I have been quoted in Damian Carrington‘s most recent Environment Blog for The Guardian, Environmental protection rules may be headed for government shredder. The blog covers Oliver Letwin’s proposition to replace all of the current environmental guidance including that on pollution, waste, and wildlife, with one 50-page document. To see […]
Tom Burke’s political commentary: Durban talks were not a failure for climate policy
Tom Burke’s political commentary: A tune that bodes ill for environment and growth
Published in ENDS Report 443, p. 52, 20 December, 2011. On Europe and the environment, Cameron and Osborne have advanced arguments in the past month that will only serve to drive a wedge between the Coalition parties. The law of unintended consequences catches up with all political leaders eventually. In […]
Tom Burke’s political commentary: Eurozone turmoil and climate inaction: the twin crises of political will
Tom Burke’s political commentary: Euro travails and climate inaction – twin crises of political will
ENDS Report. Published on 14 November 2011. The chance to avoid a dangerous rise in temperatures seems likely to be lost in UN climate talks in Durban in the coming weeks. But the prospects for meaningful progress are scant, as governments are distracted and constrained by the current economic crisis […]
EDF fined for spying on Greenpeace nuclear campaign
I have been quoted in BBC Environmental correspondent Richard Black’s latest blog, EDF fined for spying on Greenpeace nuclear campaign, on the politics and tactics surrounding nuclear, appearing on 10 November 2011. He is writing in response to the decision by a French court to fine EDF 1.5 million Euros and send […]
Tom Burke’s political commentary: From the greenest government ever… to our very own Tea Party
Tom Burke’s political commentary: These plans for planning need urgent rethinking
ENDS Report 440, p. 54, September 2011. The government’s national planning policy framework is bad news for business, the environment and for its own green economy ambitions There is almost certainly a good case to be made for simplifying the planning system by reducing the large volume of planning guidance […]
Tom Burke’s political commentary: Nixon’s environmentalism is a lesson from history
ENDS Report 438, p. 55, July 2011. Under President Richard Nixon, the US led the world in environmental protection. But his ideologically driven heirs in the Tea Party threaten to destroy this legacy. Modern environmentalism began in the US. In September, Friends of the Earth (FoE) UK will celebrate its […]