Post of the Day
The tropics are in trouble, warn scientists
Plants and animals in the tropics are disproportionately threatened by a range of dangers, including habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change, warn researchers writing in the journal Nature.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/the-tropics-are-in-trouble-warn-scientists/
Today’s Celebration
Children’s Day – Paraguay
Independence Day – Gabon
King’s Death (Elvis) – United States of America
Restoration Day – Dominican Republic
Montserrat Annual Pilgrimage – Montserrat
Bennington Battle Day (Vermont) – United States of America
Tell A Joke Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/tell-a-joke-day/
Surveillance Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/surveillance-day/
More about Aug 16 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_16
Climate Change
What if Mother Nature is on the ballot in 2020?
Democrats could have a strong issue to run on if the extreme weather persists and President Trump continues to dismiss climate change.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/opinion/2020-election-climate-change-trump.html
If we can’t stop hothouse Earth, we’d better learn to live on it
New research is a warning that we face a desperate global struggle.
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/08/15/Stop-Hothouse-Earth/
Draft details Trump’s plan for reversing Obama climate rule
A portion of the rule shows Trump’s EPA easing the planned limits on the pollution from power generators driving climate change.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/14/trump-reverse-climate-rule-740066
Enough with the fairy tales about the Paris agreement. It’s time for facts
Erwin Jackson
A select and uninformed few have been railing against the Paris objectives. Let’s debunk some of their tallest tales
Humans are pushing the Earth closer to a climate cliff
John Abraham
A new study examines potential climate feedbacks that could push Earth into a ‘hothouse’ state
National
NEG to stew for another six weeks, as states demand “flexibility”
It will likely be another 6 weeks before the NEG is decided, but Coalition is refusing to cede any ground on flexibility to the Labor states.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/neg-to-stew-for-another-six-weeks-as-states-demand-flexibility-75529/
Frontbenchers urged to quit over NEG
Federal MP Keith Pitt is reportedly considering resigning from the coalition frontbench in protest over the national energy guarantee, as an internal campaign against the policy gains momentum.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/frontbenchers-urged-quit-over-neg-194851568–spt.html
Labor states split on NEG strategy [$]
Solidarity among the Labor states against the National Energy Guarantee is starting to fray with Queensland believing the states should not block the policy.
https://www.afr.com/news/labor-states-split-on-national-energy-guarantee-20180814-h13zcn
Higher NEG target won’t lower prices, says business
Business groups and energy experts have dismissed Labor’s claims a higher emissions reduction target will result in lower power prices than promised under the government’s 26 per cent target.
Labor’s secret plan to cut carbon emissions [$]
Labor is believed to be working on plans to cut carbon emissions in the energy sector by more than 45 per cent.
Tesla to consider making electric cars in Australia if ‘opportunity arises’
Tesla tells Senate inquiry it would consider making EVs in Australia – if the market was big enough.
Hydro, wind and solar output rises as gas generation slumps
AEMO report notes that more renewables in the second quarter meant lower gas and coal output, lower prices, and lower emissions.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/hydro-wind-and-solar-output-rises-as-gas-generation-slumps-32595/
Concerned about Roundup? Some local councils are already trying alternatives
Dozens of local councils across Australia have moved to reduce their reliance on the weedkiller Roundup, or trial alternatives, and the number could grow in the wake of a US court case that ruled the product’s manufacturers failed to warn it may cause cancer.
Time to invest in a solar battery system or upgrade your existing system?
Solar panels are good bang for buck, but what about solar batteries? Has the price dropped enough to make it worthwhile for you? We asked scientists, industry analysts, consumer advocates and a battery user to tell us they think.
We need NEG certainty: Gupta [$]
Billionaire industrialist Sanjeev Gupta says the national energy guarantee provides welcome certainty for investors.
Coalition MPs lobby colleagues against crossing the floor on energy
Push comes as Tony Abbott continues to agitate publicly against the national energy guarantee
Farmers, Greens split on herbicide use
The Greens have failed in a bid to get a popular herbicide reviewed by the regulator in light of a US court decision on its carcinogenic qualities.
Hanson pushes for migration plebiscite
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has introduced a bill for a plebiscite on how many people are allowed to migrate to Australia.
Coles says bag backflips were to stop customers being ‘stranded’
Coles has defended the way it handled the removal of throw-away plastic bags at its checkouts, saying it only backflipped on the issue several times because it wanted to help customers struggling with the transition.
Our population: where are we heading, and why?
Kevin McCracken
What quality of life would we have with a population of 50 million?
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19899
Don’t pretend cutting emissions costs nothing
The AFR View
A decade ago, Australia’s ideological split over climate change divided politics down the middle.
https://www.afr.com/opinion/editorials/dont-pretend-cutting-emissions-costs-nothing-20180815-h13zt2
Australia could house around 900,000 more migrants if we no longer let in tourists
Raja Junankar
International tourists use many of Australia’s resources, including adding to fossil fuel consumption.
No such thing as guarantee [$]
Judith Sloan
By pointing out there are no guarantees in relation to electricity prices, Barnaby Joyce is really on to something.
Agreement on energy runs out of steam [$]
Stephen Pallaras
Getting all governments to agree on energy policy seems to be beyond the capacity of the current crop. Put them in a room with recognised experts and don’t unlock it until they reach a consensus.
Victoria
Victorian households on standard energy offers losing hundreds a year
Victorian households on the worst electricity deals are paying almost $2700 more a year for the same amount of power as those on best offers, research shows.
AWU tells Andrews to back NEG [$]
Bill Shorten’s former union has thrown its weight behind the national energy guarantee, telling Victoria to back the agreement.
New South Wales
Native weevil attacking ribbon gum trees in Monaro region of NSW
Hundreds of thousands of eucalyptus trees in the Monaro region of New South Wales are being attacked by a native weevil, which eats out their canopy depriving them of their ability to produce energy from the sun.
Sydney’s bushfire season starts in winter: ‘We may have to rethink how we live’
Hotter, drier summers in Australia mean longer fire seasons – and urban sprawl into bushland is putting more people at risk
Experts ‘gobsmacked’ by NSW winter fires
Bushfires threatening homes on the NSW south coast in winter have left scientists “gobsmacked”, while warning communities to prepare for worse to come.
Sydney, stop whingeing – our city’s not that bad
Dom Knight
Sydneysiders, it might be time we stopped complaining about our city.
ACT
ACT committee to examine bus changes after petition
Changes to Canberra’s bus network that could disadvantage people with limited mobility have been referred an ACT Legislative Committee, as Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris hits back at claims the consultation was not genuine.
Queensland
Adani plans fail to address regulator demands designed to protect oasis
An ancient spring in the heart of Queensland is supposed to be protected, but Adani’s latest environmental plans fail to address a key demand of regulators to preserve the oasis.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-16/adani-plans-fail-to-meet-regulator-demands/10123202
Senate inquiry to grill Great Barrier Reef Foundation chairman over $444m grant
Foundation board members and government officials will also give evidence into the awarding of the grant
$444m reef grant to cost taxpayers extra $11m, says Labor MP
Chris Bowen says it ‘defies logic’ that the grant was awarded without a competitive tender process
‘Whole thing is a mystery’: Reef Foundation windfall hits private fund
Government’s claim that its $444 million grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation will stimulate private donations has been disputed by a leading coral scientist.
South Australia
Intervention in South Australia jumps as gas shuts down
The number of interventions by the Australian Energy market Operator in South Australia jumped sharply in the second quarter – mostly because of a large number of gas-fired generators…
https://reneweconomy.com.au/intervention-in-south-australia-jumps-as-gas-shuts-down-18772/
Tesla big battery to be installed at Lake Bonney wind farm
Infigen Energy to install 25MW/52MWh Tesla Powerpack battery storage system at its Lake Bonney wind farm in South Australia.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/tesla-big-battery-to-be-installed-at-lake-bonney-wind-farm-24094/
Gupta launches 1GW renewable plan at Cultana solar project
UK steel billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has officially launched his plans to build more than 1 gigawatt (1,000MW) of dispatchable renewable energy at a ground-breaking ceremony for the first of those projects – the 280MW Cultana solar project near Whyalla.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/gupta-launches-1gw-renewable-plan-at-cultana-solar-project-67819/
SA plans for $80 million desal plant
An $80 million desalination plant is being planned for Port Lincoln, with SA Water already purchasing land at the “preferred” site for the facility.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/sa-plans-80-million-desal-plant-195711669–spt.html
Why we’re watching the giant Australian cuttlefish
Bronwyn GIllanders
In May-August each year, giant Australian cuttlefish gather and mate over a narrow stretch of rocky coastline in South Australia. At their peak you see literally one cuttlefish per square metre.
http://theconversation.com/why-were-watching-the-giant-australian-cuttlefish-101183
Northern Territory
Traditional owners concerned by ILC’s exit strategy on NT cattle station
Traditional owners are concerned about the exit strategy of the Indigenous Land Corporation as it looks to handover the running of a cattle station in the Northern Territory.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-08-15/ilc-warned-not-to-destock-hodgson-downs/10106522
Western Australia
WA nerves over NEG targets
WA shouldn’t be expected to reduce its emissions in line with National Energy Market states, says Woodside’s Peter Coleman.
Sustainability
Scottish battery ‘breakthrough’ could charge electric cars in seconds
Scottish researches claim breakthrough in flow battery technology that could see electric vehicles being charged in a fraction of the time of current standards.
Why two years of historic wildfires haven’t made Southern California safer
Restrictions on insurance premiums and local intransigence increase California’s fire risk.
Which cities are liveable without air conditioning?
Mapping the world’s cities where you can live comfortably without heating or air conditioning reveals how few boast such ideal climates – and how global warming would further narrow the field.
Can the ocean feed a growing world?
Healthy fisheries may be the key to feeding ten billion people-if they’re managed correctly.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/nature/can-the-ocean-feed-a-growing-world.aspx
Worse than lead?
The chemical industry strikes again, shifting from lead to flame retardants that also sicken and kill.
https://www.thenation.com/article/worse-than-lead/
The world’s ‘most liveable city’ title isn’t a measure of the things most of us actually care about
Julianna Rozek, Billie Giles-Corti and Lucy Gunn
The world’s “most liveable city” ranking is based on an index designed for companies sending their employees overseas. It’s not relevant to the average person.
Coal finds a bold saviour [$]
Rupert Darwall
Energy exceptionalism under the Trump administration has halted the green tide of wind and solar.
Nature Conservation
Rock climbers fear cable car will restrict access to Organ Pipes
Tasmania’s rock climbers are worried a cable car across kunanyi/Mount Wellington’s famed Organ Pipes could lead to restricted access to one of the state’s best climbing areas.
The tropics are in trouble, warn scientists
Plants and animals in the tropics are disproportionately threatened by a range of dangers, including habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change, warn researchers writing in the journal Nature.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/the-tropics-are-in-trouble-warn-scientists/
Sea life in ‘peril’ as ocean temperatures hit all-time high in San Diego
Between 1982 and 2016, the number of ‘marine heatwaves’ doubled, and likely will become more common and intense as the planet warms, study finds
With half the planet saved for nature, will we have enough to eat?
The idea of devoting half of Earth’s terrestrial surface to rich, intact forms of nature has stirred conservationist imaginations in the last few years.
http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/08/half-earth-food-tradeoffs/
Should rivers have rights? A growing movement says it’s about time Inspired by indigenous views of nature, a movement to grant a form of legal “personhood” to rivers is gaining some ground – a key step, advocates say, in reversing centuries of damage inflicted upon the world’s waterways.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/should-rivers-have-rights-a-growing-movement-says-its-about-time
When it comes to carbon storage, not all mangroves are equal
Differences in carbon density among the various mangrove ecosystems come down to the soils in which they grow, researchers say.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/when-it-comes-to-carbon-storage-not-all-mangroves-are-equal/
Now for something completely different …
We’re in a new age of obesity. How did it happen? You’d be surprised
George Monbiot
It’s not that we’re eating more, that we exercise less, or that we lack willpower. The shaming of overweight people has to stop
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/15/age-of-obesity-shaming-overweight-people