Breaking Waves: Ocean News

MPs question value of billions in subsidies granted to Drax power plant

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 23:01:18 +0000

Spending watchdog warns £6.5bn in funding may not offer value for public money amid ongoing sustainability concerns

A government spending watchdog has questioned the value of the multi-billion pound subsidies granted to the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire – and said that plans to hand over billions more may not represent value for money.

UK spending watchdog censures water firms and regulators over sewage failings

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 23:00:18 +0000

NAO finds regulatory gaps have enabled overspending on infrastructure building while not improving sewage works

Water companies have been getting away with failures to improve sewage works and overspending because of regulatory problems, a damning report by the government’s spending watchdog has found.

Only three people ever prosecuted for covering up England’s illegal sewage spills

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 21:30:16 +0000

Employees of water firms who obstruct investigations into spills could face jail under new rules that come into force on Friday

Water company bosses have entirely escaped punishment for covering up illegal sewage spills, government figures show, as ministers prepare to bring in a new law threatening them with up to two years in prison for doing so.

Only three people have ever been prosecuted for obstructing the Environment Agency in its investigations into sewage spills, officials said, and none received even a fine.

Britain will accelerate push to net zero, Starmer tells energy summit

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 18:22:30 +0000

Speech made clear prime minister sees renewable energy as core to UK’s future prosperity and national security

Britain will go “all out” for a low-carbon future and accelerate the push to net zero instead of slowing down as some have demanded, the prime minister said on Thursday.

Trump denies aid for Arkansas after storms that killed more than 40 people

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 18:20:56 +0000

Latest denial of disaster funding comes as Trump has repeatedly stated he wants to eliminate Fema

Forestry Commission investigates felling of ancient Enfield oak

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 18:05:41 +0000

Minister says incident ‘opened up a nerve in the country’ as new questions raised over ownership of land it stood on

The Forestry Commission has started an investigation into the controversial felling of an ancient oak near a Toby Carvery car park in north London amid new questions about ownership of the land on which it stood.

Green groups decry plan to list world’s biggest meatpacking company on NYSE

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 15:10:13 +0000

Critics fear decision to list Brazil-based firm JBS, long linked to Amazon’s deforestation, will add to the climate crisis

Environmental groups are outraged that the world’s biggest meatpacking company, JBS, which has long been linked to Amazon’s deforestation, has received approval from US authorities to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

US interior agency to fast track fossil fuel and mining permits over ‘fake emergency’

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 13:45:11 +0000

Department cites Trump’s ‘energy emergency’ declaration to expedite permissions from multiple years to 28 days

US politics live – latest updates

The US interior department has announced plans to radically fast track permitting for projects involving fossil fuels and mining citing Donald Trump’s ‘energy emergency’ declaration that many experts say does not exist.

Trump administration kills landmark pollution settlement in majority-Black county

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 13:00:06 +0000

Decision will affect mostly low-income Alabama residents as DoJ dismisses agreement over untreated sewage as DEI

Norfolk bird surveyors find Britain’s oldest known oystercatchers

admin — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 12:04:46 +0000

Birds in their 40s wintering on mudflats of the Wash received leg rings in early 1980s

If your ears are assaulted by the shrill piping calls of an excitable bird on the east coast of England, fear not: it’s probably an oystercatcher experiencing a midlife crisis.

Two of the handsome black and white birds with bright red-orange bills have been found to be the oldest known oystercatchers ever recorded in Britain, clocking up at least 41 and 43 years on the mudflats of the Wash.