https://therevelator.org/environmental-democracy/
Date: 15 October 2022 at 6:03:37 am AWST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 15
Post of the Day
30 ways environmentalists can participate in democracy
Voting on election day is job one, but the planet needs your civic commitment every other day of the year, too.
On This Day
Saint Teresa Festival – Mahé
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Climate change protesters throw soup at Van Gogh painting
Two protesters have thrown soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting in London.
UK joins calls for World Bank reform to focus funding on climate crisis
Alok Sharma’s intervention puts pressure on Trump-appointed Bank chief who faces calls to resign
The link between climate change and disease outbreaks
Besides threatening the natural environment, climate change increases human vulnerability to infectious disease outbreaks. How and why does this happen?
Use Covid lessons to curb climate change, Lords tell government
Government must lead on home insulation and diet, the environment and climate change committee says.
Just Stop Oil’s attacks on art risk becoming a cliché
Claire Armitstead
Though there is situationist wit in throwing soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the protest is more likely to provoke eye-rolls than action
Putin’s weaponisation of energy will bury fossils fuels faster
Nick O’Malley
Europe may be burning more coal but it is also rapidly cutting demand by improving energy efficiency measures.
National
Thousands under flood evacuation orders across Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania
Homes in Melbourne’s west are inundated with water and parts of Tasmania are hit by record rainfall, as residents in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania are given evacuation orders.
Bowen braces for high stakes energy fight [$]
The Climate Change and Energy Minister seeks middle ground between loud voices on the left and right.
Local cafes key to plastic-free beaches
Cafes and restaurants near some of Australia’s most iconic beaches will receive public funds to transition away from single-use plastics.
PM calls on gas giants to set ‘appropriate’ prices [$]
Anthony Albanese has fallen short of backing explicit demands from manufacturers, unions and a member of his own cabinet for lower gas prices
The ‘extraordinary’ moment when renewables hit reality – Chanticleer podcast [$]
Hear Tony and James’s take on the week: an extraordinary moment in the energy debate
The tricky conversation we have to have after the floods
Virginia Trioli
Floods across the three states are bringing back the exhaustingly familiar discussions about mitigation, prevention, personal responsibility and climate change
Why could power bills rise by 35 per cent next year? It’s part of a bigger problem
Gareth Hutchens
Australia’s energy transition has to happen quickly, but it will have costs
Greta’s nuclear admission should give Aussies a jolt [$]
Paul Starick
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg has opened the door to nuclear power. Australia should do the same
We need to plan before the floods and fires hit
Age editorial
We need to dismantle systems that put people in harm’s way and hinder recovery from disasters.
Milton Speer et al
The northern Murray-Darling Basin produces 93% of Australia’s cotton. Cotton is one of Australia’s biggest agricultural industries – worth about A$2 billion each year – and a steady supply of water is crucial for production.
Climate change hits some of us much harder than others – but affected groups are fighting back
Naomi Joy Godden et al
All around us, climate change is worsening existing disadvantage. In Australia, we need only look to low-income households hit harder by rising energy and fuel prices, and flood responses in northern New South Wales overlooking the needs of people with disability.
Australia has hundreds of mammal species. We want to find them all – before they’re gone
Andrew m Baker et al
Life on Earth is undergoing a period of mass extinction – the sixth in history, and the first caused by humans. As species disappear at an alarming rate, we have learned that we understand only a fraction of Earth’s variety of life.
Power prices without glory [$]
Paul Bongiorno
The ghosts of broken promises past are spooking the Albanese government as it prepares to unveil its first budget on October 25. More specifically, the prime minister is determined not to give his political opponents the chance to criticise him on the issue of trust just after an election where integrity in government featured heavily.
Rachel Withers
With the nation again experiencing the devastating effects of climate change, the Coalition harps on about burps and barbecues
Why didn’t they call the carbon safeguard mechanism ‘Let’s Actually Reduce Pollution lol’? – cartoon
First Dog on the Moon
Victoria
The day Melbourne residents woke to the Maribyrnong ‘consuming’ their neighbourhoods
As residents of Melbourne communities along the Maribyrnong River remain wary and grapple with the scale of the damage caused by it breaking its banks on Friday, experts explain how “saturated” catchments contributed to the flood.
As it happened; Shepparton, surrounding areas, warned of Saturday flooding risk
Residents in several Victorian towns have been told to leave as swollen rivers threaten communities and major floods threaten the state.
Floodwaters recede in Melbourne
The Maribyrnong River has receded as residents are faced with the massive cleanup following record-breaking flooding.
Racing figure’s ‘tone deaf’ post on Flemington flooding [$]
There has been fierce debate about the flood wall around Flemington racecourse while residents have taken aim at emergency services for not giving them enough warning.
City councils back earlier timber harvesting ban [$]
A campaign by the Maribyrnong Council to call for an early phase out of native timber forestry has been successful.
Country town’s iconic shoe tree falls foul of officialdom
Chris McLennan
A shoe tree near Edenhope in the far west has been identified as a no-fly zone for the endangered and quite beautiful red tailed black cockatoo.
Timber town’s change of heart on native logging [$]
Katherine Wilson
While state MPs keep backing the destruction of native forest for woodchips and paper pulp, a once-divided timber region is getting out of native logging.
New South Wales
Floods force evacuations in NSW towns of Forbes and Wagga Wagga
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated and teachers are being driven to work in fire trucks as the effects of major flooding are felt across central NSW.
We now know toads get the flu. Can study protect other animals from ‘croaking’?
UNSW researchers went looking for what makes reptiles and amphibians sick. What they found shocked them.
Cheers! Recycling cashback scheme to take booze bottles [$]
The Return and Earn container recycling scheme is about to be expanded to take glass wine and spirits bottles — putting $40 million back into drinkers’ pockets.
Perrottet and Albanese at odds on key Warragamba conversation
The NSW government is disputing claims by the prime minister that the premier has not spoken to him about a controversial plan to increase the Warragamba Dam wall.
ACT
60 years on since Silent Spring, David Pocock enters the debate on food and pesticides
The ACT’s independent senator is a vital voice to watch as the country seeks a path forward on biodiversity, agricultural sustainability and the climate crisis
Corin Forest proposes new ski slope, chair lift [$]
Corin Forest has lodged an application to expand its snow operations by constructing a beginner ski slope and chairlift.
South Australia
US subs must trigger a South Aussie nuclear reaction: Scarce [$]
Australia’s nuclear submarine deal will bring the fuel to SA one way or the other, the former governor says, but we can be smart about it.
Full Adelaide reservoir opens floodgates
The gates of Mount Bold Reservoir have opened for the first time in five years after ongoing rain into spring brought it close to full capacity.
Tasmania
Photos of 2022 Northern Tasmania floods
As floodwaters continue to rise, many have taken pictures capturing the scale of the flooding event
Tasmania floods: aerial footage shows extensive flooding in Deloraine – video
Aerial footage shows the extent of the floods around the town of Deloraine
Northern Territory
Water has always been free for big industries in the NT, but now that’s changing
For the first time, major industries in the Northern Territory will be charged for the water they use.
Western Australia
How Australia’s newest coal plant was upended by green energy
Once a beacon of hope for the industry, the newest coal-fired power plant in Australia now stands as a symbol of its mortality.
Blood on our hands: Banksia Hill is failing our children
Gerry Georgatos
Suicide and incarceration statistics from Banksia Hill prison highlight a lack of proper rehabilitation for our troubled youth.
What is a tactical nuclear weapon, and when will North Korea start nuclear tests?
Russia has talked about using tactical nuclear missiles if its territory is threatened, and North Korea recently had a spate of tests designed to simulate a tactical missile strike. But what are tactical nuclear missiles?
Toxic PFAS pollution is likely at more than 57,000 US locations: Report
Toxic PFAS have likely contaminated roughly 57,412 locations across the U.S., according to a new study.
Recycled battery materials can work as well as new ones [$]
In an independent test, cathode components Redwood Materials made from reused metals matched the performance of those made from raw ones.
Denver e-bike rebates offer lessons for other cities [$]
Denver’s vouchers offer a rebate of as much as $1,700 for residents buying an electric bicycle — and cities including New York are taking note.
How to make more sustainable Halloween candy choices
Chocolate, a fixture of Halloween, can have serious environmental, climate and social impacts.
How one environmental activist is taking on India’s pollution problem
Since 2000, India’s population has grown by nearly a third, and its economy has more than quintupled. Those booms have put immense pressure on the country’s natural areas.
Love nature? Your lawn says otherwise.
A new homeowner digs deep into the world of native gardening after learning her yard is an environmental sin.
US sued for pollution from retardant drops on wildfires
An environmental group filed a lawsuit this week against U.S. Forest Service officials that alleges they polluted waterways during their campaigns against wildfires by inadvertently dropping large volumes of chemical flame retardant into streams.
In our battery powered world, it’s future energy which is electrified [$]
Roger Montgomery
Producers, rather than explorers, in the lithium-led switch to clean power are the companies to be investing in.
When humanity hits its peak [$]
Bernard Salt
In 60 years, after we hit “peak humanity”, the entire logic of cities and economies will change. What does this mean for us all?
Futuristic cities like Saudi Arabia’s The Line have one goal [$]
Elizabeth Farrelly
The futuristic designs for cities from Saudi Arabia to the American desert are seductive visions grounded in systems of control.
Nature Conservation
Microplastics found in 75% of fish in New Zealand, report shows
Government’s oceans review also presents grim picture of species under threat of extinction including seabirds and mammals.
What big, scary numbers showing the decline of wildlife leave out
WWF just published a grim report card for global biodiversity. Here’s what it does — and does not — tell us.
Warming winters are increasing fertilizer runoff and polluting US waterways, a new study finds
A new study finds as winter weather warms across the Midwest, fertilizers that once froze are now finding their way into streams and rivers.
The last pirate: Paul Watson splits with Sea Shepherd [$]
Mike Seccombe
The captain who founded militant anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has been forced out of the organisation, which he says has become ‘Uber’ for bureaucrats.
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