Post of the Day
Murders of environment and land defenders hit record high
Figures from Global Witness for 2020 show violent resource grab continued unabated despite pandemic
Today’s Celebration
Exaltation of the Cross – Western Christianity
Climate Change
Climate change will create massive security threat and refugee crisis: Former director of defence
Climate change will create wars on Australia’s doorstep, defence expert warns.
Climate change could force 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050
Decisive collective action could reduce climate migration by as much as 80 percent
Norway’s oil habit at stake in election about climate change [$]
The release of a landmark United Nations-backed report urging drastic measures to end carbon emissions has thrust climate change to the very heart of the campaign.
Kewei Lyu et al
Knowing how much sea levels are likely to rise during this century is vital to our understanding of future climate change, but previous estimates have generated wide ranges of uncertainty.
Douglas Elliffe and Lindsay Matthews
Can we toilet train cattle? Would we want to? The answer to both of these questions is yes — and doing so could help us address issues of water contamination and climate change.
National
Ocean conservationists welcome Australia’s support for global plastics treaty
News that Australia has declared its support for a legally binding global plastics treaty has been welcomed by the nation’s leading ocean conservation organisation.
Cannon-Brookes flush with Who Gives A Crap funding
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes is backing eco-friendly toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap in its first big funding injection of $41.5 million.
Agriculture minister David Littleproud flags trade diversification as path to agriculture boom
Australia’s agriculture sector is poised to smash records despite trade disputes, headwinds from labour shortages and a potential mice plague boom on the east coast.
Tesla calls for a 20 gigawatt storage target for Australia
Tesla calls for storage target of 20GW to help ensure enough dispatchable capacity is built to support a grid dominated by wind and solar.
‘What would Australia be like without koalas?’ Conservationists say extinction perilously close
A conservation group says government estimates on koalas are so inaccurate that urgent action is needed to avoid a national catastrophe.
Australia’s duty to the world: Stop mining coal
David Shearman
The paramount concern of many in the scientific community is not only the rapid progression of climate change-related disasters but also who will lead on taking urgent and drastic action. In the U.S., Afghanistan and COVID-19 must not distract President Biden and his team from their destiny.
Planting seeds for carbon farming
Vivek Dugar
Carbon farming is as easy as planting trees. It is the extension of the principle of a tree sucking in carbon dioxide, storing it in the vegetation.
Why Australia is a bigger carbon pariah than we think [$]
Adrian Blundell-Wignall
Counting carbon-based exports burned and smelted by others makes Australia the world’s third largest emitter. We can’t disown them as easily as all that.
The murky world of environmental regulation
Peter Boyer
In the depths of the Great Depression, a writer named Upton Sinclair stood for governor of California. His platform was to “End Poverty In California” (EPIC) by taking over disused properties and turning them into cooperative ventures for the unemployed.
Australian and global fossil fuel giants make $1 trillion bet against global climate efforts
Michael Mazengarb
Australian and global oil and gas companies continue to pour huge amount of investment growing their production, defying global climate targets, new report finds.
Climate change is coming for your snacks: why repeated drought threatens dried fruits and veggies
Charith Rathnayaka
Potatoes can become more brittle, apples may be harder to dehydrate, and sultanas might be off the menu altogether — these are possible outcomes of recurring and intensifying droughts under climate change in Australia.
Australia needs to reconsider the acquisition of nuclear weapons
Murray Hunter
Former Indonesian army four-star general and minister for maritime affairs and investment has been reported as saying Indonesia is underestimated because it doesn’t have nuclear weapons.
Fitzgibbon’s departure will free Albanese to take climate fight to Morrison
Michael Mazengarb
Labor’s coal contrarian Joel Fitzgibbon to leave parliament, just as Albanese promises to be in lockstep with the US on climate policy.
Victoria
Solar installations boost sustainability for three Ballarat centres
Following energy audits initiated by the City of Ballarat’s Engaged Communities in 2020-2021, Girrabanya Integrated Children’s Centre, Sebastopol Library and Wendouree Children’s Centre have been recent recipients of rooftop solar systems to improve energy sustainability performance of the buildings.
New South Wales
Majority of Hunter voters want more climate action
Parties vying to replace Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon in the upcoming Federal election should be aware that a majority of voters in the electorate do not see new coal and gas as part of Australia’s energy future.
Rivals aim to capitalise on Fitzgibbon’s exit and end Labor’s 111-year grip on Hunter
Potential candidates for the once-safe Labor seat are already drawing battle lines on climate policy in a region dominated by coal mining and electricity generation.
‘It’s a great concern’: Sydney residents sound alarm on motorway plan
Residents in Sydney’s north have sounded the alarm on plans to dig a new harbour tunnel close to dozens of schools and parks, warning construction of the project poses potential safety risks to thousands of students.
‘Black mark’: Farmers get nod to clear land for bushfire protection
Environmental groups say a new code allowing land clearing 25 metres out from fences will do little to aid protection against bushfires but could have devastating impacts on wildlife.
Rooftop solar sends minimum demand to record low in coal dependent NSW
Rooftop solar sends operational demand to a record low in NSW, the state grid with the heaviest dependence on coal.
Snowy 2.0 hit by another blow out in costs, and consumers will foot the bill
New report questions assumptions over costs and benefits of new transmission link for Snowy 2.0, and why consumers will be lumped with the cost.
ACT
Territory rights, including voluntary assisted dying, are a serious matter
Canberra Times editorial
While the strong support for giving the ACT and Northern Territory governments the right to make decisions about issues such as voluntary assisted dying in a Canberra Times survey of 227 federal parliamentarians is encouraging, the poor response rate is something else entirely.
Queensland
Federal Labor commits $2m to push new SEQ rail line
Federal Labor on Friday announced $2 million for a business case to push a new rail line through Australia’s fastest-growing region.
Epuron pushes forward with huge wind farm in north Queensland
Epuron moves forward with what would be the biggest wind farm in northern Queensland, close to what was the state’s only wind farm for nearly 20 years.
Tasmania
DPIPWE report details Tasmanian rivers in declining health; water compliance data shows few fines [$]
A willow infestation “choking” a creek upstream from the Meander Valley at Deloraine paints a picture of how a lack of oversight is harming the ecology of Tasmanian rivers, a long-term Landcare and river health campaigner says.
Second gas company to begin seismic tests in Bass Strait [$]
Bass Strait has become a popular hunting ground for oil and gas companies looking for new reserves. But major concerns remain over what seismic testing might do to marine wildlife.
Eye-watering ratepayer cost of cable car saga revealed [$]
The Mount Wellington Cable Car saga has cost ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the latest figures from Hobart City Council.
Timber harvesting opposition based on ‘poor science, beliefs’
Kevin Tolhurst and Jerry Vanclay
Some ecologists and conservationists, opposed to timber harvesting, are trying to use bushfire disasters as a lever to stop native forest harvesting, but their case is based on opinion, beliefs and selective science.
Northern Territory
The NT government partially approves fracking plans in the Beetaloo Basin by a gas company given $21 million in Commonwealth grants, as environmental advocates label the approvals process “irregular”.
NT government criticised for progressing Beetaloo Basin gas project without full environmental study
Advocates say Empire Energy’s fracking works may put endangered or undiscovered animals in the ‘little-explored’ area at risk
Sustainability
Cows ‘potty-trained’ in experiment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Calves were taught to use a barn’s toilet area with rewards and mild punishments, significantly limiting ammonia release
Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production, study finds
Production of meat worldwide emits 28 times as much as growing plants, and most crops are raised to feed animals bound for slaughter
Lab-grown cheese gets record cash injection to tap cow-free market
A start-up that makes cultured mozzarella and ricotta cheeses without cows is looking to tap the growing market for environmentally friendly dairy alternatives.
Environmental pollution law receives boost to tackle climate change
Efforts by Singapore to tackle climate change and noise pollution will get more teeth, with changes to a law governing environmental pollution passed in Parliament this week.
How to end the American dependence on driving
To fight climate change, cities need to be designed with much more walking, biking, and public transit use in mind.
The House’s big budget reconciliation bill would be a bonanza for clean energy
Jeff St. John
Tax credits and direct pay for clean energy, storage and transmission. Funding for EVs and electrification. A program to get utilities on board. But will the Senate go along?
Nature Conservation
Success of past rewilding projects shows path to restoring damaged ecosystems
Concept is now widely accepted after initial controversy around projects such as Yellowstone wolves – though opposition remains
Murders of environment and land defenders hit record high
Figures from Global Witness for 2020 show violent resource grab continued unabated despite pandemic
Brazil: Who can still save the world′s green lung?
The Brazilian government has promoted deforestation in the Amazon rainforest to highs last seen over a decade ago. Environmentalists say that external pressure is needed, particularly from China.
Eilat’s coral reefs in worse shape than previously thought, new study shows
Climate change, tons of waste and storms are endangering Eilat’s reef, the northernmost coral reef in the world.
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