Post of the Day
People now paying for sick world
Unsustainable production and consumption patterns, inequality and population growth-driven increase in resource use are “deteriorating planetary health at unprecedented rates with increasingly serious consequences especially for poorer people and regions,” warn UN scientists and experts.
Today’s Celebration
Anniversary of Installation of Sultan of Terengganu – Malaysia
Birthday of Benito Juarez – Mexico
Human Rights Day – South Africa
Independence Day – Namibia
Mother’s Day – Egypt, Syria
National Tree Planting Day – Lesotho
Youth Day – Tunisia
Alban Eiler (Equinox) (Northern Hemisphere) – Celticism
Alban Elued (Equinox) (Southern Hemisphere) – Celticism
Feast of Naw-Ruz (Bahai New Year) – Baha’i
Hola Mohalla – Sikhism
Mabon – Autumnal Equinox (Southern Hemisphere) – Paganism
Ostara – Spring Equinox (Northern Hemisphere) – Paganism
Nawroz (New Year’s Day ) – Zoroastrian
Shunbun no Hi / Vernal Equinox Day – Shinto
Purim – Judaism
Holi – Hinduism
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination
Climate Change
Tim Flannery: people are shocked about climate change but they should be angry
The author and scientist, who has returned to his roots at the Australian Museum, says the world is about to see a major shift towards climate action
Climate challenge harder than it seems, JPMorgan executive warns
The world isn’t cutting carbon emissions anywhere near quickly enough, a senior executive at J.P. Morgan Asset Management told clients this week — and changing that will require far harder choices than most people realize.
The youth climate strikes fight back against despair
Eric Holthaus
The moral heart of climate action today is in young people demanding a better world.
National
Scott Morrison to push forward plan to tackle congestion
Scott Morrison will today announce a “phantom” cut to immigration of 120,000 over four years matched with an ambitious rail infrastructure plan designed to curb congestion.
‘No clue’: environment department doesn’t know if threatened species plans implemented
Australia has highest rate of mammal extinction in the world but government admits it ‘does not have data’ on plans
Labor commits to build fast train from Melbourne to Brisbane
Labor will lock in its commitment to build a fast train from Melbourne to Brisbane by promising to start buying the land corridor if elected.
EnergyAustralia juggles legacy coal assets and new storage as transition accelerates
Like other big utilities, EnergyAustralia is making hay from its coal assets while the sun shines. How it manages the transition to renewables and storage will be key.
LNG nervous about Labor’s carbon plan [$]
The gas industry is braced for tougher emissions targets under Labor, which will have to decide how much to exempt heavy industry, exemptions that will only shift the burden to other companies.
Banks warn climate change ‘material financial risk’ to business [$]
A third of the 38 largest Australian banks, insurance companies and superannuation funds believe climate change is an immediate “material financial risk” to their businesses while a further 20 companies believe it will be a risk in the future, according to the prudential regulator.
Cash creates a climate for change [$]
More than half of voters in favour of Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target would withdraw their support over cost.
Australian freight vehicles moved an estimated 214,789 million tonne-kilometres (tkm) of freight across Australia’s road network in 2017-18, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Here’s why Australia needs to keep subsidising renewables
Richard Denniss
The idea that ‘the markets’ make all the big decisions about our society has eaten away our democracy
Why the network push to limit rooftop solar exports should be resisted
Matthew Wright
The push by the network lobby to limit exports from rooftop solar is more about defending their investment in gas pipelines. It must be resisted.
Welcome to Australia’s climate change reality [$]
Nick Graham-Higgs
A year on from almost losing my home to brutal bushfires, I’m left wondering how many more Australians will be in the firing line as climate change continues to go unchecked
Labor’s climate of catastrophe [$]
John Anderson
To achieve any progress, first we must understand Australia’s place in the world.
Expanding gas mining threatens our climate, water and health
Melissa Haswell and David Shearman,
Gas mining is expanding across Australia, and has been touted as part of the answer to cutting emissions. But there is evidence that this rollout will pose significant health and environmental risks.
Victoria
Litter, pollution, pests and urban development putting Yarra River at risk, report warns
The Yarra River’s environmental health is being put at risk due to litter, pollution and invasive species, with nearly 180 tonnes of rubbish being collected from the river system over a four-year period, a comprehensive report warns.
Victoria recycling plants back in action
Two Victorian recycling plants have been reopened after the environmental regulator closed them due to concerns stockpiled waste posed a fire hazard.
EPA faces probe over alleged failure to act on toxic waste warnings
The Environment Protection Authority will undergo an independent review of its operations amid revelations it failed to act on a warning two years ago that could have uncovered what is now the biggest illegal dumping operation in the state’s history.
New South Wales
Nationals koala numbers laid bare
Could koalas become extinct by 2050 or are koala populations rising?
NSW Labor junks Santos gas vow [$]
NSW Labor insists Santos’ assurances it would sell all the gas from its controversial Narrabri gas project to domestic customers can’t be believed.
Urgent call to fence off Kosciuszko creek to save endangered fish
Wild horses stir up fine sediment in the water, which smothers the insects that the fish feed on and also harms the eggs, scientists say.
Major parties outline environmental policies aimed at wooing voters
Environmental issues are looming as important factors in this weekend’s state election. They are also the policy areas where parties diverge the most.
Malabar proposes 25MW solar farm on old coal mine
Coking coal company in Hunter Valley suggests solar farm on former open cut mine in the process of being rehabilitated.
Telstra backs solar, wind farms [$]
Telstra is doubling its bet on renewable energy, with plans to underwrite NSW solar and wind developers.
Labor’s ‘save the koalas’ plan could kill off 2000 jobs [$]
A greenie Labor plan to “save the koalas” could cost more than $1 billion, slash 2000 jobs and kill off a mid-north coast industry; Shooters candidate on holiday during the campaign; and, the Liberal supporter with a soft spot for Labor candidate Jerome Laxale.
ACT
The first wild eastern bettongs born on Australia’s mainland in a century have all been killed
Of the 67 eastern bettongs released into the wild near Canberra 18 months ago, none have survived, but researchers say the program was still a success because it saw the first wild joeys born in 100 years.
Queensland
‘Why put them back in danger?’: Koalas dying as stakeholders debate relocation policy
The Queensland Government is being urged to expand the controversial practice of koala translocation, despite previous programs having a high mortality rate. But some disagree.
Community reports spark mine probe [$]
An investigation is under way over allegations of unauthorised operations at a Darling Downs coal mine.
State stands in way of Adani jobs boom [$]
Adani’s Carmichael coal mine is set to clear its last federal hurdle within weeks, leaving the State Government the only impediment to the project going ahead.
Tasmania
Rose hand-picked dozens of octopuses from this bay — now her son struggles to find just one
Rosalie ‘Occy Rose’ Schwertfeger taught her 10-year-old son how to pluck an octopus from the water and cook it up on an open-grill fire. Decades later, he’s keeping the tradition alive.
Greens critical of lack of climate change references in state-of-state
The Greens have taken the Premier to task for not mentioning climate change in his state-of-the-state speech. But Will Hodgman says Tasmania leads the way in tackling climate change.
Western Australia
Final showdown looms for last three residents of ‘Australia’s deadliest town’
WA is playing hardball as it moves to shut down Wittenoom, one of the most toxic sites in the Southern Hemisphere, with remaining locals likely to be forced out “for their own protection”.
WA shire scurries for cash as Chevron shaves $5.2 million off land rates bill
The company secured the new rates bill after three years fighting the land valuation for its multi-billion dollar gas plants, the shire must now look elsewhere to plug the gap.
Sustainability
Roundup found to be ‘substantial factor’ in causing US man’s cancer
A unanimous decision in a Californian court find the weed killer caused a 70-year-old man to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after he used it for nearly 30 years on his property.
Pork for pollution? South Koreans fight smog in their own way
Whenever dust particles hang thick in the air in South Korea, sales of pork rise. This quirky correlation stems from an old belief attributed to coal miners, that the slippery pork oil helped cleanse dirt from their throats.
Pesticide residues found in 70% of produce sold in US even after washing
Strawberries, spinach and kale among most pesticide-heavy
Conventionally farmed kale could contain up to 18 pesticides
Africa is running out of water as cities see populations boom
Africa has been plagued by water shortages in recent months, manifestations of a global supply squeeze brought on by drought, population growth, urbanization and insufficient investment in dams and other infrastructure.
People now paying for sick world
Unsustainable production and consumption patterns, inequality and population growth-driven increase in resource use are “deteriorating planetary health at unprecedented rates with increasingly serious consequences especially for poorer people and regions,” warn UN scientists and experts.
Autonomous transport will shape our cities’ future – best get on the right path early
Peter Newman
Autonomous mass transit vehicles like ‘trackless trams’ are a better bet than autonomous cars to give us people-friendly cities that capture the value created by infrastructure for the common good.
Nature Conservation
Iraq: Where water used to flow
The Mesopotamian marshlands in southern Iraq were once the largest wetland ecosystem in Western Eurasia. But after years of drought and political turmoil, they’re in danger of disappearing.
Brazil’s key deforestation drivers: Pasture, cropland, land speculation
80% of Brazilian deforestation between 2000-2014 resulted from new pasture creation, with 20% directly due to new croplands; however, land speculation drove the process.
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