Post of the Day
Pollution responsible for more deaths than COVID-19 says UN report
Experts are calling for immediate bans on certain toxic chemicals in the wake of a UN report saying that pollution from global governments and companies is responsible for more than nine million premature deaths per year, predominately affecting marginalised, indigenous and low-income populations.
On This Day
Climate Change
Multilateralism key to achieving climate goals
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, has underlined the critical role of the multilateral process in international climate efforts, stating that multilateralism remains “the world’s vehicle for addressing climate change.”
Addressing climate change means finding the source of missing methane
When it comes to the single biggest contributor to climate change, carbon dioxide, there’s no mystery: It’s mainly coming from tailpipes and smokestacks. But nailing down the sources of the second-biggest climate problem is trickier.
U.S. coastline to see up to a foot of sea level rise by 2050
The United States is expected to experience as much sea level rise by the year 2050 as it witnessed in the previous hundred years.
National
Snowy 3.0? Greens plot $40 billion takeover of electricity sector to eliminate coal by 2030
With coal plants closing earlier than projected, the Greens’ are pushing for a major intervention in the national electricity market to shore up stability, saying a revamped Snowy Hydro scheme could cover the electricity produced by coal.
Clean Up Australia needs your help to tackle face mask pollution
Concerns about disposable masks littering the environment and creating hazards for marine life and birds promotes Clean Up Australia to launch a citizen science project.
Improving waste management and recycling in Australia
The Australian Government has responded to the Inquiry into Australia’s Waste Management and Recycling Industries.
On coal plant closures, the energy industry has learned to keep Angus Taylor out of the loop
The shift to a grid that runs on renewables is a manageable transformation, but the federal government’s approach still frustrates
Greens ‘want new mining jobs across Australia’ [$]
Adam Bandt to tell voters in coal, gas electorates that the Greens will create new mining jobs in transition to net-zero.
Graham Readfearn
Grattan Institute energy experts say News Corp’s eye-watering figures on the projected costs and job losses of an improbable moratorium are ‘inflated’
Stampede to power disaster accelerating [$]
Terry McCrann
The rush to close Australia’s coal-fired power stations and replace them with a hopeless grab-bag of functionally useless wind and solar plus batteries is just mindless insanity.
Chris Briggs
In a major step forward for Australia’s clean energy transition, the country’s biggest coal-fired power station Eraring is set to close seven years early in 2025, Origin Energy announced this morning.
Coal plant closure shows Australia at forefront of global clean energy experiment
Mike Foley
The shift to clean energy is gaining pace as cheap renewables pump more and more cheap power into the grid, undermining the business case of old coal plants.
Victoria
EPA lays charges over stockpiles of e-waste and waste tyres
Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has laid 12 charges against a Balwyn North company and one individual under the Environment Protection Act 1970, following a comprehensive investigation into stockpiles of e-waste and waste tyres at the company’s Broadmeadows premises.
New South Wales
Energy experts have hosed down concerns the early closure of Eraring coal-fired power station near Newcastle could spark electricity price spikes and throw the security of the grid into peril.
Clock ticking for Eraring workers as renewables ‘absolutely destroying’ coal-fired power
The head of Origin Energy says he cannot guarantee all workers will be redeployed, after the plant’s closure is brought forward by seven years to 2025.
‘Super’ battery to boost NSW supply when coal-fired power station closes
NSW Treasurer and Energy Minister Matt Kean says NSW’s energy supply will be secured through a “super” battery to be installed by the private sector as Australia’s largest coal-burning power station prepares to close early.
Coal power shutdown risks bill shock [$]
Energy minister Angus Taylor has slammed his NSW counterpart Matt Kean’s reliance on batteries as “delusional”, amid fresh fears energy prices will spike after Origin Energy’s shock decision to close the country’s biggest coal-fired power plant seven years early.
‘We had a plan, now they’ve betrayed us’ [$]
Lake Macquarie mayor has accused the NSW government and Origin Energy of ‘blowing up’ a ten-year plan for the transition from coal-fired power to renewables.
‘Giant leap backwards’: NSW regional council revokes climate emergency declaration
A NSW Mid North Coast Council votes to rescind a Climate Change Emergency Declaration despite protests from local climate activists.
It was meant to be a ‘game changer’ but company dumps plans for EV manufacturing plant
Electric vehicle manufacturer Nexport blames failed talks with the New South Wales government for dumping plans to build a production plant in the state’s Southern Highlands.
‘Not backing down’: Narrabri bid to reroute inland rail gathers steam
Newly elected councillors say they have a mandate to divert proposed corridor further west to avert flood risk
Morrison missing in action for Eraring power workers
Electrical Trades Union
Origin’s announcement that it will accelerate closure of Eraring power station to mid 2025 is entirely foreseeable, exposing the Morrison Government’s failure to plan for the economic security of the workforce and the community.
Dirty and expensive: The economics of Origin’s early exit from coal
Elizabeth Knight
Energy companies like Origin and AGL would rather avoid politics and focus on the needs of their important stakeholders – the shareholders.
Eraring shows the complexity of the energy transition [$]
AFR editorial
The size and complexity of the electricity challenge means all cleaner energy opportunities, including the nuclear option, should be on the table.
Eraring takes us over the carbon Rubicon [$]
Matthew Warren
The deepest and darkest question as big coal generators exit is whether there will always be enough power when it’s needed.
Eraring is only the beginning of the end for coal [$]
Jennifer Hewett
The early closure of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station in 2025 will test the energy grid and management of the transition from coal as the plants become uneconomic.
Electric shock: transition to clean energy will be rocky [$]
Perry Williams
The closure of the nation’s biggest coal fire power plant, Origin’s Eraring in NSW, will spark two key fears: that household electricity bills will soar and the entire grid will face fresh volatility.
Closure puts pressure on power [$]
Australian editorial
Politicians cannot pretend to be surprised by coal’s decline.
Daryl McPhee
The fatal shark attack off Sydney on Wednesday left the city shocked, and triggered questions from a horrified public. Why would a shark just grab a man from the water? And will it strike again?
Queensland
Greens’ Reef plan will bring benefits to global wonder
The Australian Marine Conservation Society has welcomed a $2bn plan to save the Great Barrier Reef announced by the Greens.
How state can help billion-dollar mega project without spending a cent [$]
A trillion-litre dam, irrigation scheme renewable energy hub is planned for Queensland, and the State Government has been asked to please do nothing.
$50 bonus: Why Queenslanders are getting an electricity discount [$]
Queenslanders will reap a dividend windfall in the form of a $50 discount to their electricity bills later this year.
How Australia failed the Bramble Cay melomys
Bruce Gall
The Bramble Cay melomys was a small native rodent that lived and loved on Bramble Cay, a five-hectare sandy cay in the Torres Strait. The cay is the most northerly island of the Great Barrier Reef, barely 50 kilometres from Papua New Guinea and just four kilometres inside Australia’s territorial waters.
South Australia
Bat rage shocks wildlife volunteers [$]
Fears of viruses and power outages caused by Adelaide’s fruit bats are boiling over into abuse aimed at animal rescuers, volunteers say.
Kimba radioactive concerns move to Adelaide CBD
The federal government’s controversial plan to dump and store radioactive waste near Kimba, on the Eyre Peninsula, is the focus of new protest posters across the CBD.
Black swans return in big numbers to the Coorong and Lower Lakes
Sustained high flows from the Murray-Darling Basin in recent months have drawn large numbers of wildlife and raised water levels.
Tasmania
A stand of ancient Huon pine trees is under threat from a bushfire burning in Tasmania’s remote south-west.
Bob Brown Foundation protestors arrested at Wentworth Hills
Activists from the Bob Brown Foundation congregated at a live logging coupe at Wentworth Hills at the Central Highlands early this week to defend the old growth forest.
New salmon boss hopes to be ‘the voice’ for Tassie industry [$]
The state’s new salmon boss says the industry should be celebrated as she plans to have input into the state government’s 10-year industry plan.
Bob Brown Foundation slams Marinus Link as ISP “white elephant”
Australian Greens heavyweights tell AEMO that its assessment of the Marinus Link is “fundamentally flawed” and could hold back development of the NEM.
Salmon deaths should be a wake-up call about climate crisis
Letters
I was shocked to read about the massive salmon deaths that occurred due to a spike in water temperature
Hobart second class without light rail
Kristie Johnston
In the world’s worst kept secret, today we have heard that Minister Ferguson is not going to pursue light rail as an option for the Hobart northern suburbs rail corridor.
Northern Territory
New sacred site agreement needed to continue major NT mine expansion
The future of resources giant Glencore’s McArthur River lead zinc mine depends on whether it can negotiate a new agreement with traditional owners to allow future expansions — potentially interfering with several sacred sites.
When Inpex wants LNG plant third train built [$]
Inpex has put a date on when they want to have plans finalised for a third LNG train.
NT second-in-command sued for $120 million mine discount [$]
The Territory’s second-in-command is being sued over a $120 million discount for a zinc and lead mine’s security bond.
British financiers say NT indigenous renewable venture could lure $50 billion
Octopus Group has announced a plan to invest £26 billion ($49.15 billion) over the next 10 years in Desert Springs Octopus, a company which it says will be majority Indigenous-owned and led.
Traditional Owners in NT water fight
The Central Land Council wants a decision by the NT Families Minister to grant a 30-year groundwater extraction licence for Singleton Station to be quashed.
Western Australia
New Penguin Island tourism centre to ‘doom penguin population’
The population has plummeted 80 per cent in 15 years, births last year were the second-lowest on record and scientists are warning against further disturbance.
Sustainability
Pollution responsible for more deaths than COVID-19 says UN report
Experts are calling for immediate bans on certain toxic chemicals in the wake of a UN report saying that pollution from global governments and companies is responsible for more than nine million premature deaths per year, predominately affecting marginalised, indigenous and low-income populations.
UK green economy has failed to grow since 2014, according to official data
Office for National Statistics finds ‘no significant change’ in turnover and jobs in low-carbon and renewable energy sector
Air pollution may affect sperm quality, says study
Research into samples of 30,000 men in China suggests ability of sperm to swim in right direction could be affected
Poisoned farmers: exposing the myth of pesticide protection in Europe
In Europe, scientists have blown the whistle on farmworkers’ exposure to pesticides for years. They remain unheard.
What are the hurdles to electrifying a home? Contractors and experts weigh in
Installing heat pumps and induction stoves can be costly and complex, but they boost homeowners’ health and comfort — and benefit the climate too.
Ethanol is worse for climate change than gasoline, new report says
The process to harvest and produce corn-based ethanol creates more harmful emissions than normal gasoline, according to a new report.
London produces up to a third more methane than estimates suggest
Measurements of London’s atmosphere show the city is releasing more of the potent greenhouse gas methane, primarily from natural gas leaks.
The most underappreciated tool for scaling climatetech – Catalyst podcast
How insurance could unlock a new deployment wave of climate solutions.
Bayer could have last laugh over glyphosate court cases
Dave Dickey
When it comes to fighting court claims that its top-selling weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, Bayer AG is looking more and more like Rocky Balboa every day.
$1B for Great Lakes cleanup will target 22 pollution hotspots
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it plans to spend the bulk of $1 billion for Great Lakes restoration on fully cleaning up hotspots that suffer from legacy pollution over the next eight years.
Tall trees in the Amazon can suffer from warmer temperatures
Tall trees in Central Amazonia are impacted by periods of high maximum temperatures, which can cause them to shed their leaves and branches
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