Post of the Day
David Lindenmayer
Imagine this fictitious scenario. The federal environment minister announces government approval for a large-scale penguin farm near Alice Springs. It will produce 300,000 penguins each year for the high-end feather market in Europe.
On This Day
Climate Change
What would a climate emergency mean? Here are 4 key points
As 100 million Americans swelter under heat warnings, the president is considering whether to invoke special powers to address climate change.
Carbon removal is moving full steam ahead. So is climate change
On Wednesday, the Department of Energy hosted the Carbon Negative Shot Summit, where the agency explored low-cost, clean and innovative ways to store huge amounts of carbon as the nation tries to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Live interview on British television called out for ‘Don’t Look Up’ similarity – video
An exchange during a live interview about an extreme heatwave in the UK has been called out for its similarity to a scene in the climate change satirical film ‘Don’t Look Up’ after an anchor responded to a meteorologist’s warnings about heatwave fatalities with: ‘I just want us to be happy about the weather’.
False balance in news coverage of climate change makes it harder to address crisis
When covering climate change, journalists sometimes strive to present “both sides” of the issue, even though most credible sources fall on one side.
LACCW 2022 Builds Crucial Regional Momentum for Climate Action ahead of COP27
This year’s Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week (LACCW 2022) in Santo Domingo wrapped up today, having helped build crucial regional momentum in the fight against climate change ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in November.
Congo peat swamps store years of global carbon emissions
Writing in The Conversation, Professor Simon Lewis (UCL Geography) and Bart Crezee at the University of Leeds warn that imminent oil drilling in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s peat swamps threatens to release three years worth of carbon dioxide emissions.
Bigger temperature change, larger extinction event, reveals researcher
A professor emeritus at Tohoku University has unearthed evidence pointing to a strong relationship between the magnitude of mass extinctions and global temperature changes in geologic times.
Porous crystals bind fluorine-containing greenhouse gases
Emissions of greenhouse gases contribute significantly to global warming. Not only carbon dioxide (CO2) but also fluorine-containing gases – including so-called per- or polyfluorinated hydrocarbons, or PFCs – have a significant share in this development. Researchers at the Institute of Organic Chemistry of Heidelberg University led by Prof. Dr Michael Mastalerz recently developed new crystalline materials that can selectively adsorb the molecules of such carbon-fluorine bonds. The Heidelberg researchers hope that these porous crystals may be useful for targeted binding and recovery of PFCs.
WMO issues report State of Climate in Latin America and Caribbean
Extreme weather and climate change impacts including mega-drought, extreme rainfall, land and marine heatwaves and glacier melt are affecting the Latin America and the Caribbean region, from the Amazon to the Andes and from Pacific and Atlantic Ocean waters to the snowy depths of Patagonia.
In tackling climate change, don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good
Fareed Zakaria
There are several practical ways that we can start cutting emissions right away.
Unless we act soon, this heatwave is just a taste of things to come
Andrea Dutton
It’s not too late to avert the climate crisis from becoming even more deadly – but the window is closing
No one listening to Biden’s climate ‘emergency’ call [$]
Adam Creighton
Global economic and energy chaos is killing off the ‘green dream’ of renewable power.
Good vibe? New data shows wind farm complaints tumbled in 2021
Community complaints about wind farms fell dramatically in 2021, including a “significant reduction” in concerns about low frequency noise or vibrations from operating turbines.
Networks test time-of-use appetite with “zero cost” daytime electricity offer
“Free electricity” offered by networks over a five-hour period each day, as part of new tariff trial designed for EV owners and non solar households.
Energy regulators prepare for EV smart charging, as cars become “batteries on wheels”
Electric vehicles are expected to reshape consumer energy needs and practices and have a transformative impact on the electricity grid.
Unprecedented powers to be used to contain foot and mouth disease
The Federal Government says it’s using unprecedented powers to try to prevent an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Australia. Indonesia is one of a number of countries where the disease has been detected, but its proximity to Australia and the flow of tourism makes it high risk. Airport screening is ramping up, forcing all incoming travellers to clean their shoes on sanitation mats.
Thousands of dead and dying frogs found across Australia
Researchers are trying to decipher the mystery and prevent long-term damage to amphibian populations, an indicator of ecosystem health.
EPBC Act in need of reform, says Law Council
The Law Council of Australia (LCA) has called for a review of the EPBC Act, after the Honourable Tanya Plibersek MP released findings that the health of Australia’s environment is poor and deteriorating.
Grassroots push to include climate change in Labor’s revamp of national conservation laws
Party’s environmental action group says emissions must be considered during development approvals process
Solution or hazard? Australia’s e-scooter debate gains speed, but the rules are a mess
With rising petrol prices and environmental concerns, e-scooters are quickly growing in popularity. But as legislation lags, are they safe?
What the bald eagle and a tiny bat can tell us about Australia’s broken system for protecting nature
We are still killing off our unique fauna at a horrifying rate.
Belittling Labor’s 43% target is ‘crazy’: Felicity Wade on climate action –
Australian Politics podcast
Felicity Wade from the Labor Environment Action Network joins political editor Katharine Murphy to discuss the group’s view of overhauling Australia’s environment laws – in order to commit to climate action
Global lessons from Australia’s disintegrating environment
David Shearman
As United Nations Secretary General António Guterres recently said “We have a choice: Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands.” Amid climate change-driven soaring temperatures in many countries, it appears he was referring to the almost universal backsliding on climate action commitments made in Glasgow at COP26 in November 2021.
David Lindenmayer
Imagine this fictitious scenario. The federal environment minister announces government approval for a large-scale penguin farm near Alice Springs. It will produce 300,000 penguins each year for the high-end feather market in Europe.
The best way to Dutton-proof climate legislation is to get it into parliament and get it passed
Katharine Murphy
Labor, the Greens and the teals should be focusing on widening the footprint of support for climate action, rather than preserving product differentiation
Australia is the extinction superpower of the world. Here’s what we need to do
Peter Hartcher
The Albanese government confronts a monumental task on the environment. This is where it begins.
To save Australia’s precious environment we must do these five things
Laura Chung and Miki Perkins
There is still time to act on the alarming decline of this country’s environment. It is the ambition of our actions that needs to be reimagined.
Pollies, please don’t tell us what cars to drive [$]
Opinion
In a vast country like Australia, where people love their SUVs and V8 utes, it’s going to be a long time before the population broadly embraces electric vehicles.
Glass half-empty (or 43 per cent full) [$]
Paul Bongiorno
The full impact of the change of government nine weeks ago will be clear on Tuesday when the new parliament sits for the first time. It will be an acid test for the Albanese government. The test is one it has largely set for itself. Despite claiming it does not need the parliament to commit to its 43 per cent reduction goal by 2030, Labor has invested too much time and energy to brook an easy defeat.
Saturday Paper editorial
Election cycles have determined how governments approach the environment. The world has been broken up into three-year increments. Decisions with ramifications that will last centuries are made on the basis of interests that struggle to look past next week. That explains what Anthony Albanese means when he says Australian coal is good for the climate.
Victoria
Animal kingdom: First Nations stories told through immersive experience at Melbourne Museum
Tyama showcases the knowledge of Victoria’s Indigenous peoples through the state’s native animals
Bristlebirds carefully migrate to the Prom by the car-full
It took a delicate, 11-hour car ride to relocate 17 critically endangered bristlebirds from NSW to Victoria in a bid to save their species.
Electric buses across the west every 10 minutes – it’s not a dream
John Stone
Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are growing faster than any other sector of the economy – it is time to finally put the brakes on.
New South Wales
Council rejects land swap for ‘zombie’ housing development resurrected in coastal bushland
A council on the NSW far south coast has rejected a developer’s offer of a land swap for a controversial housing estate — that was first proposed in 1989 — which environmental groups say will endanger threatened plants and animals.
Japan cannot hit emission targets without NSW’s hydrogen
The chair of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry has told Dominic Perrottet that his country will not reach its emission reduction targets without NSW’s burgeoning green hydrogen industry.
The Shooters Party’s fractured fight for the Murray–Darling [$]
Kurt Johnson
The NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has lost its only female MP in a battle over water management, prompting a three-way fight for the Murray–Darling Basin.
ACT
The tiny Australian territory that avoided the global energy crisis
Canberra’s commitment to renewables has made it the envy of Australia, as its energy costs stay low while fossil fuel prices soar across the rest of the country.
Strong support for electric cars in Canberra but price fears linger [$[
The majority of adult Canberrans are interested in buying an electric vehicle when they next replace their car, and 68 per cent said they would pick the electric model over the equivalent petrol-powered version if the price was the same.
The ACT takes the fast lane to a fuel-free future. What happens next? [$]
Jasper Lindell
The future appeared just around the bend this week when the ACT government announced it would ban new fossil-fuel powered cars from Canberra’s roads in 13 years’ time. The era of petrol bowsers and fumes is spluttering to the end.
Queensland
Mining giant complains of $72 million royalty hit after a record $2 billion half year
The hike in the State Government’s coal royalties would cost the owner of the Curragh mine in central Queensland an extra $US50 million ($US72 million) for the next six months.
‘Outrageous’: Taxpayers slugged $1m to spruik coal royalties hike [$]
Taxpayers have forked out $1m for a marketing campaign to sell the Queensland government’s contentious new coal royalties scheme amid fierce backlash from the resources industry.
Tasmania
Icon says salmon ruining a ‘trip for the soul’ [$]
A Tasmanian surfing legend has added his voice to a campaign to get rid of salmon pens near the world heritage listed Port Arthur Historic Site, saying they have turned the water from “clean and green to putrid and pink”.
Milne: Lake Pedder should be flagship project of ecosystem restoration
Media release – Lake Pedder Restoration Inc
Amongst all of the bad news, the restoration of Lake Pedder as a place that could be restored was the beacon of light in the long-awaited ‘State of the Environment Report’ released this week.
TIME magazine slams farmed salmon
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation
A culmination of two years of investigation has led TIME magazine to publish a piece ending with the emphatic phrase, “For now, transparency, better regulation, and accurate labels on farmed salmon are essential to ensure good choices for our health and the health of our planet. Until that happens, farmed Atlantic salmon from open-net pens is off our menu and should be off yours.”
Status of Tasmania’s State of the Environment reporting
Statement – Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania
In 2021, PMAT wrote to the State Gov about the status of the report.
Bikes should be part of State Planning Provisions review underway
Alison Hetherington
You may not know it, but the Tasmanian government is reviewing a central part of its vaunted statewide planning scheme.
Northern Territory
‘If this was Bondi, there’d be outrage’: Beaches hit by thousands of tonnes of plastic waste
An endless array of rubbished items, from lighters to toothbrushes and medical syringes, have been inundating hundreds of kilometres of northern Australia’s coastline in their tonnes.
David Bowman et al
One of the conclusions of this week’s shocking State of the Environment report is that climate change is lengthening Australia’s bushfire seasons and raising the number of days with a fire danger rating of “very high” or above. In New South Wales, for example, the season now extends to almost eight months.
Western Australia
Community fights Rio Tinto on bid to explore forest for lithium and nickel
Rio Tinto’s application for permission to explore jarrah forest in WA’s south west meets with strong opposition outside a hearing at the state’s mining court.
Fifty-year extension for Australia’s biggest CO2 emitter attracts record number of appeals
Woodside’s gas processing facility in Western Australia’s Pilbara region attracts 759 appeals against it, up from the previous record of 170
Sustainability
This pioneering economist says our obsession with growth must end
“It’s a false assumption,” argues Herman Daly, “to say that growth is increasing the standard of living in the present world.”
Record-breaking heat in Europe means dangerous air pollution
The dangerous side effect of record-breaking heat in Europe and elsewhere: record-breaking air pollution such as high ozone levels.
From mountaintops to ocean bottoms, scientists are discovering just how pervasive plastic is
International attention has homed in on the problem of plastic pollution, which is only growing worse as plastic doesn’t decompose but degrades into smaller pieces that will remain in the environment for thousands of years. Where is this stuff coming from?
How preventing unwanted pregnancies can help in climate fight
Robert N. Proctor, Londa Schiebinger:
Voluntary family planning is too often ignored as a means to lower carbon emissions. Making reproductive technologies more freely available, we can reduce global population — and human-caused emissions — in a manner consistent with personal liberties.
We’re living in an age of permanent crisis – let’s stop planning for a ‘return to normal’
James Meadway
Current plans predicated on stable growth seem foolish when we know that shocks such as global heating aren’t going away
The natural world is casting us adrift. Get used to it.
Tony Wright
We are hard-wired to survive best in the environment we customarily live in and understand. Have we left it too long to notice the familiar is disappearing?
Environment: Prescribed burning makes bushfires worse
Peter Sainsbury
Prescribed burning does more harm than good, as do fossil fuel subsidies.
Nature Conservation
Monarch butterflies are now an endangered species
The IUCN also announced that sturgeon are in rapid decline, while tiger populations are stabilizing.
China loses two important river species to water traffic, pollution and over-fishing
One of the world’s oldest vertebrates, the Yangtze sturgeon, had existed in the wild for more than 200 million years. But now it’s extinct, thanks to water traffic, pollution and over-fishing, say conservationists.
Cheetahs to be spotted in India for the first time in 70 years
Cheetahs became extinct in India in the 1950s. A new deal will see the species return.
Wild tiger numbers 40% higher than thought, says conservation group
Improved monitoring has shown nearly 6,000 tigers, says International Union for Conservation of Nature, with population ‘stable or increasing’
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