Analysis and opinion on environmental issues. Updated first of each month.
The status of concentrations of pollutants in ambient air in 2020 and 2021 by pollutant, with both EU air quality standards and the WHO guidelines
The recent Green Wave in Irish politics and how it will affect the formation and operation of the new Irish government
1 Mar 2020While the big GHG emitters, including the United States and China, shunned their responsibility at the Madrid talks, cities, states, regions, businesses, and especially the youth showed courage.
1 Feb 2020Current status of Northern Ireland’s climate inaction
1 Jan 2020A new EU law obliging manufacturers to make home appliances easier to repair has caught global attention
1 Dec 2019LNG requires massive investment in bunkering infrastructure and LNG-compatible ships, which cannot deliver carbon-free transport but run the risk of creating stranded assets some of which will be publicly funded.
1 Nov 2019We think the economics of renewables are impossible for oil to compete with.
1 Oct 2019Global progress in the past decade in renewables for electricity production, plus good news from China and EU and bad news from US and Brazil
1 Sep 2019The Commission’s long-term strategic vision to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, showing how Europe can lead the way to climate neutrality – an economy with net-zero GHG emissions
1 Aug 2019By 2030, wind and solar will undercut existing coal and gas almost everywhere.
1 Jul 2019In Europe, only 40 percent of EU rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands are healthy today, largely due to pressures from industrial agriculture and hydropower, as well as other sectors, such as mining.
1 Jun 2019Denis Hayes, a principal organizer of first Earth Day, predicts the 50th anniversary in 2020 will be “the largest, most diverse action in human history.”
1 May 2019Energy analysts used power demand data from the January deep freeze and wind and solar conditions to find the gaps in an all-renewable power grid
1 Apr 2019The historical disregard of environmental considerations in most areas of policy has been a catastrophic mistake
1 Mar 2019How “sub-national leaders” (local, regional and corporate decision makers) are taking concrete actions on climate change as national and international actors falter
1 Feb 2019And that means faster sea level rise, faster global warming, and more extreme weather for us.
1 Jan 2019The Union of Concerned Scientists’ assessment of the current status, and usefulness, of nuclear power in US
1 Dec 2018Challenges for Ireland to meet obligations under the EU’s Energy Union Flagship Project
27 Oct 2018The challenge: ensuring a reliable clean water supply, treating waste water and preparing for floods or scarcity
1 Oct 2018A focus on Northern Ireland where 5 companies currently hold 10 mineral prospecting licences for different locations
1 Sep 2018New study of methane leaks in the oil and gas industry is the final piece of evidence that natural gas is not part of the climate solution.
1 Aug 2018On effective community participation in environmental projects and policies at the local level in Ireland
1 Jul 2018Bringing back coal jobs is ‘about as practical as bringing back the buggy whip industry’, explains Krugman.
1 Jun 2018Carmakers complain they can’t meet their CO2 targets, blaming declining diesel sales, while pushing old, inefficient, high-performance SUVs to maximise their profits
1 May 2018Local access restrictions can succeed in removing polluting vehicles from city centers and encourage cleaner alternatives
1 Apr 2018