Post of the Day
Political change is the first step to stopping the climate crisis
Every answer has a cost. Every choice exacts a penalty. A new book reminds readers there are no easy answers to the climate crisis.
Today’s Celebration
Constitution Day – Ukraine
Remembrance Day of the Poznań June 1956 – Poland
Vidovdan (Orthodox) – Serbia
Family Day – Vietnam
Arbor Day – Nicaragua
M’Guine Sauveur table servie pour maitresse Erzulie, Tenaisse, Mambo – Voudun
Climate Change
Worst is still to come”: Sizzling Europe battles wildfires, health risks
New records are being set as Europe swelters, sparking forest fires – and debates over public nudity.
Britain’s new emissions target becomes law
Britain has become the first among the major G7 countries to set a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions, to be achieved by 2050 under law.
Political change is the first step to stopping the climate crisis
Every answer has a cost. Every choice exacts a penalty. A new book reminds readers there are no easy answers to the climate crisis.
Acting like climate change really is an emergency
Christy Ferguson
Solutions to global warming must be implemented at a scale and pace to match the crisis.
National
Aust slammed over energy ‘policy vacuum’
A climate expert has slammed Australia’s renewable energy ‘policy vacuum’, which he says could cost jobs..
Power prices fall as customers shop around and competition increases
Australian Energy Market Commission reports a big improvement on last year as new retailers drive lower prices
Government urged to set up $1bn fund to help farmers protect the environment
Long-awaited review says government should consider farming interests before listing threatened species
Threatened species panel should include agriculture sector: report
The federal government should take advice from the agriculture sector when deciding on protections for threatened animals and plants, says an official report that recommends spending $1 billion encouraging farmers and others to protect the environment.
The head-spinning confusion of power bills
Jennifer Hewett
The government is imposing a new form of price regulation on the electricity market on Monday. But will it make much difference to household bills?
Tania Constable
Momentum is building to right the wrong of two decades ago that banned nuclear energy.
Access across Australia: mapping 30-minute cities, how do our capitals compare?
David Levinson and Hao Wu
Accessibility – the ease of reaching valued opportunities such as jobs, workers and shops – is the whole reason cities exist. There is no reason to locate anywhere but to be near things, far from things, or to possess things. Access measures this.
Victoria
‘We want it gone’: Residents angry after bankrupt businessman spared jail over abandoned dump
It’s a dangerous eyesore in one of the state’s highest-risk grassfire zones, but Geelong residents are still fighting to have an abandoned waste dump cleaned up years after it opened — with the man responsible spared jail.
Melbourne Airport’s long-awaited third runway could change direction
Passengers at Melbourne Airport face several years of increasing congestion and delays after its managers decided to put their long-held plan for a third runway on hold, in favour of building it running in another direction.
Clogged city: Melbourne’s traffic slowing down more than anywhere else in Australia
You’re not wrong; the commute on Melbourne’s major roads has got a lot worse in the last five years.
Why your water bill is about to jump [$]
It’s a bill hike that will hit metropolitan homes — but residents in regional areas will get some relief.
Which of these five designs for Sydney Road do you think will work?
Fresh designs of a long-awaited Sydney Road overhaul have been released by VicRoads, but permanent and protected cycling lanes are still not guaranteed.
Sydney Road? You might as well get out and walk
Matt Holden
As a resident of the inner north who owns a bike, a car, numerous mykis and a sturdy pair of walking shoes, I use all the transport modes to get up and down Sydney Road, and I can say that none of them is perfect.
Power bills put vulnerable at greater risk [$]
Rita Panahi
Rising power bills annoy most Victorians but for the vulnerable they can be a risk to their wellbeing.
New South Wales
End of the line for Sydney’s ‘sweat set’ trains
While many commuters will welcome their retirement, many long-time drivers and guards are sad to see most of them head to the scrap yard.
NSW EPA’s role as ‘strong cop’ to be boosted by end of ‘two-hat’ chief
The NSW Environment Protection Authority will split its most senior role into two, more than four years after an upper house inquiry into the agency made such a move its top recommendation.
Audit Office blasts land-clearing rules as ‘weak’, enforcement ‘rare’
The NSW Audit Office has issued a scathing assessment of the Berejiklian government’s reform of the native vegetation laws, finding land-clearing was “not effectively regulated” with “few tangible outcomes” for breaches.
Why it’s so hard to catch a big snapper in NSW [$]
Al McGlashan says being good looking and tasty, and pathetic NSW Fisheries management, is not good news for these fish.
Why Sydney’s climate emergency is an example of action from below [$]
Kishor Napier-Raman
As national governments continue to drag their feet and prop up dying fossil fuel industries, climate action will rely on action from local governments.
ACT
‘When one of them gets destroyed, part of us gets destroyed with it’: Indigenous scar trees cut down
Two eucalyptus trees with significant value to Canberra’s Indigenous community have been “wrongly removed”, and in one case turned into mulch, prompting traditional custodians to call for tougher penalties to ensure their history does not get destroyed.
Unable to recycle plastic bottle caps, Tim found a better use for them
When Tim Miller and his family began recycling bottles and cans in Canberra, they soon ran into a problem. What should they do with the non-recyclable lids? The answer involves a charity in Victoria and brightly coloured plastic limbs.
Queensland
Queensland mine shut after worker death
A worker has died in a wall collapse at a central Queensland coal mine.
Why the state wants the Cultural Centre metro station moved
The Queensland government wants the plan to send buses underground, opening up new public space at South Bank.
Climate change activists in canoe block Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge
Four climate change activists in a canoe blocked traffic in the heart of Brisbane during the Thursday morning peak-hour and forced a major emergency services response.
Noxious weed spreads as pollies fight over funds
A highly noxious weed native to Africa is spreading through western Queensland as state and federal politicians squabble over a $10m war chest created to eradicate the threat.
Risen Energy will add battery to Queensland “merchant” solar farm
Developers of the 100MW Yarranlea solar farm in Queensland’s Darling Downs have flagged plans to add large-scale battery storage to the “merchant” project.
First generation produced at Australia’s largest wind farm
First generation has been achieved at Australia’s largest wind farm, the 453MW Coopers Gap wind farm located north-west of Brisbane.
Protest ‘tantrums’ alienate anti-Adani movement [$]
Paul Williams
Setting aside the very real concerns many have about a coal mine that potentially threatens groundwater, local animal species and the Great Barrier Reef, green activists glueing themselves to a Brisbane city street was clearly inappropriate – even counter-productive.
Adani’s rules: the media misses out on secret flying visit [$]
Bob Brown
Gautam Adani’s media strategy for his Galilee Basin coal mine leaves a lot to be desired, especially with so many questions still unanswered.
South Australia
Govt unveils board to reform SA public transport
The State Government has looked interstate and overseas to fill three out of four positions on a board appointed to lead reform of South Australia’s public transport system.
Call for inquiry into KI trail lodges [$]
A federal inquiry is needed into plans for high-end accommodation on the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, the local MP says.
The cost of using the wrong bin [$]
Ratepayers could save more than $10 million overnight on the rising Solid Waste Levy if people stopped putting food scraps – nearly half of all waste – in the rubbish bin.
Australia’s first unsubsidised big battery installed in South Australia
Australia’s first unsubsidised big battery has been installed at Lincoln Gap near Port Augusta, in a major milestone for Australia’s clean energy sector and the emergence of cost-effective zero-emissions energy storage.
Tasmania
Tasmania plots more mainland power cables
A Tasmanian energy kingpin is planning to capitalise on Australia’s shift to renewable power through a series of power interconnectors with the mainland.
Proponents say threats have soured case [$]
The couple behind the Lake Malbena proposal have revealed just how far the personal threats have gone and the toll the public response has had on their family.
Why not give skippy the snip? [$]
An animal conservation group wants to stop an annual wallaby cull by offering a humane solution involving vets with tranquilliser darts.
Northern Territory
High bushfire threat already hitting parts of Northern Australia as hot, dry trend continues
A decade of dry conditions and lower rainfall has left parts of northern Australia facing an early and “above normal” bushfire risk in parts of northern Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Western Australia
Perth’s June deluge fails to make up for parched summer and autumn
Perth is experiencing its wettest month in 14 years, but the deluge is not enough to catapult the city to its average rainfall for the year to date.
Sustainability
Electric vehicle tech ‘underestimated’
Public perception underestimates the capability of electric vehicle technology, according to a business director helping to convert part of London’s bus fleet.
Study: Air pollution raises risk of high blood pressure
Long-term exposure to air pollution could raise your risk of high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome, a new study suggests.
The voyage to curb marine pollution
Marine pollution is a ticking time bomb that policymakers and shipping operators must address. While the challenge can’t be eradicated, it can be mitigated against and significantly reduced via ‘green’ shoreside connections white at berth.
Anti-Chinese protests sparked in Gambia by fishing pollution
Local residents allege since the factory arrived in Gunjur, swathes of dead fish and mammals have washed up on the beach.
Solar energy could turn the Belt and Road Initiative green
The region covered by the Belt and Road Initiative has significant potential to be powered by solar energy, researchers report n the journal Joule. Less than 4% of the maximum solar potential of the region could meet the BRI’s electricity demand for 2030. The research suggests a possible solution to reduce BRI countries’ need for fossil fuels as they develop. This is the first time the renewable energy potential of the region is quantified.
Climate impact of clouds made from airplane contrails may triple by 2050
A new Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics study found that the climate impact of contrail cirrus will triple by 2050.
Air pollution is linked to low intelligence in babies
Pregnant mothers exposed to higher levels of air pollution have children with lower IQs, according to a study that also found folic acid supplements may help to protect a foetus’s developing brain.
How to produce natural gas while storing carbon dioxide
New research shows that injecting air and carbon dioxide into methane ice deposits buried beneath the Gulf of Mexico could unlock vast natural gas energy resources while helping fight climate change by trapping the carbon dioxide underground.
Packaging environmental harm is child’s play
Alice Clarke
Remember when you were a kid, and pass the parcel was one of the best party games? It didn’t matter whether it was your birthday or not – you got to unwrap a present, and just maybe there’d be a little lolly or toy car in that layer.
Trump is quietly leading us closer to nuclear disaster
Steven Andreasen
Underground nuclear explosive testing isn’t worth the consequences.
Nature Conservation
Bees kept for honey are killing wild species by spreading disease, study suggests
Nineteen per cent of flowers sampled near domestic beehives had viruses on them.
Corals can survive in acidified ocean conditions, but have lower density skeletons
Coral reefs face many challenges to their survival, including the global acidification of seawater as a result of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. A new study led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz shows that at least three Caribbean coral species can survive and grow under conditions of ocean acidification more severe than those expected to occur during this century, although the density of their skeletons was lower than normal.
Academia can help humans and large carnivores coexist
Euan Ritchie et al
Academia can play an important role by helping institutions break out of their silos to improve large carnivore conservation.