Post of the Day
Peter Dykstra
When you’re immersed in environmental science and environmental politics, it’s sometimes hard to step back and measure progress. Here are a few gains and victories to charge your batteries.
On This Day
Feast of Saint Tryphon – Bulgaria and Montenegro
Climate Change
Louisiana federal judge blocks key Biden climate change initiative
A Louisiana federal district court has halted a key climate initiative from Joe Biden that he implemented shortly after becoming president last year.
Rupert Sutherland and Laia Alegret
We think of trees and soil as carbon sinks, but the world’s oceans hold far larger carbon stocks and are more effective at storing carbon permanently.
National
Charger that turns EVs into giant home batteries approved for sale in Australia
A new kind of charger that allows an electric vehicle to be used as a giant home battery is close to going on sale in Australia. So how does it work and is it worth the price?
Hello possums! How to live with this hungry native in your garden
From dog hair to mothballs, gardeners are getting creative when it comes to protecting plants from possums, but experts say fencing is key to saving the friendship.
UN: Australia pushes for plastic export ban in pollution crisis
Australia wants other countries to ban plastic waste exports and will push for a legally binding international treaty at the United Nations to limit the damage that the “ghostly walls of death” have on the marine environment.
Woodside and Santos pushed to disclose multibillion-dollar clean up ‘time bomb’
The ASX-listed energy heavyweights now face shareholder pressure over the enormous cost to decommission their facilities as well emissions and a warming climate.
People are prepared to vote for stronger climate policies
The Coalition and Labor are seeking to discourage voters from turning to independents and minor parties, but their failure to achieve long-lasting policy change has voters looking elsewhere.
Household solar to be switched off as states gain emergency grid management powers
Authorities are moving to gain more control over rooftop solar panels amid a ballooning number of installations that are threatening to overload the grid at certain times.
The revolution will be electrified – 7am podcast
Australia has long been considered an international pariah on climate policy. But one Australian — a former climate adviser to US President Joe Biden — thinks that we’re uniquely positioned to become one of the most successful zero-emission economies in the world. Today, inventor and scientist Saul Griffith on his plan to transition Australia into a clean energy future.
Move to US shows paucity of policy in Australia
Letters
Age readers give their views on the issues of the day.
Victoria
Slow train coming: Regional fast rail projects hit the buffers
The state estimates that when the Geelong link is finally complete – scheduled for 2029 – the journey will take about 50 minutes.
Grassfire in Victoria’s southwest under control [$]
Residents from several towns in Victoria’s southwest have been told they can return home after a large grassfire near Tahara was brought under control.
New South Wales
How floods from Queensland could kill fish in NSW waters
A flood peak laden with deoxygenated water is pouring into the Menindee Lakes system in Far West NSW, site of the catastrophic fish kills in 2019.
River managers fight to save Menindee Lakes from flood of deadly blackwater
A flood peak laden with deoxygenated water is pouring into the Menindee Lakes system in Far West NSW, site of the catastrophic fish kills in 2019.
Queensland
Experts sceptical of Shine Energy’s proposed ‘flexible’ coal power station
The Australian company also claims coal can be burned with ‘zero emissions’ via CCS which remains largely ineffective and unproven
‘Higher and higher’: Power bills out of control in southeast Qld [$]
Families are feeling the burn of heated energy bills this summer with heatwaves blasting southeast Queensland and households “pumping” the aircon.
South Australia
Warning about maintaining solar panel batteries after Adelaide house badly damaged in fire
A fire that started in a solar panel battery badly damages a house in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, in what the Metropolitan Fire Service says is a growing problem across Australia.
Federal government commits final $2 billion for Adelaide freeway project
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces more than $2 billion from the federal government to complete funding for the North-South Corridor through Adelaide’s western and south-western suburbs.
Why Adelaide’s CBD needs a major rethink
Rex Jory
Many of Adelaide’s most-used public areas are designed only for the use of those who drive cars and the city is suffering as a result.
Tasmania
Landowner cleared as TFS sets up drop-in centre for Lebrina blaze [$]
Tasmania Fire Service will set up a community drop-in centre in the state’s northeast, with no end in sight to a fire which has so far gobbled up 1500ha of forest.
Northern Territory
Big bucks tipped into recycling for Katherine, but colour-top bins still years away
Every month, a semi-trailer worth of crushed beer cans and glass bottles is picked up from the town’s sorting centre and driven south — as far as recycling goes there, that’s about it. But that could soon change.
Sustainability
As China tackles plastic pollution at home, it feeds the scourge globally
Plastic waste in China, Hong Kong and the world has jumped during the Covid-19 pandemic as takeaway food in plastic containers has become the mainstay of restaurants and the only choice for many citizens subject to lockdowns.
How our environment is making us sick – and what we can do about it
From air pollutants to pesticides in food and cosmetic additives, modern life means constant exposure to environmental chemicals. Picking apart the effects will help us boost the health of humans and the planet.
Rivers ‘pumping’ ahead of the Duzi
Rivers in the Mngeni catchment continue to be “pumping”, a blessing water-wise, and a curse when it comes to pollution. However, certain stakeholders have assured that they are dealing with the latter.
The power of stars to meet our energy needs? This is something to be excited about
Arthur Turrell
The fusion energy industry could produce a breakthrough in human history akin to the adoption of electricity
West’s green culture has world on brink of war [$]
Andrew Bolt
The green movement that has infested the West’s politics, media and universities has played us into Vladimir Putin’s hands and helped bring the world to the edge of war.
Chiara Neto and Isaac Gresham
Snow machines have exploited the laws of thermodynamics to paint the slopes of Beijing white for this year’s Winter Olympics.
Peter Dykstra
When you’re immersed in environmental science and environmental politics, it’s sometimes hard to step back and measure progress. Here are a few gains and victories to charge your batteries.
Natural gas is a dangerous name for a climate pollutant
Rebecca Leber
The oil and gas industry didn’t invent the name. But it invented the myth of a clean fuel.
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest hits record January high
Brazil recorded the most deforestation ever in the Amazon rainforest for the month of January, according to government data on Friday, as destruction continues to worsen despite the government’s recent pledges to bring it under control.
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