Post of the Day
Plummeting insect numbers ‘threaten collapse of nature’
Insects could vanish within a century at current rate of decline, says global review
Today’s Celebration
Armed Forces Day – Liberia
National Foundation Day – Japan
Youth Day – Cameroon
Anniversary of Lateranensi Pacts – Vatican City State
Human Trafficking Awareness Day – US
National Inventor’s Day – USA
Islamic Revolution’s Victory Day – Iran
Forest Animal Feeding Day – Poland
International Day of Women & Girls in Science
Climate Change
The climate crisis has arrived – so stop feeling guilty and start imagining your future
Melting ice caps, burning forests – the climate disaster future is increasingly the present.
Melting Himalayan glaciers: a big drop in a bucket that’s already full
Anthony Dosseto
A new report has warned that even if global warming is held at 1.5℃, we will still lose a third of the glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region. What does that mean for rivers that flow down these mountains, and the people who depend on them?
American climate change warriors should ‘apply the Kevin test’ [$]
Tim Blair
American climate change warriors want to knock down buildings and ban cars, but they would be wise to look at what happened in Australia under Kevin Rudd’s rule, or risk destroying their entire country.
National
Climate change quells motherhood plans
A new survey of Australian environmentalists has found one third of those under 30 are reconsidering motherhood over concerns about climate change.
Coalition warned its energy ‘big stick’ could scare away genuine investors
‘Cool heads’ not ‘politicking’ needed to bolster Australia’s electricity network, Grattan Institute says
‘Among the worst in OECD’: Australia’s addiction to cheap, dirty petrol
Improving the quality of high sulphur fuel could offer 5% improvement on CO2 emissions ‘overnight’
Scrap environment rule double-ups: miners
The Minerals Council of Australia is pushing for more streamlined environmental regulations as its industry fights global competitiors for investment.
Energy projects awarded almost $10m
Renewable energy projects across Australia have been awarded nearly $10 million by the federal government.
Lonely, unfit and hooked on air-conditioning – is this the summer of the future?
Bela Stantic did not stop to take in the vistas of Walgett on his great Aussie road trip this summer. The vineyards of Griffith passed in a blur. He stopped at Victoria’s Twelve Apostles, but took a few photos and then left.
Storm-o-nomics: Why Australia should be more prepared for extreme weather
We need to prepare for more frequent, and more intense, extreme weather events.
Don’t blame renewables for blackouts, energy experts say
Fears that rising levels of renewables will cause blackouts are misplaced, the Grattan Institute warns. Trying to fix the wrong problem may risk more blackouts.
Resource giants take aim at Labor [$]
Australia’s resources giants have started their biggest ad campaign since fighting off Kevin Rudd’s mining tax.
David Tyler
Politicians fiddle as Tasmania burns.
Beware of climate change hysteria [$]
Chris Kenny
It was 36 years ago this week that I was caught up in the Ash Wednesday bushfires.
This summer is angry: Are you?
Geoff Davies
We are hitting a boiling point in climate devastation. Now is the time for comprehensive action.
Cladding fire risks have been known for years. Lives depend on acting now, with no more delays
Geoff Hanmer
The risks of combustible cladding on high-rise buildings have long been known. And audits have identified hundreds of Australian buildings with this cladding. Delay in replacing it is inexcusable.
Victoria
Why power cuts could become more common in Victoria [$]
Power outages in Victoria could become more common but the federal government should “keep calm”, according to a new report.
Climate zealot has coal history [$]
Andrew Bolt
If only the coal company Oliver Yates chaired had done what he now demands as the climate-crusading candidate for the leafy east Melbourne seat of Kooyong.
New South Wales
No interest loans for NSW household solar
Up to 300,000 households will be able install solar panels and batteries under an interest-free loan scheme announced by the NSW government.
Breaking the mould: the NSW seat where the Shooters’ candidate is a vegetarian
Easily the largest electorate in NSW, Barwon can no longer be taken for granted as a safe seat for Nationals and drought and severe heat put water management on the map.
Ex-military chief will run Metro trains ‘with precision’ [$]
The former British air force chief in charge of the Sydney Metro has promised that it will run with military precision when it opens in three months.
Coal miners derided climate action ‘sideshow’. Now it’s the main event
David Morris and Brendan Dobbie
A court ruling blocking a proposed mine in NSW will have ramifications across Australia and possibly the world as nations confront global warming.
Miners must appeal anti-coal landmark [$]
Matthew Stevens
The coal sector should fight a court decision to block a mine on climate grounds. But it won’t be easy.
Lawfare will deter global capital [$]
Australian editorial
It is not the role of courts to formulate environmental policy.
ACT
West Basin is a chance to get it right
Canberra Times editorial
Revised plans for West Basin may include fewer apartments and more public space, but the reality has to match up to the hype.
Queensland
Six months after the plastic bag ban, a green revolution is under way in Qld
Composting is back in style and recycled fabrics are now being turned into bags in 20 countries by a company that began in Burleigh five years ago.
Activists are the new colonialists [$]
Matt Canavan
Adani opponents won’t accept indigenous Australians wish to think for themselves.
South Australia
Twin tunnels proposed to solve Adelaide traffic [$]
Two separate traffic tunnels bored beneath South Rd are being seriously considered by the State Government as the multibillion-dollar fix for Adelaide’s major motorway.
Tasmania
Wet weather hampers fire fight [$]
Welcome rain over the last week has reduced the immediate risk to communities, but several large fires continue to burn deep in the Tasmanian bush.
Sustainability
On rooftops and in tunnels, city farms lead food revolution
Salad plants are already being grown in old bomb shelters but floating dairy farms and 16-storey food towers could be next
5 ways to use plastic better naturally
Human beings have created more than 8 billion tonnes of plastic since mass production began six decades ago and if we keep going at the current rate there will be 12 billion tonnes of waste in landfills by 2050, according to US research.
The secret danger of everyday things
These days, the truly dangerous pollution is far subtler and more invisible, and more often than not it comes from the most innocuous of sources
The Green New Deal wants America to invest in high-speed rail
High-speed trains already compete with planes in many parts of the world. They also have far lower carbon emissions.
Here are some of the dumbest right-wing media takes on the Green New Deal
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced a Green New Deal resolution on Thursday — a framework for what they intend to include in detail.
Who needs coal, or cars … or jobs or clothes [$]
Tim Blair
Having added a million or so Middle Eastern refugees to her nation, Chancellor Angela Merkel will now shut down all of Germany’s coal-fired power plants. That’s quite a legacy. No coal power, no nuclear power, and refugee-populated no-go zones all over the place that even police fear to enter.
Nature Conservation
Russian islands under ‘mass invasion’ of polar bears
Russian authorities say the endangered bears are no longer scared of light, noise, dogs or even cars, and have attacked people and entered residential buildings in the remote Novaya Zemlya islands, home to a few thousand people.
Plummeting insect numbers ‘threaten collapse of nature’
Insects could vanish within a century at current rate of decline, says global review
Why are insects in decline, and can we do anything about it?
Answers to key questions about the global insect collapse
‘Wiped out before our eyes’: Hawaii offers bold plan to stop shark killings
Proposed law would protect any shark or ray in state waters and be first of its kind in US
NZ fires show no sign of easing, 3000 flee
Hundreds of firefighters are battling blazes that have destroyed thousands of hectares on New Zealand’s South Island and forced 3000 people to flee.
Slaking the world’s thirst with seawater dumps toxic brine in oceans
The salt and chemicals in the brine left over from desalination can threaten local marine ecosystems.
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