Date: 21 October 2022 at 8:48:57 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Oct 21
Post of the Day
A showdown on reparations is looming for UN climate talks
Developing nations have pushed demands that rich nations provide compensation for climate-caused “loss and damage” atop the agenda for next month’s climate talks in Egypt. With the U.S. and EU resisting, analysts say this key issue must be addressed if COP27 is to be a success.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
National Annual Tree Loving Day – Thailand
National Reptile Awareness Day – USA
Climate Change
‘Nature is striking back’: flooding around the world, from Australia to Venezuela
Heavy rain and rising waters continue to take a deadly toll in countries including Nigeria, Thailand and Vietnam
The soup protesters grabbed the world’s attention. But were they effective?
Stephen Duncombe
The Just Stop Oil protesters shocked people when they threw tomato soup at Van Gogh paintings. But it’s not clear they succeeded in bringing attention to their cause
National
Australia’s biggest electricity market on life support as states take control
Top energy expert says the country’s biggest electricity market is effectively dead as state and federal governments take control of renewable energy switch.
Environment ministers set for huge meeting
Australia’s federal, state and territory environment ministers are meeting for the first time since the Albanese government was elected.
Biodiversity market has huge potential for rorting and greenwashing, expert [$]
A national scheme to pay landholders for protecting biodiversity will form part of discussions when environment ministers meet for the first time since the federal election on Friday.
Labor fossil fuel brawl flares as party’s environment lobby demands no new gas
Labor’s influential environment lobby is calling on the government to help households electrify their appliances to eliminate the need for new gas projects, escalating the party’s internal stoush over fossil fuels.
AGL to study thermal battery options to retrofit ageing fossil fuel turbines
ARENA backs AGL study to test new “thermal storage” technologies that could be used to retrofit its ageing coal and gas turbines.
Our climate is changing, so how do you create a garden that lasts?
Leaving a garden behind after you’re gone is a wonderful thing, but now gardeners have to consider which plants are going to survive long term.
Critical minerals plan to help supercharge net zero transition [$]
A critical minerals research and development hub will be set up under a federal government strategy to capitalise on the next major mining boom and supercharge Australia’s transition to net zero.
Fossil fuelled-Australia’s climate policies still don’t stack up against G20, says report
Despite a climate-forward federal government and boosted targets, Australia is still heavily wedded to fossil fuels, both for energy and transport.
The Coalition is seeing red (meat) over the methane pledge – but it’s not just about burping cattle
Graham Readfearn
About half of the CO2-equivalent caused by releasing methane in Australia comes from agriculture. The rest comes mainly from coalmines, oil, gas and waste
Whether you like it or not, coal is a necessity [$]
Erin Molan
Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins is entitled to take a stand in whatever he believes in, but it is ridiculous for us to demonise coal when we rely on it so heavily.
A mighty challenge: The national energy market and net zero greenhouse emissions
Roger Beale
The Commonwealth should use its clear Constitutional capacity to seize sole control of the national energy market.
Why athletes refusing their jerseys is changing the tide for climate
Amanda McKenzie
Last week, at a Climate and Energy Summit, I told Australia’s top CEOs and business executives that ‘soon, the social license of gas will be obliterated’.
National security threat demands a nuclear Plan B [$]
Patrick Gibbons
Seventy per cent of east coast power generation is now set to close in the next decade. Unless we come up with a rock-solid alternative, Australia will not be able to keep the lights on.
Demonised gas: can’t live with it, can’t live without it [$]
Phillip Coorey
There’s been a massive public push to move Australia off its dependence on natural gas as a fossil fuel. Sentiment, however, is one thing and reality is another.
Victoria
Here’s how eligible flood-affected Victorians can access financial support
As some Victorians brace for worsening conditions and others get on with the job of cleaning up from devastating floods, financial support is available from both the federal and state governments. Here are the details.
Victorian Labor pledges 95pc renewables target, revival of State Electricity Commission
A re-elected Victorian Labor government will build new, publicly owned energy generation capacity. The party has also promised to reduce emissions by up to 80 per cent by 2035.
Switch to state control starts clock ticking on coal-fired power plants
Victoria’s three remaining coal-fired power plants are likely to close years earlier than expected after the Andrews government announced a $1 billion plan to become an active competitor in the electricity market.
Vena Energy confirms plan for 2GW offshore wind farm in Victoria
Vena Energy confirms it plans a 2GW offshore wind farm in Victoria’s Gippsland region with turbines up to 21MW each.
Concerns floods will create contamination nightmare [$]
Authorities say flooded sewers may contaminate floodwaters and clean drinking water sources, prompting fears that mould building in properties could lead to serious health issues.
Victoria has an ambitious new energy plan. What does it mean for Australia?
Nick O’Malley
The Andrews government’s new energy plan will cut emissions, replace coal and kill off the market as we know it, but may not drive down costs.
Andrews must heed tricky politics of natural disasters
Annika Smethurst
Studies show political parties’ fortunes can rise or fall depending on how they respond to a severe weather event.
Victoria signals end of coal by announcing a new 95% renewable target. It’s a risky but vital move
Tony Wood
It’s the end the line for coal in Victoria, after Victorian Premier Dan Andrews today announced plans for 95% renewables within 13 years. Until now, the industrialised state has been aiming for 50% by 2030.
Logic in Andrews’ energy intervention
Chanticleer
State government intervention in the Victorian energy market is a mirror image of what is happening in Queensland, and is just as likely to happen in NSW.
Victoria’s distorting power play [$]
AFR editorial
Daniel Andrews’ populist intervention will impose a higher risk premium on private funding for Australia’s low-carbon transition.
New South Wales
A community in the Hawkesbury is struggling to access clean drinking water months floods destroyed critical infrastructure, including a heritage-listed bridge which is the main entry point into the area.
Aboriginal custodians to decide if Wollumbin National Park summit, or Mt Warning, is closed to visitors
The NSW government is avoiding responsibility by leaving it to Aboriginal custodians to decide if a popular mountain hike should be closed to visitors, the local mayor says.
Concern at push for native species as pets [$]
Animal lovers could be allowed to keep native species as pets without a licence in NSW under major reforms being considered by the state government.
Queensland
Small, pretty and deadly, the spread of this cattle-killing flower has graziers expecting tragedy
It might look like a pretty flower, but this tiny plant causes big trauma for south-west Queensland cattle producers.
New Hope wins decade-old legal brawl: Acland coal mine expansion gets its final approval
The decade long legal brawl over New Hope’s Acland coal mine expansion appears to be over after the State Government granted the company a water licence, the last of the approvals the mine needed.
‘It will be serious’: Queenslanders urged to check weather warnings
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast thunderstorms and showers, with uncertainty ahead for the weekend.
Climate-proof coral: Budget’s $1.2b mercy mission to save Reef
A $1.2 billion Budget blueprint to save the Great Barrier Reef from the ravages of climate change will be announced on Friday.
Tasmania
Calls for salmon CEO to quit as state backs industry [$]
Conflict over Tasmania’s controversial salmon industry is heating up again with petitions and protests from opponents — but the state government is sticking by producers.
Bass Strait link to ‘close the digital divide’ for Tasmania [$]
Electricity won’t be the only thing flowing back and forth over the Marinus Link cables: they’ll also be a huge boost for voice and data connectivity.
Concerns expressed over land acquisition for energy projects [$]
The state government says North-West landowners will be compensated for impacts from future transmission projects, but is yet to commit to ongoing compensation.
Rail Trail withdrawn over car park hurdle [$]
Two councils have disagreed over a rail trail development application
Northern Territory
Fallen off an e-scooter? A new study has counted the public health costs of rising injuries
Injured and often intoxicated e-scooter users are adding to the Northern Territory public health system’s workload and costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, medical researchers say.
Western Australia
National inquiry into how WA’s ancient art can survive world’s gas hunger
A national inquiry will examine the uneasy coexistence of Woodside’s two vast gas plants with ancient engravings on the Burrup Peninsula outside Dampier.
Supersized Woodside rakes in $9.3b as gas prices soar
Woodside’s revenue jumps from a doubling of production from the purchase of BHP’s assets and a doubling of realised prices for LNG as Europe scrambles to replace supply from Russia.
Sustainability
Tesla confirms electric trucks for 2022
Electric long-haul trucks could hit the road later this year after Tesla confirmed its Semi was on track to delivered in December, five years after appearing as a concept vehicle.
America’s new nuclear power industry has a Russian problem
U.S. firms developing a new generation of small nuclear power plants to help cut carbon emissions have a big problem: only one company sells the fuel they need, and it’s Russian.
Climate changed: Mining industry digs into alternative methods as risks rise
In the North, some mines risk leaking acid if the permafrost melts, while across Canada heavier rainfall will add strain to tailings dams and a lack of it could throw operations.
A ‘no first use’ U.S. nuclear policy could save the world
John Quiggin
A commitment from the U.S. to “no first use” of nuclear weapons could significantly reduce the current risk of a nuclear war.
Nature Conservation
Fishers may be sceptical about marine protected parks — but evidence suggests they shouldn’t be
After the creation of the world’s largest marine protection area in 2016, catch rates for tuna outside the park jumped by as much as 60 per cent.
—
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.