Some of the hundreds of thousands protesting this weekend about lack of fair dinkum responses to climate change and, in Australia, the danger of Adani’s mine going ahead. This was taken last night at the State Library in Melbourne.
Post of the Day
Profits v planet: can big business and the environment get along?
Yossi Sheffi
Sustainability can bring benefits to everybody – including company execs with their eyes on the bottom line
Today’s Celebration
Crowning of Vytautas the Great – Lithuania
Dia de Asturias – Spain
Dia de Extremadura – Spain
Feast of Our Lady of Victories – Malta
Independence Day – Macedonia
Internal Autonomy Day – French Polynesia
Mala gospa – Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Western Christian) – Bosnia-Herzegovina
National Day & Our Lady of Meritxell – Andorra
Nativity of Our Lady – Liechtenstein
Nuesta Senora de la Victoria – Spain
Siege of Leningrad Day – Russia
Virgen de la Cinta – Spain
Virgen de la Fuensanta – Spain
Virgen de la Pena – Spain
Virgin of Cocharcas – Peru
National Bilby Day – http://savethebilbyfund.com/get-involved/nbd-events
Iguana Awareness Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/iguana-awareness-day/
International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day (FASDAY) – http://fasday.com/
National Health and PE Day – http://www.achper.org.au/news/national-health-physical-education-day
Pardon Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/pardon-day/
Literacy Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/literacy-day/
More about Sep 8 –
Climate Change
Hundreds of thousands expected to join global climate marches this weekend
Protests against politicians’ failure to tackle the environmental crisis will take place in more than 90 countries
BBC admits ‘we get climate change coverage wrong too often’
Briefing sent to editorial staff on global warming says ‘you do not need a denier to balance the debate’
Melting glaciers are triggering the world’s biggest tsunamis
Researchers say such tsunamis could pose an increasing risk in places like Western Canada as climate change melts glaciers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/landslide-tsunamis-climate-change-1.4811707
Interactive map: Climate in 2050
How will rising temperatures affect your community? We mapped what the world will look like under current climate change projections.
https://therevelator.org/interactive-map-climate-2050/
Climate negotiator warns world ‘out of time’ to save islands
Island nations like Fiji and the Maldives are almost at the “point of no return” because of rising sea levels, a leading climate negotiator warned Friday.
https://www.afp.com/en/news/205/climate-negotiator-warns-world-out-time-save-islands-doc-18x1p41
Blame your bank for climate change – and demand fossil free finance
Chris Saltmarsh
Banks are just as much to blame for the climate crisis as fossil fuel companies and corrupt governments. Campaigning for fossil free finance must be the climate movement’s next step.
National
Paris climate deal doesn’t stop us building new coal plants, Canavan says
Minister says agreement Australia committed to ‘doesn’t actually bind us to anything in particular’
Morrison to dump NEG legislation next week
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will declare the National Energy Guarantee, which has divided the coalition, officially dead when parliament returns next week.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/morrison-dump-neg-legislation-next-week-183213587–spt.html
Farmers to flock to solar and battery storage, as power costs bite
Survey reveals more than 75% of Australia’s farmers plan to invest in solar and battery storage – 20% even considering wind turbines – as cost of power becomes major…
https://reneweconomy.com.au/farmers-to-flock-to-solar-and-battery-storage-as-power-costs-bite-22065/
Minister tight-lipped on claims Australia watered down climate change declaration
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne is tight-lipped on claims Australia watered down language on climate change in an official Pacific Islands Forum document.
ICAN Nobel Peace Prize Ride: On the road to a future free of nuclear weapons
Gem Romuld and Lavanya Pant
Cycling through the green hills, surrounded by stately gums and wattle blossoms, it’s hard to believe that nuclear weapons pose a threat to everything we hold dear. Yet nine nations cling to 14,500 nuclear weapons, enough to annihilate our planet many times over.
https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5631777/on-the-road-to-a-future-free-of-nuclear-arms/?cs=97
How can we solve Australia’s threatened species crisis? With baking!
First Dog on the Moon
This is a cake in the shape of democracy which is also endangered
Rough seas ahead for the Pacific Islands Forum
Damien Kingsbury
Tension around China’s spread in the Pacific was clear at this year’s forum, but not even that could distract from Australia’s climate change and refugee controversies.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/09/07/pacific-islands-forum-rough-seas/
Climate inaction could affect trade deals [$]
Mike Seccombe
As the change of leadership steers the Australian government even further from action on climate change, the Coalition’s efforts to appease the powerful domestic fossil fuel industry could jeopardise trade deals with the European Union.
Australia gets out the wrecking ball, again, in international climate talks
Giles Parkinson
Well, that didn’t take long. Little more than a week after the elevation of Scott Morrison to the prime minister’s office, Australia has returned to the bad old ways that were a feature of Tony Abbott’s engagement on climate change, and John Howard’s involvement with Kyoto.
Energy efficiency market in hot water over policy plans
Marco Stella
Stability in energy efficiency markets came to an abrupt end in August due to concerns about future supply from residential sources, the Victorian election and solar hot water policy…
https://reneweconomy.com.au/energy-efficiency-market-in-hot-water-over-policy-plans-16355/
New South Wales
‘Do you have any clue?’: NSW minister unable to answer WestConnex questions
In what has been described as an “embarrassing” performance, the NSW Roads Minister gave a blank stare and deflected questions on a WestConnex interchange, despite her department being responsible for its funding.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-07/melinda-pavey-unable-to-answer-westconnex-questions/10214726
Koalas ‘on track to be extinct in NSW by 2050’
Widespread land clearing is threatening the koala population, according to a new report that examined satellite images of native bushland being bulldozed in northern New South Wales.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-07/koalas-face-extinction-in-nsw-due-to-land-clearing/10212236
Genex buys 50MW Jemalong solar project as it finalises Kidston storage deal
Genex buys 50MW solar PV project in NSW that was to be part of a world-leading hybrid facility combining solar thermal and storage with large scale PV.
Queensland
‘We have to be ready’: Climate change report warns of increased fire, flood risk
An increased risk of fire and flood across Queensland will put extra demand on emergency services and require a “significant financial commitment”, a new climate change strategy warns.
Great Barrier Reef showing ‘signs of recovery’
After a mass coral bleaching in 2016, the world’s largest living structure is showing signs of a comeback.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-06/great-barrier-reef-showing-signs-of-recovery
Banking on the reef
Ebony Bennett
Australia should take care to avoid the same mistakes with our national treasures so the tragedy of Brazil’s national museum is not repeated.
South Australia
Sacked environmental reformer lands mining role
The former state Environment Department boss sacked by Steven Marshall as part of his initial public service cull has landed a new job – with a mining company.
https://indaily.com.au/news/2018/09/07/sacked-environmental-reformer-lands-mining-role/
Tasmania
Scientists want to train this puppy to save endangered owls
Masked owls are endangered in Tasmania but very hard to monitor in forests.
Sustainability
As lawsuits against Bayer pile up, farmers fear ‘vital’ Roundup will be killed off
The world’s biggest farm chemical company, Bayer, is facing billions of dollars in lawsuits after a US jury found last month the weed killer Roundup caused a school groundsman’s cancer, prompting fears among Australian farmers that the chemical will be banned or restricted.
What is the situation at Russia’s biggest dump site for spent nuclear fuel?
There is growing concern in nearby Norway about cooperation over the cleanup of Andreeva Bay.
Is PFAS the DDT of this generation?
The US Environmental Protection Agency has known for decades it could have a PFAS problem on its hands, and now hundreds of communities across the US are finding the chemicals in their water.
We won’t save the Earth with a better kind of disposable coffee cup
George Monbiot
We must challenge the corporations that urge us to live in a throwaway society rather than seeking ‘greener’ ways of maintaining the status quo.
Profits v planet: can big business and the environment get along?
Yossi Sheffi
Sustainability can bring benefits to everybody – including company execs with their eyes on the bottom line
Elon Musk and the revenge of the Tesla sceptics
Elizabeth Knight
Elon Musk is arguably the biggest disruptor of our time, commercialising the electric car, the Tesla. But it is his disruption of conventions associated with managing the information flow in his sharemarket-listed company that has found him fighting the mother of all legal battles this week.
Nature Conservation
Bees are dying at an alarming rate. Amsterdam may have the answer.
Alarm bells are sounding globally over the disappearance of pollinators, but the Dutch capital has proved to be a success story.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/bees-are-dying-alarming-rate-amsterdam-may-have-answer-n897856
Now for something completely different …
Headphones down and listen up – the modern-day workplace isn’t working
A recent Harvard University study has proven what anyone who has ever worked in an open-plan office already knows to be true: they’re terrible!
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