Taxing diesel—now’s not the time to choke
David McCoy on why we are campaigning for the phase out of diesel on health grounds, and why tax on diesel cars should be increased at the point of sale.
The decision to frack in Lancashire: shale gas is unburnable and must be left in the ground
That Lancashire County Council has been forced to grant Cuadrilla permission to undertake exploratory fracking should come as no surprise. Planning law meant that the Council could only block Cuadrilla on the back of a set of narrow, limited and localised...Brexit, Despondency and Hope
A message from our Director David McCoy in response to Thursday’s Brexit vote
Antibiotic resistance & our unsustainable food systems
On both grounds of preserving our antibiotics and preventing irreversible ecological degradation and further global warming, the message is clear: we need to reverse the trend of increasing meat production and consumption, and limit forms of livestock farming that are ultimately dangerous.
Dr David McCoy – Responding to War, Violence and Conflict as a Health Community
Divestment is No Grand Gesture
This briefing by Dr David McCoy provides a structured and detailed examination of the arguments used by Jeremy Farrar (Wellcome Trust) and Charlie Jeffery (University of Edinburgh) to support continued investment in fossil fuel companies and ‘stakeholder...Divestment is no ‘Grand Gesture’
According to Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust, the Guardian’s “Keep in the Ground” campaign to promote divestment from fossil fuel companies is merely a “grand gesture” that can be made only once. At one level, he is right. The financial impact of the...The social, political and ecological pathologies of the Ebola Crisis cannot be ignored
By David McCoy The Ebola virus is finally receiving attention after years of being ignored as just another deadly disease in Africa. Yet it was only when the current outbreak got out of control and threatened commercial and western interests did the story became news....Is the Harvard School of Public Health Afraid of Politics?
To no one’s surprise, the Lancet-Oslo Commission did not withdraw its disappointing recommendations on global governance for health. In an earlier blog, I criticised the Commission’s failure to act on its own analysis of the impact of politics and power disparities on...Gaza should make us sick; but we need a more courageous, honest and truthful debate
Ghassan Hamdan is a doctor from Gaza. He works for the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and is a member of the Peoples Health Movement. He has been sending frequent messages of despair from Gaza, including photographs of the carnage that has been unfolding there....The Science of Climate Denialism
In a previous posting, I argued that it is important for everyone to have some understanding of climate science – which is why Medact produced a summary and discussion of the latest UN report about the physical science of climate change. I also questioned the scientific understanding of Owen Paterson, Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following his ill-judged comments on the UN report. But why is there is so much scepticism and denial about the evidence of anthropogenic global warming?