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Date: 9 February 2023 at 8:57:12 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Feb 9
Post of the Day
Pollution and climate change set stage for rise in antimicrobial resistance
A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme illustrates the role that pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss can play in the development of antimicrobial resistance.
On This Day
St. Maroun’s Day – Lebanon
Feast Day of St. Apollonia – Catholicism
Climate Change
UK urged to sack Tony Abbott as trade adviser for joining climate sceptic group
Critics say former Australian PM’s membership of Global Warming Policy Foundation thinktank could affect trade deals
Drought may have doomed this ancient empire — a warning for today’s climate crisis
As the world confronts escalating climate disasters, archaeologists say ancient history can reveal what it takes to survive.
Geoengineering to cool earth: Space dust as Earth’s sun shield
Dust launched from the moon’s surface or from a space station positioned between Earth and the sun could reduce enough solar radiation to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Viv Forbes
But the records written in the rocks tell a far different story about climate changes. Even when nature was in full control, it was not a serene place.
National
Peter Dutton warns Liberal moderates to vote against Labor’s safeguard mechanism overhaul
After internal concerns were raised over Coalition position on crediting, opposition leader says he expects no one to break ranks
Alarming pic of Australia’s ‘doomed’ future
An Australian academic has urged the federal government to have “honest conversations” about how future generations will be forced to live.
It’s the longest fence in the world — and it’s transformed Australia’s landscape in surprising ways
The dingo fence does its job keeping the predator at bay — but that single change has cascading effects on the environment, right down to the shape of the sand dunes.
Gas giants clash with government over permanent price controls
Deep divisions between gas producers and their biggest industrial customers are threatening to stall the Albanese government’s efforts to reform the energy market.
Pocock urges Plibersek to tackle brumbies in high country
The ACT senator wants the federal government to intervene in the NSW and Victorian governments’ management of feral horses in the Australian Alps.
Australians win top award for taking Einstein’s theory to renewable reality
The four Australians have won an award for their work developing highly efficient solar cells that have become central to reducing emissions.
It’s official: Last year was wet – very wet
An unusual trio of three climate patterns brought heavy rainfall and an exceptionally wet but warm year for Australia in 2022.
NAB buys into global carbon exchange to create new credits for farmers [$]
NAB’s rural customers will get access to new global investors on a new trading platform that creates securities on the ethereum blockchain.
AWU demands heavy industry inclusion in safeguard mechanism
Australian heavy industries could collapse if conservation and clean-energy groups have their way and block fossil fuel companies from accessing carbon offsets under Labor’s tougher safeguard mechanism, according to the AWU.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has a new President and Chair of ACF’s Board. Liana Downey is an experienced strategic adviser who has held senior roles in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors.
Mining, resources sectors targeted in billion-dollar deal to convert utes to electric
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed to supply electric utility vehicles to the Australian mining sector, as demand ramps up.
Australia is the world’s leading lithium producer. Why don’t we make electric vehicles?
Most of the world’s new electric vehicles contain minerals from Australia. So should we make EVs locally, and what would it take?
Australian kangaroo industry says it’s being targeted by US activists
Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry says attempts from US states to ban kangaroo products are misguided and could damage the industry.
Dutton had the chance to send a message to his lost voters, but he chose a different path
David Speers
This week the Liberals had another chance to send a signal to lost voters that they’d heard the message on climate. Once again, the opportunity was lost
Labor’s safeguard mechanism does more to save the fossil fuel industry than it does the planet
Richard Denniss
The Abbott-era policy hides its support for fossil fuel expansion behind a fig leaf of dodgy carbon credits and offsets
Climate of political opportunism rightly called out [$]
Ticky Fullerton
Chris Bowen’s claim of Coalition hypocrisy over its plan to vote against the Safeguard Mechanism is accurate.
Victoria
Brumby protection group loses Supreme Court bid to stop the culling of wild horses in Victoria
The Australian Brumby Alliance says a Supreme Court decision allowing the culling of wild horses will deny the animals a chance to be rehomed. But Parks Victoria says it has an obligation to control invasive species.
MPs plan new flood review despite premier’s opposition
A parliamentary flood inquiry is expected to proceed with crossbench support in the state’s upper house and run parallel to a controversial Melbourne Water-run probe.
New South Wales
‘Alarm bells going off’ as another Sydney basin koala population disappears, new study finds
Not one koala has been seen in areas south-west of Nowra since the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, prompting concern for the marsupials’ future.
Rock-bottom coal contract won’t save AGL’s profits [$]
NSW power generators were paying barely $33 a tonne for some of their coal as the NSW government intervened with a coal reservation scheme and a $125 coal price cap
New revolution for hundreds of share bikes abandoned on streets of Sydney
A bike recycler repairs broken bikes for underprivileged youth and scraps others to be used in new products.
ACT
Extra money put into ACT’s interest-free home-upgrade loan scheme [$]
The scheme funds environmentally friendly home upgrades for Canberrans.
Why we’re reducing the requirements for car parks in units
Mick Gentleman
The draft Territory Plan and District Strategies, which are currently open for community feedback, do not remove parking requirements for developments.
Queensland
Forget timetables, this Queensland city’s on-demand public bus service can be called up like an uber
In an age where Queenslanders are relying on ride shares and e-scooters, residents in Hervey Bay will soon be able to call for a public bus using an app, online or by phone.
Plibersek blocks Palmer’s Queensland coal mine
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek cites national environmental laws as the reason for rejecting Clive Palmer’s Central Queensland coal mine project.
She’s the ‘really old lady of the sea’. Now Valerie Taylor wants you to save our oceans
“Nobody today is left alive who would have seen the real beauty, and incredible life of the Barrier Reef. It’s gone.”
Australian researchers hit solar stretch goal with tandem cell breakthrough
ANU team sandwiches two solar technologies together to achieve cell efficiency at levels targeted by ARENA for 2030.
“We might get sued:” Fossil fuel lobby wants environmental objective watered down
Fossil fuel lobby demands that new laws designed to force regulators to consider environment and emissions in their rulings be watered down.
Big solar and wind pipeline boosted by 4.3GW of new “committed” projects in 2022
Latest Clean Energy Regulator data shows nearly 50% year-on-year growth in large-scale wind and solar investment.
Is this the world’s last greenfield coking coal mine? [$]
Big miners have sworn off new coking coal mines in response to royalty increases and state bans, which makes Barry Tudor think he’s building the world’s last mine.
Battery gigafactory on the backburner as Magnis walks back Queensland plans
Magnis Energy Technologies has put a pause on plans, once vigorously promoted, to build a lithium-ion battery mega factory in Townsville.
South Australia
Can Koutsantonis fix Adelaide’s public transport?
On-demand buses in Adelaide’s suburbs, unravelling privatisation, “tap and go” payment on all services – Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis insists he has a big public transport agenda for the city. But can it be delivered and, if so, when?
Tasmania
Annual climate summary shows 2022 as Tasmania’s 10th warmest year since 1910 [$]
Last year was the tenth warmest for Tasmania since 1910 according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate summary for the state.
Crews battle Tasmanian timber forest blaze [$]
Fire fighters remain on the scene of a fire in a forest harvesting area in the south of the state
Tasmanians go wild for electric vehicles as numbers explode [$]
Tasmanians are increasingly embracing electric vehicles, with new data showing a huge jump in the number of EVs registered in the state – and it’s tipped to double again this year.
Northern Territory
Cotton is not grown in the NT the same way as in other places
Gerry Wood
ABC reporting using Environment Centre NT’s comments about cotton growing in the NT, reflect the way it was grown more than 30 years ago, not the way it is now.
Western Australia
Up to 900 of Western Australia’s rarest orchids have been stolen from a botanical garden, causing fear the endangered plants will not survive without expert care.
Gerry last took his landfill bin out four years ago. He wants others to follow his lead
From saving bags of hair from the vacuum cleaner to burn in his fire, to soaking corn chip bags to remove the non-recyclable lining, no feat of waste reduction is too great or small.
Alcoa was warned for years about Perth water threats, so why is our biggest dam at risk?
Internal government advice shows that government agencies had frequently raised concerns about Serpentine Dam with Alcoa over the past two years.
Why bauxite mining near Serpentine Dam is so alarming
Water quality experts have shed light on the health risks posed by water contaminants and changing terrain at Serpentine Dam.
Sustainability
Time to tackle Bosnia and Herzegovina’s toxic air
Air pollution in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cities remains some of the worst in the world. In January in Sarajevo, daily readings of the deadliest pollutant (known as particulate matter 2.5) were above 50µg/m³ over 16 days, several times what the World Health Organization (WHO) deems safe.
Turbine blade robot makes wind farm repairs faster, cheaper, safer
Wind turbine blade repairing robot yields a return on investment within six months, repairing turbine blades four times faster at half the cost of traditional methods.
How to build a tear-apart city
The remnants of most old buildings end up in landfill, but some cities are starting to design them for reuse from the start.
Self-driving cars would be a climate disaster
Autonomous vehicles are bad for the planet, no matter how efficient their computers become.
Growing body of research suggests offshore oil’s methane pollution is underestimated
New technologies are allowing for actual measurements of oil and gas methane pollution like never before, whether from leaks or intentional flaring and venting.
Plastic debris in the Arctic comes from all around the world
In the course of five years, citizens who went on sailing cruises to the Arctic surveyed and collected plastic debris that had washed up on the shores of Svalbard. This has now been analyzed. According to the findings, one third of the plastic debris which still bore imprints or labels allowing an analysis of their origin came from Europe, and much of that number from Germany.
Environmental apocalypse? Don’t blame us
Mark Beeson
Like the environment itself, discussions of our collective future are becoming heated. They are also contradictory, polarised and – in my case, at least – increasingly pessimistic.
The coal whack-a-mole: getting rid of coal power will make prices fall and demand rise elsewhere
Hao Tan
The fight against climate change is full of inconvenient truths. The latest? Coal is going to be harder to get rid of than we had hoped. Every victory like the rejection of Clive Palmer’s proposed Rockhampton coal mine seems to be offset by coal’s gains elsewhere.
Kate Anderson and Darryl Sellwood
This month, Victoria became the latest Australian state to ban single-use plastics, including straws. While this is a win for the environment and marine life, it will come at a price for social inclusion.
Nature Conservation
Half the wetlands in Europe lost in past 300 years, researchers calculate
Assessment shows 20% global loss since 1700 – far less than thought – but Europe, US and China bear the brunt
New research shows that degraded savanna ecosystems can reap lasting benefits from a single seeding of native understory plants. Once a diverse understory of savanna plants became established, its long-term persistence was relatively unaffected by environmental factors — with one exception. Higher temperatures during the height of the growing season were associated with poorer long-term survival among some species, indicating one threat posed by a warming climate.
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