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Turbine-charged county: 'Landowners have hit upon wind farms because there is just so much money to be made out of the current subsidy regime,’ says Bill Driver of the CPRE

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Greenhouse Morning News

Richard Lemmer | 04.05.12

Top News Stories

UK must go green to stimulate growth, says Chris Huhne - Guardian

Energy conference protesters accuse police of heavy-handed tactics - Guardian

Heathrow and Kings Cross to start engines on CHP systems - Business Green

Fracking Is Flopping Overseas - Business Week (US)

Solar

Solar giants form new global industry body - Business Green

Princeton solar researchers take leaf from plants’ book - The Register

Solar Power is a good investment, say experts - Bdaily Buisness Network

Wind

Wind farms: action needed on 'neglected' energy policy, MP says - The Daily Telegraph

Iain Gray: Scottish wind policy needs more direction - Scotsman

Crown Estate chief Alison Nimmo defends wind farm projects - Daily Telegraph

Food

UK farming doing well despite recession - Farmer's Guardian

Free-range Friday campaign launched - FWI

America Buys Organic Products - Ebeling Heffernan

GM outcrosses six times more than non-GM wheat - Farming UK

Ethical Finance

Norway's Oil Fund Executive: Ethical Investment Won't Hamper Its Long-Term Return- Fox Business

Sustainability receiving Boost from Investors, claims FRA - Your-Story.org

IFC debuts green bond to fight climate change - Market Watch

South Korea approves carbon trading from 2015 - Business Green

Interesting News Stories

Novice Carpenter Builds a Secret, Illegal Tree House on Crown Land in Canada - Treehugger

Video game based on Thoreau’s ‘Walden’ promises to be extremely ironic - Grist

Upcycling: how you get fashion from cast-offs - Guardian

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Greenhouse Morning News

Richard Lemmer | 03.05.12

Top News Stories

Exclusive: Nike to cut environmental footprint with green shoe design app - Business Green

Fracking Fluids Could Migrate Into Aquifers, Study Says - Huffington Post

Japan to shut down last nuclear reactors - NZ Herald

Solar

Waxman Renewables announces agreement with Viessmann - Solar Power Portal

Solar Power, Native American Concerns Clash In Arizona Desert - Earth Techling

China Reduces Solar Subsidy on Declining Costs of Components - Bloomberg

Wind

Vestas confirms 7MW wind turbine delay on back of 'disappointing' results - Business Green

Wind farms 'destroying tourism' - The Press Association

Wind farm 'would raise £468k for communities' - This is Grimsby

Food

‘Food, Inc.’ chicken farmer has a new, humane farm - Grist

Whole Foods Lifts Forecast Amid Robust Sales - The Wall Street Journal

Foes of Genetically Modified Foods Seek Vote on Labeling in California - The Wall Street Journal

Ethical Investment

Sir Mervyn King admits: we did too little to warn of economic crisis - Guardian

American CEOs enjoy 15% pay rise in second year of double-digit hikes - Guardian

Returning to Rio to build a more sustainable future - Guardian

Microfinance entrepreneur providing affordable loans from Dalston - East London Online

Interesting News Stories

Power to the people: Hull opens electricity-generating gym - Solar Power Portal

Birds Strike Back: cartoons lampoon Thames estuary airport plans - in pictures - Guardian

Waste Receptacle Offers Wi-Fi in Exchange for Dog Poo - Treehugger

Building homes for London's wildlife - The Daily Telegraph

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How do we listen to the next generation?

Richard Lemmer | 02.05.12

Yesterday, the Guardian’s Leo Hickman posted about a group of young people who have travelled to Brussels to express their views on the environment to MEPs. The five young people won the trip as part of a video posting competition created by Eurostar and the Young People’s Trust for the Environment.

Liam’s video discussed electric vehicles; Tara’s dealt with fracking; Alana’s video shows her passion for the globalized food system; Abbie’s video makes great use of pictures to make her points about palm oil; and Simon’s video gives us a guided tour of the environmental problems in his village.

Leo Hickman provides coverage of the most contentious issue raised by the videos - fracking for shale gas. This is a complex issue, and Tara's video does a great job of presenting the ethical opposition untainted by the dominant groupthink that says we have to exploit every possible resource. In a debate that is constantly based around a narrow definition of energy security, Tara's view points are refreshing.

But there is an equally important point to be discussed: it is impressive to see a group of young people not only interested and engaged with environmental issues, but also motivated and passionate enough to voice their concerns. Whether or not their opinions create a green revolution in halls of the European Parliament, these young people show that there is the next generation of the green movement waiting in class rooms across the country.

Are green activists, politicians and businesses making the most of the younger generation? For this year’s mayoral election, the Green Party understood that their message should be conveyed not by adults, but by members of the next generation who will inherit our problems.

As comments on both the Green Party Youtube site and Leo Hickman’s post show, members of the public can have concerns about children appearing in campaigns. How well do these young people understand the issues they discuss? Have they been given the chance to develop a balanced viewpoint? Does their understanding simplify a complex situation?

We see a huge potential in allowing young people to express their views on the environment. Their message is more effective because of their age, not in spite of it. And anyone who doubts this should consider the case of “The Girl Who Silenced The World For Five Minutes” (an effective but erroneous title) and its viral status.

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Greenhouse Morning News

Richard Lemmer | 02.05.12

Top News Stories

Law firms make the case for deep carbon cuts - Business Green

Climate Change And Sustained Economic Growth Link Observed In New Study - Huffington Post

Nuclear waste 'may be blighting 1,000 UK sites' - Guardian

Puma leaves Apple behind in sprint to top of sustainability rankings - Business Green

Industry group targets Green Deal opportunities - Business Green

Solar

Solar experts are in demand - North West Evening Mail

Solar panel demand down nearly 90% following subsidy cut - Guardian

EARNINGS PREVIEW: US Solar Companies Seen Having Weaker 1Q - The Wall Street Journal

Wind

Dong, ScottishPower Award $152 Million Work on U.K. Wind Farm - Bloomberg

Wind turbine numbers soar - E&T

Reveal wind-farm locations to protect countryside say CPRE - bDaily Business Network

Battle grows over extending tax breaks for wind energy producers - Fox News

Food

Can egg producers avoid another boom to bust? - Farming UK

Anti-GM activists urged not to trash wheat field - Guardian

Scaling up organic farming will ’slash food production’ - Farming UK

Feeding the mind with correct food improves brain performance - Belfast Telegraph

Ethical Finance

OECD, ITUC call for more green investment - Top1000Funds

Green targets being watered down for UN summit - observers - Reuters

Big Banks Finance Renewables, But Still Also Coal - Sustainable Business

Interesting News Stories

86 Years Old Real-Life Robinson Crusoe Creates Tortoise Sanctuary on Private Island - Treehugger

By growing food, Occupy the Farm helps a movement grow up - Grist

Are we seeing the birth of the 'cyclist vote' in UK politics? - Guardian

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Greenhouse Morning News

Richard Lemmer | 01.05.12

Top News Stories

Ofgem sends back 95 per cent of Renewable Heat Incentive applications - Business Green

Vauxhall predicts Ampera will boost electric car sales - Guardian

BP to start three new Gulf of Mexico oil rigs - Guardian

China bests Canada in tackling climate change, Strong says - The Globe and Mail

Solar

SolarCity defies gloom to file for green IPO - Business Green

Exclusive: Canadian Solar sees sunny outlook for UK market - Business Green

National Grid looks at new power interconnector between UK and Denmark - Solar Power Portal

Domestic UK Solar Power Finance: ‘Free Solar’ Alternatives - CleanTechnica

Solar panels combat more than climate change - Guardian

Wind

Wind’s $168 Billion North Sea Boom Lures Oil Industry: Energy - Bloomberg

Call for clarity on wind turbines - BBC

S&C is selected by EDF energy renewables to supply equipment for UK grid compliance at fallago rig wind farm - Your Industry News

Wind turbine project could fail after Scottish Water remove support - STV

Food

The 'good food' stamp barely worth the label it's printed on - The Independent

Help me put good food back on the table for the sake of our children - The Sun

Oil seed rise sparks new food price fear - Financial Times

Ethical Finance

INVESTMENT EXTRA: How 'investments' in RBS and Lloyds shares have left us all deep in the red - This Is Money

Co-op board to meet amid Lloyds bid fears - The Daily Telegraph

'Too Big to Fail' Banks Less Profitable and More Risky Than Sustainability-Focused Banks - The Huffington Post

Interesting News Stories

Zoo tries to impregnate giant panda live on Twitter - The Daily Telegraph

How to Build a Solar-Powered Lawn Mower - Treehugger

Turn up the heat: Environmentalists should join Occupy on May Day - Grist

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The Greenest Or Most Arrogant Government Ever?

Richard Lemmer | 30.04.12

Last week saw David Cameron make a few “remarks” on the environment at the CEM3 (Clean Energy Ministerial conference). For a man who clearly understands the power of PR, his choice of words were somewhat poor; the green movement was waiting for a key note speech, not a mode of address you would associate with cocktail party chit-chat. Somehow, Cameron thought he could explain that his government is the greenest in the entirety of British history - in less than ten minutes.

By making the claim, Cameron has set himself a huge task. Understanding the power of the green movement and the pressing need to deal with climate change, the prime minister understood he could save several birds with one bird feeder: detoxifying the nasty party by hugging a husky and urging voters to Go Green, Vote Blue. See below for Channel Four's entertaining Tom Clark showing us what huskies are really meant for. But for sheer sticking power, Cameron’s rhetoric and spin on green issues has been good, with his choice of words and images being reiterated by the media over and over. Unfortunately for him, his words seem to haunt him like ghosts with no substance, as Cameron struggles to live up to the expectation he has created. Last year, a Friends of the Earth report marked the progress of Cameron’s green policies: most of them were rated as moribund or showing limited progress. Also, if Cameron wants his green rhetoric to be taken seriously, he needs to stop jumping on the debt and deficit band wagon every time he mentions renewable energy. We have enough austerity vs green thinking rhetoric from George Osborne. As the ever discerning Damian Carrington has pointed out, the green economy now employs more people than teaching. There's no need for Cameron to hedge his green ambitions with worries about the deficit; the green economy is working.

But Cameron’s remarks regarding the environment expose a potentially greater PR misstep. A recent Guardian comment piece suggested that the prime minister’s problem is that he is creating the image of himself as an "arrogant posh boy." Cameron’s green government claim fits this image perfectly: he’s part of, like, the totally greenest government ever, yah? And, of course, he sees it as "a very simple ambition." Forget the previous government making commitments to uphold Kyoto Protocol targets - Cameron's government is going to best that, and make it look simple. Cameron’s belief in his statement and the public‘s disbelief in the very same statement compound the public‘s feeling that the prime minister is out of touch.

People want a strong and confident leader. No one likes a naive and arrogant young man.

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