Environment news

• If wind and solar power are cheaper and quicker, do we really need Hinkley Point?

  20-08-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Nuclear energy’s cost, and a focus on alternative technology, including research on a new generation of hi-tech battery storage, is leading observers outside the green lobby to question the project’s valueShould Theresa May take the axe to the troubled Hinkley Point nuclear project, it will propel wind and solar power further into the limelight. And for renewable technologies to become really effective, Britain and the rest of the world need breakthroughs in electricity storage to al
  
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• If we’re serious about industrial strategy, renewables is a good place to start

  20-08-2016 16:59 via theguardian.com
  
  With the future of Hinkley Point in doubt and the government committed to assist British business, now is the time to get behind wind powerCancelling the planned new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point will be a huge victory for the offshore wind industry. The word from inside No 10 is not clear yet, but there are so many Tories, including the prime minister, unsettled by the prospect of the Chinese building a plant in Britain to an untested French design that the prospects of it going ahead
  
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• Philippine government agrees new truce with Maoist-led rebels

  20-08-2016 14:55
  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed a new ceasefire with Maoist-led guerrillas, who declared a truce several hours before, ahead of fresh peace talks in Norway next week, a senior administration official said on Saturday. Duterte lifted the unilateral truce with the communist New People's Army late last month as rebels did not respond to a deadline to reciprocate the government's truce. "The enabling environment brought about by this 'silencing of guns' will hopefully go a long way i
  
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• Green Party candidate Jill Stein calls for climate state of emergency

  20-08-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Presidential hopeful points to California wildfires and Louisiana flooding in push for Green New Deal to address both environment and economy Dr Jill Stein called for a national state of emergency to be declared over the rapidly worsening effects of global warming, during a campaign swing through New York.Continue reading...
  
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• California wildfires: Blue Cut blaze curbed as evacuees return

  20-08-2016 12:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Firefighters in California gain ground in tackling the massive Blue Cut wildfire, containing around 40% and allowing many evacuees to return home.
  
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• The secret life of a tiny pond

  20-08-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  New Forest It’s a muddy hole that holds water all year round. We could so easily have walked by without seeing itThe walking group stop as they see me peering into a net. “Can we ask what you’re doing?” I explain that I’ve heard there were shells in this pond and have come to find out what they are. As we talk, a blue-bodied dragonfly circles over the water. I tell them what it is and say that it has chosen this mucky pool as its breeding patch, and is probably wait
  
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• Haiti Senate report claims graft in use of Venezuela funds

  20-08-2016 02:26
  By Makini Brice PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A Haitian Senate report has called for charges to be brought against two former prime ministers and several ministers for alleged embezzlement, abuse of authority and forgery stemming from the use of funds in a Venezuelan oil loan programme. The executive summary of the report, dated Wednesday, said heads of ministries granted multimillion-dollar projects to firms while bypassing the public bidding process and signed contracts that were n
  
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