The UK government has slashed the financial support on offer for new offshore wind farms, forcing developers to find further cost savings if their projects are to proceed.
The government said that it expected the reduced budget to be able to deliver more wind farm capacity than last time, of about four gigawatts. —Emily Gosden, The Times, 21 November 2018
So the news that the government has adjusted their level of support to the new circumstances doesn’t really represent a “slashing”, surely? It’s what is supposed to happen, isn’t it? And the windfarm giants like Orsted should take it in their stride, shouldn’t they? After all, they have floating hotels now. —Andrew Montford, GWPF, 21 November 2018
A carbon tax will have to increase substantially – from €100 per person a year to €1,500 a year – if Ireland is to meet legally-binding targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, according to ESRI projections. —The Irish Times, 21 November 2018
UN environment chief Erik Solheim has resigned amid a row over his travel expenses. A recent draft internal audit, obtained by Britain’s Guardian newspaper and seen by the BBC, said he had incurred costs of $488,518 (£382,111) while traveling for 529 out of 668 days. It said this harmed the reputation of UN Environment – a body that highlights green issues and sustainability. —BBC News, 20 November 2018
It’s not like the green blob to keep quiet when there’s a threat to the environment in the offing. Even the smallest hint of a problem is usually enough to work a tree-hugger into a frenzy. So it’s worth taking a look at their decision to keep shtum over the recent appearance of what may be one of the greatest threats to the natural world we have seen. —Andrew Montford, The Spectator, 20 November 2018
For us New Optimists, however, it’s an uphill battle. No matter how persuasive our evidence, we routinely encounter disbelief and even hostility, as if accentuating the positive was callous. People cling to pessimism about the state of the world. John Stuart Mill neatly summarized this tendency as far back as 1828: “I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs when others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.” It’s cool to be gloomy. –Matt Ridley, The Wall Street Journal, 17 November 2018
No more of these Bird and Bat choppers and eyesores to the land and sea total’y cut off all funding to Wind farms wind turbines by 100%