'She pointed out that... now the country was "importing from Russia instead of drilling in the North Sea".' Kemi Badenoch says she's honest & serious & tells it like it is. It's an attractive pitch but on climate & energy, she's neither honest nor serious. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

On this slow news day, hold the front page! I’m delighted to be joining the LCEF board. In all the (often excessive) gloom about Labour’s time in government it’s worth celebrating its good record on climate, energy & many aspects of the natural environment. Now let’s crack on & go further & faster.

So interesting to hear Justin Webb and Katya Adler's views on the European reset. Inevitably, they don't think it's up to much. #r4today

This must be deeply embarrassing to the many green Tories out there. To paraphrase Clement Attlee, "the words you read are from the Conservative Party, but the thoughts are those of Reform UK". Forward to the 1980s!

"I don't like to have the last word in an interview", says Nick Robinson on #Today. Perhaps the biggest news of the morning so far.

I understand Labour MPs wanting a change in leadership, & no one should tell the electorate it’s wrong. But talking up their own government’s mistakes & accusing it of “failure” is a dangerous game. If Labour MPs think the government’s been rubbish, why should anyone else think differently?

This is an excellent book, a plea from a distinguished Holocaust scholar “not to accept the logic of the fanatics & the extremists, who keep seeking the destruction of the other”. You can support the state of Israel while utterly condemning the actions of the current Israeli government.

This is a first on my regular evening walk.

“We need to heed the anger, not feed the anger.” Well said Eluned Morgan.

My heart sinks to hear Zack Polanski on #r5live say the battle is now between the Greens & Reform. Both parties play an important role in pulling politics in their direction, but has there ever been a populist government that's improved people's lives in the long term? Beware easy answers!

Happy birthday Sir David. On the day after polling day, let’s join the dots between his status a a national treasure who speaks out on climate change )based on deep knowledge), & Reform’s climate denialism & the Conservatives’ determination to trash their legacy on climate action.

Kemi Badenoch & Nick Robinson say the Conservatives want to scrap "net zero targets". What they mean is that the Tories want to scrap climate action & end UK climate leadership. You can't be good on the environment unless you're also good on climate. #r4today

Recommended: "I'm opposed to indiscriminate increases & then working out how it's going to be spent." There are many good points in the podcast. I'd also ask what we're defending - the Indian Ocean, Cyprus, Gibraltar, the Falklands?... We need an affordable, post-imperial defence policy.

What a terrible summary on @bbc5live.bsky.social 6 o’clock news of why the assisted dying bill fell. The bill might have had flaws, but that’s not why it fell. The Lords could have addressed them & tried to improve it. Instead, unelected peers set out to sabotage it. #Shameful

Nick Robinson really is a terrible interviewer, far keener to get his views across & get a gotcha moment than in listening to what his interviewees have to say. #r4today

How did oil and gas nan Nick Butler come to be the Prof #r4today turns to for commentary on drilling for more oil and gas?

The question should be, what forces do we need as a relatively small, post-imperial power, & where should we deploy them? We can't afford to do everything (including maintain costly, US-dependent nuclear weapons) & operate everywhere (the Med, the Indian Ocean...). tinyurl.com/mn9cx9mm

If it’s such a ‘gold mine’ why did the 14 year period of the last Conservative government, throughout which it pursued a policy of issuing licenses and maximising oil and gas production, end up being defined by austerity and the worst wage growth since the Napoleonic era?

When it comes to the energy transition I'm a glass half full person. I know: plenty of people would say that's terribly naive. They point to the scale of the challenge. They point to vested interests. They point to hard-to-abate sectors. And they're not wrong. But here's what they miss. 🧵

From @patrickwintour.bsky.social - this just about what Trump has achieved through his war.

The UK Government could be aiding and abetting US war crimes. While remaining silent on the legality of the war is bad, assisting another state to commit international crimes could be leading to individual criminal responsibility of those in charge.

Trump: “happy Easter, we had a great Easter, this is one of our better Easters, I think, in a lot of different ways. I can say, militarily it’s been one of the best.” Blessed are the war makers.

Once again, the enthusiasm of #r4today for fossil fuels & scepticism about renewables (“to move to renewables can take decades to put in place”, says Anna Foster) is striking.

Amazing to hear a discussion on #BroadcastingHouse about Kemi Badenoch's 'drill, baby, drill' anti-net zero policies without a word about #ClimateChange. What would Kemi Badenoch and the Tories do about it? And is there any Reform policy on climate and energy she won't imitate?

A couple of faves from today’s march against the far Right (&, judging from some of the banners & chants, for & against umpteen other things…). It was good to see such a huge number of people (mostly) taking a stand for tolerance & diversity. Now for a cup of tea.

It’s depressing to hear Mel Stride suggest that ditching climate action should be the government’s economic priority in the face of Trumpflation. He sounds like a slightly less vulgar version of Richard Tice. Does the Conservative Party even believe in climate change now? #r4today

Ten years after the zero carbon homes standard was scrapped, it's good news that we're finally getting there - but the government really must stand up to the housebuilders and avoid further unnecessary delay! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Amol Rajan on #Today: "the chronic challenges don't get much bigger or harder than fixing the planning system so we can build many more houses." He should stop taking his talking points from the anti-planning Tufton Street think tanks and developers blaming planning for their slow build out rates.

I’m disappointed (but perhaps not surprised) to hear Robert Jenrick repeat the line that EU rules on nutrient neutrality are stopping the UK building 100,000 houses. Does Reform really want to be the sewage party? There are ways of building more homes without adding to river pollution.

It’s hard to listen to the LRB podcast, Aftershock: the war on terror, & not hear echoes of today’s war - the mix of “arrogance & provinciality” in the US approach, the failure to think beyond the conflict, Tony Blair’s keenness to outsource UK policy to the White House etc etc. Recommended.

So Tony Blair thinks we should slavishly back US wars, legal or not. There’s a surprise. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

This week's ECO Chamber podcast is live ⚡ with special guest @shaunspiers1.bsky.social on green politics, Labour's by-election loss and Reform UK. "I think we might be living in an age of populism now where people are so fed up with politics and the difficulties of getting change." Listen now ⬇️

Despite recent gloom, there are signs the economy could be picking up. The question is whether that momentum will translate into green investment. In this blog, Steve Coulter outlines what the environment needs from the Spring Statement.

Nick was fixing laptops at work when he was told there was no time to repair a broken screen. The whole thing had to go. That frustration sent him to a repair café where he now fixes things for free, every week. Our latest podcast hands the mic to people like Nick who love the circular economy.

Good to hear @fleuranderson.bsky.social at the @environmentappg.bsky.social event on the Global Oceans Treaty emphasise cross-party support for action: “The ocean does not recognise political divisions & nor should we in our ambitions for it.”

Zia Yusuf's rhetoric of protecting Christianity, rhetorically, is combined with an indecent threat to deport many tens of thousands of Christians, including those here 5-20 years with permanent status, as well as recent arrivals, from across the Commonwealth and elsewhere outside Europe

"Does the UK want to still build cars in a decade’s time? If the answer is yes, ministers need to prove it by backing what works, providing certainty where it counts and committing to a clear industrial vision. The window is still open. It will not remain so indefinitely."

"In his enthusiastic adoption of proposals to rip up environmental safeguards, Keir Starmer is showing the same misunderstanding he showed over the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.... There is nothing to be gained from fast-tracking developments if we destroy our environment in the process."

Enough of myth peddling! This article on Reform's energy pledges highlights my concerns on Richard Tice's regressive energy policies. "This idea that more oil and gas is going to get bills down is blatant myth peddling... It's misleading." Read more here: www.endsreport.com/article/1948... (1/2)

"My advice to the Tories is listen hard to distant but approaching thunder. Climate negligence and fossil politics will not be a winning formula in the hotter world of the next election. That niche is best left to Reform." www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

Reform UK's "shadow cabinet" has an opponent of climate action covering the Treasury, a climate denier covering business, trade and energy and, as far as I can tell, no one covering the Defra brief. Forward to the 1950s!

The Tony Blair Institute out there today calling for more oil and gas drilling in an absolute gift for Farage and Badenoch. Government will be forgiven for thinking, with friends like these... www.businessgreen.com/news/4525624...

Good to hear Ed Miliband launch the government’s local power plan - “a glimpse of a different economy”.

People are eating less meat, but we're not producing any less. How will this affect livestock farmers? In this blog, we explore the impacts this might have if the trend continues, and identify the paths forward.

In other news... "The UK plans to slash its aid to poor countries stricken by the climate crisis by more than a fifth, the Guardian has learned, despite promises to increase assistance and warnings from campaigners that the move will cost lives and livelihoods." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

"You cannot be good on nature unless you are also good on climate." It's been reported that Reform is getting expert advice on nature policies. But unless it radically changes its approach to climate, its policies will be disastrous for nature says executive director @shaunspiers1.bsky.social ⤵️

I'm proud to be an adviser to the ReLondon board - there's lots of impressive stuff here on how ReLondon is working to make London a low carbon, circular city.

I hope Ben Goldsmith will be very clear with Reform: you can't be serious about nature unless you're also serious about climate change. Unfortunately, neither Reform UK nor the Conservative are. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

☀️ Everyone has a chance to lower their bills with clean technologies like solar panels under the government’s Warm Homes Plan. Nick Davies, head of climate at Green Alliance, responds to the Plan ⬇️

Great thread which begs the question, how does the Institute of Economic Affairs get away with such dodgy analysis and why do newspapers and broadcasters, including the BBC, continue to take it seriously?