Post of the Day
It’s time to stop logging our native forests
Elizabeth Walton
A group of concerned citizens called the Forest Embassy has embarked on a National Forest Uprising campaign to end logging by 2020.
Today’s Celebration
Arrival of First Missionaries – French Polynesia
Customs Chiefs Day – Vanuatu
National Tree Planting Day – Iran
Charity Day – Iran
Judiciary Employee Day – Kyrgyzstan
Day of Physical Culture and Sport – Azerbaijan
Learn from Lei Feng Day – China
1991 Rebellion Anniversary – Iraqi Kurdistan
Maha Shivaratri – Hinduism
Mardi Gras – Christianity
Shrove Tuesday – Christianity
Dissociative Identity Disorder Awareness Day
Climate Change
Coalition’s climate armour takes beating
A group of climate experts has issued a joint statement to the government, calling for a 45-to-65 per cent emissions reduction target on 2005 levels by 2030.
UK’s initial progress on carbon cutting starts to slow
Emissions fell for sixth year running in 2018, but reductions margins have shrunk
Adults failed to take climate action. Meet the young activists stepping up
Some are calling climate change this generation’s civil rights movement. These are the young activists leading the charge.
National
Billions wiped from Australian farm production as drought digs in
The National commodity forecaster, ABARES, finds three quarters of dairy farmers and half of all broadacre farmers will receive a lower income than they did last year because of the drought.
Australia’s marine heatwaves provide a glimpse of the new ecological order
Receding kelp forests, jellyfish blooms and disruption to fisheries are just some of climate change’s impacts on the ocean
Labor still ‘taking advice’ on including Kyoto carryover credits
Bill Shorten says Coalition relying on ‘technical loophole’ to meet emissions targets but won’t reject using it
Australian wind turbine listening device prepares for commercial launch
Final trials of listening devices that monitor the health of wind turbines will take place in coming months ahead of a commercial launch mid year.
Energy paralysis ‘hits growth’ [$]
Dow Chemical has warned that the lack of a national energy policy is a drag on Australia’s economic growth.
‘We need to get this sorted’: Ex-Santos chief urges gas co-ordination
The former head of gas giant Santos John Ellice-Flint says an independent coordinated national group could help remove barriers to gas exploration and reduce tight domestic gas supplies.
‘Tsunami of investment’: Bankers say lack of policy not slowing renewables boom
The fifth-largest bank in the world says Australia’s lack of an energy policy is not stopping “a wall of investment” into Australian renewable energy sector despite industry claims of slowing interest.
Alinta, Snowy, Engie, EnergyAustralia fail to meet renewable energy target
Regulator confirms leading energy retailers did not bother to meet renewable energy target in 2018, and will make huge profits playing the market over the next three years.
Renewable Energy Market Report – sharp declines in large scale certificates
Recent months saw a sharp decline in LGC prices with shortfall penalty strategies and surplus impacts much discussed. Meanwhile, STC supply continued to grow.
It’s time to stop logging our native forests
Elizabeth Walton
A group of concerned citizens called the Forest Embassy has embarked on a National Forest Uprising campaign to end logging by 2020.
Australia faces greenhouse gas blowout crisis [$]
Peter Boyer
The Coalition’s last-minute bid for meaningful policy too little too late.
Playing games with high-speed rail [$]
Judith Sloan
Labor’s infrastructure spokesman has dusted off his support for high-speed rail, but it’s yesterday’s technology and a huge waste.
Scientists slap down Australia government over fake climate claims
Sophie Vorrath
Perhaps it was federal energy minister Angus Taylor repeatedly declaring on Sunday’s ABC Insiders program that national emissions were “coming down,” and that Australia would meet its Paris climate targets “in a canter.”
If the Greens don’t do something radical they will be on 10% primary vote UNTIL THE END OF EARTH
First Dog on the Moon
How hard could it be to provide a socialist, socially just, environmentally coherent lefty alternative?
Victoria
Conditions tipped to ease Vic fire threat
The fire threat has eased in some parts of Victoria, but it has escalated elsewhere and residents face an anxious wait to be given the all clear.
Thousands of campers evacuated from Wilsons Promontory ahead of long weekend
Thousands of visitors and tourists at Wilsons Promontory were evacuated over the weekend, as an out of control fire in hilly terrain threatened the township of Tidal River.
Why Victoria’s bushfires generated their own lightning
There are few sights more terrifying for a firefighter: a vast, dark storm cloud brewing above a bushfire, shooting out lightning.
New South Wales
Users blast Labor’s Narrabri gas cut-off [$]
Industrial gas users on the east coast are worried that Santos’s NSW gas project has been turned into a political punching bag.
NSW’s $90 billion infrastructure spend crucial for jobs boost, says government
The Berejiklian government has seized on new figures showing its infrastructure plans will create at least 100,000 jobs over four years.
‘They can’t eat and they starve’: call for solutions into recycling crisis
Ask nine-year-old Tom O’Brien from Freshwater about recycling and rubbish, and he will tell you how turtles die after they mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. “They go to eat a jellyfish, and it turns out to be a plastic bag, and they can’t eat and they starve,” he said on Sunday.
New metro line signals change ahead for commuter habits
Commuters in Sydney’s north west will increasingly need to switch modes of public transport, such as from buses to trains, to get to their destinations following the opening of a new $8 billion metro train line in May.
ACT
Dispute over costs stalled Jervis Bay Territory transfer
A bid for NSW to take over the administration of Jervis Bay Territory stalled because of concerns the Commonwealth would not foot the bill for expanded service to the region, it can be revealed.
Frank Jotzo
This city will be largely petrol-free within a generation, but we should make the switch as soon as possible.
Mr Fluffy inquiry must proceed
Canberra Times editorial
While no deaths have been directly linked to the Mr Fluffy asbestos contamination yet more than 17,000 people lived in the affected homes over many decades.
Queensland
Adani says Greens’ coal ban bill dangerous
Adani says Queensland will suffer serious economic consequences if parliament passes a bill to retrospectively ban coal mining in the Galilee Basin.
Blocking Adani would damage India trade [$]
The vilification of Indian energy giant Adani’s controversial $2 billion Carmichael thermal coal mine had to end, according to the Australia India Business Council, saying it will damage trade between the two countries.
Greens bill to scrap mine could force compo payments, Adani warns
The risk Queensland might need to pay compensation to miners if it scrapped all projects in the Galilee Basin must be balanced against the devastating effects of climate change, Greens MP Michael Berkman says.
Adani might not be able to sue over mine cancellation: Law Society
A crossbench MP is pushing for all coal mining in the Galilee Basin to be banned.
New twist could sink Adani [$]
Qld’s parliament could block all coalmining in the Galilee Basin without paying compensation, the state’s Mines Department says.
Adani expects green light on environmental plans ‘in the near term’
Adani expects government environmental approvals for its Galilee Basin coal mine will be signed off very soon.
Humpback whale numbers boom off Qld but new risks threaten their survival
The Australian humpback whale population recovers from near-extinction only to find climate change poses a looming food shortage.
Brisbane City Council puts $5.4 million toward Mt Gravatt koala habitat
The council promised to purchase land in November, finalising the agreement with the private owners this year.
Grand dam plan that could revitalise the state
A multibillion-dollar plan proposed by two of Queensland’s most successful corporate warriors could open vast areas of the state to high-value food production while creating renewable hydroelectric power and saving the Great Barrier Reef from pollution.
South Australia
‘Harmful’ rise in children’s lead levels ‘concerning’ for regional SA city
The number of children with “harmful” levels of lead in their blood in the South Australian regional city of Port Pirie has more than doubled since 2017.
South Australia’s second biggest solar farm begins production
South Australia’s 108MW Tailem Bend solar farm has started sending electricity to the grid, kicking off operations for the state’s second big solar project.
Demand on power grid drops, as more consumers rely on solar [$]
South Australia has recorded an all-time low in demand from the national electricity grid as household solar power saw consumers generating their own energy.
Climate crisis carries risk and rewards for SA [$]
Hundreds of people gathered at the University of Adelaide on Monday night for an update on climate risks and opportunities, in a world teetering on the edge of enormous change.
Gas plant bolsters SA energy [$]
South Australia’s power reliability will be bolstered by AGL’s Barker Inlet fast-start gas power plant on Torrens Island.
AGL gets ready for duck curve and high renewables with new gas plant
AGL is advancing preparations for a rapidly increasing share of wind and solar in South Australia, and the deepening of the so-called “duck curve” in grid demand with the installation of fast-start gas generators at Barkers Inlet near Adelaide.
Tasmania
Smoky conditions to continue for Tas
Southern Tasmania has been blanketed in smoke after bushfires flared up, burning through untouched vegetation, the Tasmania Fire Service reports.
‘No silver bullet’ for Tasmania’s forest woes, despite more Government funding
Wood exports from Hobart’s waterfront and more money for rail are being touted to help the state’s troubled forest industry, but there is still no answer about what to do with waste left on the forest floor.
Cheers as Hobart says goodbye to plastics [$]
Hobart will be the first Australian city to ban single-use plastics under a new bylaw.
Woodchips not welcome in Hobart [$]
The state and federal governments will spend $2 million to continue help transporting woodchip logs to the state’s north by rail because no alternative export port can be found.
Child’s toy leaving birds dead in the water [$]
A staple at most birthday parties is potentially deadly when released into the environment, marine scientists say, and they have released graphic pictures to illustrate their case.
Western Australia
Bushfires threaten lives, homes in WA
An emergency bushfire warning is in place for a bushfire north-east of Perth and some roads have been closed.
Sustainability
UK government to reduce air pollution from farms
The British Clean Air Strategy will aim to cut noxious emissions by 2020, not just from vehicles and heavy industry – but also farming. Concentrated ammonia is produced when animals are housed indoors with dairy farms, chicken farms and pig farms the main culprits.
Most US coal plants are contaminating groundwater with toxins, analysis finds
Of 265 US power plants that monitor groundwater, 242 report unsafe levels of at least one pollutant derived from coal ash
ISGP’s “The Forum” Podcast: Back to the nuclear
What does a nuclear meltdown actually entail, and how should environmental justice concerns influence decisions about nuclear power?
Aged care facilities urged to plant trees to protect residents in heatwaves
Aged care facilities and retirement homes should consider greening their properties to protect vulnerable residents from the dangers of extreme heatwaves, researchers say.
Nature Conservation
Heatwaves sweeping oceans ‘like wildfires’, scientists reveal
Extreme temperatures destroy kelp, seagrass and corals – with alarming impacts for humanity
Europe’s forests threatened by biodiversity collapse, warn campaigners
Logging in Poland’s Vistula lagoon described by experts as part of a ‘war on nature’ across the continent’s ancient forests
Now for something completely different …
Shrove Tuesday: Five delicious pancake recipes
It’s Shrove Tuesday, also known as pancake day, and we’ve got your morning sorted with five tasty recipes.
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