https://www.sbs.com.au/news/take-politics-out-of-basin-plan-morrison
Post of the Day
The economics of climate change
David Shearman
While the rich get richer, not only do the poor get poorer but the environment continues to suffer.
Today’s Celebration
Groundhog Day – Canada, United States of America
Anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty – Estonia
Inventor’s Day – Thailand
Youth Day – Azerbaijan
National Space Technology Day – Iran
Constitution Day – Philippines
Victory in the Battle of Stalingrad – Russia
Candlemas – Christianity, Paganism
Take Your Child To The Library Day
Climate Change
Climate change skeptics most likely to be harmed by it
Nine of the 10 states contending with the highest losses of county income voted for President Trump in 2016, including, in order, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Alabama.
Climate change might not slow ocean circulation as much as thought
New measurements may call for a rethink of what controls ocean circulation in the North Atlantic.
Making communities drought resilient
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD’s) Drought Initiative is in full swing with dozens of countries signing up to plan their drought programme.
The economics of climate change
David Shearman
While the rich get richer, not only do the poor get poorer but the environment continues to suffer.
National
Government seeks new energy in the mix
An initial request for proposals to put in place more electricity generation has been met with a strong response from the corporate sector.
Take politics out of basin plan: Morrison
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned against a political fight over the Murray-Darling Basin Plan after damning royal commission findings.
‘People have to be named’: Scientists say broken Murray-Darling system can be fixed
Crucial steps must be implemented in the wake of the damning Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission report for the system to recover.
Government stands by Murray-Darling Basin boss amid calls for royal commission
The Morrison government is backing the head of the beleaguered Murray-Darling Basin Authority, despite a royal commission accusing its senior officials of “gross negligence” and “maladministration”.
Debate on national energy policy is more toxic than ever, senior NSW Liberal says
A decade after Kevin Rudd was ousted as Prime Minister over his failed emissions trading scheme, Australia is still without a clear policy and it is discouraging investment.
Australia’s extreme heat is sign of things to come, scientists warn
Hottest month ever shows temperatures rising faster than predicted, say climate experts
Liberal MPs agitate for climate change [$]
Senior Liberals say they have been assured the government will have a climate policy for the election, saying it is not too late to reverse some of the damage caused by dumping Malcolm Turnbull.
China restricts coal imports [$]
China has restricted imports of Australian coking coal at up to a dozen ports in the northeast.
Leftist bid to scare off coal cash [$]
The Australia Institute left-wing think-tank met officials at the Chinese embassy to urge them not to back a new clean coal plant.
NEG will get another go: Bishop [$]
Australia will need to adopt ‘some kind’ of national energy guarantee, former foreign minister Julie Bishop says.
Australia’s largest political donors have been revealed — search the list
The latest donations made to federal political parties have been revealed, and a little-known professor is Australia’s new biggest donor.
“He explains that we are surrounded by quite young forest, that we can tell by the pyramid shape of the mountain ash growing over the tops of the hills that the trees are young. He says we’ll struggle for the rest of the day to find many old trees in the whole system. This was a rare patch of old growth forest that’s now gone. ‘This is hard,’ he says, ‘to come back and see this.’ His face is shaded by a holey Akubra, soft with wear. It’s stamped down over a thick cap of silver hair. He looks out over of the coupe, but he doesn’t pause for long.”
Explainer: Murray-Darling Basin Plan: What happens now?
Daniel Keane
The Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission delivered a scathing review of the plan for the basin. Here’s a look at what could happen next.
Politicians smother royal commission fire with ‘sedating blanket of nothingness’
Laura Tingle
The Murray Darling royal commission report was full of fury. But both sides of politics have no sense of urgency and bureaucrats are serving as scapegoats for negligence overseen and endorsed by government.
Pull the other one, Murray-Darling is not in safe hands
Richard Beasley
The senior counsel assisting the royal commission rejects a minister’s claim that action to save the rivers is based on science. That’s nonsense, he writes.
Paralysis on climate change hangs over Morrison’s campaign
SMH editorial
It is going to be a very long election campaign and it will be particularly oppressive in NSW.
How Well Has The Media And Government Informed The Public About CO2 Levels In The Air?
Gregg D Thompson
Ask yourself, your friends, family and work associates if they know the answers to the following questions about Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Be sure to write your answers before looking at the following pages.
Australia is counting on cooking the books to meet its climate targets
Alan Pears
Australia’s government insists it is on track to surpass its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris Agreement. But while that may be true, it will only happen with some clever accounting.
Flawed morality of middle class [$]
Paul Kelly
The PM faces a revolt from those in the middle class moralistic about climate change and compassionate in its politics.
Finding a balanced blueprint [$]
Australian editorial
The Murray-Darling and farming both need protection.
Libs must bring Abbott back [$]
Chris Kenny
If the government doesn’t engage in the energy debate, it will disappear in a fog of ambiguity.
Billion-dollar rort: how governments allowed Murray-Darling irrigators to rip us off [$]
Bernard Keane
Irrigators have been getting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer handouts to return water to the Murray-Darling when far less expensive, and more effective, ways of achieving the same goal have been ignored by governments.
Is David Littleproud the most quietly beleaguered politician in Australia?
Charlie Lewis
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud is a microcosm of the National Party — his problems are theirs, and theirs are his.
Victoria
Vic bushfire threat warnings downgraded
Uncontrolled bushfires in regional Victoria have been downgraded to lower warning levels after firefighters successfully slowed the spread of the blazes.
Desalination plant on standby amid fears firefighting efforts could pollute Victorian dam
There are fears run-off from firefighting retardant and natural debris could affect the water quality of Thomson Dam, and authorities say they will order water from the state’s desalination plant if needed.
Vic ex waste boss fights jail sentence
The former owner of a waste facility in regional Victoria that became laden with debris is fighting a 90-day prison sentence for breaching fire safety orders.
State to reap $10 million in Werribee land sale
The Andrews Labor government is turning to its expansive portfolio of crown land to generate revenue to fund its $80 billion infrastructure promises.
‘Bunnings-style’ shed to shield St Kilda Road from noise and dust
A large, ‘Bunnings-style’ shed will be built near the Shrine of Remembrance in mid-2019 to contain dust and noise as excavations begin on the five Metro Tunnel stations.
Out of the black [$]
Chip Le Grand
They said it would take 10 years for Marysville to heal from the fires of 2009. They were wrong, and right.
New South Wales
Nationals under pressure in Barwon
The Menindee fish kill could be sucking the life out of the Nationals campaign in the New South Wales far western safe seat of Barwon and breathing new air into campaigns for Labor and the Shooters, Fisher and Farmers party.
NSW govt says Murray report ‘hit and miss’
NSW’s water minister has dismissed calls by the South Australian royal commission into the management of the Murray-Darling basin for a complete plan overhaul.
Water buybacks a threat: minister
NSW will ‘strongly oppose’ any push to take more water from irrigators and return it to the environment.
Minister’s Paris power play would send bills soaring [$]
Power prices would soar in NSW under a state government proposal to enshrine emissions targets with scope to go beyond the Paris Agreement in national electricity law.
Our failure to plan means more power failures [$]
Nathan Vass
The perilous state of Australia’s electricity network is obvious when a seemingly simple underground cable fault in suburban Sydney can send shivers through the entire energy industry.
We’ll face power crisis again soon unless there’s changes [$]
Anna Caldwell
There is a risk NSW is sleepwalking towards lights out. We only need to look south to Victoria or South Australia — homes of the great Get Out of Coal experiments — to see just how ugly that could be.
ACT
Questions remain over why NSW pulled out of Jervis Bay Territory talks
The NSW government has refused to explain why it pulled out of talks to take over the provision of services to Jervis Bay Territory, as the Commonwealth government says it’s looking at all options for future management.
Queensland
How did Elli reduce her annual household waste down to a single jar?
For 12 months Queensland woman Elli Webb set out to reuse and recycle her household waste, and with some ingenious ideas, she achieved her goal — reducing her waste to the contents of a single glass jar.
Queensland warned to prepare for ‘dangerous’ flooding as premier declares disaster
Bureau of Meteorology expecting rainfall totals of up to 400mm per day for multiple days
Queensland floods: emergency dam release as Townsville hit by 1.1 metre of rain
Up to 100 more homes face flooding after mayor orders high-risk plan to open floodgates on the Ross River dam
Queensland pushed for wetlands boundary change before development, letters suggest
Confidential letter says ‘historical mapping anomalies are now compromising the revitalisation of Toondah harbour’
Government considers sinking old trains for a rollingstock reef
Queensland’s old trains could support new life as an underwater attraction to be sunk in south-east Queensland.
Adani donated $35,000 to Liberal Party
Controversial Indian mining firm donated $35,000 to the federal branch of the Liberal party, despite incorrectly reporting the funds went to the Canberra Liberals.
UN caned over Adani meddling [$]
The UN is under fire after it tried to intervene in the Adani coalmine row on behalf of an American green lobby group.
Approved: Zipline gets council go-ahead [$]
A controversial zipline through Mt Coot-tha has been given the final go ahead by Brisbane City Council despite scathing opposition.
Killing sharks is great for tourism: Govt [$]
Shark culling in the Great Barrier Reef helps bolster the state’s tourism industry and is vital in the public perception of the reef’s safety, the state government says.
The presence of people is slowing shark recovery on the Great Barrier Reef
Justin Rizzari and Ashley J Frisch
Banning fishing in no-take marine reserves on the Great Barrier Reef does not protect sharks as well as received wisdom would tell you.
South Australia
Aboriginal elders support drilling on Lake Torrens
Some Aboriginal elders have given their support for a mining operation on Lake Torrens in the Flinders Rangers, which holds a sacred place in Dreamtime legend.
Methamphetamine strike force to target criminal groups and supply chains
A methamphetamine strike force trial is launched in South Australia to target overseas supply chains and attempt to reduce the “insatiable demand” of the illegal drug.
Shipping to return to Port Augusta with new port project
More than 150 jobs are set to be created in the Port Augusta region, with the new owners of the former Northern Power Station site planning to build a $250 million port.
Cabinet backed decision slammed by River Murray inquiry
Premier Steven Marshall says his Environment Minister had the full support of Cabinet when he agreed to new rules for irrigators last year – a move described by the Murray Darling Basin Royal Commission as so contrary to South Australia’s interests that it was likely to be a breach of the ministerial code of conduct.
Deal for SA’s last coal plant site [$]
A Chinese businessman wants to transform the site of SA’s last coal-fired power station into a port that ships high-grade iron ore.
‘Towns will shut under ALP’ [$]
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has warned Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction targets will decimate Gladstone and Mackay.
Another council to move to fortnightly bin pick-ups [$]
A third South Australian council will move to fortnightly bin pick-ups following the Chinese Government ban on imported recyclables.
How to keep gardens alive during SA’s dry spell [$]
Shade cloth is a simple saviour for parched gardens during South Australia’s big dry, gardening expert Jon Lamb says.
Jamie Pittock
The Menindee fish kills are a clear sign that ecosystems are losing resilience.
Graham Lloyd
For environmentalists the verdict was in long before the results of this week’s royal commission report into the Murray-Darling.
Tasmania
Tas bushfire crews prepare for hot weather
Bushfires remain a threat to Tasmanian communities with no end in sight to the massive blazes which have ravaged the state for weeks.
‘It’s unprecedented’: Satellites show extent of Tasmania’s fire disaster
Tasmania is in the grip of a fire crisis which has displaced hundreds and caused massive smoke pollution. Images from space reveal just how much of the landscape has been scarred.
Central Highlands Council extends time for public submissions for Lake Malbena tourism plans
Central Highlands Council has given the public a further 11 days to lodge submissions in regards to plans to construct four huts at Lake Malbena with helicopter access for visitors.
Tasmania’s 2016 bushfires leave world heritage area devastated – in pictures
Pictures from Tasmania’s central plateau, shot by wilderness photographer Dan Broun, show the extraordinary damage wrought by more than a week of bushfires following lightning strikes in Australia’s southernmost state on 13 January.
Tasmania bushfire inquiry urged
Labor and the Greens are demanding a full, independent inquiry into Tasmania’s bushfire crisis, as the state burns.
Tasmanian political donations: Who is giving and how much?
The Tasmanian Hospitality Association, Federal Group and other hospitality groups pitched in more than half a million dollars to get the Liberal Party re-elected last year, as poker machines dominated the campaign.
Simon Bevilacqua
As Tasmanians bake under sweltering heat, choke under smoke-filled skies and watch in fear as wildfires burn out of control across the island, Americans are freezing to death in weather more akin to that on Mars than Earth.
Western Australia
Secret report puts Collie plant at 2025 shutdown
WA’s biggest coal-fired power station faces closure within six years amid an onslaught of renewable energy that is making it increasingly unviable.
Sustainability
Beware of the health claims of some fancy reusable water bottles
Copper water bottles look great, but unless you’re in an area without clean water you probably don’t need one. You should still be washing your bottle more often, though.
Boom in cruise holidays intensifies concern over ’emissions dodging’
Many cruise ships use seawater to ‘wash’ dirty fuel to meet targets but dump washwater back in ocean
You flushed the toilet. They made some bricks.
Converting biosolids into building materials could keep a lot of leftovers of the waste process out of landfills, and provide other environmental benefits, too.
One day, perennial grains could be a key weapon against climate change
As climate change climbs the chart of existential threats, soil is getting a lot of attention.
Cleaning up abandoned mines means we all pay the price
Bankrupt oil and gas companies must clean up old wells, yet taxpayers are still stuck with the bill for abandoned mines.
Idling sucks: kids protest $10-billion-to-get-nowhere habit that poisons
Stop idling! Clean air poster competition gets kids to pester their parents to turn off their car ignitions when stationary.
Cloning monkeys for research puts humans on a slippery ethical slope
David Hunter
Researchers in China have produce a world first: gene edited, cloned macaque monkeys. They say such animals will be vital for research on human health – but ethical concerns remain.
Waymo and other self-driving car makers powering a $3.7 trillion shift [$]
Adrian Turner
Some of today’s cars have become more software than machine. In 2010 there were 10 million lines of code in the average car. Today, many have at least 150 million lines. That’s 18 times more than an F35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Insect protein: dish of the day for your environmentally friendly pet
David S Gardner
Cats and dogs in the UK eat billions of tonnes of meat every year, but insect pet food could change this.
Nuclear power down for the count
Jim Green
Renewables accounted for 26.5 percent of global electricity generation in 2017 compared to nuclear power’s 10.3 percent.
Nature Conservation
The UK’s nature in crisis – in pictures
These photos were commissioned in light of shocking statistics that came out in WWF’s Living Planet report, which found 60% of wildlife has disappeared globally since the 1970s – with the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world – in 189th place out of 218 countries.
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