European Union

By Symon Hill ( Waging Nonviolence) – Thousands of people poured onto the streets of the United Kingdom . . . to challenge Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend Parliament. Activists are used to calling on politicians to make decisions, not to take direct action. But that’s precisely what’s needed to stop Boris Johnson’s […]

European Union

Brexit: After PM Boris Johnson’s Coup, what’s left of the British constitution?

British Policy and Politics

The contemptuous ease with which the Johnson-Cummings regime has attempted to cripple parliamentary consideration of alternatives to a no-deal Brexit by proroguing Parliament raises further serious issues about the remaining value of the UK’s ‘unfixed constitution’. This controversy comes after a prolonged period in which the executive under May used every micro-institutional weapon to blackmail […]

Featured

France Upstages Trump at G7 by Inviting Iran to Salvage Nuclear Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a surprise development, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif suddenly flew to Biarritz on Sunday for meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit. He clearly was invited at the instance of French President Emannuel Macron, who is still attempting to salvage what he can of the 2015 Iran nuclear […]

Donald Trump

Iran: Germany and France Refuse to be Inducted into Trump’s Gulf Naval Operation against Tehran

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The government of Angela Merkel in Germany has rejected participation in the the Trump administration’s naval mission, “Operation Sentinel,” aimed at securing the Straits of Hormuz from Iranian interference in shipping. German foreign minister Heiko Maas of the Social Democratic Party said that Berlin opposes the Trump policy of “maximum […]

Climate Change

In Just the Past Year, German CO2 Emissions fell by 33%, as Gas Replaced Coal

Clean Energy Wire

By Freja Eriksen | – A fuel switch from coal to gas cut emissions from German fossil fuel power plants by a third in June 2019 as compared to the same month the year before. Lower gas prices and higher costs for CO2 allowances are part of the explanation. [UPDATE adds comments by Karsten Capion, […]

European Union

180 Gigs of Offshore Wind: Europe May Build 10 Artificial North Sea “Energy Islands”

Clean Energy Wire

By Kennedy Nyavaya | – Several European grid operators have proposed to build at least ten artificial “energy islands” as wind power hubs in the North Sea to make use of large-scale offshore wind energy in meeting the continent’s climate targets. According to the North Sea Wind Power Hub (NSWPH) consortium – which includes TenneT, […]

Climate Change

Ruining the Planet: Not only are the German Far Right Scary Racists, they’re Climate Denialists to Boot

Clean Energy Wire

By Rachel Waldholz | – Der Spiegel: ( Clean Energy Wire) – Right-wing populist parties could make major gains in the coming European elections, with many of them bringing a new climate scepticism to the chamber and making it harder to pass ambitious climate policies, Annika Joeres and Susanne Götze report in Der Spiegel. Parties […]

Featured

75% of Scotland’s Electricity Now Green; & All Cars Electric by 2032

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scotland added another 6% of green energy in 2018, so that nearly 75% of its annual gross electricity consumption came from renewables, chiefly wind, solar and hydro. Scotland’s population is 5.4 million. The increase in green energy came mainly from new offshore wind. New offshore wind also allowed the UK […]

Donald Trump

Trump and Don Jr. Wage Scathing War of Words on . . . Conservatives of Britain and Germany?

AFP

By Shaun TANDON | – Washington, DC (AFP) – President Donald Trump is once again tearing up the diplomatic norm of treading lightly in allies’ domestic politics, with his team attacking Britain’s beleaguered leader over Brexit and irritating Germany. Trump, who has slaughtered so many sacred cows in US politics, has shown no compunction over […]