Date: 22 April 2023 at 8:28:54 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Apr 22
Post of the Day
When climate despair spills over into righteous violence, can that ever be right?
Natasha Walter
The film How to Blow Up a Pipeline makes a case for using sabotage, but hope remains that we can build rather than destroy
On This Day
Eid al-Fitr – Islam
Ecological Observance
Earth Day and International Mother Earth Day
Climate Change
Greenland sees an ‘unprecedented rate of ice loss’ in modern times
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing more than three times as much ice a year as they were 30 years ago, according to a new, comprehensive international study.
Climate diplomacy is hopeless, says author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Andreas Malm says he has no hope in ‘dominant classes’, and urges more radical approach to climate activism
It’s Earth Day. Let the climate games begin.
A board game challenges players to decarbonize New York City, and energy experts are paying attention.
Earth change: The next big thing
Anthony Robledo IV
While there still continues to be a discussion on climate change causation — human activities vs. natural shifts in temperature, precipitation and weather patterns, there is yet another major environmental phenomena that is lurking around the corner that will severely impact all of us — earth change. Earth change is defined as any natural movement of the earth, for example, earthquakes, volcanoes, mudslides and sinkholes.
When climate despair spills over into righteous violence, can that ever be right?
Natasha Walter
The film How to Blow Up a Pipeline makes a case for using sabotage, but hope remains that we can build rather than destroy
Are you a good parent? OK, so what are you doing to protect your child from climate collapse?
Elizabeth Cripps
An important part of parenting is securing children’s future. Too many of us are reading bedtime stories in a house that’s burning down
Most people already think climate change is ‘here and now’, despite what we’ve been told
Ben Newell
The idea that climate change is perceived as “psychologically distant” – happening in the future, in distant places, to other people or animals – has long been presented as a major barrier to action on climate change.
Climate change’s unexpected impact on small talk – cartoon
Fiona Katauskas
National
Crackdown on faking clean energy credentials
Australia will work to secure more investment in clean energy by making sure claims made by businesses about clean energy projects stack up.
Labor promises to ‘grab this opportunity’ to become renewable energy superpower
‘To see this at the heart of government planning is an overwhelming relief,’ Energy Council says, while investors warn of impact from US energy package
Australia to launch sovereign green bond next year [$]
The bond will allow big investors such as superannuation funds and banks to finance public projects aimed at getting Australia to net zero, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says.
Which solar panels are safe? Here’s how to make sure yours don’t explode
Anthony Parisi had no idea his solar panels could cause an explosion that put his home at risk. Here’s why experts say maintenance inspections are important.
Sims to lead Superpower info war – Energy Insiders podcast:
Former competition czar Rod Sims emerges as chair of Superpower Institute, promoting Australia’s low cost green energy opportunity, and fighting the info war.
Scott Dwyer
Australia has long had a love affair with the internal combustion engine. Its first petrol-powered car was developed in 1901. (Admittedly, the engine was imported from Germany.)
Australia’s thermal coal outlook faces “fragile” global demand
Andrew Gorringe & Simon Nicholas
Global thermal coal trade is beyond its peak. So why does Australia expect to gain an increasing share in a declining market?
Australia needs a Future Generations Act after final IPCC report findings [$]
Susan Harris Rimmer
How old should I be when I get arrested for climate protesting? I’ll tell you why this is on my mind, with the alarm bell of the final IPCC report clanging in my ears.
When housing is out of the reach or ordinary people, everyone loses
Jim Bright
It is all very well to say workers can live on the periphery of cities in cheaper accommodation, or let them endure two or more hour commutes from outer regions, but this is not sustainable.
Labor’s election promises belong on the shopping channel [$]
Vikki Campion
The federal government’s EV policy is big on gloss, low on details, and pitched to dupe the customer on the fine print. It also fails to handle fire risks that experts warn of.
Govt hires Clayton Utz to fight Rex Patrick, keep gas solution secret
Rex Patrick
A Morrison government report into the obvious solution to the gas crisis – a domestic gas reservation policy – is being hidden by Energy Minister Madeleine King’s Energy Department. Rex Patrick has sought access to the document but now the government has hired big-charging law firm Clayton Utz to fight him.
Electric vehicles policy stuck in low gear [$]
Mike Seccombe
Australia’s new electric vehicle policy, released this week, still hasn’t set fuel efficiency standards. While further consultation may suit the car industry, the delay risks putting the country’s net-zero goal out of reach.
Victoria
At 22, Eric discovered an ‘extinct’ possum. It lived in his pocket
The man who rediscovered Victoria’s faunal emblem, the Leadbeater’s possum, 60 years ago now fears he may live to see it go extinct for real.
Here’s where we can house 2 million more people in Melbourne
Nicholas Reece
Melbourne’s population is surging and we need more homes. In the world’s most liveable city, we can surely do better than: ‘Welcome, I hope you packed a tent.’
New South Wales
Fallen bison left to rot among thinning herd at former ‘thriving’ tourist attraction, witnesses say
Three sources tell the ABC they contacted the RSPCA after observing the condition of bison at a disused farm in NSW. The surviving animals have been removed from the property, but their location remains a mystery.
‘Significant moment’: First driverless metro train travels under Sydney Harbour
Early on Friday morning, 40 metres below ground, a driverless metro train travelled under Sydney Harbour for its first successful test run.
Plans to secure North Coast NSW drinking water supply using bores open to public
A NSW water supplier outlines a decade-long plan to establish a new water source, but there are concerns about more than just the financial cost as the community is warned to prepare for some “difficult choices”.
After five years, Greg and others affected by the ‘forever chemical’ are still waiting for answers
Greg Semple believes the toxic chemicals from a nearby Royal Australian Air Force base are behind the total collapse of his hatchery, but he still hasn’t received any word about whether he will be compensated.
The woman with four of the state’s most important portfolios
New environment minister Penny Sharpe has spent almost 20 years in politics. Now she’s stepped into the biggest role of her life.
ACT
Powerful first-quarter surge in ACT electric vehicle sales [$]
One in four new vehicles sold in Canberra this year were battery electric, with the ACT recording the fastest acceleration of zero emission sales per capita in the country this year.
Queensland
Queensland doubles rebate for electric vehicle buyers as uptake surges nearly 80 per cent
Queensland drivers can now receive a $6,000 rebate when they purchase certain electric vehicles.
Following the Labor government’s announcement this week of a new allocation of funds to combat water contamination, worth $150 million, here’s a look back at the Turnbull government’s controversial funding decision five years ago that caught so many by surprise.
South Australia
Farmer Ross has spent years guarding buried treasure, millions of years old
Etched into rock at a dusty cattle station in outback South Australia is the richest collection of Ediacaran fossils in the world. Now, the site will be open to tourists for the first time.
Northern Territory
Environmentalists, native title holders lose long-running court battle over mine rehabilitation bond
The NT Supreme Court has dismissed an application against a decision by the territory mining minister to slash the McArthur River Mine’s rehabilitation bond.
Cattle company loses Supreme Court bid to stop fracking exploration on their property
A gas company will be able to continue exploration in the Beetaloo Basin after a cattle company’s appeal to stop the activity was dismissed by the Northern Territory Supreme Court.
Indigenous Greens senator clarifies threat to pull Voice support over controversial WA project
Dorinda Cox, the Greens Indigenous Australians spokesperson, initially warned she would “seriously consider” support for the Voice but now maintains she is prepared to fully back it
Sustainability
They cleaned up BP’s massive oil spill. Now they’re sick – and want justice
Thirteen years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, documents shed light on the company’s response and ‘scorched earth’ legal tactics.
Years of breathing traffic pollution increases death rates, study finds
International review establishes strong connections between polluted air and mortality
How long you can use your vintage Tupperware and other plastic food storage products
Since Tupperware, the iconic kitchen brand that’s been a household name for decades, signaled recently that it might be going out of business, you might be wondering how long your stash of its food storage containers is safe to use — especially if it’s vintage.
Using a local workspace instead of the office could cut emissions 90%
A new report looked at different scenarios for work, and found that close-to-home spaces had a much smaller carbon footprint.
PFAS linked to weight gain: Study
Frustrated that the pounds keep flooding back after losing weight on a diet?
‘There’s a lot of posturing’: Europe’s nuclear divide grows as one plant opens and three close
Europe’s first new plant in 16 years comes on stream in Finland day after Germany pulls plug on last reactors
Rain gardens are a concrete solution
Small but mighty, these mini ecosystems can help cities mitigate heavy rainfall and polluting runoff, savings streams and creeks.
As a tool in a strategy to electrify everything in our homes, heat pumps are a key part of fighting climate change.
For Earth Day, here’s what the United States could look like in 2050
Climate news can seem dire with little hope for a better world. Talk to climate scientists, engineers and researchers, however, and they see a different future – a positive one that’s well within our reach.
Trading off the harms: is Pacific deep sea mining key to a green future? – podcast
The race for critical minerals to power a green energy transition has led resource companies to the sea floor. Large deposits in the Pacific Ocean mean it could be the site of the next big mining boom. But scientists say mining the deep sea could have a catastrophic global impact on the environment.
Mark O’Connell
Maybe this has been our fate all along, to achieve final communion with our own garbage.
The present risks to life on earth
Andrew Glikson
“The splitting of the atom has changed everything, bar man’s way of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophes” – Albert Einstein
Nature Conservation
Lions have not been seen in the area since 2004, but a remote camera has now managed to capture a lioness “in her prime”.
Race for critical minerals has led resource companies to the depths of the Pacific Ocean – video
Resource companies and island nations are scouring the deep sea for metals that could power electric cars. The Cook Islands Government believes deep-sea mining could contribute to the fight against climate change and end the country’s economic dependence on tourism. But environmentalists say extracting minerals from 5000 metres beneath the ocean’s surface could be catastrophic for fragile marine ecosystems the scientific world knows little about.
Costa Rica restored its ravaged land to health. The rich UK has no excuse for such complete failure
George Monbiot
Why does a wealthy, powerful nation struggle so badly while a small, much poorer one succeeds?
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