As I write this I’m about to head for the UN climate conference in Marrakech, where countries are supposed to be agreeing on the actions that will deliver on the ambition of the Paris Agreement, signed last December. A key …
EU departure means a tough fight to protect our environment
In 1993 the Norwegian Environment Minister called John Gummer, the UK Environment Secretary, a drittsekk – a shitbag– because of the massive impact on Scandinavian lakes and forest of acid rain caused by emissions from British power stations. In the …
The SNP conference – what REALLY happened on fracking ?
Oh dear. When the fracking voting at the SNP conference was over I knew the media would have trouble explaining it. But their early online stories have outdone themselves this time, producing headlines which are the opposite of what actually …
The Budget and the Environment
On the face of it George Osborne’s Budget doesn’t say much about the environment. But if you dig into the details there is plenty to show that David Cameron’s claim that the last government would be the ‘greenest ever’ has …
INEOS – the figures they want you to believe and the numbers they don’t want you to know
Today’s papers make much of INEOS’s claim that fracking could bring £2.5bn of benefit to communities in Scotland. This is despite (a) INEOS having already said this last year (here) and (b) this number being as dodgy as a three-week-old …
Crunch time for the SNP on fracking
The Scottish Government has been markedly less enthusiastic about the development of unconventional gas and fracking than its UK counterpart. However, circumstances are conspiring to ensure that in the next few months, the SNP will have to finally come off …
Inquiry day 12 – Orson Welles, public data and buffer zones
Today we spent a long time picking over Dart’s Waste Management Plan, including a lunch-time huddle on whether the development was an extractive waste area, an extractive waste facility or a Category A extractive waste facility. We also debated whether …
Inquiry day 10 – regulating acronyms
We had a day of PEDL, CAR, PPC, MEW and other TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms).* This was the first day of hearing sessions – parties sitting around the table having a discussion rather than individual witnesses being grilled for hours. …
Inquiry day 9 – defunct companies, carbon budgets and planning for the climate
Douglas Bain, in charge of the UK for Dart spoke this morning – after 8 days this was the first time anyone got to question someone actually from Dart Energy rather than their consultants. Mr Bain made much of the …
Inquiry day 8 – Planning, energy policy and wishful thinking
Dart’s planning expert spent all day at the witness table today, several hours of it under the politely merciless scrutiny of our lawyer. Dart tried to go through all the historical sites for which they still had current planning permissions. …
Inquiry day 7 – climate, health and planes
The other side tried to play games today, with our questioning under time pressure because we were told their air quality and climate witness had to leave by 10. After follow up questions by the reporters and Dart’s QC he …
Inquiry day 6 – Cultural heritage and climate change
Today Concerned Communities of Falkirk got the opportunity to put Cultural Heritage, from participation to community values, in front of the Inquiry. Input ranged from a very personal account of concern over the threat to a local resident’s dream home …