Daily Links Sep 27

It is well past time for the fossil fools to pay the true cost of their damage to everything that is. As my apple-cheeked mater was wont to say, better late than never. And while they are coughing up, how about a loading to rectify some of the damage they’ve done?

From: Maelor Himbury <maelor@melbpc.org.au&gt;
Date: 27 September 2022 at 6:35:11 am AWST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Sep 27

Post of the Day

The dirty dozen: 12 pesticides that are banned elsewhere but still used in Australia

Australia still uses dozens of chemicals that are banned in other countries – including the UK and US – because they are toxic to humans, animals or the environment

 

On This Day

September 27

Elevation of the Holy Cross – Eastern Christianity

 

Climate Change

Camino to Cop26: climate pilgrims walk 135 miles to promote film

Stars of film about 500-mile trek to Scotland for Cop26 hit the road again for Bristol premiere

 

As wildfires grow, militaries are torn between combat, climate change

Europe’s militaries are caught between defending against Russia and fighting global warming-driven wildfires. Leaders say the problem will only worsen.

 

Time to charge the true cost of fossil fuels

Robert Taylor and Craig B. Smith

As author and climate activist, Naomi Klein puts it, “Our economic system and our planetary system are now at war…. Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature.”

 

Climate change is GREAT for termites! Wait what is this?

First Dog on the Moon

Thanks termites! Even the bugs are climate denialists now

 

National

After Voice, climate change commitments should be next urgent constitutional reforms

Ron Levy

After decades of foot-dragging on climate change, Australia has finally put significant commitments in national legislation. It joins other countries such as Canada and the United States that also recently took big new legal steps.

 

Most Gen Z say climate change is caused by humans but few recognize climate impact of meat consumption

Generation Z – those born after 1995 – overwhelmingly believe that climate change is being caused by humans and activities like the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and waste. But only a third understand how livestock and meat consumption are contributing to emissions, a new study by the University of Sydney and Curtin University researchers has revealed.

 

There’s a ‘social equity’ dilemma confronting EV uptake that impacts 2.2 million Australians

It will soon be mandatory that new apartment blocks are built to allow electric car charging. But with all the complications, EV charger installers aren’t getting much work from apartment owners.


How should lawyers respond to regulatory crackdowns on greenwashing?

Following the ACCC’s announcement about plans to target greenwashing this year, Lawyers Weekly spoke with a lawyer specialising in climate risk, to understand the regulatory landscape in Australia, and how lawyers and firms should approach these unfolding changes.


Rooftop solar takes even bigger bite out of coal market as grid demand slumps to record low

Rooftop solar pushes the national grid down to a new low for operational demand, eating further into the traditional fossil fuel market.

 

Retailers falling behind in race to meet net-zero promises

One in four Australia retailers isn’t confident of hitting its net-zero target by 2050, with supply chain emissions proving to be a big pain point.

 

Energy costs in buyers’ minds [$]

Cost of living pressures and environmental concerns have put energy efficiency at the top of mind for property buyers, according to a new report by PropTrack.

 

The UN has ruled Australia violated our rights. Will Albanese act?

Yessie Mosby

We are celebrating now, but we know this is just the beginning. The new Australian government may have brought in a new climate policy, but more ambitious action must be taken urgently.

 

Australia violated the rights of Torres Strait Islanders by failing to act on climate change, the UN says. Here’s what that means

Kristen Lyons

In a landmark decision, a United Nations committee on Friday found Australia’s former Coalition government violated the human rights of Torres Strait Islanders by failing to adequately respond to the climate crisis.

 

Breaching human rights: Australia, climate change and the Torres Strait Islands

Binoy Kampmark

The September 22 decision by the UNHRC regarding the human rights of Australia’s Torres Strait Islanders vis-à-vis climate change is yet another step in the journey of redress.

 

Labor’s great falsehoods on Ford tradie ute [$]

Andrew Bolt

A fact check on the F-150 electric ute’s carbon credentials reveals the let’s-pretend world of Energy Minister Chris Bowen.

 

Green steel revolution gets reality check [$]

Eric Johnston

BlueScope has issued refreshing caution to big promises around green hydrogen being a miracle change agent.

 

Victoria

Forestry workers would form emergency response team under Greens plan

Forestry workers would be redeployed to an emergency and disaster response team under a Greens plan to end native forest logging in Victoria in 2023.

 

In Melbourne there’s a push for more freight to be moved by rail — but there’s one big thing missing

More than 35,000 trucks travel through Melbourne’s Inner West each day and residents, business and council groups are calling for drastic change. But there’s a problem down the line.

 

Yack is on track to be totally renewable by 2024, and it’s already most of the way there

Nestled in the foothills of the Australian Alps is Yackandandah, a small town with huge energy ambitions: to be totally renewable by 2024. Here’s how they’re doing it.

 

From small acorns, Botanic Gardens looks to climate-proof its future

Choosing plants from warmer parts of the world is one part of the gardens’ plans to survive Melbourne’s changing climate.

 

New South Wales

City of Newcastle presents vision for sustainable waste future

Summerhill Waste Management Centre will be transformed into an innovative regional recovery hub under a 20-year vision to reduce waste, increase recycling rates, strengthen the economy and create new jobs in Newcastle

 

ACT

Snowy Hydro putting ACT’s water source at risk: environment groups

Management of the Upper Murrumbidgee has been excluded from legislation to protect Australia’s most important river systems, with Snowy Hydro’s control of its headwaters putting the ACT water source at risk, environmentalists say.

 

Queensland

Queensland’s fastest-growing city calls for serious investment into bus network

By car, it takes half an hour to drive from Ipswich to Springfield. By train, it takes more than an hour. Ipswich mayor Teresa Harding is calling for a direct bus link between the two city hubs.

 

Qld ‘not only leads nation but also the world’ in rooftop solar homes [$]

Queensland’s homes with rooftop solar generate more capacity than the state’s two largest power stations combined, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has revealed.

 

Status quo for reduction targets [$]

Queensland’s emission reduction target is expected to remain unchanged during an overhaul of the state’s energy strategy, despite plans to strengthen renewable energy goals.

 

Looming wind farm isn’t as green as it appears

Duncan Storrar

A massive wind farm development in north Queensland comes with a devastating price to the environment.

 

South Australia

Roundup the goats: Unorthodox plan to tackle council’s weeds [$]

Could a goat hold the answer to ridding local playgrounds and dog parks of weeds? One mayoral candidate thinks so.

 

Recycling pioneer fined for illegal dump in inner suburbs [$]

An Adelaide company which pioneered recycling in the 1980s has been fined for running an illegal dump and causing an accidental car fire on their inner-suburban site.


Tasmania

Bob Brown protesters vow to defy ‘anti-protest’ laws [$]

Stiffer fines and jail terms for workplace trespassing. What the government’s new “anti-protest” laws mean for Bob Brown Foundation activists + gallery of the groups latest antics.

 

Illegal timber harvesting in Huon Valley nets 10 people [$]

Ten people have been nabbed with woodcutting offences in an operation targeting the illegal harvesting of timber in the Huon Valley, police have revealed.


TasNetworks’ $1 million covert PR campaign for Marinus Link

Tasmanian government utility hires national network of lobbyists and PR firms to “positively influence perceptions” of proposed Marinus Link with Victoria.

 

Western Australia

Plastic coffee cups in a latte trouble as WA plans phase-out

WA will next year become the first State to phase out plastic-lined takeaway coffee cups and lids, with warnings the price of a daily caffeine hit will rise as a result.

 

Sustainability

UNECE to develop international hydrogen classification system

If business as usual continues greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are projected to rise, leading to a median global warming of 3.2°C by 2100. Deep and quick decarbonization of heavy industries is needed, and sustainable hydrogen could be the key ingredient.

 

Developing technology to keep nuclear stockpile safe, secure and reliable

The last nuclear test, code-named Divider, took place 30 years ago, on Sept. 23, 1992. That year, President Bush declared a temporary moratorium on nuclear testing, which became permanent in 1995, during the Clinton administration. This ending of the era of nuclear testing coincided with a Presidential announcement of the beginning of stockpile stewardship.

 

Plastics of future will live many past lives, thanks to chemical recycling

New research from CU Boulder, published in Nature Chemistry, details how a class of durable plastics widely used in the aerospace and microelectronics industries can be chemically broken down into their most basic building blocks and then formed once again into the same material.

 

The toxic chemicals in our clothes and the harm they do us

Fast-fashion company Shein repeated its commitment to safety after a social media outcry over chemicals in the Chinese brand’s clothes, but use of the toxic substances is widespread in fashion.

 

‘We are angry’: green groups condemn Truss plans to scrap regulations

Liz Truss’s proposals to create investment zones, where green rules on nature protection would in effect be suspended, represented a step too far for some of Britain’s biggest environment charities.

 

German city dwellers sue government over air pollution

Seven residents in Germany are taking the government to court over the poor air quality around their homes, an organisation representing them said on Monday.


Fact check: Tesla free energy meme shockingly short on truth

Nikola Tesla was a revolutionary inventor, but a claim that he created cost-free energy as a gift to the world is wishful thinking.

 

Biden must use federal purchasing power to fight plastic pollution crisis

Emily Jeffers

Every minute, humans around the world buy 1 million plastic drinking bottles. Most plastic ends up in the trash, and too much of that makes its way to our waterways, where it harms wildlife and breaks down into tiny particles that poison ecosystems.

 

Nature Conservation

New UN international partnership to fight climate change by increasing forestry

The Australian forest industry warmly welcomes the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, an international initiative announced at the UN General Assembly. The Partnership will drive further climate mitigation activities across the globe, by recognising the role of forestry in decreasing CO2 levels.

 

Scientists estimate more than half of palm species may be threatened with extinction

An international team of biologists, including W. Daniel Kissling of the University of Amsterdam, has used artificial intelligence techniques to estimate the conservation status of nearly 1900 palm species across the world. They found that more than 1000 of the species may be at risk of extinction.

 

Spain grants personhood status to threatened saltwater lagoon

Spain granted personhood status on Wednesday to a large saltwater lagoon to give its threatened ecosystem better protection, the first time such a measure has been taken in Europe.

 

‘A powerful solution’: Activists push to make ecocide an international crime

This movement aims to make the mass damage and destruction of ecosystems a prosecutable, international crime against peace.

 

 



Maelor Himbury
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