Date: 10 October 2018 at 09:11:27 AEDT
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 10
Post of the Day
From social work towards sustainability work
Werner Sattmann-Frese and Stuart Hill
We believe that the task of sustainability workers is to enable people to develop an ecological consciousness, and to remove the barriers to acting on this.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19980
Today’s Celebration
Double Tenth Day – Taiwan
Independence War (Beginning of) – Cuba
Moi Day – Kenya
National Day – Taiwan
Party Foundation Day – North Korea
World Mental Health Day – www.1010.org.au/
World Homeless Day – http://www.worldhomelessday.org/
National Hat Day – http://hatday.com.au/
Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work & School Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/bring-your-teddy-bear-to-work-school-day/
Pet Obesity Awareness Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/pet-obesity-awareness-day/
Emergency Nurses Day – https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/emergency-nurses-day/
More about Oct 10 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_10
Climate Change
What the world will look like in 2040
The results are in from more than 6000 scientific studies on how the world is changing. It paints a dire picture of Earth in 22 years time.
‘Tipping points’ could exacerbate climate crisis, scientists fear
IPCC report ‘underestimates potential of these key dangers to send Earth into spiral of runaway climate change’
Dutch appeals court upholds landmark climate change ruling
Netherlands ordered to increase emissions cuts in historic ruling that puts ‘all world governments on notice’
Climate change warnings barely register in news cycle
This is not new, of course. Past warnings from the United Nations have failed to gain traction on cable news, as other stories were deemed more important in the moment.
Climate change takes a chronic psychological toll
Heat waves, stretches of wet weather, long-term climate warming, and hurricanes take a toll on mental health — all phenomena that are expected to become more frequent and intense with climate change.
http://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/10/in-a-warmer-world-psychological-well-being-wilts/
Shell boss says mass reforestation needed to limit temperature rises to 1.5C
Ben van Beurden says ‘another Brazil in terms of rainforest’ will help achieve UN target.
Trump admin shrugs off warnings in U.N. climate report
The White House responded to a dire climate report released this weekend with an oft-repeated talking point: The nation’s emissions have dropped since 2005.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060102095
National
Analysts see future for Australian coal miners despite UN warning
Investment in new coal-fired power plants is declining and finance for new mines is likely to dry up, but analysts say existing Australian miners will see continued demand.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-09/future-of-australian-coal-industry/10354962
‘You can’t keep arguing this is just a cycle’: Farmers struggling to manage impacts of climate change
Peter Mailler is a third-generation farmer but if the effects of climate change continue on their current path, he doesn’t expect anyone will be farming his 6,000 acres property in the future.
Minister backs science on weedkiller use
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has backed the government’s pesticide regulator over concerns the world’s most popular weedkiller is unsafe.
Environment Minister says top climate scientists got it wrong over coal report
Federal Environment Minister Melissa Price says some of the world’s leading climate scientists are “drawing a long bow” in calling for an end to coal power in a bid to limit global warming.
Calls for probe after Four Corners questions links between regulator, chemical industry
The Opposition is calling for an inquiry into the independence of the national chemical authority following an ABC investigation into Roundup manufacturer Monsanto.
Taylor to drive reliable power guarantee [$]
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor is to push ahead to try to get the states on board with new measures to ensure reliable electricity supply despite abandoning the National Energy Guarantee as a whole.
Australian government backs coal despite ‘global catastrophe’ climate warning
Coal generated about 62 per cent of Australia’s electricity in 2016-17, while renewable sources like wind and hydro generated only 15.6 per cent.
Australia acting like an energy ‘have-not’: Dow [$]
Dow Chemical’s head in Asia-Pacific, Jim McIlvenny, is set to ramp up calls for a west-east gas pipeline as he argues for a much higher priority to be placed on domestic interests in the energy debate.
States’ climate risks are rising, led by health impacts: Moody’s
Australia’s states face increasing threats from climate change but their economic diversity will be key to providing a buffer against the worst of the economic fallout, according to international ratings agency Moody’s.
One-third of Australian drivers looking to buy EV: Nissan
Study of consumers who intend to purchase a new car in next three years found two out of three considering going electric.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/one-third-of-australian-drivers-looking-to-buy-ev-nissan-79918/
Australia rooftop solar installations pass 7.5GW milestone
Australia installs another 125MW of rooftop solar in September, taking the grand total to more than 7.5GW.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-rooftop-solar-installations-pass-7-5gw-milestone-12826/
Australia’s top scientist calls for hydrogen revolution to replace fossil fuels
Meantime, Environment Minister Melissa Price has rejected the findings of a major climate report, despite not having read it.
The national energy market is an abject failure – it’s time for a publicly owned grid
John Quiggin
Microeconomic reform has failed in every part of the supply system and it needs to be redesigned from the ground up
Voters split on Scott Morrison, but a clear consensus on climate action
Peter Lewis
Australia is divided on the prime minister, the ABC and the detention of children on Nauru – but not on climate change
Everyone has got some energy policy explaining to do [$]
The AFR View
This is the starting point for the Financial Review’s 2018 National Energy Summit that starts in Sydney today.
Political leaders have little to lose in ignoring climate change
Canberra Times editorial
The impact of climate change will be felt by the poor and the young; not the grey eminences trying to water down our response to the challenge of the century.
The economic case for climate action is strong
SMH editorial
The Nobel Prize awarded for economics shows again that the government is wrong on climate change.
This congestion busting plan won’t work [$]
Jennifer Hewett
Alan Tudge insists the “plan” announced Tuesday will make a big difference to congestion. But don’t count on an easier commute any time soon.
Coal is on the way out, the only question is how quickly
Mark Howden and Frank Jotzo
The question that governments should ask is: how can we make the transition socially acceptable and economically attractive?
Growcom supports findings glyphosate safe when instructions are followed
David Thomson
A worldwide debate over the potential status of glyphosate as a possible carcinogen has inspired testimonies from Australian growers in defence of the popular herbicide.
The terrifying report our pollies are ignoring [$]
Dennis Atkins
The release of a grim climate change report shows it’s almost too late to save the earth. It should be impetus for our politicians to do something. But they’ve put their hands over their eyes.
Time to part ways with flawed Paris Agreement [$]
Miranda Devine
The IPCC’s hysterical report is the latest case of crying wolf on climate change, and its recommendations will ensure our economic destruction. Our hand has been forced.
Power to the people as Coalition cools on IPCC [$]
Australian editorial
The big news from the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on 1.5C warming is that high electricity prices finally have broken the hoodoo exerted by the Paris Agreement on rational thought among the nation’s political decision-makers.
Australia has two decades to avoid the most damaging impacts of climate change
Iain Stewart
The world needs to be carbon-neutral by mid-century to give ourselves a chance of holding global warming to 1.5C. With around 1% of the global carbon budget, Australia needs to rapidly do its share.
Australian politics isn’t fit for purpose in a burning world [$]
Bernard Keane
While the Coalition government has many climate denialists in its ranks, fossil fuel companies can also wield systemic power to make sure the political system works in their interests, not the community’s.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/10/09/australian-politics-isnt-fit-for-purpose-in-a-burning-world/
Coalition’s breathtakingly stupid response to IPCC climate report
Giles Parkinson
It wasn’t too hard to predict what the Coalition government’s responses to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report would be – you just needed to know where they would be making them.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/coalitions-breathtakingly-stupid-response-to-ipcc-climate-report-46898/
Victoria
Victorian state election 2018 policies: Where political parties stand on rural issues [$]
Every country vote counts in Victoria’s 2018 knife-edge state election.
New South Wales
Controversial Bylong Valley mine gets NSW Government approval
Just one day after after the UN issues a warning about continued coal use, the NSW Government recommends the approval of an open-cut mine in the NSW Bylong Valley.
Wentworth byelection: John Hewson urges Liberal ‘drubbing’ over climate change
Former leader says it might take losing the seat to get the party to do something on climate
Premier backs coal despite IPCC [$]
Annastacia Palaszczuk has dismissed climate scientists’ calls for the worldwide elimination of coal-fired power within 32 years.
Roads officials concede ‘lower’ air quality in Sydney’s M5 tunnel
The state’s roads authority concedes that air quality in Sydney’s M5 East motorway tunnel is lower than it would like due to “design issues” but says new tunnels being built alongside it as part of WestConnex will be superior.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/m5-tunnel-westconnex-air-ventilation-stacks-20181009-p508ja.html
Approvals would lift NSW coal output by 2 billion tonnes, defy IPCC
New coal mines or approved expansion of existing ones have the potential to lift NSW production by almost 2 billion tonnes, potential unleashing an “emissions bomb”, according to calculations by NSW Greens.
Premier calls for immigration ‘breather’ [$]
Premier Gladys Berejiklian wants NSW to dramatically slash its overseas migrant intake by up to 50 per cent, as she calls for a “new dawn” on population policy. As Sydney struggles to cope with its ballooning population, she has called for a return to Howard-era immigration levels.
White Rock solar farm begins production, completing latest wind-solar hybrid
The White Rock solar farm has begun producing electricity to the main grid, so becoming the second wind-solar hybrid facility in Australia’s National Electricity Market.
Energy crisis drags on [$]
Ennis Wilcox
Australia is again in deep trouble on energy and climate policy, with key energy costs drifting up to back-breaking levels.
Queensland
High-speed rail plan back on the table as southeast Queensland considers Olympic bid
IT’S going to cost them billions of dollars but a bold new plan is hoping to connect one of Australia’s busiest regions with high-speed trains.
Developers replace council as providers of Brisbane’s public space
Brisbane’s deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said the city and state would not be able to afford to provide public spaces if they were all publicly owned.
‘Game changer’ to beat congestion nightmare [$]
The Department of Transport and Main Roads will start testing amazing new technology from next year designed to solve looming congestion nightmares and improve safety.
South Australia
SA koalas bound for England
Six koalas and two wombats from South Australia are being sent to a safari park in the southwest of England.
Speed limit looms to save Port River dolphins [$]
Speed limits in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary may be changed by the State Government to better protect the Port River dolphins.
Gupta offers to help Feds with power plan [$]
Whyalla’s white knight Sanjeev Gupta has offered to work with the Federal Government to develop an energy plan it will take to next year’s election.
500 jobs in $700m solar and hydro project [$]
Work on a $700 million solar and pumped hydropower development near Port Pirie would start next year, if the project wins development approval.
Neoen halves wind component of SA renewable hydrogen superhub
Neoen Australia cuts wind power component of its proposed Crystal Brook Energy Park by “more than 50%”, ahead of State Commission Assessment Panel vote.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/neoen-halves-wind-component-of-sa-renewable-hydrogen-superhub-89566/
Tasmania
Meander Valley Council consider submitting trail proposal
Great Traverse Trail could be the name of a possible multi-day walk located in the Meander Valley.
Council discuss Bracknell’s sewerage issues
TasWater stakeholders have hosed down suggestions by a Meander Valley Councillor that the water and sewerage body has prioritised Hobart projects over finding a solution to Bracknell’s sewerage issues.
Call for visitor limit at Cradle Mountain [$]
Soaring tourism numbers at Tasmania’s iconic Cradle Mountain and trio of developments to accommodate them were good reasons to consider a cap on visitation, environmentalist Bob Brown says.
Northern Territory
Northern Territory signs PPA with 25MW solar farm, as grid reforms take shape
Northern Territory’s largest solar PV project seals a solar off-take deal with NT-owned utility Jacana Energy.
Western Australia
Woodside Petroleum has high hopes for hydrogen joint venture [$]
After talking up the huge potential of producing hydrogen from West Australian natural gas, Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman is pushing ahead to explore its options with potential joint venture partners.
Pilbara partnership turns booms into beef and bucks
Wastewater from the production of explosives is being used as a valuable fertiliser for a pastoral station in the Pilbara.
Sustainability
This is what a plastic bottle looks like after nearly 50 years
A bottle of Fairy dishing washing liquid produced before Britain switched to decimal currency in the 70s, washes up on an English beach, prompting calls for action to combat the “modern day scourge” — plastic.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-09/forty-seven-year-old-bottle-found-on-english-beach/10355570
Robotic bees could pollinate plants in case of insect apocalypse
Dutch scientists say they can create swarms of bee-like drones to take over if the insects die out
From social work towards sustainability work
Werner Sattmann-Frese and Stuart Hill
We believe that the task of sustainability workers is to enable people to develop an ecological consciousness, and to remove the barriers to acting on this.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=19980
Nature Conservation
Plastic trash from the ‘sachet economy’ chokes the Philippines’ seas
Trash is piling up on land, clogging coastlines, spilling into the sea, and traveling to remote corners of the globe.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/plastic-trash-from-the-sachet-economy-chokes-the-philippines-seas/
Quarter of world’s seafood caught using destructive bottom-trawling responsible for habitat loss
More than 50 scientists across 22 countries contributed to this new study.
‘Sentinels of the Sea’ at Risk from Changing Climate
Climate change’s effect on coastal ecosystems is very likely to increase mortality risks of adult oyster populations in the next 20 years
Amazon at risk from Bolsonaro’s grim attack on the environment
Fabiano Maisonnave
Threats to the rainforest and its people and an end to the Paris agreement are among the promises of Brazil’s presidential hopeful.
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