Why Climate Change is an Emergency for Wales

It won’t escape anyone looking at the UK’s carbon budget that the Welsh economy is dominated by carbon-intensive industries: whether steel manufacturing in Port Talbot, oil refining in Pembroke, coal-fired power generation in Aberthaw, gas-fired electricity generation in Pembroke, Baglan  and Connah’s Quay, internal-combustion engine manufacturing at Bridgend (for now) and Deeside, and of course the aerospace industry cluster around Broughton. Any UK government wanting ‘quick wins’ in reducing CO2 emissions may find these targets hard to resist. The Welsh Government, which has just passed its own ‘climate emergency’ declaration, would not be in much of a position to fight back. Read More

On being kicked out

The Singapore skyline; not bad for an island the size of Anglesey which the Malaysians decided they had no use for.

One route to independence which is sometimes overlooked is for the subject nation to be kicked out of its former host and told to fend for itself. This may not be a frequent occurrence, but it’s not at all unheard of and some very successful countries have started up this way. Read More