Current Affairs Environmental Stuff
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orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Ministers are set to approve a new North Sea oil and gas project months before Britain hosts a global climate change conference in Glasgow.
Under proposals submitted to the government, developers behind the Cambo heavy crude field off the coast of the Shetland Islands expect to extract 150 million barrels of oil — roughly equivalent to operating 16 coal-fired power stations for a year.
Isn't that something like 64 billion kg of carbon dioxide? Obviously excluding the operational, transport and refining footprint.
Under proposals submitted to the government, developers behind the Cambo heavy crude field off the coast of the Shetland Islands expect to extract 150 million barrels of oil — roughly equivalent to operating 16 coal-fired power stations for a year.
Isn't that something like 64 billion kg of carbon dioxide? Obviously excluding the operational, transport and refining footprint.
Black Belt Jones
Player Valuation: £25m
Not what his vid is about, but that phrase spend your way out of climate change gets to the heart of things.
What is the one thing that moves the needle, and has moved the needle, on climate change? It's not changing our behaviour (lol) is it? It's science - the only game in town. Innovation in fundamental science and the technological and engineering advances that flow from that.
But scientific progress is deeply entwined, and correlated, with economic activity. So a lot of green messaging about reducing consumption, whilst well intentioned and even sensible in microcosm, amounts to useless Tory austerity thinking in the bigger picture. Hence spend your way out of climate change being a pivotal issue.
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Yeah, this is addressed in the doc I mentioned earlier, Planet of the Humans:
The technological solutions we pursue are highly embedded in the consumer/infinite growth culture that's causing the issues in the first place. Greenwashing abounds whilst things get worse. I'm coming to the conclusion that systemic change is necessary after all - obviously it would be better to do that now through choice in an organised manner, rather than later.
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
According to my shaky calculations, that'll take 24million acres of new forest at maturity to capture - 5 x the area of Wales
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Conservatives
Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent
Thu 24 Jun 2021 12.47
Individuals and companies linked to the oil and gas industries have donated more than £400,000 to the Conservative party in the past year, while the government mulled controversial new licences to explore the North Sea for fossil fuel production sites, it can be revealed.
Oil and gas donors gave over £400k to Tories before North Sea decision
Exclusive: payments in past year came as government decided on licences for new fossil fuel sites
Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent
Thu 24 Jun 2021 12.47
Individuals and companies linked to the oil and gas industries have donated more than £400,000 to the Conservative party in the past year, while the government mulled controversial new licences to explore the North Sea for fossil fuel production sites, it can be revealed.
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Maybe hard with the colours and that, or maybe the structure.
Although they can handle a few hand-me-downs before becoming brittle, once had a major grilling for buying Lego for a friend of my daughter. No plastic.
NilSatisOptimum
Player Valuation: £70m
No-one serious about the environment believes we are are serious about the environment. I mean there is some good individuals and entities, but outside these constructs we are a joke, we live in the most altered country on the planet no other country in the world has changed so much of its natural landscape other than Great Britain. However, we bring up on ourselves (government) to pontificate about others and their environment. It's laughable...
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
It's not only the landscape, culturescape too, unfortunately. It's a lot easier for other countries to transition to local food and supplies, whereas successive governments have destroyed our ability to do so.
Is that right? I’d have thought it would be The Netherlands or maybe Bangladesh. Pretty difficult thing to measure I’d guess.
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Good shout with the Netherlands.
I think the UK had to get special dispensation for natural/virgin land from the EU to include the grouse moors...
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Another Silver Bullet Misses The Mark: The EAT-Lancet Report’s Missed Opportunity to Back Real Sustainability
The recently published EAT-Lancet Commission report, housed on the world-renowned Lancet site, proposes scientific targets for healthy diets and food production to ensure human health and environmental sustainability in the years to come. This ambitious report comes at a time when many are seeking answers as to how we’ll combat climate change, and the authors claim that meeting these targets will achieve the Paris Agreement objectives and the United Nations’ SustainableAGW believes that “sustainable,” when used in terms of food and agriculture, refers to food production and distribution systems which work in harmony with the natural environment and make the most efficient use of limited natural resources; which ensure high animal welfare standards; which provide a fair and secure income for farming families and workers; and which provide high quality, nutritious and reasonably priced goods to consumers. Truly sustainable production systems satisfy the food needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.Note: When used as a food label the term is currently unregulated and undefined, so it is important to seek the specific definition from the person and/or company making the claim.
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">Sustainable Development Goals. But even with what seems to be the best of intentions, the report’s call to action for a major global shift towards a plant-based diet has instead missed the mark when it comes to sustainability.
Yes, food absolutely plays a part in the future of our planet, but we have warned before that this anti-livestock narrative is dangerous ground. And we’re not the only ones pushing back. Predictably, many industry organizations are rightly bringing to light that the source data for much of the anti-meat rhetoric is either downright wrong or uses outliers as comparison points. It even appears that the scientific panel may have been intentionally selected to match the report’s agenda. The effort—including a multifaceted marketing campaign and 40-country launch tour–is being backed by well-funded entities with numerous conflicts of interests (for example, food manufacturers who stand to profit handsomely from a transition toward non-Animal
Recognized farm animals that are raised for meat, dairy or fiber.
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">animal products). Many high-profile members’ devotion to vegan and vegetarian diets was established well before the report, leading food journalist Joanna Blythman to conclude, “In effect, it’s a top-down attempt by a small, unrepresentative, dogmatic global elite to [mold] public agriculture policy.” The Sustainable Food Trust wrote that “due to a fundamental lack of agricultural understanding, some of the main dietary recommendations are incompatible with the food production outcomes of truly Sustainable
AGW believes that “sustainable,” when used in terms of food and agriculture, refers to food production and distribution systems which work in harmony with the natural environment and make the most efficient use of limited natural resources; which ensure high animal welfare standards; which provide a fair and secure income for farming families and workers; and which provide high quality, nutritious and reasonably priced goods to consumers. Truly sustainable production systems satisfy the food needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.Note: When used as a food label the term is currently unregulated and undefined, so it is important to seek the specific definition from the person and/or company making the claim.
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">sustainable farming systems.” The report has also been rejected by nutritionists concerned about the diet’s inherent nutritional deficiencies, stemming from the drastic reduction of traditional sources of essential nutrients.
But what’s most troubling is what the report has chosen to ignore. For example, the recommendation for nitrogen fertilizer use to be increased in developing countries to match the decreases achieved in developed countries, is of great concern since nitrogen is a known sterilizer of soil. This is in obvious direct opposition of worldwide goals to build soil Organic matter
Soil organic matter is the fraction of the soil that consists of plant or animal tissue in various stages of breakdown (decomposition). Most of our productive agricultural soils have between 3 and 6% organic matter. Adapted from: http://franklin.cce.cornell.edu/resources/soil-organic-matter-fact-sheet
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">organic matter. The report also ignores the role of micronutrients, food sovereignty, the benefits (or even existence) of high-welfare, Pasture
Land covered with vegetation suitable for grazing or foraging by farm animals. (Also see range.)
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">pasture-based farming systems, and even the fact that the use of land in some areas cannot be used to grow nuts—of which we’ll apparently need copious amounts to follow the proposed diet. And, disturbingly, the report’s authors place a great and unfounded trust in the concept of “sustainable intensification”—an unproven strategy of further industrializing our food system. This concept banks on new, yet-to-be-developed technologies, ignoring real agroecological solutions that are already working. All this implies a serious lack of farming knowledge or basic comprehension of fundamental soil and sustainability functions.
As we’ve outlined many times, pasture-based livestock management is an essential part of the solution to heal the planet. Sustainable farming, like the science-based farming standards Required
A standard has to be adhered to as directed.
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">required by A Greener World, can change agriculture’s negative interactions with plants, animals, humans and the Environment
The air, water, minerals, plants and animals and all other external factors that surround and affect a plant, animal or other life form.
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">environment to positive impacts which benefit us all. Pasture
Land covered with vegetation suitable for grazing or foraging by farm animals. (Also see range.)
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">Pasture-based systems are vital to any truly functional food system, and they have benefits that extend far beyond the farm. We need to encourage the food choices we can be making right now, without significantly altering our lifestyles, that actuallyhave a beneficial impact on the environment and human health.
We can’t help but conclude that this well-funded, and even seemingly well-intentioned project is just another missed opportunity to bring about real change. Had a diverse group of scientists from various fields of sustainable agriculture production been brought together instead, there might have been a chance to work together towards global sustainability initiatives, rather than ending up with this one-size-fits-all—and highly unlikely—outcome.
Feeding a growing population sustainably is inherently more nuanced than we are often led to believe, and requires deeper thinking than simply eliminating one food group from our diets. We Must
A standard has to be adhered to as directed.
" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(0, 0, 0) !important; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; outline: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;">must remain focused on science and sustainable solutions and cannot let biased reports cloud the conversation. Pasture-based and grassfed livestock farming systems have wider benefits on human health, socio-economic metrics, the environment and animal welfare. These benefits can’t be ignored any more than the challenges they help solve.
Change can and must happen, and conscientious eaters can be the real driving force for truly positive and sustainable change—whether through the market in the short term, or through that market ultimately leading to smart policies. There are thousands of farmers around the world using verified sustainable farming practices which have positive effects on the environment, human health and rural economies. There are also meaningful third-party certifications that give consumers a way to choose sustainable foods from these farms—without adopting an unrealistic and ultimately unsustainable diet.
The challenges that face us as a planet with a growing population and limited resources are truly daunting. But it’s going to take more than blind ideology to move us forward. Let’s hope this is the last time we see such extravagant resources being used to promote a lifestyle agenda rather than real solutions.
orchard
Player Valuation: £60m
Why are England’s water companies pumping out a tide of sewage? Because they can
George MonbiotWhat's remarkable is not that a water company knowingly and deliberately poured billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea to cut its costs. What’s remarkable is that the Environment Agency investigated and prosecuted it. Every day, water companies pour tonnes of unprocessed filth into England’s rivers and seas, and the government does nothing.
Even in the wake of the sentence last week, under which Southern Water was fined £90m, the company’s own maps show a continued flow of raw filth into coastal waters. Same [Poor language removed], different day. The only occasions on which water companies are allowed by law to release raw sewage are when “exceptional rainfall” overwhelms their treatment works. But the crap keeps coming, rain or no rain.
The prosecution, in this land of lions led by donkeys, was driven above all by one official at the Environment Agency, Stephen Bailey, who managed to stick with the case, breaking through layers of water industry deception and raising, within his organisation, a stink about the stink. Even so, though this was a deliberate and long-lasting crime, though “very serious widespread criminality” was established, though Southern Water obstructed the investigation, no executive is being prosecuted. The fine will be swallowed by its gigantic profits like a stone thrown into a settling tank.
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