Breaking Waves: Ocean News

The war on Iran has put fossil-fuel prices centre stage, but don’t believe those who tout ‘maximising the North Sea’ as our salvation These are burning, smoking lies. As oil and gas prices soar, thanks to the US and Israel’s attack on Iran, the UK’s opponents of climate policy become even shriller. Rightwing politicians, Tufton Street junktanks and the billionaire press tell us our energy security will be enhanced and our bills will fall if we abandon net zero policies, ditch renewables and reinvest in North Sea gas. These claims are not just a little bit wrong. They are the exact opposite of the truth. Two things have indeed happened in recent years. The price of electricity has soared, contributing greatly to the cost of living, and the proportion of the electricity we receive from renewables has simultaneously boomed: from 3% in 2000 to 47% today. So, they claim, one has caused the other: more renewables means higher prices. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Exclusive: Campaigners call for government to introduce right-to-roam bill that allows people to walk around their local woodlands Nearly three-quarters of England’s woods are off-limits to the public, buried government documents show. The study by Forest Research, which is a government-funded quango, found that 73% of English woodland is publicly inaccessible. Continue reading...

Advocates say bill weakens safety reviews, boosts industry influence and shields pesticide makers from legal liability Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The newly proposed, Republican-led farm bill includes a range of provisions opponents say constitute a “pesticide industry wishlist” that would kill protections for humans, the environment, wildlife and endangered species, while also shielding industry from legal liability. Among other measures, they said the bill would delay safety reviews, give industry a prominent role in determining endangered species’ protections and grant the US Department of Agriculture new veto power over health safeguards for children, farm workers and the public. Continue reading...

In the race to meet the demands of the energy transition, biodiversity hotspots such as Palawan in the Philippines are being increasingly mined for critical elements How nature is being sacrificed for mining across the world – a data visualisation Moharen Tahil Tambiling lowers himself from the fishing boat into the water and gingerly picks his way over the reef circling the bay. At low tide here in Brooke’s Point on Palawan, a long, rugged island in the south-west of the Philippines archipelago, the coral is just under the surface, and it looms suddenly under the waves, scraping at the boat’s wooden hull. Beneath his feet are brain-like mounds and curling fingers of coral. Leaning over the side of the fishing boat, the men point out different kinds: some which were once vibrant orange and others that should be delicate pink. Now, almost everything is the same dull khaki, covered by a thick film of silt. Another man jumps overboard, stirring the sediment. A cloud rises like thick smoke over the reef. Continue reading...