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Date: 24 March 2023 at 8:58:18 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Mar 24
“Criminally irresponsible:” Report finds methane bomb buried in Safeguard design
Report says methane emissions from fossil fuel facilities will make up about 70% of total emissions budget covered under Safeguard Mechanism, raising new questions over its integrity.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
National Tree Planting Day – Uganda
Climate Change
X
Why aren’t we panicking about the IPCC report? [$]
Jenna Price
I have some excellent environmental news for you all!
National
The federal government is facing calls to use the upcoming budget to kickstart efforts to electrify Australian households and wean them off gas to help fight global warming.
Senators to examine plan to build 3,300km rail line between WA, Queensland’s iron and coal
A man’s dream to connect the iron ore and coal fields of the Pilbara in the west and the Bowen Basin in the east is being scrutinised by a Senate committee this week.
Labor and Greens could agree to compromise on non-fossil fuel industries in safeguard mechanism
Greens in internal negotiations over backing down on demand for ban on new coal and gas projects in Labor’s climate policy
Get tough on Labor climate bill, Brown urges Greens
The Coalition has not yet accepted an invitation to the negotiating table as talks between the government and Senate crossbench continue over a plan to make big polluters reduce their carbon emissions.
Greens stall until state poll is done [$]
The Greens are expected to hold off declaring their position on Anthony Albanese’s signature climate change policy until after Saturday’s NSW election.
Complaint filed against Etihad Airways for alleged climate greenwashing
An ACCC complaint has been lodged against Etihad Airways after the airline displayed allegedly greenwashed advertisements during a 2022 soccer match.
Greens attack Albanese government’s ‘deeply unsettling’ secrecy on submarine nuclear waste plans
Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council also warned against cloak of national security to ‘mask inadequate radiation safety protection’
Want an easy $400 a year? Ditch the gas heater in your home for an electric split system
Rachel Goldlust
Earlier this month, regulators flagged electricity price rises in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Like many people, you’re probably wondering how you can minimise the financial pain.
Four steps to resolve the Labor‐Greens safeguard standoff and close loopholes
Tristan Edis
As important as the Safeguard Mechanism is, the reality is Labor’s bill doesn’t yet properly deliver on its climate commitments. Here’s how to fix that.
The cost of Green-left purity is too high [$]
AFR editorial
The Greens must put pragmatism before ideology to pass the safeguard mechanism or risk another 2010-style dead end.
Victoria
Melbourne zoo welcomes birth of 60kg calf from threatened rhino subspecies
A Victorian zoo welcomes its first southern white rhino calf in a decade, as conservationists around the world consider next steps for the species.
Victoria’s largest gas producer is warning its supplies are rapidly decreasing
Gas giant ExxonMobil says the number of wells it operates in the Bass Strait could close to halve in the next eighteen months. But an expert says gas shortages can be avoided with the right policies.
How a forgotten tip was transformed into a national asset … and then ‘forgotten’ again
At the end of an unsealed road in a remote corner of south-west Victoria stands one of Australia’s most diverse native landscapes. But the arboretum’s volunteers fear that the stretch of forest is forgotten to all but those who live near its border.
Healthcare provider at centre of coronial inquest will still operate at Victoria’s largest prison [$]
Denham Sadler
The company will continue to provide healthcare services to more than 1000 incarcerated people, despite critical findings of the state coroner.
New South Wales
Researcher ‘quite alarmed’ by ‘unrecognised’ fracturing under Sydney drinking water catchment
There are calls to halt operations at a mine south of Sydney after a hydrogeologist’s study highlights the potential risk to water quality.
Endangered regent honeyeater spotted in Hunter Valley backyard
The small native bird, one of an estimated 300 left in the wild, has surfaced after being released as part of a breeding program.
Residents of a small NSW town are living on bottled water, with their taps regularly emitting brown, foul-smelling liquid. The council says it has been a problem for decades, but it will take three more years to fix.
Broken equipment adds to the mystery of mass fish deaths
The events leading up to the Menindee fish kill are unclear as equipment had been rendered unreliable for 40 days by last year’s floods.
NSW Coalition and Labor say closure of Australia’s largest coal generator may be delayed
The coal plant Origin has seen fit to close seven years early has become a hot topic in the NSW election campaign, casting a pall over the state’s renewables leadership.
Low Energy: Coalition and Labor neck and neck on coal and gas policy as NSW Election looms
Callum Foote
Few substantial differences set the Coalition and Labor apart on fossil fuels and climate. Both parties support new coal and gas projects despite dire warnings from the IPCC.
Sydney transport: formidable task ahead for NSW Labor?
John Austen
In NSW, Labor is favoured to end the Coalition’s 12 years in office at the forthcoming election. If it wins it faces a formidable task.
ACT
‘Their health is being affected’: Wood heater ban call comes amid rise in popularity
ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment Sophie Lewis recommends wood heater ban to improve health outcomes
Queensland
Nats call for nuclear subs to be based in central Qld
Matt Canavan, Colin Boyce and Michelle Landry say Gladstone should be Australia’s new submarine base because of its northern location.
Revealed: Climate change’s dire consequences for Queensland [$]
The fate of the Great Barrier Reef and wider Queensland has been revealed in the latest report by the Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change.
Queensland gets ready for a grid without coal
Powerlink CEO explains how the Australian state with the biggest dependence on coal is getting ready to have no coal power at all in little more than a decade.
South Australia
Footage of hunters apparently delaying death of wounded ducks released ahead of ban inquiry
The RSPCA releases footage showing ducks being shot but not immediately killed by hunters in South Australia’s South East ahead of a parliamentary inquiry into the sport.
Barn owls join fight against Kangaroo Island pests
Barn owls are being recruited for a pilot project on Kangaroo Island to eradicate up to 5000 feral cats feeding on local wildlife and spreading disease to livestock.
Nuclear subs waste deal should sink Kimba plan [$]
Craig Wilkins
Australia’s agreement to store weapons-grade nuclear waste on Defence land as part of the AUKUS submarines deal should leave the current federal push for a waste facility on Eyre Peninsula dead in the water.
Tasmania
$3bn project a game changer for jobs and green energy [$]
The new boss of Marinus Link has launched a spirited defence of the massive project, saying it will deliver cheaper power to everyday Australians, drastically reduce carbon emissions and create ample employment and investment in local communities.
Hydro pumped for ‘Battery’ plan [$]
Hydro Tasmania says it is ready to progress plans for the state’s first pumped hydro scheme, with the 750MW project set to enable power generation at “almost the flick of a switch”.
The Great Southern Reef is in more trouble than the Great Barrier Reef
Graham Edgar
Marine heatwaves are damaging reef ecosystems around Australia, but while the tropical north has received the lion’s share of the attention to date, we equally need to worry about the temperate south.
BHP to pilot green smelting furnace using electricity, hydrogen and Pilbara iron ore
BHP partners with Hatch to co-design an electric smelting furnace pilot plant, technology that could slash steelmaking emissions by more than 80%.
The race to green is off and running at Fortescue [$]
Jennifer Hewett
Mark Hutchinson is under urgent pressure to prove Andrew Forrest’s grand ambitions for a green transformation can work in practice.
Sustainability
UN summit gets underway as water demand in cities set to rise by 80 per cent by 2050
World leaders are attending the first United Nations conference on universal clean water and sanitation in 46 years. About 2 billion people – 26 per cent of the global population – do not have safe drinking water.
Brazil: Ratify regional environment pact
The Brazilian government should submit the Escazu Agreement to the National Congress and rally legislators to approve it, more than 140 Brazilian and international organizations said today in an open letter to Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
Wind farm noise not harmful to health: New study finds no evidence of wind turbine syndrome
Scientists show “conclusively” that wind turbine infrasound doesn’t make you dizzy, nauseous, disrupt sleep or cause any “wind turbine syndrome” symptoms.
Cost of India quitting coal is $900 billion, think tank says
If India stopped burning coal tomorrow, over five million people would lose their jobs. But for a price tag of around $900 billion over the next 30 years, the country can make sure nobody is left behind in the huge move to clean energy to curb human-caused climate change.
Is decarbonizing the shipping industry an achievable goal?
A recent article in Financial Times had some bad news for the fight against climate change – the goals set by the Paris Climate Accord seem increasingly unachievable. The good news is that there are still changes that can help.
This giant truck shows clean steel is possible. So when will the US start producing it?
New federal incentives for producing hydrogen are an opportunity to build steel plants that have much lower emissions.
Why bioplastics won’t solve our plastic problems
Elsa Dominish et al
Last month, Victoria banned plastic straws, crockery and polystyrene containers, following similar bans in South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and the ACT. All states and territories in Australia have now banned lightweight single-use plastic bags.
The radioactive legacy of U.S.-led war in Iraq
Helen Caldicott
An increasing number of birth defects have been reported in Iraq following the U.S. detonation of radioactive weapons near homes and schools during the 2003 invasion.
Nature Conservation
A recent expedition in the “remote and hostile” waters of Antarctica is shedding more light on how the “signs of climate change” will shape future generations of whales.
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