Thorfinn Stainforth
@bxlthor.bsky.social
Senior Policy Manager, Environmental Defense Fund Europe. Focused on climate, transport, and urban policy. Brussels based. Opinions are my own.
Sanchez is becoming the punch bag of Europe’s right and Trump.
Dave Keating@davekeating.substack.com · last wk.It's notable that when Belarus/Russia did this to Poland, other EU countries didn't respond by blaming Poland. They blamed Belarus/Russia. No mystery why Europe's governing conservatives are blaming the EU's only leftist prime minister.
There's growing evidence the surge into Ceuta (🇪🇸PM Sanchez has called it an "attack") has, like in 2021, been orchestrated by the Moroccan government in retaliation for Sanchez visiting Algeria Yet it's Spain being criticised by European politicians, not Morocco. So much for solidarity.
About 60,000 migrants arrive in Ceuta in 24 hours, Spanish territory's leader says
The estimated number of arrivals is more than 70% of the population of the city, which is about 83,600.
bbc.com
Hungary PM announces closure of nuclear plant due to heatwave
Hungary PM announces closure of nuclear plant due to heatwave
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on Sunday the shutdown of the country’s sole nuclear power plant after record-low water levels in the Danube river forced its first halt in 44 years. The move marks the latest stage in an energy crisis triggered by prolonged drought and extreme heat across Europe.The nuclear plant in Paks, […]
dlvr.it
Europe's Summer of Reckoning is "Just the Beginning": Article in @nytimes.com with statements from J. Rockström, @frediotto.bsky.social & myself. We should realise that such extreme summers will get even worse if we continue to burn fossil fuels. @usyseth.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/w...
Europe’s Summer of Reckoning Is ‘Just the Beginning’
The continent is experiencing some of its biggest fires and highest temperatures ever. Residents are fleeing, leaders are struggling to respond and “it will get worse,” one climate expert said.
nytimes.com
++BREAKING++ The UK and Spanish governments have issued a joint statement overnight: "[We] agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life." www.gov.uk/government/n...
OK, but what happens to the actual Mediterranean in this scenario? And everything else further south?
@davekeating.substack.com any hope the “middle powers” might actually stick together this time? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump imposes fresh tariffs on UK, EU and dozens of other trading partners
New tariffs will replace 10% global duty and come after US supreme court declared many of the earlier levies illegal
theguardian.com
You guys aren't going to believe this, but ... it turns out the oil & gas industry knew that they were poisoning people (in this case, with methane) for years, and they hid it & did nothing to mitigate the harm. No, really, it's true! Incredible investigative work here from @rebleber.bsky.social:
Oil Firms Knew for Decades of Methane’s Danger to Planet, Documents Suggest
The companies knew they were releasing more of the greenhouse gas than they publicly reported, according to industry files cited by the Center for Climate Integrity, an activist organization.
nytimes.com
This. This is the correct, science-backed, responsible framing. Wish more news outlets did it like the CBC.
'Just stop burning fossil fuels.' Scientists stress that our smoky skies only have one true fix | CBC News
Smoky skies in Toronto have led to new scrutiny of government efforts to fight fires and manage forests. But scientists say the realistic way to tackle the smoke is fighting climate change itself.
cbc.ca
Virtually every country in the world *except* for the US is responding to the Iran War in a rational way -- ie, trying to reduce their reliance in imported fossil fuels.
How the Iran War Is Driving Demand for Clean Energy
For decades, the case for clean energy was rooted primarily in climate policy. Today, it is just as much about geopolitics.
bloomberg.com
🇪🇺President von der Leyen’s proposal to weaken the #EUETS, the bedrock of EU climate action, sends a signal to companies and foreign governments that the Commission will easily cave before EU law might inconvenience them. My piece: davekeating.substack.com/p/faced-with...
Axel Springer, the company that owns Politico, awards its top prize to...Antichrist lecturer Peter Thiel. No mention of the $50 million Thiel gave the son of Axel Springer's CEO to start a venture capital fund. But the CEO lauds Thiel's "courage and non-conformity." www.welt.de/wirtschaft/a...
In eigener Sache: Peter Thiel erhält den Axel Springer Award 2026 - WELT
Unternehmer und Investor Peter Thiel ist der diesjährige Preisträger des Axel Springer Awards. Die Auszeichnung soll auch ein Zeichen für Meinungsfreiheit und offene Debatten sein.
welt.de
This would literally have been an over the top satire only a few years ago. We are not grappling with the disconnection from reality present in American elite politics.
Jen Bendery@jbendery.bsky.social · 3w agoNEW: Trump is now threatening to punish Canada for wildfire smoke blowing into the U.S., as a GOP senator intros a bill to sanction Canadian officials “responsible” for the fires driven by climate change. “Insane," says one leading Canadian enviro group. www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie...
Trump, not Iran, is the world’s greatest danger. He’s a one-man weapon of mass destruction | Simon Tisdall
Trump, not Iran, is the world’s greatest danger. He’s a one-man weapon of mass destruction | Simon Tisdall
As the bombing starts again, it’s clear the president has dragged the US into a limitless fiasco – and the world into an economic quagmire, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall
theguardian.com
I’m always reluctant to directly attribute any one weather event to climate change. But Canada’s current fossil-fuel boosterism does hit a bit harder while considering whether we have to keep our 6-year-old home from the baseball camp he’s been excited about, because of potential record heat.
Yesterday the Telegraph reported on my comments about air conditioning. The comment section is quite something. I have apparently become a hero of the anti net zero crowd by saying something what I think is sensible about air con. Allow me to point out three ironies in this 🧵
This is the America-Europe relationship in microcosm. That of master and servant. Even if the master loses his mind, the servant still has to keep obeying him. And the EU apparatchiks still flock to his party and post selfies with him. At what point will Europeans take back control?
Our fridge gave up during the heatwave sadly
Chris Baraniuk@chrisbaraniuk.com · last mo.My BBC News colleagues have this fantastic report about UK fridges succumbing in the heat, also. I did not know that Somerset was home to a firm called Refrigeration Developments and Testing! Most supermarket fridges were designed for 32C. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Streets are better with trees! sustainablect.org/fileadmin/me...
sustainablect.org
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 3mo agoAnother reminder that one of the best things you can do for a walkable, lovable city is make space for double rows of street/yard trees that create #KissingCanopies above sidewalks. Especially as cities get hotter. Vancouver has many of them — not instead of density, but as part of #DensityDoneWell.
The heatwave in Europe is so extreme, it's 25–32°F (14–18°C) above normal. You read that right. France recorded it's hottest day ever. The UK had its hottest ever June day. The ground is exceeding 122°F (50°C). People are dying. Tell me again why we shouldn't talk about climate change???
In Britain’s capital city modern homes built about two decades ago are now being linked to unbearable levels of indoor heatn
Modern Homes Leave Londoners Struggling to Cope With Extreme Heat
The British capital is baking as a heat wave sweeps through Europe.
bloom.bg
The United Kingdom has had 6 prime ministers in the last 10 years. The Netherlands has had 6 prime ministers in the last 43 years.
🇰🇷 A South Korean court has sentenced ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison for sending military drones into North Korea, saying he planned the action as pretext for his disastrous martial law declaration in 2024. ➡️ u.afp.com/Szwo
If your main concern is not upsetting a single South African billionaire rather than the safety and security of the country you're supposed to lead, then you're unfit for the job. Shameful weakness
Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social · 2mo agoElon Musk’s X not facing action from UK government over posts inciting violence in Belfast www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
OECD press release on inflation in May driven by energy costs. Belgium amongst the most impacted. (Ironically a heat pump, PV and batteries means May was the cheapest energy month of my life) Follows the European Commission release earlier this week: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web...
This is really insane and totalitarian. I assume that the free speech absolutists like bill Maher and Dave Rubin will be outraged and make a big deal out of it!
Al Jazeera English@aljazeera.com · 2mo agoPolitical commentators Cenk, Piker say UK bars them over Israel remarks https://aje.news/924bb0
We’ve all heard the promise: Expand the airport, boost the local economy, create jobs. But is it actually true? Watch the full documentary here 👉 youtu.be/vJU_cXBQwKU