Ben Pile is an independent political researcher, film-maker, writer and blogger. His research interests are energy and environmental politics, and the intersection of science and society. He is convenor of the Big Potatoes energy working group and a frequent contributor to spiked. In his writing, Ben identifies the social dimensions that underpin seemingly technical discourse, and argues that environmentalism is in fact a political idea requiring political debate, rather than a narrow, face-value response to scientific discoveries.