Post of the Day
Two key numbers that make battery storage better bet than gas peakers
New report says battery storage is beating gas peakers in Australia on capital costs and fuel costs, and will win too on longer storage
On This Day
Ecological Observance
National Public Lands Day – USA
World Environmental Health Day
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Coronavirus Watch
‘Very likely’ COVID-19 deaths could top 2 million, WHO official warns
The World Health Organization’s Mike Ryan issues a grim warning that the global death toll from COVID-19 could more than double to over 2 million before vaccines are widely distributed.
What governments have learnt from Victoria’s second wave [$]
Tom Burton
A proud medical history is not the same as a disciplined command and control system operating on the ground.
Climate Change
China’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060: What it means
Under international pressure to do more to address global warming, Xi Jinping made a surprise commitment to drastically reduce emissions. Now comes the hard part.
National
‘Status quo’ not enough to protect Australia from natural disasters, royal commission warns
A royal commission into Australia’s response to natural disasters wraps up after four months with a warning that difficult decisions need to be made to protect the nation.
School strike for climate change protests take place across Australia
The worldwide movement made famous by Greta Thunberg resumes after COVID-19 forced its suspension.
‘It wasn’t actually working that well’: Why not everyone wants our cities to return to normal
The pandemic has left our major cities with neither hustle nor bustle. This creative workforce might be the key to bringing our CBDs back from the brink — and making them better than they were before COVID.
Environmental groups excluded from Australian budget lockup
Greenpeace says the government is ‘letting their mates in the room’ and keeping others out amid a planned gas expansion
‘Sliding towards extinction’: koala may be given endangered listing as numbers plummet
The species is among 28 animals being assessed for potential upgrade of their threat status, federal government says
Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon threatens to quit shadow cabinet over emissions target
Rightwinger says he wouldn’t quit party but if medium-term target was ‘so offensive’ he would go to backbench
Will Labor drop climate policy before the next election? – Australian politics live podcast
Katharine Murphy talks to Joel Fitzgibbon, the member for Hunter, about Labor’s stance on climate and fossil fuel industries.
Split emerges over policies to lift population growth
Top economists are split over whether the federal government should intervene to bolster the nation’s falling population growth rate as debate swells about policies to attract more migrants when many Australians are unemployed.
Two key numbers that make battery storage better bet than gas peakers
New report says battery storage is beating gas peakers in Australia on capital costs and fuel costs, and will win too on longer storage
“Yes we can”: Energy experts plot path to fossil-free grid
Five energy experts talk about the path to a renewables grid – good planning, lots of storage, and management of solar PV and electric vehicles among the priorities.
CEFC may have to sell wind and solar investments to fund $18bn technology roadmap
The controversial Technology Roadmap unveiled by the Morrison government this week could force the country’s green bank to sell profitable investments in wind and solar projects so it can channel these funds into new preferred technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
Climate strikes call for Indigenous-led protection of Country
More than 500 small protests were held today, calling for a move towards renewable energy and Indigenous-led decision making when it comes to protecting Country.
New threatened species listing process to meet bushfire impacts
Sussan Ley MP, Minister for the Environment
As the Morrison Government continues it $200 million roll out of bushfire wildlife and habitat recovery programs, I have today announced that the threatened listing status of 28 species, including the koala and the Greater Glider, will be formally assessed.
We don’t have to choose between the economy and lower emissions
Alan Finkel
There are people who think we can’t focus on reducing emissions because the only thing that counts is the economy, and there are those who think the opposite. But this is a false dichotomy.
China’s push puts end of fossil fuels in sight
Nick O’Malley
Floods in China, heat in the Himalayas and political currents in the United States will all play a part in how the Morrison government’s energy plans play out.
Australia’s natural history and native species should be on the citizenship test
Thomas M Wilson
Australia’s proposed changes to the citizenship test has raised questions about whether you can really evaluate someone’s “Australian values” via a set of exam questions.
Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn and Ben Gooden
When it comes to new botanical discoveries, one might imagine it’s done by trudging around a remote tropical rainforest. Certainly, that does still happen. But sometimes seemingly familiar plants close to home hold unexpected surprises.
A price is right [$]
Saturday Paper editorial
It’s strange to watch Ross Garnaut talk about a carbon price so many years after Tony Abbott succeeded in tearing it apart.
Victoria
Royal Botanic Gardens to reopen as city shakes off long winter in lockdown
After shutting its gates in early August because of the second wave of COVID-19, the Royal Botanic Gardens will reopen on Saturday.
New South Wales
Plan ahead to keep our south coast national parks safe
Ahead of the school holidays and October long weekend, visitors are reminded to please plan their trip to NSW national parks as staff prepare for a busy Spring season.
‘We knew we had to do something’: Climate action rally held in Sydney
Dozens of placards demanding stronger climate action hung from string and waved in the wind in Martin Place on Friday. While the Sydney CBD was notably emptier than last year’s climate strike, the sentiment was just as strong.
The battle over Narrabri gas explained [$]
Political pressure is strong for the NSW Independent Planning Commission to approve Santos’ Narrabri gas project but doubts around risks to water, in particular, won’t go away.
Cooking the books on Liddell and energy policy
Rod Campbell
The real story behind the Liddell numbers produced by the Coalition government to justify their intervention in the gas and electricity markets.
NSW Nationals over a Barilaro [$]
Mike Seccombe
On everything from policies regarding water capture to koalas, the NSW Nationals – led by the controversial John Barilaro – are fast losing popularity with their rusted-on constituents and the support of their own party members.
ACT
Canberra students take climate strike protest to Parliament House
Rain wasn’t going to stop student protests to demand action on climate change. After all, many of those who attended thought rain would be the least of their weather worries in coming years.
Queensland
How ‘carbon farming’ is sucking the life out of our outback communities
The Paroo Shire in western Queensland is struggling to overcome a key plank in addressing climate change that has hit its population levels, economy and social cohesion.
Straddie elders join growing calls for island investigation [$]
A group of Stradbroke Island’s traditional owners have joined forces to call for a public inquiry into the management of the island after a decade of concerns and allegations of secrecy around a controversial land deal.
South Australia
No break from fishing ban as snapper crisis deepens [$]
Any hopes of ending SA’s three-year snapper ban early have been dashed by a new survey that’s revealed their numbers have continued to fall despite drastic intervention.
Should the public help pay for parklands? [$]
The Adelaide Parklands are for all South Australians, but only about 26,000 pay for its upgrades. Now, Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor wants to see that change.
Tasmania
Tasmania’s next big aquaculture industry – seaweed – is set to play a key role in an Australian solution to help curb climate change and increase food security.
Northern Territory
Beetaloo Basin traditional owners say fracking plans will ‘destroy the very life of this land’
Traditional owners of one of five strategic gas basins the Federal Government has identified as part of its gas-led recovery plan are vowing to take control of negotiations with gas companies and protect the environment.
Western Australia
‘Shocking act of corporate vandalism’: Traditional owners hit back at Juukan blast during inquiry
Traditional owners of the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge destroyed by mining giant Rio Tinto lodge their submission to the parliamentary inquiry, saying the resources industry “could not be relied on to attach true value to Aboriginal heritage”.
Traditional Owners slam Rio Tinto for secretly laying explosives in Juukan Gorge despite pleas to stop
In their submission, the PKKP detailed their desperate attempts to halt the destruction as Rio Tinto continued to lay the ground with explosives.
Sustainability
French consortium developing first completely recyclable wind turbine blades
Completely recyclable wind turbines are a step closer, with development of new resins and composite materials.
Study: Air pollution linked to more strokes in people with Afib
Higher air pollution levels increase risk of stroke for individuals with the common heart ailment atrial fibrillation.
Environmental and consumer advocacy groups claim that the EPA’s decision will lead to more atrazine in US water bodies and leave children unprotected.
Drone footage shows wildfires sweeping across central Argentina
Wildfires are burning out of control in the hills and rural areas in the central Argentine province of Cordoba.
Fires turn Brazil’s tropical wetlands into wildlife death traps
A group of veterinarians attempts to rescue animals injured by fires in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.
How clean are England’s rivers? The latest report makes for uncomfortable reading
Rachel Salvidge
If you’ve been wild swimming this summer it’s worrying to discover that all water bodies are polluted beyond legal limits
Maelor Himbury
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