Post of the Day
Tougher environmental policies can create economic winners
Ou Yang
There seems to be a working assumption that if Australia adopts tougher environmental policies, our economic growth will be undermined. But new research finds the opposite is true
On This Day
Environmental Observance
Climate Change
EU’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by nearly 4% in 2019, data shows
Fall of 3.8% for member states brought emissions to 24% below 1990 levels
Human-induced global heating ‘causes over a third of heat deaths’
Between 1991 and 2018, human activity contributed to 37% of all heat-related deaths in locations studied
Nations begin gruelling climate talks
Officials from around the globe are beginning three weeks of gruelling climate talks that will involve grappling with a number of thorny political issues without the benefit of face-to-face meetings.
National
Parts of Australia shivered through the coldest and wettest autumn for years
It’s official – Australia shivered and squelched through one of its chilliest and soggiest autumns for years and, in some cases, decades.
Solar and wind projects fear big delays from new “one at a time” connection rules
Wind and solar developers fear major delays due to proposed new “one at a time” connection rules designed to handle anticipated flood of new projects.
Electricity interconnector tipped to drive down prices in NSW and SA approved by regulator
A $2 billion electricity transmission line expected to deliver long-term cheaper power in SA and NSW by allowing more generation from renewables is given the green light by the national regulator
RenewEconomy unveils interactive maps of Australia’s big wind and solar farms
RenewEconomy unveils two more interactive maps – large scale solar farms and large scale wind farms, both operating and under construction.
‘Chickens and the fox’: Ley proposes state control of water-trigger law
The federal government wants states to take responsibility for assessing the impact of coal and gas projects on water resources under its plan to cut green tape.
An Australian inventor wants to stop global warming by electrifying everything
The 47-year-old, who won the MacArthur “genius” award in 2007 for his prodigious inventions “in the global public interest,” has spent the past decade working to solve climate change through technology.
Why should consumers be the only ones lumped with costs of big transmission projects?
Michael Mazengarb & Giles Parkinson
Regulatory approval for major new transmission link raises questions about who should bear the costs, and not just the poor old consumer.
Wind and solar help Australia slash emissions, but no credit to Coalition
Michael Mazengarb
Australia’s emissions fell in 2020, due to the pandemic and the ongoing decline of coal, but signs of a post-Covid bounce back are already starting to show.
Tougher environmental policies can create economic winners
Ou Yang
There seems to be a working assumption that if Australia adopts tougher environmental policies, our economic growth will be undermined. But new research finds the opposite is true
Lower birthrates may just be the tonic we need
John Quiggin
News of a sharp fall in births during 2020 has provoked a fresh wave of handwringing about the implications of an ageing population. The decline can’t be attributed solely to the pandemic – most of the babies born in 2020 were conceived before the virus took hold – but it appears to have accelerated as the impact of the pandemic has been felt.
Carbon capture is a gift horse for Australia [$]
Craig Emerson
After wool, coal, and iron ore, the storing of carbon could be Australia’s next big opportunity in the global economy.
BHP carbon accounting good for executive bonuses, not for climate
Peter Milne
BHP counts all the carbon emissions from projects it operates but ignores the climate impact of its investments in projects managed by other companies. This is not a credible approach to climate change as all owners have a say on the big decisions that affect emissions. Ignoring emissions is also great for executive bonuses.
Victoria
Boring machines finish digging Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel
Metro Tunnel’s builders are preparing to remove massive tunnelling machines and extract them from underground after they finished excavating twin nine-kilometre rail tunnels beneath Melbourne.
New South Wales
Renewable gas may soon join renewable electricity as household staples
Households in NSW and beyond may soon be able to select renewable gas just as they can buy their electricity from clean energy sources once the nation’s first voluntary market comes on.
Nuclear power to be boosted in NSW [$]
There are plans to lift a ban on small reactors developing nuclear power in a new proposal being looked at by Treasurer Dominic Perrottet.
Beautiful, rare ‘purple cauliflower’ coral off NSW coast may be extinct within 10 years
Meryl Larkin
When we think of Australia’s threatened corals, the Great Barrier Reef probably springs to mind. But elsewhere, coral species are also struggling – including a rare type known as “cauliflower soft coral” which is, sadly, on the brink of extinction.
ACT
Canberra bike sales soar with shops facing supply issues [$]
Bike stores are struggling to keep up with Canberrans’ demand to take up cycling as record-breaking sales have been met with supply issues.
Queensland
Logged out: Queensland’s timber shortage as inaction sends supplies crashing
Flawed, out of date legislation and government inertia is grinding down the Queensland timber industry’s efforts to meet surging demand amid a frenzy to reach carbon reduction goals.
Gold Coast’s green tinge with huge beachfront rainforest restoration
The City of Gold Coast is undertaking one of Australia’s largest ever beachfront rainforest restoration projects.
Clive Palmer ‘sceptical’ on Galilee Basin coalmine approval
Clive Palmer says he is “sceptical” that his long-planned thermal coalmine in the Galilee Basin will go ahead because the political environment in Australia made it difficult to develop new coal projects.
South Australia
‘When the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine’, you need a prime minister ready with gas [$]
Tory Shepherd
Conservatives point to the SA blackout as exhibit A for why we can’t trust renewables. But that’s a load of crap.
Tasmania
Majority oppose wilderness tourism including accommodation and helicopter access, poll finds
A poll has shown that the majority of the public oppose the use of Australian wilderness areas for accommodation and helicopter access, with environmental groups continuing to attack the Tasmanian government over its expressions of interest process.
Six people affected by Tassal gas leak remain in hospital
Four people affected by a gas leak at Tassal’s Strathblane site remained in hospital on Monday afternoon, as the salmon giant continued to undertake an investigation into the incident.
Prime Value’s Woolnorth environmental, animal welfare focus
An investment company which bought dairy farms from the embattled owner of Woolnorth says it will focus on environmental and social responsibilities and animal welfare.
Saving the planet, one keg at a time [$]
A Tasmanian company is hoping its invention will remove 100 million plastic milk bottles from the production line every year.
Mount Wellington Cable Car – Economic Impact
The Economic Impact document for the Mount Wellington Cable Car (MWCC) was prepared in 2016, and has only now been made available to the public. The Economic Impact document has many key figures redacted.
Forest protester released after weekend in jail
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation
Bob Brown Foundation has welcomed the release of Billy Rodwell from gaol while continuing to pursue Premier Gutwein on why this shocking and heavy handed incarceration was allowed.
Peter Boyer
It is way past time the Tasmanian salmon industry was fully regulated in accordance with appropriate environmental and health measures.
Northern Territory
McArthur River Mine praised by independent monitor, leaving environmentalists ‘bewildered’
A new report has found the NT’s McArthur River Mine has achieved a high level of compliance, with no significant environmental concerns in need of urgent investigation. Environmentalists have condemned the assessment as a “tick-and-flick exercise”.
Western Australia
Construction of new WA lithium refinery looms after EPA green light
Wesfarmers’ Mt Holland lithium project is expected to create over 1000 jobs during construction and over 350 jobs during its operational phase
Sustainability
L’Oréal wants to be green. Can it be? [$]
The world’s biggest beauty company has set itself lofty environmental goals to meet in less than 10 years, all while selling luxury beauty products.
Appalachian coal mines are major sources of methane, a potent greenhouse gas
Appalachian coal emits more than a million tons of methane a year, and the region is the largest U.S. source of the potent greenhouse gas.
As electric vehicles take off, we’ll need to recycle their batteries
Electric car batteries contain critical minerals like cobalt and lithium. We’ll need to recycle them unless we want to keep mining the earth for new ones.
Why we should be turning former mines into trails
We need more access to public lands. Reclaiming damaged landscapes like old mines and former nuclear sites can be a powerful part of the answer.
The price is right: Modeling economic growth in a zero-emission society
Researchers analyze whether it is possible to simultaneously grow the economy while not producing more pollution
A sustainable office building for Berlin lawmakers
Construction of the mostly-wooden office building for Bundestag lawmakers coincides with the rise of eco-politics in Europe.
Albertsons and Volvo just made the first zero-emissions food delivery
Volvo and Albertson’s have teamed up to create a system for heavy-duty electric trucks to start replacing old diesel semis.
New ‘Swiss Army knife’ cleans up water pollution
Phosphate Elimination and Recovery Lightweight (PEARL) membrane, a porous nanocomposite substrate, selectively sequesters up to 99% of phosphate ions from polluted water. Tunable membrane will address other environmental challenges through incorporation of specific nanomaterials. New tech meets need for sustainable, scalable and cost-effective solution that works outside the lab.
Rein in the global scourge of palm oil
Jocelyn C Zuckerman
The cultivation of palm oil, found in roughly half of U.S. grocery products, has devastated tropical ecosystems, released vast amounts of C02 into the atmosphere, and impoverished rural communities. Efforts are underway that could curb industry abuses.
Nature Conservation
Poacher thought to have killed 70 endangered tigers captured in Bangladesh
Bangladesh police arrest a notorious poacher wanted for 20 years. He is believed to have killed around 70 endangered Bengal tigers.
From a forest in Papua New Guinea to a floor in Sydney: how China is getting rich off Pacific timber
China is the major buyer of wood from Pacific nations like PNG and Solomon Islands, which are implicated in illegal or unsustainable logging
Did the pandemic really help wildlife?
Some animals have benefited from pandemic lockdowns. Others, not so much.
Common French bird species face ‘unrelenting’ decline
From city centres to rural fields, human activity has decimated populations of France’s most common bird species, scientists warned, citing data collected over 30 years by volunteer ornithologists.
Climate change shifts how we protect national parks
The National Parks Service has issued new guidance on how best to prioritize conservation efforts in the face of intensifying climate change.
How the amazing monarch butterfly migrants became refugees — from us
Dan Fagin
The disorder and devastation wrought by the pandemic, combined with climate change and other dangers, pose a new menace for these 3,000-mile travelers.
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