Daily Links Aug 11

Human-caused warming likely led to recent streak of record-breaking temperatures
It is “extremely unlikely” 2014, 2015 and 2016 would have been the warmest consecutive years on record without the influence of human-caused climate change, according to the authors of a new study.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/agu-hwl081017.php

Climate change shifts timing of European floods
A study conducted by TU Wien and 30 European partners shows that the timing of the floods has shifted across much of Europe, dramatically in some areas.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/vuot-ccs080817.php

Climate change has changed the way I think about science. Here’s why
Sophie Lewis ANU
http://theconversation.com/climate-change-has-changed-the-way-i-think-about-science-heres-why-82314

AGL says solar, wind, storage cheapest way to replace coal
Giles Parkinson AGL says new coal plants not economically rational; facilities like Liddell will be replaced by wind, solar, batteries, pumped hydro and other firming capacity.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/agl-says-solar-wind-storage-cheapest-way-to-replace-coal-64157/

“Ice battery” air-con technology set to cool Australian homes – and peak power demand
Solar hot water company Apricus inks distribution deal for US “ice battery” + air-con technology that could cool Australian homes, and cut power bills.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/ice-battery-air-con-technology-set-to-cool-australian-homes-and-peak-power-demand-88903/

Australia faces potentially disastrous consequences of climate change, inquiry told
Former defence force chief decries Australia’s response to climate challenge as a ‘manifest failure of leadership’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/11/australia-potentially-disastrous-consequences-of-climate-change-inquiry-told

Origin Energy takes another $1.2bn hit over LNG investment
Falling oil prices look likely to condemn Origin Energy to a $2.5bn loss when its full-year results come out next week.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/origin-energy-takes-another-1.2bn-hit-over-lng-investment/8794686

New rules for retailers, but don’t sit there waiting for your electricity bill to go down
David Blowers Grattan Institute
http://theconversation.com/new-rules-for-retailers-but-dont-sit-there-waiting-for-your-electricity-bill-to-go-down-82264

Why Vesey irritates coal miners
Matthew Stevens
AGL’s latest results show why its chief executive isn’t the miners’ best friend.
http://www.afr.com/business/why-agl-boss-andy-vesey-irritates-coal-miners-20170810-gxtm21

Energy debate should be all about prices
Rachel Corbett 
WE need to shift the energy debate from the environment to the economy. If renewables bring cheaper prices the argument is over
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/the-energy-debate-should-be-about-prices-environmental-benefits-will-follow/news-story/5f3425d841c6996131beeadb2f66f314

Are the politicians trying to con us on this one?
Alan Davies
If the “20-minute” city is defined by how many everyday services can be accessed by bicycle then we’ve already got it and the claims of Federal and State leaders look like a con
https://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2017/08/10/politicians-trying-con-us/

Proposed AGL pipeline in Victoria potential ‘game changer’ for energy prices
Australia’s largest energy supply retailer, AGL, plans to build a gas import jetty and pipeline at Crib Point on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula by 2021, in a bid to prevent summer blackouts in the south-eastern states.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/agl-crib-point-mornington-peninsula-preferred-site-gas-pipeline/8794836

Penguins killed in fox attack on Victoria’s Middle Island
More than a third of Middle Island’s famous penguin population, highlighted in the movie Oddball, is wiped out in a fox attack in south-west Victoria.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/penguins-killed-by-fox-victoria-middle-island/8794828

Endangered whale ‘baby boom’ boosts hopes for species
It has been a bumper baby season off Victoria’s south-western coastline, with a fourth endangered southern right whale calf being born at the traditional whale nursery at Warrnambool.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/southern-right-whale-baby-boom-warrnambool/8792076

Gas imports a ‘game changer’
AGL Energy chief Andy Vesey says Victorian gas imports could be a ‘game changer’ for east coast energy consumers.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/agl-chief-andy-vesey-victorian-gas-imports-a-game-changer/news-story/0ceb3c8e6f22033b173cc12298d33dc6

Dockless bikes dumped across Melbourne
THESE bikes have been dumped up trees, on lampposts — and even on top of portable toilets -— across the city. And Melbourne’s Lord Mayor has had enough.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/lord-mayor-robert-doyle-threatens-to-ban-dockless-bikes-in-melbourne/news-story/4207085e7468b39367f55f2e79d3d996

Victoria culls 71,000 roos
MORE than 70,000 kangaroos have been turned into pet food in Victoria since 2014.
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/victoria-culls-71000-kangaroos-for-pet-food-in-four-years/news-story/a2dd1b3dc77bc308a73d465baa6feabb

‘Slap in face’ for basin
VICTORIA is calling for the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and Commonwealth ­Environmental Water Holder to come under any review of the basin, following startling allegations of water theft in NSW.
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/murray-darling-basin-plan-review-is-not-independent-neville-says/news-story/2c1508f84da15707e3d48cbc721d9343

13 ways government could bring down electricity costs
Victorians are struggling with rising power prices, with some refusing to turn on heating and scrimping on food to get by — but there are a few things government could be doing about it according to a new report.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-11/what-could-the-government-do-to-reduce-power-prices/8790952

Queen Victoria Market: friends group launches its own vision
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/queen-victoria-market-friends-group-launches-its-alternative-to-council-plan-20170810-gxth0i.html

Top drug cops face the chop
THE police group hailed as heroes this week for smashing open Sydney’s biggest drug operations face the axe as part of a “restructure” looking to find “efficiencies”.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/global-crime-crackdown-top-drug-cops-involved-in-raids-face-chop-in-restructure/news-story/b5c822b346683578475787787fcb8091

Meet the city dweller who lived off the land for a year
Sydney resident Oliver Brown has spent the past 12 months avoiding the supermarket and eating only what he could grow in his backyard or hunt for himself.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/sydney-resident-lives-off-land-for-a-year/8792498

Triangle of prime Rozelle land threatens to add $80 million to WestConnex
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/triangle-of-prime-rozelle-land-threatens-to-add-80-million-to-westconnex-20170810-gxtpy2.html

$1 billion blowout in WestConnex gateway project
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/1-billion-cost-blowout-in-westconnex-gateway-project-to-sydney-airport-20170810-gxt6wc.html

Ethanol policy: a de facto tax on Sydney drivers
Sean Nicholls
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/ethanol-policy-shaping-up-as-a-de-facto-tax-on-sydney-drivers-20170810-gxt6yc.html

Police target trucks in rubbish crackdown
THE Queensland Government has sought federal help to rescue it from being NSW’s dumping ground as it launches a crackdown on rogue rubbish trucks.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/police-state-government-target-trucks-in-nsw-rubbish-dumping-crackdown/news-story/fdb6810594006c8cb04d600820a6bf8a

Palaszczuk in 2010: ‘We need this levy to stop these cowboy operators’
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/palaszczuk-in-2010-we-need-this-levy-to-stop-these-cowboy-operators-20170810-gxtt1g.html

Moreton Bay seals land future
MORETON Bay Regional Council has a land bank of almost 1000ha to meet residential and industrial demand for the next 2½ decades.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/moreton-bay-council-plans-for-population-influx-with-1000ha-land-bank/news-story/16947b469e719940f8abdb1ec9d2988c

Tourism industry funds research trip to most damaged part of Great Barrier Reef
Unprecedented scientific expedition funded by private tourism company is designed to unlock secrets of surviving coral
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/11/tourism-industry-funds-research-trip-to-most-damaged-part-of-great-barrier-reef

Adani fined $12k over Abbot Point environmental breach
The Indian mining giant Adani’s Abbot Point coal terminal in northern Queensland avoids a multi-million-dollar fine, but is slugged $12,000 for releasing sediment stormwater during Tropical Cyclone Debbie at a level many times higher than allowed.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-11/adani-avoids-multi-million-dollar-fine-over-sediment-water/8796178

We must shut the doors to trash trucks
Terry Sweetman
QUEENSLAND is finding out what happens when you dump red tape, through the cross-border rubbish dumping saga.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-queensland-must-shut-the-doors-to-trash-trucks/news-story/e16a2947c744677b05b5b94216a91c3e

Why small cities are beautiful for SA
SOUTH Australia should strive to become the “sensible middle” of Australia, underpinned by low-cost housing, convenient transport and an enviable lifestyle, says demographer Bernard Salt.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/demographer-bernard-salt-says-south-australia-should-strive-to-become-the-sensible-middle-of-australia/news-story/92973885ba7609c271e209c8ca3b71d4

Not all hooked on salmon ‘grow’ and ‘no grow’ draft plan for Tasmania
The Tasmanian Government reveals its draft plan for the “most environmentally sustainable salmon industry in the world” — but the 19 page document is blasted as “a total joke” by the Greens.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-11/tasmania-draft-growth-plan-for-salmon-industry-released/8794864

Inpex calls for onshore gas development
THE Australian Workers’ Union says it stands ready to provide a workforce should the ban on fracking be lifted while Inpex said onshore gas development was a key to satisfying its future backfill plans
http://www.ntnews.com.au/business/inpex-calls-for-onshore-gas-development/news-story/324497491ea09f69a08056d6bb70c6ec

Fear and loathing on the fracking trail in Katherine
Rod Campbell
Is the Northern Territory Labor government wavering in its commitment to ban fracking?
https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/08/10/is-the-nt-labor-government-going-to-allow-fracking/

Don’t spread toxic panic
NT News editorial
KATHERINE Mayor Fay Miller is right. Now is not the time for the town’s residents to panic about its water supply
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/opinion/dont-spread-toxic-panic/news-story/a7f9c52fa5c8a8d1c758aea18e10e326

WA’s Ravensthorpe mine closes on low nickle price, threatening 300 jobs
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/was-ravensthorpe-mine-closes-on-low-nickle-price-threatening-300-jobs-20170809-gxszyd.html

What WA cyclists want
Better bike infrastructure and facilities remains at the top of the “wish list” among WA cyclists.
https://thewest.com.au/news/transport/what-wa-cyclists-want-bc-5537220091001

Gumtree battle update
A magistrate has ruled that the trees can stay for now but it may be taken to a higher court
https://thewest.com.au/news/7-news-update/gumtree-battle-update-bc-5537335076001

Here’s how many Earths we need to meet our population’s demand.
We would require 1.7 Earths to meet our current annual demands sustainably. It doesn’t have to be this way
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-3246038150322327502

6.5% of global GDP spent subsidising fossil fuels, or $12m every minute
IMF says subsidies to global fossil fuel industry reached $A6.7 trillion in 2015 – or $A18 billion a day, or $A12 million a minute.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/6-5-global-gdp-spent-subsidising-fossil-fuels-12m-every-minute-78351/

The Australian’s environment editor, Graham Lloyd, sued over Peruvian eco-retreat
A former partner in an Amazonian conservation project with Lloyd and his partner Vanessa Hunter is claiming more than $600,000 in damages and costs
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/11/the-australians-environment-editor-graham-lloyd-sued-over-peruvian-eco-retreat

Marine Noise Pollution Stresses and Confuses Fish
Increased noise pollution in the oceans is confusing fish and compromising their ability to recognise and avoid …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170810104917.htm

These tree-planting drones are about to start an entire forest from the sky.
Villages have spent years replanting mangroves along the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar. Now their work will go much faster, with some help from above.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322327504

Critically endangered staghorn corals are benefiting from coral gardening in the Caribbean.
New research finds that “coral gardening,” which involves planting fragments of nursery-raised coral on reefs in the wild to replenish depleted coral colonies, is playing a key role in the restoration of staghorn coral reef systems.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/2460133000469005247

Laser Mapping Project Shows Effects of Physical Changes in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys
Researchers have publicly released high-resolution maps of Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys, a globally unique polar …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170808145335.htm

Efforts to reduce pollution from agriculture paying off slowly
Efforts by farmers to reduce the amount of fertilizer that reaches drinking water sources can take years to have a positive impact, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/uow-etr080917.php

Indigenous women: Defending the environment in Latin America.
Meredith Brown, Carley Reynolds Natural Resources Defense Council
We recognize the strong leadership of indigenous women who have stood at the front lines of many of these achievements and celebrate the indigenous communities that have defended their lands from mega-projects.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-3246038150322328798