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
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
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.
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
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.
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