Daily Links Dec 22

If we are successful in compartmentalising, it is the time for a merry Christmas and a happy new year – so do try and have both. If we are looking for a safe and secure future, the three parties thoughts for energy policy in 2018 suggests each party has its own compartment. Josh reckons all is good, Mark fears 2018 will be more of the same while Adam reckons coal is ‘gawn’, vehicle emission standards will tighten and extreme weather will bring a greater preparedness to accept change.And on that note, thank you all for allowing me my indulgence with my ramblings but more importantly, thank you Maelor for making this possible with your excellent service through 2017. If anyone knows someone who might like to be on the list (see Maelor’s comment re building a more environmentally aware population), please refer them to greghunt.net, click on the Daily Mailer tab and sign on.See you in 2018.

Daily Links Dec 21

Monbiot discusses ‘shifting baseline syndrome’ in The Guardian article below as an explanation for our selective blindness to many many aspects of the living world. Going bush with someone skilled in interpreting the geology or biology of the place can be the real eye-opener that overcomes that blindness. Even so, we are all complicit in the environmental loss around us.

Daily Links Dec 20

Greenhouse gas emissions rise 5 pc in two years and all Josh has in the armoury is the NEG. Has there ever been such a failure of essential policy by people who do know better?

Daily Links Dec 19

With another ‘nail in the coffin’ of the Adani mine with Downer’s withdrawal, you’d have to say that, as our Immediate Past PM said and leaving aside the awkward chronology of the actions, the project is ‘dead, buried and cremated’. And thank goodness.

Night parrot stories

Night parrot stories is a film (see it on SBS at 8.30 pm on Christmas Eve, 2017) , a Facebook page and treasure troves of tales in the minds of many birders in this wide brown land. Both adjectives apply, as the distribution of these birds has opened up considerably since their rediscovery in the Diamantina and where they are found is typically very very brown.

Daily Links Dec 18

Google to get around the pay-wall if you need, but Stephen Gallilee’s article on our tax dollars supporting activism is the usual Minerals Council claptrap. The Murdoch press campaigning again.

Daily Links Dec 17

Top Post How global warming fueled five extreme weather events Scientists analyzed 27 extreme weather events from 2016 and found that global warming was a “significant driver” for most of …

Daily Links Dec 15

The 6th round of the Emission Reduction Fund bought carbon at $13.08 per tonne. In the first 5 rounds, 65% of funded projects were in vegetation management yet land clearing laws relaxed in NSW and Qld could undo any benefit that might result. Oh for responsible national and state governments and wise policy!

Daily Links Dec 13

Conserve. Conservative. Conservation. So what is going on here? Will the environment be in a better state for the tenure of ‘Conservative’ Ministers Hunt and Frydenberg or will their cuts in spending result in, as the science suggests, the degrading of our environment?