
Post of the Day
How to keep slave-caught seafood off your plate
Jessica Meeuwig et al
A lack of sustainability, profitability and transparency in the global fishing industry is exacerbating the problem of slave-like working conditions for crew. Here are the warning signs to look out for.
https://theconversation.com/how-to-keep-slave-caught-seafood-off-your-plate-105861
Today’s Celebration
Allama Muhammad Iqbal Day – Pakistan
Berlin Wall Opening Day – Germany
Dia de Caman – Peru
National Independence Day – Cambodia
Virgen de la Almudena – Spain
Climate Change
African islands send SOS as climate change worsens health
African island states say they need more help to cope with the health impacts of climate change.
Global Weirding with Katharine Hayhoe: Climate models
We can’t trust those climate models….right?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi6RkdaEqgRVKi3AzidF4ow
Midterm election results 2018: Governors will drive climate action
With Congress divided, newly elected Democrat governors are poised to charge ahead with clean energy.
Climate experts have gone troppo [$]
Maurice Newman
Globalist bully boys’ duplicitous report is not about weather but wealth transfer.
The warning we are ignoring
Keith Suter
Gross domestic product (GDP), the measure of economic activity, for instance, will actually increase as the climate gets worse.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=20024
National
Australia set to be a leader in $1.7 trillion battery industry
Australia is forecast to be a global leader in a battery storage technology boom which is growing more swiftly that previously predicted.
Australian sustainable design: The challenges, what we’re getting right, and where to from here
The drive behind building more environmentally friendly residential homes is coming from individuals, not government bodies, and cookie-cutter developments are holding us back, according to a think tank assembled to address the issue of implementing sustainable design.
https://www.allhomes.com.au/news/the-future-of-sustainable-design-in-australia-779909/
Industry wants capacity payments, as Taylor pushes for new “24/7” power
Big generators and other players in Australia’s energy markets are using energy minister Angus Taylor’s search for new “24/7” base-load power generation, and his preference for coal and gas investments, as an opportunity to push for so-called “capacity” payments in the market.
Power operators support new plan [$]
Power companies indicated their support for a federal government plan to underwrite new generation
Victoria
Solar-powered promise in Vic campaign
Victorian Labor continues to expand its renewable energy push while the Liberal-Nationals promise a new road and specs for school kids on the campaign trail.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/solar-powered-promise-in-vic-campaign
Victorian electricity prices rise despite Taylor [$]
Combined with a surge in 2019 futures for Victorian wholesale electricity, the network tariff increases will make it harder for retailers to meet Mr Taylor’s demand that they cut bills by January 1.
Taylor upbraids 2030 target [$]
Angus Taylor has lashed a Victorian plan to expand the state’s renewable energy target to 50 per cent by 2030.
Power politics: Energy policy the great divide in Victorian election
Adam Carey
Labor’s promise to ramp up Victoria’s renewable energy target to 50 per cent has widened the policy gulf between the major parties on one of the main election issues.
Will Animal Justice preferences elect Shooters and Leyonhjelm clones in Victoria? [$]
Stephen Mayne
Making deals with the enemy is part and parcel of Victoria’s group voting ticket system. But things look especially dicey this time around.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/11/08/victorian-election-preference-deals/
New South Wales
Top scientists demand NSW commit to brumby cull in Kosciuszko national park
Berejiklian government urged to acknowledge ‘the extensive, serious and potentially irreparable damage’ the horses are causing
Labor promises $2.5bn for public transport improvements to Sydney’s south
A state Labor government would reserve $2.5 billion for public transport improvements to southern Sydney, set up a multi-billion dollar public transport acceleration fund and cancel three toll-roads promised by the Berejiklian government, opposition leader Luke Foley has confirmed, making a commitment to focus on improving the city’s public transport.
High-speed rail link on track for NSW: Premier
A high-speed bullet train connecting Sydney to regional NSW could be a reality within 50 years, as the government extends its massive infrastructure plan that Premier Gladys Berejiklian described as “Bradfield on steroids”.
Brumbies are beautiful, so how do you convince people to support shooting them?
It is the toughest kind of PR campaign to run: convincing Australians the wild horses made famous by The Man From Snowy River need to be shot as soon as possible.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-08/brumby-culling-nsw-scientists-call-action/10478062
Queensland
Carnival Australia to provide ‘$2.1m undertaking’ after Great Barrier Reef spill
Pacific Explorer cruise ship spilled liquid food waste into reef’s protected waters
Queensland shark response to be discussed
A roundtable of government and industry figures will be held in Queensland’s Whitsundays region following a fatal shark attack, the third in two months.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/queensland-shark-response-discussed-163228919–spt.html
Neighbours say cattle stations bought for conservation are now going up in smoke
Arsonists are believed to have started the fires which have now burnt tens of thousands of hectares in far north Queensland, but graziers blame state-owned neighbouring properties for not doing enough to fight them.
Bob Katter pledges Coalition support in return for irrigation
Maverick Kennedy MP Bob Katter has leveraged support from the Morrison Government for huge irrigation schemes in his electorate.
South Australia
Coorong ‘hasn’t recovered from Millennium drought’ [$]
Urgent action is need to address the Coorong which has been degraded to such a point it risks losing key elements that make it such an iconic wetland of international importance, according to a new report.
Schools ditch single-use plastic as kids up fresh food consumption
Schools in regional South Australia have tossed wrapper foods to halve waste and increase students’ consumption of fresh food.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-09/south-australia-schools-fresh-food-program/10478080
SA lead smelter at risk of breaching licence over lead levels
One of the world’s largest primary lead smelting facilities is at risk of breaching its licence to operate because of a spike in lead in air levels.
Call to review “failing” Park Lands Act
The president of the Adelaide Park Lands Preservation Association has called for an independent review of the Park Lands Act in the wake of what he describes as “the worst time in Adelaide’s park lands history”.
https://indaily.com.au/news/local/2018/11/08/call-to-review-failing-park-lands-act/
Climate change art for the 21st century
A three-week festival of climate change art opens at Port Adelaide today, with works ranging from a song-based ode to animals farmed for food, to a ‘walking tour through the upcoming apocalypse’ and an experience on board an ex-naval boat.
https://indaily.com.au/arts-and-culture/2018/11/08/climate-change-art-for-the-21st-century/
Parts of Pirie smelter close as lead emissions near breach levels [$]
Lead emissions from Nyrstar’s Port Pirie smelter have risen to near “unacceptable” levels as the company uses both old and new parts of the plant.
Tasmania
Walking CBD key to Hobart success [$]
If Hobart fails to become a more walkable, liveable city it won’t attract younger working families and its economy will suffer, an expert warns.
Western Australia
Culling foreign predators allows rare possum sighting in WA National Park
A brushtail possum has been seen for the first time in WA’s north, after extensive work to eradicate foreign predatory animals.
Sustainability
Britain now has more green capacity than any other power source
Green energy connected to Britain’s electricity grid increased to a record 42 gigawatts in the third quarter, giving it the largest share of the nation’s energy mix, according to Drax Electric Insights.
How the environment fared in the midterm elections
Candidates promising action on climate change and public lands won many victories, but several important ballot initiatives were defeated.
https://therevelator.org/environment-midterms/
Just how important are sustainable investments?
Institutional investors are warming to the concept of green finance, which is making investment decisions with ethical and sustainability criteria in mind. But it’s still far from being mainstream.
https://www.dw.com/en/just-how-important-are-sustainable-investments/a-46179311
The surprising resurgence of hydrogen fuel
As the price of renewable energy drops and storage technologies mature, hydrogen fuel is drawing fresh attention.
https://ensia.com/features/hydrogen-fuel/
Nature Conservation
How to keep slave-caught seafood off your plate
Jessica Meeuwig et al
A lack of sustainability, profitability and transparency in the global fishing industry is exacerbating the problem of slave-like working conditions for crew. Here are the warning signs to look out for.
https://theconversation.com/how-to-keep-slave-caught-seafood-off-your-plate-105861
Congo Basin rainforest may be gone by 2100, study finds
At current rates of deforestation, all primary forest will be gone by the end of the century.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/congo-basin-rainforest-may-be-gone-by-2100-study-finds/
Are deep sea reefs really a lifeboat for our vanishing corals?
Mesophotic reefs are also threatened and made vulnerable by ocean acidification, warming sea temperatures and increased storm damage, all linked to the massive increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/are-deep-sea-reefs-really-a-lifeboat-for-our-vanishing-corals/
Parrotfish, critical to reef health, now protected under Mexican law
Mexico protected 10 species of parrotfish in October, a move that conservationists say will help the country’s coral reefs recover, in addition to safeguarding the species’ numbers.
Controversial insecticide causes bees to abandon their babies at night
A bee on a flower with a tag on its back
Posted about 2 hours ago
Spying on bumblebees in laboratory nests has revealed behavioural changes in insects exposed to tiny quantities of a widely used neonicotinoid pesticide.
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