Madrid (AFP) – Climate activists said Sunday they had plugged the holes on 10 golf courses across Spain to protest at the sport’s excessive water usage as Europe lives through a severe drought.
Activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) filled in the holes under cover of darkness in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, the Basque Country, Navarra and the Balearic Island of Ibiza to denounce “the waste of water during one of the worst droughts Europe has ever suffered”.
“Golf has no place in a world without water,” said a statement from the group, which uses direct action to underline its warnings about the dangers to the planet.
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“Just one hole of a golf course consumes more than 100,000 litres of water a day to maintain the surrounding green,” XR said, citing figures from the Spanish NGO Ecologists In Action.
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Experts say parts of Spain — which is the world’s biggest exporter of olive oil and a key source of Europe’s fruit and vegetables — are the driest they’ve been in a thousand years, with the prolonged drought depleting reservoirs to half their normal capacity.
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Extinction Rebellion said it was part of a series of international protests “targeting the richest 1 percent of the population” through their golf courses, private jets and high-end cars to make clear that “the rich and their leisure activities that waste essential resources are a luxury we cannot afford”.
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It should be clear – if you bother to engage your brain – that the climate crisis is already affecting inflation and the cost of living crisis. Less precipitation (rain) and disrupted weather [patterns] through climate change mean less crops and increased prices in the supermarket for your fruit and veg, vegetable and olive oil, all those goods made from wheat, corn, beans, etc. The Capitalists will tell you it’s all because of the war in Ukraine. Bollocks, climate change is adversely affecting crops everywhere, Ukraine is not the only place growing crops. Climate change is affecting everyone now.
It’s also noted that the rich are specifically addressed targeted.
Related: Climate change crisis: Golf courses on borrowed time as Earth’s weather patterns become wilder
Campaigners have called for water to be taken into public ownership
Image: Richard Webb / Burst water main / CC BY-SA 2.0
Private water firm Thames Water is under fire once again after revelations that the rate of leaks from its pipes are at the highest level for five years. The news has sparked renewed calls for the three decade long privatisation experiment to be brought to an end.
Letters between the CEO of Thames Water Sarah Bentley and environment minister Rebecca Pow have been released under freedom of information laws and have revealed the scale of the company’s leakage problem.
According to the Guardian, Bentley told Pow: “Right now, we have the highest leakage rate since 2018. Consequently, we have already signalled to Ofwat that we are behind on our 2022/23 leakage performance and our target this year will now be very challenging to achieve.”
These revelations have been met with outrage by campaigners. Anti-privatisation group We Own It has reiterated their call for the water sector to be taken into public ownership.
Campaigners gather on Fistral Beach, Newquay, as they take part in a National Day of Action on Sewage Pollution. Picture date: Saturday April 23, 2022.
WATER company bosses were paid almost £15 million in bonuses last year despite overseeing 825 unlawful sewage discharges a day, leaving every river in England and many coastal waters polluted.
Labour vowed today to “hold water bosses to account for negligence over unlawful discharges” and a campaign group is gathering tens of thousands of signatures on an online petition calling for the bonuses to be scrapped.
The petition has been launched by pressure group 38 Degrees, whose name derives from the angle at which fallen snow turns into an avalanche.
The group said: “Despite sewage being pumped into our rivers and seas 825 times a day last year, water company CEOs received nearly £15 million in bonuses.
PROTESTERS will unveil satirical blue plaques in Taunton claiming to “highlight MP’s Rebecca Pow failure to support the tightening of environmental legislation, to regulate the discharges of the water companies”.
Extinction Rebellion said they “will join a national day of action called Dirty Water to highlight the “shocking state of the waterways”.
The plaques will be unveiled on Saturday (January 28) at sites along the River Tone and the event will finish with a piece of Street Theatre in French Weir.
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Reverend Jonathan Morris, a retired priest from the Diocese of Bath and Wells, and a member of Taunton Extinction Rebellion said: “We’ve watched in horror as our rivers and seas have become open sewers since October 2021, when the government, including the Taunton MP Rebecca Pow, voted down a proposal to stop water companies pumping waste directly into our rivers.
“Lords Amendment 45 to the Environment Bill would have placed a legal duty on water companies in England and Wales “to make improvements to their sewerage systems and demonstrate progressive reductions in the harm caused by discharges of untreated sewage.” report Evolve.
“Despite the horrendous environmental impact of the disgusting practice, shortly before the vote, the Conservative Environment Secretary George Eustice recommended to his fellow MPs that they should reject it.”
“And, owing largely to the government’s 80 seat majority, the amendment was indeed defeated – by a margin of 268 MPs to 204.”
For your convenience, Evolve has collated a list of every single MP who voted to allow water companies to continue the horrendous practice of dumping raw sewage into our waterways below. Make sure you contact them or post on your social media to remind them of their duties. It is 2021 not 1988. Water companies which are highly profitable regional monopolies, some even avoiding UK tax, can not be allowed to get away with this for £.
Steve Double (Conservative – St Austell and Newquay) Scott Mann (Conservative – North Cornwall) George Eustice (Conservative – Camborne and Redruth – sewage affecting Godrevy, Portreath, Porthtowan etc) Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative – Truro and Falmouth – St Agnes, Porthtowan, Falmouth, Perranporth etc) Gary Streeter (Conservative – South West Devon) Robert Goodwill (Conservative – Scarborough and Whitby) Greg Knight (Conservative – East Yorkshire) Jacob Young (Conservative – Redcar) Matt Hancock (Conservative – West Suffolk) James Cartlidge (Conservative – South Suffolk
Alun Cairns (Conservative – Vale of Glamorgan) Duncan Baker (Conservative – North Norfolk) Scott Benton (Conservative – Blackpool South) Stephen Crabb (Conservative – Preseli Pembrokeshire) David T C Davies (Conservative – Monmouth) James Davies (Conservative – Vale of Clwyd) Jamie Wallis (Conservative – Bridgend) Nigel Adams (Conservative – Selby and Ainsty) Adam Afriyie (Conservative – Windsor) Peter Aldous (Conservative – Waveney) Lucy Allan (Conservative – Telford) Lee Anderson (Conservative – Ashfield) Stuart Andrew (Conservative – Pudsey) Edward Argar (Conservative – Charnwood) Victoria Atkins (Conservative – Louth and Horncastle) Gareth Bacon (Conservative – Orpington) Kemi Badenoch (Conservative – Saffron Walden) Shaun Bailey (Conservative – West Bromwich West) Steve Baker (Conservative – Wycombe) Harriett Baldwin (Conservative – West Worcestershire) Steve Barclay (Conservative – North East Cambridgeshire) Simon Baynes (Conservative – Clwyd South) Aaron Bell (Conservative – Newcastle-under-Lyme) Paul Beresford (Conservative – Mole Valley) Bob Blackman (Conservative – Harrow East) Crispin Blunt (Conservative – Reigate) Peter Bone (Conservative – Wellingborough) Andrew Bowie (Conservative – West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) Graham Brady (Conservative – Altrincham and Sale West) Suella Braverman (Conservative – Fareham) Jack Brereton (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent South) Andrew Bridgen (Conservative – North West Leicestershire) Steve Brine (Conservative – Winchester) Paul Bristow (Conservative – Peterborough) Sara Britcliffe (Conservative – Hyndburn) Anthony Browne (Conservative – South Cambridgeshire) Fiona Bruce (Conservative – Congleton) Felicity Buchan (Conservative – Kensington) Alex Burghart (Conservative – Brentwood and Ongar) Rob Butler (Conservative – Aylesbury) Andy Carter (Conservative – Warrington South) William Cash (Conservative – Stone) Miriam Cates (Conservative – Penistone and Stocksbridge) Maria Caulfield (Conservative – Lewes) Alex Chalk (Conservative – Cheltenham) Jo Churchill (Conservative – Bury St Edmunds) Theo Clarke (Conservative – Stafford) Brendan Clarke-Smith (Conservative – Bassetlaw) Chris Clarkson (Conservative – Heywood and Middleton) James Cleverly (Conservative – Braintree) Thérèse Coffey (Conservative – Suffolk Coastal) Damian Collins (Conservative – Folkestone and Hythe) Alberto Costa (Conservative – South Leicestershire) Robert Courts (Conservative – Witney) Claire Coutinho (Conservative – East Surrey) Virginia Crosbie (Conservative – Ynys Môn) James Daly (Conservative – Bury North) Gareth Davies (Conservative – Grantham and Stamford) Mims Davies (Conservative – Mid Sussex) Dehenna Davison (Conservative – Bishop Auckland) Caroline Dinenage (Conservative – Gosport) Sarah Dines (Conservative – Derbyshire Dales) Jonathan Djanogly (Conservative – Huntingdon) Leo Docherty (Conservative – Aldershot) Michelle Donelan (Conservative – Chippenham) Nadine Dorries (Conservative – Mid Bedfordshire) Julian Lewis (Conservative – New Forest East) Chris Loder (Conservative – West Dorset) Oliver Dowden (Conservative – Hertsmere) Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative – Thurrock) Flick Drummond (Conservative – Meon Valley) David Duguid (Conservative – Banff and Buchan) Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative – Chingford and Woodford Green) Ruth Edwards (Conservative – Rushcliffe) Michael Ellis (Conservative – Northampton North) Natalie Elphicke (Conservative – Dover) Luke Evans (Conservative – Bosworth) David Evennett (Conservative – Bexleyheath and Crayford) Ben Everitt (Conservative – Milton Keynes North) Michael Fabricant (Conservative – Lichfield) Laura Farris (Conservative – Newbury) Simon Fell (Conservative – Barrow and Furness) Katherine Fletcher (Conservative – South Ribble) Mark Fletcher (Conservative – Bolsover) Nick Fletcher (Conservative – Don Valley) Liam Fox (Conservative – North Somerset) Lucy Frazer (Conservative – South East Cambridgeshire) Mike Freer (Conservative – Finchley and Golders Green) Marcus Fysh (Conservative – Yeovil) Mark Garnier (Conservative – Wyre Forest) Nusrat Ghani (Conservative – Wealden) Nick Gibb (Conservative – Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) Peter Gibson (Conservative – Darlington) Jo Gideon (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent Central) John Glen (Conservative – Salisbury) Richard Graham (Conservative – Gloucester) Helen Grant (Conservative – Maidstone and The Weald) Chris Green (Conservative – Bolton West) Andrew Griffith (Conservative – Arundel and South Downs) Kate Griffiths (Conservative – Burton) James Grundy (Conservative – Leigh) Jonathan Gullis (Conservative – Stoke-on-Trent North) Robert Halfon (Conservative – Harlow) Luke Hall (Conservative – Thornbury and Yate) Stephen Hammond (Conservative – Wimbledon) Mark Harper (Conservative – Forest of Dean) Rebecca Harris (Conservative – Castle Point) Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative – Hastings and Rye) John Hayes (Conservative – South Holland and The Deepings) James Heappey (Conservative – Wells) Darren Henry (Conservative – Broxtowe) Antony Higginbotham (Conservative – Burnley) Richard Holden (Conservative – North West Durham) Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative – Thirsk and Malton) Philip Hollobone (Conservative – Kettering) Paul Holmes (Conservative – Eastleigh) John Howell (Conservative – Henley) Paul Howell (Conservative – Sedgefield) Nigel Huddleston (Conservative – Mid Worcestershire) Neil Hudson (Conservative – Penrith and The Border) Eddie Hughes (Conservative – Walsall North) Jane Hunt (Conservative – Loughborough) Tom Hunt (Conservative – Ipswich) Alister Jack (Conservative – Dumfries and Galloway) Andrea Jenkyns (Conservative – Morley and Outwood) Robert Jenrick (Conservative – Newark) Caroline Johnson (Conservative – Sleaford and North Hykeham) Gareth Johnson (Conservative – Dartford) David Johnston (Conservative – Wantage) Andrew Jones (Conservative – Harrogate and Knaresborough) David Jones (Conservative – Clwyd West) Marcus Jones (Conservative – Nuneaton) Simon Jupp (Conservative – East Devon) Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative – Shrewsbury and Atcham) Alicia Kearns (Conservative – Rutland and Melton) Gillian Keegan (Conservative – Chichester) Julian Knight (Conservative – Solihull) Danny Kruger (Conservative – Devizes) Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative – Spelthorne) (Proxy vote cast by Stuart Andrew) John Lamont (Conservative – Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) Andrea Leadsom (Conservative – South Northamptonshire) Andrew Lewer (Conservative – Northampton South) Mark Logan (Conservative – Bolton North East) Marco Longhi (Conservative – Dudley North) Julia Lopez (Conservative – Hornchurch and Upminster) Jack Lopresti (Conservative – Filton and Bradley Stoke) Rachel Maclean (Conservative – Redditch) Kit Malthouse (Conservative – North West Hampshire) Anthony Mangnall (Conservative – Totnes) Julie Marson (Conservative – Hertford and Stortford) Theresa May (Conservative – Maidenhead) Jerome Mayhew (Conservative – Broadland) Paul Maynard (Conservative – Blackpool North and Cleveleys) Karl McCartney (Conservative – Lincoln) Stephen McPartland (Conservative – Stevenage) Mark Menzies (Conservative – Fylde) Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative – South Basildon and East Thurrock) Robin Millar (Conservative – Aberconwy) Maria Miller (Conservative – Basingstoke) Nigel Mills (Conservative – Amber Valley) Andrew Mitchell (Conservative – Sutton Coldfield) Gagan Mohindra (Conservative – South West Hertfordshire) Damien Moore (Conservative – Southport) Robbie Moore (Conservative – Keighley) Penny Mordaunt (Conservative – Portsmouth North) Anne Marie Morris (Conservative – Newton Abbot) James Morris (Conservative – Halesowen and Rowley Regis) Joy Morrissey (Conservative – Beaconsfield) Jill Mortimer (Conservative – Hartlepool) Wendy Morton (Conservative – Aldridge-Brownhills) Kieran Mullan (Conservative – Crewe and Nantwich) Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative – Scunthorpe) David Mundell (Conservative – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) Sheryll Murray (Conservative – South East Cornwall) Andrew Murrison (Conservative – South West Wiltshire) Robert Neill (Conservative – Bromley and Chislehurst) Lia Nici (Conservative – Great Grimsby) Neil O’Brien (Conservative – Harborough) Guy Opperman (Conservative – Hexham) Neil Parish (Conservative – Tiverton and Honiton) Owen Paterson (Conservative – North Shropshire) Mark Pawsey (Conservative – Rugby) Mike Penning (Conservative – Hemel Hempstead) John Penrose (Conservative – Weston-super-Mare) Chris Philp (Conservative – Croydon South) Christopher Pincher (Conservative – Tamworth) Dan Poulter (Conservative – Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) Rebecca Pow (Conservative – Taunton Deane) Victoria Prentis (Conservative – Banbury) Mark Pritchard (Conservative – The Wrekin) Tom Pursglove (Conservative – Corby) Will Quince (Conservative – Colchester) Tom Randall (Conservative – Gedling) John Redwood (Conservative – Wokingham) Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative – North East Somerset) Nicola Richards (Conservative – West Bromwich East) Angela Richardson (Conservative – Guildford) Laurence Robertson (Conservative – Tewkesbury) Mary Robinson (Conservative – Cheadle) Douglas Ross (Conservative – Moray) Lee Rowley (Conservative – North East Derbyshire) Dean Russell (Conservative – Watford) David Rutley (Conservative – Macclesfield) Gary Sambrook (Conservative – Birmingham, Northfield) Selaine Saxby (Conservative – North Devon) Paul Scully (Conservative – Sutton and Cheam) Bob Seely (Conservative – Isle of Wight) Andrew Selous (Conservative – South West Bedfordshire) Grant Shapps (Conservative – Welwyn Hatfield) Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative – Elmet and Rothwell) Chris Skidmore (Conservative – Kingswood) Chloe Smith (Conservative – Norwich North) Greg Smith (Conservative – Buckingham) Henry Smith (Conservative – Crawley) Julian Smith (Conservative – Skipton and Ripon) Royston Smith (Conservative – Southampton, Itchen) Ben Spencer (Conservative – Runnymede and Weybridge) Mark Spencer (Conservative – Sherwood) Alexander Stafford (Conservative – Rother Valley) Andrew Stephenson (Conservative – Pendle) Jane Stevenson (Conservative – Wolverhampton North East) Bob Stewart (Conservative – Beckenham) Iain Stewart (Conservative – Milton Keynes South) Mel Stride (Conservative – Central Devon) Graham Stuart (Conservative – Beverley and Holderness) Julian Sturdy (Conservative – York Outer) James Sunderland (Conservative – Bracknell) Desmond Swayne (Conservative – New Forest West) Robert Syms (Conservative – Poole) Maggie Throup (Conservative – Erewash) Edward Timpson (Conservative – Eddisbury) Justin Tomlinson (Conservative – North Swindon) Michael Tomlinson (Conservative – Mid Dorset and North Poole) Craig Tracey (Conservative – North Warwickshire) Laura Trott (Conservative – Sevenoaks) Tom Tugendhat (Conservative – Tonbridge and Malling) Shailesh Vara (Conservative – North West Cambridgeshire) Martin Vickers (Conservative – Cleethorpes) Matt Vickers (Conservative – Stockton South) Christian Wakeford (Conservative – Bury South) Robin Walker (Conservative – Worcester) Charles Walker (Conservative – Broxbourne) David Warburton (Conservative – Somerton and Frome) Matt Warman (Conservative – Boston and Skegness) Giles Watling (Conservative – Clacton) Suzanne Webb (Conservative – Stourbridge) Helen Whately (Conservative – Faversham and Mid Kent) Heather Wheeler (Conservative – South Derbyshire) John Whittingdale (Conservative – Maldon) James Wild (Conservative – North West Norfolk) Craig Williams (Conservative – Montgomeryshire) Gavin Williamson (Conservative – South Staffordshire) Mike Wood (Conservative – Dudley South) William Wragg (Conservative – Hazel Grove) Jeremy Wright (Conservative – Kenilworth and Southam) TELLER: Alan Mak (Conservative – Havant) TELLER: Craig Whittaker (Conservative – Calder Valley)
Environment Agency under fire for extending schedule for tackling pollution in rivers, lakes and coastal waters to 2063
Targets to clean up the majority of England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters suffering from a cocktail of agricultural and sewage pollution have been pushed back from 2027 to 2063.
Not one English waterway, including rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters is in good ecological and chemical health at present, with pollution from water treatment plants and agriculture the key sources of the damage. The Environment Agency said on Thursday £5.3bn was being invested for the next five years to stop the further deterioration of waterways.
But the summary documents within the plan reveal the target for all 3,651 water bodies to achieve good chemical and ecological status – a state in which they are as close to their natural state as possible – was now decades away in 2063.
Until Brexit the UK government was signed up to the water framework directive, which required countries to make sure all their waters achieved “good” chemical and ecological status by 2027 at the latest. The UK government later reduced the target to 75% of waterways reaching the single test of good ecological status by 2027 at the latest. The target for the majority of waterways to achieve good status in both chemical and ecological tests has now been pushed back to 2063, according to the documents.
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dizzy: 2063, does that mean never that waters need to be cleaned up by? Filthy waters for the UK population then and greater profits to the effectively unregulated privatised companies responsible. I’m sure that someone warned that Brexit was about deregulation …
