DeSmog UK: Where Does Communities Secretary James Brokenshire Stand on Fracking, Climate Change, and Brexit?

Thursday, 03 May 2018 The circus is in town! It is if you live in Bonn, anyway. Despite appearances, there is a serious point to the big climate meeting (it's not just there to boost Airbnb's profits by regularly bringing tens of thousands of people to this small German town, honest!). The meeting's main aim is to work out a set of rules to actually implement the landmark Paris Agreement.  If that sounds dry (file under 'boring but important'), there's a nice subplot developing with conference participants under pressure to address the issue of corporations that have an interest in the fossil-fuelled status quo overlyinterfering in the climate talks. Not for the first time. There's also a nice sideshow to watch as Poland - one of Europe's few remaining coal states and an old school climate laggard - takes on the Presidency of the talks. Our good friends at Climate Home News are on the beat, and have reported a surprisingly exciting ministerial spat and somewhat less surprising lack of enthusiasm for kicking out big polluters. Talking of spats, an analyst for 55 Tufton Street resident the TaxPayers Alliance has called fossil fuel divestment 'pointless posturing'. A couple of campaigners have hit back. A different set of campaigners will be keeping a close eye on new Communities Secretary James Brokenshire, who takes on responsibility for the never-controversial area of fracking planning. We've outlined his stance on the key issues, for those that are curious. We're always looking for feedback on our newsletter and stories. If you've got something you'd like to share, please do get in touch with editor@desmog.uk FEATURED PROFILE: James Brokenshire Our profile this week is not of a climate science denier, but a minister of government (not necessarily mutually exclusive, we know). Not a huge amount is known about the climate credentials of the new chief of the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, James Brokenshire. He did vote for the Climate Change Act in 2008, though, which is a decent start. The Old Bexley and Sidcup MP takes on responsibility for the planning brief vacated by now Home Secretary, Sajid Javid. That includes the power to block coal mines, and push through fracking plans against local will. Brokenshire voted with the government on three key fracking votes: against explicitly requiring an environmental permit for hydraulic fracturing activities, against a moratorium on fracking, and for greater restrictions on fracking in national parks. Since 2015, he has never rebelled in a parliamentary vote against the government. His in-tray includes a legal challenge over Javid's decision to block a new coal mine near the Northumberland beauty spot of Druridge Bay, calls to immediatelyblock a new coal mine at Pont Valley in County Durham, as well as ongoing disputes over local planning processes around fracking sites. There's no evidence that James Brokenshire has spread disinformation on climate change, so he's not in DeSmog UK's Disinformation Database — loads of other people and organisations are though. Check it out!