Daily Links Sep 23

Debate pushed in new directions
Graham Lloyd
Machine learning and AI threaten to challenge the models on which climate understanding is based.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/technology-advances-push-climate-debate-in-new-directions/news-story/45067d6c382af0378271b28dfe463f28

PM to pull trigger on gas giants
http://www.afr.com/news/politics/gas-industry-protests-as-malcolm-turnbull-puts-his-finger-on-the-trigger-20170920-gylnmj

Fires in Australia Pop Up in Places Already Burned
Fires that span across the Northern Territory and Western Australia appear to have broken out in areas that have already been burned in previous fires.
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/52626

Gas key to reducing power problems
Paul Syvret
ON one side there’s the coal good/renewables bad brigade, who view clean energy as a socialist plot. On the other are the green ideologues who refuse to accept a lower-carbon future can’t happen overnight.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-energy-crisis-not-helped-by-both-anticoal-and-coalenthusiast-extremists/news-story/72b490a092806aeef4d3869822063af5

What’s driving up power prices?
Podcast
With energy affordability a growing concern for Australians, Guardian Australia political editor Katharine Murphy talks to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims about what has gone wrong with the energy market and what is behind the rise in Australian power prices
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/audio/2017/sep/22/whats-driving-up-power-prices-australian-politics-live-podcast

Can two clean energy targets break the deadlock of energy and climate policy?
Bruce Mountain, Victoria University
https://theconversation.com/can-two-clean-energy-targets-break-the-deadlock-of-energy-and-climate-policy-84373

Tony Abbott’s gut v Elon Musk’s brain and billions: which would you follow?
Richard Denniss
If Abbott wins and convinces the Coalition to back coal, the Australian economy loses.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/tony-abbotts-gut-v-elon-musks-brain-and-billions-which-would-you-follow-20170922-gymn0s.html

Abbott’s all-out assault over energy
Paul Bongiorno
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2017/09/23/abbotts-all-out-assault-over-energy/15060888005243

Tony Abbott: the most reliable energy source there is
Jacqueline Maley
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/tony-abbott-the-most-reliable-energy-source-there-is-20170921-gym4qd.html

PM bid to save government
Paul Kelly
Turnbull’s ‘trilemma’ is that his key goals in the energy sector are incompatible.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/energy-crisis-may-drive-australia-back-to-regulation-protection/news-story/de879981c099ce6340a9507eb049a6c3

Energy bill death sentence
Caroline Overington
Pensioners are particularly vulnerable to the threat of power cut-offs in extreme conditions.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/unaffordable-gas-power-bills-can-be-a-death-sentence-for-the-old/news-story/90d9f9289da14ca55b236b430863d400

Fire risks soar to ‘severe’ amid heat, drying forests
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/bushfire-risks-soar-to-severe-levels-as-mercury-set-to-nudge-records-20170921-gymkcq.html

Proving political collusion in water buybacks
Mike Seccombe
Following revelations about inappropriate dealings with irrigators, the first of six inquiries finds a regulator captured by vested interests.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/resources/2017/09/23/proving-political-collusion-water-buybacks/15060888005256

Sydney’s future: Concrete, asphalt and steel
Elizabeth Farrelly
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/sydneys-future-concrete-asphalt-and-steel-as-greed-overwhelms-public-benefit-20170920-gylnr0.html

Queensland to finally accept the first of its new trains
The formal sign-off comes despite the trains starting to arrive in Queensland in 2015. But crucial disability access is yet to be resolved.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/queensland-to-finally-accept-the-first-of-its-new-trains-20170922-p4yw1p.html

Massive response to Parklands heritage proposal
ABOUT 1600 people have responded to consultation on State Heritage listing for the Adelaide Parklands and city squares, up from the 10 or so who historically participate in the process.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/city/1600-submissions-on-adelaide-parklands-state-heritage-listing-up-from-usual-10-participating-in-process/news-story/8ab8e736c73f7f27b110dc524157eb54

Tassie devil imp already has legend status
HE’S not even four months old, but Tasmanian devil imp Mechwolf is already shaping up to be a global superstar.
http://www.themercury.com.au/lifestyle/league-of-legends-gamers-set-to-flock-to-tassie-to-see-little-devils-at-wings-wildlife-park/news-story/6e8dbc850e06db363126efdfa9c2ccdf

USDA-funded study finds no-tillage alone not sufficient to prevent water pollution from nitrate
A new IUPUI study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture answers a long-debated agricultural question: whether no-tillage alone is sufficient to prevent water pollution from nitrate. The answer is no.
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/52634

A Sustainable Future Powered by Sea
Professor Tsumoru Shintake at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) yearns for a clean future, one that is affordable and powered by sustainable energy. Originally from the high-energy accelerator field, in 2012 he decided to seek new energy resources—wind and solar were being explored in depth, but he moved toward the sea instead.
http://www.enn.com/energy/article/52625