UK Chancellor wants to scrap climate goals

BBC News - Chancellor letter reveals pressure on climate targets: "The Chancellor has demanded that the Energy Secretary Ed Davey abandon the UK's pathway towards climate targets.

In a leaked letter, George Osborne says renewables are too expensive and suggests expanding plans for gas-fired generation.

The government's adviser, the Climate Change Committee, says this will cause the UK to miss its 2030 climate goals."

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Millions take to the streets as Spain unites against austerity - Eagainst.com

Millions take to the streets as Spain unites against austerity - Eagainst.com: "On Thursday, millions of Spaniards took to the streets in over 80 cities around the country in the largest protest since the past 15th of October, just hours after the Rajoy government ratified the largest budget cuts in the history of Spanish democracy. Once again, in times of crisis, the system shows it true face: as Congress and the streets around it were barricaded by militarized police forces, the ruling party (PP) enforced its absolute majority by carrying out the vote alone, while other parties left Parliament in protest."

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Tallinn takes action against cars

Deputy Mayor Defends Moves to Prioritize Public Transport | News | ERR: "Tallinn officials defended the new restrictions on cars in the city center as modern and European while opponents said the way recent closures were decided and implemented was anything but.
Deputy Mayor Taavi Aas said that without traffic reduction measures, Tallinn would soon grind to a halt. He said priority lanes for public transport, mergers of public transport companies and transition to free public transport were "critical.""

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Town by Black Sea: two months of rain in one night

Aleksandr Tkachyov

'Wave of water,' torrential rains kill dozens in Russia - World News: "RT said the Interior Ministry confirmed 92 people had been killed in Krymsk after an average two-months' rain fell in just a few hours in the popular holiday region on the Black Sea where Russia will host the 2014 Winter Olympics."

Oil companies admit that arctic spills will not be cleaned up

Ends of the Earth | Greenpeace International: "This summer, Shell Oil intends to drill five exploratory wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas on Alaska's continental shelf. Although the sea bottom in this region is relatively shallow – 50-meters, compared to a thousand meters or more for deepwater wells – drilling rigs in the Arctic must negotiate moving ice floes, Arctic storms, freezing weather, and 10 weeks of darkness.
Shell admits that they would likely abandon a well capping or spill cleanup during poor Arctic weather. Oil moving under ice floes is out of reach, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) warns that “there is no comprehensive method for cleanup of spilled oil in sea ice.” Furthermore, US Coast Guard Admiral Robert Papp admits that Alaska infrastructure to respond to an oil well blowout, does not exist. Canadian regulators conclude that to drill a blowout relief well in the arctic would take three years."

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