Post of the Day
Rachel Withers
The right to peaceful protest is important – no ifs, no buts
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
The Guardian view on Labour’s green plans: just stop oil to save the planet
Sir Keir Starmer is right to say no to new hydrocarbon extraction from the North Sea
Let’s not declare war on climate change
Brett Buzzanga
We can choose to live with it or fight against it, but it would serve us well to remember what Rachel Carson told us 60 years ago: “We are a part of nature, and our war against nature is inevitably a war against ourselves.”
National
Air in child care heavy with plastic pollution
The air inside Australian homes and offices is loaded with microplastic pollution but childcare centres are the worst of all, a new study suggests.
Carbon capture and the battle to get to scale [$]
Ben Potter
Beyond the gas sector, heavy industry isn’t rushing to develop carbon capture and storage projects in Australia.
Margaret Young and Georgina Clough
A free trade agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom begins on Wednesday. When it was announced in 2021, then-prime ministers Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison cheerily exchanged packets of chocolate biscuits. Meanwhile, one British newspaper celebrated the prospect of cheaper steaks.
A wilderness of smoke and mirrors: why there is no climate hope [$]
Maeve McGregor
If we all stopped pretending, perhaps we’d be able to give young people the only semblance of optimism left.
Can Australia overcome its lithium conundrum? [$]
Michael Sainsbury
With almost half the world’s lithium deposits sitting under our feet, the government wants Australia to be a bigger player in the battery game.
Victoria
Contentious power plan’s new route needed to ‘keep the lights on’, council says
Farmers claim they found out via social media that new powerlines could be built across their properties, as a regional Victorian council supports the state government’s latest plan.
What should happen to native forests when logging ends? Ask Victoria’s First People
Jack Pascoe
The end of native forest logging in Victoria announced last week was met with joy from conservationists and shock from timber industry workers.
New South Wales
Three Northern Rivers schools to relocate from flood-prone sites
The commission’s report says community wellbeing and being unable to get insurance spurred its decision to relocate three Catholic schools.
High levels of metals like lead, nickel and selenium were found in the blood and water of residents living near a NSW mine, prompting a deadline to reduce pollution.
The NSW productivity commissioner wants Sydneysiders to get used to living in apartments, and has called for increased density in the inner city.
Reign of the car must end if road toll is to be reduced [$]
SMH editorial
Australians enthusiastically continue to buy more new vehicles and build new freeways and tunnels but the stubborn road toll demands a change in thinking.
Queensland
‘Huge relief’ as osprey pair accepts man-made home, perched ’25m in the air’
A daring treetop mission has seen the years-long nesting site of a pair of eastern ospreys rebuilt on the Sunshine Coast after it was badly damaged during storm.
‘It will be fantastic’: New council plan to secure riverside parklands in South Brisbane
Any future residential developments on several industrial sites in South Brisbane would have to give back parklands to the council under a new proposal for the area.
Wholesale power prices expected to rise with Queensland power station repair delay
A fire at Callide Power Station, near Biloela, in May 2021 triggered mass blackouts across the state.
Island fire on ‘sensitive’ Great Barrier Reef marine plain deliberately lit, rangers say
Rangers are continuing to battle what they believe is a suspicious fire in an area that is a crucial habitat for threatened species.
Australia’s first plastic credits scheme targets banana industry waste
The banana industry has welcomed a scheme that sees farmers earn credits for responsible waste disposal.
After the political storm the tiny bird that almost stopped Adani is ‘thriving’
The tiny bird that almost scuttled Adani’s (Bravus) notorious mine in central Queensland and became an emblem for the anti-coal fight appears to be “thriving”, according to the company.
South Australia
SA protest law change slammed by MP as the ‘worst move ever’ by a Labor premier
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered below South Australian parliament’s upper house this morning to voice opposition to changes to the state’s protest laws.
River regions given a new lease of life as floodwaters rejuvenate parched landscapes
Two months after Murray floodwaters receded along the river’s South Australian reaches, nature is thriving in their wake — and that’s music to the ears of conservationists in the region.
Tasmania
Their fight made history, but these environmental activists say their tactics wouldn’t work today
Activists involved in the protest that saved the Franklin River say the environmental win would not have been possible under today’s anti-protest laws.
Revealed: Council’s land sell-off to tackle the housing crisis [$]
A Tasmanian council is looking to offload several parcels of land it owns to tackle the housing crisis — but one has attracted criticism from families who use the green space.
Salmon heavyweight’s advice for Tasmanian companies [$]
A key player in the state’s salmon success hopes to make another Tasmanian company a global superstar as he reveals details around the sale of Tassal. Why he says Tassie has wasted potential
Greens’ plan to transform Tassie wilderness into Dark Sky Sanctuary [$]
A proposal to turn the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area into a beacon for ‘astro-tourism’ as well as a Clean Air Package to reduce the spread of Covid will be unveiled by the Greens in state parliament today.
Western Australia
Alcoa’s junior partner backs environmental record in WA
The Australian company that owns 40 per cent of Alcoa’s WA operation has defended its mining against claims it threatens Perth’s water supply and the jarrah forest.
Sustainability
‘An egregious act’: debt ceiling deal imperils the environment, critics say
The agreement will fast-track the Mountain Valley pipeline, and limit the scope of environmental reviews for future developments
Zap to it: Electric cars could dominate sales by 2030, study finds
Electric vehicles could make up at least half of all cars sold in 2030, even without financial incentives, a new study has found.
The little-known, massive advantage that renewables hold over coal
There are many good reasons to burn less coal: It’s polluting, expensive, damaging to human health, and emits more carbon pollution than any other form of electricity. But an oft-overlooked factor is that burning fuel to generate electricity is astonishingly inefficient.
Cities are becoming more like sponges
Water management that prizes lakes and greenery over concrete makes for less flood-prone cities — and prettier ones, too.
How harmful are gas stove pollutants, really?
Scientists are lugging sophisticated sensors into homes in 10 cities to measure and track the pollution from gas stoves as it drifts from room to room.
Curbside recycling is a surprisingly good climate investment
Many towns and cities in the U.S. have halted or scaled back their curbside recycling programs in an effort to reduce costs. But this is a misguided approach when it comes to fighting climate change, according to a new study.
Rural electricity is getting its biggest boost since FDR — here’s how
Jeff St. John
The Inflation Reduction Act earmarked $10.7B to make rural energy cleaner and more affordable. Now we have the details on how exactly the program will work.
Humpback whales face a risky future — but if they’re safe the planet’s safer too [$]
Sue Arnold
Climate change poses a major threat to these giants of the sea in their breeding grounds and in their migration pathways.
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