Blue & Green Daily: Monday 7 April headlines

Blue & Green Daily finds and summarises the top sustainability stories around the web every morning. We start with our own picks from Blue & Green Tomorrow.

Why is the ‘greenest government ever’ reportedly curbing onshore wind?

Norway’s oil fund commits to increasing green investment

New tourism report: hotel workers plagued by low wages and long hours

Bring HS2 to Liverpool, says mayor

Labour promises to repeal ‘gagging law’

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7 April headlines

Exxon bows to investor demands to disclose fracking risks

Exxon Mobil bowed to activist investors for the second time in two weeks by agreeing to disclose more information about risks associated with hydraulic fracturing used in natural gas drilling. A shareholder group led by New York City pension funds and non-profit group As You Sow have now withdrawn a resolution calling for disclosure. Bloomberg.

HS2 risks putting costs before countryside, MPs warn

Areas of irreplaceable natural value along the route of the HS2 rail project, including ancient woodlands that are the home to rare bats and butterflies, are at risk of being subordinated to “crude economic calculations”, according to a report by MPs. The report says better safeguards for the countryside must be imposed. Guardian.

MPs accuse supermarkets of ‘morally repugnant’ food waste

Supermarkets have been forced to defend their efforts to tackle the UK’s food waste crisis, after being accused by MPs of contributing to the “morally repugnant” mountain of produce thrown away each year. A report published by the House of Lords EU Committee urged supermarkets to end ‘buy one, get one free’ promotions to help cut the 15 million tonnes of food wasted in the UK. Telegraph.

Brussels bends to pressure from Germany on clean energy subsidies

Brussels will this week bend to intense pressure from Berlin and relax planned curbs on subsidies for clean energy, clearing the way for the German government to pass a crucial renewables law. The European Commission is watering down its draft state aid rules, allowing subsidies for renewables to be phased out far more gradually than originally intended. Financial Times.

Conservatives to promise ban on new onshore windfarms

The Conservative party is planning to pledge in its manifesto for next year’s general election that it will introduce a moratorium on future onshore windfarms from 2020 on the grounds that they have now become “self-defeating”. In an attempt to show David Cameron is not abandoning the green agenda, the Tories will also pledge to press ahead with offshore windfarms. Guardian.

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Interesting picks

Prepare now for fossil free future – Financial Times

Who owns the North Pole? Debate heats up as climate change transforms the Arctic – Bloomberg

Shale industry faces global reality check – BBC

We can’t just blame ill wind. We need to take smog seriously – Guardian

Photo: Sanja gjenero via stock.xchng