Daily Links Aug 5

Amcor in talks to buy US packaging company
Australian packaging company Amcor Ltd is reportedly in advanced talks to buy US rival Bemis Co.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/amcor-in-talks-to-buy-us-packaging-company/news-story/1a2b1f047923be60786590f8e0cde7e1

Australian number 25 million on the way
With our 25 millionth resident about to arrive, can our cities cope with a growth rate that remains above the global average?
https://au.news.yahoo.com/australian-number-25-million-way-140535213–spt.html

Send minister to save the whales: Labor
The government needs to send its environment minister to an international meeting on whaling, Labor says, or risk seeing commercial whaling resume.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/send-minister-save-whales-labor-235010717–spt.html

What is the best plan for Australia’s farms?
Some harder hearts are beginning to question the near-term viability of many farms.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/sustainability/as-a-drought-takes-hold-what-is-the-best-plan-for-australia-s-farms-20180802-p4zv9s.html

Dear cynics and fools: Australia’s had jack of your taxpayer-funded failure on energy
Katharine Murphy
If the national energy guarantee dies, it will join the host of other climate policies Australia has squandered millions on
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/04/dear-cynics-and-fools-australias-had-jack-of-your-taxpayer-funded-failure-on-energy

I mean, how hard is it to ditch plastic bags?
Peter FitzSimons
They are devastating to the environment, particularly marine life. What else do we need to know?
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/i-mean-how-hard-is-it-to-ditch-plastic-bags-20180803-p4zvfl.html

What is it about Coles customers and plastic bags?
Matt Holden
Some people have forgotten that free plastic bags are not a shopper’s birthright.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/what-is-it-about-coles-customers-and-plastic-bags-20180803-p4zvdd.html

Plastic bag ban needs supermarkets to treat shoppers like adults
Canberra Times editorial
Shoppers will need to be more organised, but they’re up to the task.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/plastic-bag-ban-needs-supermarkets-to-treat-shoppers-like-adults-20180803-p4zver.html

Plastic bag hysterics just a load of garbage [$]
Lainie Anderson
Humans are capable of amazing feats along with incredible stupity. Lainie Anderson takes up the latter issue.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/lainie-anderson-plastic-bag-hysterics-just-a-load-of-garbage/news-story/c0b733d404b229d027f205bbcf837dd0

Australia’s lack of people planning is a road to nowhere
Tony Wright
As Australia’s population grows all but unchecked, the big cities get bigger, sucking resources from country Australia and clogging the future.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/australia-s-lack-of-people-planning-is-a-road-to-nowhere-20180801-p4zut4.html

Could the NEG bring down power prices? It’s hard to be confident that it will
Salim Mazouz et al
Blue-sky thinking? It’s hard to assess the evidence base for the predicted outcomes of the National Energy Guarantee
https://theconversation.com/could-the-neg-bring-down-power-prices-its-hard-to-be-confident-that-it-will-100965

The Big Dry: what’s it like living in a town running out of water
The New South Wales town of Murrurundi has enough water to last until November. Then what?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-05/the-town-about-to-run-out-of-water/10073762

Supermarket plastic bag squabble shows government must act: Harris Farm
Since Harris Farm Markets stopped giving away plastic bags, the company reckons landfills and the waterways have been spared 15 million of the waste items.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/conservation/supermarket-plastic-bag-squabble-shows-government-must-act-harris-farm-20180803-p4zvgq.html

The sheer poetry of light rail
Ian Warden
I am a minor poet for the moment, but, burning with ambition, I have cunning plans to use a forthcoming major Canberra event to turn me into a great big one.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/the-sheer-poetry-of-light-rail-20180803-p4zvfr.html

Sea World conservationist honoured with UQ doctorate
Sea World Gold Coast’s top conservationist, who is best-known for leading the world’s first rescue of a humpback whale at Coolum Beach, has been recognised for his lifelong dedication to protecting marine life.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/sea-world-conservationist-honoured-with-uq-doctorate-20180803-p4zvg9.html

Push for pedestrian crossings to always be green [$]
Pedestrian crossing signals would be permanently green and would change only when a car arrived at the intersection, under a radical push that would make cars queue at busy Brisbane intersections.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/pedestrians-first-cars-queue-in-new-brisbane-roads-push/news-story/2b5517e1e2bbee553cf595f82176f00f

Malcolm Bligh hits a Reef: Turnbull’s coal half billion handout may sink PM
Martin Hirst
This week, we learned that $443 million of taxpayer funds were gifted to a charitable Foundation heavily supported by the fossil fuel industry without proper due …
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/malcolm-bligh-hits-a-reef-turnbulls-half-a-billion-buck-handout-may-scupper-pm,11756

Plastic Free July presentation at Harvest Market
For Harvest Market stalls Erinvale Potatoes and Coronea Grove Olives, every month is Plastic Free July.
https://www.examiner.com.au/news/local-news/5566334/harvest-rewards-for-sustainable-stalls/

Hydro Tasmania says state’s dams are overflowing
Many of Tasmania’s lakes have reached excess capacity, due to heavy rainfall in July.
https://www.examiner.com.au/news/local-news/5564956/states-dams-are-overflowing-after-heavy-july-rainfall/

‘Big chunks’ of broken shark net wash up on Sorrento Beach
Sorrento Beach’s $910,000 shark net has snapped free from its steel cable tethers and is breaking up on the shoreline.
https://thewest.com.au/news/weather/big-chunks-of-broken-shark-net-wash-up-on-sorrento-beach-ng-b88918061z

Only a third of plastic food packaging can be recycled, UK councils say
Scrap ‘smorgasbord’ of plastics used in packaging, town hall chiefs tell manufacturers
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/04/only-a-third-of-plastic-food-packaging-can-be-recycled-councils-say

NKorea nuke, missile programs continue: UN
A confidential UN report has outlined that North Korea has not stopped its nuclear or missile programs despite UN sanctions.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/nkorea-nuke-missile-programs-continue-un/news-story/41d1980963dd0830ce638415d0198564

Key Gene to Accelerate Sugarcane Growth Is Identified
Researchers have developed a sugarcane line with the ScGAI gene expression silenced.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180803114750.htm

Survivors recall fat man’s wrath [$]
The 24 Australian prisoners who miraculously survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki witnessed the extraordinary devastation it wrought, bringing the city — and the Japanese — to their knees.
https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/australian-atomic-bomb-survivors-recall-a-terrible-time/news-story/06de4d268caa4059ebb72d62704ad531

Even low levels of air pollution linked with serious changes in the heart, according to new UK research
Researchers have found that people exposed to air pollution levels well within UK guidelines have changes in the structure of the heart, similar to those seen in the early stages of heart failure.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180803103315.htm

Who owns the aquifer?
Study reveals the changing scope of Native American groundwater rights — and opportunities for better freshwater management
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180803103331.htm

Old mining techniques make a new way to recycle lithium batteries
Using 100-year-old minerals processing methods, chemical engineering students have found a solution to a looming 21st-century problem: how to economically recycle lithium ion batteries.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180802191914.htm

Abandoned farmlands enrich bird communities
Abandoned farmlands hold potential for the preservation of wetland and grassland birds as rehabilitation zones.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180803103328.htm

Groundbreaking poplar study shows trees can be genetically engineered not to spread
The largest field-based study of genetically modified forest trees ever conducted has demonstrated that genetic engineering can prevent new seedlings from establishing.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180803160207.htm

Disease is threatening the most plentiful starfish in Antarctica
A study led by experts from the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Biology and Institute for Research on Biodiversity (IRBio) have identified a disease that is affecting the starfish Odontaster validus, one of the most common species on the Antarctic sea floor.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180802115701.htm