In Holyrood, during the Scottish Parliament Question Time, opposition to hyperscale data centres was rising. Scottish Green Party, Mr Greer - "Current applications for hyperscale Data Centres in Scotland would consume more than 1.5 times our country's current peak power use. At Larbert, a 300-megawatt data centre is proposed, with 200 diesel generators, situated right beside a care home, with some of the residents on ventilators. Even the developer

In my last post, I mentioned the new Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, who takes the environment very seriously but understands that every penny does not have to be squeezed out of the population at large to achieve this aim. This was backed by the prime minister. Prime Minister, let me introduce you to Richard Burd, who is a world authority on water and environmental issues. I run this website jointly with him. People like Richard have left the country because s

We need to design strategies to ensure our communities are resilient. In the water industry we have SEMD: Security Emergency Management Directive where we look for single points of failure. Such techniques should be introduced more widely. Attention should be paid to risks that impact multiple services and small failures that when combined can snowball into major catastrophes. Richard B.

MP Leeds East · He has tabled a new cross-party parliamentary motion calling for a moratorium on new AI data centres. AI data centres consume vast amounts of energy and water, generate at least 50 decibels of noise all of the time, put pressure on local infrastructure day and night, and disrupt wildlife in the area, including bees and bats, making our climate targets harder to meet than ever. He is working with campaigners opposing the new AI

Greenpeace is running a study course on more ways that you can do to help your local bee population. For further details. https://action.greenpeace.org.uk/bee-hero?source=EM&subsource=GOFRNAOAEM10L8&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Bee+Hero+course+2026+OA+20260718&utm_term=Signers Ivor C.

Safety advice from the US Recreation.gov passed on to me by a contributor . Take care out there. https://www.recreation.gov/articles/location-spotlight/campfire-safety-tips/807 Ruth Ann R.

A Portable Wind Power project (Small scale) - An American company has launched a Kickstarter project to build a portable wind power kit that would fit in a car, suitable for camping, etc. (It will close by 5 Sept 2026). There are various other brands on the internet that are available to buy. This is the sort of idea we would like to highlight. Small-scale ideas that could go big. https://www.kickstarter.com/uk https://www.kickstarter.com/ USA. Ivor C.

Beavers and the natural dams that they construct along rivers help reduce wildfires in that area. European case studies have shown that areas with a beaver population reduce the risk of fire. https://pragmatika.media/en/news/bobry-proty-vohniu-iak-pryrodni-hrebli-dopomahaiut-ievropi-borotysia-z-lisovymy-pozhezhamy/ There are over 50 beaver-enclosed reintroduction projects in the UK. Ivor C.

Goats Employed to Create Firebreaks Goats are employed in the USA to create firebreaks. https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-popular-links/forward-issue-2/goats-employed Ruth Ann R.

During the summer holidays, when the pinch was even more severe and parents were struggling to make ends meet, supermarket chains were throwing away food. Yes, they would rather throw away perfectly good food than give it to you at a throwaway price. There were gimmicks so the main agenda could be hidden. An apple here and a banana there for some children. But almost all the food was thrown away. Even your fairing sharing co op ( Many Labour MPs are Co op MPs )

The government is still spending over five hundred pounds a day to house certain asylum seekers and their families. Protests have fallen on the deaf ears of ministers, even when people like me have given them the solution. I was in charge of teams to arrange cheap accommodation for refugees during the Kosovo war. Government officials had me investigated by the police because all the boffs, toffs and professor-type academics had told them it could not be do

Andy Burnham has correctly stated that it is reprehensible for videos of dangerous driving to be put on social media. All he has to do is bring in mandatory jail sentences if anybody drives dangerously. Especially if there is evidence available of them doing it. I was on a motorway where there were major accidents due to rash driving. A driver cut in front of the car at high speed, which could have caused a major accident, and he stuck his finger

People are desperate and rioting because of a shortage of housing. But let me tell you something. There is no shortage. During the Kosovo war, officials laughed at me because I said there was no shortage. But in their wisdom, they put me in charge. There had been a shortage not because of a lack of properties but because people were afraid to let their properties. We brought many properties back into occupancy, and that too at below the market price. Pro

We need strong defences, especially since the recent drone attack on Leipzig airport in Germany, which targeted a fully fueled aircraft near the terminal building. There is pressure on the government to increase our defence spending from within and from other countries. This does not have to be seen as a bad thing to aim for. Defence spending can be spent wisely and for the good of our country, if the money is spent with the aim of boosting our defence i

Hospitals suffer from bed blocking because people have nowhere to go and cannot be discharged. When the Conservatives were in power, I encouraged ministers to expand the shared lives scheme, where ordinary people could be paid to take in and look after the elderly and the sick. This could cover both care and nursing care. The money paid to individual households to provide such services would stay in the community and revive local areas. Such schemes alre

I run this site with Richard, who is a world authority on water and water resources. He has helped countries where there is water scarcity, by improving their systems and also put them on the path to net zero. The new Energy and Net Zero Secretary has promised a new direction in going towards net zero without pain to the public. We will be contacting her to offer practical help and expertise. Prab G.

Water scarcity is becoming more of a risk. Demand is increasing, and water availability is reducing. Water distribution and treatment are energy-intensive and, as such, have a large carbon footprint. Water scarcity is not a new problem. Many parts of the world have experienced this problem for decades. International best practice can be drawn upon to generate a strategy to reduce demand. Reducing demand: Reducing water demand can form part of a risk-based strategy aimed at r

The water quality is not good in some places and has caused many people to have kidney problems. The minerals in the water can hurt people's kidneys. If water quality were better, the resulting medical costs would be lower. Kitty B.

While I consider it to be a really good idea to ban the use of disposable BBQ's in a heat emergency situation, I think we as a country have an opportunity to put comprehensive fire safety rules in place that would limit the risk of wildfires in a warming climate. When a heat emergency is announced, it should include not just the risk to life from heat, but also the risk to life from fire. In Arizona, an extreme desert heat environment, for instance, in the summer they have st