TO DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELS, UEA MUST DIVEST FROM BARCLAYS

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged Barclays, BP, careers events, climate change, climate emergency, Divest Barclays, divestment, education, employment, energy, engineering, ethical investment, featured, fossil free, Fossil Free UEA, fossil fuels, graduates, higher education, Loughborough University, media, norwich, oil, people and planet, Portsmouth University, recruitment, Shell, student activism, students, students' unions, UEA, universities, zero carbon.

By Henry Webb

Higher Education institutions have the power to decide whether the fossil fuel industry lives or dies. The dominant players in the energy sector may seem unstoppable. After all, as long as the oil keeps flowing, they’ll find someone to buy it. Their lobbyists will make sure of that. But these behemoths require resources beyond those of just the raw coal, oil, and gas that we are so dependent on – they need capital. Without investment banks to finance everything from pipelines to offshore rigs, the costly infrastructure needed for fossil fuel extraction just wouldn’t exist.

IS IT UP TO ASEAN COUNTRIES LIKE THAILAND TO TURN THE TIDE ON OUR PLASTIC PROBLEM?

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged ASEAN, Cambodia, climate crisis, development, energy, environment, environmental policy, featured, microplastics, oceans, oil, overconsumption, plastic, pollution, recycling, thailand.

by Lotty Clare

Back in August much of the Asia Pacific region, and the world, was captivated by the death of a baby dugong called Mariam. Washed up on the beach in southwestern Thailand, the ill and orphaned dugong gained the attention of the public, complete with live webcasts, only for her to die a few months later due to plastic poisoning.

In a stark contrast to the depictions of idyllic white-sanded Thai beaches, this story seems to have captured the hearts of many and has added momentum to the growing anti-plastic movement in Thailand and the Asia Pacific region.

Plastic pollution is a huge problem, and humanity’s plastic production is expected to grow over the coming decades. Plastic is now in the deepest parts of the ocean, in our food, in our bodies, even our water and air. 8 million tonnes of the stuff is estimated to end up in the ocean every single year, an amount set to double by 2030. By 2025, there will be one tonne of plastic for every tonne of fish in our oceans.

THE NUCLEAR STANDOFF

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged china, geopolitics, India, international relations, Iran, missiles, North Korea, nuclear power, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, oil, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, US.

by Gunnar Eigener

Amid simmering tensions between India and Pakistan, in parallel with the Trump White House determined to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia and Russia’s illegal missile, which effectively ended the INF Treaty, climate change might not be the nail in the coffin; human society might just jump straight into the furnace.

PROPOSITION 112: A VIABLE WAY OF KEEPING FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND?

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged amendment 74, Bernie Sanders, climate change, colorado, featured, fossil fuels, fracking, gas, oil, proposition112, referendum, Trump, USA, vote.

By Sam Alston

The USA political scene is consumed by a battle between President Trump and Democrats who are desperate to recapture Congress. However, in the mountain state of Colorado a referendum – bitterly opposed by locally entrenched oil and gas firms – proposes restricting the exploitation of the state’s massive oil reserves. The campaign and its outcome stand as a test in seeing whether such restrictions could be a viable solution to keeping fossil fuels in the ground.

THE ARCTIC

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Arctic, Arctic Council, CFC, climate change, co2, Donald Trump, inuit, John Kerry, melt, micro-beads, NASA, oil, oil spill, pollution, sea ice, SESAME, SWIPA, vortex.

By Gunnar Eigener

Recent events have focused media attention on changes to the environment of Antarctica, brought about by both natural and anthropogenic effects. Yet the Arctic should remain higher on the list of priorities, for challenges it faces are not merely regional, but global.

The Arctic Council, which consists of the eight countries with territory within the Arctic Circle, produced a report ‘Snow, Water, Ice, Permafrost in the Arctic’ (SWIPA), which stated the area of sea ice has decreased by over 50% over the past 30 years. The report goes on to estimate that the Arctic will be ice free by 2040 (although some other reports suggest 2037). Regardless of the exact year, the thickness of Arctic sea ice is falling dramatically. In the central Arctic ocean, the ice has declined by up to 65% between 1975 and 2012. It was in 2012 that the lowest area of was recorded, at 4.1 million square kilometres. The previous record was set in 2007 with 4.17 million square kilometres.Continue Reading

ANTARCTICA: THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged Antarctic, Antarctic Treaty System, Antarctica, Arctic, B15, climate change, co2, ice, iceberg, Larson C, melt, NASA, natural gas, oil, Pine Glacier, putin, Russia.

By Gunnar Eigener

The calving of a 5,800 square-kilometre section of the Larsen C ice shelf has been recorded. Although it is only half the size of the largest ever recorded iceberg (B15 broke off from Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf in 2000, measuring 11,007 square-kilometres), it nonetheless represents yet another loss of ice – not just in Antarctica, but globally.Continue Reading

BIG ENERGY PROFITS FROM NORFOLK’S OFFSHORE EFFORTS

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Community and tagged big business, Blakeney Point, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Centrica, climate change, Community, CPRE, Dalcour Maclaren, Danish government, DONG Energy, East Green Energy, gas, Goldman Sachs, Green Britain Centre, Green Home Energy Solutions, hydropower, norfolk, Norfolk Energy Futures, oil, Race Bank, renewable energy, solar power, wind farm, wind turbines.

by Joe Burns

27 km north of Blakeney Point in Norfolk there’s a wind farm called Race Bank. The project has been in development for over a decade and has just started producing electricity. After the first of 91 turbines were installed, the farm began to successfully generate electricity and will be able to support the electricity needs for almost half a million homes once all 91 turbines are finished and operating.

This is great news. Why exactly? Well the project will result in over 830,000 tonnes of annual CO2 savings and will operate for 25 years. Plus it’s good to see another addition to the UK’s already successful and world leading wind farms, and there are plans for more. It’s also encouraging to see major international energy companies fight for the biggest wind turbines possible, as when they are far out at sea, campaign groups can’t really complain about their views being ruined.Continue Reading

REPUBLICANS ARE RIGHT ABOUT DOMESTIC ENERGY, BUT TRUMP’S ORDER WON’T HELP

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged CCP, coal, epa, executive order, obama, oil, Paris agreement, republicans, Sarah Palin, Saudi Arabia, scott pruitt, Trump.

by Tara Debra G

In January I wrote an assessment of Obama’s environmental record during his eight-year presidency. In my piece I discussed the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the fragile cornerstone of the U.S.’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, and how this one central piece of environmental legislation during the Obama era could prove to be a house built upon sand. On Tuesday President Trump proved his willingness to blow down that house and signed the Energy Independence Executive Order.

ENVIRONMENTAL WARS: THE CORPORATE AND POLITICAL WAR ON NATURE

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged access, America, china, climate action, climate change, coal, dakota, dakota pipe line, DAPL, department of energy and climate change, energy, environment, environmental protection agency, epa, global warming, GOP, Green, Green Investment Bank, keystone xl pipeline, Myron Ebell, NASA, national parks, obama, oil, paris, Paris agreement, pipeline, pollution, republican, SEC, solar, stream protection rule, Trump, twitter, us army corps of engineers, war on nature.

by Gunnar Eigener

The Republican Party’s war on the environment has begun in earnest.

The US Army Corps of Engineers have approved the final easement to complete the Dakota Pipe Line (DAPL). The Keystone XL Pipeline has also been approved. Republican senators have introduced a bill to disband the Environmental Protection Agency. The Stream Protection Rule has been repealed using the Congressional Review Act. The Securities & Exchange Commissions (SEC) transparency rule has been repealed. The Interior Department methane rule is currently going through the repeal process. Trump has promised to disband the Clean Power Act and the EPA website has removed all pages relating to climate change. Trump’s America First Energy Plan neglected to mention solar energy jobs and, although the initial plan to sell of 3.3 million acres of national land has been withdrawn, proposals have been put forward to transfer federal land to state control. In the UK, the government is pushing forward with the intention to sell the Green Investment Bank and renewable energy ventures look set to slashed even more. A report by the Energy and Climate Committee has predicted that the UK will fail to meet its renewable energy targets. The closing of the Department of Energy and Climate Change led to its operations being transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, casting doubt of the ability to prioritise the environment over business. Continue Reading

OBAMA’S COMPLICATED ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national, Perspectives and tagged barack obama, Donald Trump, environment, environmental sustainability, green energy, oil, Paris Climate Agreement, politics, president obama, renewable energy, scott pruitt, US Politics.

by Tara Debra G

By the time you are reading this, Trump will be president of the United States. Soon Scott Pruitt will be head of the EPA (or behead the EPA). As I’m writing this, Obama is singing his swan song and making his final goodbyes as President. The gulf of time between me writing and you reading is small but salient. It is the time to reflect upon what it is Obama leaves in his wake. Contradiction has characterized so many aspects of Obama’s presidency, but what of his environmental record? Well – it’s complicated.

oil

TO DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELS, UEA MUST DIVEST FROM BARCLAYS

By Henry Webb

IS IT UP TO ASEAN COUNTRIES LIKE THAILAND TO TURN THE TIDE ON OUR PLASTIC PROBLEM?

THE NUCLEAR STANDOFF

PROPOSITION 112: A VIABLE WAY OF KEEPING FOSSIL FUELS IN THE GROUND?

THE ARCTIC

ANTARCTICA: THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE

BIG ENERGY PROFITS FROM NORFOLK’S OFFSHORE EFFORTS

REPUBLICANS ARE RIGHT ABOUT DOMESTIC ENERGY, BUT TRUMP’S ORDER WON’T HELP

ENVIRONMENTAL WARS: THE CORPORATE AND POLITICAL WAR ON NATURE

OBAMA’S COMPLICATED ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY

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