Post of the Day
Australia’s clean economy future: costs and benefits
Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute
This cost-benefit analysis finds that developing clean economies, whilst tackling climate change, will actually deliver economic benefits.
Today’s Celebration
Bounty Day – Norfolk Island
Dano Festival (Surit-nal) – Korea
Best Friend’s Day – United States of America
Queen’s Official Birthday – United Kingdom
Primož Trubar Day – Slovenia
Climate Change
Could climate change make Siberia more habitable?
Large parts of Asian Russia could become more habitable by the late 21st century due to climate change, new research has found.
Arctic coast erosion revealed by drone images
Extreme erosion of Arctic coastlines in a changing climate – up to a metre a day – has been revealed with drone surveys.
‘Nature is the biggest proven technology to address climate impacts’
Deforestation may be on the increase around the world, but in some areas, the story is different thanks to the commitment and incredible work of community groups that take care of the forest through sustainable practices.
Is climate change really driving the ratpocalypse?
You know what rats love? Warmer temperatures.
Companies make progress, but not enough, gauging climate risk
Companies too often make the mistake of thinking climate change is a long-term issue, but it’s actually affecting decisions today, according to a report by a global commission set to evaluate transparency into financial climate risks and opportunities.
Can the Paris climate goals save lives? Yes, a lot of them, researchers say
A new study projects how many additional deaths could occur in 15 American cities if the world misses its targets for taming climate change.
By 2100, the ocean will be a different color
Incorporating the colored dissolved organic matter responsible for the color change improves the accuracy of climate models.
The educators at the forefront of Al Gore’s climate campaign
Former US vice-president Al Gore is now one of the world’s highest-profile climate change campaigners and has inspired a legion of climate mentors both here and abroad.
Robert Downey Jr. wants to use artificial intelligence to solve climate change
Iron Man goes Captain Planet.
Driven by the continent’s youth, Europe’s Greens find new strength
In recent years, Europe’s role as a global environmental leader has been threatened by rising nationalism and populism. But spurred by young climate activists, the Green Party fared well in recent European Union elections and is now well-positioned to advance bold climate initiatives.
Theresa May will legally commit to ending the UK’s contribution to global warming by 2050 before she leaves No 10, but amid fears of a “get-out clause” and a lack of a detailed action plan.
Germany was ‘not good enough’ on climate change, Merkel says
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her government has done too little to combat climate change but that gas emission targets have become an absolute priority now.
The end of the Arctic as we know it
Less oxygen and ice, more acid and heat. Jonathan Watts joins an expedition studying what this means for the planet
Is the media getting the messaging right on climate change? [$]
Roz Bellamy
From “climate change” to “climate crisis”; experts say there are pros and cons to every doomsday prediction.
National
Aust LNG helping climate: minister claims
Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor says Australia’s liquefied natural gas industry has increased local emissions but is driving down emissions globally.
Australia is at a crossroads on climate change, according to Al Gore
Former US Vice President turned climate change crusader Al Gore says Australia is at a crossroads on climate, while stopping himself from taking swing at Adani.
Eating red meat and saving the environment are achievable goals with carbon neutrality
Consumers are increasingly asking for it and Meat and Livestock Australia says it’s achievable — carbon neutrality by 2030.
Energy Insiders Podcast: Oliver Yates and what the public doesn’t know
Former CEFC boss Oliver Yates talks about lessons from his recent Kooyong campaign and why the renewables sector needs to get its messaging right.
Australia gets half a NEG as COAG signs off on reliability obligation
COAG Energy Council signs off on package of reliability measures that have emerged from the wreckage of the National Energy Guarantee
Newsflash: You can drive from Melbourne to Sydney in an electric car
It’s not just the Coalition who are confused about what EVs can and can’t do. Thankfully, actual Australian electric car drivers are here to clear things up.
SolarEdge adds “smart panels” to rooftop offering
Israel-based inverter maker SolarEdge has launched its own PV panel offering on the Australian residential market.
AEMO to model “step change” in energy transition and major emission cuts
The Australian Energy Market Operator has confirmed that it will model a significant “step change” in Australia’s clean energy transition as part of its long term blueprint, and has also produced analysis showing multi-billion cost savings from a co-ordinate planning, and pointed to the potential early exit of coal-fired generators.
Angus Taylor’s claim LNG exports reduce global emissions ‘likely wrong’ – climate expert
Bill Hare says claim by emissions reduction minister is ‘grossly exaggerated’
‘Let business drive climate action’
Former NSW premier Bob Carr believes most Australians favour direct action to cut emissions and aren’t opposed to coal.
Watergate: The Oxford connection behind Australia’s richest water deal
Jommy Tee and Ronni Salt untangle the web of key identities behind Australia’s most lucrative water deal.
Australia’s clean economy future: costs and benefits
Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute
This cost-benefit analysis finds that developing clean economies, whilst tackling climate change, will actually deliver economic benefits.
Australia’s climate and extinction crises are crying out for political solutions
Sarah Hanson-Young
We need a climate trigger to assess developments based on emissions, and we have to fully fund threatened species recovery plans
The five key transport developments we must embrace
Crispin Hull
Transport should not be a hostage to politics and ideology, but in Australia it has been since before the rival colonies of NSW and Victoria decided to have different railway gauges in the 19th century and it is likely to continue and get worse with the re-election of the Coalition government.
The new Assistant Environment Minister and the depraved greenists blah blah do they ever shut up?
First Dog on the Moon
The new minister doesn’t read reports like everyone else in government
Victoria
Blue-green algae prompts warning in Vic
Blue-green algae in Victoria’s north has prompted a warning to holiday makers to not swim or use water in the affected areas.
This centuries-old river red gum is a local legend – here’s why it’s worth fighting for
Euan Ritchie
The tree is thought to be the oldest remnant of a once substantial red gum forest in the region.
New South Wales
Indigenous elders oppose Warragamba plan
Indigenous elders say the NSW government hasn’t fully checked the area affected by a plan to raise the wall of Warragamba Dam for cultural artefacts and sites.
NSW energy minister wants Coalition to stop pitting ideology and populism against science
New NSW energy minister wants federal Coalition colleagues to stop pitting ideology and populism against science, and asks them to support a full National Energy Guarantee that includes emissions.
Sydney Catholic schools install 1.3MW “power generator” worth of solar
1.3MW of rooftop solar installed across 19 Western Sydney Catholic schools, to cut grid power supply by 25%, save a collective $1 million a year on electricity.
One step too many: Tempe Station ramp to be saved
Transport Minister Andrew Constance has intervened to save a ramp at Tempe Station, preserving access to the rail network for those unable to climb steep flights of stairs.
ACT
‘Insurance’ population of locally extinct mouse to be housed at Tidbinbilla
Long extinct in the wild in the ACT, the New Holland mouse might be set to make a comeback, with plans for an “insurance” population at Canberra’s Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.
Government to plant 17,000 trees across capital
The government is set to plant 17,000 trees over the next four years to help restore Canberra’s declining canopy cover.
Queensland
Queensland solar industry on tenterhooks, as decision on rule change reserved
Court of Appeal reserves judgment on Queensland government bid to have controversial solar rules reinstated, after they were ruled invalid by Supreme Court.
Japan utility takes stake in Genex, to fast-track Kidston pumped hydro project
These two flooded mine sites at the Kidston solar and storage project in Queensland will be turned into a pumped hydro facility to generate electricity at times of high demand.
Japanese utility J-Power has invested $25 million in Genex Power, to help deliver the ASX-listed renewables developer’s cornerstone Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project in Queensland.
Al Gore ‘enormously impressed’ with Queensland climate action
Queensland Labor’s green credentials have recieved a much-needed boost from former US vice-president Al Gore, days after he took a swipe at Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine.
Labor shifts as coal hard facts dawn [$]
Queensland Labor has dramatically shifted ground on coalmining ahead of next week’s anticipated sign-off for the Adani project.
South Australia
Shipping channel widening starts amid concerns for marine life [$]
As an $80 million project to widen the Outer Harbor shipping channel gets under way, conservationists remain concerned about the project’s impact on marine life.
More kangaroo species targeted under commercial cull plan [$]
Areas that permit kangaroo harvesting would be widened and more species added under a plan to reduce the huge numbers of roos that are causing havoc for farmers.
Tasmania
After container refund scheme plan, ‘massive’ piece of waste puzzle remains
Australia’s peak waste recovery body has put the government on notice over its broader policy in the area, after the announcement it would implement a container refund scheme by 2022.
Focus on Tasmania’s wider waste strategy should not be lost in welcoming the first step toward a long-awaited container refund scheme, Australia’s peak waste recovery body says.
Ill winds threaten $1.6bn renewables project [$]
A $1.6bn ‘game-changing’ wind farm project in Tasmania is facing considerable community opposition.
Western Australia
New Freo Bike Plan out for comment
A new plan designed to encourage more people in Fremantle to ride a bike is now out for public comment.
Alinta plans 60MW solar farm to slash energy costs for Pilbara mining giants
New 60MW solar farm in small regional grid in Pilbara will slash costs for big iron ore mines in the region, and will get funding from NAIF and ARENA.
Protesters dig in to block clear-felling in South West karri forest
Protesters have set up camp in a bid to halt clear-felling of a swathe of karri forest in WA’s South West, in the latest escalation of a two-year fight over the patch of land.
Sustainability
‘Just like a lovely lollipop’: Would you eat giant clams from a former nuclear test site?
Giant clams are a delicacy in the Marshall Islands but they’ve been found to contain high levels of plutonium — the remnants of a long history of American nuclear tests — prompting fears health issues in the country could be linked.
Solar panels all over the Sahara desert?
Even a small chunk of the desert could indeed power much of the world, in theory. But how would this be achieved?
What’s worrying the plastics industry? Your reaction to all that waste, for one
This year’s Global Plastics Summit revealed an industry that sees big growth ahead but also serious challenges, from plastics in the ocean to climate impact.
Women worst affected by household air pollution
Women are vastly overburdened with exposure to household air pollution from polluting and unhealthy home energy sources.
Japan plans carbon emission cuts
Japan is calling for further efforts to cut carbon emissions by promoting renewables but also nuclear energy despite the 2011 Fukushima reactors meltdowns.
Recyclers cringe as Southeast Asia says it’s sick of the West’s trash
After China restricted plastic scrap imports, countries like Malaysia took the brunt of the waste.
Coal emissions can concentrate radioactivity
Particles left behind when coal burns can be just as radioactive as nuclear waste.
Plastic pollution facts and information
Much of the planet is swimming in discarded plastic, which is harming animal and possibly human health. Can it be cleaned up?
Bloomberg pledges $500 million to close coal-fired power plants
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged on Thursday to donate $500 million to close the country’s remaining coal plants by 2030 in an effort to help combat climate change.
The noxious air hanging over India’s towns and cities kills more than 100,000 children under five every year, a damning study published Wednesday for World Environment Day found.
Chernobyl now: ‘I was not afraid of radiation’ – a photo essay
Photographer Tom Skipp visited Chernobyl and nearby Pripyat, its replacement town Slavutych, and the abandoned sites of the region – meeting the people behind the disaster: from the liquidators who worked at the fallout site, to the resettlers and the community who live and work in the area now
‘Flight shame’: How climate guilt is the newest threat to airlines
More and more travellers are feeling guilty about boarding an aircraft knowing the environmental cost. And airlines want to put a stop to it.
‘The cleanest air in the world’? No, Mr. President. It kills lots of Americans
Beth Gardiner
The 1970′s Clean Air Act was such a triumph that we forget there’s still plenty of dirty air to make us sick.
Who knew it would be death by plastic?
Michelle Haines Thomas
Remember (if you’re old enough) when everyone was always banging on about saving paper? In the 80s and 90s, all the talk was about how computers would lead to paperless offices.
Nature Conservation
Black jaguar cub born, gives hope to endangered species
A rare black jaguar cub has been born in western Mexico giving hope to a species that has only 4,000 living in Mexico’s wild.
Frog discoveries have scientists hopping
What do pinocchio, a cheeky monkey and a parachute have in common? They are three new species of frogs recently described by a Griffith University and Queensland Museum scientist and his colleagues.
The great insect dying: Vanishing act in Europe and North America
The insects of the EU and US are the best studied in the world, and it is here that a strengthening case can be made for an alarming insect abundance decline.
‘Why replace dolphins with oil drilling?’: the battle for Greece’s marine life
From sperm whales to dolphins, marine mammals in the eastern Mediterranean face a lethal threat from oil and gas exploration
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