https://www.aap.com.au/news/search-for-missing-radioactive-capsule/
Post of the Day
Miki Perkins
How urgently we respond to the climate crisis this decade will change will be hugely consequential for thousands of years to come. Here’s what Australia needs to do.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
International Reducing CO2 Emissions Day
International Mobilization Day against Nuclear War
Climate Change
Ukraine war: How climate change hurts Russia
Russia’s exports of oil and natural gas have long been used as a “weapon of financial war” against Ukraine. However, an unlikely ally has entered the mix on Ukraine’s side: climate change. Here’s everything you need to know.
National
ACCC warns of an east coast gas shortage in 2023 despite government intervention
The competition watchdog warns committed east coast gas supplies could fall short in 2023 as it calls on providers to release more of their uncontracted supplies.
Gas project push puts climate goals to test
The consumer watchdog is warning of gas shortfalls for the east coast, urging federal and state governments to help speed up development of new gas fields.
Malls think green after acting as community hubs in disasters
The devastating floods in NSW and fires in Victoria last year, together with the summer heat across the rest of the country proved to mall landlords that their properties need to be climate-proof and act as hubs for the community when disasters hit.
Origin boosts outlook on energy surge
Origin Energy has boosted its profit outlook for underlying earnings by as much as $80 million as gas and electricity profits surge and coal deliveries improved.
Predictive tool shows where winter could ‘effectively disappear’ [$]
Winter could be a thing of the past for much of Australia without aggressive climate change action, a new predictive tool suggests.
Would you eat your coffee cup to help save the environment?
Edible takeaway cups and library-style mug-borrowing schemes are on the menu at a growing number of cafes as possible solutions to Australia’s addiction to plastic convenience.
Companies shouldn’t do their dirty ‘woke washing’ in public
Anna Patty
Corporate support for social and political issues has been called out as woke washing when deemed as tokenistic.
A call to protect rural and remote communities with heat shelters during heatwaves
David Shearman
With predictions of record high temperatures across the globe in 2023, it is imperative that safe, adequate housing be provided for all.
Economic growth and our environmental future
Michael Keating
A spate of articles have argued protection of the environment is incompatible with population and economic growth. But they do not address how to stop this growth and its public acceptability, nor how more determined efforts to protect the environment can succeed.
The ‘Greta Thunberg of sport’ has refused to compete in Australia. Here’s why [$]
Emma Elsworthy
Innes FitzGerald is 16 and a running star in the UK, but the idea of polluting the earth by flying to a meet in NSW stopped her in her tracks.
What weather disaster will follow La Niña? [$]
Joëlle Gergis
The weather event that caused floods across much of the country is breaking down, but it may soon be replaced by an El Niño pattern of intense heatwaves and drought.
The case against fossil fuel giant Santos [$]
Tony Windsor
The EPBC Act was set up by John Howard in 1999 with the intent of giving the Commonwealth some jurisdiction over matters of environmental law. It provided a framework for the protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and culturally significant places. It did not include water.
John Hewson
Although Australian governments have set ambitious targets for recycling – overall 80 per cent of waste is to be recycled by 2030 – we are transitioning slower than other global players and, at 60 per cent overall recycling, are falling off the pace to meet our targets. A recent ABC news report emphasised our lags in three areas: glass, food and plastic recycling.
Victoria
Higher bills coming after government rips $700m from water companies
Experts warn the unusual accounting manoeuvre would weaken infrastructure and could lead to higher household bills.
Plastic straws banned from next week, but no fines issued for plastic bags
A ban on plastic straws and cups that begins next week will be useless unless it is actively policed after a similar move on single-use plastic bags has failed to result in one fine or prosecution.
Parks Victoria dismisses shooter in Alpine park [$]
Parks Victoria has dismissed concerns about a shooter operating in the Alpine National Park during the summer school holidays.
New South Wales
Brumby population up 30 per cent in Kosciuszko National Park, study finds
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has revealed the results of a survey into feral horse numbers, causing concern that the plan to manage the animals is getting “off track”.
‘Do their bit’: NSW drivers able to offset their carbon emissions
NSW drivers can now offset their vehicle’s carbon emissions annually — at a cost of about $80 — in a move the state government says will help the environment and the economy.
‘Carry me out in a box’: Landowners at loggerheads over plans to buyback their beaches
A battle is brewing between property owners in Batemans Bay and the local council, with owners of beachside land claiming they’re being forced to sell because of erosion they say is the authorities’ fault.
Cull of duty: why we need to shoot all the feral horses in the Snowies
Nick O’Malley
The damage caused by brumbies in the Snowy Mountains has one obvious solution, but the NSW government hasn’t had the guts to do it.
Queensland
Elders welcome Santos’s ‘bloody good’ offset project, but others say scheme has ‘fundamental problems’
Traditional owners are celebrating a “win” for a culturally significant property but there are concerns about fundamental problems with biodiversity offsetting for fossil fuel projects.
‘Public enemy number one’: on the hunt with Queensland’s volunteer cane toad busters
A competition to deplete the invasive, warty amphibian has attracted plenty of contestants – who take it deadly seriously
How to catch a cane toad: advice from Australia’s Great Cane Toad Bust 2023 – video
Self-proclaimed cane toad busters from Boonah and district Landcare in Queensland are taking part in a week-long event dubbed the Great Cane Toad Bust. Team leader Linda Kimber admits it might be hard to beat the numbers they caught last year, thanks to the rainy weather which tends to keep the toads away.
Why Queensland is still ground zero for Australian deforestation
Michelle Ward and James Watson
Five years ago, bulldozers with chains cleared forests and woodlands almost triple the size of the Australian Capital Territory in a single year.
South Australia
South Australian opposition to introduce legislation allowing e-scooters on state’s roads
South Australia’s Liberal MPs plan to introduce a bill to parliament to allow e-scooters and other personal electric transport devices on the state’s roads after the ABC revealed a user had been jailed for three days over Christmas.
Tasmania
In Tasmania’s western wilds, climate change is threatening a tree with its roots from Gondwana times
Unusually dry weather is leaving the state’s Wilderness World Heritage Area sensitive to fire. It’s a prospect that threatens a living fossil that traces its history to the ancient super-continent Gondwana.
Northern Territory
Battle of the billionaires: The clash over nation’s energy future
If Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy acquired the failed Sun Cable project at a cheap price, would it potentially link in to the billionaire’s other projects in Queensland?
Western Australia
Search for missing radioactive capsule
Authorities are searching for a tiny but dangerous radioactive capsule that went missing on a 1400km journey across the West Australian outback.
Forrest plans multi-billion dollar battery business, hopes to land five big green energy deals
Andrew Forrest says “world leading” WAE could turn into a multi-billion dollar battery technology business, expects to seal five big green energy deals this year.
Where, why and how: Top tips for ethical clothes shopping in Perth
Emma Young
Here is your step-by-step guide to ethical clothes shopping in our fair city: easy ways to make a substantial difference without breaking the bank.
Sustainability
Three sites ‘in danger’ added to UNESCO World Heritage List
The historic center of the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and sites in Yemen and Lebanon were added to the World Heritage List Wednesday by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Stuck with a gas stove? Here’s how to protect your health
Some practical ways to reduce indoor air pollution and electrify some of your cooking.
David vs Goliath: Meet the short seller taking on Adani
Over the past few years, Nathan Anderson has made his name with analysis that sends stocks sinking. Now he is going after his biggest target yet.
Is Adani the next Enron? What’s the scam?
Kim Wingerei
A research report published in the US this week cites numerous concerns with Adani’s business structure, accounting practices and its lofty valuation. Echoing Enron – one of the most spectacular corporate failures in recent history – the report even questions how Adani makes money, if at all. What’s the scam?
Nature Conservation
Indigenous communities in Latin America decry the Mennonites’ expanding land occupation
A team of journalists followed in the footsteps of five Mennonite colonies that have been reported for clearing forests by Indigenous communities and locals in Bolivia, Colombia, México, Paraguay and Perú.
Banned but abundant, gillnets pose main threat to Bangladesh’s river dolphins
The indiscriminate use of gillnets by fishers in Bangladesh has become a major threat to the two freshwater dolphin species found there: the Ganga River dolphin (Platanista gangetica) and the Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris).
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