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Date: 7 January 2023 at 8:55:37 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jan 7
Post of the Day
Activists fight back after being SLAPPed with lawfare tactics
The use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation to intimidate campaigners is a global trend, but activists are taking a stand.
On This Day
Christmas – Eastern Christianity
Mahayana New Year – Buddhism
Climate Change
Fact check: Authors give cool reception to misrepresented warming study
Social media users misrepresent a scientific study in an attempt to disentangle human-led emissions from global warming.
Climate enforcers need hard evidence. Friederike Otto has it
World Weather Attribution ties disasters and extreme conditions to climate change—providing crucial leverage for legal and policy battles.
Europe’s plan to become the first climate-neutral continent
From retrofitting buildings to rethinking farming, electrifying transport, and prioritizing reforestation, the EU is chasing net zero.
3 climate takeaways from the GOP speaker meltdown
The Republican brawl over whom to elect House speaker hasn’t changed anything about climate policy — yet. But the chaos this week has underscored concerns that the new Congress is ill-equipped to address global warming.
New climate reality: Less warming, but worse impacts on the planet
The most severe global warming scenarios now appear less likely, but effects from even lesser extremes are proving to be unexpectedly potent, scientists say.
National
One carmaker still king of Australian roads but EVs on slow charge
Australian sales of new cars and trucks topped one million in 2022 with one manufacturer and model again taking out top spot, while demand for electric vehicles is on the rise.
Challenges that could blow up Albo’s year [$]
Vikki Campion
Food security, water supply and affordable energy among our Anthony Albanese’s challenges this year. He also needs to watch out for whiny, privileged know-it-alls.
The elusive skill of spotting a platypus in the wild [$]
Tim the Yowie Man
Spotting a platypus in the wild remains an elusive experience for most.
Energy debacle demonstrates the danger of group gullibility [$]
Gemma Tognini
Given the high stakes, it’s our public duty to keep our politicians honest.
The strange case against electric vehicle incentives [$]
Royce Kurmelovs
A submission from the Productivity Commission, based on unproven modelling, recommends the government does nothing to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles before 2035.
Carbon reports intrinsic to position on world stage [$]
Climate Minister Chris Bowen release next week of separate carbon reduction reports can shape the way Australia is treated internationally.
Victoria
Wildlife advocates slam decision to raise kangaroo cull quota after floods
Wildlife Victoria is calling for a halt to the state’s kangaroo harvesting program until an independent survey assesses the impact of flooding on populations of the native species.
Push for Dan to cancel duck hunting [$]
The Andrews government is facing mounting pressure to outlaw duck shooting amid concerns over “really significant animal welfare issues”.
Fitzroy side street ‘ripe’ for a pedestrian-friendly makeover
Brunswick Street attracts the crowds, but there is a push to turn an iconic side street into an oasis of greenery, seating and colourfully painted asphalt.
‘Make it legal’: E-scooter rider Jan Baddeley wants her wheels back
Melburnians who have bought their own e-scooters as a climate-friendly alternative to driving fear they will remain illegal because of bad behaviour by people using inner-city scooter hire schemes.
New South Wales
Watch as ‘game changing’ thermal drones locate elusive koalas in forest scorched by bushfires
Drones with heat sensing technology are helping researchers find and track koalas in northern NSW after bushfires and floods.
As La Nina weakens, grass fire threat looms
The long grass across much of NSW is worrying to Guy Noble. He’s been a firefighter for 45 years, but says this is one of the worst grass load he has seen in years.
ACT
‘Incredibly inefficient’: Canberra’s waste sent to Sydney for recycling, costing thousands a day
About 36 tonnes of recyclable material is being sent each day to a facility in Western Sydney, as the ACT expedites the construction of a new recycling centre.
‘It could be landfill’: Some recyclables may be dumped after fire
The ACT government will likely have to dump some of a 1270-tonne stockpile of recyclables being stored at Mugga Lane, City Services Minister Chris Steel said on Friday.
Queensland
Just $500 worth of weed killer is all it took to ruin up to $100 million worth of cotton
Anyone can buy the herbicide 2,4-D from a shop, but its misuse may have caused millions of dollars worth of damage to cotton crops, prompting calls for more controls.
Recycled or desal: water row resurfaces [$]
The former mayor who spearheaded Toowoomba’s failed push for recycled water during the millennium drought has urged Annastacia Palaszczuk to be “courageous” and add treated effluent into southeast Queensland’s drinking supply.
South Australia
‘Carnage’ as dead marine life washes onto beaches near mouth of flooding River Murray
Experts are investigating whether dead marine life found washed up on South Australia’s south coast is connected with the high flows from the River Murray that have started to cause flooding in the Lower Lakes.
Lower Murray warned flooding will be worse than expected [$]
Lower Murray residents are being warned peak river flows are yet to come, with water levels set to be higher than first anticipated.
Tasmania
Innovative study planned for critically-endangered species [$]
The state’s Natural Resources and Environment Department has plans to attach transmitters to 20 Orange-bellied Parrots to track their migratory movements and habitat use this year.
Woodside’s ammonia project [$]
Public documents filed prior to Christmas have confirmed that Woodside Energy is still pushing ahead with a plan to construct a large renewable energy plant at Bell Bay that will create up to 100 ongoing jobs in the region and eventually produce and export nearly one million
On this remote Tasmanian beach you’d rarely see any evidence of human life, but the white sands are now host to a busted Sydney to Hobart race yacht — and experts say getting it out of there is going to take a “massive effort”.
Northern Territory
Inspections uncover mounds of burning waste, dead animals, asbestos dumps
The environmental watchdog has signalled a crackdown on illegal dumps across the Territory after an inspection blitz revealed the issue was far worse than expected.
Western Australia
Flooding turns Derby and Broome into islands
Authorities have warned residents downstream at two major Kimberley towns – Broome and Derby – their communities are about to become islands.
Kimberley environmental group urges more action and collaboration on flood response from WA and federal governments
The Kimberley’s peak environmental organisation has urged the Western Australian and federal governments to provide more support to the Fitzroy Crossing and Noonkanbah communities dealing with the worst floods in WA’s history.
WA set for showdown over domestic gas [$]
Major gas users want the West Australian government to ensure the LNG giants meet their domestic gas obligations as they seek to retain the OECD’s lowest prices.
Behind the heavyweight battle for Perth Basin gas [$]
The takeover battle for onshore gas assets in the Perth Basin comes amid warnings about a shortage in supply in WA, where the mining and downstream processing industries have come to rely on cheap energy.
Subpoenas reveal scale of Chevron’s Australian ambitions [$]
Lyndal Rowlands
Documents tabled in the US congress show Chevron plans to run its Gorgon gas plant in Western Australia until at least 2056, exploiting other companies’ transitions to cleaner energy.
Sustainability
Great Britain’s windfarm electricity at record high in 2022 but gas use up too
Wind-powered electricity rose to 26.8% of 2022 usage while gas-fired power, at 38.5%, continued growth as largest single source
Coal’s executioners gather to plot the kill
With the pipeline of new coal plants around the world slows to a trickle, plans are now being developed to kill off the existing fleet. Its legacy of emissions won’t fade so easily.
Climate-friendly, affordable housing: Is it possible?
Our homes protect us from the rain and cold. But heating them requires a lot of energy and building them is bad for the climate as well. DW looks at more environmental ways of living.
The most important New Year’s resolution for climate
Changing your personal habits won’t change the world, but there are other benefits to doing so.
ClientEarth helps shape new laws and enforce old ones to protect the planet and its most vulnerable inhabitants.
Friends of the Earth to launch legal action against Cumbrian mine
An environmental campaign group said it will be taking legal action against the UK Government’s decision to approve a new coal mine in Cumbria.
Ditching concrete for earth to build a cleaner future
Climate change has spurred renewed interest in an ancient technique, which sees polluting concrete swapped, where possible, for earth.
This vending machine’s secret to reducing waste? A hidden dishwasher
This vending machine looks very similar to any other. But when you use it to buy a drink, your beverage comes in a reusable bottle—and when you’re done, it takes the bottle back, sanitizes it, and refills it for someone else.
Antibiotic residues in wastewater may trigger antimicrobial resistance in India, China
A new research has pinpointed the role of waste water in contributing to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in India and China, the world’s largest producers and consumers of antibiotics.
Nature Conservation
New species of dwarf boa discovered in Ecuador to be named after Indigenous activist
The new species is unusual for having a “vestigial pelvis”, a characteristic of primitive snakes, taken as evidence by some that snakes descended from lizards that lost their limbs over millions of years.
Poop and prints could offer fresh insights on polar bear health
Researchers are developing ways to track polar bears through their scat and tracks, which might offer another means of monitoring the animals.
How the war in Ukraine is killing marine mammals
Dolphins and porpoises have been washing up dead on the shores of the Black Sea in unusually high numbers – scientists say they are casualties of the war in Ukraine.
US government approves use of world’s first vaccine for honeybees
Hopes of a new weapon against diseases that routinely ravage colonies that are relied upon for food pollination.
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