Prime Wednesday, March 19, 2025 Tanzania’s energy landscape is a labyrinth of contradictions. On one side, the government champions an “energy transition” fuelled by imported LPG gas—a costly scheme redirecting rural women’s meagre earnings to Middle Eastern gas giants. On the other, hydropower remains the darling of politicians despite decades of drought-induced blackouts. Only God knows why we keep overlooking coal, a homegrown resource as black as African soil. The LPG delusion The government’s fixation with imported LPG gas is a case study in political delusion. Consider a rural mother in Tabora: she gathers free firewood but is now told to buy LPG at Sh3,600 per kilogramme—a price more than double that of Tanzania’s own LNG. This doesn’t sit well with me: I think there is something very wrong with
Tag Archives: ClimateChange
Mar
With the US retreating from climate finance and fossil fuels getting cheaper, Asia faces a choice: chase short-term gains or find new partners to keep its clean-energy future on track. Washington’s withdrawal last week from the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), a global initiative to help developing nations shift from coal to renewables, has cast a long shadow over energy-hungry Asia, which faces intensifying climate threats and a fast-evolving geopolitical landscape. The price of Brent crude oil recently plunged to a five-month low before inching up as the world’s most influential oil cartel, Opec, increased output from April in response to pressure from US President Donald Trump to bring down prices. A possible early resolution to the Ukraine-Russia war could open the tap to cheap oil from Russia that had
Jan
Watch: ‘Homes razed to the ground’ on Malibu iconic coastal road Weather forecasters in California are warning fierce winds which fuelled the infernos around Los Angeles are expected to pick up again this week, as fire crews on the ground race to make progress controlling three wildfires. Officials warned that after a weekend of relatively calm winds, the notoriously dry Santa Ana winds would pick up again from Sunday night until Wednesday, reaching speeds of up to 60mph (96km/h). Ahead of the wind’s uptick, some progress has been made in stopping the spread of the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires, which are burning on opposite ends of the city. Local firefighters are being assisted by crews from eight other states, as well as Canada and Mexico, who continue to arrive.
As deadly wildfires burn through Southern California, President-elect Donald Trump has spent the week attacking Democratic officials and continuing a pattern of spreading misinformation about natural disasters. “I think that Gavin is largely incompetent, and I think the mayor is largely incompetent, and probably both of them are just stone-cold incompetent,” Trump said on Thursday night while hosting Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Since the fires broke out, Trump has pointed fingers at Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden, spreading false claims about California’s water policy and federal assistance. For example, Trump blamed Biden as he falsely claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had “no money” to help California despite Congress recently passing a disaster relief supplemental totaling $29 billion. The president-elect also pushed exaggerated claims as
Jul
Thousands of firefighters battled a wildfire in northern California on Saturday that rapidly expanded, burning an area roughly the size of Los Angeles. This is one of several blazes ravaging the western United States and Canada amid dry, hot, and windy conditions. Cooler temperatures forecasted for the region could help slow the Park Fire, the […]
The Hajj, a sacred journey for Muslims, requires able individuals to undertake the pilgrimage once in their lifetime. However, this year’s Hajj witnessed a significant challenge as temperatures in Mecca surged above 115 degrees, causing hundreds of people to collapse, and many to succumb to heat exhaustion. The Hajj follows a lunar calendar, meaning it […]
A team of glaciologists, led by the University of California, Irvine, has discovered evidence of warm, high-pressure seawater intruding many kilometers beneath the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. Often referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier,” its vast size and significant melting rate could substantially contribute to global sea level rise if it were to collapse. […]
File pic: PA
May
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for heavy rain in parts of northwest England and northern Wales, including Manchester and Liverpool. The warning is in effect for 24 hours from midday on Wednesday. A yellow warning for rain covers the north of England, the Midlands, and north and central Wales until 6 am […]
The pass-out parade follows a six-month training of new Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) personnel/PCS
May
President William Ruto has urged the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to help combat climate change, which he identified as the biggest threat to the country’s development and prosperity. Speaking at a pass-out parade for KDF officers in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, the President expressed confidence in the military’s ability to tackle climate change. He asked […]