As a frustrated would-be user of the government’s Green Homes Grant, I am saddened but entirely unsurprised by the confusion around the scheme at the moment. Might still be salvaged, but at the moment it looks like yet another wasted opportunity on refurbishment and energy efficiency.
I mentioned recently that Ikea had opened its first secondhand shop. It will soon be launching a buy-back scheme for unwanted furniture, taking responsibility for its goods at the end of their useful lives.
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade have re-designed their website, which makes it a good time to recommend their work generally. Among recent stories, the fact that Britain has given Yemen £1 billion in aid, while selling £6 billion in arms sales to its aggressors.
I’ll be on half term next week. Not sure if we’ll get away as a family or not, given the uncertainties of Covid, but if all goes to plan we’ll be in a cottage in the Midlands. There are some posts scheduled, but I hope to be offline and won’t be replying to comments.
Something a little bit different – Woodkid is a French musician and film-maker who I rather like. I’ve been listening to his new album this week and thought I’d share the music video to the track ‘Goliath’. It’s shot at an open cast coal mine, and it’s cinematic, industrial and striking. “This song refers to our individual and collective responsibility in creating a monster and in finding ways to defeat it”, he says.
Latest Posts
Britain’s looming net zero gap
Governments are often more keen on announcing things than delivering them, and climate change stands out as an area of policy that has a particularly large gap between rhetoric and reality. I see it locally here in Luton, where the council has a stated target of reaching net zero carbon by 2040, but remains committed…
Why every nation’s carbon footprint matters
Why should Britain reduce its carbon emissions when they’re only 1% of the global total? It’s not our problem – tell China, India and the US to sort themselves out. That’s a common enough view among those sceptical of climate policy. There are a variety of responses to that, including historic emissions and the fact…
Earth, Ice, Bone, Blood, by Charlotte Wrigley
This week’s #bookreview: Earth, Ice, Bone, Blood – Permafrost and Extinction in the Russian Arctic, by @Wrigley_CA @UMinnPress
What we learned this week
The Guardian has published a map of air pollution in America, showing a clear and consistent pattern of environmental systemic racism: “A major finding is that residents of the neighborhoods facing the most air pollution in America are twice as likely to be people of color as those in less polluted neighborhoods.” “The drought has…
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The Earthbound Report 
You might like the new album from iliktrains the Leeds based indie group called Kompromat . It’s about a post truth world and it’s impact on our fragile unsustainable world 🌎