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  • Can smart consumption replace green government?

    A couple of years ago we were promised the “greenest government ever” — not a difficult thing in the U.K., but it sounded fun all the same. Sadly, the green stuff that was a major part of Prime Minister David Cameron’s “detoxification” of the Conservative party image a couple of years ago left no trace […]

  • Can voluntary action fix Britain’s shoddy housing stock?

    Britain’s housing stock: charming but leakyPhoto courtesy UGArdener via FlickrPrime Minister David Cameron’s call for Brits to take up the challenge of government by joining what he calls the “Big Society” exists so far largely in the realm of rhetorical flourishes. The political appeal is obvious: Maybe we can get communities to do stuff — […]

  • Brits mad, and worried, about BP bashing

    The cover of Great Britain’s Daily Express — “His rants against BP are a disgrace.”Photo courtesy of the Daily Express While it’s definitely not a diplomatic incident, and of course Americans don’t just think of BP as a British company, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has the British media transfixed. The Daily […]

  • What to expect from Britain’s new coalition government

    Prime Minister David Cameron and Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne heading out to announce that the government will cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 10 percent over the next 12 months.Photo: Prime Minister’s OfficeEnvironment policy didn’t break the surface during the U.K. election campaign. How will it fare in a coalition of parties at […]

  • Brits are aghast at us Yankee “greens”

    U.K. farm owner, “eco-dwelling” builder, and Grist reader JRWoodman offers some perspective on the apparently greenish platform of the new Conservative-LibDem coalition government: The UK’s Conservative party springs out of the old families that lived in stately homes in the countryside and enjoyed country pursuits. To this day if you look at an electoral map […]

  • How green is the U.K.’s new government?

    Prime Minister David Cameron (right) and deputy Nick Clegg, BFFsPrime Minister’s OfficeBritain’s got a new prime minister, Conservative David Cameron; a new deputy prime minister, Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg; and an odd new governing coalition kludged together with both of their parties.  The new government has released its platform, saying “The parties agree to implement […]