Bryony Worthington, Baroness Worthington
Encyclopedia
Bryony Katherine Worthington, Baroness Worthington, (born c. 1972), is a British
environmental campaigner and Labour
life peer
in the House of Lords
. She has promoted change in attitudes to the environment, and action to tackle climate change, and founded Sandbag
, a non-profit campaign group designed to increase public awareness of emissions trading
, in 2008.
, and graduated in English literature
at Queens' College, Cambridge
, before joining Operation Raleigh as a fundraiser. In the mid 1990s, she worked for an environmental charity, and by 2000 had moved to work for Friends of the Earth
as a climate change
campaigner. She then worked for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
, implementing public awareness campaigns and helping draft the Climate Change Bill, before becoming head of government relations for the energy company, Scottish and Southern Energy. She left to form Sandbag in 2008.
She was raised to the peerage as Baroness Worthington, of Cambridge
in the County of Cambridgeshire
, in 2011, and sits on the Labour benches.
following the 2009 Manchester Report, an event on climate change mitigation held by The Guardian
. Worthington hosted and served as a judging panel member for the Manchester Report; there she met nuclear engineer Kirk Sorensen who presented arguments for using Thorium. Sorensen intends to develop a LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) based on the 1965-1969 Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment
.
of the Weinberg Foundation, a British non-profit
, non-governmental organization
dedicated to the promotion and development of molten salt reactor
(MSR) technology. It was formally launched on 08 September 2011 in the House of Lords
, named in honour of Alvin M. Weinberg
(1915–2006), a nuclear physicist who pioneered peaceful nuclear technology and advocated Thorium energy, and is based in Somerset House
in central London.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
environmental campaigner and Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. She has promoted change in attitudes to the environment, and action to tackle climate change, and founded Sandbag
Sandbag (non-profit organisation)
Sandbag is a Community Interest Company, campaigning to increase public awareness of emissions trading. The organisation was announced in 2008 by Bryony Worthington and was the first member of The Guardian's Environment Network....
, a non-profit campaign group designed to increase public awareness of emissions trading
Emissions trading
Emissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
, in 2008.
Biography
She was born and grew up in WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and graduated in English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
at Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
, before joining Operation Raleigh as a fundraiser. In the mid 1990s, she worked for an environmental charity, and by 2000 had moved to work for Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
as a climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
campaigner. She then worked for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...
, implementing public awareness campaigns and helping draft the Climate Change Bill, before becoming head of government relations for the energy company, Scottish and Southern Energy. She left to form Sandbag in 2008.
She was raised to the peerage as Baroness Worthington, of Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
in the County of Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, in 2011, and sits on the Labour benches.
Thorium
The Baroness was once "passionately opposed to nuclear power," but came to advocate the adoption of Thorium as a nuclear fuelThorium fuel cycle
The thorium fuel cycle is a nuclear fuel cycle that uses the naturally abundant isotope of thorium, , as the fertile material. In the reactor, is transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope which is the nuclear fuel. Unlike natural uranium, natural thorium contains only trace amounts...
following the 2009 Manchester Report, an event on climate change mitigation held by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. Worthington hosted and served as a judging panel member for the Manchester Report; there she met nuclear engineer Kirk Sorensen who presented arguments for using Thorium. Sorensen intends to develop a LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) based on the 1965-1969 Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment
Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment
The Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment was an experimental molten-salt reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory researching this technology through the 1960s; constructed by 1964, it went critical in 1965 and was operated until 1969....
.
Weinberg Foundation
Worthington is patronPatrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of the Weinberg Foundation, a British non-profit
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
dedicated to the promotion and development of molten salt reactor
Molten salt reactor
A molten salt reactor is a type of nuclear fission reactor in which the primary coolant, or even the fuel itself is a molten salt mixture...
(MSR) technology. It was formally launched on 08 September 2011 in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, named in honour of Alvin M. Weinberg
Alvin M. Weinberg
Alvin Martin Weinberg was an American nuclear physicist who was the administrator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory during and after the Manhattan Project period. He came to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1945 and remained there until his death in 2006.-Early years in Chicago: Alvin Weinberg was born...
(1915–2006), a nuclear physicist who pioneered peaceful nuclear technology and advocated Thorium energy, and is based in Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
in central London.
"The world desperately needs sustainable, low carbon energy to address climate change while lifting people out of poverty. Thorium based reactors, such as those designed by the late Alvin Weinberg, could radically change perceptions of nuclear power leading to widespread deployment." — Baroness Worthington