Daily Links Jul 24

It is for this market that AGL proposes a gas import facility at Crib Point on Western Port, a Ramsar Wetland and UNESCO Biosphere reserve (disclosure, my day job is EO at the Biosphere Foundation). Please remind me, what are stranded assets again?

Post of the Day

What Joe Biden’s climate plan really signals

Bill McKibben

Élites are finally starting to coalesce around the need for change.

 

On This Day

Jul 24

The First Sermon of Lord Buddha – Bhutan

 

Coronavirus Watch

Confirmed cases: 13,302. Deaths: 133

 

Facial hair, disinfectant, filters: Busting some common mask-wearing myths

It’s now mandatory to wear a mask or face covering in parts of Victoria. We asked the experts about some common mask myths — here’s what they said.

 

Here’s how you know whether you’re coronavirus asymptomatic or presymptomatic

We’ve heard that asymptomatic and presymptomatic people can be at risk of spreading coronavirus without knowing it — but what’s the difference between the two?

 

Climate Change

Scientists want to fight climate change with rocks

Rocks, particularly the types created by volcanic activity, play a critical role in keeping Earth’s long-term climate stable and cycling carbon dioxide between land, oceans, and the atmosphere. In fact, they are a big part of why the Earth’s climate has remained so stable over geological time.

 

Fed gets new carbon warning: ‘Will never be a vaccine for climate’

Wall Street banks make progress on climate change finance, but a group of big investors representing $1 trillion warn Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell of systemic market risks.

 

Meet the young women using lockdown to tackle climate change

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, inspiring young women from across the UK have been using lockdown to fight climate change from home.

 

Could Biden be the climate-change president?

Spencer Bokat-Lindell

His new plan bills itself as a “revolution,” going well beyond anything the Obama administration attempted. Is it enough?

 

What Joe Biden’s climate plan really signals

Bill McKibben

Élites are finally starting to coalesce around the need for change.

 

National

Bushfires royal commission granted another two months to file report

The natural disasters royal commission has been given an extra two months to finish its work because of the impact of coronavirus restrictions.

 

Australia’s water market is excluding Indigenous people, study finds

Aboriginal people hold less than 1% of all water licences, a form of dispossession that needs urgent redress, researchers say

 

Environmental laws and Victorian Covid-19 second wave set to dominate national cabinet

Meeting to consider federal bid to quickly overhaul conservation act and plans to contain localised coronavirus outbreaks

 

Gas fired backfire

The Australia Institute

Why a “gas fired recovery” would increase emissions and energy costs and squander our recovery spending

 

Court action, confusion and a big escape clause: here’s why changes to environment law shouldn’t be rushed

Megan C Evans and Peter Burnett

The proposed changes to be introduced to Parliament in August may ultimately damage the natural places they’re designed to protect.

 

Victoria

North East Link court case all but over as councils reach settlement

A Supreme Court case against the Andrews government over the $16 billion North East Link is all but over, after three of the four councils leading the action pulled out after accepting taxpayer-funded sweeteners.

 

New South Wales

‘Rejected’: Critics unload on proposed Santos gas project

The plan, under which the energy company would drill 850 wellheads in the Pilliga region near Narrabri, is among the most contentious proposals in NSW history.

 

Alleged asbestos conamination coverup on Wamberal Beach

Central Coast Council allegedly covering over building waste including asbestos with sand in 2017 outside a house on Ocean View Drive in Wamberal.

 

‘Looking sad like it was before’: Weeks after a glorious flow, the Barwon-Darling is in trouble again

The Barwon-Darling River is falling rapidly and some sections in Wilcannia are already completely dry. Experts are warning the river will be in a “bad state” this summer unless it rains soon.

 

Australia is sponsoring a failing gas industry

Bruce Robertson

The controversial Narrabri gas project enters the final stages of approval with more than 400 people presenting to the Independent Planning Commission, which will determine its fate. It is the most hotly contested resource project in NSW’s history. Of more than 23,000 submissions, 98 per cent object.

 

Berejiklian Government’s destructive path protected by the law

Sue Arnold

Legal challenges against the continuing elimination of koalas and destruction of Indigenous land by the Berejiklian Government are prohibited.

 

Queensland

Shine Energy invited to apply for Collinsville power station grant two days after securing it

Federal government gave proponent of coal-fired power plant a $4m grant despite having no energy sector experience

 

Welcome to Camp Adani: Miner builds ‘temporary towns’ for 1600 workers

Adani is building small termporary towns in the middle of central Queensland with enough beds for 1600 workers from its rail and mine development in the Galilee Basin.

 

Field of dreams: Queensland mine will produce oil, then green energy, all in one spot

The outback town of Julia Creek could become a significant oil field under a plan that also includes mining vanadium for use in batteries.

 

In a world first, Australian university builds own solar farm to offset 100% of its electricity use

Jake Whitehead et al

Households shouldn’t have to do all the heavy lifting in the renewables transition. A new solar farm shows organisations and businesses how it’s done.

 

South Australia

Australia’s largest free cat desexing program comes to Adelaide [$]

Australia’s largest free cat desexing program is coming to Adelaide, and it is hoped it will make a huge impact on “uncontrolled reproduction”.

 

Sustainability

Plastic waste entering oceans expected to triple in 20 years

Current and planned waste-cutting efforts will reduce volume only by about 7%, say researchers

 

The future of hot water is heat pumps

RMI’s recent report shows that heat pump water heaters are often cheaper to install than gas systems in new residential buildings, and can serve as a keystone technology in a clean energy transition.

 

Nature Conservation

Forest restoration, not just halting deforestation, vital to Amazon

Brazil is well positioned to benefit from forest restoration and agroforestry, but policies in states like Maranhão fail to address that potential and could contribute to further deforestation.

 

A Brazilian forest community shows certified timber really does work

In Pará, the Brazilian state with the highest deforestation rate, communities inside Tapajós National Forest have for the past 15 years run one of the most successful native timber management projects.

 

Environmental defenders voice concerns as COVID-19 crisis deepens

Environmental defenders who protect some of the world’s most threatened ecosystems have had to adapt to the pandemic’s ripple effects on their communities and women, in particular.

Maelor Himbury

6 Florence St Niddrie 3042

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