Daily Links Sep 28

With profit contractions of 95% in the case of Whitehaven and of 65% in the case of No Hope (that’s the name, isn’t it?) Corporation, you’d wonder why anyone would put money into coal. Waddya reckon Gautam, Gina and Clive?

—— Original Message ——
From: “Maelor Himbury” <maelor@melbpc.org.au>
To:
Sent: Monday, 28 Sep, 2020 At 8:34 AM
Subject: Daily Links Sep 28

Post of the Day 

This tenet of American capitalism must change — now 

Christine Bader, Wesley Longhofer 

Let’s build a new economy that better serves people and planet. 

 

On This Day 

September 28 

Yom  Kippur  – Judaism 

 

Ecological Observance 

Nuclear Industry Worker’s Day 

 

Coronavirus Watch 

Today’s Update 

 

Climate Change 

Biden nets progressive climate endorsement 

The endorsement from 350 Action is the latest sign the former veep’s move to boost his climate plan’s ambition is winning over skeptical progressives. 

 

National 

How this sheep farmer turned his back on overgrazing and chemicals to find a ‘natural’ way to  counteract drought 

For five generations, Charles Massy’s family rode on the sheep’s back and nearly destroyed their land in the process. But going back to nature changed his property and turbocharged a “revolution”. 

 

Germany names hydrogen the hero, looks to Australia 

Germany has identified Australia as a potential supplier of vast quantities of hydrogen needed to decarbonise. 

 

‘Tumultuous time’: Australia’s coal miners face $17b export  collapse 

Australia’s coal miners are headed for a sharp collapse in export earnings this year as the shock of the downturn persists. 

 

Miners lash ABC ‘climate injustice’ [$] 

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable has lashed the ABC after the public broadcaster aired an 11-minute report that heavily criticised the mining lobby group without a right  of reply. 

 

Scott Morrison takes hits from  pundits but he’s cooking with gas [$] 

Chris Mitchell 

Many journalists seemed not to understand Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s support for gas-fired power generation this month. 

 

Australia must seize the chance to  lead in green steel [$] 

Sanjeev Gupta 

Hydrogen and steel. It’s a marriage made in heaven and provides the best catalyst for a carbon-free future. 

 

Australians recorded frog calls on their smartphones  after the bushfires – and the results are remarkable 

Jodi Rowley, Australian Museum and Will Cornwell, 

Frogs are one of the most threatened groups of animals on Earth. At least four of Australia’s 240 known frog species are extinct and 36 are nationally threatened. After last summer’s bushfires,  we needed rapid information to determine which frogs required our help. 

 

Students should hold the Government to account  over climate inaction 

Emma Kefford  

A smaller scale day of climate action took place on 25 September and students have plenty of reasons for their voices to be heard 

 

Nostalgia won’t protect Snowy white elephant [$] 

Maurice Newman 

Nostalgia is not enough. Paul Broad, the chief executive officer of Snowy Hydro, has provided a solid rebuttal to an open letter published on this page on September 18. The letter’s 37 authors cannot  be easily dismissed. All have relevant expertise in energy markets, engineering and the environment. 

 

Victoria 

No penalty for Victoria despite ‘wanton  destruction’ of trees vital to red-tailed black cockatoo 

Federal environment took no action despite hundreds of stringybark trees being felled, says BirdLife Australia 

 

Locals cut open golf-course fence during pandemic  and now don’t want to leave 

In Northcote, locals repeatedly cut open the high wire fence surrounding the rolling 24-hectare site. 

 

Former Tesla boffins fuel Carbon Revolution push into EVs [$] 

Electric vehicle manufacturers want lighter and quieter wheels and it’s a market the Geelong manufacturer is chasing. 

 

EPA investigation launched  after potentially toxic soil dumped at dog park [$] 

Victoria’s environmental watchdog is investigating after potentially toxic soil was moved from a former Melbourne fire station and dumped at a dog park in the south eastern suburbs. 

 

New South Wales 

‘This land hasn’t been looked  after for 250 years’: Cultural burning returns to NSW South Coast 

Across the NSW Far South Coast, traditional fire management is helping to rejuvenate land that Indigenous people believe has not been managed properly for  250 years. 

 

Bilbies released into the wild of outback NSW in ‘historic moment’ 

More than 100 years after being declared extinct in the state, 10 of the strongest and healthiest Australian bilbies are released into a protected area of the desert in the Sturt National Park. 

 

Barilaro ignored pleas to protect  koalas after bushfires, insisted logging continue 

An Environment Protection Authority application to halt logging in the Lower Bucca and other state forests was rejected after John Barilaro’s intervention. 

 

ACT 

Massive increases in truck movements from a new Fyshwick development  have local businesses up in arms 

On any given business day at the corner of Collie and Newcastle streets in Fyshwick, long queues of traffic are strung up and down the complex intersection waiting for the lights to slowly change. 

 

Queensland 

State’s coal comfort from  China under threat [$] 

QLD economy One of Queensland’s greatest moneymakers and industries faces a new risk from China, even after the emerging super power kept it going during the global pandemic. 

 

Northern Territory 

Amadeus  Basin should get priority over Beetaloo in govt gas plan: Producer [$] 

The NT’s largest onshore gas producer says the Amadeus Gas Basin near Alice Springs should be at the forefront of the federal government’s new key gas basin strategy. 

 

Sustainability 

Could Barrett ‘shut the courthouse doors’ on enviros? 

If confirmed, Amy Coney Barrett, 48, will become the Supreme Court’s sixth Republican-appointed justice, replacing one of the court’s most liberal members and deepening a conservative majority on  the bench that could affect the outcome of environmental litigation for decades. 

 

Climate change investing may not be your thing,  but a 78% YTD return is 

A wall of money is flowing into environmental stocks and it’s going to keep pushing prices up higher. 

 

Time to take zero-emission flight seriously [$] 

Hydrogen has the potential to halve aircraft emissions, Airbus says. That will not sway cynics who say hydrogen’s potential to be the fuel of the future is never-ending. But it is probably time  to park that jibe. 

 

Can a genetically modified bug combat a global farm plague? 

Biotech company Oxitec has created a caterpillar with self-destructing eggs in an attempt to curb agricultural damage. But will other pests simply move in? 

 

Our plastic planet 

Peter Dykstra 

While climate change remains environmental issue #1, the worries over plastic in our water, soil, food, and bodies continue to grow. 

 

Small modular reactors — the next big thing? 

Helen Caldicott 

Politicians debating nuclear power as an energy source know little of the facts that make small modular reactors a bad idea. 

 

This tenet of American capitalism must change — now 

Christine Bader, Wesley Longhofer 

Let’s build a new economy that better serves people and planet. 

 

Nature Conservation 

Saving Western Canada’s only endangered tree 

Whitebark pine is facing down the triple threat of climate change, habitat loss and disease. Restoration projects by northwest B.C. researchers may be the tree’s best chance for survival 

 

Trump administration to announce plan to open Tongass forest to logging 

The effort to open the Alaskan wilderness area, the nation’s largest national forest, has been in the works for about two years. 

 

Maelor Himbury

6 Florence St Niddrie 3042

0393741902

0432406862

If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by 
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.