Post of the Day
The government won’t go green after COVID-19 — and the public won’t care
Belinda Noble
History tells us that the searing urgency for climate action after the summer’s bushfires will cool unless principled people keep up the good fight.
On This Day
Nativity of St John the Baptist
Coronavirus Watch
Confirmed cases: 7,492. Deaths: 102
First million infections took three months – latest million has taken just eight days
World leaders must not politicise the coronavirus pandemic but unite to fight it, the head of the World Health Organisation warns, reminding all that the pandemic is still accelerating and producing record daily increases in infections.
Climate Change
Climate Group supports plans to increase EU 2030 climate target
This month, The Climate Group has submitted feedback to the open consultation of the European Commission on European Union (EU) climate ambition for 2030.
Climate Explained: what Earth would be like if we hadn’t pumped greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
Laura Revell
If we had not altered the composition of the atmosphere at all through emitting greenhouse gases, particulate matter and ozone-destroying chemicals, the average temperature would have remained stable.
National
The case for scale: Why bigger solar projects deliver lower costs
The bigger the project, the better economies of scale, new data shows, while Australia’s pipeline of mega-scale projects makes it a world leader.
Labor moves to end energy wars with bipartisan national framework
Anthony Albanese has invited the PM to begin negotiations to develop a national energy framework in an attempt to cut through years of conflict over the issue.
Imports of cars and petroleum at near record lows
The value of imports and exports of goods both declined in May 2020, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) preliminary international trade in goods figures.
AFPA welcomes support for Australia’s bushfire-battered forest industries
The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has strongly welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of a $50 million bushfire recovery package to support fire-impacted forest product industries.
No bats, no tequila, and other things you may not know about the only flying mammals
Flying foxes are flying farmers in disguise and seven other things to love about this unique group of flying mammals.
‘We’re not talking about Garfield’: MPs investigate cats’ wildlife toll
Feral and domestic cats each day kill about 3.1 million mammals, 1 million birds and 1.7 million reptiles, leading federal MPs to call a parliamentary inquiry to investigate their impact on Australia’s wildlife.
Matt Canavan urges climate compo for coal plant [$]
Nationals senator Matt Canavan is urging the Morrison government to guarantee compensation to the owner of a proposed new coal-fired power station should there be any change in federal climate policy.
If we could design JobKeeper within weeks, we can exit coal by 2030. Here’s how to do it
John Quiggin
It’d be a matter of switching 20-25,000 jobs. During coronavirus, we shut down three million, and dealt with the consequences impressively.
Australia has failed miserably on energy efficiency – and government figures hide the truth
Hugh Saddler
Better energy efficiency lowers electricity bills, manages energy demand and helps the climate. Unfortunately, Australia is going nowhere on this cheap, simple measure.
Gas stench permeates the COVID-19 Commission
David Ritter
There’s nothing quite like the stink of gas to tell you that something is very wrong. And the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) reeks of the stuff.
The government won’t go green after COVID-19 — and the public won’t care
Belinda Noble
History tells us that the searing urgency for climate action after the summer’s bushfires will cool unless principled people keep up the good fight.
Victoria
Protesters demand miners stop looking for gold in Wombat State Forest
Snap protests against gold exploration have taken place in Wombat State Forest, which government’s environmental assessment body says should be a national park.
New South Wales
NSW prepares for low-carbon future, but its policies still need teeth
NSW has started to plan more seriously for a lower-carbon future. Currently, though, there is pretty much a complete lack of teeth, a lack of skin in the game.
Sydney’s water supply at risk because of department failure on conservation, audit finds
NSW audit office blasts water conservation efforts and finds Sydney Water was two years too late in responding to recent drought
State government banking on coal exports as world chases Paris targets
The state government is banking on global coal demand defying the Paris climate goals, predicting only a marginal cut in consumption by mid-century.
Sydney: Endangered regent honeyeaters soar [$]
The population of one of Australia’s most endangered species will be bolstered, with 20 conservation-bred regent honeyeaters released into the wild.
ACT
‘Another Juukan Gorge situation’: Ngambri man calling for stop to development at Mt Ainslie
A Ngambri man fears a repeat of the kind of destruction seen at Juukan Gorge, but this time in Canberra for a new housing development that threatens to level a significant cultural site.
Barr says Mt Ainslie development approval should not be granted until further investigations are undertaken [$]
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has said a proposed development on a possible Indigenous sacred site at the base of Mount Ainslie should not be granted application approval until further assessments have been undertaken on the site’s cultural significance.
Queensland
How a coalfields union stoush could change the way many of us work
A legal case started in the Queensland coalfields is still reverberating and could lead to a fundamental change in employment.
Mayor leaves door open for earlier return of kerbside collection
The popular scheme was dumped for two years in a coronavirus-hit budget.
No worries for cassowaries, with lifesaving footbridge planned for far north Queensland
A rainforest-covered bridge costing $13m is being built over the Bruce Highway in far north Queensland in a bid to protect endangered cassowaries.
South Australia
More than 1000 bus stops to go, claims Labor [$]
Labor says it’s identified 1000 bus stops that will go under a sweeping overhaul of public transport, more than twice the number initially flagged by the State Government.
Tasmania
Australia Day medal recipient ‘distressed’ prime bird habitat to be razed for new jail
A respected field naturalist says the Tasmanian Government’s alternative site for a jail at Westbury may look like it’s dead and dying trees but it is prime bird habitat and she’s “extremely distressed” by prison plans.
kanamaluka/Tamar estuary education program launches
A new educational campaign is hoping to answer all of Launcestonians and the wider community’s questions about the social history of the kanamaluka/Tamar estuary, its water quality and who looks after it.
End environmental extremism [$]
Graeme Elphinstone
By harnessing renewable resources and not setting out to stop progress at all costs, we can achieve a more balanced approach to our future, writes
Northern Territory
New NT party Territory Alliance makes surprise election pledge to ban fracking
Territory Alliance leader Terry Mills is promising to put the brakes on fracking, saying no new production permits will be issued if his party wins government at the August NT election.
Native threatened species roams Central Australian bush for the first time in decades
About 30 red-tailed phascogales were bred in captivity over the past year in Alice Springs and have now made their home at a feral-animal-free sanctuary.
Terry Mills taking a huge gamble with pledge to ban fracking [$]
NT News editorial
Territory Alliance leader Terry Mills has thrown a massive curve ball in the 2020 election race by changing his stance on fracking, now saying he will ban it if he is elected chief minister.
Western Australia
World-first blockchain solar trading trial using Australian tech finds P2P feasible
W.A. trial using Power Ledger technology finds peer-to-peer solar trading technically feasible, good for grid and consumers – but unlikely to succeed under current tariff structures.
WA native title case to rival Timber Creek and Mabo cases
Tjiwarl TO’s say they have lost significant cultural sites that formed part of rituals, custom and the dreaming through the destruction and damage to land caused by the WA government and mining corporations.
Sustainability
French conservationists have warned masks and gloves are ending up in the Mediterranean Sea in growing numbers amid widespread usage of protective gear due to coronavirus pandemic.
Russia’s coronavirus recovery plan has no space for renewables
While Russia stands fourth in the world for overall electricity generation, it is ranked 109th for renewables.
Decline in green energy spending might offset COVID-era emissions benefits
Green energy investments have come to a halt during global crisis
Towards a green future: Efficient laser technique can convert cellulose into biofuel
Scientists developed a novel laser-based strategy for the effective degradation of cellulose into useful products
Small modular reactor rhetoric hits a hurdle
Jim Green
The latest GenCost report estimates a hopelessly uneconomic construction cost for small nuclear reactors, but it throws the nuclear lobby a bone.
IEA plan short on vision, ignores need for structural shift to renewables
Saara Kujala
The IEA’s Sustainable Recovery Plan focuses on short-term improvements, but lacks long-term vision that accelerates the shift to 100% renewables.
How to cut your fuel bill, clear the air and reduce emissions: stop engine idling
Robin Smit and Clare Walter
Removing engine idling would be like removing up to 1.6 million cars from the road.
Kim Borg et al
Just because we’re in a period of change, doesn’t mean we have to lose momentum.
Corporations need to do more to solve global water problems
Will Sarni
Water insecurity and low resiliency revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic make it clear that stewardship is not enough: We need greater collaboration, innovation and engagement with public policy.
One of world’s rarest dolphins rebounding in Pakistan
Rescue efforts have boosted the Indus dolphin’s numbers, but dams on the Indus River continue to disrupt the marine mammal’s movements.
COVID-19 lockdown reveals human impact on wildlife
An international team of scientists is investigating how animals are responding to reduced levels of human activity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Helping to protect the most illegally trafficked mammals in the world
Researchers help wildlife crime investigators disrupt poachers and animal traffickers in an effort to bring them to justice.
A new study from the University of Delaware finds that tropical forest loss is increased by large-scale land acquisitions and that certain kind investment projects — including tree plantations and plantations for producing palm oil and wood fiber — are “consistently associated with increased forest loss.”
Stone stacking menace to biodiversity
Catarina Serra-Gonçalves
Scientists from around the world are begging people not to make stone stacks, which are emerging as a threat to micro-habitats.
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