Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · 6d

"Abducted", surely, if this happened in international waters, not "detained", which suggests the exercise of legitimate authority...

BBC News - Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla and detains activists including Greta Thunberg
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Greta Thunberg among activists detained as Israel intercepts Gaza flotilla

South Africa and Turkey have criticised the incident in international waters. Israel says those on board are safe.

www.bbc.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · 7d

I think 'Storm Gatwick' has a better ring to it, in honour of the absurd & self-harming decision to expand the climate polluting airport...

BBC News - UK weather: Storm Amy named by Met Office as warnings issued for rain, wind - BBC Weather
www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...

UK weather: Storm Amy named by Met Office as warnings issued for rain, wind

Simon King looks at what impacts Storm Amy, the first named storm of the season, will bring at the end of the week.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · 8d

Hear some of the best natural intelligence discuss the problems with the artificial kind at this year's online Responsible Science conference. @responsiblesci.bsky.social
New technologies are never neutral, what about the polluter & cyber elites?
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

🚨 We are excited to share our 2025 conference line-up: Astrid Nilsson Lewis, Oxfam Sweden Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR James Parr, Trillium Technologies Dr Simon Clark, Science communicator Emily… | Scie...

🚨 We are excited to share our 2025 conference line-up: Astrid Nilsson Lewis, Oxfam Sweden Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR James Parr, Trillium Technologies Dr Simon Clark, Science communicator Emily Ghosh, ...

www.linkedin.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · 12d

Athletes exposed to life-threatening weather extremes call for an end to sports sponsorship by climate polluters...

Cool Down @cooldownnetwork.bsky.social · 12d

🚨BIG news 🚨

Climbing pioneers, rising talents and major orgs have signed an open letter urging climbing federations and other pro climbers to take a stand against polluting sponsorship. 🧵 1/7

Full story. 👇

Pro Climbers Urge IFSC to Swear Off Fossil Fuel Ties

An open letter associated with the Cool Down network of sports for climate action asks the IFSC and climbers to swear off fossil fuel ties.

www.climbing.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · 22d

How and why did the car industry push people to buy larger, more dangerous and polluting cars, just as the world needed the opposite? Today with some fabulous colleagues we're going to be talking about how to reverse car-spreading (or 'autobesity')

www.suv-alliance.org.uk/reversing-ca...

Reversing Carspreading Conference September 2025 — SUV Alliance

www.suv-alliance.org.uk

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Reposted by Andrew Simms

Peter Newell @peternewell.bsky.social · 23d

Amazing contribution from @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social at the @fossiltreaty.bsky.social virtual summit. Grateful for her conviction that ‘the fossil fuel treaty is making the future liveable for humans & more than humans alike’. @suspol.bsky.social @sussexfss.bsky.social @andrewsimms.bsky.social

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Peter Newell @peternewell.bsky.social · 28d

Fascinating piece by @andrewsimms.bsky.social for @responsiblesci.bsky.social on the connections between arms control treaties & the origins of the campaign for a @fossilfueltreaty.bsky.social
www.sgr.org.uk/resources/ca...

Carbon disarmament: the rise of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

With oil majors abandoning climate targets and politicians friendly to their interests capturing power, Andrew Simms looks at how SGR’s campaigning history inadvertently sparked an idea, developed joi...

www.sgr.org.uk

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · 29d

We asked the UK advertising watchdog, the ASA, to investigate its own ads for being misleading. Then, to use the universal language of clickbait, this happened (they said their own rules didn't apply to them)
@badvertising.bsky.social @adfreecities.bsky.social

theecologist.org/2025/sep/09/...

The watchdog living beyond its rules

Advertising regulator in Britain asked to investigate its own adverts...

theecologist.org

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Sep 8

‘Ad regulator asked to investigate its own ads’ To combat climate misinformation we need a regulator as strong as the ASA claims to be in its own ads, but they're seriously misleading, so we’ve asked them to investigate themselves @badvertising.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...

UK advertising watchdog accused of breaking rules in its own ad campaign

Complaint lodged asks ASA to investigate claims made in promotion launched in conjunction with household brands

www.theguardian.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 22

'Where there is no vision, the people perish,' and I don't just mean the future career prospects of the current Labour government. Here's an article based on my chapter, From climate emergency to national renewal, in new book, The Starmer Symptom, just published 👇🏼

theecologist.org/2025/aug/21/...

From climate emergency to national renewal

Sir Keir Starmer has presided over a government that so far has failed to address the climate emergency and social inequality. This is the last chance for course correction.

theecologist.org

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Reposted by Andrew Simms

Teresa Anderson @1teresaanderson.bsky.social · Aug 21

There's an "inherent bias in the carbon market structure where auditors are selected and paid by carbon project developers" finds @rishpardikar.bsky.social, diving into the flawed process that leads to dubious carbon credits.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
drilled.media/news/carbon-...

New Research: The Inherent Conflict of Interest in Carbon Markets

The allure of “verified” carbon credits is obvious, but new research finds the verification process deeply flawed by the fact that auditors are hired and paid by project developers, creating a financi...

drilled.media

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Reposted by Andrew Simms

Badvertising @badvertising.bsky.social · Aug 20

🚨 Out today: "The Starmer Symptom"

In a book documenting the precarious rise of Kier Starmer's Labour party, Badvertising's Andrew Simms outlines an alternative to the dead end of growth politics.

Here's an overview of the chapter. 🧵 1/6

@andrewsimms.bsky.social @labourlewis.bsky.social

The Starmer Symptom

04.07.24: Fourteen years of Tory gross mismanagement of government, economy and society came to a crashing and well-deserved end. Keir Starmer's Labour gover...

www.plutobooks.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 17

Bizarrely poor timing & deaf to the world of BBC Radio 4 to just promote an appeal for the Holocaust Memorial Trust that works on genocide education, and warns of not learning the lessons of the past, without even a passing mention to the genocide in Gaza happening now, in real time...

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Stuart Capstick @stucap.bsky.social · Aug 16

@peteknapp.bsky.social put this as succinctly as I've ever heard: flying is a past time of the rich, at the expense of the poor.

Screenshot of tweets noting how casually people fly and un-self-aware people are, in context of climate crisis.

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Reposted by Andrew Simms

Badvertising @badvertising.bsky.social · Aug 15

🚨𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁!

Mathieu van der Poel has signed a sponsorship deal with Dutch private jet firm Flying Group.

This disappointing choice sadly reflects cycling’s wider sportswashing problem. 🧵 1/6

'This partnership isn’t about luxury' – Mathieu van der Poel on the defensive following backlash over deal with private jet charter company

The average private jet flight in 2023 emitted two-thirds of the average EU citizen's total yearly emissions

www.cyclingnews.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 14

Just as oil companies dig in & ditch green energy & climate targets, cleaner energy investments are now double those for oil, coal & gas - and the gap is widening. Dirty energy is kicking, screaming & sliding into history, we just have to stop it taking us down with it www.iea.org/reports/worl...

Executive summary – World Energy Investment 2025 – Analysis - IEA

World Energy Investment 2025 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

www.iea.org

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 14

Why the aviation industry's green claims cannot be trusted - Reuters shows in simple graphics only 10 out of 165 alternative fuel projects announced by airlines in the last 12 years are actually working, "the industry has no clear pathway to hitting net zero targets"
www.reuters.com/graphics/AVI...

The airline industry’s dirty secret: Clean jet fuel failures

Reuters found that over 160 sustainable aviation fuel projects have been announced over the past 12 years, but only a small portion have gone ahead.

www.reuters.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 12

Heatwave in the UK and wildfires across Spain, Portugal, Greece and France - but don't worry, the oil industry is ditching any pretence around green energy and going back to burning fossil fuels... oh, wait a... 😶
www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Flames burn near Madrid as wildfires sweep Spain and Portugal

Emergency crews are battling wildfires as a record-breaking heatwave continues across Europe.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 12

Cause of death unknown, but temperatures were north of 30C... BBC News - Mattia Debertolis: Italian athlete dies after collapse at World Games - BBC Sport
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...

Mattia Debertolis: Italian athlete dies after collapse at World Games

Italian athlete Mattia Debertolis dies after collapsing during orienteering event in China.

www.bbc.co.uk

Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 12

Extreme heat increasingly hitting tennis players, its as if it just 'happens' in a sport sponsored by fossil fuel companies, polluting airlines and SUV makers, in this piece with no mention of the word 'climate'...

'Rinderknech collapses on court in Cincinnati heat - www.bbc.com/sport/tennis...

Cincinnati Open: Arthur Rinderknech collapses on court in hot conditions

Arthur Rinderknech collapses on court in sweltering conditions during his Cincinnati Open match with Felix Auger-Aliassime, before retiring.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Andrew Simms

Fossil Free Football @fossilfreefootball.bsky.social · Aug 7

🔴 Who is thinking seriously about what Spain and Morocco's mid-summer World Cup really looks like?
🔴 The threat to FIFA's major tournaments could not be more obvious. Time to get real about fighting for football by dropping fossil fuels!

Heatwave to scorch Spain from Sunday with highs of 45ºC

After a July with milder than usual temperatures, August will bring Spain's second heat wave of summer 2025.

www.euronews.com

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Aug 6

Hear athletes say for themselves why sport has to stop being a billboard for major climate polluters. The Fossil Free Declaration is a brilliant new initiative from the @cooldownnetwork.bsky.social 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Cool Down @cooldownnetwork.bsky.social · Aug 6

🚨BREAKING! 🚨

🌍 The Fossil Free Declaration is a new global initiative inviting athletes & sports organisations to sever ties with the industries driving climate breakdown.

Get involved by inviting your favourite athlete or team to join. ✍️

More 👉 cooldownclimate.org/the-fossil-f...

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Reposted by Andrew Simms

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · Aug 4

Yes, traffic cameras work, but it's a myth that people hate them!

Survey after survey shows that most people support automatic enforcement (and often want more of it).

This is a false controversy, fed by a minority of disgruntled drivers & journalists seeking narratives with conflict.

It’s Easy to Hate Traffic Cameras. But They Do Save Lives.

They raise issues of fairness, and critics claim they’re only about revenue. More speed and red-light cameras, however, would prevent a lot of deaths and injuries.

www.governing.com

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Cool Down @cooldownnetwork.bsky.social · Aug 4

🚨 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀

Football campaigners Peter Crisp and Rosa Simanowitz highlight the reputational risk of being associated with polluting profiteer, Chase. 🧵 1/6

The Lionesses’ positive legacy risks being undermined by support for a fossil fuel profiteer — Cool Down

England’s back-to-back Euros winners have inspired thousands of girls and young people in my generation to get into sport. The players are not only role models on the pitch but have stood up for inclu...

www.cooldownclimate.org

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Andrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · Jul 31

👍 I reckon I regularly get around 2,500km out of my default, go-to trainer...

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