As Laura Tingle has asked, “Can you think of a more abject failure of political leadership in living memory?”
Date: 16 October 2021 at 8:59:19 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 16
Post of the Day
Electronic waste from just this year will outweigh the Great Wall of China
This year, each of us will throw out, recycle, or shove into a desk drawer an average of 16.8 pounds of old phones, laptops, toasters, and other electronics and appliances, according to the UN — a whopping total of 63.3 million tons of electronic waste worldwide.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Video catches Queen criticising world leaders avoiding COP26
A hot mic picked up a conversation where Queen Elizabeth criticised world leaders for inaction on climate change as ‘irritating’.
China’s Xi reportedly skipping Glasgow climate summit
In a move that casts doubt on China’s stated intention of reducing its carbon emissions, President Xi Jinping is reportedly going to be a no-show at the Glasgow climate summit.
Diplomats in last-ditch effort to bring world leaders to Cop26 table
As attendance of President Xi of China hangs in balance, UK and US launch frantic round of meetings
It’s easy to feel pessimistic about the climate. But we’ve got two big things on our side
Bill McKibben
One is the astonishing fall in the cost of renewable energy. The other is the huge growth in the citizens’ movements demanding action
Widespread collapse of West Antarctica’s ice sheet is avoidable if we keep global warming below 2℃
Dan Lowry et al
Rising seas are already making storm damage more costly, adding to the impact on about 700 million people who live in low-lying coastal areas at risk of flooding.
Is Joe Manchin aware that his favorite climate technology is a total bust?
Geoff Dembicki
The conservative Democrat is insisting that Biden’s Build Back Better Act include funding for carbon capture projects. But even the fossil fuel industry admits the tech is a nonfactor in fighting global warming.
National
Bushfires spared Rebekah’s house, but the smoke wreaked havoc on her lungs
As climate change brings more protracted and severe bushfire seasons, protecting vulnerable people from smoke exposure will be a major challenge for health authorities.
Scott Morrison to attend COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, no decision on net zero
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirms he will attend an international climate conference in Glasgow, but he has not yet reached a deal about whether Australia will sign up to a net zero emissions by 2050 target.
Students across the country rally for climate change action
Thousands of students rally across the country to demand stronger action on climate change, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirms his attendance at the upcoming global climate summit.
Glasgow-bound PM leans harder on Nationals to go along with net zero
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stepped up pressure on the Nationals to back a revised climate plan before he heads to United Nations talks in Glasgow.
Scott Morrison’s net-zero vow to regions [$]
Scott Morrison has moved to reassure the Nationals ahead of critical partyroom meetings on Sunday by pledging he will stand by regions impacted by the economic changes occurring as the world responds to the challenge of climate change and meeting a net-zero emissions target of 2050.
Australian PM to attend Cop26 in Glasgow but emissions deal with Coalition partner still weeks off
Scott Morrison says it is ‘important’ to be in Glasgow for climate conference but notes there is no agreement yet with the Nationals
China admits Australian coal as energy crisis grows and factories shut down
In a humiliating loss of face, energy-starved China’s ban on Australian coal has been unofficially rescinded as the country grapples with blackouts and shuttered factories.
Australia’s biggest industry group calls on Morrison government to halve emissions by 2030
The Australian Industry Group’s Innes Willox says the case for strong climate action has strengthened rapidly and the cost has turned out to be lower than expected
Mandate EV charging points in new homes and offices, experts say
All new residential and office buildings with off-street parking should be forced to include electrical cabling for future vehicle charging, industry experts say, to ensure Australia can make a smooth transition away from petrol and diesel cars.
Dutton backs net zero target, says Nationals need time ‘to air their issues’
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has backed a climate target of net zero emissions by 2050 in a sign of majority cabinet support for the goal as the federal government waits on the Nationals to decide their stance this Sunday.
Woodside, Santos bet on bulk to beat carbon threat [$]
The determination of Australia’s two largest oil and gas producers to defy mounting opposition to the continued growth of fossil fuels and double down to become “mini-majors” in the sector could amount to their biggest ever gamble.
One of Australia’s richest men is betting on green hydrogen to make Australia a world leader in renewable energy while creating jobs in the process.
Australia’s climate indecision continues as Scott Morrison heads to Glasgow – Australian Politics podcast
Katharine Murphy speaks to Guardian Australia’s climate and environment editor Adam Morton about the Coalition’s approach to net zero emissions and the global push for greater action on global heating
Climate is finally the talk of Australia, but who is controlling the conversation?
Zoe Daniel
Australians could be forgiven for wondering: Just who is in charge?
Both bad climate policy and no policy will see Australia lose jobs and investment overseas
Innes Willox
Australia’s economic security depends on the government acting now to set clear and ambitious climate goals
So Morrison’s going to Glasgow. Should we laugh, weep or rage for the lost decade?
Katharine Murphy
After a week of subtle-as-a-meat axe attempts to bring the Nationals around on net zero, a deal might just land
Australia a wombat on climate readiness
Janet Truslove
Australia is lumbering towards net zero like an old grey wombat.
Conversion on the road to Glasgow [$]
Charles Wooley
If ScoMo returns as the beaming, born-again Green Lantern of Australian eco-politics he might garner enough votes to be around long enough to put solar panels on the Lodge
Now is the time to turn tide on plastic pollution
Lauren Briggs
After discovering that only one in 1000 baby sea turtle hatchlings make it to adulthood, I knew the character I first designed in a university animation class would become my inspiration.
The big problem with the government’s climate change programs [$]
Doug Dingwall
Tony Abbott vowed to get cracking on a new way of reducing carbon emissions before the Coalition returned to government in 2013.
Jack Waterford
Was there ever a more shameful or shocking sight in Australian history than the auction of the past few weeks at which Prime Minister Scott Morrison bartered away to the National Party bits of Australia’s national interest, its international and regional interests, its standing as a citizen of the world, and the future of Australian children and the children of the world.
Now he’s been shamed into going, Morrison must take more than spin to Glasgow
Kevin Rudd
To be credible, Australia should reduce its emissions by about 50 per cent by 2030.
The ‘net’ in net zero emissions offers a huge temptation to cheat
Ross Gittins
Perhaps the hardest part of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 is the “net”. We won’t get to zero emissions without it, but it’s tricky and presents us with a great temptation to turn the whole exercise into a rort.
One small step for climate change, one giant leap for the Coalition
Phillip Coorey
In August 2017, about six months after he taunted Labor by waving a lump of coal inside Parliament, then-treasurer Scott Morrison struck a different tone.
Bill Hare
With just over a fortnight until world leaders gather in Glasgow at a make-or-break United Nations climate conference, all eyes are on the biggest climate laggards, including Australia.
Morrison set for Glasgow but has to finish packing his bag
Michelle Grattan
Scott Morrison has declared he will attend next month’s Glasgow climate conference, as the Coalition parties prepare to consider the government’s revised climate policy.
The Coalition climate deal that now has to happen [$]
AFR editorial
Failure to agree on net zero by 2050 would leave the Prime Minister empty-handed in Glasgow and hollowed-out at home. This is the last best chance that must be taken.
Net zero emissions target is more rallying cry than reality [$]
Greg Sheridan
Net-zero emissions is essentially a fraudulent concept that can never be realised in the real world. At its most benign, it works as a rallying cry for greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and further efforts to clean up the environment.
Climate policy tearing us apart [$]
Chris Kenny
We have always prided ourselves on being an egalitarian nation, and our best leaders since the Menzies era, Bob Hawke and John Howard, found their inspiration, voice and support from the mainstream people who share aspirations and values across a wide array of income levels, cultural backgrounds and geographical locations. Sadly, in the 21st century, we are becoming a cleft nation, polarised and antagonistic, with little communication across what has become the great Australian divide.
Road to Glasgow is paved with difficult decisions [$]
Australian editorial
News that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the Glasgow climate summit next month provides a timely reality check for expectations on what can be achieved.
Our political record on climate is appalling [$]
Peter van Onselen
As the Nationals consider whether or not to support a net-zero emissions target for 2050, ahead of Scott Morrison’s inevitable departure for Glasgow later this month, it’s worth reflecting on just how comprehensively Australia has butchered its response to climate change action up until now. And not just recently.
Mega-rich blokes lecturing us on net zero is a bit rich [$]
Vikki Campion
Prince Charles lectured Australia on climate change this week. Vikki Campion explains why he really should keep his opinions to himself.
Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer
While the political farce over climate policy goes on, the Reserve Bank has been trying to work how best to protect our financial system from the ‘first order risk’ that is climate change.
Pauline Hanson is more of a politician than Barnaby Joyce — she has an idea of national interest [$]
Bernard Keane
An independent observer would be thoroughly puzzled as to why we allow the representatives of a tiny minority of voters to thwart urgently needed climate action. And they might wonder whose fault that is.
Clock ticks for the Nationals on climate [$]
Karen Middleton
The Nationals meet on Sunday to decide their climate change policy, although some members worry Barnaby Joyce has already done a deal with Scott Morrison.
The climate case that has the Morrison government scrambling [$]
Kieran Pender
The leaking by the Morrison government of court submissions shows its antagonistic attitude towards the judiciary, particularly in cases related to climate change.
Mission zero, credibility less [$]
Paul Bongiorno
“The dramatic shifts in the politics of climate change have finally caught out Scott Morrison. It’s a reckoning that’s been coming since the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires.”
Victoria
Building an urban forest together
Hobsons Bay is launching an exciting campaign to encourage residents, businesses, and industrial areas to help build our urban forest.
Recyclers beg for cash-a-can jobs not to be crushed [$]
Victoria’s cash-a-can scheme is set to begin in 2023 but regional recyclers say one model being considered would demolish jobs.
New South Wales
NSW parliamentary report questions models used to justify kangaroo culls
A state parliamentary inquiry has raised serious questions about the kangaroo harvest industry in New South Wales and highlighted welfare failings in how joeys are killed.
Outrage as report finds selective logging has no impact on koala population
A conservation group deems as “dangerous propaganda” the findings of a three-year research program that koala numbers in NSW state forests are not affected by logging.
‘Critical’ gas power plant to return 12.3pc: Snowy [$]
Snowy Hydro’s $600 million Hunter gas power plant will provide critical back-up for renewable energy and provide base-case returns of 12.3 per cent, according to modelling that debunks the views of critics.
NSW’s green machine leaves PM’s jalopy for dust
Peter Hartcher
Matt Kean, the NSW Liberal minister leading the charge on a clean energy future, has some pointed words for his federal colleagues. If they drag the chain, he says, NSW can make its own deals with the world.
What we need from leaders making a life and death decision in NSW
Malcolm Knox
Politicians should let the evidence guide their decision-making on voluntary assisted dying.
Thousands of homes among their gum trees: the assault on Sydney’s last healthy koalas
Elizabeth Farrelly
The concessions for habitat and corridors offer too little to ensure the future of Sydney’s last chlamydia-free koala population.
Queensland
How hydrogen became the new black – and why pollies fear their ‘Kodak moment’
Of all the things hydrogen can do, it has the potential to help Australia escape a Kodak moment, according to the University of Southern Queensland’s Dr Mark Lynch.
Adani chalks up $1b spend as relations with government thaw
Bravus has cracked the $1 billion mark in spending with local companies as coal began to be stockpiled at its Carmichael mine.
Glen Rock wins World Heritage status to protect rare wildlife
A southeast Queensland forest which is a habitat for the glossy-black cockatoo, brush-tailed rock wallaby and the powerful owl will be become part of a World Heritage-listed national park.
Because we care: Mum defends students ‘going on strike’ for climate [$]
Students across Queensland have ignored the pleas of the Education Minister and walked out of class to join a national “strike” for climate change action.
Return of leatherbacks to Queensland give new hope for endangered population
Rare sightings of the world’s largest sea turtles off the Bundaberg coast gives researchers hope they will breed here for the first time in 25 years.
The restoration project giving oyster shells a new life
Discarded oyster shells from restaurants destined for landfill are being recycled to create shellfish reefs in Queensland’s Moreton Bay.
Pilot plant turning sugarcane waste into jet fuel prepares to flick switch
While the federal government debates whether it will commit to a goal of net zero, a trial to turn sugarcane waste into jet fuel in the heart of coal country is underway in Mackay.
South Australia
‘A step towards the future for our people’: NASA’s rocket launch site sits deep in Aboriginal land
A team of 27 NASA personnel is working with local First Nations people to ready a small north-east Arnhem Land space base for its historic rocket launch.
Tasmania
TasNetworks’ Sean Mc Goldrick says Marinus Link and hydrogen fit
Tasmania does not have to choose between the proposed Marinus Link electricity interconnector to Victoria and hydrogen energy developments, TasNetworks’ boss believes.
Queenstown tyre fire leads to on-site storage ban call
A big tyre fire of suspicious origin near the Mount Lyell mine has prompted a call for mine “tyre dumps” to be banned.
Water conservation vital even though rainy conditions are predicted
So far spring has brought some rainy conditions, but as summer approaches TasWater is encouraging Tasmanians to continue to be mindful of their water use.
Students march through rain to send message on climate [$]
Students have missed school to march through the streets of Hobart, hoping to send a message about climate change.
Logging and bushfire ‘link’ a case of not seeing forest for trees
Letters
Dr Jennifer Sanger misses the point about why there are differing views on a link between logging and bushfire
Northern Territory
Authorities catch 101 illegal fishing vessels off northern Australia since July
The Australian government confirms it is no longer detaining illegal foreign fishing crews due to COVID-19 safety concerns, amid a spike in boats close to the mainland.
Western Australia
Numbats return after habitat devastated by prescribed burn
The endangered marsupials are seen in an area of the South West where it was feared they had been wiped out by the blaze seven months ago.
Ian Verrender
Andrew Forrest went on a green hydrogen blitz this week, standing alongside premiers in NSW and Queensland to announce multi-billion-dollar plans for renewable energy exports. Ian Verrender looks at just how feasible these grand plans are.
Sustainability
‘It comes from bacteria, and goes back to bacteria’: the future of plastic alternatives
Making a biodegradable material strong enough to replace plastic is a tough task. But scientists are trying to do just that
Electronic waste from just this year will outweigh the Great Wall of China
This year, each of us will throw out, recycle, or shove into a desk drawer an average of 16.8 pounds of old phones, laptops, toasters, and other electronics and appliances, according to the UN — a whopping total of 63.3 million tons of electronic waste worldwide.
Tracking environmental actions under Biden
President Biden is unwinding Donald Trump’s environmental legacy, while forging his own. The Washington Post is chronicling every step.
16 companies, people, and ideas that might save the planet
No single solution is likely to rescue us from the climate crisis, but four decades of intensive research and development have yielded innovation that could lead us to a cleaner and less volatile future.
Electric vehicles have a weight problem
Batteries are heavy, and they’re getting heavier. It makes EVs pollute more than they need to, and be more deadly during crashes. But there are solutions.
These Maldives islanders once saw sharks as the threat. Now they fear the plastic
Diving with tiger sharks off Fuvahmulah brought a tourist boom that has led to a destructive tide of plastic waste. But now locals are pushing back
The first big energy shock of the green era
There are grave problems with the transition to clean energy power. The current panic is a reminder that modern life needs abundant energy: without it, bills become unaffordable, homes freeze and businesses stall.
UK to push plan to ‘halt and reverse global deforestation by 2030’ at Cop26
Government will call for producers and consumers of commodities such as soya and cocoa to commit to stopping land clearances
A new bipartisan bill in the US would treat it that way.
How America is winning the war on overfishing
David Byrne
Though overfishing remains a global problem, a science-driven approach has led to surprisingly sustainable practices in some countries, including the U.S.
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