Post of the Day
Attack of the alien invaders: pest plants and animals leave a frightening $1.7 trillion bill
Corey J. A. Bradshaw et al
They’re one of the most damaging environmental forces on Earth. They’ve colonised pretty much every place humans have set foot on the planet. Yet you might not even know they exist.
On This Day
Climate Change
China, US agree on need for stronger climate commitments
The United States and China, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, have agreed to cooperate with other countries to curb climate change.
Climate news is relentlessly, objectively grim. Should we ever allow ourselves to feel optimism?
Terry Tempest Williams, Naomi Shihab Nye and other writers and activists on where they find hope.
A signal of hope as US and China find common ground in climate crisis
Nick O’Malley
China and America’s agreement to co-operate on climate, even as their rivalry grows, is a hopeful development as world leaders prepare for Biden’s climate summit.
National
‘Climate change refugees in our own country’: The Torres Strait Islanders fighting sea levels
For generations, Indigenous Australians have thrived in the Torres Strait, but some low-lying islands could become uninhabitable within decades if climate change is not curbed.
Climate change a security threat in Australia, says intelligence expert
Australia needs to respond to climate change as a national security threat in a region that is expected to be among the hardest hit by global warming.
Taylor warns against high gas prices after shock ruling [$]
Federal Energy Minister calls for ‘competitive’ gas prices on the east coast after Friday’s ruling on a dispute suggested they could head higher again.
Labor drops hostility to coal [$]
Opposition resources spokeswoman Madeleine King has said Labor will not stand in the way of new mines and believes Australia will export coal beyond 2050, as the party moves to recast itself as a middle-ground option in the climate change wars.
Regions to prosper in global clean economy
Lesley Hughes
Most of Australia’s diverse and rich ecosystems are located in rural and regional Australia.
Natural gas has power to turbocharge economy [$]
Andrew McConville
Imagine a world with no warmth for clean cooking and heating, no sustainable fuel for power stations to provide electricity and drive our machinery as our energy mix changes, no glass, no clothing, no mobile phones, no steel, no concrete, no computers, no paints or plastics and much more.
Attack of the alien invaders: pest plants and animals leave a frightening $1.7 trillion bill
Corey J. A. Bradshaw et al
They’re one of the most damaging environmental forces on Earth. They’ve colonised pretty much every place humans have set foot on the planet. Yet you might not even know they exist.
Australia’s low infrastructure spend, despite record debt
Alan Austin
The latest official figures show Australia’s infrastructure investment has plummeted.
Victoria
The common recycling mistakes you’re making [$]
Most Aussies think they’re pretty clever at recycling their household rubbish – but the reality is quite the opposite.
Exactly who is in charge of cleaning up this mess?
Letters
Age readers discuss the rubbish being left by the side of Victoria’s roads and the issue of who is responsible for cleaning up the mess.
New South Wales
NSW Treasury projects coal industry to decline over the next 40 years
The downward trend is at odds with rhetoric from candidates vying for votes in the crucial Upper Hunter byelection.
Locals smell a rat on minister’s paradise isle poison claim [$]
Rats have been found on Lord Howe Island just weeks after the Environment Minister declared a $16m eradication poisoning program a huge success.
How can NSW allow new coalmines while committing to net zero emissions? It’s bizarre
Richard Denniss
New mines won’t boost world demand for Australian coal — but they will cannibalise jobs from existing coalmines
Logging Eden: NSW south coast forestry dominated by potentially illegal wood-chipping
Elizabeth Minter and Harriet Swift
During 2020, 96% of trees felled in the NSW region of Eden were turned into woodchips, with 1.5% for firewood. Elizabeth Minter and Harriet Swift report on the potentially illegal activity and the huge amount of taxpayers’ money being handed out to the timber industry.
ACT
Mixed messaging on recycling leaves well-meaning Canberrans with headache
Support for recycling remains high among Australians but confusion over what can and can’t be thrown in each bin has left some wondering whether they’re doing it right, a new study has found.
South Australia
Scott Morrison reveals $1bn energy deal with SA government
A bilateral energy and emissions agreement which will increase South Australia’s gas target and is worth more than $1 billion has been struck between the state and federal governments.
Blatant bureaucracy fuels fire risk in Adelaide Hills
Oliver Corfe
At least a dozen South Australian officials have been alerted to a potential local fire hazard, but red tape is ruining efforts to reduce risk.
Sustainability
Why spy agencies say the future Is bleak
Climate change, technology, disease and financial crises will pose big challenges for the world, an intelligence report concludes.
Five reasons to respect the ‘roach
Many people hate cockroaches, but did you know they can be actually quite clean — and might even help save the planet?
—
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.