In the Obama era, the Environmental Protection Agency has been absolutely non-controversial in the national media. Few reporters have considered its aggressive “green” tactics a job-crusher. In fact, on Wednesday night’s “Marketplace” business show on many NPR stations, that notion was mocked as a playground taunt that children might make. Reporter Adriene Hill began: Here's my best impression of politicians talking about environmental rules: “They're job killers.” “Are not.” “Are too.” “Are not.”
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Developers of farms in Cornwall and Lincolnshire have rushed to beat the cut in government subsidies for large-scale solar installations A huge solar farm in Lincolnshire and another in Cornwall started generating green electricity on Thursday to become the UK’s two biggest solar installations, as developers rushed to beat an imminent cut in government subsidies. The 1MW Fen Farm solar park and the 1.4MW Wheal Jane park in Truro are two of several such large-scale projects rushing to connect to the grid. They are trying to benefit from a higher level of feed-in tariff payments before the government cuts the rates by up to 75% on 1 August. When the cuts were confirmed last month , ministers defended them on the grounds that the funding for payments needed to be protected for householders. But energy industry figures and campaigners warned that making such large projects financially unviable would “crush” the solar industry and cost the UK “major manufacturing opportunities, jobs and global competitiveness”. The developers of the Truro park on the site of a disused tin mine worked around the clock to finish the project in time to beat the tariff cuts. Solarcentury and Lightsource Renewables originally planned to finish the park by the end of August. They were forced to bring both projects forward, at significant extra cost. Although the solar park in Lincolnshire was always planned for completion before August, its developers, Ecotricity, experienced similar concerns about not completing the project in time. Founder Dale Vince, said that connecting to the grid by 1 August is an insecure business. “When you think that we’re finishing three weeks ahead of the deadline, we’re cutting it fine enough for my liking,” he said. “You’ve got a situation where the grid companies aren’t that amenable. They don’t get anything out of accommodating renewable energy on the grids so it’s never an easy thing. It’s a bureaucratic process and more often than not there will be a delay.” Not all the projects are fortunate enough to have even three weeks’ leeway. Silicon Vineyards, the developer of a solar park at Benbole Farm in Cornwall, is working right up to the deadline. Despite the cut in payments – from 30.7p per Kwh currently to 8.5p from August for field-size installations over 250Kw – some companies are pushing ahead with large-scale projects that will miss the deadline. They are hoping that the government will announce in mid-July that renewable sources of energy including solar are now eligible for a higher level of a separate subsidy scheme, Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC). Hopes in the industry are also being pinned on the exploitation of a legal loophole in the feed-in tariff system. Ray Noble, solar specialist at the Renewable Energy Association , said companies are putting plans on hold while they seek legal advice and wait for Ofgem to indicate whether smaller solar power projects could later be increased in size and still retain the higher rates. “There’ll be some innovative ways of trying to make it work,” Noble said. “Most of the developers have kept very quiet while they lobby government to say they’re losing lots of money and that the system needs to be changed for them to make any plans.” Ecotricity’s Vince was critical of the government’s support for solar power. “Our government has got its eyes focused on big nuclear and clean coal, and solar has become an inconvenient success story. But it seems crazy to me to have a cap. We need large scale solar to make the UK more energy independent and reduce our carbon. Large-scale solar is critical if this government is serious about being the greenest ever.” Solar power Energy Renewable energy Feed-in tariffs Energy industry guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Developers of farms in Cornwall and Lincolnshire have rushed to beat the cut in government subsidies for large-scale solar installations A huge solar farm in Lincolnshire and another in Cornwall started generating green electricity on Thursday to become the UK’s two biggest solar installations, as developers rushed to beat an imminent cut in government subsidies. The 1MW Fen Farm solar park and the 1.4MW Wheal Jane park in Truro are two of several such large-scale projects rushing to connect to the grid. They are trying to benefit from a higher level of feed-in tariff payments before the government cuts the rates by up to 75% on 1 August. When the cuts were confirmed last month , ministers defended them on the grounds that the funding for payments needed to be protected for householders. But energy industry figures and campaigners warned that making such large projects financially unviable would “crush” the solar industry and cost the UK “major manufacturing opportunities, jobs and global competitiveness”. The developers of the Truro park on the site of a disused tin mine worked around the clock to finish the project in time to beat the tariff cuts. Solarcentury and Lightsource Renewables originally planned to finish the park by the end of August. They were forced to bring both projects forward, at significant extra cost. Although the solar park in Lincolnshire was always planned for completion before August, its developers, Ecotricity, experienced similar concerns about not completing the project in time. Founder Dale Vince, said that connecting to the grid by 1 August is an insecure business. “When you think that we’re finishing three weeks ahead of the deadline, we’re cutting it fine enough for my liking,” he said. “You’ve got a situation where the grid companies aren’t that amenable. They don’t get anything out of accommodating renewable energy on the grids so it’s never an easy thing. It’s a bureaucratic process and more often than not there will be a delay.” Not all the projects are fortunate enough to have even three weeks’ leeway. Silicon Vineyards, the developer of a solar park at Benbole Farm in Cornwall, is working right up to the deadline. Despite the cut in payments – from 30.7p per Kwh currently to 8.5p from August for field-size installations over 250Kw – some companies are pushing ahead with large-scale projects that will miss the deadline. They are hoping that the government will announce in mid-July that renewable sources of energy including solar are now eligible for a higher level of a separate subsidy scheme, Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC). Hopes in the industry are also being pinned on the exploitation of a legal loophole in the feed-in tariff system. Ray Noble, solar specialist at the Renewable Energy Association , said companies are putting plans on hold while they seek legal advice and wait for Ofgem to indicate whether smaller solar power projects could later be increased in size and still retain the higher rates. “There’ll be some innovative ways of trying to make it work,” Noble said. “Most of the developers have kept very quiet while they lobby government to say they’re losing lots of money and that the system needs to be changed for them to make any plans.” Ecotricity’s Vince was critical of the government’s support for solar power. “Our government has got its eyes focused on big nuclear and clean coal, and solar has become an inconvenient success story. But it seems crazy to me to have a cap. We need large scale solar to make the UK more energy independent and reduce our carbon. Large-scale solar is critical if this government is serious about being the greenest ever.” Solar power Energy Renewable energy Feed-in tariffs Energy industry guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Developers of farms in Cornwall and Lincolnshire have rushed to beat the cut in government subsidies for large-scale solar installations A huge solar farm in Lincolnshire and another in Cornwall started generating green electricity on Thursday to become the UK’s two biggest solar installations, as developers rushed to beat an imminent cut in government subsidies. The 1MW Fen Farm solar park and the 1.4MW Wheal Jane park in Truro are two of several such large-scale projects rushing to connect to the grid. They are trying to benefit from a higher level of feed-in tariff payments before the government cuts the rates by up to 75% on 1 August. When the cuts were confirmed last month , ministers defended them on the grounds that the funding for payments needed to be protected for householders. But energy industry figures and campaigners warned that making such large projects financially unviable would “crush” the solar industry and cost the UK “major manufacturing opportunities, jobs and global competitiveness”. The developers of the Truro park on the site of a disused tin mine worked around the clock to finish the project in time to beat the tariff cuts. Solarcentury and Lightsource Renewables originally planned to finish the park by the end of August. They were forced to bring both projects forward, at significant extra cost. Although the solar park in Lincolnshire was always planned for completion before August, its developers, Ecotricity, experienced similar concerns about not completing the project in time. Founder Dale Vince, said that connecting to the grid by 1 August is an insecure business. “When you think that we’re finishing three weeks ahead of the deadline, we’re cutting it fine enough for my liking,” he said. “You’ve got a situation where the grid companies aren’t that amenable. They don’t get anything out of accommodating renewable energy on the grids so it’s never an easy thing. It’s a bureaucratic process and more often than not there will be a delay.” Not all the projects are fortunate enough to have even three weeks’ leeway. Silicon Vineyards, the developer of a solar park at Benbole Farm in Cornwall, is working right up to the deadline. Despite the cut in payments – from 30.7p per Kwh currently to 8.5p from August for field-size installations over 250Kw – some companies are pushing ahead with large-scale projects that will miss the deadline. They are hoping that the government will announce in mid-July that renewable sources of energy including solar are now eligible for a higher level of a separate subsidy scheme, Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC). Hopes in the industry are also being pinned on the exploitation of a legal loophole in the feed-in tariff system. Ray Noble, solar specialist at the Renewable Energy Association , said companies are putting plans on hold while they seek legal advice and wait for Ofgem to indicate whether smaller solar power projects could later be increased in size and still retain the higher rates. “There’ll be some innovative ways of trying to make it work,” Noble said. “Most of the developers have kept very quiet while they lobby government to say they’re losing lots of money and that the system needs to be changed for them to make any plans.” Ecotricity’s Vince was critical of the government’s support for solar power. “Our government has got its eyes focused on big nuclear and clean coal, and solar has become an inconvenient success story. But it seems crazy to me to have a cap. We need large scale solar to make the UK more energy independent and reduce our carbon. Large-scale solar is critical if this government is serious about being the greenest ever.” Solar power Energy Renewable energy Feed-in tariffs Energy industry guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Developers of farms in Cornwall and Lincolnshire have rushed to beat the cut in government subsidies for large-scale solar installations A huge solar farm in Lincolnshire and another in Cornwall started generating green electricity on Thursday to become the UK’s two biggest solar installations, as developers rushed to beat an imminent cut in government subsidies. The 1MW Fen Farm solar park and the 1.4MW Wheal Jane park in Truro are two of several such large-scale projects rushing to connect to the grid. They are trying to benefit from a higher level of feed-in tariff payments before the government cuts the rates by up to 75% on 1 August. When the cuts were confirmed last month , ministers defended them on the grounds that the funding for payments needed to be protected for householders. But energy industry figures and campaigners warned that making such large projects financially unviable would “crush” the solar industry and cost the UK “major manufacturing opportunities, jobs and global competitiveness”. The developers of the Truro park on the site of a disused tin mine worked around the clock to finish the project in time to beat the tariff cuts. Solarcentury and Lightsource Renewables originally planned to finish the park by the end of August. They were forced to bring both projects forward, at significant extra cost. Although the solar park in Lincolnshire was always planned for completion before August, its developers, Ecotricity, experienced similar concerns about not completing the project in time. Founder Dale Vince, said that connecting to the grid by 1 August is an insecure business. “When you think that we’re finishing three weeks ahead of the deadline, we’re cutting it fine enough for my liking,” he said. “You’ve got a situation where the grid companies aren’t that amenable. They don’t get anything out of accommodating renewable energy on the grids so it’s never an easy thing. It’s a bureaucratic process and more often than not there will be a delay.” Not all the projects are fortunate enough to have even three weeks’ leeway. Silicon Vineyards, the developer of a solar park at Benbole Farm in Cornwall, is working right up to the deadline. Despite the cut in payments – from 30.7p per Kwh currently to 8.5p from August for field-size installations over 250Kw – some companies are pushing ahead with large-scale projects that will miss the deadline. They are hoping that the government will announce in mid-July that renewable sources of energy including solar are now eligible for a higher level of a separate subsidy scheme, Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC). Hopes in the industry are also being pinned on the exploitation of a legal loophole in the feed-in tariff system. Ray Noble, solar specialist at the Renewable Energy Association , said companies are putting plans on hold while they seek legal advice and wait for Ofgem to indicate whether smaller solar power projects could later be increased in size and still retain the higher rates. “There’ll be some innovative ways of trying to make it work,” Noble said. “Most of the developers have kept very quiet while they lobby government to say they’re losing lots of money and that the system needs to be changed for them to make any plans.” Ecotricity’s Vince was critical of the government’s support for solar power. “Our government has got its eyes focused on big nuclear and clean coal, and solar has become an inconvenient success story. But it seems crazy to me to have a cap. We need large scale solar to make the UK more energy independent and reduce our carbon. Large-scale solar is critical if this government is serious about being the greenest ever.” Solar power Energy Renewable energy Feed-in tariffs Energy industry guardian.co.uk
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Critics say bill will widen police powers but will not prevent chaos, and is being rushed through with insufficient time for parliament to consider constitutional implications The home secretary, Theresa May, is to ask MPs to pass an emergency bill to resolve the police bail crisis amid warnings from defence lawyers that it amounts to a “smash and grab raid” to boost police powers. The solicitors who applied for the original court ruling that triggered the bail crisis say the emergency legislation will simply encourage an emerging police practice of “bail and see” rather than carrying out investigations as a matter of urgency. Their warning comes as a cross-party group of peers raises concerns that legislating in such highly unusual circumstances undermines the constitutional principle of the separation of politival powers and the rule of law. The home secretary will ask MPs to pass her one-clause police (detention and bail) bill through all its stages by 6pm on Thursday with Lords approval on Monday. It is expected to reach the statue book by Tuesday. The rush follows a ruling by a district judge in Salford, upheld by the high court, that has thrown into doubt the legal position of 85,000 police suspects currently out on bail. The ruling overturned 25 years of police practice under the 1984 Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace), which allows suspects to be held only for 96 hours before they are charged or released. The ruling said that periods spent on bail should also count towards the 96-hour “detention clock” limit. The supreme court, which is to hear a full appeal on the issue on 25 July, earlier this week dismissed an application to suspend the original ruling pending that hearing. The home secretary’s bill simply reverses that by saying time spent on bail will not count towards the 96-hour limit, only time spent in detention. But Joseph Kotrie-Monson of the solicitors who represented Paul Hookway, the murder suspect in the original case, says the legislation being rushed through will widen police powers, not prevent chaos. “The judgment in Hookway should have been a wake-up call in respect of this new emerging police practice of ‘bail and see’ rather than interview and investigate properly at the front end.” He said a slow shift had occurred over the 25 years that Pace had been in force in which initial investigation and proper effective interrogation up to 96 hours after arrest has been replaced in practice by excessively long bail periods. In the Hookway case, the ruling that the 96-hour limit had been reached came five months after the murder suspect was initially arrested and had been repeatedly bailed. The House of Lords constitution committee expressed concerns on Thursday that the emergency legislation was being rushed through before the supreme court appeal hearing. “We are concerned that, in the understandable rush to rectify a problem which the police have identified as being serious and urgent, insufficient time has been allowed for parliament fully to consider the constitutional implications of what it is being asked to do,” says the committee’s report. But May is determined to press ahead: “The ability to bail suspects is a crucial part of how the police investigate criminals and protect victims,” she said. “I will always give police the powers they need to protect the public; that is why emergency legislation is required.” Police Theresa May UK criminal justice House of Lords UK supreme court Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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Alleged member of basque separatist group wanted over plot in 1997 in custody after raid by armed police A man alleged to have taken part in a terrorist plot to assassinate the King of Spain was arrested this morning in Cambridge. Armed police detained Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui at 8.55am, on behalf of the Spanish authorities. The arrest was made by officers from Scotland Yard’s extradition unit and the Cambridgeshire force over alleged offences dating back to 1997. Scotland Yard said its officers did not fire any shots, nor were any weapons recovered from the scene of the arrest. Arronategui, 44, is wanted on a European arrest warrant for several offences, the most serious of which is the alleged attempt to kill King Juan Carlos of Spain in 1997. Spanish media said Arronategui was allegedly linked to violence carried out by the Basque separatist group Eta and had been living in Britain with his family for several years. The alleged attempt to kill the king involved an Eta plot to bomb the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao as Juan Carlos opened it, which was foiled by Spanish police. A police statement said: “The European arrest warrant states Arronategui is wanted for participation in an armed gang; attempted assassination of the king; terrorism resulting in death; possession of weapons; theft and forgery.” Police were carrying out searches at one home and two business addresses in the university city. Arronategui is scheduled to appear before a judge, at City of Westminster magistrates court, on Thursday afternoon. Police said the arrest followed a “a proactive, intelligence-led operation” and in a statement said: “Officers from the MPS extradition unit and armed officers from Cambridgeshire police carried out the arrest. Searches by detectives from the MPS counter-terrorism command supported by local officers are taking place at one residential address and two business addresses in Cambridge.” Spain Eta Global terrorism Crime Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Frank Rich, the New York Times’s puzzlingly influential former op-ed columnist and over-dramatic hater of the Bush administration and the Tea Party, has landed with a splash at New York Magazine,penning the magazine’s new cover story, “ Obama’s Original Sin ,” going after the president's timidity from the left in a way he never managed at the Times. What haunts the Obama administration is what still haunts the country: the stunning lack of accountability for the greed and misdeeds that brought America to its gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression. There has been no legal, moral, or financial reckoning for the most powerful wrongdoers. Nor have there been meaningful reforms that might prevent a repeat catastrophe. Time may heal most wounds, but not these. Chronic unemployment remains a constant, painful reminder of the havoc inflicted on the bust’s innocent victims. As the ghost of Hamlet’s father might have it, America will be stalked by its foul and unresolved crimes until they “are burnt and purged away.” Rich does at least hoot from his latest leftwing perch in entertainingly vicious fashion about the “liberal,” “elitist” president:
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Journalists including personal photographer of the president detained over espionage allegations, say relatives Police in Georgia have arrested five photojournalists, including the personal photographer of President Mikhail Saakashvili. Relatives said they were being held by the counter-intelligence service. Zurab Kurtsikidze, a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency, Shakh Aivazov of the Associated Press, freelancer Giorgi Abdaladze, presidential photographer Irakli Gedenidze and his photographer wife Natia have been detained, relatives and colleagues said on Thursday. Gedenidze and his wife were arrested in the middle of the night at their home, Gedenidze’s mother Marina told Reuters. She said police later called to say they were being held by the counter-intelligence service. Abdaladze’s wife Neiko said one of the arresting officers had told her the case concerned alleged espionage. “They came at 2am (10pm GMT), searched the house and took his cameras, computers and mobile phones,” she said. Senior interior ministry officials were not available for comment. Police in Georgia have arrested dozens of people on charges of spying for Russia over the past three years since the former Soviet neighbours fought a brief war over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Moscow has accused the pro-western government under Saakashvili, which came to power with the 2003 “rose revolution”, of anti-Russian hysteria. Georgia Europe Press freedom Newspapers & magazines Associated Press News agencies guardian.co.uk
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Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, politics has entered every aspect of Egyptian life – even football. This is most evident in the Cairo derby, a game between arch rivals Al Ahly and Zamalek Michael Tait Mustafa Khalili Richard Sprenger Jack Shenker Mona Mahmood
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