Post of the Day
The little guys are leading efforts to combat climate change
Don’t let the Glasgow climate summit get you down. This battle is being won from the bottom up.
On This Day
Saint Cecilia’s Day – Mexico
Ecological Observance
Arbor Day – British Virgin Islands
Climate Change
Cop27 is in Egypt next year … but will anyone be allowed to protest?
Green experts and human rights activists are concerned the hardline Cairo regime will suppress any civil society action
Climate change is commonly discussed as though it’s a uniquely atmospheric phenomena. But the crisis is deeply entwined with the ocean, and this has largely been neglected in international climate talks.
The little guys are leading efforts to combat climate change
Don’t let the Glasgow climate summit get you down. This battle is being won from the bottom up.
Top Pentagon official warns the US military is ‘not ready’ for climate change
A senior Pentagon official warned the US military is “not ready” to handle climate change, a national security issue that touches nearly every aspect of Defense Department planning.
Is there still hope for the planet after COP26? –7am podcast
The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow was seen as the world’s “last best chance” to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. On that measure it failed. World leaders have agreed to meet again next year to revisit their targets. Tim Flannery, one of Australia’s most well known environmentalists, had a front row seat at the negotiations, and to what he describes as Australia’s “embarrassing” contribution.
Finance sector critical in climate change action [$]
Anthony Miller
With another COP climate change conference behind us, there has been no shortage of criticism.
Gasbagging in Glasgow: COP26 and phasing down coal
Binoy Kampmark
After a succession of drafts, the climate pact trod a delicate path. There was greenwashing and subversion, triumphs and laments … and “lifestyle”.
Joe Biden’s rational hypocrisy on climate change
Anthony O’Brien
There has been a disconnect between Biden’s claims that climate change will kill us all and his actions.
How to change the mind of an ideologue
Cathy Wilcox
National
From bowsers to batteries: When demand for petrol dries up, what will happen to servos?
Electric vehicles are coming, and they don’t need liquid fuel. That spells trouble for service stations.
Labor climate policy poised to respond to PM scare tactics
Outgoing MP Joel Fitzgibbon has told the Opposition that going too hard would be a recipe for another federal election defeat.
AI to help bring bushfire-hit birds back from brink
Artificial intelligence will be tapped to help hunt down and save a rare species after its habitat was ravaged by the Black Summer fires.
Transport costs rise for Aussie households
Weekly transport costs for the average Australian metropolitan household have risen past $400 a week for the first time.
Energy at the centre of Australia-Japan overhaul plan [$]
A report has called for a revamp of Canberra’s relationship with Tokyo to focus on green power, ageing populations and shared security interests.
Timber advocates use freedom of information to access emails from scientist and journalists
Timber industry advocates have used freedom of information requests to try to access emails between prominent Australian National University scientist ecologist David Lindenmayer and environment journalists.
From terminator to germinator: Find out how these farmers are helping Australia reach net zero
When Joe Vaughan started his vineyard, he approached farming like a battlefield — killing unwanted pests and plants. Now he is among a growing number of farmers promoting life through regenerative agriculture.
The endless civil war among conservatives over nuclear power
Jim Green
The case for nuclear power in Australia is overwhelmingly weak, but that doesn’t det…
Victoria
In an area famous for its mineral water, worried residents want to know more about how the precious resource is managed.
Hidden in plain sight, this endangered native daisy is making a comeback
In Melbourne’s north-west, the button wrinklewort is bucking the trend as other species head towards extinction.
This pile of trash is 40m deep, but among it are things that shouldn’t be there
From dirty nappies to green waste, the Werribee tip in Melbourne’s south-west accepts 270,000 tonnes of landfill every year. But now there are plans to convert some of the rubbish into energy.
Building great cities takes political will and courage
Letters
Age readers discuss what degree of control the Planning Minister should have over suburban developments.
New South Wales
‘Green steel’ the most notable invention by the humble NSW Australian of the Year
It was in the bazaars of Mumbai, India where NSW Australian of the Year Veena Sahajwalla first saw what was possible with other people’s trash.
‘Inconceivable’: Hunter coal plan may spell disaster for prime wine country
A coalminer’s application for a lease in the middle of the famous wine region has galvanised local opposition
‘Boots on the ground’ needed to make the most of NSW national park land purchases
State government urged to manage and resource recent property acquisitions to protect native species and habitat
Operator admits staff put light rail performance before safety of passengers
The private operator of Sydney’s light rail system told staff they had put service performance ahead of safety when introducing the trams that shut the line down this month.
Queensland
Recycling industry rubbishes Queensland’s waste levy, saying targets will not be met
An industry report says payments to help local councils deal with the cost of waste disposal has created “an incentive to direct more waste to landfill” and ratepayers are in the dark about the matter.
South Australia
Out foxed: 2500 scalps, but which region had the most? [$]
A $10 bounty on fox scalps has led to 2500 being handed in under a project to reduce the pest on SA farms – with one region a standout.
Tasmania
The Tasmanian government wants to generate 200 per cent renewable energy by 2040, but not everyone is sold on the pathway to a cleaner future, with wind turbine opposition groups popping up across the state.
The Great Regional City Challenge welcomed Roger Scholes’ latest project, Reading Plipatumila River Country
A renowned Tasmanian film director is hoping to gain funding for a half-hour screen story detailing the lives of the state’s First Nations people.
Sustainability
Thai festival that honours the river goddess has begun polluting the water it reveres
Experts say the small, decorated ‘krathongs’ that believers float into the water on Loy Krathong are clogging the very waterways they seek to honour.
How to make roads with recycled waste, and pave the way to a circular economy
Salman Shooshtarian et al
It cost A$49 million to add 12.5 kilometres of extra lanes to Western Australia’s Kwinana Highway, south of Perth’s CBD. That’s not unusual. On average, building a single lane of road costs about about A$5 million per kilometre.
Up to a fifth of world’s biggest trees destroyed in recent fires
The blazes burnt hot enough and high enough to kill thousands of giant sequoias – trees once considered nearly fire-proof.
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