Rosebank oil & gas drilling banned, deposit return scheme in UK, Lynx on the rise, and Texas swaps coal for solar
Good climate news in weird dark fascist times: no new oil and gas at rosebank or jackdaw oil fields, a UK deposit return scheme, and recovering lync populations in Portugal.
Writing good news about the fight to save the planet has been tough lately, because so much awful has been happening, but a few amazing things have happened that I wanted to let you know about.
Rosebank and Jackdaw approval has been overturned
The consent for both the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea have been ruled ‘unlawful’. That was the landmark decision today by the Hon Lord Ericht following a judicial review at the Scottish Court of Session.
“The private interest of members of the public in climate change,” the judge said, “outweigh the private interest of the developers."
This was not a decision made by any government, but a grass roots campaign Stop Rosebank, which received 100,000 petitions, and took the case to court. The UK government decided not to fight the case, but Labour leadership instead decided to leave it to private citizens to fight the case in court at their own expense. This is not the leadership we want, but the outcome is a huge victory nonetheless.
Vicky Allan
MPs support move for deposit return scheme for England and Northern Ireland
A proposed law to establish a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England and Northern Ireland from 2027 has been supported by MPs.
DRS involves people being charged a deposit when buying a single-use container and then receiving the money back when they hand it in for recycling at a designated return point.
This obvious win has been a slow roller, since Environment Secretary Michael Gove set up consultations in 2019. Scotland nearly had one going but was forced to delay by Westminster. The new UK rules only cover plastic and metal containers and fails to include glass, but this is still a big step in the right direction.
As somebody who manages woodlands full of bottles and cans, it has always been a source of frustration that the UK is so far behind the rest of Europe with their successful systems, but now the UK will also pay people to bring their containers back to the store in return for cash. It won't outright end littering overnight, but it will massively reduce it, and pay people who do the right thing of picking up litter on their walks.
Richard Wheeler, PA Parliamentary Editor
Iberian Lynx population on the rise in Portugal
Portugal's population of Iberian Lynx has risen to an estimated 300 individuals, having been almost non-existent 15 years ago.
The rare and localised big cat has bounced back across its range in recent years. Successful conservation measures are cited as the main reasons behind the comeback and resulted in the IUCN downgrading the feline's conservation status from Endangered to Vulnerable earlier this year.
Whilst Scotland struggles to get Lynx back into the landscape, it's brilliant to see populations rebounding further afield, showing that it's possible to coexist with larger animals without all getting in a flap about it.
One of Texas’ dirtiest coal plants will swap to solar with help from US grant
South Texas is well known for being a horrendously polluted part of the world, but even in a heartland of Trumpism, one of the dirtiest coal plants will shut down and convert to a solar + battery electricity generation facility. This is done with the help of a $1.4 billion grant from the US Department of Agriculture meant to help clean energy while saving rural jobs.
Hopefully Trump doesn't get in the way of this obvious win, because solar farms are cheaper to build and run than it is to maintain these dirty old coal plants, and the transmission already exists making this an incredibly sensible move.
Jameson Dow
In other good news my charity Protect Earth has lurched ever closer to completing our latest land purchase in my neck of the woods, Bath, UK.
We now have the full £480,000 in our bank account to complete the purchase for a piece of land I first visited in October 2023 and have been dreaming about ever since. The site has evidence of not just one but two beaver colonies habitating the site according to the Beaver Trust, and once we're done replanting and rewetting different sections of it the beavers will be free from their rudimentary existence on the side of the banks and have a huge wetland to play with.
Half the reason I've been so quiet lately is that you would have absolutely no idea how hard it is to buy 70 acres of land, especially when Defra decide at the last minute they're not interested in funding the work, but I've managed to pull the funding directly out of my hole, and the local community has kicked into gear to help get this done.
Protect Earth is dipping into its cash reserves far more than intended, and we have to make sure we don't upset the stability of our charity over this, so if you can help us get from £82k to £100k it will help make sure none of our other sites in Liskeard, Knighton, Mold, or any of the work we've started with 60 farmers and landowners around the UK is at risk. Please chip in what you can to get us to that £100k mark, and we can get stuck in, confidently, as soon as we get the keys to this amazing piece of land.
Comments ()