Post of the Day
Toxins hidden in plastics are the industry’s dirty secret – recycling is not the answer
Charlotte Lloyd
We need to know more about what goes into plastics in the first place and better regulation of how recycled products are used
On This Day
Buddha’s Birthday – East Asia
Shavuot – Judaism
Climate Change
Global solar power investment set to overtake oil spending for the first time
The IEA’s investment report shows annual investment into solar energy is expected to overtake oil production in 2023.
Brutal heat across Asia prompts warnings from climatologists of what’s to come
There are fresh warnings about the soaring heat across south and south-east Asia as a UN report warns global temperatures are very likely to hit records in the next five years.
3 ways Minnesota is crushing it on climate action
The Midwestern state has passed a barrage of policies in recent days and months meant to cut carbon emissions from the state’s buildings, cars and electricity system.
Antarctic alarm bells: observations reveal deep ocean currents are slowing earlier than predicted
Kathy Gunn et al
Antarctica sets the stage for the world’s greatest waterfall. The action takes place beneath the surface of the ocean. Here, trillions of tonnes of cold, dense, oxygen-rich water cascade off the continental shelf and sink to great depths. This Antarctic “bottom water” then spreads north along the sea floor in deep ocean currents, before slowly rising, thousands of kilometres away.
National
Why price hikes are masking an energy divide that threatens to leave poor Australians behind
Headline price increases of 25 per cent barely tell the story of struggling households at risk of falling behind in the energy transition.
Australia’s electric car push moves into high gear
Half of all new car sales in Australia should be electric by 2030 and the government should limit pollution from new petrol and diesel cars next year, says a new transport campaign.
Labor can’t count on Greens support for petroleum resource rent tax, warns Adam Bandt
Party leader says the reform is ‘weak’ and ‘not worth the napkin it was written on’, accusing government of bending to gas lobby
Dutton’s gas play to deal out ‘crazy’ Greens [$]
The Opposition Leader says he’ll ‘engage constructively’ with Labor and work closely with industry on the proposed $2.4bn gas tax hike.
Dutton warns of power bill shock [$]
Peter Dutton warns the threat of energy disruption was increasing ‘every day’ and pushed the government to examine nuclear energy.
Roadmap released to smooth connections for wind and solar, and to add batteries
Reform Roadmap flags several significant advances towards a smoother, less costly and delay-free grid connection process for renewables.
Regulator confirms another coal and gas fuelled power price hike. But why?
Sophie Vorrath
Regulator flags power price hikes across the main grid, but experts question why prices are still being determined by frameworks first designed decades ago.
Australia’s ‘first carbon-neutral telco’: do Telstra’s environmental claims about Belong stack up?
Graham Readfearn
Carbon neutrality of low-cost telco Belong relies almost solely on buying overseas offsets, and how an Institute of Public Affairs fellow misread the Great Barrier Reef
Fact check: Minister caught out in hysterical anti-nuclear screed
Matt Canavan
The federal energy minister is on the wrong side of the generational divide on nuclear power as a future option.
Why is ‘free’ power so costly? [$]
Terry McCrann
Australia’s rising electricity prices have exposed ‘free’ wind and solar as a costly illusion.
Electricity prices are rising again. Here’s how to ensure renters can cash-in on rooftop solar
Bjorn Sturmberg et al
Consumers struggling with cost-of-living pressures were dealt another blow on Thursday, when the Australian Energy Regulator confirmed energy price hikes of up to 25% from July.
Grid has untapped capacity that could be used by renewables. But networks can’t see it
Jack Curtis
Sourcing existing yet untapped capacity will help solve our overarching goals of providing cleaner, quicker and more cost-effective electricity to consumers.
Victoria
Power bills are so high Victorians can’t afford to cook, welfare group says
A social welfare organisation says by the end of the month it will have served 1,000 more meals than it did at this time last year, and that younger people and women are among those presenting for the first time.
Timber town workers ‘in tears’ as Victorian government deals final blow
Victoria’s decision to bring forward the end of native timber harvesting was meant to bring certainty, but it has not eased the pain in timber communities.
Behind the scenes of the CBD’s biggest underground project
Eight years. Four gigantic tunnel boring machines. Five new train stations. Step below the city streets and meet the people building the Metro Tunnel as part of our Underground Melbourne series.
Charges after Melbourne climate protest [$]
Six Extinction Rebellion protesters who brought city traffic to a standstill are facing charges – but the activists are already planning more disruptions.
Victoria faces timber supply crisis after logging exit, industry warns [$]
Victoria will struggle to source enough timber to build the homes it needs to after the government brought forward the end to native timber harvesting, industry groups warn.
The latest environment news has left koalas in shock! – cartoon
Fiona Katauskas
New South Wales
$22 million settlement for PFAS contamination in Wreck Bay Aboriginal community
The federal government has reached a $22 million settlement over PFAS contamination relating to the community’s ability to live on or conduct cultural activities on its land.
NSW now has roadmap to close coal by 2030. But will Labor run with it?
Giles Parkinson
NSW now has a roadmap to exit coal by the end of the decade. But it requires a commitment from the state government. Will Labor run with it?
ACT
Orroral Valley to reopen after extended closure
Orroral Valley in Namadgi will reopen this weekend, more than three years since bushfires and floods destroyed infrastructure providing access to that part of the park.
Queensland
Queensland forensic lab boss sacked six months after damaging inquiry findings
The inquiry found Cathie Allen lied to her immediate supervisor and senior police about the work of the lab, which is the key point of testing DNA for criminal cases.
Queensland drives electric car-charging highway further
Queensland will almost double the size of its “electric super highway” with a $20 million investment to deliver electric vehicle chargers to more than 30 regional towns.
Tasmania
Tasmanian devil habitat latest hurdle for planned wind farm
The proponent of a contentious wind farm on a Tasmanian island has been asked to come up with a plan to compensate for the loss of hundreds of hectares of Tasmanian devil habitat.
Media release – Bob Brown Foundation
Environmentalist Bob Brown says that his 2016 call for culling of deer in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and the campaign by Christine Milne and the Invasive Species Council has been justified by this year’s cull which removed 711 deer from the area
Western Australia
Renewed calls to protect unique WA wetlands on Rio Tinto salt mine lease
The Indian Ocean travels underground and reappears 17 kilometres inland at the Northern Ponds at Lake Macleod, with the ponds having so far been overlooked as a site of significance.
Sustainability
Operators of the Fukushima nuclear power plant are set to release treated wastewater into the ocean in coming months. But already Japanese authorities are facing a barrage of criticism from fishermen in the Fukushima prefecture, South Korea, China, and across the Pacific Islands over the proposal.
Global hydrogen industry booms – at least on the drawing board [$]
The hydrogen industry’s ambitions continue to grow rapidly, but the funding to makes the dreams a reality is lagging, UBS says.
Nature Conservation
Thousands of unidentified deep-sea species found in part of Pacific Ocean earmarked for mining
Scientists calculate there are thousands of unidentified species living on the ocean floor between Hawaii and Mexico where deep-sea mining for critical minerals needed to build batteries is set to begin next year.
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