Post of the Day
This is the straw that could help break the cycle of climate change
Peter Kageyama
One small action – such as banning plastic straws – repeated over and over can help solve global problems.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Forest Animal Feeding Day – Poland
Climate Change
COP26 deal sparks hope for positive tipping points
The Breakthrough Agenda agreed at COP26 could help trigger positive tipping points to tackle the climate crisis, researchers say.
Why should Palau disappear because the world didn’t make the “hard choices to turn the tide”, asks president of island nation being battered by climate change.
Here comes the social cost of carbon. Will it address EJ?
The White House is expected to release new values for climate change damage as soon as this month that reflect the disproportionate harm that vulnerable populations could face on a warming planet.
Australia’s bushfire threat already beyond worst-case scenarios, thanks to climate change
As a cooler summer provides Australia a reprieve from the extremes of recent hot summers, experts say bushfire threat still exceeds ‘worst case’ scenarios.
Koalas in NSW, Qld and ACT to be listed as endangered
Koalas will be listed as endangered, instead of vulnerable, across New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT in a bid to protect dwindling populations.
$400 million national fire ant program running short on funds and time
A leading expert warns Australia may not know the full extent of where fire ants have spread.
AGL coal closures inch forward, defying AEMO modelling and climate needs
AGL brings forward the closure of its last two coal generators, but it still falls well short of market forecasts and climate needs.
AGL to create fund to support investment in 2.7GW of wind and storage projects
AGL to create a new fund to help finance its planned wind project and battery and pumped hydro storage projects.
AGL must meet with workers to discuss power station closure impact on jobs
The Mining and Energy Union has called on AGL to urgently meet with workers and union representatives to discuss the impact of fast-tracked closures of Bayswater and Loy Yang A power stations announced today.
Taylor warns early coal closures could push up prices, risk blackouts [$]
The federal Energy Minister said the closure of AGL’s Bayswater and Loy Yang coal-fired power stations would leave a ‘considerable gap’ in the energy market.
Why the shutdown of AGL’s coal-fired plants will probably happen even sooner than power giant says
Peter Hannam
The two plants selected for early shutdown currently produce about 7% of Australia’s total carbon emissions
Independent regional journalism, brought to you by fossil fuels
Lyndal Rowlands
A regional journalism summit this week made no specific references to climate change and was sponsored by AGL Energy and gas pipeline company APA.
“We’re not behind:” Tim Wilson’s optimism on Australian EV uptake defies the evidence
Michael Mazengarb
Tim Wilson suggests Australia is keeping pace with the rest of the world on EV uptake, but the data suggests he’s wrong.
National parks are not enough – we need landholders to protect threatened species on their property
Stephen Kearney et al
Over the last decade, the area protected for nature in Australia has shot up by almost half. Our national reserve system now covers 20% of the country.
How Australians can cut emissions – and save $5000 a year [$]
Saul Griffith
The electrification of households, powered by renewables, can halve energy use, fire up the economy and cut our living costs.
Early coal plant closures leave bigger transition task [$]
Australian editorial
Government must ensure affordable power is available on demand.
Victoria
A Victorian farmer vows to take legal action to fight against camping and fishing access to his farm.
AGL plan to stay in coal until 2040s angers environmental groups
Energy giant AGL has told investors it plans to operate the Loy Yang A plant in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley until sometime between 2040 and 2045. It was originally due to close in 2048.
Battle for footpaths drives increase in injuries linked to e-scooters
Melbourne’s footpaths are becoming increasingly crowded with the growing popularity of electric scooters leading to an increase in injuries.
Billions to be invested in massive Victorian wind farm [$]
Plans to build the southern hemisphere’s biggest wind farm in Victoria have reached a major milestone, but a legal challenge looms.
Why seniors and students may no longer need Mykis [$]
A state MP has proposed a radical plan to make public transport free for Victorian seniors and students. This is how much it would cost taxpayers.
Plan to reintroduce dingoes to hunt pests slammed [$]
The proposed plan to “trial the reintroduction of dingoes as an apex predator into suitable Victorian ecosystems” has been slammed – immediately dismissed as a “fairytale”.
High Court blocks appeal for Bylong coal mine in likely fatal blow to project
The High Court refuses to hear appeal to Bylong coal mine rejection, effectively killing off the controversial project.
Charles Sturt University goes 100 pct renewable with NSW wind power deal
Charles Sturt University lands off take agreement with NSW wind farm in a deal that takes it to a 100% renewable energy supply.
Frogs return to Central West wetlands
Frogs are striking up a chorus in the State’s central west, taking advantage of wet weather and environmental flows to hatch a new generation.
Free transport, extended pedestrian zones on City of Sydney’s CBD wishlist
Train and light rail trips in the city centre would be free, another three blocks of George Street would be pedestrianised and government workers would return to their offices as part of a City of Sydney vision to bring life back to the CBD.
Aboriginal corporation launches crowdfunding campaign to buy back traditional land
The NFP’s crowdfunding campaign has raised just over $300,000 so far
Can you really carbon offset a power station? Sure – but it’s unimpressive
Graham Readfearn
EnergyAustralia is building a regular fossil fuel power station and buying carbon offsets based on its emissions
ACT
Cat containment to be expanded across Canberra
Mandatory cat registration will be introduced in the ACT when Canberra-wide cat containment comes into effect on July 1.
The ACT can lead the nation once more in human rights reform and protect our right to a healthy environment
GreenLaw and Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Two years ago, we choked on the ashes of lost lives and ecosystems during the Black Summer bushfires. We endured; but our human rights – in particular our right to a safe environment to live and thrive in – were violated, albeit without formal legal recognition.
Queensland
‘I get goosebumps’: World-first wallaby relocation project bounds along
A stress injection, a sack and being dropped off in bushland might not seem like the ideal way to move home, but for some wallabies in Far North Queensland, it’s worked out pretty well.
Major win for sharks as smart drumlines let them go free [$]
Close to three-quarters of sharks caught using new smart drumlines being trialled off the Queensland coast have been released alive, new figures show, making them three times more humane than traditional drumlines. See how they work.
Great Barrier Reef: cooler weather reduces threat of mass bleaching outbreak this summer
Cloud and rain over the past 10 days bring much-needed relief to heat-stressed coral, government authority says
Barnaby Joyce announces federal government will split the $1.2b Paradise Dam bill
The federal government has announced it will provide up to $600 million towards the cost of restoring Queensland’s Paradise Dam to its full 300,000-megalitre capacity.
South Australia
Party and takeaway plastics face bin but Govt pops balloon ban call
Plastic cups, food containers and balloon ties are on a list of items under consideration for a South Australian sales ban, but the state government says balloons won’t be included.
Tasmania
Legislation to stop destruction of Aboriginal art ‘toothless’
Letters
The news of a large Aboriginal rock art boulder disappearing from Sundown Point on Tasmania’s Tarkine coast and, further south, another being defaced with a chisel, underscores public neglect aided and abetted by government inaction.
Local government and climate change
Local Government Association Tasmania
Climate change is a major priority for councils and their communities, reflecting the serious impacts that are happening already and are forecast to worsen.
Northern Territory
Waterway ‘destroyed’ in Darwin drain dispute [$]
Fannie Bay residents are fighting with the Darwin Council to turn drain into community space.
Big beef over Katherine water rights hearing [$]
Beef and barra are the main opponents to Land Rights claim over the beds and banks of a major section of three Katherine region waterways.
Western Australia
Conservationists argue plans to rebuild the Penguin Island centre distract from human impacts affecting the threatened birds
Sustainability
One out of three people exposed to potentially harmful pesticide
One out of three people in a large survey showed signs of exposure to a pesticide called 2,4-D, according to a study published today by researchers at the George Washington University.
Rare earth elements await in waste
Rice University scientists applied their flash Joule heating process to coal fly ash and other toxic waste to safely extract rare earth elements essential to modern electronics and green technologies.
There’s been a ‘big moment’ in nuclear fusion research. Could it lead to a source of clean energy?
Scientists hail the results of a recent experiment as a “big moment” in the development of nuclear fusion technology, and a significant step closer to providing an almost limitless source of clean energy.
Not moment to lose in race to meet Sustainable Development Goals: Guterres
The President of the UN General Assembly convened the first system-wide meeting on Thursday, dedicated to galvanizing action towards implementing the ground-breaking blueprint, known as Our Common Agenda, launched last year by the Secretary-General.
How Canadian recycling could be fuelling pollution in India
A Radio-Canada investigation tracked down bales of paper contaminated with soft plastics to a rural region of India, where locals say the plastic is being burned.
Can super-fast battery charging fix the electric car?
The dominant trend in EV batteries is that bigger is better. Maybe with speedier charging, automakers could do more with less.
France to build up to 14 new nuclear reactors by 2050, says Macron
Emmanuel Macron has announced a “renaissance” for the French nuclear industry with a vast programme to build as many as 14 new reactors, arguing that it would help end the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and make France carbon neutral by 2050.
We have faith. Now we need clean air
Bee Moorhead
As people of faith, we believe that each human is worthy and deserving of basic needs including the need for clean air and clean water. We seek to live in a world where we are not only surviving but thriving. Addressing methane emissions through robust pollution standards is critical to achieving this vision.
This is the straw that could help break the cycle of climate change
Peter Kageyama
One small action – such as banning plastic straws – repeated over and over can help solve global problems.
Epigenetic effects of pollution persist for multiple generations in water fleas
A new study led by University of Liverpool researchers has shown that the effects of pollutants can be transmitted over many generations in water fleas and may persist long enough to influence the evolutionary process.
Brainy birds may fare better under climate change
Many North American migratory birds are shrinking in size as temperatures have warmed over the past 40 years. But those with very big brains, relative to their body size, did not shrink as much as smaller-brained birds, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
Seals are dying along South Africa’s west coast. What’s killing them remains a mystery
A lone scientist has taken it upon herself to find out why thousands of the animals have died along southern Africa’s Atlantic coast over the past six months.
Amazon losing far more carbon from forest degradation than deforestation: Study
Forest degradation due to environmental causes (such as drought) and human causes (such as fragmentation) released three times as much carbon as deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon between 2010 and 2019, say researchers.
You’re (maybe) gonna need a patent for that woolly mammoth
Scientists are racing to bring extinct species back from the dead. But does a resurrected mammoth belong to nature, or us?
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