Daily Links May 17

Is climate change the most important issue? Well yes, if you want a habitable planet.

https://earth911.com/business-policy/millennial-politics-climate-change/

Post of the Day

Millennial politics: is climate change the most important issue?

Thirty-five percent of millennials think it’s unethical to have a child in the era of climate change.

 

Today’s Celebration

Constitution Day – Nauru

Constitution Day – Norway

Children’s Day – Norway

Dia das Letras Galegas – Spain

Liberation Day – DR Congo

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day

National Walk Safely To School Day

IDAHOBIT Day

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Endangered Species Day

World Hypertension Day

More about May 17

 

Climate Change

How trade tariffs could help combat climate change

The US government could use import tariffs to push other countries to reduce their carbon emissions.

 

Millennial politics: is climate change the most important issue?

Thirty-five percent of millennials think it’s unethical to have a child in the era of climate change.

 

Should people be allowed to get rich on global warming?

The ethical complications—and inevitability—of climate profiteering.

 

Improving carbon-capturing with metal-organic frameworks

Chemical engineers have designed an easy method to achieve commercially attractive carbon-capturing with metal-organic frameworks.

 

National

Shorten vows to tackle climate ’emergency’

Scott Morrison says he will govern from the centre of the Liberal Party and end the “climate wars” by sticking to a 26 per cent emissions reduction target.

 

‘Crazy’, ‘mad’ and ‘insane’ gas market blamed for nation’s power bills

Australians are reeling from electricity prices that have soared more than 130 per cent since 2015, and analysts say the number one culprit is the export of gas.

 

Residents disappointed ALP won’t promise buybacks for PFAS-contaminated land

Federal Labor has left affected residents “hugely disappointed” as it today announced its election policy on the PFAS chemical contamination crisis.

 

A positive climate phenomenon means bad news for Australia’s winter rainfall

Cool seas off WA’s north-west could kick off a climatic phenomenon that may exacerbate a winter drought across central and southern Australia.

 

Climate change threatens 26 native species in Great Dividing Range, study finds

Australian researchers say governments must step up and protect critical habitats to give wildlife a chance

 

Coalition’s climate policy has allowed heavy industry to increase emissions by nearly a third

Analysis finds regulator has approved a 32% increase in how much large industrial facilities are allowed to emit each year

 

NRL player-turned animal smuggler ‘didn’t feel the need’ to get wildlife permits

Disgraced NRL player-turned reptile smuggler Martin Kennedy said he didn’t obtain a licence for importing and exporting wildlife because “I didn’t want to”.

 

Casting your vote into a sea of stupidity [$]

Al McGlashan warns Labor is pandering to a vocal and extreme minority by resurrecting its flawed anti-fishing policies

 

Australia must embrace ‘cultural safety’ if we are to close the gap

Gregory Phillips

Indigenous people must have equal power and sovereignty to help solve climate change and our national identity crisis

 

Both parties have ignored the middle [$]

Phil Coorey

Neither party has appealed to a progressive middle, which wants the environment taken seriously, along with a small-government approach to economic management

 

A bigger lie than we’ve ever seen [$]

Terry McCrann

The central issue of this election campaign is — or should be — whether we really want as prime minister and so the nation’s leader someone whose central all-encompassing policy objective is quite simply a complete and utter lie.

 

It’s not easy to build a solar farm in Australia any more

Giles Parkinson

A few years ago the prevailing wisdom held that it was a lot easier to build a solar farm in Australia than it was to build a wind farm.

 

Australians disagree on how important climate change is: poll

Michelle Baddeley and Karen Cong

There is more consensus around climate than politicians would have Australian voters believe. 

 

Mineral wealth, Clive Palmer, and the corruption of Australian politics

Warwick Smith

By not properly charging for resources we allow magnates like Palmer political power.

 

Of all the problems our cities need to fix, lack of car parking isn’t one of them

Elizabeth Taylor et al

Car parking is such a pervasive feature of our cities that we have become blind to how much space it takes up.

 

Victoria

More than 50 roos a week killed on Whittlesea roads [$]

A wildlife campaigner has warned drivers to be on alert day and night for kangaroos in Melbourne’s outer north, as housing developments force mobs into suburbs and on to busy roads.

 

Oil giant casts a dark cloud over Liberal MP’s campaign [$]

Oil giant Equinor has stared down an international push for it to abandon a planned drilling campaign in the Great Australian Bight, a defining issue in the marginal seat of Corangamite.

 

Victorian summer review: It’s time to prioritise peak demand reduction

Ric Brazzale

This summer’s load shedding tell us that NEM institutions and policy makers are not yet focused on what can be done to reduce and manage demand before considering supply…

 

New South Wales

After watergate, will Barnaby Joyce lose New England to an independent? [$]

In Saturday’s election, Barnaby Joyce is widely expected to stroll to victory. Who is the new independent getting in his way?

 

ACT

ACT declares climate change emergency – slams federal government failure to act

ACT becomes first state or territory to make formal declaration of climate emergency and calls on federal support for jurisdictions to prepare for climate change impacts.

 

Queensland

No-one knows true status of Adani finch

Researchers say there are gaping holes in what’s known about a bird that has delayed Adani’s contentious new coal mine in Queensland.

 

Confidential settlement ends Mount Coot-tha Zipline saga

The saga of the controversial Mount Coot-tha Zipline project has concluded after Brisbane City Council reached a confidential settlement with proponents Zipline Australia.

 

Queensland energy minister describes lampooned new solar rules as “visionary”

Queensland energy minister says controversial new solar rules will result in a more highly skilled workforce, and won’t get in way of state’s renewable energy target.

 

South Australia

Great Australian Bight: parties soften stance as voters protest over drilling

With sitting Liberal MPs along coast under pressure from angry electorate, Coalition promises audit of regulator’s decision

 

Koala contraceptive introduced in Adelaide Hills to control booming population and preserve bushland

The burgeoning koala numbers in the Adelaide Hills are becoming too much bear, prompting authorities to act.

 

CellCube to build huge grid scale vanadium battery in South Australia

Pangea Energy and vanadium battery producer CellCube to build a 50MW/200MWh storage system alongside a solar farm in South Australia.

 

New push for green space grab

A northern shopping centre will have a second crack at buying neighbouring green space for an expansion.

 

Beware the pitfalls of privatising Adelaide’s trains and trams

Tom Wilson

Privatising Adelaide’s public bus services worked well – for a time – but what about the trains and trams?

 

Oil drilling in Australian Bight a disaster for climate, biodiversity

David Shearman & Katrina Lyne

Drilling and associated development of oil in the Australian Bight will be decided by an approval system totally inadequate in the complex world of today.


Tasmania

‘No hope of stopping it’: Fishers warn against seismic testing in Bass Strait

Tasmania’s fishing industry warns seismic testing approvals for an area near King Island in Bass Strait could prove “destructive”, but fishers say they feel powerless to stop it.

 

‘Wall-to-wall kerosene bush’ a constant fire threat to World Heritage wilderness

Tasmania’s Central Plateau is known for its harsh winters and unique plants, but landholders say it is under threat from climate change and a lack of fire management.

 

‘No definite answers’ in penguin death mystery

Carcasses found Wildlife authorities are investigating the deaths of at least 18 penguins found in Tasmania’s North-West.

 

Northern Territory

Can the north’s mango industry handle the heat of climate change?

Northern Australia is synonymous with the mangoes which for decades have dominated orchards and supermarket shelves. But with a changing climate, the industry’s future may lie further south and with different varieties.

 

Western Australia

‘What you see on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg’: Australia’s island paradise polluted by plastic

The beaches of the Cocos Islands, an Australian territory off the coast of Western Australia, are covered with more than 400 million pieces of rubbish, a quarter of which are single-use plastic products.

 

Parts of Western Australia declared ‘water deficient’ as emergency supplies trucked in

Farmers in Mallee Hill and Mount Short in the state’s south have run out of water after months of drought

 

Invasive cane toad found in Western Australia

An invasive cane toad is discovered far from “home,” in Western Australia’s south-west.

 

Will the discovery of another plastic-trashed island finally spark meaningful change?

Jennifer Lavers and Annett Finger

Today we learnt of yet another remote and formerly pristine location on our planet that’s become “trashed” by plastic debris.

 

Sustainability

Fossil fuel investment increased in 2018, as renewables stalled: IEA

Global energy investment reached $US1.8trn in 2018, but renewable generation saw declines in dollar terms and only a small increase in capacity growth.

 

Scientific labs look for new ways to become sustainable

Labs have big energy bills and produce a ton of trash — but a growing number of them are trying to become more eco-friendly.

 

Microplastics are highly diverse and those differences matter

The small pieces of plastics that pollute our oceans are more diverse than we make them out to be. Recognizing their variety may help us find solutions.

 

How a sustainable food system is built

So when we first undertake an agroecological approach to farming, we are literally building a sustainable food system from the ground up.

 

People recycle more when they know what recyclable waste becomes

A new study shows that consumers recycle more when they think about how their waste can be transformed into new products. Change the conversation from ‘Where does this go?’ to ‘What does this create?’ to increase recycling rates.

 

The world just took a major step to curb plastic pollution, but the U.S. refused

Nearly every country in the world except the United States took a historic step to curb plastic waste last week, when more than 180 nations agreed to add plastic to the Basel Convention, a treaty that regulates the movement of hazardous materials between countries.

 

Bio-inspired material targets oceans’ uranium stores for sustainable nuclear energy

Scientists have demonstrated a new bio-inspired material for an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach to recovering uranium from seawater. The low-cost polymer adsorbent could help push past bottlenecks in the cost and efficiency of extracting uranium resources from oceans for sustainable energy production.

 

Green energy is where the growth is, capitalists

Mark Gongloff

The fossil fuel industry is suffering despite President Trump’s fandom.

 

Nature Conservation

Heavy metals and harmful chemicals ‘poison Europe’s seas’

Three-quarters of areas tested show contamination, European Environment Agency says

 

Peru’s military tries to curb illegal gold mining in Amazon

For a decade, a gold rush accelerated in Peru’s Tambopata province, then Peru tried something different and installed permanent military bases in the region

 

Organic animal farms benefit birds nesting in agricultural environments

Environmental subsidies for agriculture awarded by the European Union aim to improve biodiversity in agricultural environments. A recently completed Finnish study indicates that the proximity of organic animal farms increases bird numbers, and this has enabled environmental subsidies to positively impact bird populations.

 

Shedding light on the key determinants of global land use projections

Land use is at the core of various sustainable development goals. An international research group has endeavored to disentangle the key determinants of global land use projections.

 

How plants are working hard for the planet

Since the beginning of the industrial era, photosynthesis has increased in nearly constant proportion to the rise in atmospheric CO2

 

Protecting rare species can benefit human life

Preserving rare species for the sake of global biodiversity has long been the primary focus for conservationists. To better protect rare animals, insects and plants, and to prepare for an uncertain future influenced by climate change, a team of researchers is aiming to merge this conventional wisdom with a new way of thinking: arguing researchers needs to better understand how rare species benefit people outside of their existence value.

 

Reef restored: how Belize saved its beloved coral reefs

Coral reefs worldwide are under tremendous threat.

 

Climate change pushes farmers to ‘tipping point’ in Lake Chad crisis

Irregular rains and rising temperatures have spurred on conflict in the region by causing food shortages and frustration.

 

Vanishing Bering Sea ice threatens one of the richest U.S. seafood sources

When ice failed to cover much of the eastern Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia in early 2018, oceanographer James Overland chalked it up to a freak chance. Then, it happened again this year, with late-winter sea ice falling to some of the lowest levels seen in at least 4 decades.

 

Warming climate threatens microbes in alpine streams

Changes to alpine streams fed by glaciers and snowfields due to a warming climate threaten to dramatically alter the types of bacteria and other microbes in those streams, according to new research. But streams that are fed by underground ice insulated by rock — called ‘icy seeps’ — offer some hope that the impact of climate change will be less severe in some areas.

 

 

Maelor Himbury

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