Braking the law: is there, and should there be, an executive veto over laws made by parliament?
16 Oct 2020 Leave a comment
During the Brexit crises of 2019, something exceptionally rare happened twice in less than six months: parliament passed legislation without the government’s consent. But are there constitutional veto mechanisms that governments can use to prevent this? In a new Unit report, Paul Evans explores this question in detail. He summarises his conclusions here.
What do executive vetoes look like?
Many constitutional democracies include mechanisms whereby a head of state can veto a law made by the legislature, but few of these are absolute vetoes. Most are suspensory, inviting the legislature to think again, but giving it the last word. The US Constitution is the most obvious example of such an arrangement. France has a broadly similar system but, as with many if not most such vetoes, it isn’t used. Some states (for example Iceland) enable the president to put a law to a referendum. Others (such as Ireland) leave…
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Lingering Legacy: Millions of Toxic Solar Panels That Can’t Be Recycled Destined for Landfills
10 Oct 2020 Leave a comment
Around the globe, millions upon millions of solar panels have reached their use by dates; they can’t be recycled, which means they’re destined for the local dump.
Each panel is a veritable toxic cocktail of gallium arsenide, tellurium, silver, crystalline silicon, lead, cadmium and other heavy metals. As the stuff leeches into the water table, it’s not difficult to imagine the effect on water supplies, the environment and human health.
And it’s not just filling up landfill with toxic sludge – in the mother of all ironies – while they’re above ground, solar panels are sending the mercury northward, adding 3-4°C to the average temperature of the environment in which they are situated.
Well, it all seemed like such a good idea, at the time.
Duggan Flanakin deals with that and a number of other matters which tend to take the shine off solar power.
Solar panels generate mountains of…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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