The Pragmatic Environmentalist
pragmaticenv.bsky.social
The Pragmatic Environmentalist
@pragmaticenv.bsky.social
Mike Crouch. MSc by Research in Biogeochemistry. BSc (Hons) in Env Sciences. Pragmatically posting about the climate & biodiversity emergencies.
Reposted by The Pragmatic Environmentalist
So I know this #Tylenol /paracetamol/autism thing is bollocks, but I've decided to punt all my books on #correlation, #causation, & the philosophy of #science to the top of my reading list. I've decided not to name any of them online because this correlates with me not finishing books. Or does it? 🤔
September 24, 2025 at 1:23 PM
The proposed name - London & South East University Group - foretells shenanigans. It could potentially become known as 'LSEU'! 😕

University of London will be as thrilled as The University of Manchester was with the University of Greater Manchester (née Bolton)! #HE

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK's first 'super-university' to be created as two merge from 2026
Universities are facing ongoing financial worries, with the regulator saying other mergers could follow.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 10, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Congratulations to Polanski who has won a massive mandate as #GreenParty Leader. I hope this will end the Greens hypocrisy of professing to care about decarbonisation & Earth's climate on the one hand, whilst opposing renewable energy & its transmission on the other...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Zack Polanski elected leader of the Green Party
London Assembly member Zack Polanski beats Green MPs Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, who ran as joint candidates.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 2, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by The Pragmatic Environmentalist
"The United States’ carbon emissions increased while China’s declined in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2024, pointing to a massive shift in roles between the world’s two biggest climate polluters if the trend continues."
U.S. Emissions Rise, China’s Fall, in Massive Shift Between World’s Biggest Climate Polluters
The United States’ carbon emissions increased while China’s declined in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2024, pointing to a massive shift in roles between the world’s two bi...
www.theenergymix.com
August 15, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by The Pragmatic Environmentalist
Calling all scientists and science supporters! You have a crucial role to play in countering the authoritarian threat we currently face in this country. Learn more about how you can stand up for the facts and truth that are essential for a free and democratic society. blog.ucs.org/gretchen-gol...
August 14, 2025 at 9:05 PM
I don't know if I can blame being a scientist or being a Ghostbusters fan more for the fact autosuggest just went with 'Acetylsalicylic' instead of 'Actually'! 😂

#science #Ghostbusters #pharmacy #aspirin #Salix #willow
August 3, 2025 at 6:34 PM
You learn something every day. Today in an audio book the word 'Delphic', meaning 'Relating to the ancient Greek oracle at Delphi. Deliberately obscure or ambiguous'; which I misheard as 'Benthic', meaning 'anything related to the bottom of a body of water, or the organisms that live there'!
August 1, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Has had preliminary sign off from the ONR & other statutory bodies. Interesting, because this would be a new nuclear site & the previous Tory government stated that SMRs would only be built at existing licensed nuclear sites. #NuclearEnergy #UK #Wales #SMRs

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...
Plans for small nuclear power plant in south Wales take major step foward
Last Energy is developing its plans for Wales with UK regulators
www.walesonline.co.uk
July 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Pleased that Prof Tim Lenton (right photo), Primary Supervisor on my MSc by Research, has been awarded an OBE in the King's Birthday Honours List.

news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...
Two Exeter climate researchers on King’s Birthday Honours List
Two University of Exeter climate researchers have been included in the King’s Birthday Honours List. Professor Peter Cox has been appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for “serv...
news.exeter.ac.uk
June 15, 2025 at 12:47 PM
"there has been under-investment not just in grid infrastructure, but the tools needed to manage it."

Paywall free till 14th June.

www.thetimes.com/article/93ac...
How a day of havoc unfolded on Britain’s electricity grid
On May 29, UK power stations were told to ramp up and ramp down, while energy was exported, amid inaccurate forecasts for wind power. The system needs renewing
www.thetimes.com
June 9, 2025 at 1:50 PM
We do need to "build baby, build", but we also need to incorporate simple inexpensive measures that protect wildlife baby, incorporate simple inexpensive measures that protect wildlife!

#building #planning #homes #houses #wildlife #birds #swifts #YesInMyBackyard #YIMBY

38d.gs/cdpr
Sign the petition: Save Our Swifts
Swifts have lost more than half their population in 20 years. A simple £35 brick in new builds could help save them. Labour used to support this – now they’re planning to backtrack. Sign the petition ...
38d.gs
May 24, 2025 at 3:21 PM
If Farage really cared about fishing he would have attended more than one of the 42 meetings of the European Parliament Fisheries Committee he was invited to over three years as a member of that committee. #reformUK #DeformUK
May 19, 2025 at 2:22 PM
1/4 Yet another issue where it's very hard to take a balanced, evidence-led approach, as almost everybody wants to foment a polarised debate or 'Say Absolutely No To All Of It' / 'SANTA OI'.

#planning #strageicplanning #townandcountryplanning

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Claims solar glare could cause Red Arrows to crash rejected
Conservative MP Caroline Johnson has claimed light reflecting from solar panels could dazzle pilots.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I think I may have coined a new planning acronym 'SANTA OI'. Say Absolutely No To All Of It.

I think it's a genuine rival to 'BANANA' or Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything!

#planning #strageicplanning #townandcountryplanning
May 17, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by The Pragmatic Environmentalist
Residents of #Lakenheath shouldn't worry about a drill so much as the 'Broken Arrows' at RAF Lakenheath in 1956 & 1961, see en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Lak... (not an 80s song by 'ABC').

As John Oliver once said "I'd quite like humanity's last words not to be 'Oh f**k!'"

#NuclearWeapons
April 22, 2025 at 11:10 PM
#Whitewebbs was a 5 min walk from my childhood home. I cannot fathom how Enfield Council can have identified the Oak as a '"fine specimen" with high ecological and landscape value' 13 months ago & not imposed an immediate TPO. Retrospective action is too late!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Toby Carvery oak tree felling: Anger and upset at scene of Enfield saga
Some locals are demanding answers over the Toby Carvery owner's decision to fell a 500-year-old oak tree in north London.
www.bbc.co.uk
April 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
If #KatyPerry planted an absolute buggerload of them, it would increase the albedo (reflectivity) of the land surface, decrease radiative forcing & thus exert a cooling effect.

Send her a copy of 'Ages of #Gaia'. It would re-frame her oft-referenced God, herself, & the 'Overview Effect' completely!
April 16, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Someone send Katy Perry a copy of 'Ages of Gaia'.
April 14, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by The Pragmatic Environmentalist
Ah yes, a proportionate response. Every student of history knows that the fences at Auschwitz were there to keep solar panels inside! 🙄
April 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Janne spoke with me about this last September, & he's only gone and done it! 🙂

Common in Continental Europe #ReverseVending is just an up-to-date deposit scheme like my parents remember, & like we've always had with glass milk bottles.

#recycling

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Suffolk's reverse vending machines could be adopted in Cambridge
Councillor Janne Jarvis says he hopes the initiative will one day be adopted by towns across the UK.
www.bbc.co.uk
March 31, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Kate says nature is family's 'sanctuary' in Mother's Day message
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Kate says nature is family's 'sanctuary' in Mother's Day message
The Princess of Wales has frequently reflected on the comfort the natural world has brought her in recent months.
www.bbc.com
March 30, 2025 at 12:29 PM
I thought it had been decided to dispose of it and the debate was between how to immobilise it. Viz. vitrify it (turn it into glass) or form Plutonium-complexes with ceramics. One to sleep on! #nuclearenergy #nuclearpower #nuclear

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Recycle Sellafield nuclear waste don't store it, union says
The GMB union says plutonium is a
www.bbc.co.uk
March 29, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by The Pragmatic Environmentalist
Solar for schools, coming soon from Great British Energy ⚡️

#energy #renewableenergy #solar #gbenergy #uklabour #ukpolitics
March 24, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Sensible stuff. Empty roofs are just energy there for the taking! 🌞⚡🌡️
March 23, 2025 at 6:01 PM
1666 would be about the time Britain began to make the shift from wood to coal, as coal is a cleaner, more energy dense substance than wood. Energy transitions are nothing new!

Source - Simon Shows You Maps on FB
March 19, 2025 at 3:54 PM