Post of the Day
Global coral cover has fallen by half since 1950s, analysis finds
Overfishing, a heating planet, pollution and habitat destruction have devastated reefs, scientists warn
Today’s Celebration
Ecological Observance
National Cleanup Day in the USA
Climate Change
US and EU pledge 30% cut in methane emissions to limit global heating
Major commitment with deadline of 2030 is big advance towards reaching 1.5C goal set out in Paris agreement
Motorway blockades and green new deal crusaders: the UK’s new climate activists
With Cop26 on the horizon, activists are finding new ways to make politicians and public pay attention
UN chief warns of ‘catastrophic’ path if nations don’t make bigger promises to cut emissions
Antonio Guterres says the world needs to cut carbon emissions 45 per cent by 2030 to be carbon neutral by the middle of the century.
How to talk about climate change across the political divide
Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist and evangelical Christian, has written a book that lays out strategies for discussing the climate crisis in a divided country.
Climate finance shortfall threatens global warming goals
Time is running out for rich governments to deliver on unmet funding promises before COP26 climate talks, with many developing nations saying their emissions cuts depend on it.
National
Daylight saving was originally brought in to reduce power use. But does it?
Australia’s three time zones will soon become five as daylight saving time kicks in. So, does the “saving” part of daylight saving time still hold up today
Nuclear subs have ‘long history of accidents’, environmentalist warns
Environmentalists are concerned by the public safety implications of Australia developing nuclear-powered submarines — but the retired naval officer who chaired SA’s nuclear royal commission says the risks can be managed.
Can the beef industry be part of the solution to reduce carbon emissions?
The beef industry, in a new promotional campaign, claims it can be part of the climate change solution. But does the claim stack up? This is what some experts told us.
Property values are at risk in climate change hot spots, RBA warns
Property in parts of Australia exposed to climate change and wild weather could experience valuation declines that leave banks with less protection in the event of a default, according to Reserve Bank research.
Fears minister could push endangered species ‘closer to extinction’
Hundreds of vulnerable native species could be put at risk under a new government proposal, conservationists warn
Battery future bright but caution on costs [$]
The battery supplier for AGL Energy’s first major storage project sees plenty of opportunity in Australia but is expecting a “pause” in the rapid cost declines seen in recent years.
Morrison’s coal lump supplier, former advisor, appointed Australian OECD ambassador
Former Minerals Council chief, and advisor to the prime minister, appointed as Australia’s new ambassador to the OECD.
Will Morrison’s new Aukus friends pressure him on the real threat of climate crisis?
Katharine Murphy
The PM’s nuclear submarine ‘forever’ partners, Biden and Johnson, are on a backslapping unity ticket of ambition on combatting global heating
Fitzgibbon is quitting politics but this doesn’t mean Albanese can party
Mark Kenny
One imagines the retirement of Joel Fitzgibbon at the next election simplifies things for Anthony Albanese, as he crafts a climate change formula more in sync with the established science and the global consensus.
Nuclear suits our strategic needs today and our energy needs tomorrow [$]
Chris Kenny
What is it about submarines that so distorts the imagination of our politicians? In 2015, the late Democratic Labour senator John Madigan said “submarines are the spaceships of the ocean” – and there might be something in this because for the past four decades our politicians have flapped around sub projects like a bunch of space cadets.
AUKUS alliance: Public warms to the big idea of nuclear power [$]
Dennis Shanahan
Scott Morrison’s decision to get nuclear submarines as part of a new US-UK alliance has received overwhelming public support amid a surge in positive responses to both nuclear submarines and energy.
The nuclear option: will submarines be a Trojan Horse for reactors? [$]
Kishor Napier-Raman
The PM has said the deal doesn’t mean nuclear reactors for Australia, but many Coalition MPs want the moratorium on nuclear power to end.
Nuclear good, batteries bad: Morrison’s subs deal is thin edge of wedge
Jim Green
The Coalition’s attitude to batteries has been hostile and ignorant. There’s no reason to believe its consideration of submarine propulsion technology has been any more adult.
The case for electric vehicles [$]
John Hewson
As with so much of Australia’s response to climate, it’s the states that are leading in terms of both emissions reduction targets and effective policy responses to the EV transition.
It may now be time for the Energy Security Board to be wound up
Stephanie Bashir
Victoria’s rejection of the proposed capacity market suggests it might be time to wind up the ESB and let the states focus on new market mechanisms.
Victoria
Greens pick anti-nuclear candidate to take on Frydenberg
Melbourne lawyer and activist Piers Mitchem has spent years researching global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and now he wants Josh Frydenberg’s job.
Victoria joins NSW in saying no to “Coalkeeper,” wants focus on battery storage
Victoria joins NSW in rejecting a proposal to pay coal and gas generators to delay their closure, a plan being embraced by Angus Taylor.
Victoria’s Coal Keeper rejection sparks criticism [$]
The Victorian government has been criticised after opposing “Coal-Keeper” subsidies to extend the life of plants using the fossil fuel just months after hatching a secret deal providing financial backing to keep EnergyAustralia’s Yallourn coal plant open until 2028.
Back from the brink: how scientists saved the bandicoot from extinction – Please Explain podcast
Today on Please Explain, environment writer Miki Perkins joins Nathanael Cooper to look at how Australian scientists have brought the eastern barred bandicoot back from extinction.
New South Wales
The magnificence of the Darling River really has to be seen to be believed.
‘Cocktail of chemicals’: Harbour Tunnel project presents ‘severe risk’ to sea life
Sea life in Sydney Harbour faces a severe threat from a “cocktail of chemicals” set to be dispersed from the construction of a multibillion-dollar motorway tunnel, marine biologists warn.
ACT
ANU nuclear squad puts hands up for AUKUS nuclear-run subs deal
Nuclear scientists at the Australian National University are gearing up to be part of the federal government’s plans to develop nuclear-powered submarines in an effort to bolster defences in the region.
Queensland
Student claims HSBC’s Great Barrier Reef ad a ‘blatant greenwash’
The bank is being challenged by a 17-year-old for promoting products supporting the reef, while funding fossil fuel operations including the Adani mine.
South East Qld’s ‘once in a generation’ $60b boom [$]
Queensland’s population has grown faster than every other state combined over the last year with more than $60 billion worth of major projects in the southeast alone to try and keep up.
The gate that helped launch the Lock the Gate movement is still getting the job done
Just over 10 years ago, a group of farmers and environmentalists gathered around a rusty gate in front of Queensland’s Parliament. What happened to the gate that started it all?
South Australia
Let them eat yellowcake: Subs deal fires new nuclear hopes [$]
South Australia has a new chance to grab a golden opportunity for a local nuclear industry, experts say, but it will take bold leaders to make it happen.
Drive an electric car – without the hefty price tag [$]
SA drivers will be able to try before they buy an electric vehicle via a new phone-style subscription service that lets you swap, upgrade or cancel at any time.
Tasmania
Mole Creek Karst National Park expansion proposed to protect state’s wilderness areas
The state government will introduce legislation to Parliament to expand the Mole Creek Karst National Park.
‘Worse than nothing at all’: Salmon protesters slam 10-year plan [$]
A new 10-year plan for Tasmania’s salmon industry has been lashed by community groups, who say it shows the state government ‘doesn’t actually give a damn what Tasmanians want’.
Tasmania has big green plans, can it deliver? – Energy Insiders Podcast
Sean McGoldrick, the new head of Tasmania Networks, on the renewables, battery, and hydrogen possibilities for the island state.
WA researchers find path to cheaper, more efficient green hydrogen production
A discovery by Curtin University researchers has opened the door to a potentially cheaper and more efficient method of large-scale renewable hydrogen production.
Mining billionaire hopes multi-million dollar research centre will reverse reef’s decline
Andrew Forrest has opened a $10m research facility in Exmouth with the aim of putting WA at the front of the global pack in conservation research.
Sustainability
Big Oil boss warns of high energy prices ‘for a long time’
The world is facing high energy prices for the foreseeable future as oil and natural gas producers resist the urge to drill again, according to Chevron’s top executive.
The aquaculture industry needs a heat-loving salmon
Climate change is a huge threat to salmon farming. Scientists are on the hunt for a fish that can handle the heat.
An environmental ‘catastrophe’ in Southern Africa lingers with few answers
In early August, reports began to surface of a major spill of toxic runoff from Angolan diamond mines into rivers that feed into the DRC’s waterways.
Nature Conservation
The Economics of Biodiversity and the world’s environmental crisis
The response of the UK government to the Dasgupta Review is positive and comprehensive. The question is whether the environmental movement will see this as an opportunity to slow the demise of the natural environment.
Global coral cover has fallen by half since 1950s, analysis finds
Overfishing, a heating planet, pollution and habitat destruction have devastated reefs, scientists warn
Illegal logging reaches Amazon’s untouched core, ‘terrifying’ research shows
One of the main fears about the Brazilian Amazon is beginning to materialize: logging is starting to move from the periphery of the rainforest toward the core of the biome, groundbreaking new research shows.
Canada election: why nature-based climate solutions are making waves
Canada has a huge role to play in the global fight against the climate emergency — simply by not destroying the intact forests, grasslands and wetlands that naturally store carbon.
Humans are encroaching on grizzly territory. Can we live together?
The bears have returned from the brink of extinction, and now conservationists must persuade people to respect them.
The Pantanal is burning again. Will it be another devastating year?
The fires that tore through South America’s Pantanal region in 2020, destroying 30% of its area, are still scorched in memory. And now, the world’s largest wetland that fans out across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay is burning again.
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