Post of the Day
Environment act reform overdue [$]
Australian editorial
A good way to sustain momentum in the economic recovery now under way will be to deliver much-needed reform of the clumsy and outdated Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
On This Day
Feast of Saint Sarkis – Armenia
Climate Change
What are the top climate threats in your country?
President Biden has wasted no time in moving to repudiate his predecessor’s regressive climate policies. That’s good news. This map shows which areas could be at high risk unless greenhouse-gas emissions are cut drastically.
A look at the future of Biden’s climate change policies
President Biden has made climate change a focus of his first week in office. But it could take years before many of the executive actions he’s highlighted to tackle the issue have a noticeable impact.
Biden changes the balance in Australia’s climate wars
Age editorial
The ALP reshuffle is much less important than the huge shift in climate change policy in the White House.
National
Solar and wind farms – and even some coal units – learn to dodge negative prices
Solar and wind farms are becoming adept at dancing around negative pricing events. Even some brown coal generators are showing surprising flexibility.
Surge in global action highlights Australia’s stance on climate change
With General Motors and the UN making big announcements on electric cars and cutting emissions, Australia’s position on climate change is inevitably thrust into the spotlight.
Zali Steggall’s climate bill gets broad backing from industry groups and investors
Inquiry hears from business, conservationists, scientists and health professionals who urge the government to legislate a net zero target
Business Council of Australia supports Zali Steggall’s climate change bills
An independent MP’s proposal for drastic action on climate change has received the unexpected backing of a powerful lobby group.
Chris Bowen will use jobs deal and ‘roadmap to net zero’ to sell climate action to voters
Labor’s climate spokesman says Joel Fitzgibbon was wrong to advocate surrender on carbon emissions
‘Breathtaking’: what Joe Biden’s sweeping climate plan means for Scott Morrison
As the US president vows to push the rest of the world to do more on climate change, the prime minister will face increasing pressure to measure up
‘Either way we win’: Labor’s plan to get the upper hand in climate wars
Climate has been a vexed issue for the Labor Party, but it is taking a leaf out of the NSW Coalition’s book with plans to grow regional jobs with green energy.
Albanese throws a bone to Labor’s Right, but Joel Fitzgibbon remains off the leash
Mark Kenny
Fitzgibbon’s right wing parliamentary colleagues seemed to accept his public undermining of Mark Butler. It will be interesting to see if they permit the same treatment of Bowen.
A major report excoriated Australia’s environment laws. Sussan Ley’s response is confused and risky
Peter Burnett
It’s official: Australia’s natural environment and iconic places are in deep trouble. They can’t withstand current and future threats, including climate change. And the national laws protecting them are flawed and badly outdated.
Morrison government hasn’t yet modelled zero emissions pathway
Michael Mazengarb
Morrison government has not modelled an Australian pathway to zero net emissions, according to information provided by department officials.
Environmental vandalism must stop
Canberra Times editorial
Although the attitude of many of Australia’s early settlers to their new environment can best be described as “if it moves, shoot it, if it grows, cut it down”, later generations – especially our own – have made them look like rank amateurs when it comes to ecological genocide.
2050 net zero: Australia left behind as Asia goes green [$]
Mike Seccombe
While the Coalition continues to stall on a net zero emissions target, the biggest buyers of our coal are rapidly shifting to renewables.
Heat is on the PM to be part of the climate solution [$]
Katrina Grace Kelly
Climate change. An uncomfortable topic, clearly. Scott Morrison seems unable to settle on it and to project a position coherently.
Environment act reform overdue [$]
Australian editorial
A good way to sustain momentum in the economic recovery now under way will be to deliver much-needed reform of the clumsy and outdated Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
How Albo’s Bowen masterstroke will put the Coalition in check [$]
Rowan Dean
Labor’s new climate spokesman brings a long record of, er, winning gambits with him.
Victoria
London-based Cubico backs wind farm overlooking closed Hazelwood coal generator
Cubico Sustainable Investments has emerged as principal investor in the Delburn Wind Farm that will overlook site of the closed Hazelwood coal-fired power station.
Free electric vehicle charging switched on
The first in a planned national network of free electric vehicle charging stations have been switched on, as part of an initiative supported by major car makers and local councils. Motorists can plug-in at the townships of Nhill and Rainbow in Victoria’s west, with another 98 free chargers set to be rolled out across the nation by mid-2021.
New South Wales
Anger over $1,500 fine for destruction of hundreds of Indigenous artefacts on solar farm
A Wiradjuri man from southern New South Wales describes a $1,500 fine for the destruction of hundreds of Aboriginal artefacts at a solar farm as disgraceful.
NSW residents asked to report border hoppers as cane toad sightings increase
The NSW government is calling on residents to report any encounters with cane toads, following several recent sightings of the amphibians that might have “hitch-hiked” across the Queensland border.
Microsoft buys carbon credits from NSW cattle operation
Progressive NSW beef operation Wilmot Cattle Co has struck a deal with global technology giant Microsoft to sell around half a million dollars worth of carbon credits.
ACT
Can the ACT handle a major fire emergency?
The ACT has the firefighters and equipment to mount an “initial” attack on blazes comparable to the 2003 catastrophe but is reliant on interstate help to sustain the fight in multi-day emergencies, a report has shown.
Federal government delays decision on Woden light rail
A decision on whether the federal government will give environmental approval to stage 2A of light rail to Woden is due next week. Picture: Jamila Toderas
The federal government’s decision on whether to approve the first stage of light rail to Woden has been delayed until at least next week.
Queensland
Koala habitat destroyed in Redlands after 100-year-old gumtrees bulldozed
A koala habitat with 100-year-old gum tress on private land in the bayside suburb of Ormiston, east of Brisbane, is bulldozed to the ground, with locals saying the destruction was preventable and shows the council and Queensland Government value development over conservation.
Northern Territory
‘Once in a lifetime’: Flowing ancient desert river lifts town’s spirits [$]
The ancient Finke River in the spectacular Finke Gorge National Park in Central Australia doesn’t flow often, but when it does it is a sight to behold.
Western Australia
Australian developed waste-to-fuel technologies to be built in WA coal centre
Innovative waste-to-fuel technologies will be used at a new Western Australian demonstration plant, after securing government support.
Woodside gets government OK to pump gas from Pluto to Karratha Gas Plant
Under the agreement, Woodside can produce three million tonnes of LNG with Pluto gas at the Karratha Gas Plant over four years.
Sustainability
Mining giant Glencore faces human rights complaint over toxic spill in Chad
Dozens of villagers, including children, claim they suffered severe burns and sickness after contact with contaminated water.
‘This is going to be quite a show’: Biden’s arms control team eyes nuclear policy overhaul
But in seeking new treaties or cutting the U.S. arsenal, they may be in for a rude awakening, veterans warn.
Lab-grown wood could let us grow furniture in a lab instead of in a forest
Why cut down trees when you can grow wood in the exact shape you need?
Revised world population data shows growing decline in developed nations
Abul Rizvi
Projections in world population statistics have revealed a forthcoming drop in global numbers. Dr Abul Rizvi examines the reasons why.
People take better care of public places when they feel like they have a stake in them
Suzanne Shu
People can feel “psychological ownership,” a sense of personal attachment, even for parks and other public places. · These feelings lead them to see property they don’t own as being more valuable and boost their sense of responsibility to take care of it.
Why COVID-19 won’t kill cities
John Rennie Short and Michael J. Orlando
The death of the city is regularly predicted. But, like Mark Twain’s premature obituary, it is greatly exaggerated.
The environmental justice movement moves front and center
Derrick Z. Jackson
The voice of environmental justice, once lonely in the wilderness of systemic racism, is growling like a tiger and prowling like a panther in the halls of power, helping shape President Biden’s cabinet with nominees pledging to restore environmental and public health protections dismantled by the previous administration.
Namibia hit by criticism over elephants’ sale
The government defended the auction, saying the elephants would not be sold to zoos. “Only some circles of people, mostly foreigners, object to this.”
Controversy over new UK regulation to protect peatland
Rules will prevent some burning and could help Britain reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050
The Bering Sea region, the Pacific gateway to the Arctic Ocean, is home to ecosystems on land and in the ocean that are both abundant and fragile. It’s also changing very quickly — and those changes offer a preview of the changes in store for other parts of the Arctic.
New clues to help monarch conservation efforts
Planting milkweed can help monarch butterflies, but new research shows that there’s still a lot we can learn about how to do that effectively.
‘A vast, ancient and intricate society’: the secret social network of old-growth forests
Ferris Jabr
Conflict, negotiation, reciprocity, perhaps even selflessness: an emerging understanding of forests suggests there’s more going on within them than you might think.
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