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sandrablan.bsky.social

@sandrablan.bsky.social
712 followers 875 following 1.2K posts

I vote for bats and newts. Economic and environmental justice are indivisible.

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Reposted by @sandrablan.bsky.social
James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Once again, it is left to Ed Miliband to state the painfully obvious.
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is a good assessment of Burnham's speech from @eciu.net. The rhetoric on clean energy was great, but there was scant mention of climate impacts and some big policy litmus tests are coming on how serious Number 10 really is about getting off fossil fuels. www.businessgreen.com/news-analysi...
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Mats Pellbäck Scharp @matsps.wsocial.eu · 29/09/2026
A better trans European train system is one of the low hanging fruits that has been missed for decades in EU.
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Supremely bleak report on coal financing out this morning. Banks, including UK banks, are still pumping billions of pounds into coal projects that will almost certainly breach global climate goals. www.businessgreen.com/news/4536521...
businessgreen.com
'Fuelling the financial shocks of tomorrow': UK banks branded Europe's biggest backers of coal projects
UK banks provided $8.3bn in loans and underwriting to coal companies between 2022 and 2025, according to new data
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WWF UK @wwf.org.uk · 30/09/2026
Some steps in the right direction in yesterday's speech, but if the PM wants to bring down household bills this will need to be combined with a transition to clean energy. 🔋⚡ We CAN protect the natural world, people, AND our energy security if we act now. 💚
theguardian.com
What is Burnham’s GB Grid plan and could it bring down energy bills?
Proposed government-backed network body welcomed by some in sector but others call it just another quango
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Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A 'positive tipping point' other cities should emulate. Once a certain threshold is reached, a beneficial transition becomes easier to extend!
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shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i thought about this old tweet tonight and how nothing has ever aged better
@Merman_Melville • Jan 24, 2019
Being a billionaire must be insane. You can buy new teeth, new skin. All your chairs cost 20,000 dollars and weigh 2,000 pounds. Your life is just a series of your own preferences. In terms of cognitive impairment it's probably like being kicked in the head by a horse every day
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The frozen food and cooling industry could slash emissions and energy costs without any compromise on food safety or quality and yet it doesn't because 'that's not the way we do things'. www.businessgreen.com/news/4536554...
businessgreen.com
Study: Freezing food at -15C could cut energy consumption seven per cent
Research published by Nomad Foods provides further evidence keeping frozen foods at slightly higher temperatures is safe and delivers significant emissions and energy savings
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Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
One easy way you can do that, to help the environment, is to get an electric induction hob - and as portable ones start from about £25 in the UK, this could be an easy move until you can electrify your home more substantially...
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 22h
I've been blocked from attending Conservative Party conference. Just a few weeks after Badenoch blasted Reform for doing the same thing... bylinetimes.com/2026/09/30/k...
bylinetimes.com
Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives Block Byline Times From Conference After Condemning Reform for Journalist Ban
The ban comes just weeks after the Conservative leader called Reform's barring of critical journalists from their conference an "authoritarian" attack on the free press
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Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · 23h
The conclusion of the study is well worth reading. It confirms "the potential amount of land that could be freed up for other uses is so large that it represents a significant additional benefit, adding to the long list of reasons for promoting & (at the individual level) adopting plant-based diets"
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M Meerkat @kackbro.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Go For It Ladies.......
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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 19h
Of the 3 big Burnham second term policies, I think PR is the one that it makes most sense to push through without a new mandate. The obvious justification is the polling. FPTP doesn’t work for 5-7 biggish parties.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It’s a mark of the corruption of our whole way of thinking about the world that trying to meet a planetary emergency is routinely described as “ideological”, while continuing to accelerate it is presented as “pragmatic” and “economic”.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
George is quite right on this. I discovered via FOI requests that just 5% of all woodland creation grants go to support natural regeneration of trees, and 95% to tree planting. I’ll continue to push DEFRA to fix this. www.theguardian.com/environment/... bsky.app/profile/geor...
theguardian.com
Government ‘failing to support natural regeneration of trees in England’
Campaigners say targets for woodland creation are unlikely to be met because 95% of grants are for planting
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
“Let’s say there’s a world or time line I exist in where A.I. has been subject to regulation. It is ethical. It has no footprint environmentally,” the novelist Jeff VanderMeer, a prominent critic of A.I., told me over the phone. “With those guardrails in place, would I read an A.I. book? All I can say is no. And the reason is, in part, because I want to read something coming from a particular mind.” Using A.I., he said, “feels like a betrayal of the whole point of why you’re a writer.”
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 23h
On the same day Trump announces that top tech firms have signed an accord to "self-police" their own AI development, we learned that OpenAI employees and security researchers were reportedly ignored when they brought safety concerns to the company's top executives. See the problem here?
nytimes.com
OpenAI Ignored Employees’ Warnings About Safely Testing A.I. Models
Employees and security researchers said that they had cautioned the company on safely testing its A.I. models and strengthening its corporate infrastructure, but that OpenAI did not listen.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🔴 We asked Tony Blair's think tank about charging businesses £500k for political access at party conferences and why one of its sponsor's logos disappeared after our reporting last week on TBI's alleged cash for access scheme This is what they said
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sandrablan.bsky.social @sandrablan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This cause is close to my heart - please sign: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Stop Burning Our Moors: Protect our kids, not grouse hunts.
Landowners burn heather for driven grouse shooting, leading to harmful air pollution, increased flood risk, and increased wildfire risk, all while releasing tonnes of carbon into the air, accelerating...
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Humanity Must Win @humanitymustwin.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Correct, many Holocaust survivors called Zionists Nazi criminals.
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Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Water company for Devon & Cornwall to pay *record fine* of £8m for hundreds of sewage spills Incl untreated sewage gushing through a harbour wall for 10 hours on a bank holiday weekend Pennon Group, owner of SW Water, returned £138mn to shareholders last year www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
South West Water fined £8m for hundreds of sewage spills in Cornwall and Devon
District judge orders record fine for region and says incidents of pollution cannot be tolerated
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National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 28/09/2026
We have something very cute to share with you today 🦉 This summer, a pair of barn owls successfully reared four owlets at Kedleston Hall, marking Kedleston's first known breeding success in over two decades.
Four young barn owls jostle onto the small wooden ledge of their nest box, fixed to a huge oak tree behind themA young barn owl in flight, its wings stretched up above it against a blurry green background, its white heart-shaped face facing the cameraA young barn own in flight, a blurry oak tree behind it, its huge white and brown wings beating downwards as it looks at the cameraA barn owl swooping down with its wings fanned wide across a field of long purplish grass
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Cat Hobbs @cathobbs.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Honestly I am gutted Burnham STILL hasn't brought Thames Water into special administration Why not? It went bust 2+ years ago Shareholders have walked away US hedge fund creditors want to pollute illegally then sell it 16 million so-called "customers" need you to TAKE IT BACK
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Andy Burnham is coming for your pension! By... er... increasing it by slightly less. Whereas Reform will scrap it completely.
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American Rivers @americanrivers.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Latino communities are disproportionately affected by gaps in water access. This Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month, we stand with @greenlatinos.org for a better clean water future for all. 📲 Help protect clean water: act.americanrivers.org/page/78223/a…
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 29/09/2026
"It is clear that Labour needs the Greens to keep them in check everyday to push them towards the real transformation this country needs." @zackpolanski.bsky.social reacts to the Prime Minister's speech at Labour conference.
HOPE IS NOT JUST A SLOGAN, IT NEEDS TO MEAN REAL CHANGE

ZACK POLANSKI
LEADER OF THE GREEN PARTY

"Unlike his predecessor, we have a PM who talks like he gets it. But sadly like his predecessor he isn’t prepared to break from the powerful and wealthy interests that have created an inequality, affordability and a climate crisis.
 
Hope is not just a slogan, it needs to mean real change. The speech today had no wealth taxes, no rent controls, no water nationalisation and a strong hint of more North Sea drilling.
 
It is disappointing that we have a country ready to break from the last 40 years, a Labour government with the majority to do it, and yet what we see are more half measures, reannouncements and tinkering."

Green Party
Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of the Green Party of England and Wales c/o PO Box Green Party, London SE1P 6YL
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Tax Justice UK @taxjusticeuk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We all know tax goes up the more you earn... right? 🤔 Not quite. For most people, yes. But at the very top, something strange happens.. Average tax rates paid: 💷 Top 10% → 39% 💷 Top 1% → 37% 💷 Top 0.1% → 34% 💷 Top 0.01% → 30% And 1 in 4 of the ultra-rich pay 20% or less.
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Chris Guiton @chrisguiton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Faced with a 'tough choice' - do I hit pensioners or do I hit millionaires - Burnham took the entirely predictable decision to punch down.
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💢Marx Was Right.🕊 @paulwalker44.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#Gaza #genocide #googleearth
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We can spend our lives debating the justifications (I more or less have); but we are wasting our time. What we need is a massive clampdown on the influence of money over politics, including lobbying transparency, campaign finance reform, an end to the revolving door between politics and lobbying.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Then the government must find a find of selling this policy, which might be very harmful. It will argue that it’s essential for “growth”, “jobs”, “international standing” etc. Opponents will then argue these claims, engaging in the great democratic tradition of “debate”. But debate is irrelevant.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Here is how politics, in most cases, works: Rich and powerful interests, whether in fossil fuels, finance, big tech, media, meat, pharma or foreign governments, make a demand, and use their sophisticated tools to persuade a government to adopt it. The government adopts it. Please read whole🧵
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
For all we know at the moment, the 5 men arrested near RAF Fairford might have been on a stag night. But the wild claims by Trump and Rubio suggest that, if they'd been apprehended in the US, they would have been denied due process. I hope our government tells them to butt out of our justice system.
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Why is the Government going after pensioners? It's time to tax the rich
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
‘This summer may have been the coolest of our lifetimes,’ says Environment Secretary Angela Eagle at Labour conference, as she attacks the far right for denying climate change and being dangerously relaxed about the heatwaves
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Kate Mackenzie @katemac.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Remember when we thought investors might mobilize in ways sufficient to protect the world from climate change
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Will Yeates @wyeates.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New polling: climate change is back in people’s top priorities
buff.ly
New polling: climate change is back in people’s top priorities
Persuasion UK has released polling on climate salience following the UK’s hottest summer to date. Climate is now in people’s top five issues.
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sandrablan.bsky.social @sandrablan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Absolutely spot on from Caroline Lucas.
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Flight Free UK @flightfreeuk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Europe isn't just one single destination it's 45 to 50 distinct places, each with its own heart" We don't need to rush between places to see them. We just need to give them and ourselves time to breathe. Kindness to the planet and the places we visit are the best souvenir. 🚂
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Flight Free UK @flightfreeuk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The majority is right. It's time to tax private jets and end this climate injustice ✈️❌
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thinking of the people of Ukraine, who've suffered so much. It's important attention remains on the impacts of Russian aggression www.ft.com/content/e423...
ft.com
Russian drones hit Kyiv science academy and hospital
One person killed and six injured in attack on capital, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges countries to do more to protect Ukraine
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Abilu Tangwa. @abilutangwa.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I’ve walked the fields at dawn for years. The air used to hum with bees. Now it’s quieter every season. What most people never see is the scale: over 3.7 million tonnes of pesticide active ingredients poured onto the planet every year — more than double what we used in 1990.
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
At what environmental cost? "Spacecraft is being landed in the sea with no plan to recover and recycle it...exploded in a huge fireball once it had hit the water" #PlanetaryBoundaries www.independent.co.uk/tech/spacex-...
independent.co.uk
SpaceX’s Starship dramatically explodes after first orbital trip
Mission was hit by technical problems as it flew around Earth
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Left Foot Forward @left-foot-forward.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Emily Thornberry told a #LabourConference fringe meeting that the government should introduce rent controls
leftfootforward.org
Emily Thornberry calls for the introduction of rent controls in ‘housing crisis zones’
"I think that people are taking the mickey out of this, people are making huge profits out of this."
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#StupidSuez @diplomatofnight.com · 28/09/2026
Will be interesting to see if any leading center left Democrat talks like this in 2027-2028
sky
news
Sky News # @SkyNews.5h
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband: "I want to say to the millions of people in this country and indeed elsewhere, who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people. We hear you.
You were right'
trib.al/uh5mVz Show more
HOPE AGAIN
HOPE AGAIN
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L7 1.5K
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
No wonder we are one of the most nature-depleted corners of this battered planet, with #biodiversity in a parlous state
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This Labour government could have responded to the genocide in Gaza in so many ways, instead they cut aid. This is a dereliction of duty.
Stuff of nightmares UK cuts aid to Un Gaza food operations by 78%
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The techbros don't want you to see this trailer. Pass it on.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
2/ Politicians have been too keen to pit nature against development in recent years, says Luke Tryl. It was a mistake for the former Chancellor to lean so heavily into the anti-newts rhetoric. The public just reject this binary - they don’t think environmental regulations are inhibiting development.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
82% of Britons say protecting nature is important to them, new polling by @moreincommonuk.bsky.social shows “You don’t often get that degree of consensus” on any issue, says @luketryl.bsky.social - speaking at an event at Labour Party Conference with the heads of the big nature NGOs
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