Post of the Day
Cities are sucking our countryside dry, scientists say
Globally at least 16 billion cubic meters of water – almost the annual flow of the Colorado River in the United States – are pumped out of the countryside into cities every year
Today’s Celebration
National Redemption Day – Liberia
Children’s Day – Bolivia
International Day of Human Space Flight
Teach Your Children to Save Day
Climate Change
Fijians living the disastrous impacts of climate change
Fiji is a very small emitter of greenhouse gasses, but we’re seeing some of the most severe consequences of climate change.
CO2 variations from plants overwhelmed by traffic emissions
Fossil fuel emissions are exceeding what natural systems can absorb, as year-on-year comparisons attest
Surviving climate change means transforming both economics and design
Humankind already has the knowledge to make sustainable and socially just ways of living on this planet possible.
National
Treasurer talks climate with electorate
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s task for day one of the election campaign was facing a room of voters disgruntled with the government’s response to climate change.
‘Let’s be sensible’: Minerals Council warns against Labor’s ‘$12.8b’ Kyoto ban
The Minerals Council claims Labor’s plan to ban the use of Kyoto credits – a key plank of its climate change policy – could cost Australia at least $12.8 billion.
PM rejects dept’s electric vehicle target
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Environment Department officials were wrong to say the government is using an electric vehicle target of 25 to 50 per cent.
Rio links pay to climate change [$]
Rio Tinto is set for more clashes with climate activist shareholders at the Australian leg of its annual meeting next month, despite chairman Simon Thompson flagging a move to tie executive bonuses to carbon emission reduction from 2021.
Major regulatory disruption to embedded networks on the horizon
Draft changes to frameworks regulating embedded networks in NEM propose exempt network service providers and sellers face obligations closely mirroring those of distributors and retailers.
Five-minute forecasting to boost solar and wind and battery investments
Australian researchers are developing short-term weather forecasts for solar farms to help them precisely predict output as little as five minutes in advance.
Call this a scare campaign? It’s nothing compared to what we will see, post election
Tristan Edis
If you think a Labor win will end the climate and renewables scare campaign, think again. But there’s hope, in the form of a new, open economic modelling platform.
Electric vehicles: Could this be Scott Morrison’s Prince Philip moment?
Giles Parkinson
When Labor strategists sat down a few weeks ago in front of a white board, “war-gaming” the potential response from the Coalition ahead of its soon-to-be-announced 50 per cent electric vehicle target, the last thing they expected was what they got.
The Coalition’s foolhardy war on electric cars
Tarric Brooker
In an effort to gain votes, the Coalition has targeted Labor’s support for electric vehicles in their election campaign.
Victoria
Victorians put pressure on water retailers to deliver [$]
Water customers have dished the dirt on what they think about their retailers in a first-of-its kind survey, leaving Victorian retailers with room to improve.
How Melbourne Council plans to cut down our waste [$]
Melbourne City Council is about to launch a major plan to reduce waste going to landfill and radically lift recycling rates. Here’s how it’ll affect your household’s habits.
New South Wales
Man charged over $200k of golden perch allegedly stolen from Darling River near Menindee
A 36-year-old man is arrested and charged for illegally taking and selling 12 tonnes of golden perch from the Darling River over a 20-month period.
China’s coal import restrictions not political
China’s coal import restrictions have indirectly hit Whitehaven Coal, despite none of the company’s product being sold there.
Wollongong Coal shuts down last mine
Wollongong Coal says it is suspending operations at its Wongawilli coal mine in NSW for safety reasons, throwing 45 coal miners out of work.
ACT
Belconnen to get new dedicated bike paths
Belconnen residents are set to get more dedicated bike paths, with tenders for the project being released.
Queensland
We aim to start work on Carmichael projects within a few weeks: Lucas Dow, Adani Australia
There are nine other approvals that will be required at a later stage from state and the government
Why the controversial Adani mine could be a make-or-break election issue
The Adani mine has been in the headlines for almost a decade. SBS News looks back at the controversial project’s origins.
Adani’s Carmichael coalmine: what happens next?
Controversial coalmine still faces hurdles including seven plan approvals, court challenges and royalties negotiations
Take politics out of Adani mine: Plibersek
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says Australians in some parts of the country should not be played off against others over the Adani coal mine.
Grey power protesters stage Adani sit in
Older voters opposed to Adani’s Queensland coal mine have vowed to continue a protest in Brisbane until they’re arrested.
Palaszczuk questions Adani over failure to submit rail plans
With the Queensland Government facing mounting pressure by mining giant Adani to give final approvals for the proposed Carmichael mine, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urges the company to fulfil its requirements and submit its outstanding rail plans.
Veteran environmentalist Bob Brown to lead anti-Adani convoy
Veteran conservationist Bob Brown will lead a convoy of hundreds of anti-Adani protesters to rally against its proposed coal mine in Queensland.
Adani: Labor accuses Coalition of using election to duck coalmine questions
Federal opposition is building a case to review the approval of the mine’s groundwater management plan
Scott Morrison calls election date for 18 May, parliament is prorogued, and the Labor leader responds with a ‘fair go’ promise.
‘Don’t buy into the fake coal war’: Union calls on Labor candidates to back mining
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten insists his party is “united” ahead of the election despite a looming crisis in the key battleground state of Queensland, where uncertainty over Labor’s position on the Adani coal mine could put key seats at risk.
Labor candidates come out in favour of coal mines as union demands assurances
Central Queensland Labor candidates Cathy O’Toole, Zac Beers and Russell Robertson have backed new coal mines as the Coalition ramps up attacks over ALP division on Adani’s Carmichael project.
‘I’m 100 per cent serious’: New lord mayor scraps the Mt Coot-tha zipline
The Mt Coot-tha zipline will also include a “skywalk”.
The controversial project had sparked strong community concern about the privatisation of Mount Coot-tha.
“Cheap shot” at big solar: Industry slams Queensland rule change
Solar developers slam Queensland government rule restricting panel installation to licensed electricians as “absurd,” and warn it will kill many big solar projects.
How a damning assessment got turned into approval for Adani’s mine
Stephen Long and Michael Slezak
If Environment Minister Melissa Price didn’t give the go ahead before an election was called, an opportunity would be lost.
Coalition have risked an own goal on Adani mine [$]
Steven Wardill
The internal Coalition campaign to approve Adani’s groundwater management plan before the election may backfire badly if Labor wins
South Australia
We may have seen the Murray-Darling Basin’s first fish extinction
A freshwater perch could be the first fish species driven to extinction in the Murray-Darling Basin. Without drastic action to restore the river’s health, experts fear the Yarra pygmy perch will be the first, but not the last species to disappear from the system.
River before SA, says Nationals candidate [$]
SA Nationals Party candidate Miles Hannemann says he will put the River Murray before the interests of the state — but has distanced himself from Barnaby Joyce’s funding tirade.
Workers concerned about $480m SA wind farm’s future [$]
Port Augusta Construction workers at the $480 million Lincoln Gap wind farm near Port Augusta are facing an uncertain future after a major international contractor on the project entered administration to deal with its financing troubles.
Tasmania
The boss of Tasmania’s former timber giant Gunns dies aged 75
John Gay, the man who was at the forefront of Gunns’ controversial plans to build a pulp mill in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley, has died.
A major road connecting to one of Southern Tasmania’s most well-known tourist attraction will finally be upgraded.
Western Australia
More single-use plastic products on hit list
The State Government hopes to have a hit list of single-use plastic products to target next year after releasing a discussion paper on the environmental issue.
Energy Minister slammed for attack on ERA
Energy Minister Bill Johnston has been accused of undermining the independence of WA’s economic watchdog after launching an all-out assault.
Sustainability
Report from India: Tracing Gautam Adani’s ruthless ambition
The parallel rise of the coal baron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Wealth from waste – three ways pollution can be turned into something useful
Environmental problems are often just concerned with cleaning up other people’s mess, but scientists are now looking into how pollution can be turned into something useful.
Ecclestone sees electric future as F1 celebrates 1,000 races
Bernie Ecclestone may have been to more Formula One grands prix than any man alive but if the former supremo could shed the years and start over, he says he would probably embrace electric.
Renewables will dominate world’s energy needs, says global body
Renewable energy could supply two-thirds of global final energy consumption if transport, heating and cooling is electrified, global body says.
Climate goals could sink oil demand from mid 2020s
The impact of moves to ensure global temperature rise remains below 2 degrees could be such that, by the early 2040s, oil demand would have dropped by around 40 percent.
Cities are sucking our countryside dry, scientists say
Globally at least 16 billion cubic meters of water – almost the annual flow of the Colorado River in the United States – are pumped out of the countryside into cities every year
Zambians can pursue mining pollution claim in English courts
Villagers say mine run by subsidiary of UK-based firm has caused illness and deaths.
Greenpeace calls for Nestle to act over single-use plastics
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestle are the world’s biggest producers of plastic waste, according to Greenpeace and the Break Free From Plastic movement.
Vehicle pollution ‘results in 4m child asthma cases a year’
Equivalent of 11,000 new cases a day occur worldwide due to toxic air from traffic, researchers
Meeting the challenge of cooling the world sustainably – a $6 trillion market by 2050
There’s a huge challenge upon us to decarbonise what is projected to be a $6 trillion value of installed equipment by 2050 – up from the present $1.5 trillion – in refrigeration and cooling.
Fukushima Japan nuclear fallout: Okuma residents encouraged home
Eight years after a triple meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, part of nearby Okuma has been declared safe for residents to return. But there has been no rush to go home as radiation levels remain high.
2019 CAUL report: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Council of Australian University Librarians
The report details the important role that university libraries play in national and international development. Australian libraries support the Sustainable Development Goals in many ways including promoting literacy, enabling access to information, communicating research, and preserving access to heritage and culture.
We need an ecological revolution
John Avery
None of us asked to be born at a time of crisis, But we have been born at such a time, and history has given us an enormous responsibility.
Nature Conservation
This oil spill has been leaking into the Gulf for 14 years
In the Gulf of Mexico, an oil spill triggered by a powerful hurricane has been leaking for more than 14 years with no solution in sight. The federal government is stepping in to try and contain it.
Maelor Himbury
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