Daily Links Mar 17

Between the idea and the reality … falls the shadow. Keating might regret (if he ever regrets, that is) the personal slur on Penny Wong, he will never regret asking the questions that must be answered re the increasingly awkward AUKUS. And here’s another, way down the list from the geopolitics, but one based in the reality; what do we do with the waste?

From: Maelor Himbury <maelor@melbpc.org.au&gt;
Date: 17 March 2023 at 8:55:10 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Mar 17

Post of the Day

There is no “gas shortage,” just a shortage of ethics and integrity from the gas cartel

Tim Buckley

We know the solution to the energy crisis, and it is not to pander to demands from the war-profiteering gas cartel to create new supply.

 

On This Day

March 17

Saint Patrick’s Day – Christianity

 

Climate Change

Bangladeshi fishers and farmers at the frontline of climate change

Bangladeshis say fossil fuel projects are compounding climate-fueled devastation faced by hundreds of thousands of people, including families of fisher folk and farmers, who have lost their livelihoods due to the construction of a huge coal power plant.

 

Russell Brand is the latest to platform climate conservative Bjørn Lomborg’s ‘reckless’ net-zero cost claims

Graham Readfearn

The Danish commentator has been accused of continuing to misrepresent findings about the costs of cutting emissions, despite pleas from scientists

 

National

Seaweed trials to slash methane from cow burps win federal funding

Three research projects aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock will receive between $1 million and $3 million each in federal government funding.

 

Premiers trade barbs across borders over who should host AUKUS nuclear waste

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the nuclear waste from the AUKUS submarines should be stored in SA or WA, “where all the jobs are going”. But WA’s premier has made it clear the waste was not welcome in his state, and says SA should take it on. 

 

Shop around and turn off appliances: ways to beat Australia’s energy price hikes

Looking for the best deal and saving energy around the home can help keep power bills under control

 

Oyster mushrooms expected to break down toxins and microplastics in cigarette butts in Australian trial

Up to 1.2m butts to be diverted from landfill to a laboratory where scientists will work to transform the byproduct into a polystyrene replacement


Fossil grid smashed by year of weather extremes, as renewables look smarter than ever

Rachel Williamson

By speeding up the shift to distributed solar and wind, networks can protect against major outages caused by future “inland tsunamis” and record heatwaves.

 

Victoria

Dogfight over off-leash park in Melbourne’s west as union threatens to down tools on $60m stadium plan

Residents in Melbourne’s inner west are clashing over a $60 million redevelopment that would see a basketball stadium built over part of a local dog park.

 

Precious Aboriginal site allegedly trampled by feral horses after flood hay drops

Traditional owners and environmental groups allege the decision feed feral horses during flooding in Victoria led to a sacred site being damaged.

 

The fox and the puggle: An Australian tragedy in five parts

A camera deployed by a Landcare volunteer has captured what looks to be the brief life and bloody death of a baby echidna by an invasive predator.

 

New South Wales

Too late to leave as out-of-control fire threatens properties in NSW Southern Tablelands

A fire in the Central West has reached emergency level during a day of extreme fire danger, with the focus on protecting lives and properties.

 

‘Ecological threat’ closes 70 per cent of world-heritage-listed Lord Howe Island

The majority of land on Lord Howe Island has been temporarily closed to all non-essential visitors due to the escalating risk of the highly transferable myrtle rust. 

 

‘Leave the mines alone’: Voters fear coal-less future [$]

Upper Hunter residents are divided on who will get their vote in the NSW election but are united in one key issue saying loud and clear “leave our mines alone”.


Australia’s biggest solar farm powers up to help replace New South Wales coal

The first stage of what will be the biggest solar farm in Australia – at least for the time being – has been officially opened near Uralla in NSW.

 

Beyond saving the koala: environmental challenges that will confront the next NSW government

Adam Morton and Lisa Cox

From protecting threatened species to backing coal developments, crucial decisions lie ahead for whoever wins the election

 

ACT

Disease to control wild rabbits infecting pets, RSPCA ACT warns

The virus can be transmitted via mosquitoes.

 

Queensland

Queensland parliament has passed tough new laws targeting young offenders. This is what’s changing

Parliament passed the changes despite the Greens arguing the legislation is “disgraceful” and criticism from advocates and the state’s peak legal bodies.

 

Native Title cuts Qld beach off from locals [$]

A small strip of land in a sleepy Queensland beachside community has ignited debate over native title and residents’ access to a public beach.


Huge gigawatt scale solar and big battery project seeks approval in gas heartland

Developer seeks approval to build a huge solar farm and big battery in southern Queensland’s CSG heartland, opposite a black coal power plant.

 

South Australia

Bat-linked blackouts on the rise as SA flying fox colony expands

SA Power Networks says dozens of blackouts last year linked to Adelaide’s growing bat colony left more than 100,000 homes and businesses in the dark, and is warning of further power cuts in coming weeks.

 

SA’s nuclear NIMBY nongs can’t avoid reality now [$]

Caleb Bond

There is no better place for nuclear waste than South Australia. But why stop there.


Tasmania

‘I’ll bash you, you old dog’: Teen detainee threatened Banksia Hill guard before alleged assault, court hears

A Banksia Hill officer accused of using excessive force when dealing with a teenage inmate who admitted using threatening language against him, goes on trial. 

 

Tasmanian devils slash population of brushtail possums that ‘overwhelmed’ tiny island

Possums on Maria Island expanded beyond usual habitat and had become ‘pretty significant predator’

 

Northern Territory

How much is a crocodile egg worth? These Indigenous rangers know exactly

Indigenous rangers in the Northern Territory are earning more for saltwater crocodile eggs this year, as a ban on a common method for egg collection tightens supply.

 

Western Australia

WA’s former top cop to manage growing plague of ‘flying cane toads’

As corella populations reach “plague proportions” in WA towns, the state’s former police commissioner Karl O’Callaghan has been tasked with managing the birds.

 

‘Send it to Woomera’: McGowan cold on nuclear waste being stored in WA

The premier’s comments add to the growing headache the Albanese government faces over what to do with the spent nuclear reactors from the AUKUS deal submarines.

 

Murujuga’s rock art, heritage and culture must be protected

Stephen van Leeuwen

In the case of Murujuga —the rock art-rich Burrup Peninsula and nearby Dampier Archipelago in northern Western Australia — you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who does not want Murujuga’s million-plus petroglyphs protected for future generations.

 

Sustainability

Ukrainian scientist fights in Fukushima to help his country

Thousands of kilometers from the war’s front lines in his home country, Ukrainian Mark Zheleznyak is waging his own private battle here to do his part. The scientist forecasts areas likely to be contaminated if radiation escapes from the embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, one of Europe’s largest nuclear facilities.

 

PFAS for dinner? Study of ‘forever chemicals’ build-up in cattle points to ways to reduce risks

Antti Mikkonen and Mark Patrick Taylor

PFAS, known as “forever chemicals”, have been found just about everywhere on Earth, including in toilet paper.

 

Nature Conservation

What happened to The Ocean Cleanup — the system that would rid the oceans of plastic?

The Ocean Cleanup, brainchild of young Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat, was feted as the beginning of the end for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Ten years from its inception, is it any closer to achieving its goal?

 

Sunflower sea stars threatened, NOAA says

In Washington state, there are 33 endangered species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and more than 7,000 around the world. Now, a starfish that lives along the Washington coast could be added to the list.

 



Maelor Himbury
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