Post of the Day
5 ways the government can clean up the Murray-Darling Basin Plan
Barry Hart and Martin Thoms
The Murray-Darling Basin might not survive future climate change shocks without changes to the plan.
Today’s Celebration
Chaco Peace – Paraguay
Independence Day – Philippines
Dia dos Namorados (Valentine’s Day) – Brazil
Russia Day – Russia
Democracy Day – Nigeria
Helsinki Day – Finland
Loving Day – USA
World Day Against Child Labour
Climate Change
Atmospheric carbon levels are leaping. We can’t afford more years like this
Each year of high emissions adds to the stock of carbon in the air, bringing us closer to catastrophe
Britain to become first G7 country with net zero emissions target
Britain will toughen its climate targets and commit to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the government said late on Tuesday, becoming the first G7 nation to set such a goal.
UC Davis researchers model climate change impact and search for resilient options on campus
University looking at reducing carbon emissions from its heating, cooling systems For students sticking around campus for summer session classes, research University looking at reducing carbon emissions from its heating, cooling systems
Warming could make Siberia a ‘Land of Opportunity’: study
Permafrost could shrink significantly by 2080s.
Planet Friendly Social Interactions Can Help Slow Climate Change, Claims Study
Social learning with novel mitigation measures by government can directly effect in reducing CO2 emissions.
World leaders ‘are lying about climate change’
World leaders are lying to the public about the climate crisis and dismissing scientific evidence.
Funds say climate change is now part of their investing equation
Investing with climate change in mind is increasingly seen as a crucial way to earn the highest returns and avoid risks.
How dengue, a deadly mosquito-borne disease, could spread in a warming world
Climate change and urbanization could increase the number of people at risk of contracting dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease that can be deadly
EU climate goals ‘just a collection of buzzwords’, say critics
Document setting out agenda for next five years denounced by environmental campaigners for skimping on detail.
Studies show how climate change is affecting crop production globally
New research from the University of Minnesota suggests that the effects of climate change are already being felt around the world in terms of average annual crop production, but it’s not equal.
Climate change health risks are increasingly having a negative impact on people around the world.
Now, exposure to even small amounts of indirect sunlight would activate the microbes’ CO2 appetite, without a need for any source of energy or food to carry out the energy-intensive biochemical conversions.
We need to talk about conflict and climate change
Leonard Blazeby
Just as many Australians do, the people of Africa’s Sahel region know what it’s like to live through drought. Located below the Sahara desert, the Sahel’s rainfall is erratic.
Hazel Healy
There’s still time to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. Can we pull it off? Hazel Healy makes the case for conditional optimism.
National
Fast-tracked roads, rail to boost economy
The Morrison government is examining road and rail projects that could be accelerated to give the national economy a boost.
Drought is bad time to make drought policy
The Productivity Commission says there should be a comprehensive, “sober review” of assistance given to farmers – once the weather improves.
Australia could cut emissions halfway to Paris target under global energy standards
Report says Australia missing opportunity to ‘easily’ meet emissions targets and fight climate crisis
Ready, set, construct: These homes can be built in as little as four days
Not quite small enough to be a tiny house, but still compact, Ecokit is creating prefab homes that look like a sustainable combination of Lego and IKEA.
AGL looks to future of energy with multi-billion dollar Telco play
AGL looks to the future as it makes a multi-billion dollar play for emerging telco Vocus Group.
Colonial backs solar and battery roll-out in major shopping centres
Colonial First State backs commercial solar plan to roll out up to 9MW of PV panels and 12MWh of battery storage across 15 major shopping centres.
It’s cheap to tackle climate change – but that isn’t the reason to do it
Richard Denniss
What does it say about Australia if we are only willing to save ourselves if we can get a good deal on the price of renewables?
This is Angus Taylor’s moment. Is he up to it?
Peter Boyer
The Coalition is running out of time to get its climate policies in order.
Not everyone cares about climate change, but reproach won’t change their minds
Chloe Lucas et al
In the end, climate policy didn’t swing the federal election, and for those on the losing side it can be tempting to play the blame game. But listening and respect are much better ways to move forward.
5 ways the government can clean up the Murray-Darling Basin Plan
Barry Hart and Martin Thoms
The Murray-Darling Basin might not survive future climate change shocks without changes to the plan.
Simply returning rescued wildlife back to the wild may not be in their best interest
Bruce Englefield and Paul McGreevy
We need a better system to care for the welfare of injured wildlife in Australia as the current one is too fragmented, contradictory and inconsistent.
Graham Lloyd
Rubbish is big business, a $15bn a year industry in Australia that is only starting to pique our conscience.
Victoria
Desal tops up Melbourne water storages
The latest order from Victoria’s desalination plant has started flowing into Melbourne’s water storages.
New e-waste drop off points before Vic ban
More e-waste drop off points are being rolled out across Victoria ahead of the state’s ban of electrical items from kerbside bins.
Council seeks national solutions at major forum
Macedon Ranges Council representatives will head to the national capital next week to push for federal government action regarding the emerging waste crisis and telecommunications blackspots.
CEFC big solar investments pass $1 billion, with stake in Kiamal Solar Farm
Clean Energy Finance Corporation passes $1 billion-mark for investments in Australia’s large-scale solar sector, after taking a $51m stake in Victoria’s largest PV farm.
Loy Yang A failure highlights folly of the Australian coal fantasy
The massive Loy Yang A brown coal generator – if you believe its owners AGL – is supposed to be the last coal generator standing in Australia’s main electricity grid.
Murray Basin rail runs out of cash [$]
Regional Victoria’s biggest rail freight project has run out of funds to fully upgrade and standardise the Sea Lake and Manangatang grain lines.
Victoria’s major projects a drain on building resources [$]
Industry groups say Victoria must act soon, or sand and other raw building materials will need to be imported from interstate or overseas, dramatically raising construction costs for infrastructure projects.
New South Wales
Sydney councils urged to improve recycling facilities in unit blocks
Sydney residents’ efforts to sort their household trash have been hampered by inadequate waste storage facilities at new apartment blocks because developers have not complied with approval conditions, an audit report found.
NSW quietly cancels 200MW virtual power plant, redirects funds to solar loans
NSW government confirms cancellation of planned 200MW virtual power plant to cover costs of interest-free loans for solar, promised in the state election.
Queensland
Will Adani be the ‘ice-breaker’ for six more proposed Galilee mines?
Mining lobbyists and environmentalists say a go-ahead for Adani tomorrow would be monumental for the Galilee Basin, possibly paving the way for six other mines in the region but analysts say some projects may not be viable.
Galilee Basin farmer pleads for Qld ‘Promised Land’ to be spared by Adani
Galilee Basin cattle farmer Bruce Currie told a protest outside Queensland’s Parliament House there are flaws in Adani’s groundwater management plan.
Cairns Council plants 20,000 trees along Freshwater Creek
A massive revegetation project involving the planting of 20,000 trees is underway along Freshwater Creek.
All stations go: The G-Link’s effect on Gold Coast house prices
Not only has the Gold Coast’s most recent light rail extension finished ahead of schedule, it’s also largely regarded as a success.
‘Blindsided’: Gas industry blasts Qld royalty hike [$]
The resources industry has erupted at the Queensland government’s decision to lift royalties on the gas industry.
South Australia
Lake Bonney wind farms heavily curtailed in May, says Infigen
Infigen Energy says generation from two of its South Australian wind farms was heavily curtailed over the month of May, due to unplanned grid maintenance.
Vic risk to our summer power supply [$]
The state has been warned of a new risk of local summer blackouts as a coal-fired Victorian power station is knocked out for at least seven months.
Tasmania
Legal bills mount over bid for Tarkine tracks [$]
The State Government has run up a massive legal bill in its fight to reopen controversial four-wheel-drive tracks in the Tarkine.
Word change cools storm over climate [$]
A controversial motion that sparked a Hobart City Council walkout will go back to council with a word removed.
Cable car board member resigns [$]
The proponent of the kunanyi/Mt Wellington cable car says it will have more to say about drilling and a development application very soon as it is revealed a board member has resigned.
Western Australia
Renewed WA climate push still a threat to resource giants [$]
The WA environment regulator’s open-ended invitation to a conversation on greenhouse has landed with a concerning thud
Sustainability
‘National solution’: Canada will ban all single-use plastics from 2021
Canada is set to ban single-use plastics in 2021 in an effort to reduce ocean waste, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said.
Ingraining an environmentally sustainable mindset in-house
It is “absolutely essential” for general counsel, and lawyers within the team, to adopt a sustainable approach in managing a business’s interests, thereby ensuring greater environmental awareness, argues one GC.
Problem in the bagging area: the plastic-shaming scheme that went very, very wrong
Tired of people failing to bring in their own carrier bags, a Canadian store brought in a set with ‘embarrassing’ logos. There was just one problem
Japan energy policy targets “urgent” low-carbon push
Japan energy White Paper details “urgent challenge” of switching to low-carbon electricity supply, sets low-ball renewables target of 22-24% by 2030.
The promise and problem of fake meat
It could help improve public health and reduce climate change. But questions remain about the highly processed food—and some producers’ coziness with the “real meat” industry.
Apocalyptic mini-series Chernobyl is the year’s unlikely TV hit
Move over Game of Thrones, a new HBO drama which reconstructs the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in 1986 is capturing the imaginations of TV viewers the world over.
The best suit you’ll ever own will also save the environment
The single origin Kingston range uses sustainable methods to create some of the world’s best suits.
How could smelling good actually be bad for you?
Do you really know what your scented products contain?
Presidential candidate Julián Castro releases plan to eliminate lead poisoning in America
Many presidential candidates have released climate change plans, but what about plans to address environmental health hazards like lead?
Catalog of north Texas earthquakes confirms continuing effects of wastewater disposal
A comprehensive catalog of earthquake sequences in Texas’s Fort Worth Basin, from 2008 to 2018, provides a closer look at how wastewater disposal from oil and gas exploration has changed the seismic landscape in the basin.
The problem with billionaires fighting climate change is the billionaires
Kate Aronoff
It’s great that philanthropists are pouring money into environmental causes. But it would be better for the planet if billionaires didn’t exist at all
Nature Conservation
Fracking causes some songbirds to thrive while others decline
A new study finds that some songbird species benefit from the spread of fracking infrastructure while others suffer.
Catastrophic gray whale deaths as Arctic ice melts
Sue Arnold
A catastrophic marine ecosystem crisis of unimaginable consequences is taking shape.
Now for something completely different …
The Great Insect Dying: The tropics in trouble and some hope
Tropical insects are wildly diverse, but most species are unstudied or unknown, even as they’re heavily impacted by deforestation, climate change and pesticides.
B.C. allows logging, mining companies to cut down thousands of endangered trees
Ottawa designated whitebark pine trees as an endangered species seven years ago, but British Columbia continues to sanction logging of the tree by forestry and mining companies.
Brazil guts environmental agencies, clears way for unchecked deforestation
President Jair Bolsonaro appears intent on decriminalizing Amazon deforestation, ending most fines, straitjacketing law enforcement, and gutting environmental agencies with mass firings.
Explained: how and why scientists are mapping groundwater
The groundwater-surface water link could help policymakers create better plans to improve those waterbodies and monitor unscrupulous drilling of aquifers
To map a coral reef, peel back the seawater
This scientist couple created an airborne observatory to map tropical forests. Now they’re using it to identify threatened reefs.
Scientists predict ‘dead zone’ the size of Massachusetts in Gulf of Mexico
There’s a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico where the water holds too little oxygen to sustain marine life, and scientists are predicting one of the largest in history this summer.
How to get the nutrients you need without eating as much red meat
Evangeline Mantzioris
Here’s how to ensure you’re still getting enough protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12 while cutting back on red meat.
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