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Rockefeller family charity to withdraw all investments in fossil fuel companies
Posted by Guardian: Rupert Neate on March 23rd, 2016
Guardian: A charitable fund of the Rockefeller family – who are sitting on a multibillion-dollar oil fortune – has said it will withdraw all its investments from fossil fuel companies.
The Rockefeller Family Fund, a charity set up in 1967 by descendants of John D Rockefeller, said on Wednesday that it would divest from all fossil fuel holdings “as quickly as possible”.
The fund, which was founded by Martha, John, Laurance, Nelson and David Rockefeller, singled out ExxonMobil for particular attention...
United Kingdom: Fracking Boss Faces Growing Tremors of Resistance from Public, Press and Tories
Posted by Guardian: Rupert Neate on August 8th, 2013
Guardian: He knew it would be a tough job when he took it on last year, but Francis Egan, chief executive of fracking firm Cuadrilla Resources, could not have imagined the role would bring with it death threats and reporters turning up at his house trying to "frack" his garden.
Environmentalists have been campaigning against fracking for years, but Egan's attempt to drill in the pretty West Sussex village of Balcombe has turned hydraulic fracturing (to give it is proper name) into a highly emotive subject...
Bread prices set to rise after bad weather hits UK wheat crop
Posted by Guardian: Rupert Neate on December 4th, 2012
Guardian: Flour mills have been forced to order the biggest wheat imports in more than 30 years after the spring weather hit British farmers' crops.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said millers were expected to import 2m tonnes of mostly German wheat to make up for a 13% shortfall in the homegrown crop.
It will be the biggest wheat import since 1980, and is expected to lead to a substantial increase in the price of bread next year.
The price of bread-quality wheat for delivery...
United Kingdom: Peat supplier blames summer rains for shortage
Posted by Guardian: Rupert Neate on October 2nd, 2012
Guardian: Britain's biggest peat supplier has warned that the awful summer could leave garden centres struggling to grow enough plants, after admitting it had been unable to harvest the nation's waterlogged bogs.
William Sinclair Holdings issued a profits warning on Tuesday, saying it had only been able to achieve about a fifth of its normal annual harvest of about 570,000 cubic metres of peat.
"With the lousy sunshine we haven't had five solid days of sunshine to allow the [harvest] cycle to take place,"...