Daily Links Jun 2

Missing Paris climate goals could cost trillions
Meeting the targets of the Paris climate agreement could save the world 20 trillion dollars. This benefit is 40 times larger than the costs of achieving those goals, researchers show in a new study.
http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/05/missing-paris-climate-goals-could-cost-trillions/

Climate movement tries to outmaneuver Trump a year after his exit from the Paris accord
His coal renaissance is crashing. Rule rollbacks are tangled in court. His push for heavier polluting cars is resisted by even auto companies.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-paris-climate-201800601-story.html

Pope to huddle with BP, BlackRock execs and more in Vatican to talk climate change
The gathering shows how companies are moving ahead on climate change without Trump.
https://www.axios.com/exclusive-pope-convenes-big-oil-investors-to-talk-climate-change-1527810398-44c1f3bb-37ed-4b98-a0a5-b6b65a3bffea.html

Marine heatwaves are getting hotter, lasting longer and doing more damage
Eric Oliver et al
Marine heatwaves have had little attention until recently, but they’re already having large effects.
https://theconversation.com/marine-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-lasting-longer-and-doing-more-damage-95637

Fossil fuel supply and why it’s time to think seriously about cutting it off
David Roberts
A new paper makes the case for supply-side climate policy.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/4/3/17187606/fossil-fuel-supply

Thinking small could be solution to solving Australia’s traffic problems
Researchers are studying ant colonies in hopes they will solve the transportation and infrastructure woes afflicting our cities.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-01/swarm-intelligence/9821122

More oil and gas M&A on the horizon
A new report has indicated three out of five oil and gas companies want to carry out an acquisition in the next 12 months.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/more-oil-and-gas-m-and-a-on-the-horizon-20180601-p4ziy5.html

Australian banks double down on global fossil fuel expansion
Just when you thought Australia’s banks had reached the nadir, new data shows ‘Big Four’ lending to fossil fuel projects spiked by 50% last year.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australian-banks-double-down-on-global-fossil-fuel-expansion-77512/

Stand-off threatens coal riches
The price of coking coal has risen to a six-week high as a stand-off looms large in the minds of traders.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/standoff-threatens-to-derail-coking-coal-riches/news-story/75ea693d9d50d40667263170e338ee37

The rapidly changing dynamics of Australia’s grid
South Australia becomes net electricity exporter for first time, 12 new wind and solar farms were added, the amount of large-scale solar tripled, and rooftop PV kept a lid on demand.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/the-rapidly-changing-dynamics-of-australias-grid-23288/

Wind and solar slashing corporate energy costs by 40%
Company behind new “Renewable Energy Hub” says wind, solar clearly delivering electricity at 40% discount from the grid.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-solar-slashing-corporate-energy-costs-40-82862/

Winter is coming, and it’s looking mighty mild
Jonathan Pollock and Andrew B. Watkins, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Winter is here, and many farmers are still waiting on their ‘autumn break’ of heavy rain. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be a dry, warm winter – although the snow season will likely be good.
https://theconversation.com/winter-is-coming-and-its-looking-mighty-mild-97466

The single-file petition is dumb and dangerous [$]
Matt Collins
Those calling for cyclists to be forced to ride single file show a dangerous ignorance of the facts, writes Matt Collins. It would make cycling more dangerous without making driving easier.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/the-singlefile-petition-is-dumb-and-dangerous/news-story/84f90d8b11cf4a0d0aeb8cc6071a6797

Coal power stations on notice [$]
Coal-fired power producers in Victoria contemplating shutting down will be forced to give at least five years notice.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/shutting-a-coalfired-power-station-give-us-five-years-notice/news-story/4c885b8e84850e65a1b40f65e5b944dc

Urban Development Institute of Australia calls for housing targets to tackle population boom [$]
Suburbs which don’t pull their weight on housing supply should be punished with less investment in parks and other infrastructure, says a developer lobby.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/urban-development-institute-of-australia-calls-for-housing-targets-to-tackle-population-boom/news-story/95cbac2d7aca16104231eaee6173826b

How to save up to $10,000 on energy bills [$]
Switching from gas to electric heating can save Victorian households up to $10,000 in energy bills over a decade, a study has found.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/how-to-save-up-to-10000-on-energy-bills/news-story/c34096641e7fb478b674bdbdc99ff1eb

The Sydney suburb where residents face an ‘obstacle course’ just to get a bus
Flax Soetjandra notices the transformation of Dee Why every time she walks to the beach with her dog Harry.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/blacktown-by-the-sea-residents-face-obstacle-course-just-to-get-on-a-bus-20180528-p4zhwj.html

NSW water regulator threatens to cut off supply to rogue Murray-Darling irrigators
Grant Barnes is a New Zealander who says he has a bit of mongrel in him, and as the chief regulatory officer overseeing NSW water access he says he will take on any irrigator flouting the law.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-06-02/nsw-water-regulator-has-a-bit-of-mongrel-in-him/9823774

$2m for bushfire clean-up on NSW coast
The NSW coastal town of Tathra, which was nearly wiped out by a raging bushfire in March, will receive a $2 million clean-up grant.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/2m-for-bushfire-cleanup-on-nsw-coast/news-story/7959b48c4b0532e663b9883ccfcbe6ae

Great Barrier Reef health: Once-pristine Queensland coastline covered in litter [$]
New pictures show plastic pollution is piling up at an unprecedented rate at once-pristine parts along Queensland’s coastline.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/great-barrier-reef-health-oncepristine-queensland-coastline-covered-in-litter/news-story/1b15ff71dff0c6dd55af77ac7c89c189

Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin is back. The Great Barrier Reef isn’t
First Dog on the Moon
The Turnbull government’s plan to save the reef is so crazy, it might just work! (It will not)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/01/brenda-the-civil-disobedience-penguin-is-back-the-great-barrier-reef-isnt

Families around the world join war on plastic
Faced with shops full of food and other goods swathed in plastic, families across the world are trying to reduce its use and recycle wherever possible to cut down its impact on the environment.
https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/families-around-the-world-join-war-on-plastic

Fire and ice: The untapped fossil fuel that could save or ruin our climate
Methane hydrate buried below permafrost and the ocean floor could meet the world’s energy needs for 100 years – but would extracting it be catastrophic for the climate?
http://www.dw.com/en/fire-and-ice-the-untapped-fossil-fuel-that-could-save-or-ruin-our-climate/a-43246890

BPA linked to heart function changes in young
Bisphenol A could adversely affect juvenile heart function, according to research conducted on heart cells from newborn rats.
https://chemicalwatch.com/67336/bpa-linked-to-heart-function-changes-in-young

Will batteries do for wind what they’re doing for solar?
Experts say wind-plus-storage could become viable with longer-duration batteries.
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/what-about-wind-plus-storage-its-not-like-solar-plus-storage-at-all-or-i/524429/

The scientists trying to save beer from climate change
A warmer, drier future is coming for our hops. Luckily, these folks have developed a nice little workaround, thanks to a gene-editing tool that could help create a hop-free beer.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2310471/scientists-saving-our-foods-climate-change

GDP is a deeply flawed and outdated way of measuring economic growth
Stephen Letts
GDP is the tool governments use to justify and frame their decisions, but it is of little use use in dealing with the big issues of the environment, health and inequality
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-02/gdp-flawed-and-out-of-date-why-still-use-it/9821402

What fossil fuels and factory farms have in common.
Wenonah Hauter
Hint: They’re both issues of environmental injustice.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/what-fossil-fuels-and-factory-farms-have-in-common-20180529

How Colombia became Latin America’s palm oil powerhouse
Critics worry that policies looking to grow Colombia’s palm oil production further will come at big costs to the country’s small farmers and indigenous groups.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/how-colombia-became-latin-americas-palm-oil-powerhouse/

Hope for evicted forest people as Kenya vows to honour landmark ruling
Evictions have ceased and rehabilitation is underway one year after Africa’s highest human rights court told Kenya to compensate forest-dwellers for violating their land rights.
http://news.trust.org/item/20180531141243-z8u4c/

What can stop Japan’s ‘gruesome’ whale hunting program?
Japan’s ongoing “research whaling” program has incited fresh outrage after a recent report on the summer hunt in the Southern Ocean detailed the killing of over 120 pregnant whales.
http://www.dw.com/en/what-can-stop-japans-gruesome-whale-hunting-program/a-44020782