Date: 18 October 2022 at 8:06:22 am ACDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 18
Post of the Day
The UN says access to a healthy environment is a human right. Here’s what it means for Australia
Meg Good
The United Nations recently declared that access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a universal human right.
On This Day
Simchat Torah – Judaism
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
All that plastic in the ocean is a climate change problem, too
Researchers worry that microplastics may be messing with an important carbon sequestration process.
Researchers look to Canada’s oceans to sink planet-warming carbon
A new research initiative is working on a national assessment of the “blue carbon” storage capacity of Canada’s salt marshes, seagrass meadows and kelp forests to fight against climate change.
Study: Climate anxiety is spreading all over the planet
New research reveals that climate anxieties are not just Western concerns — they’re common among young people on nearly every continent — but that the ability to do something about them depends on where you live.
Do protest stunts actually work? An issues management expert takes a look
Tony Jaques
Activists gluing themselves to a Picasso painting in Melbourne certainly got headlines. But who remembers what the protest was actually about?
The contradictions of climate activism
Ross Douthat
The energy crisis exposes the cracks in a low-carbon vision
National
Science minister warns CSIRO against ‘renting out’ its brand to giant gas companies
Ed Husic says science agency should focus efforts elsewhere after ‘very major’ gas company asked it to support net-zero bid
‘Everything is saturated’: what’s driving the latest floods in eastern Australia
‘Atmospheric river’, La Niña, negative Indian Ocean dipole, climate change – experts say they’re all part of the story
Cummins raised objection to Cricket Australia’s Alinta deal
Cricket Australia has confirmed it will not renew a sponsorship deal with energy company Alinta, worth almost $40 million.
‘Low-hanging fruit’: States lack ambition in energy transition, bus industry says
Australian bus manufacturers, workers and energy experts have called on state governments to provide the industry with firmer guarantees about how many electric buses they will buy as Australia’s eastern states seek to replace thousands of diesel vehicles before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Australia’s energy emergency: What’s driving rising costs?
In bad news for your hip pocket, the rising cost of energy looks set to get worse “well before it gets better”. Financial analyst and Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley has forecast wholesale electricity prices to drop to around $70 – in eight years time.
Toyota faces lawsuit over emission claims
Up to half a million Australian drivers will take Toyota to court over allegations the company used a “diesel defeat device” to evade emission regulations.
Amber Schultz
From immediate supply chain disruption to ongoing health impacts, climate change could spur massive global drug shortages — and Australia is particularly at risk.
Australia should be cooking with gas as its energy transition speeds up. Here’s why it won’t be
Daniel Mercer
Across the developed world, countries are betting big on gas to be the transition fuel to renewable energy. So why is Australia, with all its gas reserves, unable to follow suit?
We can’t prevent floods, but we can learn how to better live with them
Rory Nathan
As someone who has spent the past 40 years investigating flood behaviour, the latest catastrophes are a sobering reminder that we face two substantial challenges.
So, is Australia ready for electric cars?
James Ward
You understand the science. You’ve chosen your car. For all intents and purposes, you are ready… but is Australia?
Legislating for religious freedom [$]
Australian editorial
Andrew Thorburn’s treatment showed why protections are needed.
Hoodwinked Aussies deserve the gas shortage truth [$]
Robert Gottliebsen
Australians are paying unnecessarily high power prices while a significant gas reserve, which would help lower our carbon emissions, sits untapped – and here’s who you should blame.
Victoria
For some Victorians, the ‘daunting’ wait for raging rivers to peak is far from over
As some flood-affected communities breathe a sigh of relief and others begin taking stock of damage, residents of towns like Echuca and Kerang are still trying to prepare for worst-case scenarios, with major river peaks imminent.
Flood image has Melbourne fuming
An infuriating photo has shown why residents of Melbourne are fuming in the wake of “100 year” flooding that destroyed dozens of homes.
Out-of-date maps mean homes built on flood plains
Before these floods, the chief executive of a risk analysis firm warned, “We would see somewhere like Shepparton being a Lismore in the waiting” due to houses being built on flood plains.
Andrews govt’s key net-zero policy falling short [$]
The Andrews government has fell well short of its most recent targets for solar power and energy support programs.
Janet Stanley and John Stanley
Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop aims to help the city become more equitable – but better integration of land use and transport could deliver more benefits for less money
Is Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop nation-building or pork-barrelling?
AFR editorial
The Albanese government came to office promising to end the “rorts and waste”. But it’s not getting off to a good start by tipping taxpayer’s money into a questionable transport project.
First Dog on the Moon
Did the wall around the racecourse make the floods worse for everyone outside? We may never know
New South Wales
Premier vows to raise Warragamba dam wall, with or without Albo [$]
Premier Dominic Perrottet has vowed to raise the Warragamba Dam wall, declaring that NSW will go it alone if the federal government refuses to come to the table and split the cost.
How Sydneysiders could end up drinking sewerage water [$]
Any plan by Labor to lower Warragamba’s storage level could lead to recycled water going in Sydney’s drinking supply, Minister Kevin Anderson has warned.
Snowy 2.0 contractor drama continues, with talk of sale raising new concerns
Jim Regan
Major Snowy 2.0 contractor Clough Engineering puts itself on the block amid financial crunch, attracting new concerns about the project’s timeline.
Raising Warragamba wall is the right policy to save lives and property [$]
Dominic Perrottet
Raising the Warragamba Dam wall it is the right policy for our nation of drought and flooding rains.
Queensland
‘Ludicrous’: Tonnes of waste illegally dumped in nature reserve
A barnacle-covered car, fridges, nappies and drug paraphernalia are among the items recovered by rangers and volunteers at an environmental reserve in north Queensland.
Residents want major dam rebuild saved from Labor’s infrastructure audit
There are calls to protect a Queensland dam repair project from the federal government’s audit of past regional spending promises ahead of its first budget next week.
Jellinbah founder revives Walton coal project
The scrapped Walton metallurgical coal project in central Queensland has been revived by new owners Magnetic South.
Southern Queensland braces for ‘high impact’ weather
A weather system set to hit southern Queensland this week could bring up to 100 millimetres of rain, destructive winds and the potential for giant hail.
Toondah draft environmental statement fails to achieve prime objectives
Steve Bishop
The public is being invited to comment on the draft environmental impact statement for a town of 7,200 on protected wetlands in Toondah Harbour.
Solar eliminates nearly all grid demand as its powers South Australia grid during day
Rooftop and utility scale solar meet equivalent of all of South Australia’s electricity demand for more than six hours on Sunday, as “operational demand” nearly eliminated.
MPower gets green light to connect solar battery projects, cash in on negative pricing
Offer to connect to SA grid brings two solar and battery projects one step closer to harnessing valuable negative pricing opportunities.
Bold new plan for Adelaide’s biggest dam
SA Water has released new designs for an upgrade of Mount Bold Reservoir, which it claims will give the dam capacity to withstand a “one in five million year” weather event.
Concerns in outback SA grow as federal government plans to store defence waste at Kimba dump
The federal government is facing questions over how it will dispose of highly-radioactive waste produced by Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarine fleet, as concerns about a controversial nuclear dump in outback South Australia grow.
Western Australia
Rare marsupial released on WA island
Efforts to save one of Australia’s rarest marsupials have had a boost with 28 dibblers released on Dirk Hartog Island, north-west of Perth.
As deepwater port looms, Exmouth protection crusade celebrates a win
It’s a major win for the push to create a World Heritage Site unlike any other, and a boon to ecotourism – but a threat to a rival industry fighting for the same waters.
Wind and solar payback drops to less than a year thanks to fossil fuel crisis
Soaring electricity prices are cutting the payback period for solar and wind farms to less than a year in some parts of the world, new research shows.
BHP investors dial up scrutiny of fatal dam disaster remediation
Australian mining giant BHP is facing pressure from investors to accelerate the clean-up and reparation works in the areas of Brazil left devastated by the deadly collapse of a mine waste dam in 2015.
In Texas, a new study will determine where extreme weather hazards and environmental justice collide
Researchers hope the results of of a new study, funded by a $66 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, will empower citizens to advocate for more equitable climate solutions.
French state fined over air pollution
The French state has been ordered to pay two new fines of 10 million euros for not complying with rules limiting air pollution in the country’s major cities.
Would traffic noise from future flying cars cause stress?
Study shows that not only are loud vehicles flying overhead a cause of noise pollution-related stress, the effect of that stress remains on the body even after noise levels have decreased.
How to make sure your solar-plus-battery system works in a blackout [$]
Maria Gallucci
After disasters like Hurricane Fiona, solar panels and batteries can be a lifeline. Energy experts offer some do’s and don’ts to help make the most of backup systems during outages.
Nature Conservation
The ocean should have the legal right to life to combat climate change, researchers say
To protect Earth’s seas, we need to completely transform our perspective of them.
Remote-controlled robots coming to Lake Erie will help remove, study plastic pollution
Two remote controlled robots will be deployed in Lake Erie in the spring as part of the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Initiative. Studies show there are more than 22 million pounds of plastic in the Great Lakes.
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