South Yorkshire Climate Alliance call for cross-party solutions to Climate Emergency.

A guest blog by By Joan Miller from South Yorkshire Climate Alliance Four years ago Sheffield City Council declared a Climate Emergency but since then progress to zero carbon has been far too slow. It is certainly not what the massive gathering of protesters was calling for back in 2019.  In 2019 protesters were successfulContinueContinue reading “South Yorkshire Climate Alliance call for cross-party solutions to Climate Emergency.”

Sheffield’s Green Influencers

Who should you be following on Social Media this year? Which Sheffielders are the big environmental influencers? I’ve put together a couple of league tables to see who has the most followers on Facebook and Twitter.  The clear winner on both is the Baroness of Manor Castle, Natalie Bennett who is one of the twoContinueContinue reading “Sheffield’s Green Influencers”

Climate Review of the Year

I hope 2022 will go down as the year the world woke up to the climate emergency. Extreme weather events have hit every part of the globe, including Sheffield. So far the planet has heated 1.2C. We are on track for 1.5C by 2030, 2C by 2050, and over 3C by 2100. 2022 was theContinueContinue reading “Climate Review of the Year”

Mayhem at Barclays. But Sheffield Council continue to bank with them.

There was mayhem at the Barclays Sheffield branch last Monday (14th November). Dressed as cleaners, many in drag, complete with mops, buckets sponges and brushes the “Dirty Scrubbers” from Extinction Rebellion arrived to give the bank a spring clean. As tunes such as “Carwash” by Rose Royce, “Stayin Alive” by the Bee Gees and “IContinueContinue reading “Mayhem at Barclays. But Sheffield Council continue to bank with them.”

Destroying Ancient Forests is not renewable.

Much of the electricity you use in your house originates from Drax Power Station at Selby. It produces 6% of the country’s electricity. You’ve probably seen the six boilers, each as high as a 15-storey office block, and the main chimney which is taller than the London Eye. Drax claims to produce renewable energy byContinueContinue reading “Destroying Ancient Forests is not renewable.”

Frozen Planet 2

Did you see the first part of Frozen Planet 2? Adorable scenes of penguin chicks making their way to the sea for the first time and amazing drama as killer whales show their intelligence and guile by creating waves to topple a seal from its iceberg. But the scenes of enormous skyscrapers of ice calvingContinueContinue reading “Frozen Planet 2”

What is driving the food crisis?

Mike Anthony asks “Why are all the rising prices and shortages blamed on the war in Ukraine? Why aren’t we importing more from America and Canada?” (Letters August 24th) Unfortunately, we have a very unhealthy reliance on imports from Ukraine and Russia. Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the world’s wheat andContinueContinue reading “What is driving the food crisis?”

How a city can save the world

Graham Hogg / Sheffield’s theatreland / CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Crucible_Theatre_at_night-geograph-4878258-by-Graham-Hogg.jpg Last week I was privileged to see the Crucible Studio production “How a city can save the world”, directed by Tess Seddon and performed by the Sheffield People’s Theatre. We witnessed five ordinary Sheffielders transported into a dystopian future where only 24 people had survived the eco-apocalypse. I’m sureContinueContinue reading “How a city can save the world”

A quarter of all the work we do is to make extremely rich people even richer.

As many more trade unions consider strike action it is worth stepping back and thinking about our economy. Inflation is already at 9% and the Bank of England are expecting it to rise to 13%. This is probably an underestimate. For the poorest, who spend a much greater proportion of their income on fuel andContinueContinue reading “A quarter of all the work we do is to make extremely rich people even richer.”

A tour of London Docklands

In a week where temperature records were smashed, I spent some time visiting family in London.  On Friday I  toured  London Docklands with my brother. The first point of note was the travel cost. An all-day off-peak travel card cost me £9.50, not much more than two return trips by bus from my home toContinueContinue reading “A tour of London Docklands”