Green Party plans 55mph motorway speed limit as Tories slam ‘war on drivers’
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/green-party-55mph-motorway-speed-limit-5HjdXKh_2
Fuel taxes would rise, whilst parking spaces would be steadily reduced and frequent driving tests mandated in accordance with the plans.
New plans from the Green Party show measures to significantly reduce motorway speed limits from 70mph down to just 55mph.
The move has sparked criticism from the Conservatives, who said Green leader Zack Polanski is waging a “war on drivers”.
Other Green Party measures proposed for motorists would see taxes on driving “increased incrementally”, whilst parking spaces would be “steadily reduced” to discourage their use.
According to reports, drivers would also be expected to re-take their driving test every five years, with driving considered “not a right, but a privilege”.
The official Green Party transport policy reads: “On major roads outside built up areas, the maximum speed limit allowed would be 55mph, to maximise the efficiency of fuel use as well as improving safety.”
They add that the speed limits on motorways and dual carriageways would be dropped by 15mph, and 20mph limits would be imposed on all built up areas.
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https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/green-party-55mph-motorway-speed-limit-5HjdXKh_2
dizzy: Encountering some problems posting again …
New North Sea drilling would barely reduce UK gas imports at all, data shows
Exclusive: research finds Jackdaw field would provide only about 2% of current demand, and Rosebank only 1%
Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown.
The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources.
The Rosebank field, also in Scottish waters but mainly containing oil, would displace only about 1% of the UK’s gas imports.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, the campaign group, which compiled the data from public sources, said: “New fields like Jackdaw and Rosebank would do vanishingly little to boost UK gas production. Even in the most optimistic scenario, and assuming none of its gas is exported, Jackdaw would provide just 2% of UK demand over its nine- to 12-year lifetime.”
It has already been shown, by authorities including the UK Energy Research Centre, that new drilling would not reduce oil and gas prices, or improve the UK’s energy security. It is also unlikely to produce durable jobs or major new tax revenues, as 90% of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas has already been burned, putting the industry in steep and irrecoverable decline. Companies are also demanding tax breaks to tap the new fields, which are harder to access than existing supplies.
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/04/new-north-sea-drilling-jackdaw-rosebank-uk-gas-imports
Record high ocean temperatures off southern California raise fears of prolonged marine heatwave
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/04/high-ocean-temperatures-california-marine-heatwave
Researchers warn the high-pressure conditions could disrupt marine life and ecosystems if it continues
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The waters of southern California historically warm every few years as tropical currents make their way north, a phenomenon known as El Niño. But the marine heatwave that started last fall wasn’t caused by tropical currents. Instead, a high-pressure atmospheric system – think of calm, sunny days – has perched above southern California, warming both air and sea above historic levels. The same phenomenon has helped fuel a ferocious California heatwave on land.
The extended ocean warming has drawn comparisons to “the Blob”, a three-year marine heatwave caused by similar prolonged high-pressure conditions a decade ago that devastated marine life. The next few weeks are likely to determine whether this marine heatwave fizzles out or evolves into something more Blob-like, scientists say.
“The biggest concern is how the year plays out,” Andrew Leising, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said. “We could be looking at much larger impacts next fall and winter, if it stays warm and then it’s followed by a strong El Niño.”
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Prolonged ocean heat has a devastating impact on phytoplankton and can cause harmful algal blooms. Those changes can wreak havoc on many forms of marine life, from sea lions and dolphins, to shore birds and halibut. The Blob years led to one of the worst Dungeness crab seasons in recent history, said Melissa Carter, a researcher at the UC-San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Such heatwaves are becoming more common and lasting longer, partly because of the slow warming of the oceans driven by the climate crisis, and partly because of atmospheric changes that scientists are still struggling to understand.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/04/high-ocean-temperatures-california-marine-heatwave
Analysis: Record wind and solar saved UK from gas imports worth £1bn in March 2026
Original article by Simon Evans and Ho Woo Nam republished from Carbon Brief under a CC license.
The UK avoided the need for gas imports worth £1bn in March 2026 thanks to record electricity generation from wind and solar, reveals Carbon Brief analysis.
Wind generation hit a new record for the month of March on the island of Great Britain, up 38% year-on-year, while solar nearly matched the output of last year’s exceptionally sunny spring.
Together, wind and solar generated 11 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in March 2026, up a combined 28% and setting a new record for the month, as shown in the figure below.
This record wind and solar output avoided the need to import 21TWh of gas – roughly 18 fully loaded tankers of liquified natural gas (LNG) – which would have cost around £1bn at current high prices due to the Iran war.
(This is based on gas costing 130p per therm, or £44 per megawatt hour, compared with the range of 120-170p per therm seen over the past month.)
At the same time, the record output from wind and solar saw electricity generation from gas falling 25% year-on-year in March 2026 to the lowest level ever recorded for the month.
This meant that gas was setting the price of electricity roughly 25% less often in March 2026 than in the same month in 2022, when fossil-fuel prices spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Original article by Simon Evans and Ho Woo Nam republished from Carbon Brief under a CC license.
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