Rooftop solar can be torn out of capital's hands

It has the potential to support co-operative, municipal and other forms of community ownership and control. The Ecologist, 7 May

Rooftop solar: glints of light in the darkening climate crisis

A global overview of rooftop solar. China has the biggest fleet; most of it is owned by corporations; in the rich world household ownership is widespread. Nevertheless, I argue, it has potential as a weapon for social justice and action on climate change. On People & Nature, 24 April.

The Silvertown tunnel is now open - and it is a terrible backward step for clean air in London

My comments in the London Evening Standard, on the day the Silvertown tunnel opened. I was involved in a years-long campaign to try to stop it, and we still call for it to be turned over to non-motor-vehicle uses, e.g. public transport and active travel

Support Ukrainian resistance, not monstrous rearmament plans

Abandon Ukraine, or cut public services to pay billions for arms spending, is a "typical neoliberal false choice". My talk at a Solidarity with Ukraine event in Brussels on 26 March, published by Labour Hub

Pakistan's rush for rooftop solar brings dreams and nightmares

Steep increases in fossil fuel prices, and a glut of cheap Chinese-made solar panels, produced a rush for solar panels by businessses and better-off households in 2023-24. That has exacerbated electricity companies' money problems, but the heaviest burden is borne by poor households who can not afford panels. My comments on People & Nature, 7 February. 

Labour embraces Saudi Arabia's dystopian energy transition

The UK's Labour government is helping Saudi Arabia dress up its criminal fossil fuel expansion drive in "green" colours. On People & Nature.

Silvertown tunnel enforcer Heidi Alexander takes over as transport secretary

 Let's adjust our battle plans, I suggested on Labour Hub, 1 December.

Oiling the machine

A study of oil's history helps us dissect the many-headed hydra of 21st century capital, I argued in this review, in the Ecologist, of Crude Capitalism: oil, corporate power and the making of the world market, by Adam Hanieh.

From Brazil to India to Europe, free public transport is gaining momentum

Zero-fares transport opens cities to all: it everywhere and always works as a social justice measure. Combined with other policies, it can help tackle climate change and air pollution. On Labour Hub, 18 September. 

Technologies that work for people, not profit, in the climate emergency

How social and technological change combine. Based on a talk at an on-line event, on the Roadmap to Ecosocialism, on 10 September.

Socialism and electricity: renewables and decentralisation versus nuclear

An article in Capitalism Nature Socialism journal (available on open access), discussing socialist approaches to electricity networks, to the fight for public and common forms of ownership of them, and to their place in tackling climate change. 

The road to nowhere

Invest in public transport - not the Lower Thames Crossing. My comments on the Labour government's transport policy, in the Ecologist.