Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on becoming UK's prime minister today. His short-lived predecessor Liz Truss was not only in denial of the climate crisis but was actually actively hostile to renewable energy. Even though she only served 45 days, she imposed a windfall tax on renewables and nuclear energy only and promoted exploitation of oil and gas in the North Sea by issuing new exploration licences. [I am not supportive of nuclear energy.] The climate is in crisis. It's deteriorating and we're regularly breaking temperature records in UK despite so-far having it very easy compared to the rest of the World. It can't be simply denied as the Tories have been doing. Denial of the climate crisis is insane. It's going to get worse and extreme protests like closing the M25 are going to increase, the idea being that the protestors are stopping normal conduct of life that is killing the planet. Hopefully Rishi will tax the rich to pay for public services. He should know - through being filthy rich - that they're not even going to notice it.
Category: Climate Crisis
Congratulations to Rishi Sunak
‘Devastating’: Right-Wing Swedish Government Shutters Environment Ministry
“It is impossible to describe more clearly how little this government values the environment and the climate,” said the leader of the Swedish Greens.
JAKE JOHNSONOctober 19, 2022
In one of its first moves after taking power Tuesday, Sweden’s newly elected right-wing government scrapped the country’s environment ministry, drawing outrage from opposition lawmakers who say the step threatens to undermine the nation’s chances of meeting its climate targets.
“They don’t care about our common future. Expect huge cuts in green funding.”
Per Bolund, the leader of the Swedish Greens, wrote on social media that the axing of the environment ministry shows “how little this government values the environment and the climate.”
“This is a historic decision with devastating consequences for environmental issues,” Bolund added, noting that Sweden will now be without a separate environment ministry for the first time in five decades.
Pär Holmgren, a Swedish meteorologist and member of the European Parliament, also expressed outrage on Twitter.
Following the change announced by right-wing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, new environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari will work under the minister for energy, business, and industry, Ebba Busch.
Busch is the leader of Sweden’s Christian Democrats, part of the right-wing coalition now governing the country after winning a slim majority in September’s elections. The bloc includes the Sweden Democrats, a far-right xenophobic party.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that “Kristersson’s government is heavily dependent on the nationalist Sweden Democrats, the only party in parliament that doesn’t back the country’s target of having net zero emissions by 2045.”
“The four-party alliance that agreed on forming the new government last week said they would seek to lower fuel prices, partly by reducing the percentage of biofuels that has to be mixed into gas and diesel to the minimum level required by the European Union,” Bloomberg noted. “That would make it more difficult to reach a target of reducing transport emissions by 70% by 2030.”
Kristersson is also pushing for an expansion of nuclear power, aiming to reverse earlier efforts to dismantle the country’s reactors.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Kristersson said “Sweden’s goal on electricity production would change from ‘100% renewable’ to ‘100 percent fossil-free,’ which leaves room for nuclear energy.”
Republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) licence.
Apologies for bad news Sunday, this blog doesn’t do denial of reality.
Thank you climate activists
Thanks to climate activist. Thank you Morgan and Marcus of Just Stop Oil.
Queen: We are the Champions for climate activists Tory MPs and even Essex Police have taken to call climate activists selfish just recently. It’s totally ridiculous – how on Earth can they be selfish while risking prosecution and imprisonment? Those making these accusations are on the side of those destroying the climate for private profit. It’s them that are selfish of course, these assoles have no fekking idea.
Just Stop Oil shut Dartford’s QE2 bridge
It appears that this news is censored by UK government, it is reported by very few news outlets in UK.
Two Just Stop Oil supporters have climbed to the top of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge forcing police to close the bridge to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents.
At approximately 5 am two climbers ascended the two 84m masts on the North side of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge forcing the police to stop traffic from entering the bridge. It is expected that the bridge will remain shut for at least 24 hours.
Morgan Trowland, 39, a bridge design engineer from London, said
“As a professional civil engineer, each year as I renew my registration, I commit to acting within our code of ethics, which requires me to safeguard human life and welfare and the environment. Our government has enacted suicidal laws to accelerate oil production: killing human life and destroying our environment. I can’t challenge this madness in my desk job, designing bridges, so I’m taking direct action, occupying the QE2 bridge until the government stops all new oil.”
Marcus, 33, a teacher from London said:
“Too many people in this country simply don’t know the scale and intensity of climate breakdown as the scientists describe it. The authorities are criminally failing to get this grim science communicated. During Covid the science was conveyed on a daily basis. Why isn’t the most existential threat that humanity has ever faced on the news every day?
“Our political system is betraying the people of this country. More fossil fuel licenses means global genocide. Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need.”
Today’s actions follow over two weeks of continuous disruption by supporters of Just Stop Oil in which they have experienced over 450 arrests. On Sunday, there were 14 arrests of Just Stop Oil supporters, who blocked Park Lane and sprayed an Aston Martin dealership with orange paint. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 1,700 times, with 5 currently in prison.
