If green policy is going to survive the culture wars, it needs a new pitch – cleaner air, cheaper bills and healthier cities
For a decade, green activists in Britain have been congratulating themselves on their luck. Unlike in many countries in Europe, where motorists, farmers and rightwing groups have been driving anti-climate action, the UK has long enjoyed a comfortable political consensus on the subject. But conditions for a greenlash are assembling.
Most Britons still say they support climate efforts, but the price of decarbonising may at last be about to hit our wallets. Meanwhile, the Conservative party has come a long way since it sported a little green oak tree as its logo. Last month, Kemi Badenoch declared a full culture war against net zero, which she said couldn’t be achieved “without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
04/19/2025 - 11:30
04/19/2025 - 09:00
Native seed demand far outpaces supply for the state’s ambitious conservation plan. This group combs the landscape to address the deficit
Deep in California’s agricultural heartland, Haleigh Holgate marched through the expansive wildflower-dotted plains of the San Luis national wildlife refuge complex in search of something precious.
She surveyed the native grasses and flowering plants that painted the Central valley landscape in almost blinding swaths of yellow. Her objective on that sweltering spring day was to gather materials pivotal to California’s ambitious environmental agenda – seeds.
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04/19/2025 - 08:16
Bases in Norfolk, Devon and Hampshire face MoD investigation over possible leaching of dangerous PFAS into environment
Three UK military bases have been marked for investigation over fears they may be leaking toxic “forever chemicals” into drinking water sources and important environmental sites.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will investigate RAF Marham in Norfolk, RM Chivenor in Devon and AAC Middle Wallop in Hampshire after concerns they may be leaching toxic PFAS chemicals into their surroundings. The sites were identified using a new PFAS risk screening tool developed by the Environment Agency (EA) designed to locate and prioritise pollution threats.
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04/18/2025 - 23:00
Fears produce could be permanently devalued by price war, as it ‘creates unrealistic expectations about costs’
Supermarkets have been criticised for using vegetables as the latest weapon in their burgeoning price war, charging as little as 8p for a 2kg bag of potatoes in an attempt to lure shoppers over Easter.
Growers said they feared the massive discounts, which are also deployed at Christmas, could permanently devalue their produce.
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04/18/2025 - 19:00
Questions arise over election proposal to axe penalties for high-emitting cars after revelations Toyota RAV4 model used in analysis has been discontinued
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The Coalition’s claim cars will be more expensive as a result of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) has come under scrutiny because at least one of the opposition’s headline figures is based on a car no longer on sale.
The revelation casts doubt on a key Coalition election proposal to eliminate penalties for cars that emit CO2 beyond regulated limits to ensure “Australians save thousands when buying a new car”.
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04/18/2025 - 10:19
Wind power developer eyes legal remedies to order that blocks renewable energy projects and eliminates green job opportunities
This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The buildout of renewable energy projects in downstate New York – the region that includes the Hudson valley and below – is often complicated. The space for these projects is limited, particularly in New York City, and they’re often expensive.
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04/18/2025 - 10:00
Prof Shane Ahyong discovered ‘brutish’ mantis shrimp so unusual it needed its own new genus
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When Prof Shane Ahyong was seven, his mum came home with a bag of prawns from the fish shop – but one of those things was not like the others.
“It just looked different,” said Ahyong.
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04/18/2025 - 04:21
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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04/18/2025 - 04:00
In an exclusive extract from Friederike Otto’s new book, she says climate disasters result from inequality as well as fossil fuel
My research as a climate scientist is in attribution science. Together with my team, I analyse extreme weather events and answer the questions of whether, and to what extent, human-induced climate change has altered their frequency, intensity and duration.
When I first began my research, most scientists claimed that these questions couldn’t be answered. There were technical reasons for this: for a long time, researchers had no weather models capable of mapping all climate-related processes in sufficient detail. But there were other reasons that had less to do with the research itself.
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04/18/2025 - 03:57
Thousands go to hospital with respiratory problems after massive dust cloud blows in from Saudi Arabia
Iraq was hit by its most severe sandstorm of 2025 this week, turning skies from blue to an orange haze. Visibility dropped to less than half a mile, causing travel disruptions, with two major airports halting flights, and streets in Basra, the largest city in southern Iraq, deserted. Respiratory problems sent thousands to hospital. The storm also affected Kuwait, where wind gusts exceeded 50mph, and visibility in some areas was diminished to zero.
This massive dust cloud originated in Saudi Arabia before being blown into Iraq. While dust storms are common in Iraq, the climate crisis is expected to intensify them across the region in the future, fuelled by desertification in Saudi Arabia and Syria.
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