Breaking Waves: Ocean News

At a time when the UK and other countries are finally taking bold steps for climate, Canada is preparing a new oil pipeline Last week, the United Kingdom did something all too rare: it chose leadership by backing science and prioritizing public safety. The Labour government announced it would ban new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, strengthen a windfall tax and accelerate phasing out of fossil-fuel subsidies. These are not symbolic gestures. They are an acknowledgment that the global energy system is shifting and that mature economies must shift with it. Tzeporah Berman is a Canadian environmental activist, campaigner and writer Continue reading...

Backlog delaying ‘shovel-ready’ ventures will be cleared with aim of building virtually zero-carbon power system by 2030 Britain’s energy system operator is pulling the plug on hundreds of electricity generation projects to clear a huge backlog that is stopping “shovel-ready” schemes from connecting to the power grid. Developers will be told on Monday whether their plans will be dismissed by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) – or whether they will be prioritised to connect by either the end of the decade or 2035. Continue reading...

In Voices from the Kitchen, Marc Meyer pulls the curtain back on the harrowing journeys of the people who run his restaurants Throughout his lifetime, the celebrated chef and author Anthony Bourdain was unequivocal in his belief that the restaurant industry in the US could not function without immigrant labor. These indispensable workers, Bourdain argued, were not only willing to do the jobs that most US-born citizens would look down upon, but also they did them better and faster. “People have differing opinions on what we should do about immigration in the future,” Bourdain told the Houston Press in 2007. “But let’s be honest, at least, about who is cooking in America now. Who we rely on – have relied on – for decades. The bald fact is that the entire restaurant industry in America would close down overnight, would never recover, if current immigration laws were enforced quickly and thoroughly across the board.” Continue reading...

Education program sponsored by Shell’s Queensland Gas Company is ‘climate obstruction dressed up as education’, advocacy group says Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Queensland Museum has been accused of misleading teachers and children about the root cause of the climate crisis through a multimillion-dollar education partnership with one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies. Shell’s Queensland Gas Company has been sponsoring the museum’s Future Makers learning program since 2015 and produces teaching materials as well as running free professional development courses for teachers. But a review of the program’s climate change materials carried out by climate advocacy group Comms Declare claimed they ignore the root cause of the climate crisis: the burning of fossil fuels, including gas. Belinda Noble, founder of Comms Declare, said: “This is climate obstruction dressed up as education. We wouldn’t let big tobacco sponsor teaching materials – fossil fuel companies shouldn’t shape how kids learn about the climate.” Future Makers worksheets and learning materials about global warming designed for years 7 to 10 explain how greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are rising and this is causing rapid warming, but the cause of the rise – mainly fossil fuel burning – is not explained. Continue reading...