Daily Links Feb 27

Nice to see such a good corporate citizen as Rio Tinto urging change.

From: Maelor Himbury <maelor@melbpc.org.au&gt;
Date: 27 February 2023 at 8:50:06 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Feb 27

Post of the Day

Lessons from evolutionary psychology

Robert Clark

Some of the response to climate change concerns seems driven by emotion more than by reason, and especially to be driven by tribalism. It would be unbearably humiliating if those insufferable, Woke, politically correct leftists were actually right about something.

 

On This Day

February 27

Great Lent – Orthodox Christianity

 

Ecological Observance

International Polar Bear Day

 

Climate Change

World’s emissions targets at risk if pace of change doesn’t pick up: Rio Tinto

Mining giant Rio Tinto warns the world is struggling to build enough clean energy to replace fossil fuels at the speed needed to hit increasing climate targets.

 

National

Bandt demands Labor ‘stop worsening crisis’

Adam Bandt has demanded Labor stop ‘making the climate crisis worse’ after Chris Bowen refused to issue a complete new coal and gas ban.

 

Silicosis response tantamount to industrial manslaughter, says expert

A doctor and former member of the national dust diseases taskforce has taken aim at the collective inertia of governments in failing to respond to the silicosis epidemic.

 

Carbon market group has big emitters in its sights [$]

Australia’s biggest emitters have had their voting rights stripped and membership downgraded by the nation’s leading carbon market industry group.

 

Locals at mercy of Labor’s renewables vanity project [$]

Nick Cater

Smooth-talking community engagement teams are moving in to wreak havoc on the environment in the name of green energy.

 

Safeguard cannot be a path back to climate wars [$]

Tony Wood

It’s not perfect, but Labor’s plan offers business certainty and an end to the constant bickering. The Opposition and Greens need to compromise.

 

Gas is the perfect partner for the world’s transition to renewable energy [$]

Daniel Walton

The Greens’ extremist dogma is that every new gas project makes the climate crisis worse. They’re wrong. The real world is more complex than a slogan on a pair of dangly earrings.

 

Defence strategy, climate change and the need for AUKUS in 2050

David Shearman

The AUKUS deal for nuclear submarines by 2050 indicates that government has little grasp of the likely chaotic state of the world after current trajectories on climate and environmental change have played out for the next 27 years. In turn this engenders insecurity over their knowledge and ability to deliver appropriate policies on these threats.

 

New Report: coal and gas emissions “set to soar” under Safeguard Mechanism

Callum Foote

The government has “significantly underestimated” coal and gas emissions in its Safeguard Mechanism to curb big carbon polluters, according to new analysis by Climate Analytics.

 

Victoria

Once almost bereft of trees, this property is now lush with vegetation

Australia imports more than $2 billion of timber per year, but a group of landholders in south-west Victoria which began growing trees three decades ago are now reaping the rewards.

 

Metro Tunnel among projects that may have exacerbated flood

The Metro Tunnel in Kensington is protected by a flood wall large enough to withstand a one-in-1000-year deluge. It’s just one of the projects built on flood-prone land along the Maribyrnong River.

 

New South Wales

How an electric dream means one Australian suburb may dramatically cut their power bills 

His bold ideas caught the eye of the US president. Now inventor Saul Griffith is sparking an energy revolution in Australia, with a goal to create the first all-electric community where households could save $3,000 a year on their energy bills.

 

It’s been a year since Lismore’s flood catastrophe, but some fear few lessons have been learned

Widespread failures in preparedness, response and recovery were exposed in the aftermath of the unprecedented flood that had thousands of people fighting for their lives. If the region was hit by a similar flood today, would anything be different?

 

Community gathers to make peace with the river that destroyed their village

NSW North Coast residents have come together to repair their relationship with the river that destroyed their homes and business in a major flood one year ago.

 

Rezone more land to get more housing, NSW government says – but that can be a recipe for disaster

Fast-tracking development in the Macarthur region will give Sydney a massive new infrastructure challenge

 

When the cats are outside, the wildlife can’t play

Councils and across NSW are urging the government to introduce cat curfews to prevent them killing millions of native Australian animals each year.

 

Major feral horse reduction in Kosciuszko key to independent support

A major reduction of the feral horse population will be a key condition of support for an incoming minority government, independent MP Joe McGirr says.

 

Australia’s red goshawk is disappearing. How can we save our rarest bird of prey from extinction?

Christopher MacColl and James Watson

Australia’s red goshawk once ruled the skies. But now this almighty raptor, affectionately known as The Red, has become our nation’s rarest bird of prey.

 

ACT

Cyclists often report feeling unsafe on Canberra roads. A new study might prove them right [$]

Drivers on Canberra roads are thought to increasingly overtake cyclists at unsafe distances when speed limits are above 60km/h, with unsafe passing practices dropping off when the speed is capped. A new study from the University of Adelaide is seeking to better understand how drivers and cyclists behave on the road, to help inform future ACT government policy.

 

ACT locks in provider for next-generation public transport ticket system

A new ticketing system for Canberra’s public transport network will be developed over the next year after the territory finally signed a contract to overhaul the way passengers pay for their journeys.

 

More can be done to capitalise on gas to electric switch, study finds [$]

The decarbonisation of the national electricity grid is required to harness the full environmental benefit from the ACT’s transition away from gas, a study of Canberra’s energy use has found.

 

Queensland

Water mining near Queensland’s Gondwana rainforest ‘unacceptably risky’, opponents say

Court will hear appeal over plan to extract 16m litres of water from a site less than a kilometre from Springbrook national park

 

Only going to grow: Why traffic is worse than before the pandemic

Despite more people working from home, traffic on many major Queensland roads is worse than it was pre-pandemic, a new report has revealed.

 

South Australia

Developer couple issued enforcement notice over cleared patch of native forest in Adelaide Hills

An Adelaide Hills couple has been handed an enforcement notice over alleged excessive land cleared on a property.


Tasmania

Running to save famous wild place [$]

Runners have descended on Tasmania’s Tarkine area for the fifth takayna trail event raising a record amount to fight to protect the wilderness. 

 

Northern Territory

This highly flammable weed is taking over Litchfield National Park. Experts say urgent action is needed

According to new research, gamba grass will replace the existing ecosystems across about 30 per cent of the park by 2032 if further action isn’t taken. 

 

Sustainability

Urban planning or ‘tyrannical’ control: What is the ’15-minute city’ conspiracy theory?

Conspiracy theorists have a new, unlikely target: The world of urban planning.

 

How a gas-busting pill could cut methane from cow burps by 90pc and move the needle on climate change

Scientists are developing pills, powders, and pellets to slash livestock methane emissions — one of the biggest environmental challenges facing the meat industry. But will they work in the real world of farming?

 

Batteries are Ukraine’s secret weapon against Russia

With Russia regularly knocking out Ukraine’s power grid, the country has turned to high-capacity batteries to keep it connected to the world—and itself.

 

Red states leading the US in solar and wind production, new report shows

Country’s capacity to generate renewable energy shot up last year, producing enough electricity to power 64m households

 

Nuclear war is not ‘winnable’. Here’s how to eliminate the threat

Margaret Beavis

There are three big myths about nuclear weapons.

 

Nature Conservation

Extinct-in-the-wild species in conservation limbo

Biodiversity loss has reached crisis proportions not seen since an errant asteroid as big across as Paris smashed into Earth 66 million years ago, wiping out land dinosaurs and ending the Cretaceous period.

 

What Denmark’s North Sea coast can teach us about the virtues of respecting the planet

The Danish writer Dorthe Nors’ new book, “A Line in the World,” chronicles a year’s worth of travel along the treacherous–and threatened–North Sea coastline.

 



Maelor Himbury
6 Florence St Niddrie 3042
0432406862 or 0393741902
If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by 
return email, delete it from your system and destroy any copies.