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Reposted by George Monbiot

Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 12h

There's good reason why the oil and gas industry lobbies so hard for carbon capture - because it's the one 'climate solution' that wouldn't necessarily require shutting down the oil and gas industry

But it doesn't work. They need to be shut down

InfluenceMap @influencemap.bsky.social · 13h

📢 🚨New Report - How the UK oil and gas industry spent 15 years pushing for subsidies & incentives for Carbon Capture and Storage rather than regulatory accountability or science-based emissions reductions; maintaining a funding pipeline for a technology yet to deliver on its promises 👇

The UK Oil and Gas Industry's Advocacy on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

New analysis from InfluenceMap suggests that for more than 15 years, the oil and gas industry has systematically pushed the UK government to adopt a costly, emissions-intensive energy policy agenda de...

influencemap.org

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Reposted by George Monbiot

MVM - Totnes & South Devon @mvm-totnes.bsky.social · 13d

Live on November 14 in Totnes - come and join us.

George Monbiot - journalist and author
Anthea Simmons - co-founder of the South Devon Primary
Jonathon Porritt - former director of Friends of the Earth
Klina Jordan - former CEO of Make Votes Matter

mvm-totnes-time-for-real-change.eventbrite.co.uk

TIME FOR REAL CHANGE: democracy and climate justice

A live conversation about our shared future, with insights from distinguished speakers and activists.

MVM-Totnes-Time-for-Real-Change.eventbrite.co.uk

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 10h

Thanks Robert

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Reposted by George Monbiot

Mark Lynas @marklynas.bsky.social · 10h

WOW! The European Parliament just voted to BAN the words 'burger' and 'sausage' when used in sustainable plant-based alternatives. HUGE win for the meat and dairy lobby in the EU, and lots more confusion for consumers if this goes through. Insane!
www.euroveg.eu/european-par...

European Parliament votes to ban use of ‘veggie burger’ and ‘plant-based sausage’ - European Vegetarian Union

Brussels, 8 October 2025 European Parliament votes to ban use of ‘veggie burger’ and ‘plant-based sausage’: coalition calls decision misguided and counterproductive This Wednesday the Members of the E...

www.euroveg.eu

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 12h

All eugenicists or "race science" advocates.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 12h

See the alt-text

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 12h

Behold. The "genetic master race".

A photo, originally posted by @magicmoneytree.bsky.social, of the eugenecists/"race science" advocates Richard Hanania, Curtis Yarvin and Nathan Cofnas.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 15h

Another benefit of Brexit ... the UK has returned to its traditional role as the dirty man of Europe.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

UK plastic waste exports to developing countries rose 84% in a year, data shows

Campaigners say increase in exports mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia is ‘unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism’

www.theguardian.com

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

The thread on one page: skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...

Page by George Monbiot | @georgemonbiot.bsky.social

ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have bee...

skywriter.blue

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

On the one hand, medical science is beginning to get a handle on the very complex physiological basis of this disease. On the other hand, we can expect the greatest medical scandal (so far) of the 21st Century – the mass mistreatment and neglect of ME/CFS sufferers – to continue.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

This commission points to where the government is heading. If the problem is “overdiagnosis” – which appears to be its foregone conclusion – then large numbers of people with horrendous conditions will be put through an even more punishing regime of tests and obstacles to qualify for benefits.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

To rub salt into their wounds, these patients have watched as the man many see as their tormentor-in-chief has been garlanded with honours, including a knighthood. His latest appointment is yet another blow.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

Many patients have been forced into useless and sometimes dangerous “buck up” treatments such as Graded Exercise Therapy and CBT, in some cases long after these “treatments” have been debunked. The most eminent advocate of these treatments? Professor Sir Simon Wesseley.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

They desperately want to be able to work, to socialise, to experience all the other joys of life. But because the condition is so poorly understood, they have been repeatedly treated as if they were “malingerers” or “hysterics”. Which suits the government just fine.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

In the firing line, as ever, are the UK’s hundreds of thousands of ME/CFS patients. As a practitioner once remarked, “the bastards don’t want to get better”. If there is one characteristic all the ME/CFS patients I’ve come across have in common, it is a desperation to get better.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

Like the Tories, the Labour government is trying to drive down the number of people who qualify for disability benefits by insisting there has been an epidemic of “overdiagnosis”: a favourite theme of the BBC and the junktanks of Tufton Street. Never mind the science: what outcome do we want?

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

Just as we are beginning to understand the biochemical basis of this horrendous condition, the government appoints the man perhaps most responsible for the mischaracterisation of ME/CFS – Simon Wesseley - to its *overdiagnosis* commission. www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/controv...

Controversial professor to investigate overdiagnosis of mental health and neurodivergence for Labour

Get the benefits you're entitled to: help with personal independence payment (PIP), universal credit (UC), employment and support allowance (ESA),disability living allowance (DLA). Claims, assessments...

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 16h

ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long.
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Scientists develop first ‘accurate blood test’ to detect chronic fatigue syndrome

Research could offer hope for ME patients – but some experts urge caution and say more studies needed

www.theguardian.com

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

Utterly beholden to lobbyists, staggeringly ignorant and dismissive of the natural world: Rachel Reeves might not look or sound like Donald Trump, but she is behaving very much like him. This government is even more of an ecological hazard than the Tories were.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Rachel Reeves clears planning blockage amid ‘good relationship’ with developer

Exclusive: Chancellor says 20,000 homes were being held up due to ‘some snails that are a protected species or something’

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by George Monbiot

Adam @abrokenbattery.bsky.social · 2d

Simon Wessely — the controversial psychiatrist once dubbed “Britain’s most hated doctor” has been appointed vice chair of Labour’s review into overdiagnosis of mental health and neurodivergence.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/controv...

Controversial professor to investigate overdiagnosis of mental health and neurodivergence for Labour

Get the benefits you're entitled to: help with personal independence payment (PIP), universal credit (UC), employment and support allowance (ESA),disability living allowance (DLA). Claims, assessments...

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

It seems pretty clear to me now: Keir Starmer would rather lose to Reform than to the Labour left, which is his real enemy. Any policy that might recover lost ground with voters has to be struck down, as it looks like a concession to the Labour left. And he and his team cannot contemplate that.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

Nope. I tried repeatedly. No answer.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

There are some people whom the media has decided are "leading intellectuals", regardless of the views of their academic colleagues. Invariably they are people who justify - or at the very least do not challenge - economic power. Steven Pinker is a stand-out example.
www.monbiot.com/2018/03/09/c...

Contrary to Reason

Steven Pinker claims to champion Enlightenment values. But his latest book is an affront to them

www.monbiot.com

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

We need constantly to remind ourselves that there's nothing normal or inevitable about it. It would be a catastrophe from which we would not recover for many years, in which terrible things are done, to minorities, to vulnerable people, to the rest of the living planet. We cannot let it happen.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

No sudden rupture is now required for the far right to take power in this country. For what we're seeing is a steady normalisation of extremists by the Conservative and Labour Parties, BBC, Telegraph, Mail and others. A shift once considered unthinkable beings to look acceptable, even inevitable.🧵

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