#209: North Sea

Push is beginning to come to shove, climate action-wise, particularly when politicians ponder the fat piles of cash made doing things that are Very Bad Indeed for mother Earth. Here in Britain, peak pondering occurs re the North Sea, a large grey puddle used by continental Europe to buffer itself against certain Tories, and also home to vast reserves of crude oil. Crude oil (and just as crude gas) that for decades has buttressed the UK economy, but will for millennia buttress a ballsed-up biosphere if continually drilled and burned. You see the dilemma. This week some fancy words were published detailing a 'sector deal' between government and oil industry, supposedly charting a path forwards. But when you read those fancy words - and Dave has, god bless him - you discover just how pushy and shovey those pushes and shoves really are. Spoiler: lacking in oomph. Also in this episode, and in yet more shoving news, we report on the lack of plastic being shoved back into vending machines from whence it came, three years after we were promised this would happen.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble. MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.com Available on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].