Environment news

• The horse, skilled labourer on the land: Country diary 100 years ago

  12-03-2017 23:30
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 17 March 1917Surrey
  Hoar frost turned to dew as the horses came out into the farm stable-yard this morning. They knew it was a strange hand that clattered the chain harness on the cobbles. Working for years in one place, they recognise even the footstep which goes to the manger, and intelligence reveals itself in their eyes when they turn and stoop their heads for the collar to slip on. There is then a little shrinking, half apprehension, half m
  
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• 100 years ago: The horse, skilled labourer on the land

  12-03-2017 23:30
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 17 March 1917Surrey
  Hoar frost turned to dew as the horses came out into the farm stable-yard this morning. They knew it was a strange hand that clattered the chain harness on the cobbles. Working for years in one place, they recognise even the footstep which goes to the manger, and intelligence reveals itself in their eyes when they turn and stoop their heads for the collar to slip on. There is then a little shrinking, half apprehension, half m
  
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• Diesel emissions: the clues were there

  12-03-2017 22:30
  
  For too long, no one suspected that any car manufacturer was cheating. Instead it was thought to be a weakness in the testIt is amazing that the Volkswagen and diesel emissions scandal was not discovered earlier. In 2003 nitrogen dioxide alongside London’s Marylebone Road increased by around 20%. As we approached the 2010 legal compliance date, concentrations from traffic went up, not down, and diesel cars were shown to be much more polluting than the official tests led us to believe. Howe
  
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• Coalition colleagues urge Malcolm Turnbull to head off energy crisis

  12-03-2017 20:00
  
  Prime minister told to adopt a domestic gas reservation policy to deal with forecast LNG shortagesThe prime minister is under mounting internal pressure to adopt a domestic gas reservation policy to deal with forecast shortages. The chairman of the government’s backbench committee on energy and the environment, Craig Kelly, has said it is something Malcolm Turnbull should consider.With Turnbull due to meet senior executives from the east coast gas companies on Wednesday, Kelly told Guardia
  
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• Anti-fracking protesters take government to court in Lancashire

  12-03-2017 18:13
  
  Activists will challenge permission granted to Cuadrilla for test fracking sites near Blackpool as pressure mounts over the cost of policing the protestsThe government will go to court this week to defend test drilling at a fracking site in Lancashire as it comes under pressure to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to cover the cost of policing anti-fracking protests.The high court in Manchester will hear two cases on Wednesday that pit Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, against protesters
  
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• Rising numbers of great white sharks headed toward Cape Cod, scientists say

  12-03-2017 16:20
  
  Figure rises for second consecutive year, says Massachusetts’ top shark expert, warning of ‘public safety issue’ despite no deaths in state’s waters since 1936Great white sharks are swimming toward the waters off Massachusetts in rising numbers, scientists say, after a second consecutive year showing an increase in predators to Cape Cod.The latest data from a multiyear study of the ocean predators found that the number of sharks in waters off the vacation haven appeared t
  
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• Green Investment Bank sell-off racks up at least £1m in fees

  12-03-2017 16:10
  
  MPs condemn ‘waste of money’ as documents show controversial £2bn privatisation has cost taxpayers at least £1m in banking and legal feesThe troubled £2bn privatisation of the Green Investment Bank has already cost at least £1m of taxpayer money in consultancy fees, official documents have revealed.Ministers have promised that the sale of the bank, which has invested in green projects from offshore windfarms to energy-saving street lights, will deliver value f
  
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• Bright sparks: why Jersey's dazzling glowworms are a secret worth searching out

  12-03-2017 08:00
  
  Jersey’s beaches can be lit by the amazing bioluminescence of glowworms, though their beauty remains a secret to many tourists, and locals. A walking tour hopes to give more exposure to this natural wonderOur eyes begin to adjust to the strange light. The sand is an eerie shade of grey and the sea and sky are inky black. It is only 7pm, but already it’s dark and our Jersey Walk Adventures guide points to a daisy anemone that glows brightly in the beam of a UV torch. It may be pitch b
  
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• Elon Musk and Malcolm Turnbull talk battery solutions for energy problems

  12-03-2017 06:35
  
  Tesla boss speaks to South Australian premier and then Australian prime minister about issues with state and national supplyMalcolm Turnbull has spoken to the Tesla founder, Elon Musk, about energy storage issues after the tech billionaire offered to supply battery technology to solve South Australia’s energy reliability problems within 100 days.The prime minister’s office said the hour-long conversation on Sunday had occurred by mutual arrangement, given Turnbull’s longstandin
  
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• Giant green sea turtle goes overboard

  12-03-2017 03:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A giant green sea turtle has been released off the Florida Keys after convalescing from an injury.
  
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• Elon Musk plan to fix South Australia energy crisis 'exciting' but needs work, says Labor

  12-03-2017 02:35
  
  Tesla boss says he is ‘impressed’ after speaking to South Australian premier Jay Weatherill about planLabor says there is still a way to go before Tesla boss Elon Musk’s “exciting” proposal to fix South Australia’s energy crisis can become reality.The entrepreneur has pledged to install the batteries needed to prevent ongoing blackouts in the state and have the situation fixed within 100 days or “it is free”. Continue reading...
  
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• The Observer view on the big six and energy costs | Observer editorial

  12-03-2017 01:05
  
  For too long they have got away with fleecing their customers – now the government must actThe most important sign of a broken market is one in which, when the cost of supplying consumers falls, big corporates simply pocket the difference rather than passing on the savings to their customers. This is exactly what has been happening in our energy market. Wholesale energy costs fell by around 30% between 2013 and 2016. Yet consumers on the big six energy companies’ default tariffs did
  
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• The farming revolution that aims to bring free-range milk to Britain

  12-03-2017 01:05
  
  Smallholders hope to reverse years of dairy industry decline with a return to cows grazing in the great outdoorsThis is a story that is almost as rare as a free-range cow: a good news story about the British dairy industry.This month, Jenni and Jerry Hobbs will swing open the gates to the yard of their modest farmhouse in Gloucestershire, shout a few words of encouragement and watch as their herd of brown Swiss, Friesians, Fleckviehs and the rest, big eyes blinking as they survey the expanse of
  
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