Post of the Day
Renewables cut Australia’s emissions more than Covid, energy analysis finds
Wind and solar displacing coal in the five states of the national energy market
On This Day
November 5
International Volunteer Managers Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
United States formally exits Paris Agreement on climate change
The United States formally leaves the Paris Agreement, a global pact forged five years ago to avert the threat of catastrophic climate change.
Human rights and a climate fight: What Joe Biden has promised if he wins
After a challenging year in the US, Joe Biden is hoping voters see him as an ideological alternative to Donald Trump to take the country forward – but what does he stand for?
Environmentalists urge UN to condemn Brazil’s spying at climate talks
Brazilian environmentalists and opposition politicans have urged UN Climate Change to condemn the Brazilian government for sending spies to the 2019 climate talks in Madrid.
Sea-level rise will have complex consequences
Rising sea levels will affect coasts and human societies in complex and unpredictable ways, according to a new study that examined 12,000 years in which a large island became a cluster of smaller ones.
This is a devastating night for Democrats
Jacob Greber
We don’t know the final result yet, but if Biden prevails he’ll have one of the weakest mandates for change in living memory. His expansive climate change agenda would be in tatters before he gets close to the Oval Office.
National
ANZ vows to step away from thermal coal
The bank’s new carbon policy has received a mixed reaction
Renewables cut Australia’s emissions more than Covid, energy analysis finds
Wind and solar displacing coal in the five states of the national energy market
Koala populations in decline due to increased human impacts on nature
Human population growth has had an increasingly negative impact on koala populations through a variety of stressors.
Woodside leaves oil rig for taxpayers to clean up; is Exxon next in the Bass Strait?
Callum Foote
Thanks Woodside. Taxpayers are on the hook for the $200 million-plus clean-up of an ageing oil production platform moored in the Timor Sea. Is Exxon next to shirk its oil rig clean up in the Bass Strait?
Biden as president would pursue climate ‘cheaters’ – and Australia could be among them
Richie Merzian
Scott Morrison has resisted a call to action from the UK – but the US would be hard to ignore
The land of fires, floods, hail and now… tsunamis?
Kim Chappell
So while we are definitely still mindful of the threat of fires, we are now talking about the risks of flooding and, apparently, tsunamis.
Mark Maund et al
Last week, the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements (the “bushfire royal commission”) handed down its anticipated final report, with 80 recommendations on managing future emergencies.
Urban golf courses are biodiversity oases. Opening them up puts that at risk
Nicholas Williams et al
High demand for green space under COVID restrictions led councils in Melbourne to temporarily open golf courses to non-golfers and fuelled public calls to “unlock” or repurpose them permanently. However, this must be done carefully because many golf courses are oases of biodiversity in Australian cities.
ACT
More garbage collection problems loom for the ACT
The ongoing pay dispute between garbage truck drivers and contractor SUEZ appears certain to have ongoing knock-on effects for the ACT government, with waste services again likely to be affected in the week ahead.
Queensland
Eleventh-hour protest to save historic trees from bulldozer [$]
Bayside residents are appealing to both Brisbane City Council and the State Government in a last-ditch effort to save 50-trees from being knocked down to make way for a controversial aged care home near one of the city’s elegant heritage-listed homes.
Adani name change ‘nothing to do with protests’
Activists are going to need to rethink their iconic Stop Adani campaign, with the resources giant announcing it will rebrand the name of its Australian operations. But the company’s CEO insists the change nothing to do with protesters.
South Australia
Warning of ‘brawls on the water’ as tension grows over SA fishing reforms
A “backflip” on introducing commercial King George whiting quotas to South Australia’s West Coast could prompt a rush of fishers from other zones trying to remain viable under controversial reforms, stakeholders warn.
Worry rocket launch site will damage environment [$]
Getting satellites into space shouldn’t cost the Earth, says the Nature Conservation Society of SA. Is the wilderness on the Eyre Peninsula really the best site for it?
Construction of new park at Glenside Cedar Woods development to begin this month [$]
Work on a new public park at Glenside that will link up to the Adelaide Parklands is set to begin this month.
Tasmania
Sustainable Timbers says they used extra funding for bushfire prevention and management [$]
Bushfires which ravaged the East Coast community of Fingal earlier this year contributed to Sustainable Timber Tasmania receiving an additional $3 million in grant funding.
Northern Territory
Tender opens for Darwin big battery to displace gas generation
Tender opens for Darwin big battery that will support more solar and displace gas generation and slash operating costs.
Beheaded buffalo slain by poachers found in Arnhem Land prompts strong warning from NLC [$]
THE Northern Land Council has slammed reports of safari hunters leaving buffalo carcasses to rot in the Mount Catt area of central Arnhem Land, urging anyone without a valid permit to leave.
Western Australia
It sounds like a great idea: convert the Pilbara’s beating sunshine and plentiful wind into electricity and send it directly into energy-hungry South East Asia via power cables along the seafloor.
Extinction Rebellion to rally over emissions Bill [$]
The activist group which brought Melbourne’s CBD to a standstill last October has vowed to deploy ‘non-violent civil disobedience strategies’ amid a new WA Greens emission push in State Parliament.
Perth council group pushes ambitious rail plan [$]
An alliance of local councils covering a string of Labor stronghold seats in WA is urging the State Government to support the roll-out of rail lines through Perth’s southern suburbs.
Sustainability
Calls for greater transparency across the plastics supply chain
It is estimated that plastic costs the world more than US$2.2 trillion (A$3.1 trillion) a year in environmental and social damage
US conservative court to consider four key upcoming environment cases
One legal doctrine that courthouse reporters are eyeing closely currently authorizes the EPA to control greenhouse gas emissions.
How do you know when society is about to fall apart?
Meet the scholars who study civilizational collapse.
Why Botswana wants Angola’s exiled elephants to return home
Botswana may have found a solution to its elephant overpopulation: it’s going to encourage some of them to emigrate.
Tel Aviv University says ‘environmentally-friendly’ tableware harms marine animals
A new Tel Aviv University study compares the effects of two types of disposable dishes on the marine environment — regular plastic disposable dishes and more expensive bioplastic disposable dishes certified by various international organizations — and determines that the bioplastic dishes had a similar effect on marine animals as regular plastic dishes.
Wild wallabies are on the run across Britain. So why is nobody paying the any attention?
Anthony Caravaggi and Holly English
When you think of kangaroos and wallabies, you probably don’t think of the temperate climate, unsettled weather and agricultural lands of England. Yet on such pastures, the red-necked wallaby has found a home.
—
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.