Post of the Day
84% of fracking studies show the industry harms human health
A group of doctors and scientists have released a report showing that 84 percent of studies published from 2009-2015 on the health impacts of fracking conclude the industry causes harm to human health.
Today’s Celebration
Martyr’s Day – Eritrea
National Flag Day – Argentina
Corpus Christi – Christianity
Climate Change
Himalayan glacier melting doubled since 2000, spy satellites show
Ice losses indicate ‘devastating’ future for region and 1 billion people who depend on it for water
Scorching temperatures in Kuwait and Pakistan among hottest measured
The temperatures – of 53.9 degrees in Mitribah, Kuwait, on July 21, 2016, and 53.7 degrees in Turbat, Pakistan, on May 28, 2017 – are among the four hottest ever recorded.
EU leaders haggle over climate, top jobs
The European Union’s 28 national leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday to haggle over how ambitious their climate goals should be and who should navigate the bloc in coming years.
How climate change is thawing the ‘glue that holds the northern landscape together’
As the Arctic warms three times as fast as anywhere else in the world, permafrost – which forms the foundation under much of the North’s communities and roads – is thawing and causing major changes in the very landscape underfoot.
Obligations to the world’s children in the climate emergency
David Shearman
This government is not fit to govern on the climate change emergency because of its incapacity to grasp the imminent danger to Australia, our neighbours and indeed the world.
Into the climate Bonn-fire [$]
Graham Lloyd
The climate change glitterati meet this week in Germany where energy politics and Australia’s response to global warming will be under scrutiny.
No system of government designed by human beings can survive what the climate crisis will bring
Charles P Pierce
The window to prevent the worst of it is closing. Fast.
Religion must rise to the challenge of climate change too
Graham Lawton
With biblical floods and famine on the cards, the fight against global warming needs faiths to get serious about green issues.
National
Have common mynas invaded your neighbourhood? This may be why
Introduced bird species like the common myna are more likely to thrive if the climate’s right and there are already other alien species in the area.
Could solar panels harm the environment?
Around 2 million Australians have solar panels but these ‘green’ products are full of toxic chemicals and one day they will wear out.
Josh Frydenberg’s office asked if environmental rule changes could be kept secret
Frydenberg’s office canvassed whether he had power to weaken grasslands protections after Angus Taylor raised the issue, which was affecting a company he part-owns
Angus Taylor met with environment department even as it investigated company he part-owns
Energy minister denies interfering with department action over alleged illegal land clearing by company he partially owns with his brother
Droning on: noise triggers review [$]
The noise of home-delivery drones has led to a national review of all drone operations.
Australia’s heading in the wrong direction… but do we have to be?
Cross-sector collaboration will be the key to stopping Australia’s drift towards a future of economic, social and environmental decline, community sector leaders say.
War on waste hits the road with truck tyres and jam jars
As everyday Australians increasingly look for ways to reuse and recycle, government projects are following the same path, with glass, rubber and aggregate being used in roadworks.
China’s BYD teams up with Macquarie to bring electric trucks to Australia
Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD will offer two models of all-electric trucks to the Australian market through leasing arrangements signed with Macquarie Group.
2019 Post-election report of election commitments
Parliamentary Budget Office (Australia)
The 2019 Post-election report provides the budget impact of each of the election commitments made by the major parties in the 2019 general election, and the total combined impact of their policy platforms on the Commonwealth budget.
Tony Grey
Coal, like uranium, is too precious to be left at the mercy of virtue-signallers.
Murray-Darling consensus needed after years of governments muddying waters
Age editorial
The Murray-Darling Basin stretches over a million square kilometres and four states, making it a textbook case of competing interests and jurisdictions.
Coal-loving colonials put Australia on the road to cooked. Now it’s time to turn the heat down
Liz Conor
Climate change is colonialism’s final frontier which is why land rights are the first order of climate justice
Alan Moran
Angus Taylor is on the right track in trying to bring down electricity prices.
Solar, gas to lead the way [$]
Graham Lloyd
Renewable energy projects in the pipeline are enough for Australia to meet its existing Paris target.
Australia’s energy exports increase global greenhouse emissions, not decrease them
Frank Jotzo and Salim Mazouz
The federal government claims that Australia’s rising emissions are offset by savings around the globe when Australian gas exports replace other fossil fuels. But the numbers don’t stack up like that.
New research could lead to a pregnancy test for endangered marsupials
Oliver Griffith
For a long time, biologists had thought most marsupials lacked a way to recognise a pregnancy.
Victoria
Victoria moves to ban plastic bags
Victoria is moving to ban plastic bags from November in order to protect the state’s rivers, waterways, oceans and wildlife from plastic pollution.
Single-use plastic bag ban in Victoria could backfire
Single-use plastic bags will be banned in all Victorian supermarkets and shops from November, but a study suggests the ban could unintentionally contribute to the state’s deepening waste crisis.
Does the new plastic bag ban go far enough? [$]
Supermarkets, servos, retail stores and fast food outlets in Victoria will be prevented from giving plastic bags to customers but the new ban won’t apply to all single use bags.
Australia’s deepest offshore well approved amid call for transparency
Australia’s deepest offshore gas well drilling has won approval from regulators before its environment plan has been made public under rules that have since been tightened.
Solar Insiders Podcast: Victoria’s big solar and storage plan
Victoria outlines plan for rooftop solar and battery storage scheme, while the regulator cracks down on dodgy trading in certificates.
Home solar, battery quotas revealed as Victoria prepares to reopen subsidy
Victoria government details cautious, coordinated roll-out of home solar and batteries rebates, as the Solar Homes scheme prepares to reopen in full in July.
New South Wales
Fish kill ‘disaster’ after Byron Bay council bows to public pressure and opens lagoon
Thousands of fish have died on the New South Wales north coast after a council bowed to public pressure and opened a lagoon, sending a deadly wave of de-oxygenated water surging down a nearby creek.
‘Significant’ coal issues hit power plant, forcing miner to truck fuel
NSW’s newest coal-fired power station has endured “significant disruptions” to its fuel supplies from a nearby mine.
Authorities tight-lipped after PFAS-contaminated water released into NSW river
Authorities and the company responsible for 100,000 litres of PFAS-contaminated water which was released into the Shoalhaven River remain tight-lipped about its environmental impact.
All sources of water must be protected now
Robyn King
For the first time since my family began farming on this property in the 1950s, we did not receive enough rain last year to sow winter crops.
ACT
Barrer Hill: from dead trees, comes new life
Darren La Roux calls it a “200-year gig”, because the fruits of his labour for the last four years will take centuries to be seen.
Landscape architect’s ‘daring’ competition-winning proposal for Canberra’s streets
Imagine ripping up a street and turning into a public park, working with your neighbours to spruce up a nearby laneway, or taking that unused piece of land around the corner and making a public barbeque.
Queensland
Natural disasters minister backs Qld coal
The minister responsible for managing responses to natural disasters in Australia has no issue with digging up Queensland’s ‘cleaner’ coal.
Extinction Rebellion protester refuses to sign bail document
An “armchair revolutionary”, who shut down a busy Brisbane CBD street by glueing himself to the road, spent the night in the watchhouse because he refused to sign his bail undertaking.
First video: Adani construction begins
Less than a week after getting the green light from the State Government, the controversial Adani mega coalmine has finally begun construction.
Enoch ‘backed the decision’ [$]
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is backing her Environment Minister, who admits crying over the Adani approval.
South Australia
Rate rises imminent after dump levy increase [$]
Councils across South Australia are hastily revising budgets — with most looking at higher rate increases — after being hit with an unexpected increase in a charge to dump waste at landfills.
SA punches above its weight on farmland values [$]
The Eyre Peninsula has recorded some of the strongest growth in farmland values in the nation.
Could see-through bins be a clear winner for recycling? [$]
An Adelaide City councillor has proposed rolling out see-through bins as a way of “naming and shaming” people who do not recycle properly.
AGL completes solar farm for Santos oil and processing in Whyalla
AGL has completed construction of a 2.12MW solar plant in Whyalla that will help lower cost for a Santos oil and gas processing facility.
South Australia’s “other” big battery is earning money, and keeping the lights on
The second big battery in South Australia, which can do things the Tesla big battery cannot, releases its first performance report.
Time for SA MPs to back Bight oil drilling ban
Sarah Hanson-Young
With the federal election over and Bight oil exploration marking itself as an issue of concern in key South Australian marginal seats, now is the time for local MPs to stand up and put words into action by backing a Greens bill to ban Bight oil drilling once and for all.
Public must not pay for rubbish war [$]
Advertiser editorial
One of Premier Steven Marshall’s key policies ahead of last year’s state election was capping council rates, which the Liberals argued would prevent ratepayers copping excessive increases year after year.
Tasmania
‘The Government is waiting for us all to die’: Workers exposed to Agent Orange chemical demand compo
Geoffrey Pratt used to work spraying weeds for the Tasmanian Hydro Electric Commission. Now he’s among a group of former workers who say that job has left them with a bitter legacy of health problems.
Former Greens leader Bob Brown’s old farmhouse at Liffey has been provisionally heritage-listed, with members of the public being invited to make submissions or objections to the move.
Gauge on Climate: Cradle Coast Waste Management Group conducted a landfill audit in 2018
A glimpse into the average rubbish bin might not be at the top of anyone’s to-do list but it gleaned some important insight for the Cradle Coast Waste Management Group.
Health warning over river’s fish [$]
A do not eat warning has been issued for fish from the North Esk River.
Northern Territory
Clean energy found to be a ‘pathway to prosperity’ for Northern Territory
Renewable energy is not only a money-spinner for the NT, it can also help the fossil fuel industries expand, a new report says
Dogs used to sniff out NT ant pests
The Northern Territory government has brought in sniffer dogs to help eradicate an invasive species of ants.
Western Australia
Indigenous protesters take on Chinese company in land clearing blockade
Land clearing work at the Kimberley’s Yakka Munga cattle station has ground to a halt as native title holders blockade the road and refuse contractors entry to the site.
Canberra puts its foot on gas [$]
The government may strip Woodside of ownership of Australia’s biggest undeveloped gas field if it doesn’t get cracking.
Drastic plan proposed to stop Fremantle beach buildings crumbling into the ocean
Buildings on North Fremantle’s battered Port Beach may have to be moved significantly inland in coming years in order to save larges stretches of the coastline from the advancing ocean.
Sustainability
The Guatemalans who pay the price for the west’s need for nickel
A vast European-owned mine is operating near Mayan villages, sparking a battle for survival
Solar, wind and batteries to deliver 50% of global power by 2050
New projections from BNEF show that significant cost cuts to wind, solar, and battery storage, will help push the share of renewables in the global grid to nearly 50%…
84% of fracking studies show the industry harms human health
A group of doctors and scientists have released a report showing that 84 percent of studies published from 2009-2015 on the health impacts of fracking conclude the industry causes harm to human health.
Renewable energy: the global transition, explained in 12 charts [$]
Despite all the progress, we’re still struggling to hit the climate emergency brake.
Too blinded by eco-porn to see Chernobyl truth [$]
Andrew Bolt
Cancer scare Antinuclear hysterics are only betraying their addiction to eco-porn by refusing to accept the science on Chernobyl — so here’s what an expert says.
Playing games? It’s a serious way to win community backing for change
Anthony Duckworth
Faced with local planning changes like infill development people often fear they could lose the neighbourhood they love. But serious games are proving effective in giving locals a say in their future.
We know contact with nature makes you feel better. Can virtual contact do the same?
Navjot Bhullar
There is evidence to back up the link between exposure to natural settings and better psychological well-being. And my own research suggests that virtual exposure to nature via film (videos) or virtual reality can mimic this effect.
The energy revolution must be nuclear
Wade Allison
If the world is going to get the energy revolution it requires, it needs realistic energy policies that are scientifically sound and promote a fuel that provides plentiful energy on demand, while doing the least harm to nature. That fuel is nuclear.
A Greener Footprint Is Not Quite As Simple As ‘Plastic UnFantastic’
Gina Zheng
You thought ditching plastic was making your footprint greener? Unfortunately, it’s not always that cut and dried.
Nature Conservation
Shift to renewable energy could have biodiversity cost, researchers caution
A new report cautions that mining of metals used in manufacturing renewable technologies like wind turbines, solar power, and electric vehicles has costs, including for biodiversity.
How a corporation patented Ethiopia’s most common staple
Edna Mohamed
A Dutch company turning food in to intellectual property reveals a failed economic order
Now for something completely different …
Decades of history could be ‘erased from Australia’s memory’ as tape machines disappear
With 130,000 hours of content still trapped on magnetic tapes, staff at the National Archives are looking everywhere for working machines — even eBay and Gumtree — so the tapes can be digitised before they disappear entirely.
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