Daily Links Aug 10

Even a moment’s consideration of nuclear as an element of our energy policy is a wasted moment, for the many reasons pointed out in this article. Angus ‘Fantastic’ Taylor hasn’t taken a trick and he doesn’t look like taking one, yet he’s more protected than the grasslands on his brother’s farm

Post of the Day

We’re wasting too much energy on nuclear talk

Richie Merzian

Late last Friday – a timeslot where ministers are known to announce policies they are most proud of – the Minister for Energy, Angus Taylor, ordered a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy.

 

Today’s Celebration

National Day – Ecuador

National Technology Uprising Day – Indonesia

National Veterans Day – Indonesia

Tisha B’Av – Israel

Saint Dominic Day – Managua

International Biodiesel Day

Lazy Day

National Science Week

More about Aug 10

 

Climate Change

Cloud formed by Canadian wildfire illuminates how nuclear winter works

A giant cloud from 2017 Canadian fires lingered in the atmosphere for a year, showing scientists how a cloud from a nuclear bomb would behave.

 

Climate change is taking a bigger toll on our food, water and land than we realized

A new United Nations report finds that some of the direst effects on the Earth’s land are already underway.

 

Reformed climate deniers don’t deserve redemption

Dave Levitan

Democrats are seeking advice from people who once opposed action on global warming. They should be seeking accountability.

 

National

Australian government brushes off UN’s urgent climate warning

Humanity faces increasingly painful trade-offs between food security and rising temperatures within decades unless emissions are curbed and unsustainable farming and deforestation halted, according to a landmark climate assessment.

 

A farmer’s plea to the government to tackle climate change

This farmer is pleading for the government to take action on climate change, after the energy minister brushed off the UN’s urgent climate warning.

 

Australia exported close to 4.5 million tonnes of waste last year. The PM wants that to stop

Australia will work towards banning recyclable waste being exported overseas, with Scott Morrison telling state and territory leaders the nation must do “everything in our remit” to clean up the mess.

 

IPCC report backs sustainable forest industries to help tackle climate change

The ‘Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land’ released yesterday, backs Australia’s forest industries to help fight climate change, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA), Mr Ross Hampton said today.

 

Plastics could be turned into roads as governments ban waste exports

New roads could be made from plastic bottles and bags as Australia moves to end recycled waste exports.

 

AEMO seeks emergency reserves as coal outages increase across NEM

AEMO seeks bids for emergency reserves as it prepares for another hot summer, and as coal plant outages in Victoria and Queensland jump dramatically.

 

The world’s appetite for meat hurts the climate. Here’s why Australian steak isn’t so bad

In the IPCC report into land management and the environment, one message stood out — our appetite for meat is making the Earth warmer. Australian farmers have a plan.

 

Rooftop solar slashes demand levels and emissions across main grid

Australian Energy Market Operator data shows rooftop solar pushing down demand in daytime hours and reducing emissions.

 

Safeguards mechanism in regulator sights, in emissions reporting crackdown

Clean Energy Regulator names Coalition’s Abbott-era safeguard mechanism as top compliance concern for coming year, in crackdown on emissions reporting by big polluters.

 

Energy Insiders Podcast: Snowy Hydro in the spotlight

Snowy Hydro’s Gordon Wymer goes into the fine details of the proposed Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro scheme. Plus. The regulator’s power play on wind farms.

 

Government must ‘pull its weight’ on climate risk [$]

Suncorp’s acting chief executive said climate change was making weather patterns less predictable and extreme weather events more costly.

 

We’re wasting too much energy on nuclear talk

Richie Merzian

Late last Friday – a timeslot where ministers are known to announce policies they are most proud of – the Minister for Energy, Angus Taylor, ordered a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear energy.

 

The pipe dream of nuclear power [$]

Royce Kurmelovs

Although a parliamentary inquiry is revisiting the possibility of nuclear power in Australia, recent history suggests any support is unlikely to gain critical mass.

 

Embrace coal and borrow $1 trillion [$]

Terry McCrann

There are two big things Australia must do, not just to re-establish prosperity but for our long-term survival.

 

Why is the Australian energy regulator suing wind farms – and why now?

Samantha Hepburn

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is suing four of the wind farms involved in the 2016 South Australian blackout – run by AGL Energy, Neoen Australia, Pacific Hydro, and Tilt Renewables – alleging they breached generator performance standards and the national electricity rules.

 

What is the kerfuffle with Angus Taylor, his brother and some grass?

First Dog on the Moon

A company called Jam Land got in trouble for allegedly murdering grass and then …

 

New South Wales

Dartbrook coal mine approved to recommence operations

A controversial plan to reopen a ‘mothballed’ coal mine in the New South Wales Upper Hunter Valley is approved, but a five-year extension on the mine’s life is denied.

 

Trees tumble as developer tries to reactivate decades-old council approval

There are fears important wildlife habitat is being destroyed as a developer tries to enact a 1984 site approval on the New South Wales north coast.

 

Wildlife corridor gets Council support

A community project to create a wildlife corridor and walking track in southern Armidale has been backed by Council.

 

Surprised by the jump in council rates? Look to your bin for an answer

The state government caps council rate rises – except charges for managing garbage and recycling. This leeway means there is a huge variation in the annual increases across the city.

 

Angus Taylor’s Liddell taskforce slammed as guise for propping up coal

Federal energy minister Angus Taylor will form a new taskforce to investigate the implications of the looming closure of the Liddell power station, a move that will continue pressure on owner AGL Energy to keep the ailing coal-fired generator operating for as long as possible.

 

Done and dusted without dams

Winton farmer Russell Webb says it is too late to do anything to combat this drought but is adamant the state and federal government must create better water infrastructure to give the farmers of the future a chance.

 

Forgiving land clearers because of drought is like comforting a fat child with chocolate

Elizabeth Farrelly

As the world confronts the climate and food-security threats caused by over-exploiting the land, NSW gives farmers a free pass to bulldoze trees.

 

ACT

ANU students stage walk out to protest climate inaction

Australian National University students staged a walk out on Friday to protest the federal government’s lack of action on climate change.

 

Queensland

Resources minister laughs off ‘citizens arrest’ by climate change activists

Climate protesters are pledging to fight on after placing the resources minister under “citizens arrest” on a public street.

 

‘Pretty annoying’: peak hour traffic hit by Adani protest

Buses were forced to stop as protesters made their way across Victoria Bridge.

 

Charity severs ties with engineering firm over Adani

Engineers Without Borders Australia will “respectfully cease” its GHD partnership.

 

Praying for the heavens to open [$]

Facing crop failures and heavy restrictions on water consumption, Queensland towns like Stanthorpe are still in dire straits from ongoing drought.

 

Tasmania

Climate emergency declared by City of Launceston council

City of Launceston council is already working towards becoming more sustainable, but a newly-adopted motion is set to take it to another level.

 

Fears fireys ban will threaten remote areas [$]

The suspension of remote area operations is a “disastrous situation” that has left Tasmania exposed as the next fire season approaches, the firefighters union has warned.

 

Wildlife killings are a sad state of affairs [$]

A simple fine is insufficient for people found guilty of illegally killing our wildlife, writes Charles Wooley, who has a extra ‘punishment’ in mind for perpetrators.

 

Northern Territory

60pc of the barramundi you eat is imported and bringing in whole fish could kill our native stock

Australia’s largest barramundi farm is calling for a halt in whole-fish imports from Asia — not because around 60 per cent is imported, but for biosecurity reasons.

 

Animal carcasses and their flies ‘the new bees’ in bid to diversify pollinators

With Australia’s multi-billion-dollar agriculture sector reliant on bee pollination, a stinky technique could diversify other insect pollinators to favour crops.

 

Western Australia

Highly coveted orchids destroyed in national park bulldozer blunder

A shocked botanical group says there are scenes of devastation at a WA national park after a government front-end loader mistakenly tore through a cherished orchid habitat.

 

Protesters, police face off outside Chevron

Climate change activists have gone toe-toe with police outside QV1, home to Chevron, as they take over the city streets as part of a national day of action.

 

EPA still assessing Gorgon CO2 injection timeframe

The State Government is still interpreting the carbon dioxide injection conditions that were imposed 10 years ago on Chevron’s giant LNG project.

 

Sustainability

Germany’s foray into home batteries pushes market to tipping point – report

Rapid spread of home batteries in Germany brings European residential storage market to an economic tipping point, according to new research.

 

Radiation is said to be released in Russian military accident

Two people were reported killed, which would make it the second recent lethal fire involving the Russian Navy. The authorities are prohibiting shipping and sailing in parts of the White Sea for a month.

 

Japan to resume effort to tackle contaminated water problem at Fukushima

Japan is resuming efforts to disperse a build-up of contaminated water at Tokyo Electric Power’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant that is stalling progress on cleaning up the site, the government says.

 

Installing solar panels on agricultural lands maximizes their efficiency

A new study finds that if less than 1% of agricultural land was converted to solar panels, it would be sufficient to fulfill global electric energy demand.

 

We’re eating this planet to death

A new IPCC report is clear: If we can’t figure out how to feed our species more sustainably, climate change will accelerate and make it harder to grow food.

 

Crispr can help solve our looming food crisis—here’s how

There’s not enough land to feed everyone on Earth without ruining the climate, a new IPCC report shows. Gene-edited crops could help reduce agriculture’s footprint.

 

Is your vegan burger really as kind to the environment as you think?

Maartje Sevenster and Brad Ridout

Plants and soil can hold huge amounts of carbon. So what does that mean for your vegan diet?

 

Resilience in focus amid growing environmental risks to the built environment

Amanda Steele

Hot Property: Growing environmental stresses and their threat to the built environment are bringing resilience to the forefront.

 

The end times are here, and I am at Target

Hayes Brown

On the strange experience of living through the only accurate doomsday prediction.

 

Nature Conservation

Foresters in Scotland are fighting climate change by planting millions of trees a year

Last year, Scotland reached its target by planting 22 million saplings on more than 10-thousand hectares of land. The country now aims to up its rate of planting in order to remove more carbon from the atmosphere.

 

Trump reintroduces ‘cyanide bombs’ to kill feral wildlife, despite boy’s injuries

The Trump administration has reauthorised the controversial use of sodium cyanide in wildlife-killing devices

 

Knowledge ‘our best hope’ in fight to save our oceans, explorer says

Humanity is in a race to reverse the destruction of life in our oceans and the wider world before threats get out of control, scientist and explorer Sylvia Earle says.

 

Green turtles eat plastic that looks like their food

Green turtles are more likely to swallow plastic that resembles their natural diet of sea grass, new research suggests.

 

Indians plant 220 million trees in one day

More than a million Indians have planted 220 million trees in a government campaign to tackle climate change and improve the environment in the country’s most populous state.

 

Climate change: Marine heatwaves kill coral instantly

Marine heat waves, associated with climate change, cause the rapid death of corals, research reveals..

 

Planting trees is good. Eliminating deforestation is better

The UN report says we just have to stop cutting them down.

 

Weatherwatch: when will the timber industry wake up to reality?

Paul Brown

A new report shows that too few companies are taking steps to understand the complex relationship between climate change, deforestation and their business

 

Now for something completely different …

Sick of seagulls stealing your chips? Just stare them down

Research from the University of Exeter showed that with a human staring at them, seagulls took 21 seconds longer to approach a bag of chips then when left apparently unobserved.

 

 

Maelor Himbury

6 Florence St Niddrie 3042

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