Date: 25 February 2023 at 8:14:28 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Feb 25
Post of the Day
Emily Harwitz
Fear leads to anger … anger leads to hate … hate leads to suffering.
On This Day
Climate Change
Healing from ‘incredible sickness’: Cree author Clayton Thomas-Müller talks environmental justice
A Winnipeg author and environmental activist shares his vision for transforming colonial power structures to find climate solutions.
Can combining geothermal heat with direct air capture solve the climate crisis?
A company is planning to combine two technologies: geothermal power and direct air capture.
It would take less than 3% of Big Oil’s profits to clean up methane emissions
About one-third of the global warming to date can be attributed to methane emissions. Many human activities are to blame, including agriculture and all the rotting waste people throw out. But in the U.S., energy production is the biggest culprit.
Parts of US see earliest spring conditions on record: ‘Climate change playing out in real time’
Parts of Texas, Arkansas, Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, are all recording their earliest spring conditions on record
National
Water ministers fail to find path forward as deadline looms for Murray-Darling Basin Plan
Water ministers have failed to reach agreement about how hundreds of gigalitres of water promised for the environment will be recovered across the Murray-Darling Basin.
Ban on engineered stone ‘unrealistic’ despite silicosis concerns
Experts say calls to ban manufactured stone are not the best way of dealing with a spike in silicosis cases in recent years.
Green energy strategy overhaul [$]
Australia’s energy and climate change ministers have agreed to overhaul the national hydrogen strategy in response to global market interventions.
Why nuclear would save and secure our future
Theo Theophanous
Nuclear power will eventually come to Australia to help us save the planet’s climate, and it will hopefully sit alongside a submarine industry that will secure our future.
The reason Labor is gaslighting the nation about its climate policy and the Greens [$]
Maeve McGregor
Labor knows the era of climate denial is over, which is why it sees the Greens as a problem.
The politics of the safeguard mechanism [$]
John Hewson
It is indicative of how backwards we have become that some in the Coalition are still promoting a new coal-fired power plant for north Queensland, even though there is no net demand for power in the region, even though major international banks won’t fund it, even though equity investors are equally reluctant…
The koala strike [$]
Saturday Paper editorial
This is a proposal for a koala strike. For as long as the Albanese government continues to approve fossil fuel projects, there should be a ban on ministers entering zoos and animal parks for photo opportunities.
Victoria
Duck hunting season to proceed in Victoria despite strong opposition
The duck hunting season for 2023 will be shorter, with smaller bag limits, prompting opposition criticism that the government is doing a “stealth” shutdown.
Victorian government reveals plan to pay landowners for hosting controversial power infrastructure
Landowners will be eligible to receive payments of $8,000 per kilometre of transmission infrastructure for 25 years, but those in line say it’s not enough to ease their concerns about a project that has been “shambolic” in its planning.
Bats all, folks: Flying fox survey out for the count as radar, drones take over
One of the world’s longest-running bat surveys has come to an end, but its Melbourne volunteers say the count helped them appreciate this beautiful species.
New South Wales
Energy price caps plan for apartment dwellers
Apartment dwellers forced to pay high energy bills due to being part of a fixed “embedded network” scheme set to get relief under NSW Coalition plan.
Fear of invasion as Snowy 2.0 gushes through region [$]
The expansive Snowy Hydro Scheme is threatening to destroy a $70m local fishing and tourism industry.
Farmers, elders, Teals meet to thwart Santos fracking the Pilliga and the Liverpool Plains
Callum Foote
Kamilaroi elders, farmers and politicians gathered under a temporary pavilion on the Gunn property east of Gunnedah this week, right in the middle of the Liverpool Plains. They want to stop the fossil fuel developments that threaten our food supply
ACT
‘Snail rail’: ACT chief challenges Albanese government to upgrade Canberra-Sydney train line
High-speed rail advocates support call from Andrew Barr, saying even gradually beginning track duplication could cut travel times in half within a decadeGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
Queensland
Put the community into commuting: Brisbane’s next redevelopment push
Carparks next to train stations could be diversified into housing, health, education and community facilities to become a destination in their own right.
Northern Territory
It’s the middle of the Top End’s wet season. Why are rangers burning country?
Northern Australia’s tropical savannas are among the most fire-prone regions in the world, but rangers and traditional owners are working to reduce the impacts of fire and climate change.
Western Australia
Alcoa piped toxic waste over drinking water dam, and asked for approval afterwards
US aluminium giant Alcoa pumped water with “forever chemical” PFAS over a dam near Waroona without regulatory approval or telling the Water Corporation.
Sustainability
Revealed: scale of ‘forever chemical’ (PFAS) pollution across UK and Europe
Pollutants known as “forever chemicals”, which don’t break down in the environment, build up in the body and may be toxic, have been found at high levels at thousands of sites across the UK and Europe, a major mapping project has revealed.
Global pandemic treaty: what we must learn from climate-change errors
The WHO’s draft agreement proposes a COP-like process. That’s unlikely to improve on the world’s disastrous COVID response.
Can we end deaths from air pollution?
Don’t hold your breath.
Fat, sugar, salt … you’ve been thinking about food all wrong
Scientists are asking tough questions about the health effects of ultra-processed diets. The answers are complicated—and surprising.
This software factors climate risk and energy equity into grid planning
Jeff St. John
Utilities need to know how their equipment upgrades will impact vulnerable communities. UrbanFootprint’s platform provides the necessary data.
The East Palestine disaster was a direct result of US reliance on fossil fuels and plastic
Judith Enck
The hazardous chemicals being transported by the derailed train — including vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen — are used to make PVC, the world’s third most used type of plastic.
It’s time for the planet’s second Green Revolution [$]
Bjorn Lomborg
Poorer countries deserve the benefits that richer countries have enjoyed for more than a century.
Penises are growing longer. The reason is terrible for the environment [$]
Emma Elsworthy
The average penis size has grown by a quarter in the past 30 years, but researchers say the reason should ring alarm bells.
Nature Conservation
Ecosystem collapse ‘inevitable’ unless wildlife losses reversed
Scientists studying the Permian-Triassic mass extinction find ecosystems can suddenly tip over
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