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
How China is tackling consumerism
Environmental action in China is different to what we’re used to elsewhere. Whereas readers in Europe might associate it with protests, green politics or grassroots movements for change, in China it’s more likely to be top down. Environmental progress in the UK often starts as a lifestyle choice, while in China it arrives as policy…
What we learned this week
The Trump administration has paid $765 million to another wind power developer to make them go away, following earlier deals worth $928 and $885 million respectively. Others have challenged Trump’s ban in the courts and won, meaning Trump’s personal vendetta against renewable energy in America has failed. Ten times more more clean power will come…
The changing colours of the energy transition
Here’s a map that I enjoyed from the latest Our World in Data newsletter. It shows the leading source of electricity in each country. It’s a fascinating geopolitical snapshot, telling us a lot about who has access to cheap coal, gas or oil. There are lots of little stories here, adding up to one big…
Book review: Beliefism, by Paul Dolan
With so many to be getting on with, does the world need another ‘ism’ to fret about? It’s a question I asked myself on first encountering Paul Dolan’s book, but the definition won me over. Beliefism is prejudice against people you disagree with, and if you live in the same world that I do, that…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
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 🌎