Daily Links May 30

Stop Press: Rare outbreak of evidence-based management supported by the court. Let us hope that such outbreaks become more common. 

Post of the Day

Really Australia, it’s not that hard: 10 reasons why renewable energy is the future

Andrew Blakers

Renewables technology already exists, it’s getting cheaper and we will never go to war over sunshine. If you need to be convinced of the potential of wind and solar, read this.

 

On This Day

May 30

 

Ecological Observance

Arbor Day – Honduras

 

Coronavirus Watch

Confirmed cases: 7,173. Deaths: 103

 

The key takeaways from the Prime Minister’s latest coronavirus press conference

Scott Morrison says COAG ‘is no more’ and the Federal Government’s decision to implement tough restrictions have been justified. Here are the things you may have missed from the National Cabinet meeting.

 

Why are we still getting mixed messages on masks?

Face masks aren’t “a silver bullet” for combatting coronavirus, but do have benefits. If you’re going to wear one here’s what you need to know.

 

Climate Change

US south-west in grip of historic ‘megadrought’, research finds

Intensified by climate change, the current 20-year arid period is one of the worst on record, with wide-ranging effects

 

South Asia’s twin threat: Extreme heat and foul air

Climate change means many health risks. Any one of them raises the danger. What happens when extreme heat meets bad air? South Asia’s humid megacities face special jeopardy.

 

Are we past the peak of Big Oil’s power?

The political power of the fossil-fuel industry has always been the single biggest obstacle to making real progress in the fight against climate change, and it now seems to be weakening.

 

National

Gas pipeline is either white elephant or fundamental infrastructure — depending on who you ask

Will a trans-Australia gas pipeline drive economic growth for decades, or leave the taxpayer with a white elephant that private industry will never touch?

 

Australia’s emissions fell 0.9pc last year

Australia’s emissions reduced by 0.9 per cent across 2019 but environmentalists fear the progress will be short-lived as the government eyes growth in gas.

 

Push to bring back Australia’s lost oyster reefs

Australia’s southern states had their own version of a Great Barrier Reef until it was erased almost entirely by the middle of last century.

 

Ausgrid seeks thousands of NSW homes to join expanded virtual power plant

After a successful phase one, Ausgrid launches second phase of household battery-based virtual power plant, with two new “aggregator” partners – ShineHub and Evergen.

 

Welcome rains boost Basin’s fortunes but water wars are far from over

The Murray-Darling Basin rivers are running again after some of the best rain in years, but deep fault lines with the $13bn plan remain just below the surface.

 

Time to tweak an old idea to stimulate investment in wind and solar “highways”

A few tweaks to an old idea could stimulate investment in renewable energy zones and the electric “highways” needed to transport wind and solar.

 

Angus Taylor says higher emissions targets ‘not necessarily good policy’

Federal energy and emissions reduction minister Angus Taylor has said that the Morrison government had no interest in setting ambitious climate change targets, but would rather set targets the government knew it was already able to meet.

 

Electric vehicle registrations almost double

Registrations of electric vehicles rose sharply in 2020, however petrol powered vehicles still dominate the fleet, according to newly released Motor Vehicle Census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

 

The coming recession is the best reason to step up the pace of renewables investment

Frank Jotzo

It will not do to wait until the next power plant announces its closure. Building alternative infrastructure should start now

 

Really Australia, it’s not that hard: 10 reasons why renewable energy is the future

Andrew Blakers

Renewables technology already exists, it’s getting cheaper and we will never go to war over sunshine. If you need to be convinced of the potential of wind and solar, read this.

 

COVID-19 commission needs to come clean on gas industry links

Ebony Bennett

Hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money has been, and is going to be spent, on necessary fiscal measures before this pandemic is over. But poorly targeted spending will do damage to the economy, increase unemployment and prolong the recession.

 

Victoria

Victorian brumby cull challenge rejected by Supreme Court

Victorian High Country cattleman Philip Maguire loses his court battle to stop feral horses from being shot under a Parks Victoria management plan.

 

Council formalises call for action on Murray-Darling Basin

Mildura Rural City Council has called for action on the Murray-Darling Basin following formal adoption of a position paper at this week’s Ordinary Council meeting.

 

Franklin Dam-like court judgment to protect Victoria’s endangered species from loggers

Hailed by environmental groups as the ‘Franklin Dam of forest legal judgments’, the ruling sets a legal precedent by applying federal law to the logging industry.

 

New South Wales

Spot a black striped wallaby in northern NSW

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is on a mission to spot black-striped wallabies around northern NSW’s Gondwana rainforests as part of a 10-year project.

 

Sydney fishers call for Oyster reefs at Port Botany

Edo Rutstein, of The Australian National Sports Fishing Association, says introducing oyster reefs at Port Botany will greatly improve the local marine habitat.

 

Access to water becomes difficult as a vineyard succumbs to drought

As a vineyard slowly dies from drought, the owner provides access to water for the rural community.

 

ACT

ACT public transport use up by almost 40 per cent in past week

Canberrans are beginning to return to public transport, with patronage up 38 per cent last week.

 

ACT set to ban waste incineration for energy, citing community concerns

The ACT is set to ban waste incineration to energy projects, concluding the potential impacts to public health could not be justified.

 

Queensland

Coal prices plunging but Adani continues to spend $70m a month

Adani is spending about $70 million a month on its controversial Carmichael mine project, untroubled by plunging coal prices and the COVID-19 restrictions.

 

From dams to damnation: Why Palaszczuk can’t escape trouble in Paradise

Brad Cooper

Water woes confronting the Palaszczuk Government over its dodgy Paradise Dam won’t evaporate any time soon.

 

South Australia

Chopped: How many trees has your suburb lost? See the map [$]

Worried about our disappearing trees? For the first time, The Advertiser has mapped where we are losing trees – by suburb and species.

 

Gunns liquidators win back $3M from contractors [$]

Liquidators have managed to claw back more than $3 million from loggers paid by failed forestry giant Gunns Ltd while it was already insolvent, with emails revealing more to the story.

 

Western Australia

Rio Tinto blasting of 46,000-year-old Aboriginal sites compared to Islamic State’s destruction in Palmyra

The blasting of cultural sites in the Pilbara is one of the worst destructions of an archaeological site in recent memory, according the chair of the United Nations’ cultural property protection body.

 

‘Never got a cent’: FMG faces multi-million-dollar payout after losing High Court native title appeal

The High Court dismisses Fortescue Metals Group’s application to appeal against a native title determination over an area covering one of its West Australian iron ore mines, opening the company up to a multi-million-dollar compensation payout.

 

Juukan Gorge: Rio Tinto blasting of Aboriginal site prompts calls to change antiquated laws

Conflict between mining and Aboriginal heritage in WA has spawned a system of suffocating bureaucracy and lopsided agreement-making

 

Sustainability

Balancing the economy while saving the planet

A new research-based framework lets companies make informed decisions balancing economic and sustainability factors when producing biochemicals

 

Fracking linked to rare birth defect in horses: Study

A new study has uncovered a link between fracking chemicals in farm water and a rare birth defect in horses—which researchers say could serve as a warning about fracking and human infant health.

 

Plunging solar energy prices spell bright future for clean electricity

Solar energy has fallen in cost faster than experts predicted. How did electricity from photovoltaic panels get so cheap?

 

Graph of the Day: US renewables beat coal in 2019, for first time in 134 years

America’s tumbling coal power consumption was surpassed by renewable energy in 2019, and wind power overtook hydro as the US biggest renewable power source.

 

Electric utilities challenged for slow-walking switch from natural gas to clean renewable energy

Despite pressure to switch to renewable energy, some projections show steady or even increasing reliance on natural gas well into the future.

 

Post-pandemic public transit’s goals may have to change

Concept designs with plexiglass shields probably aren’t coming to transit. Instead, cities have to figure out how to make the systems safe and useful for the people who don’t have a choice but to use them.

 

Call of the wild: listen up, people, time is running out

David Leser

Humanity’s once-in-a-lifetime chance to save the planet.

 

The Triumph of Doubt”: Inside corporations’ war on science

A new book explains how corporations create a climate of doubt around science and expertise.

 

Nature Conservation

Sustainable bluefin tuna? Not so fast.

Analysis: A decade’s worth of research says that an ecolabel for industrial bluefin tuna fisheries is a sham.

 

Superheroes of the deep: humpbacks bounce back from near extinction to help fight climate change

Australia’s humpback whale population is bouncing back from near extinction with 40,000 expected off the Australian east coast this breeding season, while helping the world fight climate change.

 

Attenborough to set out vision for future in new book

The book will reflect on the broadcaster’s career, exploring and documenting the natural world, and the decline of the planet’s environment and biodiversity he has observed.

 

A new plan for the Amazon

Saving the Amazon rainforest is not just about raising alarms but also about finding ways to make harvesting its trees more profitable than tearing them down.

 

Green alert: How Indigenous have been experiencing climate change in the Amazon

Late rainfall, intense drought, dry riverbeds, more forest fires, less food available — indigenous communities across the Amazon suffer social transformations due to climate change.

Maelor Himbury

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