Adam Vaughan

After by-election, Labour could lose donor Dale Vince to Greens too The energy entrepreneur criticises the government’s heat pump subsidies and says he would happily talk to Reform about climate change

Dale Vince, the renewable energy entrepreneur and Labour’s “green knight”, is still weighing up whether to donate to the Greens or Keir Starmer’s party at the next election.

Interview also covers:
- heat pumps
- Labour climate record
- airline & Ecotricity

👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Comparing fuel pumps to electric vehicle public chargers

There are now almost twice as many public electric car charging points in the UK as there are petrol/diesel fuel pumps, a government analysis has found.

Obviously it's not a perfect like-for-like comparison given recharging/fuelling times, but symbolically important.

www.gov.uk/government/p...

When I interviewed Green party leader @zackpolanski.bsky.social in Nov, he said: "I think it is fair to say that 30 to 40 seats would... be a huge achievement for the Green Party" at the next general election.

Suspect they be having a new conversation about that after Gorton and Denton result.

Emperor penguins face climate change threat during vital annual moult Melting sea ice may force the birds into the ocean before they have regrown their feathers, exposing them to hypothermia, exhaustion and predators

Emperor penguins face climate change threat during vital annual moult
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Britain opens its first geothermal power plant | Adam Vaughan Britain’s first geothermal power station has started generating electricity in Cornwall, in a significant breakthrough for a technology usually associated with Iceland. Powered by water naturally hea...

Britain opens its first geothermal power plant linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7432723580213374977/?originTrackingId=mOTIKdSXTwcRanMu3xwkaw%3D%3D

‘It was terrifying’: hundreds fall sick after swimming in bathing waters More than 1,200 people became ill last year, despite most waters being rated good or excellent. One mother said ‘no family should have to go through this’

More than 1,200 people became sick after swimming in designated bathing waters across England last year, despite three quarters of those official swimming spots being rated “good” or “excellent”.

Comes as "Fountain of Filth" installed in London

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

AI data centre surge would put UK’s climate change targets at risk MPs call for ‘national conversation’ on potential drawbacks of sharp rise in data centres, which would use more power than the UK uses at its peak

The data centres needed to power the UK's artificial intelligence revolution would use more electricity than the entire country consumes at its peak.

MPs called for a “national conversation” about data centres, including putting climate change targets at risk.

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

British fruit and veg treated with ‘toxic’ pesticides Ten substances linked to medical issues including infertility are no longer allowed in the EU, but continue to be sprayed on UK crops

UK shoppers are being sold food grown with 10 “toxic” pesticides that have been banned by the EU because it has linked them to cancer and infertility.

They could be banned from next year under a trade deal, but a lobbying drive is attempting to delay a ban 👇
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Wales is already well ahead of England on recycling, this just cements that.

It's also a possible backdoor to glass being included across the rest of the UK DRS one day...

Written Statement: The Deposit Return Scheme for Drinks Containers (Wales) Regulations 2026 | GOV.WALES Huw Irranca-Davies, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs

The UK bottle return scheme (DRS) will include glass after all.

But only in Wales, not the rest of the country.

Notable because glass industry had heavily, and successfully, lobbied for it to be excluded from the scheme.

www.gov.wales/written-stat...

it was. But it doesn't make action today academic...

*quitting*, I mean. I'm here for the edit button, Bluesky...

Britain needs to think beyond net zero, says UN climate scientist Machines that suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could help reduce global warming, but Jim Skea believes breaching the 1.5C limit is ‘inevitable’

Britain needs to think beyond net zero and discuss what it does about tackling the "overshoot" of the world's 1.5C goal, says Jim Skea, chair of the IPCC

Interview here, including what he thinks about the US quittig the IPCC:
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

‘Green laws hold up nuclear plans — but we can’t say where’ Despite calling for a reduction in planning protections for the landscapes, the energy department admits it can’t identify any where regulations are a problem

The energy department, run by Ed Miliband, has admitted that it cannot name a single national park where regulations are holding up nuclear projects, despite a review urging that protections for the landscapes be reduced.

Latest on Fingleton review
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Nature is the "ultimate foundation" for the economy, the King has told global experts meeting in Britain to discuss the decline in biodiversity.

Charles told delegates at an @ipbes.net meeting that nature is "vitally important" and underpins the climate, food, water and air we rely on.

How much will it cost the UK to reach an 87% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040?

In a new letter, @thecccuk.bsky.social confirms about £4bn a year (£26bn a year of costs minus £22bn a year of savings).

www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/u...

87% by 2040 is a stepping stone to net zero by 2050

The UK government has finally issued a plan for tackling "forever chemicals".

Except the PFAS plan isn't much of a plan — it's a promise of more tests and more consultations later down the line.

Doc here
lnkd.in/enArqKPs

Probability forecasts – Part 2: will people understand? Ensemble weather forecasts have been in use for many years to help forecasters understand uncertainty in weather predictions but are now becoming core to some operational NWP systems. Part 1 introduc...

Ha! Some research cited here rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Met Office to introduce two-week weather forecasts Long-range forecasts are less accurate, but meteorologists say the public understands probability and uncertainty and will be armed to make better decisions

The Met Office is introducing 14-day weather forecasts in a shift in its communications with the public, trusting them to understand probability and that it does not know exactly what will happen
www.thetimes.com/uk/weather/a...

Green Shoots presents The Mend of the World: An Evening with Tom Heap - Norwich Arts Centre

Interesting upcoming talk with @tomheap.bsky.social where he promises to: "Bust media peddled myths about the cost of green energy, the unpopularity of climate action, the role of China and the unshakeable dominance of fossil fuels."
norwichartscentre.co.uk/event/green-...

The US is now formally out of the Paris Agreement, one year after it triggered the exit process from the climate treaty.

It has subsequently announced it will also withdraw from the UNFCCC and IPCC.

Wood-burning stoves to come with health warnings
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Government ‘concedes data centre consent should be quashed over flimsy environmental commitments’ The government has conceded that its consent for a giant data centre in Buckinghamshire should be quashed, agreeing that it was wrong to allow the scheme to go ahead “without binding commitments from ...

UK government ‘concedes data centre consent should be quashed over flimsy environmental commitments’
www.endsreport.com/article/1945...

Zero-interest solar panel loans in Labour’s warm homes plan The government is also considering a ‘Netflix-style’ subscription where customers would pay a monthly charge for energy and equipment installation costs

Households will be able to get zero-interest loans for solar panels and grants for heat pumps to provide air conditioning under a £15 billion ­UK government “warm homes plan”.
www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Cattle farms may be treated like chemical plants under pollution rules Ministers are proposing to force farmers to apply for environmental permits usually reserved for industry amid growing concerns about the impact on waterways

Intensive cattle farms face a crackdown on the pollution they spill into rivers under sweeping water reforms.

Government plans mean that beef and dairy farmers may have to apply for environmental permits usually reserved for incinerators & chemical plants

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Surprise inspections to stop water companies covering up errors Government reforms aim to stop suppliers ‘marking their own homework’ and give inspectors more powers including ‘no notice’ visits to treatment works

Water companies will face surprise inspections as part of a crackdown on wrongdoing in the industry.

Among wide-ranging reforms to be announced on Tuesday, a regulator will be granted “no notice” powers to inspect sewage treatment works and other infrastructure:

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Bill Gates charity trust’s holdings in fossil fuel firms rise despite divestment claims Trust had $254m invested in companies such as Chevron, BP and Shell in 2024, a nine-year record, analysis shows

Bill Gates charity trust’s holdings in fossil fuel firms rise despite divestment claims

Not exactly what the Keep it in the Ground campaign was asking for...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Notable that some people criticising the offshore strike price today are weirdly silent on it being roughly the same as the price awarded to Hinkley Point C. And that's with the Hinkley price was in 2012 prices. It's indexed to inflation so obv will be much higher now...

2025 global climate highlights are out:
🌡️ 2025 was 3rd warmest year on record, 1.47ºC above the preindustrial level
📈 2023-2025 is the first three year period above 1.5ºC (according to ERA5)
🌍 The last 11 years have been the warmest 11 years on record

See: climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...

⚒️🧪🌊

UK wind farm expansion could add £1.8bn in green levies to bills Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has approved hundreds of giant turbines to reach his target of 95 per cent clean power generation by 2030

A UK govt auction of renewable energy subsidies has secured 8.4GW of offshore wind power.

That's huge. Total installed capacity today is 16GW.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...