Alasdair MacEwen

In an election year, when politicians need more scrutiny, not less, it is deeply worrying that #Newsnight is facing severe cuts. How are citizens to hold politicians properly to account if serious, indepth #BBC interviews and investigations are scrapped?

In 2011, people in Miyako had so much trust in their city's seawall that they stood on it filming the tsunami that would kill them. Climate adaptation is needed, but difficult. Listen to @by_srmiller tell @bertrandhb about his new book @IslandPress 👇🔊 landclimate.org/what-happens-w…

📢New podcast📢 The company behind America's top weed killer, now owned by @Bayer, also worked on nuclear & chemical weapons, & carcinogenic chemicals. @Alimacewen talks to @BartElmore about the scandalous history of Monsanto and his book, 'Seed Money'. landclimate.org/are-geneticall…

Drax accused of 'gaming their contract' w govt to avoid returning ££ hundreds of millions subsidy to consumers during energy crisis "policy wasn’t ready for extreme circumstances...Where there are opportunities for profiteering, companies wll seize them” bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-…

Shocking investigation - As energy prices soared in 2022, Drax found a subsidy loophole that cost billpayers £millions

A major UK power generator avoided paying consumers more than £600 million at the height of the energy crisis Drax has been accused of gaming a subsidy contract that its own CEO says is designed to guard consumers from price spikes Exclusive @BloombergUK bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-…

Drax, one of the UK's biggest energy producers, managed to avoid paying £639 million to struggling households as electricity bills soared @_ToddGillespie explains how a loophole left consumers in the cold Read in full: trib.al/aZLdrRZ

📢New #podcast📢 "There's no economics in continuing to drive a very old car. You just get rid of it.  To me, that's the story of the last 80 years of French nuclear politics." @ThPellerin of @I4CE_ @SciencesPo @TP_Coleurope speaks to @Alimacewen buzzsprout.com/1695859/129254…

📢New podcast📢 After the UK signed net zero into law in 2019, the government claimed to be an international climate leader. After Brexit and Ukraine, is policy living up to the promises? @Alimacewen and @doug_parr talk aviation, nuclear and net zero buzzsprout.com/1695859/127424…

After 10 years of operation, and substantial subsidy, Drax's own advisers tell it to "reassess its criteria for determining carbon neutrality.... and [stop] stating biomass is carbon neutral" news.sky.com/story/power-gi…

📢New podcast📢 "If there's no economic rent in renewables, oil giants are going to have a serious problem keeping shareholders happy." Lauren Sneade asked Prof. Paul Stevens @ChathamHouse @dundeeuni which factors affect speed of energy transition buzzsprout.com/1695859/125548…

Incredible & depressing how standards in British public life have slipped. A few years ago it would have been inconceivable this guy could stay on. The idea that the deeply conservative, William Shawcross is the right man to hold him to account is absurd bbc.co.uk/news/uk-643837…

📢New podcast📢 Have you noticed more climate denial on Twitter? Experts say online scepticism has been increasing steadily since the 2019 Climate Strikes. @bertrandhb talks to @MaxFalken and @a_baronca of @CityUniLondon @IRIS_Academic @turinginst buzzsprout.com/1695859/119913…

📢New podcast!📢 "both from a climate & a human rights perspective, there was no consideration of the huge risks this would create..." @Alimacewen talks to @kellystone6 about her time at COP27, specifically concerning removal offsets and carbon markets. buzzsprout.com/1695859/118841…

The UK Energy & Climate Minister faced a tough grilling over #biomass this week - not a single MP at the debate supported public subsidies for Drax's woody bioenergy. @charlotte2153 @SelaineSaxby @SallyAnn1066 @BarryGardiner @Wera_Hobhouse @JohnMcNallySNP #stopfakerenewables

A whistleblower confirms what we've thought about biomass wood-pellets for years.“We take giant, whole trees. We don’t care where they come from. The notion of sustainably managed forests is nonsense. We can’t get wood into the mills fast enough.” news.mongabay.com/2022/12/enviva…

💡 moment (1/3) Bioenergy campaigners have often tried to chase biomass out of their patch (e.g. 🚗⚡) by saying 'we need it for 🚢✈️’. Shrewd tactically, but flawed strategically. Because bioenergy emits GHGs wherever it's used, and we need to make 🚢✈️ zero emission too.

📢New podcast📢 According to a major new report, national carbon removal policies "could push ecosystems, land rights and food security to the brink." @Alimacewen spoke to one of the authors @katedooley0 @ClimateCollege about the worrying findings. buzzsprout.com/1695859/116753…

The government has confirmed that the costs of bailing out Bulb will ultimately be paid by billpayers, not taxpayers. While that won't change the total cost, it will mean more of the burden falls on poorer households. Likely to be around £4bn in total to be recovered.

📢New podcast📢 "Even in pristine environments - the Arctic, the deep sea, or rainforests - every inch of the planet now has microplastics raining out of the sky." @bertrandhb talks to @WIRED journalist @mrMattSimon about his new book from @IslandPress buzzsprout.com/1695859/114581…