Daily Links Jun 4

It’s a while since the hoary old chestnut of geoengineering appeared, or a discussion of how it might represent an uncontrolled experiment on the one planet that we have. Modelling reported upon in this article projects weaker winter storms, prolonged heat waves and a reduction in rainfall. Why oh why would we do it!

Post of the Day

Energy firms urged to mothball coal plants as cost of solar tumbles

Building new solar power projects would generate cheaper electricity than running most of the world’s existing coal power plants, according to a global renewable energy report.

 

On This Day

Jun 4

 

Coronavirus Watch

Confirmed cases:7,229 Deaths: 102

 

Coronavirus update: UK death toll passes 50,000 as Sweden admits mistakes were made

The United Kingdom’s COVID-19 death toll surpasses 50,000 as the WHO restart their trial of hydroxychloroquine, while data confirms the number of health workers dying from the disease has risen recently.

 

COVID-19 Could Be a Seasonal Illness With Higher Risk in Winter

A study conducted in Sydney, Australia, during the early epidemic stage of COVID-19 has found an association between lower humidity and an increase in locally acquired positive cases.

 

Climate Change

Reflecting sunlight to cool the planet will cause other global changes

Solar geoengineering proposals will weaken extratropical storm tracks in both hemispheres, scientists find.

 

Emissions reduction and renewables show resilience in face of COVID-19

The renewable energy and emissions reduction industries are performing well and showing resilience despite the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest data released today by the Clean Energy Regulator

 

The alarm over climate financial risk gets louder because of coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores why market regulators, companies and investors should do a better job planning for climate risks to the financial system, a pair of reports finds.

 

Climate risk issues scrutinised at royal commission

The Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements is giving rise to key governance lessons, including the importance of scenario planning on a forward-looking basis.

 

How a Kenyan climate change documentary inspired the world

A documentary, which follows a struggling family fighting the impacts of climate change, has become a case study for how a film’s impact can bring about a global movement and a real change within communities.

 

New study shows global warming intensifying extreme rainstorms over North America

The current warming trajectory could bring 100-year rainstorms as often as every 2.5 years by 2100, driving calls for improved infrastructure and planning.

 

The real ‘truth’ behind global warming guru Greta [$]

Andrew Bolt

At just 17, Greta Thunberg has no expertise in global warming and proposes “solutions” so extreme almost nobody could live by them, yet adults treat her like a guru. But it is her disorders that help to explain why she’s a false prophet.

 

National

Rooftop solar market powers on in Australia, despite Covid-19 blip

Covid-19 finally having some impact on Australian rooftop solar market, but May installations were still the third highest month on record.

 

Energy minister signs US fuel reserve deal

Australia has formalised an oil reserve deal with the US to increase fuel security, but it’s not linked to how much consumers pay for petrol at the bowsers.

 

Stimulus that retrofits housing can reduce energy bills and inequity too

Nicola Willand et al

A long-term housing stimulus package that focuses on retrofitting to cut energy demand would also help households repay the debts being accumulated during this crisis.

 

If clean energy is to drive Australia’s economic recovery, let’s keep it local

Simon Corbell

If we still rely on international supply chains for wind, solar and other projects, Australian jobs will be foregone

 

Victoria

Scientists and engineers say Australia not on track to meet 2030 emissions targets

Scientists, engineers and tech researchers slam Australia for being off-track to meet its weak emissions targets, saying more must be done.

 

Australia’s biggest wind farm starts sending power to the grid

Goldwind Australia’s 530MW Stockyard Hill wind farm is sending power to the Victorian grid from the first of its 149 wind turbines.

 

Calls for review of forestry exemption laws after VicForests conservation breaches

The judgment against the agency could lead to forestry operations being assessed under national environmental laws for the first time in 20 years

 

An end to logging in Victoria: is a rethink required in the wake of the pandemic?

David Hutchens

For a considerable time, the state forestry agency, VicForests, has been the focus of sustained attack in the media. A boilerplate view has emerged of an untrustworthy, unsustainable and unprofitable institution.

 

Electrons, not molecules: How Victoria should dodge gas shortfall

Michael Mazengarb

Victoria could easily avoid a predicted gas shortfall by investments in reducing demand, and switching to electric appliances, instead of expanding new gas supplies.

 

The view from Mallacoota – six months after the bushfires

Kate Jackson

Driving home to Mallacoota, it hit me yet again. After nearly six months, the bush is still black. Stark and sorry.

 

Why Melbourne needs its own version of the Greater Sydney Commission

Marcus Luigi Spiller

The business of metropolitan planning is not the natural game of state governments. The Victorian government tries but cannot manage metropolitan Melbourne.

 

New South Wales

Beloved pine forest to be cut down due to bushfire damage

The Sugar Pine Walk in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, badly burnt in bushfires, will soon be cut down, leaving little but precious memories for locals.

 

‘Cocktail of metals’ dumped into Sydney’s water supply by underground mine

The Tahmoor mine in south-west Sydney is contaminating one of the country’s most important rivers with arsenic and nitrogen and experts are worried the application to extend its operation will be rushed through.

 

New law to force NSW MPs to declare water ownership

NSW MPs will be forced to declare any water ownership or trading under proposed new laws.

 

Inner West Council to press pause on controversial private school park deal

The Inner West Council will halt its plans to grant a private school exclusive access to a public park in exchange for funding upgrades, following community opposition to the multi-million dollar partnership.

 

Coal miner investigated for pollution spill as it eyes expansion

A coal mine south of Sydney seeking approval to expand is being investigated by regulators for a recent pollution spill into a nearby river that feeds popular water holes used for swimming.

 

Labor MPs back bill to stop NSW’s job-boosting Narrabri gas project

Labor leader Jodi McKay could face a fight over the Narrabri gas field development, with every Labor MP targeted in a campaign to warn them how many jobs are at stake.

 

Backyard gardeners around the world are helping to save Australia’s deeply ancient Wollemi pine

Heidi Zimmer and Catherine Offord

Did you read about ‘dinosaur trees’ saved in a secret firefighting mission over summer? Well, these mysterious trees are turning up in backyards in 27 different countries.

 

ACT

Answers needed before next bushfire season

Canberra Times editorial

It’s difficult to think, after what has been a tumultuous year already, that the ACT will once again soon be officially in another bushfire season.

 

Queensland

Trouble on Condamine floodplain track with review of new inland rail route ordered

Construction of the $10 billion Melbourne-to-Brisbane rail line has started, but after 10 years and millions of dollars already spent, debate is still raging about where it should go.

 

Shark nets should be replaced by drumlines, scientific working group says

Conservationists, a marine biologist, and the Queensland Government’s own scientific working group agree that shark nets should be replaced.

 

‘Warplane’ insect a new weapon in fight against noxious Siam weed

t has been likened to an F-111 bomber, now tens of thousands of stem-galling flies are being released in a bid to halt the spread of a serious tropical weed.

 

Like a scene from ‘The Castle’

The Queensland town of Acland has been all but swallowed by a coal mine. After decades of legal battle, there is only one resident left. Tomorrow the High Court will decide if he’ll be swallowed, too.

 

Queensland coal industry wins decade of certainty

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has paved the way for a potential expansion of the state’s coal industry by cementing rail and port monopolies for at least another decade, helping to shield the industry from cost increases.

 

With a little vision, here’s how we can build Brisbane’s bridge to the future

Jon Davies

With one eye on history, it’s not hard to see how Brisbane can turn adversity into the recipe for a better city.

 

South Australia

Suburban helipad proposal slammed by EPA, residents question Government’s handling

A residential helipad proposal rejected by the EPA for being “highly intrusive” has drawn scorn from locals in Adelaide’s inner-east who questioned its consideration by the State Government in the first place.

 

Green waste bins to be collected weekly [$]

West Torrens Council will empty the green bins of 750 households weekly for a year under a new trial that will investigate whether its worth rolling out across the whole district.

 

Community demands access to its local beach [$]

Residents have renewed calls for a southern suburbs beach to open to the public, saying it will allow the completion of a 70km coastal path.

 

Green light for $9.5m wastewater plant upgrade [$]

As the population in the hills grows, so does the amount of stuff that gets flushed down the toilets. Now, Mount Barker Council has a $9.5 million solution to that problem.

 

Tasmania

‘Shock move’: Labor set to back major projects law [$]

A controversial new major projects legislation is likely to become law after Labor signalled their in-principle support, angering the Greens and those against the projects.

 

Western Australia

Tiger snakes tell more about local wetlands’ pollution levels

Tiger snakes living in Perth’s urban wetlands are accumulating toxic heavy metals in their livers, suggesting that their habitats — critical, local ecosystems — are contaminated and the species may be suffering as a result.

 

Chevron could be forced to pay $100m for failure to capture carbon emissions

The Western Australian government rules against the oil and gas company over emissions at the Gorgon LNG project

 

Rio Tinto film exposes miner on Juukan Caves loss [$]

If ever there was any doubt that Rio Tinto knew how deeply Ashburton’s Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples felt about the ancient caves that the mining company destroyed ­legally with WA government heritage exemptions, that doubt is dispelled by a film paid for by the company itself.

 

Sustainability

Solar and wind’s stunning cost advantage sparks call for mass coal closure

A new global study has highlighted the growing advantage of wind and solar costs over new and even existing coal generators, so much so that a decision to replace 500GW (gigawatts) of old coal plant with new renewables would deliver annual savings of $23 billion ($A34 billion) and a timely $A1.4 trillion economic boost.

 

China takes steps to exclude “clean coal” eligibility for green bonds

Small but significant climate step forward for China with reports Beijing has moved to exclude “clean coal” technologies from a list of projects eligible for green bonds.

 

Human waste could help combat global food insecurity

Researchers from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan have proven it is possible to create nitrogen-rich fertilizer by combining the solid and liquid components of human waste.

 

Nature Conservation

How underwater volcanoes provide floating safe havens for tiny marine life

Bubble-filled volcanic rock becomes a life raft for tiny marine organisms, transporting them from one side of the ocean to the other. This can help transport diversity, but can also bring unwanted invaders.

 

Illegal loggers arrested in Amazon forest

Brazilian authorities have seized more than a thousand cubic metres of timber cut illegally from the Amazon rainforest, and arrested 30 people.

 

Brazil slashes budget to fight climate change as deforestation spikes

Efforts to keep the Amazon rainforest standing and reduce Brazil’s planet-warming emissions are being hampered by budget cuts for the country’s environmental watchdog and its main climate change programme, researchers have said.

 

Maelor Himbury

6 Florence St Niddrie 3042

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0432406862

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