Daily Links May 18

The signs are good and activists are influencing the decline of coal so now is the time to press for a Green New Deal and a COVID19 recovery based on renewables. Adani shares, anyone? 

Post of the Day

Just how hot will it get this century? Latest climate models suggest it could be worse than we thought

Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster

The new values are a worrying outcome that no one wants, but one we must still grapple with.

 

On This Day

May 18

National Volunteer Week

 

Coronavirus Watch

Confirmed cases: 7,045. Deaths: 98

 

Some analysts warned of a pandemic like this. Here’s what they think might happen next

Some analysts predicted the impact a pandemic would have on the global economy with remarkable accuracy. They now predict business, government and technology will change drastically all around the world.

 

Climate Change

Climate change is still the Pacific’s greatest threat

Tropical Cyclone Harold showed us that climate change is still the Pacific’s biggest existential threat, according to Vanuatu’s opposition leader.

 

Decarbonisation is our future. It must be factored into the coronavirus recovery

Pradeep Philip and Will Rayward-Smith

As countries and companies work towards ambitious 2030 emissions targets, poor investments today will soon be exposed

 

Just how hot will it get this century? Latest climate models suggest it could be worse than we thought

Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster

The new values are a worrying outcome that no one wants, but one we must still grapple with.

 

National

Australia facing ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ as cycling booms

We’re getting on our bikes like never before in Australia, and experts say we have to seize this opportunity to reshape our cities.

 

Coronavirus crisis a ‘heaven-sent opportunity’ to reset national park tourism

The closure of national parks during the coronavirus pandemic hit patrons and advocates hard, but some in the industry are seeing the crisis as a chance to rethink how they’re managed.

 

How brutal politics derailed climate policy in Australia

Former chief scientists and senior public servants are no longer staying silent about what they believe has been a colossal failure by politicians of all stripes to comprehensively tackle climate change.

 

New baseline data provides greater clarity for environmental decisions

Sussan Ley and Keith Pitt

The Morrison Government has released independent scientific research to identify and manage environmental impacts from potential gas developments in the Cooper, Isa and Beetaloo basins.

 

No change to climate of hot air for ABC staff [$]

Chris Kenny

Climate activism within the ABC has been laid bare in a treasure trove of emails unearthed by a Freedom of Information application.

 

Victoria

Draft plan unveiled for world class wetlands

The City of Greater Geelong has released a draft 20-year master

plan for the Sparrovale Wetlands, a new world class 500-hectare nature reserve being created near Armstrong Creek.

 

Sydney Road users support removal of parking bays for cycling lane but designs divide opinions

A majority of Sydney Road users support the removal of on-street parking to make way for a protected cycling lane as part of a long-awaited overhaul, – but all five designs proposed in the VicRoads survey polarised respondents.

 

New South Wales

Councils wary of Planning Minister intervention

NSW councils will work with the State Government to help fast-track community infrastructure projects, but will seek new powers to provide balance before allowing Ministers to interfere by choosing which projects proceed.

 

Pop-up car parks planned as ‘nervous’ Premier fears public transport risk

The state government was on Sunday frantically finalising its pandemic public transport plan as more Syneysiders return to work and students go back to school full-time.

 

Cotton ‘starts firing’ after rain and river flows transform a dustbowl

The giant pumps on the Darling Farms are running hard, pushing some of the 3 gigalitres of water recently drawn from the nearby Barwon-Darling River into canals that will irrigate the first crop in more than three years.

 

ACT

‘Constant stalling’: Recycling firm pleads for verdict on contentious project [$]

roponents of a highly-contentious recycling plant in Fyshwick are pleading with the ACT government to make a ruling on the project, claiming that its “slow-moving bureaucratic processes” are holding up $30 million worth of investment and dozens of jobs.

 

South Australia

South Australian ecologist creates vegetation regeneration program to reduce bushfire risk

With much of the vegetation throughout the Adelaide Hills being lost in recent bushfires, an ecologist has created a regeneration program that will help mitigate bushfire risk, and wants others to follow her lead.

 

Tasmania

Green jobs could fuel Tassie’s recovery

A ‘fast-tracked’ container refund scheme that would create 300 jobs is one of the ‘green recovery’ measures Tasmania could use to rebuild from the coronavirus crisis.

 

Western Australia

Pilbara mineral project to fast track hundreds of jobs

Hundreds of jobs will be created in the East Pilbara as a result of a major critical minerals project getting extra support from the Federal Government.

 

Sustainability

Pandemic lays waste to Portugal’s recycling dreams

One of the many victims of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be Portugal’s nascent progress in recycling waste, environmental campaigners say.

 

How the climate impact of beef compares with plant-based alternatives

How does a highly processed patty compare to butchered beef?

 

Urban density is not the problem

Despite ample evidence that urbanites live longer and healthier lives than their counterparts in rural areas, the spread of the coronavirus – and New York City’s tragic experience in particular – has fueled a dubious association between population density and contagion.

 

BP chief says Covid has deepened commitment to net-zero emissions

BP’s new chief executive said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has deepened his commitment to shrinking the oil giant’s carbon footprint to zero.

 

Coal industry will never recover after coronavirus pandemic, say experts

The global coal industry will “never recover” from the Covid-19 pandemic, industry observers predict, because the crisis has proved renewable energy is cheaper for consumers and a safer bet for investors.

 

 

Maelor Himbury

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0432406862

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