Environment news

• Tech billionaire, ordered to reopen public beach, appeals to supreme court

  23-02-2018 22:51 via theguardian.com
  Investor Vinod Khosla has battled regulators for years over Martin’s Beach, which can only be reached by road on his propertyA Silicon Valley billionaire who was ordered by California courts to restore public access to a popular surfing beach is seeking to take his case to the US supreme court. The case could entirely upend public access to beaches in a state with more than 1,000 miles of shoreline. Continue reading...
  
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• Weatherwatch: wildlife calls change volume as hurricanes pass

  23-02-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  Recent research has recorded how creatures modified their calls in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria – with some surprising resultsIt’s not just humans that hunker down when a hurricane arrives; insects, birds and shrimps do too. But for fish a hurricane is a chance for a party and an opportunity to make a lot of noise, as new underwater recordings show. Back in March 2017 Ben Gottesman from Purdue University in Indiana, USA, and his colleagues placed sound recording devices in c
  
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• Big six energy companies routinely overcharging customers – exclusive

  23-02-2018 18:19 via theguardian.com
  Analysis for the Guardian shows most companies charging customers the same after switching them to ‘cheaper’ tariffsThe UK’s big six energy companies have been accused of dirty tricks after analysis for the Guardian revealed that they are routinely charging customers almost exactly the same amount after switching them off controversial default tariffs.In the face of Theresa May’s plans to impose a price cap on standard variable tariffs (SVTs), which more than half of ener
  
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• Fear of UK meat scandal as data shows hygiene breaches at most plants

  23-02-2018 18:11 via theguardian.com
  Almost two-thirds of audited meat plants in breach of safety rules in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
  On average, 16 major failings recorded every week over the past three years The scale of food safety and hygiene problems in meat plants around much of the UK is revealed by new analysis showing more than half of all audited plants have had at least one “major” breach in the last three years.Inspection figures from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) reveal there were on average 16 m
  
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• Fear of meat scandal as data shows hygiene breaches at over half UK plants

  23-02-2018 18:11 via theguardian.com
  Almost two-thirds of audited meat plants in breach of safety rules in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
  On average, 16 major failings recorded every week over the past three years The scale of food safety and hygiene problems in meat plants around much of the UK is revealed by new analysis showing more than half of all audited plants have had at least one “major” breach in the last three years. Related: We’re entitled to eat safe meat. Why has that become such a lottery? | Fe
  
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• Michael Gove denies EU is 'one step ahead' on plastic straw ban

  23-02-2018 17:57 via theguardian.com
  Environment secretary in Twitter spat with EU after suggesting UK ban could be preventedMichael Gove has become embroiled in a Twitter row with the EU over his suggestion that Brussels could block the UK government from banning plastic straws.The environment secretary and the European commission’s vice-president, Frans Timmermans, goaded each other on the social media platform over their rival claims to be the most advanced in clamping down on plastic waste. Continue reading...
  
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• World's fishing fleets mapped from orbit

  23-02-2018 16:16 via bbc.co.uk
  Satellite tracking shows fishing's footprint on Earth is now over four times that of agriculture.
  
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• Plastics and packaging: The UK's 'waste mountain' in charts

  23-02-2018 15:42
  Eighteen environmental groups have urged the UK Government to deal with a growing "packaging waste mountain" by setting legally binding targets, following new waste and recycling figures published by Defra. Here, edie provides a snapshot of the UK's "waste mountain".
  
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• B Corp businesses grow 28 times faster than national average

  23-02-2018 14:26
  New research has revealed that businesses within the purpose-driven B Corp movement are growing 28 times higher than the national economic growth of 0.5%.
  
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• B Corp businesses grow 28% faster than national average

  23-02-2018 14:26
  New research has revealed that businesses within the purpose-driven B Corp movement are growing 28% higher than the national economic growth of 0.5%.
  
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• EU 'one step ahead' of Michael Gove on plastic straw ban

  23-02-2018 14:11 via theguardian.com
  Commission says law coming before summer, after Gove suggested EU could prevent banBrussels has hit back at Michael Gove’s suggestion that EU law could block him from banning plastic straws, by claiming the bloc is one step ahead.The environment secretary had criticised plastic straws during interviews on Friday but suggested that his hope of enforcing a ban could run into trouble with EU legislation. Continue reading...
  
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• Monsanto demands Avaaz hands over all of its campaign data

  23-02-2018 13:29 via theguardian.com
  Subpoena could see the campaign group forced to release huge amounts of internal communications including the email addresses of four million people who have signed online petitionsA US court will today hear a request from Monsanto for access to a huge batch of internal communications by Avaaz, in a move that the campaign group says could have grave repercussions for online activism and data privacy.Monsanto is seeking the release of all lobby documents, emails, correspondence and notes “w
  
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• Lloyds aligns 2020 goals with SDGs in bid to 'help Britain prosper'

  23-02-2018 12:55
  Banking giant Lloyds has vowed to "help British people and businesses prosper" with a set of 2020 CSR targets which are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  
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• Seascapes without a camera: Meghann Riepenhoff's cyanotypes

  23-02-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Tidal patterns made by ocean waves, sand and marine life are captured by the photographic process of Meghann Riepenhoff, a US artist fascinated by the nature of humans’ relationship to an impermanent landscape. She will be creating a site-specific work for Photofairs San Francisco by the shore at the city’s Fort Mason arts centreSee more of the best from Photofairs San Francisco Continue reading...
  
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• Plastic straws could be banned, suggests Michael Gove

  23-02-2018 11:47 via bbc.co.uk
  The environment secretary suggests outlawing plastic straws could be easier after Brexit.
  
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• Wot, no signal?

  23-02-2018 11:28 via bbc.co.uk
  Billions of people still have no access to mobile services, but nano-satellites could change this.
  
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• Country diary: with luck and help, the chequered skipper will rise again

  23-02-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Ashton, Northamptonshire: Woodland management changes did for this butterfly as the woods were drained, rides narrowed and glades shaded. But now it is to be reintroducedThis May the small brown and gold wings of the chequered skipper will once again beat in the woods of England. Susannah O’Riordan from Butterfly Conservation is here in the butterfly’s spiritual home, the Chequered Skipper pub in Ashton, to reveal the plot to an enthusiastic audience of 80 or so. Related: 20 great UK
  
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• 'Fishing continued' after East China sea oil spill

  23-02-2018 03:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Satellite images obtained by the BBC show that fishing continued for days after a massive oil spill
  
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• Wildlife secrets of Nigeria's last wilderness

  23-02-2018 02:44 via bbc.co.uk
  Rare chimps, leopards and pangolins have been caught on camera in the forests of Nigeria's largest national park.
  
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• Britain and Europe must ban palm oil in biofuel to save forests, EU parliament told

  23-02-2018 02:04 via theguardian.com
  Forest peoples affected by plantations urge EU to enact ban despite diplomatic oppositionIf Britain and other European nations are to fulfil forest protection goals, they must ban the use of palm oil for biofuel and tighten oversight of supply chains, a delegation of forest peoples told parliamentarians this week.The call for urgent, concrete action comes amid an increasingly heated diplomatic row over the issue between the EU and the governments of major palm-producing nations such as Indonesia
  
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• Hybrid boats and paper batteries: the best green innovations of the week

  23-02-2018 01:01
  In a week that mapped the future of renewables, edie rounds up the low-carbon and resource-efficient innovations that could shape the future.
  
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