Climate Crisis
DeSmog UK – European Parliament: Say No to Fossil Fuel Lobbying at International Climate Talks
We shall see what becomes of this. Read here
Sustainability
Food Production
George Monbiot: Goodbye – and good riddance – to livestock farming
From The Guardian Livestock production is the single largest driver of habitat loss. Grazing livestock are a fully automated system for ecological destruction. Animal farming looks as incompatible with a sustained future for humans and […]
Energy
International Energy Agency: Solar leads the charge in another record year for renewables
Renewables accounted for two-thirds of new power added to world’s grids last year. Of these, solar power was the fast growing. Read here
Sustainability
ICCT: The EU needs new environmental safeguard measures for advanced biofuels
Biofuels seem to have created many more problems than they solved. ICCT , which gained prominence in heoping to expose Volkswagen’s diesel affair, takes a look at new potential dangers as the European Commission forms […]
Solutions
The Herald (Scotland): Scottish Government announces fracking ban
This is an important step for the Scots, but should not distract from the fact that they are and will be extracting massive amounts of oil from the North Sea. Read here
EU politics
Dan Bailey – The welfare state’s role in the transition to sustainable prosperity
Dan Bailey raises the question if sustainability will endanger the state welfare system even further? Dan Bailey is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) The welfare state has long embodied […]
EU politics
Guy Standing – Let us celebrate the 800th Anniversary of The Charter of the Forest
BRAVE NEW EUROPE continues its series of articles concerning the Commons with this contribution by Guy Standing. Guy Standing is an economist and professorial research associate at SOAS University of London. His most recent books […]
EU politics
The Violence of Austerity – Edited by Vickie Cooper and David Whyte
Book Review by Mathew D. Rose There are relatively few books dealing explicitly with austerity, and most of those come at it from a macro-economic angle. Thus it is refreshing to find a book that […]
EU politics
George Monbiot: Don’t let the rich get even richer on the assets we all share
From The Guardian There are four major economic sectors: the market, the state, the household and the commons. The neglect of the last two by both neoliberals and social democrats has created many of the […]
EU politics
Naomi Klein – A new shock doctrine: in a world of crisis, morality can still win
From The Guardian An edited excerpt of Naomi Klein’s speech at the Labour party conference about the necessity of converting the progressive plan into a winning plan. Read here