Post of the Day
Beyond solar: Here’s what the clean energy future might look like
Five scenes show how direct air capture, carbon capture, and hydrogen hubs could be integrated into the U.S. economy.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
EU’s new climate change plan will cause biodiversity loss and deforestation: Analysis
A new climate change plan in the European Union, which has been lauded for its ambitious targets and aggressive action on emissions, will sacrifice carbon-storing trees, threaten biodiversity and outsource deforestation, according to a new paper.
After years of severe drought, the situation in northern Kenya is desperate. Animals are dying, fields have dried up and people have little to eat. A women’s initiative is hoping to turn their community’s fortunes around with the help of new wells.
Tuvalu, climate change and the metaverse [$]
Binoy Kampmark
In the case of the Pacific Island state of Tuvalu, the response is seemingly digital or, as its officials prefer to call it, creating the Digital Nation.
National
Union wants more involvement in plans for Australia’s transition to renewable energy
A key union says plans to establish a federal authority to guide Australia’s transition to renewable energy needs significant changes before it progresses to parliament.
Shock court gas ruling poses risk to wind farms [$]
The Albanese government could be forced to overhaul the laws governing offshore energy projects after a court ruling slowed the approval of new gas developments.
Shayleen Thompson of the Clean Energy Regulator had ‘robust’ exchange with Wentworth Group director
Power price caps mired in confusion over attempts to include coal [$]
Commonwealth demands for the states to cap coal prices are mired in confusion over whether the cap should apply to contracted coal as well.
Green power sector a crucial test for new bargaining laws
Renewable energy shapes as one of the first sectors in which unions will pursue multi-employer bargaining, with the ACTU declaring the new workplace laws could help “reset” hostile relations with Qantas.
Climate bell tolls for banks as investors turn up the heat
Clancy Yeates
Over the next fortnight, three of Australia’s big banks will face a fresh round of shareholder pressure over their responses to climate change.
Is Australia worthy of hosting a COP summit in 2026?
Kate Hart
If Australia is going to be serious about co-hosting a UN climate conference in only four years, it needs to be serious about leading from the front.
Legal pushback on Labor’s oil and gas plans [$]
Tom Morton
Environmental laws are being used in new ways to force a review of proposed oil and gas projects, and the Australian government may finally have to take responsibility for the greenhouse emissions our exports create.
The National Party has deserted country people on climate change, NBN, health services, and now the Voice
John Menadue
Farmers are the main sufferers from climate change- droughts, fires heavy rainfall and floods. The National Party has failed farmers and country people on numerous fronts. It has sold out to the miners.
Victoria
Andrews says SEC pledge sealed election for Labor
The premier says the promise of resurrecting the SEC was a killer blow in the election campaign that delivered Labor a third term in office last weekend.
Race on to save ‘butterflies of the sea’
More than 50 species of sea slug have been discovered residing in the waters flowing beneath a somewhat unremarkable arch bridge connecting Phillip Island to the Victorian mainland.
New South Wales
Golden bandicoots ‘breeding rapidly’ in NSW outback 100 years after becoming locally extinct
Native marsupials thrive after being translocated from Western Australia and released in Sturt National Park as part of the Wild Deserts project.
Climate activist who blocked traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge jailed for at least eight months
Lawyers for Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco, who stopped traffic for 25 minutes in April, say it is ‘outrageous’ their client was refused bail before an appeal next year
ACT
The new voice speaking up for Canberra cyclists
The new executive director of Pedal Power ACT – Canberra’s cycling lobby group – promises to be anything but shy and retiring in the role.
Queensland
Locals alarmed as Queensland haven to rare tree species to be sold off by CSIRO
The arboretum was closed to the public in October last year and is being ‘vacated in preparation for divestment’
How this council is planning to end the suburban sprawl and save the south east
One of south east Queensland’s hotspots for urban development has rejected sprawl and would instead attempt to create higher density living to stop south east Queensland becoming a mega city that sprawled from Coolangatta to Coolum, its mayor Peter Flannery said.
What’s banned under new animal protection laws [$]
The state’s Animal Care and Protection Act has been updated to better safeguard Queenslanders’ furry friends.
Qld’s biggest traffic day ever: Shape of congestion to come [$]
As the southeast grapples with a nightmare congestion future if urgent action isn’t taken, the state’s “biggest traffic day ever” has been revealed.
How this Queensland family slashed their power bill to $22 [$]
The $5.7 million Project Shield is attempting to give electricity network companies better visibility over ‘behind-the-meter’ resources like solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.
Is this the death warrant for coal industry? [$]
Des Houghton
A Land Court ruling against Clive Palmer’s proposed Waratah coal mine proposal reads like a green manifesto, and will have major ramifications for Queensland.
Qld energy plan has constellation of asterisks
Lydia Lynch et al
The Queensland Premier’s ‘concrete’ declaration that state-owned coal-fired power will be phased out relies heavily on hypotheticals.
South Australia
What gold was to Victoria: SA could be world ‘superpower’ [$]
Hydrogen puts SA on the precipice of an economic boom similar to what the gold rush meant for Victoria, the Premier says – and would make the state a “superpower”.
Premier attacks cultural cringe: ‘Lucky Country nothing to be ashamed of’
Australia’s resource-based economy should not be a source of shame, South Australia’s premier says.
Tasmania
State’s green energy ‘edge’ risk
Tasmania’s key industries want a dual power pricing system – cheaper rates for Tasmanian-based enterprises – warning without it a new interconnector with Victoria could destroy the state’s competitive advantage.
Northern Territory
Santos loses landmark legal battle in traditional owner’s fight against Barossa gas project off Darwin
Gas company Santos has lost its appeal against the decision that overturned approvals for its $4.7 billion gas project underway in waters off the Tiwi Islands.
Santos bungles oil approvals [$]
Chanticleer
It is hard to have sympathy for the gas and oil giant after its second successive court loss over its failure to consult Indigenous people living on the Tiwi Islands.
Scientists worry NT fracking go-ahead rules could be watered down
Chris McLennan
There was a surprise signature on a protest letter sent to the Northern Territory government last week over its latest water plans. The letter was co-signed Professor Barry Hart, one of the nation’s top water experts.
Western Australia
Bidding war: Gina Rinehart ups the ante in battle for WA gas
Australia’s richest person has wasted little time in putting a firmer offer on the table for Warrego Energy, escalating her stoush with Kerry Stokes’ backed Beach Energy for control of the resources minnow.
WA’s container recycling refunds to expand
What should be included in the 10-cent refund program? The community can now have their say on a system that has doubled WA’s beverage container recycling rate.
Penguins in need of new home after Penguin Island scrapped [$]
Penguin Island’s captive little penguin population is set to moved to mainland WA in six months, with the discovery centre on the island to be demolished.
The day world’s biggest isolated grid had enough wind and solar to reach 100 pct renewables
There was enough wind and solar in WA’s isolated grid – the biggest in the world – to meet all local demand one day last October. Here’s why it didn’t.
Net-zero solar panels? WA renewable hydrogen project spurs green glass potential
Plans for an up to 1GW green hydrogen plant in WA’s Mid-West region could lead to the manufacture of net-zero glass – and may be solar panels.
Sustainability
A UK tree provides hundreds of pounds of benefits a year, report finds
Trees standing alone and in small groups worth billions to UK, which researchers say justifies spending to protect them
In the fight against climate change, household batteries could hold the key
The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act is a landmark piece of legislation, but its name is a bit of a red herring. The $369 billion bill has more to do with reducing carbon emissions than lowering the CPI.
Nature Conservation
Drought threatens Colorado River with ‘complete doomsday scenario’, officials say
The first sign of serious trouble for the drought-stricken American Southwest could be a whirlpool.
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