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samsterby

@[email protected]

Here for #green #politics #ukPol #transport #cycling stuff 💚

Came second in the 2024 UK General Election. 🥈🗳️

For #tech #music #parenting #generalNonsense please head over to @sam

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@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

As EDF admit the Hinkley Point C Nuclear reactor's start date has again slipped & the budget continues to climb from its original planned cost, we might ask whether continuing with nuclear power is really a sensible use of money.

The share of electricity generation by nuclear has been dropping, other methods of peak capacity coverage are available (as might be storage for renewable generated energy) & costs are climbing

is it time to call a halt to nuclear power?

Chart: UK electricity generation by fuel type 2000-2025 Shows nuclear, natural gas, coal & oil all all declining while there has been a major rise from almost zero to around half of energy produced by renewables
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samsterby ,
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@ChrisMayLA6 @EarthOrgUK it’s frustrating. Without a pipeline of “being good at doing new nuclear” it turns out we are bad at doing new nuclear.

The underlying question of course is “how can we get oil and gas down to zero” and we must include in that our use for heating and transportation - which means in turn substantial additional electricity needs.

If we can do that with 100% renewables, great. If we can’t, nuclear needs to stay in the mix.

samsterby ,
@samsterby@mastodon.green avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 @EarthOrgUK Another factor that troubles me is that our existing nuclear capacity is all going to go end-of-life before too long and something will have to fill the gap.

The costs of decommissioning are of course non-negotiable, we must never cheap out on nuclear safety.

We need to think about how we can meet our energy needs over much longer timespans - hundreds of years rather than tens.

samsterby ,
@samsterby@mastodon.green avatar

@ChrisMayLA6 @EarthOrgUK Yeppers. Long term thinking just isn’t baked in for western democracies. Well, I guess the monarchy and House of Lords are structurally supposed to do that here. But… they have other problems. 🙄

@samsterby@mastodon.green avatar samsterby , to random

Did I mention that Hannah Spencer, the candidate for the by-election is the absolute best?

P

@samsterby@mastodon.green avatar samsterby , to random

At the Green Party conference in Bournemouth we agreed to:

🏚️ Abolish landlords (the daily Mail are loving that one)
💻 Repeal the online safety act
🚂 Electrify the new varsity line
🇵🇸 further toughness re the Palestine war - against the Blair/Trump plan
🦡 end badger culling
🏳️‍⚧️ reform trans healthcare
🌍 climate strategy, natural habitat network
🌳 global biodiversity framework targets
🎈 stop all outdoor balloon releases

Plus a big bunch of internal organisational stuff. Absolutely delighted! 💚

Screenshot of the Daily Mail. Headline: “Greens vote to ABOLISH landlords in bizarre assault on millions of Brits at party's conference... even though one of their own MPs rents out a home” With a photo of the conference hall: people sitting on chairs, a stage and podium all lit up green. Zack Polanski’s face in an inset rectangle.
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samsterby OP ,
@samsterby@mastodon.green avatar

@revndm @pluralistic 👹 and oh hi, thanks Cory!!

@samsterby@mastodon.green avatar samsterby , to random

🗳️ Local by-election result for Woodhouse Park in Manchester!

💚 The Greens held Woodhouse Park! Massive congrats to our new Councillor Zoe Marlow.

🥶 Reform didn't turn up to the count or campaign much, but came second on 29.5%
🥀 Labour came third - that's utterly ruinous for them

May is going to be volatile

Screenshot from a post by Election Maps UK Woodhouse Park (Manchester) Council By-Election Result: 🌍 GRN: 43.8% (-15.4) ➡️ RFM: 29.5% (New) 🌹 LAB: 20.5% (-12.9) 🌳 CON: 3.8% (-1.1) 🔶 LDM: 2.5% (-0.2) Green HOLD. Changes w/ 2024.
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@JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange avatar JessTheUnstill , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    samsterby ,
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    @JessTheUnstill it feels like each house on our street has a different section of the library. We have bike tools, gardening things, drills. Number 3 does car maintenance. Number 7 has woodworking stuff. Number 12 has big ladders.

    samsterby ,
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    @JessTheUnstill well, it’s definitely a way to make friends and get embedded (which imo is nice even if you’re not there long)

    @samsterby@mastodon.green avatar samsterby , to random

    I know you’ve all already done all the hot-takes… but…

    This is going to take some leadership from Europe. And unity. And that is what scares me.

    We are all so deep in our own national squabbles with the far right, and capitulating to them on moving the Overton window of policy in shitty directions, and not getting the fact that it’s the same damn playbook right on our doorsteps.

    Fuck Trump, fuck Musk, fuck Putin, fuck Farage, fuck Weidel, fuck Le Pen. /1

    samsterby OP ,
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    The way to win against these fuckers imo is to actually deliver on social justice.

    Not to blame minorities. Not to starve public services of money. Not to kick the can on public infrastructure. Not to fail to tackle the climate crisis. Not to slash the aid budget.

    The task is to directly take on the conditions that have given these people their oxygen. /2

    @samsterby@mastodon.green avatar samsterby , to random

    The NHS ate my wife again.

    She started work at 07:30… she got home at 22:00, exhausted, in tears.

    And that’s normal.

    Because there are not enough staff.

    There are not enough staff because the conditions are shit. And the pay is jokes. And the expectations insane.

    And the answer from Starmer… “cut waiting times by efficiency savings”. My dude, there is nothing left to squeeze.