Daily Links Aug 15

Ozone Treaty Taking a Bite out of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Montreal Protocol, the international treaty adopted to restore Earth’s protective ozone layer in 1989, has significantly reduced emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals from the United States.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170814121047.htm

Drone tech offers new ways to manage climate change
An innovation providing key clues to how humans might manage forests and cities to cool the planet is taking flight. Cornell researchers are using drone technology to more accurately measure surface reflectivity on the landscape, a technological advance that could offer a new way to manage climate change.
http://www.enn.com/sci-tech/article/52149

The axis of climate evil.
Paul Krugman New York Times
The GOP is completely united behind its project of destroying civilization, and it’s making good progress toward that goal
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-3246038150322321890

Climate warms the Earth, not chance.
Tim Radford Climate News Network
Recent record year temperatures show how climate warms the Earth. Without global warming, such a sequence would have been highly improbable.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322320918

CommBank to face new shareholder resolution after climate policy fail
Market Forces will lodge a new shareholder resolution against Commonwealth Bank after its climate change position statement released today fell well short of its publicly-made 2 degree commitments.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/commbank-to-face-new-shareholder-resolution-after-climate-policy-fail-22596/

Australian coal-power pollution would be illegal in US, Europe and China – report
Environmental Justice Australia report says Australian coal-fired power plants regularly exceed lax limits imposed on them
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/15/australian-coal-power-pollution-would-be-illegal-in-us-europe-and-china-report

CSIRO spends almost $3m on climate science redundancies
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/csiro-spends-almost-3m-on-climate-science-redundancies-20170814-gxvm4q.html

Energy a joke, but no one laughing
Judith Sloan
What started off as a good idea, the National Electricity Market has descended into a joke.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/energy-a-joke-but-no-one-laughing/news-story/fd99e5e11e5161f3ba9bbead289c954a

Aurizon says miners hauling ‘more tonnes’ as coal exports rebound
Rebounding Australian coal exports are not just “green shoots” but reflect growth in demand from Asia, Aurizon chief executive Andrew Harding says.
http://www.afr.com/business/aurizon-says-miners-hauling-more-tonnes-as-coal-exports-rebound-20170814-gxvsmm

The Madhouse Effect: this is how climate denial in Australia and the US compares
David Schlosberg, University of Sydney
While climate denialism impedes policymaking in both the US and Australia, there are key differences in their political and public cultures.
http://theconversation.com/the-madhouse-effect-this-is-how-climate-denial-in-australia-and-the-us-compares-81822

FactCheck Q&A: is coal still cheaper than renewables as an energy source?
Ken Baldwin
http://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-is-coal-still-cheaper-than-renewables-as-an-energy-source-81263

Grim air tests reveal grim future
Peter Boyer
HE is at it again. A month after spinning last year’s rising carbon emissions as being “on track”, Josh Frydenberg’s comment last week on even worse March quarter figures was that we have “a strong track record” in meeting our commitments.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-grim-air-tests-reveal-grim-future/news-story/ad809dec3a79f263f414cff608037ece

Tunnel slammed for traffic ‘dump’
THE West Gate Tunnel has been slammed as a project that would do more harm than good, with a key council saying it would merely move a “major bottleneck” currently west of the city.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/west-gate-tunnel-will-dump-traffic-in-melbournes-north-and-move-western-ring-road-bottleneck-further-west/news-story/0c3a5338b7b92c00d94b2017553c6ba1

Major Melbourne road project based on ‘flawed, biased’ data: expert
The business case for Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel project is based on flawed traffic modelling and cost-benefit analysis, a transport planning consultant who previously advised the Victorian Government says.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-14/west-gate-tunnel-project-business-case-flawed-expert-says/8803126

Independent review into the electricity and gas retail markets in Victoria: final report
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (Vic)
When competition was introduced into Victoria’s retail energy market in 2002, it was anticipated to generate consumer benefits through lower costs of supply and innovative product development.
http://www.apo.org.au/node/102181

Melbourne’s oBike clutter shows why we can’t have nice things
Erin Stewart
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/melbourne-this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things-20170814-gxvl5d

An opportunity not to miss for the Royal National Park
Geoff Mosley
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/an-opportunity-not-to-miss-for-the-royal-national-park-20170814-gxvnh8.html

ACT govt announces cat containment in another suburb
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/cat-containment-in-new-suburb-taylor-act-government-announces-20170814-gxvoot.html

Poo-powered car hits the streets of Brisbane
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/poopowered-car-hits-the-streets-of-brisbane-20170811-gxu4pi.html

First turbine set to rise
CONSTRUCTION of Queensland’s largest wind farm is powering ahead with the first giant turbine foundation put in place at Mt Emerald on the Atherton Tablelands.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/mt-emerald-wind-farm-construction-powering-ahead-with-first-foundation-put-in-place/news-story/4e65e8453c51ea1c672dc02c9c0814d6

Deal designed to slash power prices in Queensland ‘not fair’
Energy retailers will be “screaming blue murder” after they were excluded from a deal designed to slash power prices in Queensland’s south-east, an economist says.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-15/deal-bring-new-player-qld-electricity-market-not-fair-economist/8804888

S.A. picks solar tower to provide all government electricity needs
South Australia government chooses solar tower and storage for its power needs, after SoalrReserve wind tender for baseload power with $78/MWh for 150MW plant in Port Augusta. South Australia suggests it is beginning of the end for coal.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/s-a-picks-solar-tower-to-provide-all-government-electricity-needs-72106/

Solar thermal ‘100 times’ smaller than wind and PV industries
As Port Augusta continues to celebrate yesterday’s $650 million solar thermal power plant announcement, at least one researcher is warning it is a relatively new industry that has so far found limited success overseas.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-15/solar-thermal-a-new-industry-with-challenges/8805930

Driverless, solar-powered bus for Flinders
A DRIVERLESS bus will ferry passengers around Tonsley within months, and recharge at a solar garage, in two Adelaide firsts at Flinders University.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/west-beaches/flinders-university-to-introduce-driverless-solarpowered-bus-to-ferry-passengers-at-tonsley/news-story/53b518cca3870df9a6abdde2e40466cb

TasWater needs all levels of politics to help
Tony Foster
It is time to forget hostile takeover bid and co-operate.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-taswater-needs-all-levels-of-politics-to-help/news-story/893aeb0ad188da5b10bc7f299adc8c89

Seafood for thought
The world’s oceans possess vast, untapped potential for sustainable aquaculture, say UCSB marine scientists
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/uoc–sft081417.php

Europe offshore wind build-out must triple to bring Paris goals within reach
To support the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting temperature increase to 1.5°C, Europe will need a CO2-neutral electricity
http://reneweconomy.com.au/europe-offshore-wind-build-must-triple-bring-paris-goals-within-reach-82597/

Factory farming in Asia creating global health risks, report warns
Growth of intensive units has potential to increase antibiotic resistance and could result in spread of bird flu beyond region
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/14/asia-factory-farming-creating-global-health-risks-report-warns

Tech guru unveils new battery to challenge lithium-ion
Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy and the company he currently backs, Ionic Materials, unveiled a solid-state alkaline battery design.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19218

Is water the new drug for Mexico’s cartels?
What it’s like when narcos run your privatized water system
https://newint.org/web-exclusive/2017-08-14/mexico-water-cartels

Phasing out nuclear power a must for Japan’s new energy plan.
Asahi Shimbun editorial
While combining a nuclear phase-out with a fight against global warming won’t be an easy task, advances in energy-saving technologies and in renewable energy options have lowered the hurdles for pursuing both.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-3246038150322321400

Tagus river at risk of drying up completely
Climate change, dams and diversion bring Iberian peninsula’s longest river, on which millions depend, to brink of collapse
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/14/tagus-river-at-risk-of-drying-up-completely

Tanzania’s ghost safari: how western aid contributed to the decline of a wildlife haven
Lions, elephants and hippos have vanished from Kilombero valley after UK- and US-funded projects helped turn a once-thriving habitat into farmland, teak, and sugar plantations
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/13/tanzanias-ghost-safari-how-western-aid-contributed-to-the-decline-of-a-wildlife-haven

The bees are better, but they’re not all right.
Justin Fox Bloomberg View
Total population collapse? No. Weaker insects? Yes. Problematic pesticides? Probably
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/2460133000469005288

Tweet streams: how social media can help keep tabs on ecosystems’ health
Susanne Becken, Griffith University; Bela Stantic, Griffith University, and Rod Connolly, Griffith University
Mining social media posts from tourism hotspots such as coral reefs could turn tourists into environmental citizen scientists without them even realising it.
http://theconversation.com/tweet-streams-how-social-media-can-help-keep-tabs-on-ecosystems-health-82368