Post of the Day
Andrea La Nauze
About 30% of Australian homes have rooftop solar panels installed – the highest uptake of any nation. Their popularity has been helped along by government subsidies that reduce the upfront costs of the technology.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Just Stop Oil says only threat of death sentence would stop its protests
Climate activists defiant as public order bill aims to curtail civil disobedience tactics
National
Australia’s biggest electricity market on life support as states take control
Top energy expert says the country’s biggest electricity market is dying as state and federal governments take control of renewable energy switch.
Which electric vehicle should I buy?
The number of EVs on the market has grown considerably in recent years but there are some things that buyers need to know before they commit.
As flash flood fears grow, over-full Murray starts flowing backwards
Emergency services say floods along the Murray River are likely to stretch out for weeks as they brace for more flash flooding caused by heavy rain across the state.
Renewables revolution may not cut power bills
Australians are not expected to reap power bill savings under the clean energy revolution despite the promises of politicians, experts say, as governments around the country seize control of the massive infrastructure program needed to modernise the electricity grid and reach net zero greenhouse emissions.
Red to green is just the go for farmers up creek with a paddle [$]
Persistent rains over the past six months have given the saltbush-studded red earth in a once-in-a-generation horizon-to-horizon green hue.
Chart of the Day: Australia’s coal power crunch
A raft of government and energy company announcements have changed the course of Australia’s coal exit. Rystad Energy crunches the numbers.
States back Plibersek’s pledge for big conservation rollout
About 26 per cent of Australia’s landmass is already under conservation. Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s pledge to protect a further 4 per cent would add 300,000 square kilometres.
Why dirty coal has turned into gold for investors – Chanticleer podcast
Listen to Tony Boyd and James Thomson’s take on the week
Victoria’s big switch to 95 pct renewables – Energy Insiders Podcast
Energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio on Victoria’s ambitious switch to renewables and coal exit. Plus: Labor’s Rewiring the Nation and a multitude of new wind and storage projects.
Murray Watt on how we can better respond to natural disasters – Australian Politics podcast
Political editor Katharine Murphy talks to Senator Murray Watt, the emergency management minister, after his recent visits to flood-affected states. They discuss the need for a national approach to natural disasters and feedback from farming communities about climate risks
Get used to climate campaigns intruding on your sport
Nick O’Malley and Daniel Brettig
Socially conscious sportspeople are using their platform to speak out about the urgent threat of climate change.
Learning the rules of green hypocrisy, our national sport [$]
Gemma Tognini
Spare us elite sporting stars, backed by other people’s ‘dirty’ money, lecturing about values.
Europe’s energy plight a lesson for our land of plenty [$]
Angela Shanahan
The election of a new Italian government was largely tied to soaring power prices. It is sheer bloodymindedness for the anti-fossil fuel lobby in Australia to demonise fossil fuels.
Victoria
A move to bring back the publicly owned SEC shows governments are not confident the private sector can decarbonise quickly enough, experts say
Plan to turbocharge massive wind farms for Victoria
The Andrews government has ramped up efforts to build massive, publicly owned wind farms as Victoria prepares to end its 100-year reliance on brown coal for electricity generation.
D’Ambrosio: We can’t sit around waiting for coal plants to close
Victoria says it couldn’t “sit around” waiting for coal plants to close, and insists state government ownership of energy will ensure profits kept in the state.
Did the wall that saved the Melbourne Cup racetrack contribute to the flooding of 245 homes?
The Maribyrnong River had its worst flood in almost 50 years last week. Now residents and experts are asking if it had to be that bad
Airport up for grabs in Victoria’s high country
New York-listed ski resorts owner and operator Vail Resorts is quietly off-loading the Mount Hotham airport – the highest airfield in Australia.
State energy plan will bring huge benefits – and costs
Age editorial
The commitment to weening the state off fossil fuels is to be welcomed, but the tab may well have to be picked up by consumers.
New South Wales
The answer to Sydney’s record wet year is blowing in the wind
There’s a secret ingredient behind Sydney’s more than 170 days of rain, and it’s not because of the usual suspects of La Niña, climate change, the negative Indian Ocean Dipole or the Southern Annular Mode.
Where once there was coal smog, a cloud of uncertainty now hangs over Lithgow
The NSW town is in a hurry to transition from mining and power generation – but attracting new industries has its own pitfalls
ARENA backs world-leading 1600MWh compressed air storage plan for Broken Hill
ARENA pledges $45 million in grants for world-leading proposal to use compressed air storage in huge Broken Hill renewable micro-grid plan.
‘Bedevilled from the start’: What Barangaroo can teach Sydney about planning
Planners, architects and even the premier agree: in current and future state significant projects, the government must take more control.
Queensland
Plibersek targets reef with $200 million restoration funding
Next week’s federal Budget would include $204 million for the Great Barrier Reef, the first payment of a promised $1.2 billion by the Albanese Government to protect, manage and restore the reef.
Why shock Mt Warning move is extra painful for famous beer brand [$]
The decision to ban hikers and limit commercial use of the famous Wollumbin Mount Warning has sparked fierce debate, with a cult beer company being forced to make changes, despite supporting the move.
‘Reverse racism’: Fury as iconic Mount Warning hike closed forever [$]
The decision to permanently close the iconic Mount Warning hike has prompted furious backlash and claims of ‘reverse racism’.
How is Wivenhoe Dam’s water releases ahead of the wet season going?
Wivenhoe Dam is located on the Brisbane River in the Somerset Regional Council area, and along with Lake Somerset, it supplies 70 per cent of south-east Queensland’s water supply.
Tasmania
SES urges Tasmanians to prepare for more rain and wet weather
The Tasmanian community is again being advised to prepare for rain over the weekend and into early next week
Plastic waste piling up after green dream dies, despite millions of taxpayer dollars
It was the green dream that turned plastic trash into treasure, popular among politicians keen to champion sustainability without sidelining industry — then the company went bust, leaving many without a means to get rid of waste.
Northern Territory
Greens, enviro groups object to federal funding for Middle Arm industrial precinct
The Federal Greens will try to use their influence in the Senate to persuade the Albanese Government to scrap its plans to fund the $1.5 billion prosed petrochemicals precinct at Middle Arm that environmental groups have called “greenwashing at its worst”.
Sustainability
100m highly polluting cars could appear on Europe’s roads after EU move
Efficiency recommendations of experts rejected in European Commission ‘Euro 7’ proposals
Can a frequent flyer tax could solve aviation’s carbon challenge?
The global aviation industry is divided on the best way to reduce emissions in the midst of record flying demand after the onset of COVID-19
For the first time, natural gas production linked to lower birth weights in a national study
Across the U.S., birth weights have declined as rates of natural gas production have increased, according to a new, first-of-its-kind national study.
Feeling water pressure in Zimbabwe’s capital region
In Zimbabwe’s capital region, a swelling population is taxing the water supply. That supply is further strained by a failing infrastructure vulnerable to contamination and by political infighting that blocks improvements.
Why Seattle air quality is the worst in the world two days in a row
Wildfire smoke made the air quality in the city worse than Delhi or Beijing — with uncertain health effects.
E.V.s start with a bigger carbon footprint. But that doesn’t last
The manufacturing and disposal of electric vehicles result in more greenhouse gases than nonelectric models, but that difference will eventually disappear altogether.
Scramble for shade: Why cities aren’t planting more trees
Scientists are urging cities to expand tree cover to keep cities cool, but planting trees isn’t always practical.
Nature Conservation
Lost rainforest could be revived across 20% of Great Britain
Campaigners call for protection and careful tree-planting to help restore the temperate rainforests that once covered swathes of the country
How large animals are defying the extinction trend of living near humans
Analysis of large Asian animals such as tigers and elephants has found their numbers are bucking the broader trend and increasing next to human populations.
Coral reefs are some of the most imperiled ecosystems on the planet, but the largest and most connected reef networks might just have what it takes to survive.
Science that saves free-flowing rivers & rich biodiversity – podcast
A corps of scientists and conservationists has used surveys to prove that the rush to build thousands of new hydroelectric dams in southern Europe threatens to drown a rich heritage.
Habitat loss, climate change threaten Bangladesh’s native freshwater fishes with extinction
There were at one time more than 300 native freshwater fish species in Bangladesh, but many have disappeared while others are on the verge of extinction due to habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and climate change.
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