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Post of the Day
Undue Influence: oil and gas giants infiltrate Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology
Sandi Keane
Oil giants Shell, Santos, Woodside and Chevron finance the Bureau of Meteorology. Sandi Keane investigates the influence of the fossil fuel sector over the Bureau’s public documentation.
On This Day
Saint Clement of Ohrid Day – North Macedonia
Our Lady of Camarin Day – Guam
Virgin of Caacupé Day – Paraguay
Feast of the Immaculate Conception – Catholicism
Bodhi Day – Buddhism
Climate Change
Will Asia’s giants ever deliver their carbon promises? [$]
Matthew Warren
China will be required to reinvent its economy if it is to avoid Brussels’ and Washington’s new carbon diplomacy.
National
Weeks after the fire, Alan Nichols was still washing black ash out of his sinuses. He is not alone
The royal commission into bushfires heard the smoke led to an extra 3,320 hospitalisations and 429 deaths across the country. And experts say Australia needs to address its root cause.
Morrison yet to be granted speaking slot at climate summit he vowed to attend
The Australian prime minister last week insisted he would address the forum to ‘correct mistruths’ about the Coalition’s action on emissions reduction
Advocates want youth heard on climate plan
Advocates want Australia’s youth to have a seat at the table on the nation’s climate action plan, which has been deemed as one of the least ambitious of top polluters.
Coalition heat rises over talk of dumping carry-over credits [$]
Coalition MPs have rounded on Scott Morrison’s plan to drop the use of Kyoto carry-over credits to reach Australia’s 2030 Paris targets.
China’s coal comeuppance as bans spur surge in import prices [$]
New trade figures strongly suggest China’s bans on Australian coal have backfired economically, with coal import prices surging.
Australia up two places, but still near bottom of [global climate index]
As Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepares to address a UN climate summit hosted by British PM Boris Johnson, who has asked leaders for ambitious new commitments, Australia has gone up two places to 54th in the Climate Change Performance Index, but remains near the bottom of the annual ranking.
Undue Influence: oil and gas giants infiltrate Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology
Sandi Keane
Oil giants Shell, Santos, Woodside and Chevron finance the Bureau of Meteorology. Sandi Keane investigates the influence of the fossil fuel sector over the Bureau’s public documentation.
Victoria
After recording ‘unsustainable’ losses, Geelong oil refinery looks to expand into LNG
Viva Energy signs a memorandum of understanding with major energy and investment companies to develop plans for an LNG terminal at their Geelong oil refinery, in the hope diversification could help secure the future of the troubled refinery and its 700 employees.
Koalas burnt in summer bushfires released back into the wild
Fourteen badly injured koala are nursed back to good health thanks to the efforts of wildlife carers and veterinary staff from Zoos Victoria. They have been released back into the bush in East Gippsland and their progress will be closely monitored.
VicForests allowed to resume logging despite risk of ‘irreversible damage’ in fire-hit Gippsland
Letters sent to the forestry agency advised logging in bushfire-affected areas should apply the ‘precautionary principle’ to consider threatened species
New South Wales
Numbats at the brink of extinction hang on with the help of a pest fence
A 9,500-hectare feral predator-free safe haven for numbats, rarer than the black rhino, raises hopes in reversing more than a century of extinction in the NSW wild.
Queanbeyan parks recognised among best in world
Two centrepieces of our local region, Queanbeyan Park and Queen Elizabeth II Park, have again been recognised among the best managed parks in the world after both were reaccredited with prestigious international Green Flag awards.
Floodplain harvesting likely illegal under NSW water management act, crown solicitor warns
The practice is common among irrigators throughout the state and most do not have the special permits required
Premier must adopt ICAC plan to clean up Murray-Darling water rights
SMH editorial
The Berejiklian government has escaped corruption findings over water allocations but ICAC says biased policies are bringing politics into disrepute.
Queensland
Deadly bat disease detected in Queensland as authorities report spike in bites and scratches
A little red flying fox found in suburban Cairns has tested positive for the lethal, rabies-like lyssavirus — just as bat activity booms during breeding season.
Happy Valley township saved from fierce Fraser Island bushfire
Firefighting efforts on Queensland’s Fraser Island spare the township of Happy Valley from a fierce bushfire that came close to tearing through the small community.
Christmas tree centre of latest stoush between tropical island locals, developer
Residents of Keswick Island on the Great Barrier Reef have spent the year fighting with the island’s foreign developer whose latest alleged act has left them furious.
China coal bans hit Gladstone port but other countries take up the slack
The China trade ban has started to have real impacts with the Gladstone port shipping no coal to the country in November, the first time in 10 years that such an event has occurred.
‘Clowns … lock them up’: Lord mayor rips into activists as police lay charges
Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner has lashed out at two Extinction Rebellion activists on Twitter after the pair, now charged over the incident, allegedly blocked a busy intersection in the heart of the city for two hours on Monday.
Staffer clears prime island land for ‘dream home’ [$]
A 2000sq m prime piece of pristine bushland on North Stradbroke Island has been bulldozed by a Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation staffer to build a “dream home”.
Severe storms lash Queensland following heatwave
A string of severe storms have lashed north of Brisbane this afternoon after a fortnight long heatwave, bringing cooler temperatures but leaving homes damaged by strong wind, large hail and heavy rain.
South Australia
Rail electrification budget blows out by $100 million as project delayed again
The budget to electrify Adelaide’s northern train line has blown out and commuters will spend more time on substitute buses while work continues.
Former premier appointed to lead $250m project [$]
Former SA premier Rob Kerin has been appointed to lead a $250 million grain port project, which he says will “transform’ the Eyre Peninsula.
Santos ties up with Mitsubishi for carbon-neutral Barossa LNG [$]
The multi-pronged deal with Mitsubishi includes LNG sales from the Barossa project as well as examining carbon-neutral LNG utilising the Moomba facility.
Outdated leftie ideas let nuclear option go to waste [$]
Christopher Pyne
Senator Penny Wong and her South Australian Labor team should be putting Kimba above kale.
Tasmania
A zoo in Toledo has captured a biofluorescent Tasmanian Devil
A humble Tasmanian devil at the Toledo Zoo in the US state of Ohio has got everyone talking in the first documented case of biofluorescence in the species. Biofluorescence is a phenomenon where an organism absorbs energy from light and re-emits it as a different colour, giving off a glow-in-the-dark type effect.
NSW & Tasmanian swift parrot habitat logging halted by protests
Protests have been carried out this morning in critically endangered swift parrot habitat that is being lost to logging in Tasmania and NSW.
Our waterways heading the way of the Murray Darling Basin [$]
Christine Coughanowr
Freshwater is indeed liquid gold. Let us be mindful of the golden goose.
Northern Territory
Mt Gillen rescues ‘arduous’ for volunteers [$]
Even a simple ankle injury while walking the unmaintained Mt Gillen track results in a major rescue mission, according to emergency service members
Western Australia
‘Tough awakening’: Climate change threatens Ningaloo Reef’s future
The latest report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists climate change as the biggest threat to the World Heritage-listed reef, which could lose most of its coral by 2049.
Sustainability
Turning plastic waste into environmentally-friendly bricks
A Nairobi-based manufacturing company is turning plastic waste into environmentally friendly bricks. Three years ago, Kenya imposed what was praised as the world’s strictest ban on the use, manufacturing and import of plastic bags, part of growing efforts around the world to limit a major source of plastic waste.
Amcor launches first recyclable shrink bag for meat and cheese
Amcor has today launched Eco-Tite® R in Europe, the first designed to be recycled, PVDC-free shrink bag for fresh and processed meat, poultry and some cheeses.
Lab-grown chicken tastes like chicken – but the feeling when eating it is more complicated
Naima Brown
Naima Brown’s encounter with a lab-grown chicken nugget reminded her of a Happy Meal – but she’s less certain about what it means for the future of food
The world’s biggest coal miner faces a ‘back to the future’ moment
Stephen Bartholomeusz
Ivan Glasenberg has created an awkward conundrum for his successor, Gary Nagle. Does he hold or does he sell?
An ocean like no other: the Southern Ocean’s ecological richness and significance for global climate
The Southern (Antarctic) Ocean is our planet’s primary storage of heat and carbon, and it’s home to extraordinary life forms, from tiny algae and spineless creatures to penguins, seals and whales.
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