Daily Links Oct 7 - greghunt.net

World Mental Health Day is a time to break down the stigma around mental health issues and remind Australians that seeking support and treatment is the right thing to do. But as I look at how some of us are talking about the mental health of a young woman from halfway across the world, it’s clear we have a long way to go.

National

David Littleproud demands climate activists ‘show respect’, amid calls for tougher penalties

Cabinet minister David Littleproud has urged disruptive climate change activists to show more respect amid calls for harsher penalties.

Aussie woodchip industry suffers in US-China trade war

Australia’s $1.4-billion plantation woodchip industry is dragged into the US-China trade war, with a number of shipments to the Asian economic powerhouse cancelled in the fallout from the dispute.

Water resources minister ‘totally’ accepts drought linked to climate change

David Littleproud signals more taxpayer support for rural communities as big dry ‘escalates’

Bob Brown’s convoy to Qld hurt Labor, says Richard Di Natale

Parties gear up for a politically charged inquiry into transitioning jobs from coal to renewables.

BP’s grim warning on carbon emissions

Delaying the inevitable move toward net zero emissions makes the inevitable transition more costly and chaotic, says BP’s chief economist, Spencer Dale.

Murray-Darling Basin water barons spark crisis talks over rising prices

The government has secretly scheduled a crisis meeting with farm leaders over mounting claims that investors are hoarding Murray River water and driving a spike in prices.

Time to come clean on climate cost [$]

Alan Mitchell

Successive governments have never been honest with voters about the real cost and benefits of climate policy. Maybe it is time for a fact-based inquiry.

Victoria

We have no choice: Protesters aim for week of disruption in Melbourne CBD

Environmental activists plan to block major intersections, march nude and use bikes to disrupt traffic during a week of protests throughout Melbourne’s CBD as part of the global Extinction Rebellion movement.

New South Wales

The missing mile: How shared transport is slashing Sydneysiders’ commutes

Transport experts say our love affair with cars could be over, as commuters turn to other, faster and more convenient solutions for getting to and from work.

Drought-stricken dairy farmers watch the river run by, unable to access it

Australia’s dairy farmers are leaving the industry in droves as drought and sky-high prices for water take their toll.

Large swathes of NSW at bushfires risk as temperatures set to reach 40C

Bourke and Brewarrina brace for 40C day as dust storms set to sweep western parts of state

Centennial Coal massively increased emissions from two mines with no penalty

Miner given permission due to ‘loopholes’ in safeguard mechanism, Australian Conservation Foundation says

Warragamba plan ‘flawed’: former SES deputy

The former deputy of the NSW State Emergency Service says the government’s plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall is “flawed”.

Search for drinking water for NSW towns takes to the skies

The New South Wales Government is funding an aerial survey for water in the state’s central west.

ACT

Canberra’s unchanging climate bubble

Ian Warden

We’ve all heard of the “Canberra Bubble” but ours is a city of many bubbles within which we, the enbubbled, live lucky lives insulated from the bad luck suffered and endured by people and places of the real, less lucky world.

Queensland

Increasing fire danger as Queensland braces for sweltering conditions

The Queen’s Birthday public holiday and Tuesday could push October records, with top temperatures 10 to 12 degrees above average.

‘We don’t have a backyard’: Urban squeeze pushes great Australian dream to the fringes

The Australian dream of a house with a backyard is deeply ingrained and continues to drive urban spread, but that way of life is under pressure, with South East Queensland’s population forecast to grow by 2 million people over the next two decades.

The power and the fashion: researchers turning clothes into batteries

Scientists are taking the idea of a “power suit” to the next level, with a project looking to turn textile waste into next-generation batteries.

Qld to close coal-fired power station a decade early

The Queensland government will close its Callide B coal-fired power station in 2028, but said it’s nothing to do with reaching its 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030.

Bottlers reduce falls to trickle [$]

On a sunny spring day there’s no better place to be than Twin Falls, the water foaming into a rock pool framed by an emerald tangle of protected native forest. Enjoy it while you can, the locals say — because the once-thundering torrent has slowed to a trickle, and soon the falls on the scenic Gold Coast rim could stop altogether, they fear.

South Australia

This bay could be a ‘whale highway’ — so what impact might a planned desal plant have?

Volunteer whale spotters believe they’ve photographed more than 50 whales at South Australia’s Sleaford Bay this year, raising questions about how the marine mammals might be affected by a desalination plant proposed for the area.

Prices too high, say electricity bosses [$]

They’ve finally admitted what we’ve known all along — electricity prices are too damn high. Now, company bosses are using an Energy Charter to promise they’ll do better.

Tasmania

Tasmanian renewable energy projects tipped to pour $6.5 billion in state’s economy

Premier Will Hodgman says the state will benefit from an economic injection of $6.5 billion through two key renewable energy projects.

Consultants called in on Hobart western bypass [$]

The State Government has awarded consultants a mega contract to look into alternative traffic routes through the Hobart CBD.

Sustainability

Biosolids: mix human waste with toxic chemicals, then spread on crops

Residual sludge from treating waste water is now a money-spinner but what are the health costs of ‘the most pollutant-rich manmade substance on Earth’?

The plastics industry’s fight to blame pollution on you

The plastics industry has been promoting recycling and shaming “litterbugs” while fighting legislation that would limit plastics production.

Instead of flight shaming, be thoughtful about all travel

A conversation about flying leads to some unexpected discoveries about how to minimize the climate impacts of getting around.

It takes 21 litres of water to produce a small chocolate bar. How water-wise is your diet?

Brad Ridoutt

It’s long been known that our diet choices help determine our carbon footprint. But do you know which of your favourite foods are the most water-hungry?

Nature Conservation

Death and resurrection in the rainforest as bishops meet for Amazon summit

Indigenous tribes see the Catholic church as a key ally in the ecological fight – and an unprecedented synod is focused on how to stop the destruction

‘Everywhere we looked’: trillions of microplastics found in San Francisco Bay

The most comprehensive study to date finds plastic in sediment collected from San Francisco Bay, its tributaries and the digestive tracts of fish.

South American Church leaders call for ‘zero deforestation’ following Amazon fires

Anglican bishops from across South America have united in a call to governments around the world to implement zero deforestation policies following the devastating fires that have raged in the Amazon. …

The tallest order

Peter Dykstra

Back in the day, we knew oceans were imperiled by pollution and overfishing. Then we learned about climate change. Then acidification. Now, plastic pollution.

Now for something completely different …

Ignoring what the data says is an invitation to disaster

Denis Moriarty

How exactly do you help people? What happens when you do? Where? Who? How much? Where’s the evidence?

Maelor Himbury

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