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Alan Underwood

@openfoot.bsky.social
535 followers 216 following 139 posts

Ageing environmentalist. Earth science trained. Lifelong dream journaler. Chasing, recording and photographing dragonflies in retirement. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇪🇺

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Reposted by Alan Underwood
Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 2h
The contrast between the utterly sycophantic coverage this week of Kemi Badenoch, whose party has a truly atrocious electoral record under her leadership, and the utterly dismissive coverage of the Greens, tells you everything you need to know about media bias in the UK
adambienkov.co.uk
Why the Holborn and St Pancras By-Election Was a Good Result for the Green Party
The dismissive coverage of Zack Polanski’s party obscures a far bigger truth about the rise of the left in British politics
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 20h
The winner of Nobel peace prize doing what the Government of the United Kingdom will not do: calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Spoke to Sky News about how our climate and nature policies are the country's "best defence against extreme weather" - and how @andyburnham.bsky.social's forthcoming Wildfire Summit must prioritise restoring peat bogs, ponds and wetlands: news.sky.com/story/number...
news.sky.com
Number of wildfires recorded in England in 2026 was second highest on record
England recorded 1,354 wildfires to September this year, second only to the unprecedentedly hot year in 2022, new housing department data shows. It comes after an FOI revealed the government had drop...
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Prof. Eliot Jacobson @climatecasino.net · 06/10/2026
As the reflectivity (albedo) of Earth continues to set new record lows, more of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth system, increasing the amount of energy available to heat the oceans, atmosphere, and land, and to melt ice.
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Prof Bill McGuire @profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“What we are seeing now is a complete explosion of these melt rates, leading to the disintegration of glaciers. They’re really just falling apart" Europe's glaciers are accelerating even faster on the road to oblivion www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Explosion of melt rates’: 20% of Swiss glaciers lost in five years
Alpine regions in Europe experiencing extreme glacier collapse due to heat-trapping effects of fossil fuel pollution
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Jeff Berardelli @weatherprof.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It’s official, the 2026 El Niño has broken a record for the highest ocean anomaly in 170+ years… Incredibly reaching that threshold a full 2 months ahead of 2015’s record of +3.02C set on Nov 18th. See that red line? That’s 2026. Every other bold line are the strongest El Niño’s on record. 1/
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
How Saudi oil scientists ended up working on the world’s most important climate reports - Guardian investigation reveals fossil fuel links of IPCC authors, with experts declaring the body’s conflict of interest policy ‘not fit for purpose’ #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
How Saudi oil scientists ended up working on the world’s most important climate reports
Guardian investigation reveals fossil fuel links of IPCC authors, with experts declaring the body’s conflict of interest policy ‘not fit for purpose’
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"The good news is that according to the latest IPCC report, if we enact aggressive emissions limits now, we could hold the warming to 2°C. That's only HALF an ice age unit, which is probably no big deal." 🙃 www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.p...
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1379:_4.5_Degrees
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Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Half of England's Grade 1 agricultural land is in the Fens, and almost all of it is already at or below sea level Our biggest breadbasket, home to 400,000 people, and it could be lost within decades Surely this deserves a bit more attention?
theconversation.com
Britain’s most artificial landscape may not survive climate change
The Fens are a food-growing powerhouse, but the landscape only exists thanks to humans holding back the sea.
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Trump: hands off the forests! actions.eko.org/a/trump-hand...
actions.eko.org
Trump: hands off the forests!
For 25 years, a law protected 59 million acres of forests in the US – some of the last truly wild forests on the planet – and just a few weeks ago, Trump signed off to end this protection.Now, pristin
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The incoming ‘super’ #ElNiño will create chaos around the world – and we are far from ready for it, says @profbillmcguire.bsky.social - One of the biggest upheavals in a millennium is on its way. We need leaders who make things better not worse #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The incoming ‘super’ El Niño will create chaos around the world. And we are far from ready for it | Bill McGuire
One of the biggest upheavals in a millennium is on its way, strengthened by the climate crisis. We need leaders who make things better not worse, says climate professor Bill McGuire
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Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This would have been a lot less damaging for households, businesses and the global economy if we had transitioned to renewables faster The delayers and obstructionists are making life harder for all of us
theguardian.com
Oil prices rise after drone attacks shut down Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline
Price spike comes as rebel Houthis in Yemen target oil infrastructure and capture strategic island in Bab al-Mandab strait
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
US Congress: Protect National Monuments! actions.eko.org/a/us-congres...
actions.eko.org
US Congress: Protect National Monuments!
Endless red-rock canyons recording 200 million of Earth’s history, an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites that hold the memory of Native Nations, and endangered species from the Mexican spotted owl
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
EU #solar power displaced €30bn of #gas imports this year. www.edie.net/eu-solar-pow...
edie.net
EU solar power displaced €30bn of gas imports this year - edie
Solar power has saved Europe more than €30bn since the outbreak of the Iran War in avoided gas imports, SolarPower Europe has announced.
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
So pleased to see @zackpolanski.bsky.social demanding the Government’s suppressed then redacted report on ecosystem collapse be published in full. People can’t prepare for what they don’t know - concealing this report is unforgivable #WildSummit
theguardian.com
Polanski calls for report on ecosystem collapse to be published in full
Green leader says ministers must stop ‘hiding the truth’ about threat to UK security from climate and nature crisis
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
My #Abergavenny garden’s Common Darters can stay inactive for lengthy periods when the sun goes in, which gives a chance for some up close and personal shots. #insects #dragonfly #wildlife #odonata #wales #nature
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Keeping to 1.5C of warming is no longer possible – but we must still limit the overshoot We need a strategy for navigating the huge risks to ecosystems and societies www.climatechangenews.com/2026/09/02/k...
climatechangenews.com
Keeping to 1.5C of warming is no longer possible - but we must still limit the overshoot
We need a strategy for navigating the huge risks to ecosystems and societies We need a strategy for navigating the huge risks to ecosystems and societies
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
“Existing approaches are no longer fit for purpose... I think, for me, that’s the clarion call. We now have to reconfigure our climate governance around dealing with an overshoot pathway.” - Prof Debra Roberts, a report author and co-chair of the @ipcc.bsky.social
theguardian.com
Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’
But scientists say the world could get back to 1.5C through deep, rapid emissions cuts and removing carbon from the atmosphere
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Small Copper butterflies enjoying the asters in my #Abergavenny garden. One of my favourite butterflies. Small but perfectly formed and wonderfully marked and coloured. #Wales #butterfly #insects #ukwildlife #nature
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Prof. Eliot Jacobson @climatecasino.net · 29/08/2026
Today's water-cooler fun facts: August 27th saw the 21st consecutive daily record global temperature, more than 1.80°C above the pre-industrial baseline, more than 4.35 standard deviations above the 1991-2020 daily mean, and more than 0.25°C above the previous daily record.
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
It feels like you can’t watch a game of football without wading through annoying gambling ads. 🙄 😡It’s dangerous for young fans, and it puts a stain on the beautiful game. ⚽Find out what you can do about it. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/pr...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Protect young fans: kick gambling ads out of football
Gambling ads are all over football, targeting young fans and risking dangerous addictions. Millions are watching the Premier League - so can you help me get them banned now? We don’t have long!
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The Iran war is making everything more expensive for us, but some companies are cashing in. Don't think that's right? Sign the petition now demanding they are taxed more on their record profits to help us all with the cost of living. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ra...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Sign the Urgent Petition - End this rip-off
People in the UK are struggling to get by while some corporations are set to announce record high profits on the back of the Iran war. Join the campaign to demand these war profiteers are taxed so we ...
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
" #Climate adaptation is a whole-of-government problem, not just for one desk at Defra. Why is there an AI minister around the Cabinet table, but no resilience and adaptation minister? ... And, crucially, why is no one asking these questions in government?" - Dr Amy McDonnell, @zero-hour.bsky.social
theguardian.com
Ministers are in denial about the scale of the crises we face | Letter
Letter: Having just 20 Defra staff working on climate adaptations show the government is not taking the challenges of heatwaves, wildfires and droughts seriously, writes Dr Amy McDonnell
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The threatening thaw: Prof Gustaf Hugelius on #climatecrisis risks to tipping point of permafrost Q&A with @jonathan-watts.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
The threatening thaw: climate professor on heatwave risks to tipping point of permafrost
Prof Gustaf Hugelius warns wildfires could accelerate release of methane and carbon as vast regions approach irreversible thresholds
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Enough is enough. Devastating wildfires are threatening our communities, our wildlife, and our landscapes 🌳 We need the UK Gov to back our amazing fire fighters and invest in a real national wildfire prevention plan. Join me and sign the petition here: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/te...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Protect nature for the future: make wildfire prevention a national priority
Enough is enough. Devastating wildfires are threatening our communities, our wildlife, and our landscapes 🌳 We need the UK Gov to back our amazing fire fighters and invest in a real national wildfire ...
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Wind and solar now dominate global electricity generation. 2025 renewables = 85.6% of new global power capacity additions. Each year nuclear adds only as much net global power capacity as renewables add every two days.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
As Britain swelters through another heatwave, few people will have heard that ministers have quietly dropped plans for solar carports. Cars cooler in summer. Shelter from the rain in winter. Clean electricity all year round. A missed opportunity?
eastangliabylines.co.uk
As Britain bakes, ministers quietly park plans for solar carports
Ministers have quietly shelved plans that could have transformed Britain's biggest car parks into shaded power stations
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National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“There is a magnificent initiative called the #NationalEmergencyBriefing - a UK initiative focused on delivering an unfiltered evidence-led expert assessment of the climate and nature crisis” Thank you @mrjamesob.bsky.social Screenings across the UK, and beyond: www.nebriefing.org/screening-map
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
"Possibly the greatest question humanity has ever confronted - we can hit the social tipping points before we hit the environmental tipping points" writes @georgemonbiot.bsky.social #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/membership/2...
theguardian.com
Don’t despair about what’s happening to our planet. That’s what they want you to feel
There are social tipping points when the seemingly impossible suddenly becomes inevitable. Good journalism plays an essential role in helping drive these shifts and shows us how real change can happen
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Why pick on Chris Packham? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/08... The Times has mounted an attack on Chris Packham, saying he is not autistic. Why? What do they hope to gain? And is this quite sinister?
taxresearch.org.uk
Why pick on Chris Packham?
As I have already noted today, The Times has chosen to question whether Chris Packham is really autistic, despite the fact that he has a diagnosis saying that he is. I have already discussed some aspe...
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
European summers aren't what they used to be! Grey curve is the climate of 1950-90. Every coloured line is a summer since 1991. Every one since 2005 sits beyond the 95th percentile of the curve. This isn't a shifting #climate. It's already a new one! 🤯🥵 Plot inspired by Barriopedro et al. 2011
Distribution of European summer temperature anomalies, June to August, over 25°W-40°E, 35-70°N, land only, the region used by Barriopedro et al., relative to 1961-1990, from ERA5. Grey bars show the 41 summers from 1950 to 1990, with a normal curve fitted through them, centred near zero. Coloured vertical lines show every summer from 1991 to 2025, shaded yellow through dark red by year, and almost all of them fall to the right of the grey distribution. The ten warmest are labelled, with 2024 furthest right at 2.74°C and 2022 next at 2.54°C. A dotted line marks the 95th percentile of the 1950-1990 distribution at 0.76°C.

Both run long, which is fine, since alt text has no practical limit and screen reader users benefit from the detail.
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
2003 was once exceptional. Now it's average. 2024's record will be average by the mid-2040s. The extreme summers of the 2040s don't bear thinking about! 🌡🥵😬 #ClimateEmergency After @edhawkins.org & @stottpeter.bsky.social using ERA5 + CMIP6.
European summer temperature, June to August, over 10°W-40°E, 30-50°N, the region Stott et al. used for the 2003 heatwave, relative to 1961-1990. The black line shows ERA5 observations from 1950 to 2025, rising from about zero in the mid-twentieth century to 2.75°C in 2024. Grey shading is the 5-95% range of 34 CMIP6 models over the historical period, blue shading the same models under SSP2-4.5 to 2100, with the running median in white. Two dotted lines mark the 2003 summer at 2.06°C and the 2024 summer at 2.75°C, each dropping to the year the model median reaches that level: 2027 and 2045. Model region approximated by the IPCC AR6 Mediterranean and West & Central Europe regions, weighted 0.75 to 0.25.
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National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
A big thank you to everyone who’s been promoting the petition for a televised emergency briefing on the climate and nature crisis. It’s now jumped up to 56,700. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76... #NationalEmergencyBriefing #TimeToStepUp
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks
The UK faces growing risks from climate and nature breakdown - from extreme weather to economic disruption and national security threats. Yet the public has never been given a clear national briefing ...
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"We are well beyond incremental, so-called policy relevant pathways. 👏 Think wartime mobilisation, and the command of entire economies. 👏 None of the climate scenarios capture this. 👏 They are all constrained by what politicians would find palatable..." 👏
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I can’t believe we’re still having a debate about whether there’s a trade off between job creation and measures to green the economy. There isn’t. The evidence was clear years ago - a green economy creates far more jobs than the fossil fuel economy it replaces. Come on Labour, catch up …
theguardian.com
Government contracts to require job creation instead of green targets under new rules
Louise Haigh says taxpayer money must benefit local communities amid backlash from environmental groups
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
"We really need a sense of global emergency. The sort of thing that would come if there was an unscheduled eclipse of the sun" - Prof. Thomas Lovejoy... speaking to the media back in 1989! We keep arguing in circles, even as the Earth-systems we deped on rapidly degrade around us. #SciComm
youtu.be
Covering the Environment: Front Page or Yesterday's News?
YouTube video by Smithsonian Institution Archives
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National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Professor Mike Berners-Lee, in this month’s Byline Times, explaining why it’s time for the government to level with the public about the climate and nature crisis. Article online here: subscribe.bylinetimes.com/edition/88/n... #NationalEmergencyBriefing #TimeToStepUp
Image of the article also available in the link in the post
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 29/07/2026
As Europe braces itself for another heatwave Andy Burnham looks set to approve new oil and gas. Kemi Badenoch is purging the Tories of net zero supporters, while Reform councils are abandoning climate goals up and down the country. The UK urgently needs bold and ambitious climate leadership
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
This looks v. positive 👏 But to be meaningful it has to lead to immediate ruling out of *any* new fossil fuel drilling, including Rosebank & Jackdaw & the urgent reinstatement of international climate finance. For more on climate as a security threat, see my podcast for @therestpolitics.bsky.social
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I'm not qualified to judge whether such people are psychopaths. All I can say is that they behave as if they are. From today's Telegraph.
Column by Allister Heath

Britain can’t stop climate change. Scrap net zero and embrace Mediterranean life

We’ve lost the war against global warming so let’s learn to handle hotter weather
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Common Darters in my #Abergavenny garden. When the love-in is over it's off together to do some oviposting in tandem in the pond. In case there is any confusion the orange one is the male. #ukwildlife #dragonfly #odonata #wales #insects #environment.
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National Emergency Briefing @nebriefing.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
A letter to the Prime Minister from the #𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗴 experts in today's @financialtimes.com. Please share. Link to a zoomable image: www.nebriefing.org/media With thanks to Business Declares. #TimeToStepUp #NationalRenewal
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Alan Underwood @openfoot.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
I just signed the @stoprosebank open letter Letter to the Rt Hon Miatta Fahnbulleh MP. Sign here and ask her to #StopRosebank or fail the very first test of the UK's climate leadership: actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...
actionnetwork.org
Open Letter to the Rt Hon Miatta Fahnbulleh MP
Our new Secretary of State for Energy faces the first big climate test for Andy Burnham's new government -- whether or not to approve new North Sea oil & gas developments. Sign the open letter asking ...
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Rupert Read @rupertread.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
“What if the biggest threat to UK national security isn’t conventional warfare, it isn’t a hostile state or a terrorist network but rather the collapse of the natural world itself?” Powerful stuff from @carolinelucas.bsky.social. Listen now. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Hard to think of a more deeply damaging start to Burnham’s premiership than giving green light to new oil & gas in N. Sea, if true. It won’t lower bills or lead to greater energy security but will drive an even hotter planet. What a terrible signal to give to rest of the world #ClimateVandalism
x.com
BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) on X
Andy Burnham will announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea when he becomes prime minister on Monday, the BBC has been told. The announcement will form part of a flurry of policy m...
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Dr Ellie Chowns MP @elliechowns.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Let's be absolutely clear: there is no amount of new drilling in the North Sea that Burnham could approve which would be consistent with our climate goals. If we are to avoid complete climate breakdown, we need to turn all effort to clean renewable energy - not doubling down on dirty fossil fuels.
bloomberg.com
Burnham to Back North Sea Oil and Take Control of Thames Water
Within days of taking office incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham is preparing to announce new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea as well as taking public control of Thames Water.
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British Dragonfly Society @britishdragonflies.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
💚 Thanks to everyone who visited us at #GlobalBirdfair! It was great to meet so many of you and celebrate dragonflies. Special thanks to our Patron, Megan McCubbin, and President, Mike Dilger, for stopping by. Our members make events like this possible. Join our community: buff.ly/xC5dtrP
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Prof Bill McGuire @profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Can't get any more blunt than this @andyburnham.bsky.social As a matter of considerable urgency you need to get the full, unredacted, report out there for everyone to see www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
theguardian.com
UK has ‘no future’ if it fails to act on ecosystem collapse threatening national security
MPs demand publication of full report that outlines catastrophic consequences amid concerns for food security
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Prof. Eliot Jacobson @climatecasino.net · 08/07/2026
My latest on substack, substack.com/home/post/p-...
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Prof Bill McGuire @profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
"the projected cost of the full CCS programme between now and 2050 is £264bn" Pure insanity that locks-in fossil fuel usage for decades Another HS2 (only far, far, worse) in the making Please @andyburnham.bsky.social - stop this nonsense in its tracks www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The great carbon capture con: behold the wasted billions Burnham could claw back | George Monbiot
There are far better ways to tackle climate breakdown, but successive governments have chosen to listen to the fossil fuel companies instead, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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