Wester van Gaal

@westervangaal.bsky.social

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Journalist @euobs in Brussels - EU politics, climate, green finance. Formerly @vice @decorrespondent

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“Het is verbazingwekkend dat wij – die onszelf vrij en tolerant noemen – schrikken van een paar tentjes.”

www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/... Saskia Bonjour en ik in de @nrc.nl

Opinie | Op de universiteit zou de rede moeten heersen, niet de wapenstokwww.nrc.nl Protest: Het universiteitsbestuur van de UvA liet deze week een grote kans tot de-escalatie liggen, schrijven Saskia Bonjour en Eric Schliesser.

Europe's centre-left leader Nicolas Schmit hopes to battle far-right hate-mongering with level-headed economic policies, but could be hampered by the brand of frugal socialism favoured in Denmark and Germany. euobserver.com/eu-elections...

[Analysis] EU socialists fight battle on two fronts in election campaigneuobserver.com Europe's centre-left leader Nicolas Schmit hopes to battle far-right hate-mongering with level-headed economic policies, but could be hampered by the brand of frugal socialism favoured in Denmark and ...

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Wester van Gaal

Supply offer three times larger than EU demand for natural gas under joint scheme

Supply offer three times larger than EU demand for natural gas under joint schemedlvr.it Global suppliers of natural gas have shown significant interest in the EU’s aggregated demand for natural gas, with suppliers' offers outstripping the bloc's demand by three times - a heartening result for the bundling scheme proposed following the energy…

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Wester van Gaal

COP29 host Azerbaijan among petrostates facing major fiscal risks from declining fossil fuel demand, says Carbon Tracker ~50% of its oil & gas revenue is at risk if countries meet their climate pledges + those earnings make up nearly 70% of govt revenue overall… carbontracker.org/reports/petr...

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Wester van Gaal

Fresh and concerning heating data out of Germany. Although a record number of heat pumps were sold, the same was true for gas AND oil boilers. www.bdh-industrie.de/presse/press...

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Wester van Gaal

Boeren verspreiden zonder het te weten microplastics over akkers, agrosector wist een verbod te vertragen

Boeren verspreiden zonder het te weten microplastics over akkers, agrosector wist een verbod te vertragenwww.ftm.nl Niet alleen op zee, maar ook op het Nederlandse platteland bestaat een plasticsoep. Duizenden kilos aan microplastics worden bewust toegevoegd aan kunstmest en andere landbouwproducten. Boeren weten vaak van niets. Het RIVM is bezorgd over de langetermijnrisicos voor mens en milieu. Ondertussen krijgt de landbouwindustrie van Europa nog jarenlang groen licht om de microplastics over akkers en weiden te blijven uitrijden.

Hey, I discovered that utility-scale geothermal energy and heat pumps are really cool and wrote a little piece about it. 👁️ euobserver.com/green-econom...

[Analysis] Is geothermal energy the climate fix everyone forgot?euobserver.com When EU climate commissioner Hoekstra defends the 2040 climate-targets in Brussels on Thursday, will he remember the geothermal energy option?

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Wester van Gaal

NEW: The EU is relying on uncertain imports to meet its overly-ambitious hydrogen targets. T&E looked at 6 key export countries: Chile, Oman, Norway, Egypt, Namibia & Morocco. Despite the hype around H2, just 1% of the planned green hydrogen projects has received financing. 🧵

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Wester van Gaal

Nieuwe Groene-column: "Het was mijn plan een column te schrijven over de vraag wat Pieter Omtzigt aan het doen is."

Pieter Omtzigt lijkt de onrechtstatelijkheid van de PVV te bagatelliserenwww.groene.nl Nu het aankomt op formeren lijkt Pieter Omtzigt, befaamd om zijn rechtsgevoel, de onrechtsstatelijkheid van de PVV te bagatelliseren.

'A prosperous New Year'? EU heads for austerity in 2024, and no one should be surprised by a far-right surge across Europe this year. euobserver.com/green-econom...

'A prosperous New Year'? EU heads for austerity in 2024euobserver.com It is all but certain that much of the EU is heading towards austerity in 2024.

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Wester van Gaal

Somehow missed this when it came out: the US' planned pipeline of new fossil gas extraction projects will unlock emissions equivalent to 1,033 new coal plants. Kinda puts the US finger-wagging developing countries for coal at COP28 in context hey www.symonspa.com/post/report-...

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Wester van Gaal

"Authoritarianism is not all or nothing, it’s a process. Framing migration as a problem is the Trojan horse that will burn democracy." www.ft.com/content/059b...

Italy, Albania and the myth of a European migrant crisiswww.ft.com Lea Ypi on her family’s flight across the Adriatic — and why framing migration as a problem endangers democracy

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Wester van Gaal

Covid really exposed the weaknesses and strengths of everyone. the US can’t govern for shit but we can fling money at things, sometimes. the EU can regulate but they are late stage alcoholic levels of addicted to austerity

Today's reminder that - despite our deeply parochial National Conversation™️ since 2021 - inflation has been primarily a cross-national phenomenon & US policymakers' handling of it has been far better than any of our G7 peers www.oecd.org/sdd/prices-p...)

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Wester van Gaal

Reply to

Menno van den Bos

Sidenote n.a.v. deze brisante uitspraak: de enige partij die nadrukkelijk met 'woke' standpunten campagnevoerde, verloor onlangs zijn enige lullige zeteltje. Ook weer niet zo heel gevoelig dus.

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Wester van Gaal

Norway oil and gas minister on the #COP28 decision: "Nothing changes for Norway" A new analysis came out today showing Norway is going to spend far more than expected on opening up new oil and gas fields...... e24.no/energi-og-kl...

Aasland om klimaavtalen: – Endrer ingenting for Norgee24.no Verdens land har blitt enige om å omstille seg vekk fra fossile brensler. Men det vil ikke bety at Norge skal endre egen olje- og gasspolitikk.

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Wester van Gaal

Adorno objected to the term "genocide" on the grounds that it would become thinkable, something to be regulated, eventually a routine policy that could be scheduled in advance. Not unlike Israel calmly announcing they'll get back to bombing apartments, schools and hospitals in just a few days.

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Wester van Gaal

Reply to

Menno van den Bos

Even los van hoe absurd het is om te zeggen dat er ‘iets mis is met onze diversiteit’ als niemand op je redactie op een radicaalrechtse antimensenrechtenpartij heeft gestemd.

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Wester van Gaal

Hier word ik gewoon kotsmisselijk van. Die constante verheerlijking van de PVV’er en BB’er als nobele wilde, slachtoffer van de vernielzuchtige randstedeling. Alsof de chartervluchten niet vol PVV’ers zitten.

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Wester van Gaal

EU finance ministers stand on the cusp of committing one of the biggest economic policy blunders since then-chancellor of the exchequer Winston Churchill forced the UK back on the gold standard in 1925. Same old misguided « sound finance » stuff.

The prophets of fake scarcitywww.euractiv.com As finance ministers meet in Brussels to finalise a deal on the EU's fiscal rules, Europe's only hope is that they stop listening to the prophets of fake scarcity and allow more flexibility for invest...

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Wester van Gaal

Decarbonisation by dispossession is green colonialism! A very though provoking lecture by Hamza Hamouchene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcwL.... Also check out his edited volume "Dismantling Green Colonialism Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region": www.plutobooks.com/978074534921...

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Wester van Gaal

De ombudsman van Trouw herinnerde drie redacteuren eraan dat ze, ook al zijn het citaten, geen dingen moeten opschrijven die niet kloppen. Met schaapachtige reacties tot gevolg: www.trouw.nl/opinie/laat-...

Laat de PVV’er niet wegkomen met onwaarhedenwww.trouw.nl De krant laat goed zien hoe de verkiezingsoverwinnaar haar achterban overtuigt met zogenaamde ‘feiten’. Maar begrijpt iedere lezer dat?

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Wester van Gaal

Econoom Coen Teulings brak maandag een lans voor het neoliberalisme van de jaren tachtig in het FD. Vandaag een repliek van Bram Mellink en ondergetekende. Coen Teulings zit vast in de jaren tachtig en begrijpt niet zo goed hoe het neoliberalisme werkt.

Lower rates for renewables. Clearly makes sense, yet Macron is the only head of state calling for it. "As I speak, the private sector benefits from the same interest rates whether it finances renewables, gas or coal. This is totally absurd," said Macron. www.lemonde.fr/en/environme...

Macron lists France's priorities for tackling climate change at COP28www.lemonde.fr France has launched an initiative to end private financing of new coal-fired power plants and signed a declaration to triple nuclear capacity by 2050.

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Wester van Gaal

There will be many important elections in Europe next year, what can we learn from the recent results in the Netherlands? My take (feat. recent poli sci research, incl that of @simonecremaschi.bsky.social @marcocappelluti.bsky.social @paularettl.bsky.social & yours truly) on.ft.com/46GsPqx

Migration crackdowns won’t help Europe’s moderate righton.ft.com Recent electoral inroads for the far right reflect public dislike of government cuts in public services

Not to be a sourpuss, but the breathless enthusiasm about a $500 million fund for a $400 billion/year problem in most media is something else. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Agreement on loss and damage deal reached on first day of Cop28 talkswww.theguardian.com Fund to help world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries hit by climate disaster is first decision agreed at conference

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Wester van Gaal

@katemac.bsky.social @sonykapoor.bsky.social @toddntucker.bsky.social @meganotoole.bsky.social @westervangaal.bsky.social

💥Explosive new analysis on the $343bn black hole in climate finance.💥 As #COP28 kicks off in Dubai #TheClimateFinanceFiles datacommons.one.org/climate-fina...

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Wester van Gaal

64 percent of Germans are against scrapping the constitutional debt brake, per SPIEGEL poll

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Wester van Gaal

What a cover. Translation: "The demolition expert. Cutting budgets ("Saving") until it explodes: Is Christian Lindner destroying the government and our country?"

For every one percent cut in regional public spending, the vote share of extreme parties increases by 1.5 percentage points in the first year and three percentage points two years after the cuts. euobserver.com/green-econom...

[Analysis] How austerity is pushing Europe to extremismeuobserver.com A recent study convincingly shows that for every one percent cut in regional public spending, the vote share of extreme parties increases by 1.5 percentage points in the first year and three percentag...

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Wester van Gaal

Reply to

Clem Fon

For example, ECB defined climate imperatives as part of its price stability objective but raising interest rates is detrimental to the transition as it hurts clean energy producers more than fossil fuels (Hi @jvtk.bsky.social & @westervangaal.bsky.social) bsky.app/profile/jvtk...