In the days before the internet killed advertising, media outlets used to employ real scientists and engineers to research and report their science and technology stories.  Today, with advertising revenues collapsing, few outlets can afford to pay people who are qualified and experienced to the point where they can separate …

It is a rare day indeed when I find myself in agreement with a Tory minister.  Today is one of those days.  Having spent years raising awareness of Britain’s growing energy crisis, I am fully in agreement with Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson when he warns that the disruption of the …

One of the tell-tale signs that it is Davos week is that the media publish a raft of techno-utopian stories about just how great the economy is going to be in future even as it collapses around our ears (stock market bubbles aside) in the present.  One such was Elizabeth …

If you are one of millions of struggling households, inflation is all about prices.  More to the point, despite statistics to contrary, since the crash of 2008 we have seen the cost of living increase even as our incomes stagnate. But suppose you are a politician with an election to …

Last year we learned that more than half of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions could be traced back to the activities of just 25 corporations; including the oil companies.  Cue ill-conceived social media posts demanding an immediate boycott. Even environmental NGOs like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth were obliged to …

Renewable energy is increasingly incompatible with our energy infrastructure and our economy; and the situation is getting critical. It is common knowledge that renewable energy technologies (wind, solar, tidal, etc.) are not “firm.”  But firm is exactly how our economy needs energy.  In a just-in-time economy, it is extremely difficult …

Employing and training several thousand new customs officers is not something that can be done overnight.  According to the National Career Service the usual route to becoming a customs officer is to begin as an Administrative Assistant , Assistant Officer or Administrative Officer within the service and then to progress …

Last year saw public authorities and environmental groups heading for the courts in an attempt to hold oil companies accountable for climate change.  The law suits allege that – like big tobacco and big sugar – before it, big oil deliberately hid research that pointed to the impact of its …

Britain may be about to get a flavour of what peak oil would be like if the UK’s Senior Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell’s concerns prove correct: “The British economy is facing a serious hit because of a dire shortage of lorry drivers.  The haulage industry is heavily reliant on overseas …

I have a confession to make.  In the past, I have actively engaged in what is now known as “degree inflation.”  I ran the kind of organisation highlighted by Preston Cooper in Forbes: “Employers [that] increasingly require college degrees from job applicants, even when applying for positions that did not …