Truly it is said’the perfect is the enemy of the good’. Having a deadlock in Parliament on the NEG(ative really) is to continue the impasse we’ve been facing since the CPRS was abandoned as being third or fourth rate at best. We have issues of principle and degree here. A two part process would be to pass it with the current target, as woefully inadequate as it is, then, with it in place, tighten it with more realistic targets as soon as the politics allow (perhaps in the first half of next year).
Post of the Day
Video of the Day: Counting Frydenberg’s NEG “lies”
Smart Energy Council counts eight “lies” told by the federal energy minister in his Sunday ABC TV interview – and fact-checks them all.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/video-of-the-day-counting-frydenbergs-neg-lies-32798/
Today’s Celebration
Relaxation Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/relaxation-day/
More about Aug 15 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_15
Climate Change
Extreme temperatures ‘especially likely for next four years’
Cyclical natural phenomena that affect planet’s climate will amplify effect of manmade global warming, scientists warn
Explainer: The ‘teenager of climate drivers’ and how it affects our weather
There is a 50 per cent chance of an El Nino this summer, but it is just one piece in the climate puzzle. The Southern Annular Mode is another driver demanding attention.
Your memory may be hiding the inconvenient truth about climate change
Misia Temler
There is already some evidence that creation of collective social memories, through media narratives, images and memes, can raise awareness for the potential threats of global warming.
National
Explainer: How a native desert grass can improve tyres, concrete, latex gloves and more
Covering nearly one-third of the continent, in deserts with poor soils, humble Australian spinifex grasses contain nano-sized particles that can amp the performance of a range of everyday items
Turnbull secures partyroom approval for NEG but Coalition MPs might cross the floor
Tony Abbott, George Christensen, Eric Abetz and several other Government MPs indicate they may cross the floor to vote against the National Energy Guarantee despite the majority of the Coalition party room endorsing it.
Deadlock in Parliament follows Turnbull victory on energy
Labor is holding out against a swift decision on the carbon target for the National Energy Guarantee, in a new stand-off that threatens to stymie a national deal on energy and climate change.
Pass energy policy then step back, former AGL boss tells Canberra
Politicians need to pass the Turnbull government’s energy policy, then step back to let the market actually work, former AGL boss Michael Fraser says.
Claimed power price cuts from energy guarantee are ‘virtually meaningless’
Coal-fired power subsidies mean the projections relied on by Coalition are not credible, study says
Calls for environmental water entitlements to be sold to drought-affected farmers
Politicians and farmers say water should be diverted to crops to keep herds alive
Set emissions targets like interest rates, says leading think tank
An energy think tank says an independent regulator would allow industry to adapt while removing the need for a future government to pass legislation through a hostile Senate.
‘Day of reckoning’ on energy plan merely postponed, ACT’s Rattenbury says
Labor-led states and the ACT are preparing for increased pressure from the Turnbull government to approve its national energy policy even though their main concerns have not been addressed.
No break for drought-hit areas as new research points to warmer years
Prospects of an early end to the big dry affecting eastern Australia are diminishing, with the latest estimates pointing to drought conditions intensifying.
Australian farmers body says Roundup cancer ruling is ‘in blatant ignorance’ of science
National Farmers’ Federation says US court ruling that weedkiller causes cancer sets a ‘reckless precedent’
Australia urged to restrict Monsanto’s Roundup after US court rules it caused cancer
Greenpeace has called on the Australian government to suspend the sale of the weedkiller Roundup after a US court ruled it had caused the terminal cancer of an American man.
‘A lemon or a winner’: Public still in the dark on NEG modelling
Independent analysts remain in the dark about the full calculations behind the Turnbull government’s flagship energy plan, with a Senate call to release the modelling turning up a blank.
Outrage over lack of NEG modelling as government regurgitates old release
Government confirms that there was no detailed modelling for NEG, raising further questions – and outrage – over its claimed benefits.
Video of the Day: Counting Frydenberg’s NEG “lies”
Smart Energy Council counts eight “lies” told by the federal energy minister in his Sunday ABC TV interview – and fact-checks them all.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/video-of-the-day-counting-frydenbergs-neg-lies-32798/
Abbott’s waning influence exposed in national energy guarantee party-room agreement
Laura Tingle
The debate in the Coalition party room about the latest attempt to solve the climate wars was not just a victory for the Prime Minister but a sign of Tony Abbott’s waning influence with his colleagues.
Fighting for coal while supporting farmers? How’s that for logic
Peter Lewis
The Coalition tries to compartmentalise the drought from the energy debate. But the public doesn’t buy it
To burn or not to burn: Can Australia learn from Sweden’s rubbish-to-energy stategy?
Craig Reucassel
Sweden has become the darling of the press when it comes to waste management. Craig Reucassel investigates whether adopting a similar incineration strategy could help solve Australia’s waste crisis.
Climate wars 2.0 a threat to PM [$]
Dennis Shanahan
Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership authority is again under threat from the Coalition’s never-ending energy and climate wars.
Labor now in the energy hotseat [$]
Paul Kelly
With the Turnbull government pledged to the NEG, the pressure point in the energy debate now pivots back to Labor.
ALP must not play politics [$]
Australian editorial
Malcolm Turnbull is trying for a bipartisan scheme again.
Waste not, water not
Don Aitkin
Why is the public broadcaster, of all entities, employing its diminishing coin in enjoining us to enter the war on waste as private soldiers?
Responsibility overboard: the shocking record of the company shipping nuclear waste to Australia
Natalie Wasley
The spent fuel was loaded onto the BBC Austria, owned by Briese Schiffahrt, a shipping line condemned across the world for dangerous and illegal practices.
Buying reusable coffee cups won’t solve our environmental problems [$]
Ella Plumanns
For most middle-class Australians, resuable coffee cups and biodegrabale products are an easy way to be ‘green’. But what does it achieve?
Melbourne and Adelaide have been Australia’s most vulnerable major cities to killer heatwaves
Thomas Longden
Melbourne’s temperatures have periodically spiked far beyond what its residents are used to.
The renewable energy train is unstoppable. The NEG needs to get on board
Ken Baldwin
What’s that on the horizon? Ah yes, renewable energy. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
The NEG and the ‘idiocy’ of COALition climate change wars
Graeme McLeay
Some members of the Coalition are in a state of denial — denial in the face of the global consequences of climate change.
Victoria
Victorian Labor promises biggest transport building program in Australia
Victoria will undergo “the biggest public transport building program in Australian history” if the state Labor government is re-elected, Premier Daniel Andrews will promise in a speech marking 100 days until the November state poll.
Dan’s vow to fix ‘broken’ energy market [$]
Consumers have been dudded by energy market privatisation and the scales need to be tipped back in their favour, Premier Daniel Andrews will say in a major speech 100 days from the state election.
PM puts Victorian road cash boost on the table [$]
MalcolmTurnbull is willing to add potentially billions of dollars to the federal government’s contribution to building the North East Link, as well as the controversial East West Link.
Don’t be spooked by spin on liveability
Age editorial
Melbourne actually scored higher this year than it did last year. Vienna won top spot because its score improved slightly more than did Melbourne’s.
New South Wales
Fox traps hope to protect last 12 NSW breeding pairs of beach stone-curlew
Tucked between the Tweed River and a busy shopping centre and industrial area, a golf course has proved a happy hunting ground for a group of foxes.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-14/tweed-wildlife-at-risk-from-increasing-fox-population/10105686
Government tests interest in Sydney’s first mining licence since 1993
The Sydney basin faces more coal mining after the NSW government said it would seek market interest in the first new exploration licence in more than 20 years.
Sydney’s north-west metro to open ‘no earlier’ than May 5 next year
Commuters face the prospect of the shutdown of Sydney’s Epping to Chatswood rail line extending into an eighth month if contractors find they need more time to convert the railway to carry single-deck metro trains.
If this is the price for curing Sydney’s congestion, I won’t pay it
Charles Purcell
I was a late starter when it came to driving. “Why drive when you can take the bus?” I told my driving friends as they smirked at me. Of course, once I got my licence, I never looked back. Now I can’t live without my car. Now, I, too, smirk at the thought of public transport. So I find the idea that the government could decide if and when we drive our cars hard to swallow.
Rapid bus service to run from Bondi to city every three minutes
Eastern suburbs commuters will be able to ignore timetables and catch a “turn up and go” bus service that will run every three minutes during peak periods on a new rapid route to the city.
Thermal coal price soars [$]
Whitehaven has delivered a record profit as thermal coal prices reach the highest since before the global financial crisis.
Power firm eyes coal plant deal [$]
Delta Electricity flags plans to partner with Japanese or Chinese developers to build “clean-coal” power plant within five years.
ACT
Is Canberra’s public transport the best we can do?
Whenever the ACT government is pressured into defending its light rail network plan the response is that overseas experience has shown that wherever light rail has been introduced there have been increases in property values, development and public transport use.
Queensland
CSIRO feared reef foundation could ‘burn through millions of dollars’
The head of the CSIRO warned in internal emails that the Great Barrier Reef Foundation was in danger of spending “millions in overheads” after it received a controversial $444 million grant from the Federal Government.
Contracts given to Reef body before taxpayer millions [$]
A big–business foundation won two Federal Government contracts last year before scoring $443 million in taxpayer funds for reef research, it has been revealed.
‘We’re at crisis point’: Cyclists demand major changes to make roads safe
Bicycle advocacy groups in Brisbane are demanding reforms to heavy vehicle laws and an audit of statewide cycling infrastructure policy to keep riders safe.
Brisbane trees ‘hacked’ by Energex contractors
Trees around Brisbane have been hacked by Energex contractors, leaving them looking worse for wear and struggling to survive.
Solar replaces coal in north Queensland, as Collinsville switches on
Ratch Australia’s 42.5MW solar project powers up, at its location next to the decommissioned Collinsville coal plant.
Macquarie buys Conergy solar team in new push into battery storage
Macquarie Group has deepened its push into the renewable energy industry, and battery storage in particular, with the purchase of the solar team and portfolio of Conergy Asia, which includes the ground-breaking Lakeland solar and storage project in north Queensland.
New reports slam NEG as “renewables killer” designed for “short-term” politics
Two new reports confirm NEG would kill off renewable energy in Australia after 2021, put Australia at “back of pack” on climate.
Auditor must shine light on $443m reef gift
SMH editorial
The dramatic shift on Great Barrier Reef policy raises some big questions.
Reefgate or reefport?
Peter Henning
Reefgate should be Malcolm Turnbull’s Watergate, but probably won’t be.
http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/reefgate-or-reefport/
Zero diligence means no excuse [$]
Graham Richardson
The decision to grant $440 million to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation stinks to high heaven.
South Australia
Bid to halt Kimba nuke waste dump vote [$]
A vote by Kimba residents on whether they want a radioactive waste dump in the district is in jeopardy after an indigenous group sought an injunction to stop it.
‘Grow grain to prove waste dump is safe’ [$]
Grain and produce would be grown in the buffer zone of a national radioactive waste dump in SA to “reassure the community” that it is safe, a senate inquiry recommends.
Tasmania
Live Queensland frog in groceries prompts biosecurity questions
When Scottsdale resident Rebecca Saunders discovered a live Queensland tree frog in her fridge on Sunday, she questioned Tasmania’s biosecurity system.
Up Tarkine creek with a paddle [$]
Tony Burke charged taxpayers $7600 to charter a plane so he could view Tasmania’s Tarkine wilderness with GetUp!
The sounds of the Silent Majority
Rex Beamish
Now there are demands the silent majority are singing for the development of our Mountain,” They will be riding up the mountain when she comes.
Swift parrot the loser with Tassal’s east coast gill disease dam
Vica Bayley
A proposed dam that would suppy fresh water to treat gill disease in Tassal’s controversial Okehamption Bay fish farm will destroy critical habitat for the swift parrot, acknowledged by the proponent and experts as a ‘significant impact’ under federal law.
Western Australia
Sharks to be caught on baited hooks off WA’s South West after Labor U-turn
The McGowan Government bows to public pressure and announces it will trial so-called SMART drum lines off Gracetown in a bid to reduce the number of shark attacks along its coastline.
Woodside pushes for clean car fuel
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum’s push into hydrogen fuel has led to it calling for the Federal Government to mandate a percentage of government car fleets be electric or zero-emission vehicles.
https://thewest.com.au/business/energy/woodside-pushes-for-clean-car-fuel-ng-b88922057z
Sustainability
Push to improve human waste’s image problem when used as crop fertiliser
Farmers are being asked to put aside their prejudices and consider an alternative to animal manure and other fertilisers — biosolids, also known as human waste.
40 million EV charging points predicted by 2030, but China may have peaked too early
Study suggests 40 million EV charging points may be built globally within the next 12 years. But in China, they may have built too many chargers too soon.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/40-million-ev-charging-points-wood-mackenzie-81103/
Obesity and diabetes—2 reasons why we should be worried about the plastics that surround us
The most common explanation for obesity is overeating calorie-rich foods and a sedentary lifestyle. But new studies suggest that chemicals in our environment might be another cause.
https://theconversation.com/obesity-and-diabetes-2-reasons-why-we-should-be-worried-about-the-plastics-that-surround-us-97838
First reliable estimates of highly radioactive cesium-rich microparticles released by Fukushima disaster
Scientists have for the first time been able to estimate the amount of radioactive cesium-rich microparticles released by the disaster at the Fukushima power plant in 2011.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/gc-1re081218.php
Trump’s EPA is poisoning our children
Rolling back environmental laws leaves kids vulnerable to lead, asbestos, insecticides, and other toxic pollutants.
https://www.thenation.com/article/trumps-epa-is-poisoning-our-children/
Flat-pack homes and profit-sharing retrofits are making sustainable housing affordable
Wealth-generating, flat-pack solar houses and a profit-sharing scheme that incentivises retrofitting are bringing sustainable living to people who would otherwise not be able to afford it.
https://phys.org/news/2018-08-flat-pack-homes-profit-sharing-retrofits-sustainable.html
Gore: Trump not yet as damaging to environment as he feared
The Trump administration has made some dangerous changes to environmental policy, but the damage so far has been less than it initially appeared, according to former Vice-President Al Gore.
UK Government ministers should ban Roundup – not sing its praises
Natalie Bennett
Thérèse Coffey’s ill-judged tweet shows we have still work to do to rid the planet of the glyphosate
Get glyphosate off our globe
Bob Phelps
A California jury has awarded school groundsman Dewayne Johnson $289 million for his terminal non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The jury found, on all the scientific evidence uncovered during the month-long trial that his exposure to Roundup weedkiller caused Mr Johnson’s cancer.
http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/get-glyphosate-off-our-globe/
Peering into the Plasticene, our future of plastic and plastic waste.
Pete Myers
I spent two days at a Swiss ski resort at the end of July thinking with a group of experts on different pieces of the plastic problem, especially plastic in the ocean.
Nature Conservation
Breakthrough as New Caledonia votes to protect coral reef
The Pacific Island is home to one of the world’s most pristine coral reefs, boasting more than 9,300 marine species
Butterflies flourishing in hot summer but face problems ahead
The good news: while many animals, including us humans, are suffering in extremely high temperatures, most butterflies are currently doing well. The bad news: they’ll run into problems soon.
https://www.dw.com/en/butterflies-flourishing-in-hot-summer-but-face-problems-ahead/a-45040863
Extending palm oil production in Africa threatens primate conservation
Future expansion of the palm oil industry could have a dramatic impact on African primates.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/ecjr-epo081418.php
Trees and climate change: Faster growth, lighter wood
Wood density of European trees decreasing continuously since 1870
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/tuom-tac081418.php