Post of the Day
Australian Government corrupt connections – fossil fuels
Aaron Brooks and Daniel Bleakley
Our politicians are highly connected to big business
On This Day
Ecological Observance
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
Coronavirus Watch
Climate Change
Young climate activists start own climate talks after Cop26 delay
Mock Cop26 set up in frustration at lack of progress due to coronavirus crisis
EU carbon market’s free handouts are impeding climate action, auditors say
The European Union should change the way it hands out free pollution permits in the bloc’s carbon market, which is failing to bring about deep cuts in emissions.
Climate grief is burning across the American West
Climate change is making wildfires bigger, fiercer, and deadlier, fueling a new kind of despair on the West Coast—and beyond.
Scientists find new way climate change can ruin life as we know it
T-Rex would have liked having the heat return to dinosaur territory, and other ironies of global warming.
How US climate deniers are working from Australia’s playbook [$]
Kishor Napier-Raman
From ‘greenies’ to ‘arsonists’: Australia is watching the West Coast wildfires with an eerie sense of déjà vu.
Drought, plague, fire: the apocalypse feels nigh. Yet we have tools to stop it
Art Cullen
In climate change, the Four Horsemen have a perfect force of destruction. Maybe these fires and floods will be a wake-up call to stop stalling
Climate explained: will the tropics eventually become uninhabitable?
James Shulmeister
What is the impact of temperature increases in the tropics? How likely is it that regions along the Equator will be uninhabitable due to high wet bulb temperatures such as 35℃ and more in places like Singapore? Do we have models that suggest how likely this is and at what time frames?
National
Taylor promises $250 million to advance renewable network priorities
The one piece of good news from the Coalition’s gas plan was $250 million in funding to accelerate three new transmission links critical for big renewable energy projects.
‘Gas-led recovery’ may actually deter energy investment: Experts
Climate change and clean energy campaigners were left dismayed at the federal government’s plans to spearhead a “gas-led recovery” from COVID-19, saying it will be ineffective and damage the prospects of meeting international emissions reduction commitments.
Coalition began writing landmark environment bill before receiving review it had ordered
Review of EPBC Act was delivered to government 11 days after process of drawing up legislation had begun
Why you should care about Australia’s Sustainable House Day
Tamborine local Matt Luthi has managed to build two 10-star energy-rated houses in the last six years, and he reckons anyone can do it.
BHP cool on heritage site ban [$]
BHP has rejected a proposed moratorium on mining activities that might impact cultural heritage sites across Australia until relevant laws are strengthened.
Labor’s environment lobby backs Albanese over climate target omission
Labor’s grassroots environmental network has thrown its support behind Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese’s decision to leave out specific 2030 climate change targets from the party’s preliminary draft platform.
‘Good news for business’: Manufacturers back gas-fired recovery plan
Some of Australia’s top manufacturers have backed the federal government’s gas policy, saying it should lower prices and protect local jobs.
Australian Government corrupt connections – fossil fuels
Aaron Brooks and Daniel Bleakley
Our politicians are highly connected to big business
Gas Gush: the toadies of mainstream media trot out government’s fossil fuel fracking campaign
Michael West
Gas fracking and a new fossil fuel power plant got a big leg-up today as News Corp, Nine Entertainment, ABC News and Guardian Australia faithfully splashed with the latest government gas plan on their front pages today.
Australia should be very afraid of Morrison’s sinister fossil fuel decree
Giles Parkinson
There is nothing accidental or haphazard about the Coalition’s latest threat to the energy industry, and the attempt to force-feed more gas generation into Australia’s main grid.
Samantha Hepburn
The federal government today announced it will build a new gas power plant in the Hunter Valley, NSW, if electricity generators don’t fill the energy gap left by the Liddell coal-fired station when it retires in 2023.
Database hysteria exposes the deep hypocrisy of compliant outlets [$]
Bernard Keane
The Australian media demands we be frightened by Chinese firms doing exactly what Western spy agencies have been doing for years.
Australia’s gas problem is not that we don’t have enough. It’s that we ship out what we do have
Ian Verrender
The Federal Government has laid out a plan to cut gas prices and kickstart the economy, but it largely sidesteps the root cause of the gas-price crisis
Scott Morrison’s power plan is nothing but a gas-fuelled calamity
Katharine Murphy
The Coalition has royally stuffed up energy policy when Australia should be moving to fuels of the future
Gas will help Australia bounce back better and stronger from the pandemic
Angus Taylor
Gas is part of our plan to reduce emissions without imposing new costs on households.
Scott Morrison’s Narrabri gas field plan an economic test for next election
David Crowe
The Prime Minister takes an unequivocal position that more gas is good for the country but for many in the environmental movement, gas is the next Adani coal mine, to be stopped at all costs.
Batteries could overtake gas plan [$]
Chanticleer
Angus Taylor’s gas plan could easily become redundant if technology, such as battery power, and consumer-driven demand take us down a different path.
Forget the coal wars, now it’s gas [$]
Jennifer Hewett
Scott Morrison’s plan to focus on gas will upset environmentalists and the pro-coal enthusiasts in his party. But the PM insists the government must be ready to step up.
Gas shake-up strikes right energy and climate balance [$]
Ben Eade
The Prime Minister’s intervention in the gas market means Australians won’t have to choose between cutting emissions, lower power prices and manufacturing jobs.
Morrison’s activism no guarantee of cheaper gas [$]
AFR View
The Prime Minister’s muscular push for government intervention to reduce the cost of gas may end up reducing supply by scaring off private investment.
Super funds are feeling the financial heat from climate change
Amandine Denis
The wild fires that have ravaged the US west coast, turning skies orange, are a lurid reminder that climate change looms ever larger as an economic threat.
James Jin Kang
The philanthropic foundation of mining billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest has unveiled a plan to transform how Australia responds to bushfires.
The power stations we must have [$]
Terry McCrann
A modern coal-fired power station remains the most effective way of generating the baseload power without which no electricity system can function or even survive.
Emissions target talk is just hot air [$]
Dennis Shanahan
Whether Labor has a medium or a long-term target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — 2030 or 2050 — is a meaningless illusion.
Morrison energy plan’s focus is ‘stuff that works’ [$]
Australian editorial
Charged by the urgency of the COVID-19 crisis and the recession it has caused, Scott Morrison has laid out a much-needed blueprint to safeguard the future of Australia’s energy market.
Game of bluff’s takeaway message: the future is renewables [$]
John Durie
The federal government is playing a game of bluff with big energy, but the not so hidden message behind the gas plan is an admission that the future is renewables and gas is simply a transition mechanism.
Victoria
Hobsons Bay’s Urban Forest Strategy to increase tree canopy
Hobsons Bay will enjoy improved air quality, reduced ground temperature, enhanced liveability and more shade on buildings and open spaces through the delivery of an ambitious plan.
State government loggers to appeal possum court win
State government logging agency VicForests has lodged an appeal against a Federal Court decision that ruled it had unlawfully destroyed possum habitat.
Rig set to begin gas drilling near Port Campbell
The drilling of a new onshore-to-offshore gas well near Port Campbell is expected to begin at the end of this month.
Lockdown putting thousands of homes at risk of bushfires [$]
Serious concerns about the ability of Melburnians to prepare their regional holiday homes for bushfire season have been raised, with fears many won’t be insured if they can’t tend to their homes in time.
New South Wales
Transgrid shortlists projects for 1.4GW New England renewable zone
Transgrid short-lists projects that will be able to bid for 1,400MW capacity on a new transmission line in New England region of NSW.
Taylor gives up on Liddell coal extension, but what is an “acceptable” battery?
Angus Taylor gives up on idea of forcing AGL to keep Liddell coal generator online, but what is an “acceptable” battery?
Atlassian co-founder says it is ‘bullshit’ that giant fossil fuel companies need subsidies to extract gas and export it
Huge tree for every backyard in south-west growth area under new plan
Every residential lot in a major urban growth area of Sydney will be required to have at least one eight-metre-high tree in the backyard and one five-metre tree in the front yard.
Property developer the only stakeholder to raise concerns about NSW koala policy
The only concerns John Barilaro passed on over the divisive koala planning policy were those of a major north coast developer.
Closing Liddell power plant to have only short-term effects: report
Closing Liddell power station would lift NSW wholesale power prices by more than a quarter but the effects would decline as more capacity entered the market, according to a leaked report.
Contentious NSW koala policy covers Sydney suburbs [$]
Suburbs and areas as varied as the Northern Beaches, Liverpool and Newcastle have been identified as potential habitats for koalas under new guidelines which last week threatened to split the state government.
Farmers fear the new koala policy could overturn hard-fought wins
Peter Holt
Replacing the policy designed to protect koala habitat in NSW was a step in the right direction, but it successor is far from perfect.
ACT
Liberals say they could ditch Woden light rail route for Belconnen [$]
Woden could be ditched as the next stage of light rail and replaced with Belconnen under a Liberal government.
Queensland
Hana seals finance for first Australia solar farm, says more projects planned
Korea’s Hana Financial inks deal to finance 162MW Columboola solar project in Queensland, and says looking for more projects in Australia.
‘Like an outlaw’: Climate activist challenges Brisbane library ban
A climate activist has appealed Brisbane City Council’s decision to ban Extinction Rebellion from booking library rooms, saying the council’s decision was politically “discriminatory” and left her feeling “like an outcast and outlaw”.
Senate inquiry is bringing evidence about state of Great Barrier Reef to the surface [$]
Peter Ridd
The Senate committee inquiry into the regulation of farm practices impacting water quality on the Great Barrier Reef has yielded some remarkable confessions by science institutions about the state of the reef.
South Australia
Liquor giant Dan Murphy’s makes big solar push in South Australia
Dan Murphy’s parent company Endeavour Group says 50% of the liquor retailer’s South Australian stores will have rooftop solar by mid-2021.
Island barrier can’t out-fox penguin predators [$]
There are fears new fencing at Granite Island can’t do enough to shield the local penguin population, with nine still falling prey to foxes over the winter.
Port Willunga coastal path plans released [$]
The plans for a Port Willunga coastal path – which will make up part of a 70km walking and cycling path from North Haven to Sellicks Beach – have been unveiled.
Tasmania
Tasmania hails Commonwealth move to fast-track Marinus Link
The Marinus Link undersea interconnector project will be fast-tracked under a sweeping Commonwealth government plan to bring down power prices and improve the nation’s fuel security.
UTAS moves to control PFAS contamination at AMC’s Bell Bay firefighter training facility
The University of Tasmania has carried out works to restrict the spread of PFAS chemicals at AMC Search’s Firefighting Centre at Bell Bay after studies found contamination above human health guidelines.
Conservationists cancel award-winning operator’s lease [$]
The proponent of a controversial tourism development says the decision to end his lease on another site is “political”.
Court fine for dumping used tyres in the bush
Media release – Environment Protection Authority
A man who was previously issued with an Environment Infringement Notice (EIN) by the EPA for dumping used tyres in private bushland near Nugent was fined an even larger amount in the Magistrates Court today.
Billion-buck bungle in the pipeline [$]
John Lawrence says the Hydro paid through the nose for the first cable and warns it has not learnt its lesson with the second on the drawing board
Northern Territory
‘Illegal’ walking track built on sacred Indigenous site
The Northern Territory Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority is prosecuting Parks Australia over allegedly illegal works done on a sacred site near Gunlom Falls in Kakadu National Park.
Western Australia
Detention centre network not appropriate for quarantining Australians, Dutton says
WA could accept more Australians travelling home from overseas if they could be quarantined in Commonwealth facilities including Christmas Island and the Yongah Hill immigration detention facility, the state’s Premier Mark McGowan says.
Sustainability
New corporate reporting approach to unite impact and profit
A new shared value approach offers a way to better combine companies’ social and environmental outcomes with profitability
Investors that manage US$47tn demand world’s biggest polluters back plan for net-zero emissions
Climate Action 100+ group put 161 fossil fuel, mining, transport and other big-emitting companies on notice in latest campaign by shareholders
Matthew Yglesias thinks there should be ‘one billion Americans’
In his new book, the journalist and co-founder of Vox argues that dramatic population growth could revitalize the nation.
How to harness the power of biosolids to make hydrogen
Biosolids are the driving force behind a sustainable new method for producing hydrogen from wastewater
Faster, on-site way to detect PFAS
New method could aid in the removal of the toxic, persistent environmental contaminants
Successful improvement of the catalytic activity of photosynthetic CO2 fixing enzyme Rubisco
A research group have succeeded in greatly increasing the catalytic activity of Rubisco, the enzyme which fixes carbon from carbon dioxide in plant photosynthesis. The research team also hypothesized the mechanism which determines the enzyme’s catalytic activity. In the future, it is hoped that increasing the photosynthetic ability of agricultural crops will lead to improved yields.
Most plastic will never be recycled – and the manufacturers couldn’t care less
Arwa Mahdawi
Oil and gas companies make far more money churning out new plastic than reusing old. Meanwhile, the public gets the blame
Getting ethics right for future earnings prosperity
Nathan Parkin
Good corporate Environmental, Social and Governance practices can contribute to lower risk and the ability to achieve higher growth over the long-term
We need societal change if we’re going to thrive on Earth
Rishi Sugla
“Solutions” to environmental problems that assume linear cause and effect and ignore the complexity of interwoven systems are not enough.
Scientific American endorses Joe Biden
Scientific American editorial
We’ve never backed a presidential candidate in our 175-year history—until now
Taiwan conservationists say kicked out of global bird group in China row
A Taiwan conservation group said on Tuesday it had been kicked out of a British-based wild bird protection body after it had been asked and refused to sign a document stating it did not advocate for the Chinese-claimed island’s independence.
World fails to meet a single target to stop destruction of nature – UN report
‘Humanity at a crossroads’ after a decade in which all of the 2010 Aichi goals to protect wildlife and ecosystems have been missed
Extinction is not inevitable. These species were saved
Conservation efforts have saved up to 48 mammal and bird species since 1993, but scientists say much more is needed to stem biodiversity loss.
Global study reveals time running out for many soils, but conservation measures can help
Researchers found more than 90 per cent of the conventionally farmed soils in their global study were thinning, and 16 per cent had lifespans of less than a century. These rapidly thinning soils were found all over the world, including countries such as Australia, China, the UK, and the USA.
Mediterranean and tropical biodiversity most vulnerable to human pressures
Animals in tropical and Mediterranean areas are the most sensitive to climate change and land use pressures, finds a new study.
Satellite images display changes in the condition of European forests
The forest canopy, the closed vegetation cover consisting of treetops, is rapidly declining according to new research. The team used satellite images, to create the first high-resolution map of canopy openings in Europe’s forests and reached the conclusion that the canopy of more than 36 million forest areas has been lost over the past 30 years.
Dams exacerbate the consequences of climate change on river fish
A potential response of river fish to environmental changes is to colonize new habitats. But what happens when dams and weirs restrict their movement? And are native and alien species similarly affected?
Maelor Himbury
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