Post of the Day
Climate: Support for simple funding plans — even if costs are high
There is growing demand for countries to take aggressive action to combat climate change, but less consensus on how to fund it.
On This Day
Mabon – Paganism
Ecological Observance
National Arbor Day – Barbados
Coronavirus Watch
Climate Change
Children urged to strike against lack of action on climate emergency
Schoolchildren to protest on Friday in first such action since coronavirus pandemic struck
‘I was living my life like I didn’t believe in climate change’ – scientist Shaun Hendy
Shaun Hendy has known about climate change since he was 12, but it took Donald Trump to make him act on it.
How to get a handle on carbon dioxide uptake by plants
How much carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas behind global warming, is absorbed by plants on land? It’s a deceptively complicated question, so a group of scientists recommends combining two cutting-edge tools to help answer the crucial climate change-related question.
Climate: Support for simple funding plans — even if costs are high
There is growing demand for countries to take aggressive action to combat climate change, but less consensus on how to fund it.
Corona-induced CO2 emission reductions are not yet detectable in the atmosphere
The impact of the corona pandemic will reduce worldwide carbon dioxide emissions by up to eight percent in 2020. Cumulative reductions of about this magnitude would be required every year to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement by 2030.
Tree planting has potential to increase carbon sequestration capacity on Nation’s forests
In the United States, fully stocking non-stocked and poorly stocked forests would result in an annual increase of 20 percent in the amount of carbon sequestered by forests.
Climate: risks and future strategies in Italy
It could be worth up to 8% of GDP per capita, exacerbate the differences between north and south, between society’s rich and poor, as well as affect a number of Italy’s strategic sectors: climate change is a risk accelerator for many aspects of both the economy and society.
National
Morrison performs massive backflip on Liddell gigawatt gas plan
It appears that some energy grown-ups have had a quite word in the ears of prime minister Scott Morrison, and his advisors who appear to be locked in the world they inhabited when heading up the country’s most ardent fossil fuel lobby, the Minerals Council of Australia.
Taylor’s technology roadmap likely to be a boost for not-so-green hydrogen
Morrison’s imminent technology roadmap is set to call for ‘blue hydrogen’, produced using fossil fuels, to compete alongside zero emissions green hydrogen.
Prices remain high, volumes low in latest Emissions Reduction Fund auction
Latest Emissions Reduction Fund auction nets 7 million tonnes of emissions abatement, the best result in years, but questions remain around its role in meeting emissions targets.
Australia’s new energy ‘roadmap’ to focus on specific industries
The Federal Government is reshaping the nation’s approach to reducing carbon emissions, turning the focus to backing a select few technologies and supporting heavy industry.
More than half still approve of Morrison’s handling of the pandemic, but many are sceptical tax cuts for high earners will stimulate economy
Morrison’s tech roadmap flags more investment in carbon capture and storage
Net zero emissions by 2050 still not on the table but ‘clean’ hydrogen, ‘low carbon’ steel and CCS part of decade-long funding, Angus Taylor says
Hydrogen, nuclear power in $68bn energy road map [$]
Clean hydrogen is a top priority in a $68bn energy plan to slash power prices and create 130,000 new jobs – but nuclear power is also being considered for Australia.
Australia to get 25 million trees to help recover from last summer’s bushfires
The project will result in around 4.25 million tonnes of carbon dioxide sequestered over the next 25 years, equivalent to taking nearly a million cars off the road for a year.
‘It’s your day job’: AGL’s carbon bonus under fire [$]
Cutting emissions is part of the “day job” for AGL CEO Brett Redman and should not be worthy of significant bonuses, say Institutional Shareholder Services.
Gas is not the answer to our power costs [$]
Matt Canavan
In 2016 all the lights went out in South Australia, the first time that had happened across an entire Australian state since the 1960s.
Much-touted carbon capture and storage must deliver [$]
Paul Garvey
Before it was heralded by Energy Minister Angus Taylor as one of Australia’s five “priority technologies” in tackling emissions, carbon capture and storage found favour and funding from Kevin Rudd’s first government.
Climate roadmap for our pragmatic Prime Minister [$]
Australian editorial
Technology and innovation have always been the best answer to meeting the challenge of lifting global economic prosperity while safeguarding the biodiversity of a shared planet.
Australia could potentially waste another industrial boom
Tim Cornwall
Australia’s renewable energy endowment means that there is likely to be a boom similar to that of the mining industry in the early 2000s
Scott Morrison’s three hundred year climate plan is a dark moment for Australia
Ketan Joshi
“Gas chose Itself”. Those who profess – like Scott Morrison – to be ‘technology neutral’ are scrambling for a way to dismiss the urgency of climate action.
Mining companies have operated with a free rein and few consequences for too long
Jamie Lowe
The Juukan Gorge catastrophe could have happened to any mining company. We need strong law reform
Morrison government lays down five technologies for its clean energy investment
Michelle Grattan
The Morrison government will tell its refocused clean energy agencies and the clean energy regulator to give priority to investment in five low emissions technologies and report how they are accelerating them.
Voice of Regional Australia: Long live the wonders of the wild
Jess Wallace
As a kid who grew up in the mountain scrub, I was pretty fortunate to live alongside a great variety of our native animals.
Senator Ian the Climate Denialist Potato on the government’s plans for gas
First Dog on the Moon
It is part of the journey from coal (my first love) to so-called renewables and then back to coal again after renewables destroy civilisation
Victoria
Three-way dispute as West Gate Tunnel project faces $3 billion in cost overruns
Leaked cabinet documents reveal the $6.7b West Gate Tunnel project faces a $3b cost blowout and running at least 10 months late, in part due to problems with underground pipes.
New South Wales
Fewer than 200 wild koalas survive near this NSW town. The locals hope to change that
A new koala sanctuary is opening near Port Stephens this week to help rehabilitate sick and injured animals. It’s the result of a long campaign by local volunteers.
Horticulture has taken over whole valleys
Ecologist Mark Graham talks about the effect of the horticulture industry on the ecology of the Clarence River catchment & Solitary Islands Marine Park.
Damning federal government report on Warragamba Dam plan
A leaked federal environment department report on the Warragamba Dam wall-raising proposal requests WaterNSW redo its cultural heritage surveys.+3
Indigenous elders have applauded a leaked federal environment department report on the Warragamba Dam wall-raising proposal that requests WaterNSW redo its cultural heritage surveys.
Queensland
CleanCo, BHP strike deal to ‘substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions’
A five-year deal has been agreed to whereby CleanCo will provide BHP with electricity from renewable sources for the latter’s coal mines in Queensland.
Senex gets huge gas boost from Government tender
Senex has received a huge boost by being named preferred tenderer for gas acreage that could boost its Atlas field production by about 50 per cent.
Pennings says it will be “lawyers at 10 paces” in Adani fight
Activist Ben Pennings said his fight with Adani was far from over following court orders banning him from some of his more successful protest actions.
Jellyfish and chips? It could ensure plenty more (other) fish in the sea
UQ researchers have suggested switching to jellyfish and chips in an effort to stop fishing of critically endangered species
Electric bus that runs on sunlight to power through testing in Brisbane
An electric bus that runs on 100 per cent solar power is set to be trialled on Brisbane streets, once engineers stop it from going too fast.
South Australia
New research reveals deaths and costs from smoke inhalation during Summer 2019/2020 bushfires [$]
More South Australians died from smoke linked to last season’s devastating bushfires than in the blazes themselves, new research reveals.
Renmark firm creates solar jobs
When the sun beats down on the Riverland, investors will smile once a new solar farm is in operation. Renmark company Yates will build that farm and several more, creating regional jobs.
Only the centre-right can tackle climate change in SA
David Speirs
Ignoring ideological symbolism and gestures to focus on real, practical measures in environmental and climate change policy is the only way forward, argues state environment minister.
Single-use plastic ban is great but we can do even more [$]
Lainie Anderson
Old habits might be hard to break but it’s about time we toughen up and get serious about recycling.
Tasmania
The Great Lake Community Centre at Miena was at capacity when opponents of plans to introduce tourism development in wilderness areas held a public meeting on Sunday.
Onset of 2020 fire season likely to be later than usual, Emergency Management Minister says [$]
Decent spring rainfall across the state could have pushed back the onset of the dangerous fire period for Tasmania, according to the Emergency Management Minister.
Farmers abandoned in Tassie battle over deer [$]
Simon Cameron
Feral deer wreak havoc and compete for pasture, yet government favours recreational hunting, while the TFGA fails to stand up for farmers.
Northern Territory
Kakadu’s lost humpback whale rides high tide out to sea
After spending 17 days in the murky waters of the East Alligator River in Kakadu, a humpback whale has taken advantage of the weekend’s high tides to return to the sea.
Origin resumes fracking in Beetaloo Basin as Coalition pushes gas-led recovery
Origin Energy restarts fracking in Beetaloo basin after Covid-19 triggered pause, a project that could cause Australia to blow through its carbon targets.
Western Australia
Decision to allow Juukan Gorge destruction may have been invalid, inquiry told
Doubts are raised about the legality of the WA Government’s 2013 approval for the destruction of Juukan Gorge, an inquiry into Rio Tinto’s demolition of the ancient Pilbara rock shelters is told.
Significant WA cultural heritage sites ‘at risk’ in planned Rio Tinto mine expansion
More than 120 cultural heritage sites could be destroyed in Western Australia’s Pilbara region by a planned Rio Tinto expansion, a Senate inquiry has been told.
New heritage laws to redefine protection of historic sites
The new proposed Aboriginal cultural heritage laws can signal a “shift in the goalposts” to better protect Australia’s historic sites.
Newman residents’ pollution worries grow as air quality report gathers dust
Residents in a Pilbara town don’t know if the dust blanketing their homes could harm them, two years after the government committed to testing the air for harmful particles.
Sustainability
Kosovo lead poisoning victims still awaiting justice
Today, the United Nations human rights expert on hazardous waste called out the UN for consistently failing the victims of widespread lead poisoning in refugee camps it ran in Kosovo.
World’s top companies urge action on nature loss ahead of UN talks
More than 560 companies with combined revenues of $5.5 trillion have signed a joint statement demanding governments help them do more to combat climate change while supporting healthy ecosystems and human wellbeing.
Unexpected wildfire emission impacts air quality worldwide
During wildfires, nitrous acid plays a leading role — spiking to levels significantly higher than scientists expected, driving increased ozone pollution and harming air quality, according to a new study.
Advancing the accurate tracking of energy poverty
IIASA researchers have developed a novel measurement framework to track energy poverty that better aligns with the services people lack rather than capturing the mere absence of physical connections to a source of electricity. This alternative framework can aid better tracking of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 by virtue of its simplicity and sensitivity to the diversity in service conditions among the poor.
Farmer knowledge is key to finding more resilient crops in climate crisis
A new paper in Frontiers in Plant Science reviews the ‘Seeds for Needs’ approach that combines farmers’ knowledge of resilient crops with ‘elite’ varieties identified by scientists.
Peter Boyer
Just as we discover tree may be life in Venus’s toxic atmosphere, we take another step on the path to making our own planet uninhabitable.
Botswana says toxins in water killed hundreds of elephants
Toxins in water produced by cyanobacteria killed more than 300 elephants in Botswana this year, officials said on Monday, announcing the result of an investigation into the deaths which had baffled and alarmed conservationists.
Fierce, frequent, climate-fueled wildfires may decimate forests worldwide
Wildfires among ponderosa pines and Douglas firs of the U.S. West have long been part of nature’s cycle of renewal, as much as the changing of the seasons.
Nature conservation and tourism can coexist despite conflicts
The concept of sustainable nature tourism plays a key role in mediating conflicts between tourism and nature conservation, a new study shows.
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