the 4th of November... Will you be wandering around London on that day?
Britain's new bomb programme exposed
Publication date: October 2006
Summary
On 24 September 1996, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was opened for signatures. The treaty banned all nuclear tests - thus stopping new countries acquiring nuclear weapons, and existing nuclear-weapons states from developing new nuclear weapons. Alongside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it was hailed as a major step towards nuclear disarmament.
At the time, the Labour government played a key role in pushing for the treaty and in urging other countries to support it.
This briefing reveals:
- how now, 10 years on, the UK Government risks destroying the treaty;
- how billions of pounds are currently being invested in building hi-tech equipment at the Aldermaston nuclear weapons laboratory;
- that the new facilities planned for the site enable Aldermaston to design and build new nuclear weapons; and
- scientists' concerns that taking a high-tech approach to the virtual design and development of new nuclear weapons will inevitably lead to a return to full scale nuclear testing.
All this is happening prior to any parliamentary or public debate on whether the UK should build a nuclear weapons system. Fundamental questions such as: How are Cold War nuclear weapons relevant to 21st century foreign policy?; What real threats does the UK face?; and 'What effect would building a new bomb have on international disarmament negotiations?' all remain unanswered.