Post of the Day
‘We don’t have to pretend anymore’: Greens ready to bail on D.C.
Environmentalists and many of their Democratic allies are preparing to focus on state capitals as the places to press for action on climate change — going back to a strategy they employed during the Trump era.
On This Day
Climate Change
How Charles Koch purchased the EPA Supreme Court decision
Decades of contributions aimed at influencing the judiciary bought the fossil fuel billionaire the ruling he’s always wanted.
Why Biden’s climate push might not be doomed
It wouldn’t be easy, but Democrats could still look to Congress, other kinds of regulations or the states in their effort to cut greenhouse gases.
‘We don’t have to pretend anymore’: Greens ready to bail on D.C.
Environmentalists and many of their Democratic allies are preparing to focus on state capitals as the places to press for action on climate change — going back to a strategy they employed during the Trump era.
Patrick Parenteau
In a highly anticipated but not unexpected 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled on June 30, 2022, that the Obama adminstration’s Clean Power Plan exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act.
The US supreme court has declared war on the Earth’s future
Kate Aronoff
In a major environmental case, the court has made clear that it would rather represent the interests of corporations and the super-rich than the needs and desires of the vast majority of Americans – or people on Earth
National
AEMO’s renewable energy roadmap fails to factor in locals fighting the power, policy expert says
Amid delays caused by community resistance to major infrastructure projects, an energy policy expert says AEMO’s plan to complete five projects in the next decade is a pipedream.
“Big shift in language:” Transgrid welcomes new urgency in transmission plans
Transgrid says switch to green energy is going to accelerate, particularly after the disruption in global energy markets.
Chubb’s big challenge is to restore confidence in Australia’s tainted carbon markets
Labor taps former chief scientist Ian Chubb with the task of restoring confidence in Australia’s troubled carbon offsets regime.
Could an emissions reduction trajectory be baked into a capacity mechanism?
Energy ministers will decide which technologies will be eligible in a capacity mechanism, but the ESB chief says emissions cuts could be built into its design.
Australian company secures $700,000 deal for carbon capture and storage machine
AspiraDAC device can remove two tonnes of CO2 a year and store it underground using direct air capture technology
‘Carbon budget’ to drive coal power exit is missing: expert
A policy that underpins the energy market operator’s forecast for coal plant retirements does not exist, helping explain a big gap between forecasts on coal power.
Fact check: Greens senator says Labor’s 43 pct target fails to achieve Paris commitment
The new Labor government is under fire over its enhanced commitment towards Australia’s obligations on a key global climate treaty.
Flight of fancy: row erupts over rare bird [$]
Authorities won’t classify a rare bird ‘endangered’, but is it already too late?
Climate change Minister meets with Torres Strait Island leaders – video
Chris Bowen admitted there is a lot of work to be done, during what was called a friendly but frank discussion.
Australia’s rapid transition to renewables – Energy Insiders podcast
AEMO lays out roadmap for a rapid transition to renewables, Baringa’s Alan Rai joins us to discuss the high points and the lows.
As Labor enacts its emissions reduction target, will the climate truce survive?
Katharine Murphy
War can easily resume once the honeymoon ends and Chris Bowen begins turning election promises into regulations
Lunatic farm rules are sowing the seeds of famine [$]
Vikki Campion
Cutting fertilisers and pesticides because of concerns about climate change killing people in the future ignores that hundreds of millions are starving to death right now.
The reality of Australia’s carbon challenge laid bare [$]
Jacob Greber
With an estimated price tag of $320 billion, there are big questions as to how the economics and politics of decarbonisation will evolve.
Fires, floods, droughts, cyclones and earthquakes: what should we do?
Edward Blakely
Australia can learn disaster preparation lessons and mitigation measures from the Netherlands and the United States
The Emissions Reduction Fund is a fraud. Its review needs to expose the perpetrators [$]
Bernard Keane
A review will examine the discredited Emissions Reduction Fund. But does the government really want to take away a source of cheap carbon credits?
Feral honeybees key to controlling deadly parasite
Stephan Winter and Jonathan Arundel
To stamp out the Varroa destructor parasite now attacking honeybees, we need to be targeting potentially infected feral honeybee populations
John Hewson
While the climate debate intensifies over the inevitability of further, even more extreme weather events, and the necessary transitions to a low-carbon Australia, it seems that governments are ignoring or playing down the possibility of further pandemics and the need to be better prepared next time.
First Dog on the Moon
But can’t we just all be varroa mates?
Victoria
Renovate, don’t demolish: Bid to save Ascot Vale housing estate ‘could save millions’
Refurbishing public housing flats, rather than rebuilding them under the state government’s renewal program, could result in a saving of more than $400,000 per dwelling, a new report calculates.
Push to ban disposable coffee cups, lids [$]
Victorians love their coffee but the state is “late to the party” in the war on waste, prompting calls to ban disposable cups and lids.
How tip fees compare across Victoria [$]
Expensive tip fees are being blamed for a rise in litterbugs illegally dumping rubbish in the streets. Check how much your local tip charges.
Lord Mayor defends $300m ‘green dream’ [$]
Sally Capp is pushing ahead with plans to build Melbourne’s version of New York’s High Line park but critics say she is living in “la la land”.
Parks Victoria wins national awards
Parks Victoria media release
Parks Victoria is delighted to receive nine awards at the 2022 AILA Victoria Landscape Architecture Awards and the 2022 National Architecture Awards.
Want to rescue the CBD? Close ‘Little’ streets to cars and start planting
Thami Croeser
In one year we could turn Melbourne’s small streets and laneways green and transform the city. Here’s how.
New South Wales
Blockade protests costing the state ‘millions’
The NSW Transport Minister David Elliott has estimated protests in Sydney’s CBD this week will carry a hefty price tag for taxpayers.
Bee-killer mite found on Central Coast as authorities look to destroy more hives
The NSW Department of Primary Industries has established an emergency biosecurity zone around a property in Calga, west of Gosford.
Deliberately locked into the politics of climate hysteria [$]
Chris Kenny
Politicians go missing when the activists hit the Harbour Tunnel road.
Blockade Australia unfairly maligned by police, media and the Left [$]
Tom Tanuki
Three factions are conspiring to distort the truth over the matter of Blockade Australia (BA) activists’ recent police persecution.
Inside the police crackdown on Blockade Australia [$]
Wendy Bacon
As Blockade Australia concludes a week of climate protests in Sydney, police are using extraordinary tactics against the group, arresting and rearresting dozens of people.
ACT
Capital beekeepers ready for spread of deadly mite [$]
The deadly varroa mite found in Newcastle has become a major threat to the bee industry as Canberrans grow concerned about their own hives.
Queensland
Townhouse bans and COVID booms: Brisbane’s missing housing strategy
Brisbane backyards were in trouble, the city’s council stated in 2018. But years on, state-government-requested plans to offset a resulting ban on some developments are yet to materialise.
Cotton buds, helium balloons on banned plastics list, with coffee cups in sight
The Queensland government aims to phase out disposable coffee cups by September 2023.
South Australia
Port Pirie smelter licence renewed with new requirements to tackle emissions
Targets to reduce airborne lead emissions from Nyrstar’s smelter in Port Pirie are set in its operating licence, which is renewed for 12 months.
‘Slap in the face for commuters’: Public transport fee hike [$]
From today, public transport commuters will see a price hike which has renewed calls for buses, trains and trams to be made free for all.
Going rogue: Why this vet has big plans for feral camels
For Queensland veterinarian Margie Bale, every day at work is hump day.
Tasmania
Industry welcomes report saying link should be built as a priority.[$]
A representative of some of the most power-consumptive industries in the state says she is in favour of building the $3.8 billion project to construct more electric links to the mainland.
Crucial part of state’s deer strategy ‘incompatible’ with each other [$]
Protecting Tasmania from the impacts of wild fallow deer and ensuring there is a hunting resource for recreational hunters is incompatible, a former leader of the Australian Greens has told a parliamentary inquiry.
Arrests in Tasmania’s battle to save takayna / Tarkine
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation
Dr Colette Harmsen and Rose Sheehan were charged after halting a drill rig that arrived into forests threatened by mining company MMG’s proposal for a heavy metals tailings waste dump.
When will this cruel carnage end? [$]
Charles Wooley
Why do we spend public money protecting and showing such impressive native animals, at the same time as we let farmers cull them in their tens of thousands?
Western Australia
How ancient Antarctic ice cores hold clues to weather patterns in WA’s South-West
Ancient ice cores drilled from Antarctic glaciers shed light on why Western Australia’s South-West region is experiencing a drought on a scale that has only occurred twice before in 2,000 years.
WA extends plastics ban with a light touch
Western Australia’s government is promising an understanding approach as a ban on many single-use plastics comes into effect.
From mega carbon emitter to … eco-warrior? What drives Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest
If it’s hard to get your head around the business interests of Australia’s second-richest person, try getting a handle on the man himself. It ain’t easy, darl.
Sustainability
India imposes ban on single-use plastics. But will it be enforced?
India is the world’s third largest producer of plastic waste, trailing only the United States and China.
Cyanide spill in Turkey highlights environmental toll of mining
Large quantities of cyanide solution have spilled into the Karasu River in Turkey after a pipe carrying cyanide exploded in a gold mine. But experts say the mine has always caused heavy environmental damage.
Costs for new build wind and solar have jumped, but nothing like those of fossil fuels
BNEF reports temporary cost rises for renewables, driven by increased cost of materials, freight, fuel and labor. But solar and wind are still way cheaper than coal and gas.
Green steelmaking needs urgent advances in technology and mining
Technology to cut steelmaking emissions is in the early stages, but such transitions can accelerate, as shown by wind and solar.
Commuters get the French connection [$]
Chanticleer
The French approach to managing multimodal public transport in major cities is a ticket to slashing carbon emissions and reducing the reliance on cars.
Why the true cost of driving green will be paid in Africa and developing nations [$]
Cobus Van Staden
The rush to transition to electric vehicles is fuelling an insatiable hunger for resources from developing countries.
Nature Conservation
Following a week of discussions and events in Lisbon, Portugal, the UN Ocean Conference concluded on Friday, with governments and heads of state agreeing on a new political declaration to Save Our Ocean.
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