Daily Links Aug 2

Climate change solutions needed beyond clean energy.
The transportation, manufacturing and agriculture industries have received a fraction of the attention of the power sector in the fight against climate change.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322348534

Seas rise, trees die: Climate change before your eyes.
They’re called “ghost forests” — dead trees along vast swaths of coastline invaded by rising seas, something scientists call one of the most visible markers of climate change.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322348521

Climate change set to increase air pollution deaths by hundreds of thousands by 2100
Guang Zeng, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research and Jason West, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
A new study suggests climate change will cause changes to patterns of ground-level ozone and smog – two deadly pollutants set to increase deaths by about 260,000 worldwide by the end of the century.
http://theconversation.com/climate-change-set-to-increase-air-pollution-deaths-by-hundreds-of-thousands-by-2100-81830

Trump budget threatens Zimbabwe climate change resilience programs.
USAID has improved rural climate change resilience since 2013; now the U.S. may cut that lifeline, with dire results for Zimbabwe’s poorest.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322346909

Australia records hottest July ever
A Bureau of Meteorology report released today shows the country’s average July temperature was at its highest in more than 100 years of weather recording.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-01/australia-records-hottest-july-on-record-bom-says/8762560

Super fund looks for a greenie
Vision Super is hunting for a full-time climate activist to sell its industry fund at protests.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/vision-super-looks-for-greenie-to-recruit-members/news-story/ede2267519c5d4eca2d10687d4871472

Nats under the pump over law change
A NATIONALS minister is pushing to change the law to retrospectively justify a decision to give a major political donor and farmer more rights over precious water from the Barwon-Darling River.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/barwon-darling-water-sharing-plan-primary-industries-minister-niall-blair-tries-to-change-irrigation-laws-after-farmer-given-extra-river-rights/news-story/a94ab3781f344f167308e607f277e9c7

Welfare lobby’s misguided and self-defeating attack on solar
Giles Parkinson
Welfare lobby is right to rail against Australia’s ridiculous electricity prices, but echoing fossil fuel talking points against solar and other new technologies is self defeating.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/welfare-lobbys-misguided-and-self-defeating-attack-on-solar-11379/

Electricity profits spark ACCC probe
CLAIMS electricity retailers are gouging excessive profits from Victorian customers are being investigated by the ­nation’s consumer watchdog.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/price-inquiry-accc-to-examine-electricity-retailers-profit-margins/news-story/f5ba2c116257d584d5b562148e6e70f5

Roo count on the hop
A KANGAROO survey will be carried out across Victoria for the first time, in a move that could lead to their skins being sold overseas.
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/victorian-kangaroos-to-be-counted-in-a-first-for-the-state/news-story/2c5c442eff9b133a43a674993326cbf0

Tree rules deserve the chop
Weekly Times editorial
VICTORIA’S native vegetation rules are out of whack
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/native-vegetation-laws-victoria-tree-rules-deserve-the-chop/news-story/0de7f6d90977d6c2683cd2dc2a90cf80

The solution to Sydney’s peak-hour train crush
Pablo Guillen Alvarez
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/more-metro-trains-are-the-solution-to-sydneys-rushhour-crush-20170731-gxmmfi.html

Adani royalties deal: Queensland’s ‘transparent policy framework’ kept secret
Snippets of data among thousands of pages of redacted documents suggest state officials were still working out benefits of policy after it was announced
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/02/adani-royalties-deal-queenslands-transparent-policy-framework-kept-secret

Brisbane anti-Adani mural inspired by popular satirical newspaper
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/antiadani-artist-paints-betoota-advocate-article-on-fortitude-valley-bar-wall-20170801-gxn9tg.html

Water storage key to agriculture’s buoyancy
A  VETERAN economist has called for additional water storage for the Far North’s agricultural industry.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/far-north-is-one-of-the-best-regions-in-the-country-for-water-resources/news-story/307ce0510c0b5e6206a7be82d08ceda2

Chasing millions for reef centre
THE Cairns Aquarium is in line for about $2?million funding for a research centre that could evolve into a new outpost of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/federal-government-poised-for-2m-funding-pledge-for-cairns-aquarium-research-centre/news-story/2a7f8237b59f0f9eed59e3e2ad26af8a

Cairns home named state’s most sustainable
A SMITHFIELD house of dreams has been named Queensland’s most sustainable home at a gala industry event.
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/business/bold-smithfield-house-awarded-for-environmental-innovation/news-story/d639c3b0f938afe8c662af09f31a8528

‘We’re pulling our hair out’: Premier faces friendly fire over trains
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/premier-very-optimistic-new-trains-will-be-ready-for-games-20170731-gxmp3z.html

Why we’re going it alone on Cross River Rail
Jackie Trad
Waiting for a crisis to improve public transport would be wrong, so the State Government will go it alone if the Federal Government refuses to help.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-cross-river-rail-needs-to-come-before-a-public-transport-crisis/news-story/8e1556254d05edb8257ba5910fd39611

$58k paid for ‘Cosi’ nature videos
THE State Environment Department paid $58,000 for videos featuring local TV identity Andrew Costello to promote local nature sites.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/environment-department-paid-58000-for-videos-by-tv-personality-andrew-costello-to-promote-nature-sites/news-story/f99d4f86aa6d2c33903cc31067753c4e

Telstra hangs up on conservation park tower plan
PLANS for a phone tower in Hallett Cove Conservation Park have been abandoned after the State Government said it would block the proposal.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/south/telstra-hangs-up-on-hallett-cove-conservation-park-tower-plan/news-story/9ec42af3546cd8ceb9f0b29977348189

Does South Australia need two back-up power stations?
Nick Harmsen
Two taxpayer-funded power plants to provide back-up power will be built in Adelaide in a bid to avoid blackouts this summer. Nick Harmsen looks at how the plants will work and if they are needed.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-01/does-south-australia-need-two-back-up-power-stations/8763164

Coast within Cooee of new cycling route
TASMANIA’S booming bike tourism industry has received another leg up, with a disused rail corridor to spring back to life as a coastal cycleway.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/politics/state-government-kicks-in-186m-for-cooee-to-wynyard-cycleway/news-story/cb858d7807aea775a11fb1a0eb2fa52e

A chance meeting, an astonishing legacy
Bob Brown
BOB BROWN remembers a unique woman with a passion for our wild places.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point-a-chance-meeting-an-astonishing-legacy/news-story/0a1fecd38f363d133c6252f1c9edf4b6

Will solar powered cars ever be real?
David Woodgrove
The Sunswift team has designed and built Eve to be registered as a road legal sports car, representing a shift in solar powered transport from conceptual to commercial vehicle standards.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/will-solar-powered-cars-ever-real-44325/

Is public transport the sole solution to congestion?
Alan Davies
Public transport is a big part of the answer to congestion but it can’t do it alone. But congestion isn’t the only big issue; so is providing access to places as population grows
https://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2017/08/01/public-transport-sole-solution-congestion/

Planners know depressingly little about a city’s impacts on our mental health
Jason Byrne
http://theconversation.com/planners-know-depressingly-little-about-a-citys-impacts-on-our-mental-health-81098

How Dimming Lights To Save Turtles Can Teach Us To Live And Build  Sustainably
Wayne Wescott
Growing forests isn’t only about the environment; it’s about growing communities and economies as well
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/08/dimming-lights-save-turtles-can-teach-us-live-build-sustainably/

No More Excuses In Delivering Ethical Supply Chains – Report Urges
Less than a quarter of global businesses address climate change and child labour in their supply chains, an international study has found.
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/08/no-excuses-delivering-ethical-supply-chains-report-urges/

Nuclear weapons contractors repeatedly violate shipping rules for dangerous materials.
Los Alamos laboratory’s recent mistakes in shipping plutonium were among dozens of incidents involving mislabeled or wrongly shipped materials associated with the nuclear weapons program.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-3246038150322348528

US nuclear comeback stalls as two reactors are abandoned.
Two South Carolina utilities said they would halt construction on a pair of reactors, dealing a major blow to the future of American nuclear power.
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322348523

Oil Fields: Alternative to Wasteful Methane Flaring
Researchers say they have a solution to the oil field flares wasting 3.5 percent of the world’s natural gas: an inexpensive reactor that can convert methane …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170801090227.htm

Crude oils BP’s swing to profit
BP has returned to profit in the second quarter but the costs of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill continue to weigh.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/higher-crude-prices-oil-bps-swing-back-to-profit/news-story/e2a9ab2ed286493bad7c86958ae42bd3

GM trap for mice
A NEW type of gene technology could be the answer to eradicating mice, which have caused millions of dollars in crop losses this year.
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/eradicating-mice-gene-technology-being-developed-as-crop-losses-mount/news-story/f49e3e8de80275b78151b38c5e909c73

Why the oil industry may be the most corrupt in the world.
Scott Tong MarketPlace
With government heavily involved and centralizing many so-called extractive industries, drilling and mining are more prone to corruption than, say, farming
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322348016

Utilities companies won’t let you sell your own solar power. Why not?
Kate Aronoff
The electric utility sector is broken – but the transformation we need will be virtually impossible so long as a handful of wealthy elites are calling the shots
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/01/utilies-solar-power-sales-energy-company-restrictions

What happens after a mining rush? Photographs from Madagascar.
Rubies, sapphires, and other gems can draw tens of thousands of people to remote sites, sometimes in Madagascar’s highly biodiverse protected areas. Public attention often focuses on the mining rush, but the toll on the landscape and human lives can endure long after.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-3246038150322348014

More than 1,000 people killed in India as human and wildlife habitats collide
Elephant and tiger territories are shrinking as India’s growing population encroaches on wild spaces causing an increase in fatalities
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/01/over-1000-people-killed-india-humans-wildlife-territories-meet

Chinese fishermen are destroying the ocean floor catching “trash fish” no one even eats.
In the quest to satisfy demand, Chinese fishermen are catching vast quantities of fish too young or too small to be consumed by humans, or “trash fish,” and selling them for fish feed
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/t/-3246038150322348017

Amazon Forest’s Importance in Regulating Atmospheric Chemistry Reinforced
The Amazon rainforest emits three times more isoprene than was previously estimated, airborne measurements show. Isoprene is one of the main precursors of ozone and indirectly influences the balance …
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170731164426.htm

Fear May Play a Role in Animal Extinction, Study Reveals
Fear alone may be enough to cause vulnerable species to go extinct, according to a new University of Guelph study.
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/52013

Women take control of solar revolution.
The solar revolution is reaching the remotest parts of the world and changing the lives of women otherwise trapped in poverty
http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-3246038150322346911

City College engineers produce long lasting, energy density battery
A new generation of manganese dioxide-zinc batteries with unprecedented cycle life and energy density is the latest innovation at The City College of New York-based CUNY Energy Institute. The discovery has made the common household battery suitable for large grid storage applications.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/ccon-cce080117.php