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Category: Climate Crisis

  • Climate Crisis Denier Lee Anderson Finds Common Cause With Reform UK

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    Original article by Adam Barnett and Joey Grostern republished from DeSmog

    Lee Anderson MP has defected to Reform UK. Credit: Official House of Commons portrait

    The Ashfield MP, who left the Conservatives today for Reform, shares his new party’s trenchant opposition to net zero.

    The UK’s main climate science denial party has gained its first member of parliament with the defection of suspended Conservative MP Lee Anderson. 

    Anderson announced today that he was joining Reform UK, a right-wing, anti-green and anti-immigration party which is currently polling at 12 percent. 

    Reform campaigns to “scrap all of net zero” and last year received £135,000 from donors who deny climate science or have business links to fossil fuels. 

    Anderson has repeatedly attacked the government’s net zero policies, arguing in February 2024 that a net zero UK “wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference to the earth’s atmosphere”.

    He is also a vocal backer of new oil, gas and coal extraction in the UK. He has suggested that coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, is environmentally sustainable because “coal 100 million years ago was trees and plants”. 

    In 2022 he supported the decision to open a new coal mine in Cumbria, which he described as “part of the net zero journey”. 

    Since June 2023 Anderson has worked as a presenter on right-wing broadcaster GB News alongside Reform’s leader Richard Tice and its honourary president Nigel Farage. 

    While Anderson has contradicted the scientific consensus on net zero and fossil fuels, Reform’s leadership has gone further, explicitly rejecting the climate science on global warming. 

    Tice has said “CO2 isn’t poison, it’s plant food”, while the party’s London mayoral candidate Howard Cox has said “man is not responsible for global warming”.

    Reform’s manifesto falsely claims that “scientists disagree as to how much” humans have had an impact on global warming. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s foremost climate science body, has stated that it is “unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land”.

    When approached for comment, a Reform UK spokesperson told DeSmog: “You know what our policies are towards net zero and the climate agenda” adding that it should come as no surprise when Reform is “supported by others that agree with us”.

    Lee Anderson and the Conservative Party had not responded at time of publication. 

    Anderson was suspended from the Conservative Party last month after saying “Islamists” had “got control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is a Muslim, adding that the Mayor had “given our capital city away to his mates”.

    The MP had resigned as the Conservative Party’s deputy chair in January to protest the government’s bill on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, which he considered too weak. 

    Anderson and Climate Denial

    Anderson has repeatedly attacked net zero policies, arguing last month that if the UK “became net zero tomorrow” it wouldn’t affect global warming due to higher volumes of emissions produced by other countries.

    In September 2022, Anderson signed an open letter written by the Net Zero Scrutiny Group (NZSG) of backbench MPs that was published in The Telegraph. It called on the UK government to green-light fracking for shale gas, and argued that gas projects should be “fast-tracked” in light of the energy crisis.

    In October, Anderson received a £3,000 donation from Michael Hintze, one of the few  known funders of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) – the UK’s main climate science denial group, which has extensive ties to the NZSG. 

    At last month’s launch of Popular Conservatives – a new Tory faction run by Mark Littlewood, the former director of the BP-funded Institute of Economic Affairs think tank – Anderson said net zero “never comes up on the doorstep” aside from “the odd weirdo”.

    Last July, Anderson called the climate activist group Just Stop Oil “the biggest menace in our society” in a post on X (formerly Twitter) where he celebrated the approval of hundreds more oil and gas licences in the North Sea. 

    GB News and Fossil Fuels

    In June 2023, Anderson joined right-wing outlet GB News as a presenter, a role which pays him £100,000 per year – around £20,000 more than his MPs’ salary. 

    A DeSmog investigation last year found one in three GB News presenters broadcast climate science denial, while half attacked net zero policies. 

    GB News is co-owned by British millionaire Paul Marshall, who in October DeSmog revealed has £1.8 billion invested in fossil fuel interests through his hedge fund Marshall Wace in the year to June 2023.  

    The channel’s other biggest shareholder, the United Arab Emirates-based investment firm Legatum Group, runs the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), a conservative project fronted by Canadian climate denier Jordan Peterson. 

    ARC’s advisors include some of the world’s most prominent climate crisis deniers, including Danish writer Bjorn Lomborg, US activist Michael Shellenberger, and former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is also a GWPF trustee. 

    GB News is the subject of several ongoing probes by broadcast regulator Ofcom, and earlier this month reported losses of £42 million in the year to May 2023, and £76 million since its launch in 2021. 

    Original article by Adam Barnett and Joey Grostern republished from DeSmog

  • Greta Thunberg, 40+ Other Climate Activists Block Entrance to Swedish Parliament

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    Original article by THOR BENSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and fellow activists arrive to block the main entrances of the Swedish Parliament during a protest due to the lack of action from the Swedish authorities, on March 11, 2024, in Stockholm, Sweden.  (Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)

    “Sweden is unfortunately not unique in completely ignoring the climate crisis,” Thunberg said.

    Greta Thunberg and over 40 other activists blocked the entrance to the Swedish parliament on Monday, demanding action on the climate crisis.

    The activists held signs that said “Climate Justice Now,” and Thunberg expressed her dissatisfaction with how the Swedish government is handling the global emergency.

    “Sweden is unfortunately not unique in completely ignoring the climate crisis, not treating it as an emergency at all. But actively trying to greenwash, deceive, and lie in order to make it seem like they are doing enough and that they are moving in the right direction, when in fact the exact opposite is happening,” Thunberg said.

    Thunberg went on to say that Sweden is “very good at greenwashing,” even though the country has “very high emissions per capita.” She said the country cannot claim to be a climate leader.

    “The climate justice movement has for decades tried to get our message across, and scientists and the most affected people have been sounding the alarm for even longer than that,” she said. “But the people in power have not been listening. They have been actively ignoring and silence those speaking out.”

    Thunberg has faced the risk of going to jail over her climate protests repeatedly in recent years, and she has continued to sound the alarm that countries are not doing enough to fight the climate crisis.

    The Swedish government has been facing intense criticism recently for enacting policies that will likely increase its carbon emissions. Thunberg vowed to continue her resistance to such policies.

    “The climate crisis is only going to get worse and so it is all our responsibilities, all of those who have an opportunity to act must do so. We encourage everyone who can to join us and to join the climate justice movement,” Thunberg said.

    Original article by THOR BENSON republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

    Outside court in London, Greta Thunberg says "We must remember who the real enemy is ... who our laws are meant to protect." Quoted from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68166341
    Outside court in London, Greta Thunberg says “We must remember who the real enemy is … who our laws are meant to protect.” Quoted from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68166341

  • Celebs, jets and climate change: The real impact of the private jet industry

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  • “Austerity is a political choice, not an economic necessity” – Jeremy Corbyn on #Budget24

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    https://labouroutlook.org/2024/03/06/austerity-is-a-political-choice-not-an-economic-necessity-jeremy-corbyn-exclusive-on-budget24/

    Image of Jeremy Corbyn MP, former leader of the Labour Party
    Jeremy Corbyn MP, former leader of the Labour Party

    “Today’s budget exposes a government that is blind to the scale of the crises we face. While private companies are taking home more profit than ever before, more than 4 million children live in poverty.”

    Jeremy Corbyn MP

    “Austerity is a political choice, not an economic necessity” – Jeremy Corbyn exclusive on #Budget24

    Jeremy Corbyn MP writes for Labour Outlook on #Budget24.

    This is what we said back in 2015, five years into a devastating programme of cuts and privatisation. We knew that austerity would decimate our public services, plunge millions into poverty and send our country into economic decline. It was true then – and it is true now.

    Today’s budget exposes a government that is blind to the scale of the crises we face. While private companies are taking home more profit than ever before, more than 4 million children live in poverty. A quarter of a million people are homeless, while millions more languish on social housing waiting lists. Our NHS is on its knees after decades of austerity and privatisation.

    Perhaps most alarmingly, we are sleepwalking toward a climate emergency. Make no mistake, the climate crisis is here, and we are running out of time to avoid total catastrophe. People in the Global South are already suffering the worst consequences – more and more people in this country will experience the devastating effects of air pollution, heatwaves and flooding.

    The Tories’ economic experiment has failed – and they should not get off lightly. Parroting the language of austerity is a grave mistake, and represents a missed opportunity to bring about the transformative change this country needs. When there are more billionaires in this country than ever before, the idea that we cannot afford to build a fairer and greener society is absurd. We have the means to end poverty, pay our workers properly and save the planet. We just need the political will.

    Millions of us still believe in a real alternative.

    One that funds a fully-public NHS; austerity and privatisation are the causes of – not the solutions to – the healthcare crisis.

    One that introduced rent controls and builds social housing; we will never tackle the housing emergency until we treat housing as a human right, and embark upon a huge council house-building programme.

    One that invests in a Green New Deal to transform the economy and create thousands of green, unionised jobs.

    One that scraps the 2-child benefits cap; this cruel and callous policy is a moral disgrace, and we could pay for the abolition of this policy seventeen times over with a 1-2% wealth tax on people with assets over £10 million.

    One that brings energy, water, rail and mail into public ownership; privatisation has been a total disaster, and it’s time we stood up to the companies holding our country to ransom.

    Our economy is not just broken. It is rigged in the interests of the few – and unless we fundamentally rewrite the rules of our economy, nothing will change. There’s nothing fiscally responsible about plunging millions of people into poverty or destroying our natural world. Why can’t we have the courage to campaign for a more joyful, equal and sustainable future?

    As the MP for Islington North, I will continue to campaign alongside my community for a redistribution of wealth and power. For an economy that puts human need before corporate greed. For a society that cares for each other and cares for all.

    https://labouroutlook.org/2024/03/06/austerity-is-a-political-choice-not-an-economic-necessity-jeremy-corbyn-exclusive-on-budget24/

  • More climate records fall in world’s warmest February

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    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68428348

    Last month was the world’s warmest February in modern times, the EU’s climate service says, extending the run of monthly records to nine in a row.

    Each month since June 2023 has seen new temperature highs for the time of year.

    The world’s sea surface is at its hottest on record, while Antarctic sea-ice has again reached extreme lows.

    Temperatures are still being boosted by the Pacific’s El Niño weather event, but human-caused climate change is by far the main driver of the warmth.

    “Heat-trapping greenhouse gases are unequivocally the main culprit,” stresses Prof Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization.

    Carbon dioxide concentrations are at their highest level for at least two million years, according to the UN’s climate body, and increased by near-record levels again over the past year.

    Those warming gases helped make February 2024 about 1.77C warmer than “pre-industrial” times – before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels – according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

    …

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68428348