Date: 8 October 2019 at 8:45:25 am ACDT
Subject: Daily Links Oct 8
Post of the Day
How to make conservation initiatives more contagious
New research shows conservation initiatives often spread like diseases, helping scientists and policymakers design programmes more likely to be taken up.
Today’s Celebration
Independence Day – Croatia
Battle of Angamos Day (Navy Day) – Peru
Dashain Festival – Nepal, Bhutan
Arbor Day – Guam
Day of the Heroic Guerrilla – Cuba
Children’s Day – Iran
Durga Puja – Hinduism
Dussehra – Hinduism
Yom Kippur – Judaism
Climate Change
Global climate ‘rebellion’ sees mass arrests and blocked roads
The global environmental movement aims to save the Earth from “extinction”.
‘Sorry, this is an emergency’: Climate protesters disrupt life around the world
They have glued themselves to cars, blocked bridges, halted traffic, but they are not apologising for defending the planet.
‘How can you stoop so low?’ Bjorn from ABBA hits back at Greta Thunberg’s haters
Pop legend Bjorn Ulvaeus has hit back at people criticising fellow Swede, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.
China is on track to meet its ultra-low emissions goals for 2020
Polluting emissions from Chinese thermal power plants declined significantly between 2014 and 2017, according to research involving UCL. The study, published today in Nature Energy, analysed data from 2014, when China introduced the ambitious Ultra-Low Emissions (ULE) Standards Policy for renovating coal-fired power stations to limit air pollutant emissions, to 2017.
Pressure ramps up to pull CO2 from the sky with geoengineering tech
Experts say humanity has only 10 years to have large-scale carbon dioxide reduction schemes up and running if global warming is to be restrained to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Here are some of the schemes that are being explored.
As the climate changes, is geoengineering worth the risks?
Some scientists say the world needs to reconsider some human-made ideas to cool the climate as dire warnings about the looming crisis ramp up.
Extinction Rebellion: How far can the protests go?
Traffic blockades, “die-ins,” naked protests in parliament: Inspired by the non-violence of Gandhi and Rosa Parks, Extinction Rebellion is using unconventional tactics to call for immediate action on the climate crisis.
Disappearing Peruvian glaciers
It is common knowledge that glaciers are melting in most areas across the globe. The speed at which tropical glaciers in the Peruvian Andes are retreating is particularly alarming,
World leaders are failing our future generations on climate change
Washington Post editorial
It will be increasingly impossible to ignore the accelerating costs of a warming planet.
National
Dozens arrested as Australians join global wave of ‘disruptive’ eco protests
Extinction Rebellion is planning to ‘shut down’ cities around the world over the next two weeks.
Hong Kong demos inspire Extinction Rebellion’s ‘accessible’ disruption
Extinction Rebellion protesters are planning to copy civil disobedience tactics from the unrest in Hong Kong to try to disrupt Australian cities.
Government should abandon its power play on energy says Grattan Institute
The Federal Government is pushing up power prices for consumers instead of bringing them down with its “picking winners” policy of funding some energy projects, according to the Grattan Institute.
Fire warnings as temperatures to reach 40C in NSW and Queensland
Total fire bans and severe and extreme danger ratings in place in northwest NSW and southeast Queensland
Power giants to push back on proposed coal closure rules
Australia’s biggest energy companies will push back against a proposal to force the owners of coal-fired power stations to place hundreds of millions of dollars into bonds to ensure compliance with closure dates they have nominated for their ageing generators.
Federal program to drive company take-up of new EVs
Australian businesses will be supported to fast-track the electrification of their corporate fleets through a new federal government investment to help them make “informed” choices and aid energy networks to plan for the potential impact.
Dams are being built, but they are private: Australia Institute
A report from The Australia Institute says at least 20 to 30 large private dams have been constructed in the Murray-Darling basin in recent years.
How to fix the energy mess [$]
The Grattan Institute has urged the states to dump their uncoordinated renewable policies and bypass the federal government to put in place a nationwide emissions reduction policy through state-based legislation.
Malcolm Turnbull blames Liberal climate change denialists for high power bills [$]
Malcolm Turnbull has criticised the Liberal Party for failing to address climate change and develop “a coherent national energy policy”, which has led to Australians paying higher power bills and increasing carbon emissions.
I’m an Extinction Rebellion protester and this is why I’ll be disrupting your work commute
Chloe Adams
This week thousands of ordinary Australians will disrupt major cities with rolling blockades to draw attention to the climate crisis. I am one of them
Governments took the hard road on clean energy – and consumers are feeling the bumps
Guy Dundas
Australia’s entire coal fleet will retire in the next few decades. The federal government’s response to the Hazelwood coal plant closure has left a mess – it must do better.
Chris Barrie
A Senate report recommended several measures the government should take to prepare for climate-fuelled migration, natural disasters and conflicts. The response so far has been underwhelming.
Flogging the life out of coal plants is not the answer to Australia’s energy woes
Giles Parkinson
Federal government’s strategy of “picking winners” – Snowy 2.0 and its underwriting program – has failed, and flogging the life out of coal plants is not the answer.
Short-term power fixes are breaking the energy market
Tony Wood
Every ad hoc solution that governments pile on the energy market is making it harder to deliver the price and security outcomes that politicians and customers want.
Coalition goes from bad to worse on drought [$]
Alan Jones
Why is the government, which should be building dams, in thrall to the climate change gospel when scientists show no link between climate change and drought?
Cleaner air from improved fuel quality standards
David Swanton
Australia’s petrol quality is the worst in the OECD. While other countries are improving their fuel quality, the Australian Government recently reviewed the standards and is not making any meaningful changes.
Water trading needs reform [$]
Australian editorial
When much of the Murray-Darling basin catchment is drought stricken, the market mechanism of water trading should be serving farmers, their local communities and the nation by keeping valuable crops alive.
Victoria
Hundreds of wedge-tailed eagles killed by farming chemical, authorities say
An agricultural chemical used to control mites is believed to have killed hundreds of wedge-tailed eagles in northern Victoria.
Court hears resident left coughing and struggling to breathe during Hazelwood fire
Resident Michelle Gatt says the smoke and falling ash from the 45-day fire in the Hazelwood coal mine left her constantly coughing and without a voice.
Payouts made to hundreds of victims of recycler SKM’s Coolaroo blaze
Residents who were forced to evacuate when SKM’s Coolaroo plant went up in flames will receive about $2000 each from $1.2m settlement with failed recycler
Why shoppers will still get plastic bags despite bans
Single-use plastic bags are set to be banned from November 1, however a backflip by the state government will see Victorian businesses continue to offer the bags.
New South Wales
‘You’re hurting me’: Elderly protesters dragged from climate change rally
Police arrest dozens of protesters during a climate change demonstration in Sydney, including elderly activists who were dragged away by force.
Blue Mountains’ Radiata Plateau bought by NSW government
The Radiata Plateau, 300 hectares of Blue Mountains bushland, will be be incorporated into the NSW national park reserve system.
Water Minister’s spray: ‘Leave if building dams is not your priority’ [$]
Water Minister Melinda Pavey has read the Riot Act to the state’s most senior bureaucrats when she turned up unexpectedly to a closed-door meeting and told them to “vacate the room immediately” if building dams was not their priority.
Sydney’s ‘next frontier’ must be carefully planned
SMH editorial
Planning for the so-called western harbour precinct should not be about short-term profits.
ACT
The individual remains the first and last line of defence against cybercrime
Canberra Times editorial
The numbers are staggering. According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre more than 13,500 incidents of cybercrime committed against Australians have been reported in the last three months.
Queensland
Extinction Rebellion launches week-long Brisbane blockade
The city will see a week of disruptions as climate activists continue their efforts.
Riverside remediation planned for contaminated West End land
The land was contaminated after years of use as a tar-processing factory, and the state, council and private landowners are working to clear it up.
Bushfire threatens Lockyer Valley homes as residents are warned
Residents in the Lockyer Valley have been told to prepare to leave as seperate bushfires threaten homes.
On-demand kerbside collection trial set for Gold Coast
Gold Coast City Council is set to trial an on-demand kerbside clean-up service in early 2020, which will be conducted in several council divisions.
Queensland celebrates 4GW solar milestone, three panels for every person
The Queensland state Labor government has celebrated reaching the milestone of 4GW of solar energy capacity in the state, which it says is now more than twice the capacity of the state’s biggest power station – the Gladstone coal generator.
‘Premature’ closure of Qld coal plant ‘dire’: Taylor [$]
The federal Energy Minister warned Queensland is risking a repeat of the “mess” in Victoria created with the early closure of the Hazelwood power station.
Consumers forgotten in weak power policy [$]
Courier Mail editorial
To most struggling with sky-high power bills, government intervention in the electricity market seems like a great idea. But a new report reveals this kind of political action may actually be stinging consumers at the hip pocket.
South Australia
New Tesla big battery at Lake Bonney wind farm delayed again
Commissioning of second Tesla big battery at the Lake Boney wind farm in South Australia delayed again, as wind farms switch off due to negative prices.
Activists will play dead and stop traffic in CBD [$]
Nevermind petitions, this group will be doing the Nutbush in the middle of Flinders St and playing dead in Rundle Mall to prove a point. Today, they will be blocking traffic on Gouger St.
High price to pay for bin sins [$]
A rubbish collection agency’s proposal to fine people contaminating their recycle bins could be extended to include green organics – and the fines could be significant.
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Tasmania
Community learns about coal mine plans through US press release
Tasmanian farmer Richard Headlam says he was reassured a proposed coal mine on his land would not go ahead. Two years later, the plan by Midland Energy has been revived.
Illegal tour bus monitoring needs ‘tidying up’
A Tasmanian walking tour company says more should be done to crack down on those flouting the rules in protected areas by operating without necessary permits.
TasWater and Vos begin works on Branxholm reservoir
The project is part of the Ringarooma Valley Water Scheme, which aims to deliver quality water to various townships in the region.
Hobart City Council has voted on a report into an underground pedestrian route and cycleway.
Peter Boyer
The Hodgman government’s outdated resource industry mindset is now threatening a repeat of the TFA fiasco.
Northern Territory
Italian oil giant ENI buys two more solar farms in Australia
Italian oil and gas giant ENI buys another two solar farms in the Northern Territory.
Western Australia
They stopped the Mangles Bay Marina, why not the Mandurah Estuary dredge?
Environmental groups looking for a way to halt the development of a marina in the heart of the Mandurah Estuary are calling on the state and federal governments to “find a solution and stop mucking around”.
Poll says voters want Roe 8 and 9 [$]
Most Perth voters support the controversial Roe 8 and 9 highway extension being built, according to new internal Liberal Party polling.
Sustainability
‘Hedonistic sustainability’: Denmark opens ski slope on top of incinerator
Copenhagen opens an artificial ski slope on the roof a huge incinerator that produces power by burning waste rather than fossil fuels — the first of its kind in the world.
Can medical care exist without plastic?
Hospitals are filled with sterile single-use plastic. Environmental advocates are looking for less wasteful ways to keep healthcare hygienic.
Pressure may be key to fighting climate change with thermoelectric generators
Pressure improves the ability of materials to turn heat into electricity and could potentially be used to create clean generators, according to new work from a team that includes Carnegie’s Alexander Goncharov and Viktor Struzhkin published in Nature Materials.
Energy transition? Not so fast, one expert says
One of Britain’s foremost authorities on energy predicts the transition from fossil fuels will take longer and be more expensive than people hope.
Costs of natural disasters are increasing at the high end
While the economic cost of natural disasters has not increased much on average, averages can be deceptive. The costs of major disasters like hurricanes Katrina, Maria and Dorian or the massive tornado swarms in the Midwest have increased to a disproportionately larger extent than those of lesser events, and these major disasters have become far more expensive, according to an international team of researchers.
Study shows ventilation systems pollute office spaces the most
A recent study has found out that the types of indoor contaminants greatly impact the chemistry of the indoor air at the workplace and affect the workers.
Oil companies ponder climate change, but profits still rule
They are caught between investors who want greener energy and those who simply want a strong return on their investments.
Nature Conservation
Dual approach needed to save sinking cities and bleaching corals
Local conservation can boost the climate resilience of coastal ecosystems, species and cities and buy them time in their fight against sea-level rise, ocean acidification and warming temperatures, a study by scientists at Duke University and Fudan University suggests.
How to make conservation initiatives more contagious
New research shows conservation initiatives often spread like diseases, helping scientists and policymakers design programmes more likely to be taken up.
Early breeding season for some Arctic seabirds due global warming
The breeding season of some seabirds in Arctic regions takes place earlier as a result of the temperature rise caused by climate change, according to a new article.
Another casualty of climate change? Recreational fishing
Another casualty of climate change will likely be shoreline recreational fishing, according to new research. The study finds some regions of the U.S. may benefit from increasing temperatures, but those benefits will be more than offset by declines in fishing elsewhere.
Now for something completely different …
Australia Talks National Survey reveals what Australians are most worried about
The Australia Talks National Survey has unlocked a fascinating insight into the Australian people: we have more faith in our own ability to deal with problems than we do in our country’s — or indeed the world’s.
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