David Walsh

My overarching point is: yes, Britain's energy is in a very difficult place. Yes, we have made mistakes and could improve our current policies.
But the idea there is some better alternative strategy going forward is magical thinking. We have to deal with where we are now.

Is Britain’s net-zero push to blame for its high energy prices? A mighty rise in electricity costs has complicated the drive for clean power

I want to come back properly on this Economist piece that questions Britain's approach to net zero.

It gets three things wrong imo:

1. Ignoring periods of v cheap renewable energy
2. Misdiagnosing the relative costs of renewables
3. Looking backwards, not forwards.

YouTube video by ENDS Report Have Reform UK successes changed how green campaigning works?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Vh... Great chat on climate politics with @endsreport.com & the ECO Chamber podcast. What if all the economists, environment charities and the government are right and going green faster will get you better growth, more jobs, & more resilience? Farage will look a bit silly.

Whichever AI bot wrote this list has no idea what the occupation of 'historian' might involve on a day to day basis. Hard to tell exactly what they think it is, but my guess would be 'summarising other history books' and 'having an encyclopaedic knowledge of names, dates and locations of battles'.

Fun fact: we devote ten times more space to golf courses in England than we do to allotments (source: OS Greenspace data) www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan...

bsky.app/profile/josi...

Find a way to talk about spending a shit tonne more on the NHS, ya basics. You'll also enjoy it more!

Maybe there'll be some of those new sure start centres open by then, tour those for a bit

YouTube video by ENDS Report Have Reform UK successes changed how green campaigning works?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Vh... Great chat on climate politics with @endsreport.com & the ECO Chamber podcast. What if all the economists, environment charities and the government are right and going green faster will get you better growth, more jobs, & more resilience? Farage will look a bit silly.

Incredible that this is all the same article. How utterly pathetic

"in O’Brien’s “confluence” of British problems, being outside a gigantic single market in the nation’s own continent doesn’t rate a mention. Round-the-clock misery and self-recrimination combined with coyness about the biggest thing Britain did this century: modern Conservatism to a dishonest tee."

Renewables generate half of UK’s electricity in 2024 in new record high Official figures show wind, solar, hydro and biomass generated 50.4% of UK power last year.

NEW climate record: over half of UK electricity was generated by renewables in 2024! 🙌

This good news means we're a step closer to a Net Zero future, where:

✅ We produce our own energy
✅ Energy bills are cheaper
✅ Our air is cleaner
✅ People & nature thrive

www.independent.co.uk/news/busines...

I shouldn't do this, but I keep thinking about Germany's far-right vote being steady at 25%, and about this interview (x.com/IbDoku/statu...) where one of Germany's leading far-right voices asks if, when the time comes, enough men will step up and carry out mass violence against non-white people.

BuT WhAt AbOuT ChInA?!!?!?!!

Motherfucking wind farms…

Food prices surge amid extreme weather

#climateflation graphic of the day, via @financialtimes.com

Constituents of all ages travelled to Parliament from Derbyshire to meet me, showing an amazing commitment to fighting climate change - the most important issue of our time.

I had lots of good conversations about trains, transport, and climate change in our national curriculum.

I guess arguably they are doing nationalisation through the back door through increasing restrictions on the way the companies can operate - banning bonuses, restricting dividends, requiring infrastructure investment. But because that's not the stated aim of the policy there are plenty of loopholes.

"There's no money" isn't really an excuse in the case of water. When companies like Thames Water eventually collapse the money will be there for bailing out or taking into state ownership. Why wait for the crisis point? Set out a long-term (and lower cost) plan now - it would be hugely popular.

Defra/Steve could look into the kind of nationalisation by the back door model of Great British Railways and GB Energy.

How about setting up Great British Water, acquiring those in financial difficulty, with a 10 year plan for gradual acquisition - buying up equity over time & reinvesting profits?

Probably time to look seriously at alternative means of securing energy security and face up to the fact a windfall that made Norway one of the richest countries in the world has been completely squandered?

All famines are man-made, all famines are political. Historians of empire and humanitarianism have known this forever. Gaza is not starving, Gaza is being starved, by Israel, and this starvation is enabled by our government and by every other government that does not step in to force food and aid.

We are really at the stage of gov officials saying that racism is legitimate its fucking disgusting

Time to reduce, recycle and reuse nitrogen, says Lords Committee - Committees - UK Parliament The Environment and Climate Change Committee has published its report, ‘Nitrogen: time to reduce, recycle, reuse’, which calls for the UK to be more ambitious and strategic in its plans to...

Good to see the Lords spotlighting nitrogen pollution. Farmers want to do the right thing - but they need joined-up support to do it. More support for soil, nature, and resilient food systems.
This report gets that. Let’s make sure it turns into action. committees.parliament.uk/committee/51...

Then Sizewell C. The most expensive nuclear reactor to be built anywhere in the world. That's not the fault of the planning system.

All along the way in these major infrastructure projects there are grifters making a fortune - and it's definitely not the bats getting the money.

The line is likely to cost around £80bn at current prices. The bat tunnel was £100mn. 0.125% of total cost That's not the reason it's not going to Leeds, that's a rounding error.
Likewise the alleged £300mn spent on Lower Thames Crossing 'planning' a misleading figure, but even then just 3% of cost.

Is Michelle Agyemang English? Is Ian Wright English? Yes they're fucking English. The loser racists can all fuck off.

Hunter Biden has a point. And a quite colorful one.

Excellent proposal for the new devolution maps. Can see no problems with this.

Open letter to the Prime Minister | Friends of the Earth Read the open letter to the Prime Minister calling for a bold and fair climate plan.

53 UK businesses, unions, NGOs and organisations have signed our open letter calling for the Prime Minister to deliver a bold and fair climate plan. Read the full letter. 👇 foe.uk/vx9d5

Serious answer: I was at university with Aidan Burley (www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...), who has joined Reform, and he reminds me a lot of Farage. A group of men there were absolutely devoted to him - it’s as if he had the guts to be the Englishman they couldn’t be. It was fascinating.

British politics in all its diversity on display this morning