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Declassified papers show hidden extent of nuclear test fall-out: French paper.

from The Guardian

"French nuclear tests in the South Pacific in the 1960s and 1970s were far more toxic than has been previously acknowledged and hit a vast swath of Polynesia with radioactive fallout, according to newly declassified ministry of defence documents which have angered veterans and civilians' groups.

"The papers, seen by the French paper Le Parisien, reportedly reveal that plutonium fallout hit the whole of French Polynesia, a much broader area than France had previously admitted. Tahiti, above, the most populated island, was exposed to 500 times the maximum accepted levels of radiation. The impact spread as far as the tourist island, Bora Bora.

"Thousands of veterans, families and civilians still fighting for compensation over health issues have insisted France now reveals the full truth about the notorious tests whose impact was kept secret for decades. …"

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Smart meters will make energy use more visible, but how much they'll reduce energy consumption isn't clear.

from The Guardian

"An Energy Saving Trust survey recently revealed that three quarters of the public support smart meters and the sharing of energy use data. The government hopes to offer the technology to every home and business by the end of the decade, with the roll-out kicking off in autumn 2015.

"Smart meters are an important tool for helping people understand and quantify energy use. They differ from a traditional meter, by providing accurate energy use data in real-time. This can be shown on an in-home display and also read remotely by the energy supplier. Historical information on energy use and cost will allow consumers to compare current and past use.

"Shahzeen Attari from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, explains that in reality people largely underestimate the energy consumption for certain devices and activities.

'For example, if you were to ask someone how much energy a dishwashing machine would use in an hour, on average they would tend to underestimate it by factor of 800 times less than what it actually consumes,' she said. …"

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Huge oversupply of carbon pollution permits will cancel out efforts made in other areas to cut carbon, study finds.

from The Guardian

"Deep problems in Europe's carbon trading scheme — its flagship climate change policy — are set to cancel out over 700m tonnes of emissions saved through renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts, according to a new report.

"The study, by carbon trading thinktank Sandbag, found that a huge oversupply of carbon pollution permits means many are being banked to enable emissions after 2020, when efforts to tackle global warming should be intensifying. These emissions, nearly equivalent to Germany's annual carbon pollution, will cancel out efforts made in other areas to cut carbon.

"The report also warns that Europe's emissions trading scheme (ETS) is a 'global dumping ground' for 'dubious' carbon permits created by projects around the world. …"

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NSA Prism is motivated in part by fears that environmentally–linked disasters could spur anti–government activism.

from The Guardian

"Top secret US National Security Agency (NSA) documents disclosed by the Guardian have shocked the world with revelations of a comprehensive US-based surveillance system with direct access to Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants. New Zealand court records suggest that data harvested by the NSA's Prism system has been fed into the Five Eyes intelligence alliance whose members also include the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"But why have Western security agencies developed such an unprecedented capacity to spy on their own domestic populations? Since the 2008 economic crash, security agencies have increasingly spied on political activists, especially environmental groups, on behalf of corporate interests. This activity is linked to the last decade of US defence planning, which has been increasingly concerned by the risk of civil unrest at home triggered by catastrophic events linked to climate change, energy shocks or economic crisis — or all three. …"

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