Post of the Day
Coalition’s dependence on mining sector causing a decline in economic growth
Richard Gillies
The Liberal Party has benefited from its relationship to the mining sector, but at great cost to the Australian people.
On This Day
Climate Change
Biden returns the US to the Paris Climate Accord. Will it matter?
Biden’s first-day actions signal that he’s serious about global warming. But he’s got to make up for four years of lost time.
Net-zero America can be achieved by 2050, if not sooner, says study
Princeton study says the US can reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner and, if properly managed, it won’t break the bank.
Biden weighs “social cost” of carbon in reversing Trump-era climate damage
Biden administration instructed to “capture the full costs of greenhouse gas emissions” in accordance with the science and taking global damages into account.
Role of dams in reducing global flood exposure under climate change
A new collaborative study led by researchers at the National Institute for Environmental Studies, the University of Tokyo, and Michigan State University exposes the role of dams for mitigating flood risk under climate change.
Fossil fuel industry’s climate denial campaign dates back four decades
Nick Cunningham
The American Petroleum Institute (API), the leading oil and gas industry trade group, publicly pushed misleading information on climate change as early as 1980.
National
Coalition’s dependence on mining sector causing a decline in economic growth
Richard Gillies
The Liberal Party has benefited from its relationship to the mining sector, but at great cost to the Australian people.
Political donations and the resources sector’s influence [$]
Royce Kurmelovs
The fossil fuel industry’s outsized influence on Australian politics is confirmed by a new report, which tracks the millions of dollars spent by the sector in political donations over the past two decades.
As Biden acts on climate, Morrison reactivates fossil rhetoric
Ketan Joshi
Will Morrison take Biden’s lead on climate? The fact that he marked the moment of the US rejoining Paris with a whirlwind tour of oil and gas projects is not a good sign.
‘There will be no climate justice while we celebrate January 26’
Tish King
Torres Strait Islander Tish King doesn’t think January 26 is a time for celebration. Instead, she writes, Australia should be recognising the connection of First Nations people to the land, islands and sea, and working together to protect them.
Victoria
Massive Golden Plains wind farm out of court and back on track, with amendments
Plans to build one of Australia’s largest wind farms are back on track, after a last-ditch High Court challenge to the 800-1000MW Victorian project was put to bed.
Sea level rise could swamp parts of state, costing Victoria ‘trillions’
The Andrews government wants a construction-led COVID recovery but experts warn of a massive threat to property and other assets from sea level rise
Level-crossing removals: a case study in why major projects must also be investments in health
Geoffrey Browne et al
The Victorian government has committed to removing 75 road/rail level crossings across Melbourne by 2025. That’s the fastest rate of removal in the city’s history. The scale of the investment — at least A$14.8 billion — and the project’s ripple effects mean it could do more to transform the city’s public transport system than the Metro Tunnel project.
New South Wales
‘Inadequate’: Indigenous survey for Warragamba Dam plan found wanting
Heritage NSW has blasted the Berejiklian government’s preparations for raising the Warragamba Dam wall, saying consultation with traditional owners was inadequate and modelling was needed to determine the likely impacts to cultural heritage from inundation.
Sydney Water leak detection goes to the dogs
Sydney Water are using a new and novel way to take action against leaks in the city’s extensive water pipeline.
ACT
Canberra e-bike library set to grow due to demand
Additional bikes are set to be added to Canberra’s electric-bike library, as demand for the service grows.
Queensland
Djabugay people celebrate 16 years of Native Title
Inviting key commercial operators and the public to join them in celebration of their resilience and rich cultural histories, Djabugay Traditional Owners celebrated the 16th anniversary of their Native Title determination in a big way.
Smoke on the water: How Fraser Island is rising from the ashes
One of the natural wonders of the world, Fraser Island was hit by a bushfire that scorched more than half of the World Heritage-listed site. A month after the flames were contained, a small group takes a journey to the island paradise to assess the damage for themselves.
Scores of Brisbane bush reserves eyed for mountain biking trails
Mount Coot-tha is the only approved mountain biking site in the Brisbane council area, but bikers and council want that to change.
Solar and battery-run Brisbane neighbourhoods to save on bills
Two Brisbane neighbourhoods being developed to run with 100 per cent solar and battery is set to save home owners $1600 per year on their power bills.
Tasmania
Woodside signs MoU to blend Tassie mains gas with green hydrogen
Tasmanian government signs MoU with Woodside to support 10MW electrolyser project, to deliver blended hydrogen in main gas network.
‘It’s a wild idea’: How Maria Island could help save the brush-tailed rock wallaby from extinction
A tiny island off the coast of Tasmania could provide a refuge to the brush-tailed rock wallaby whose habitat was devastated in the 2020 bushfires, but they’re not native to the island state.
Illegal dumping of rubbish in Tasmanian forests is costing rate and tax payers thousands [$]
More needs to be done to combat the illegal dumping of rubbish across Tasmania, says a frustrated landowner.
Tamar fix could be cornerstone project for Launceston council
Former Northern Midlands mayor David Downie has called on the Launceston council to take the lead in restoring kanamaluka / Tamar Estuary.
Former woodchip mill returns to nature [$]
It spent decades shredding Tasmanian trees into small chips, but now the former woodchip mill site at Triabunna has undergone a complete role reversal.
Chance to dream big after reflection
Examiner editorial
This is Tasmania’s moment. They were the words repeated throughout a Launceston event late in December that highlighted the potential and plans for green hydrogen in Tasmania and, in particular, the North of the state.
Northern Territory
Australia Walking Co. proposes new 40km ‘Uluru Lodge Walk’ to replace climb after 2019 ban [$]
AN Australian company behind a number of the country’s “great walks” has proposed the development of a 40km walking track and “wilderness and wellbeing experience” between the NT’s Kata Tjuta and Uluru.
Western Australia
Call to develop 1.5GW green hydrogen hub gets “super major” response
Western Australian gets 65 expressions of interest to produce and export renewable hydrogen at hub north of Geraldton – at least 10 from global corporate “super majors.”
Sustainability
Could paint be harming your health?
As the COVID pandemic wears on, we are spending more time than ever working, studying, and playing at home. That is why it’s more important than ever to rid our homes of potentially toxic products.
Environmental assassinations bad for business, new research shows
Financial markets respond swiftly and definitively when multinationals are publicly named in connection with the assassination of an environmental defender.
Limiting air pollution ‘could prevent 50,000 deaths in Europe’
Limiting air pollution to levels recommended by the World Health Organization could prevent more than 50,000 deaths in Europe annually, according to research.
Highly efficient grid-scale electricity storage at fifth of cost
Researchers in WMG at the University of Warwick, in collaboration with Imperial College London, have found a way to enhance hybrid flow batteries and their commercial use. The new approach can store electricity in these batteries for very long durations for about a fifth the price of current technologies, with minimal location restraints and zero emissions.
Electric cars’ looming recycling problem
Perry Gottesfeld
Financial incentives to recycle spent electric vehicle batteries are eroding. That could spell environmental disaster.
Feds triple the size of the Gulf of Mexico’s largest coral sanctuary
The Gulf of Mexico’s largest coral sanctuary just got a lot bigger.
Monarch butterfly population moves closer to extinction
The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted precipitously to a record low.
Technology could help farms turn back into forests
By changing how we feed the world—with plant-based burgers, bioreactor-grown dairy, and more efficient indoor farms—we could turn land now used for agriculture back into wilderness.
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