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Date: 21 July 2023 at 8:57:32 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Fwd: Daily Links Jul 21
Post of the Day
Government’s Climate Active program should be probed for potential greenwashing, Allan Fels says
Former ACCC boss has told a Senate inquiry the certification program could be guilty of ‘misleading and deceptive conduct’
On This Day
The First Sermon of Lord Buddha – Bhutan
Climate Change
An ice core discovered at a secret US Army base may rewrite the history of Greenland ice sheet melting, pointing to rapid ice loss and sea level rise after relatively small historical warming.
National
‘Striking’ falls in wholesale prices spark claims consumers are paying too much for power
After benchmark power prices jumped hundreds of dollars a year, a senior energy researcher questions whether households will end up paying too much.
Renewable energy projects are spreading across the landscape but not everyone is benefiting
A once-in-a-generation transition is happening in rural Australia, but the big switch to renewables is worrying some farmers.
Australian travellers seek eco-friendly options or bust
One in three Australians will seek out sustainable travel options when they holiday over the next year and almost one in five say will travel less or not at all if they cannot find one.
Airlines could ditch flights to Australia to meet future emissions promises, parliament told
Operators warn long-haul routes to nation risk being ‘priced out’ of international aviation when carbon pricing takes effect over next decade
Consumer watchdog urged to investigate ‘misleading’ Australian oil and gas industry PR campaign
Climate campaigners complain to ACCC over Appea ad that claimed gas was ‘50% cleaner’ than coal
The rise of induction cooktops – now we’re cooking without gas
A report by the Climate Council found that up to 12% of childhood asthma may be caused by gas in the home.
Heavy on the rhetoric, light on facts: campaign against net zero fields familiar tropes
Graham Readfearn
Claiming ‘woke hysteria’ is driving policy, lobby group Advance Australia makes a series of claims by the usual suspects that are easily debunked
Will Port Adelaide, Fremantle or Port Kembla be the Australian Chernobyl?
Douglas McCarty
While most discussion of the AUKUS Agreement has focussed on the geopolitical implications for Australia’s standing in the world, the escalation of the risk of war and the crippling cost of the nuclear submarine purchases when less expensive and more sensible non-nuclear options are available, little has been said of the risk to the civilian population posed by these nuclear-powered submarines (or other nuclear-powered naval vessels) in Australia’s home ports.
Rachel Withers
How many climate records must collapse before the Albanese government changes course?
Here’s how to make American mega-trucks unwelcome Down Under [$]
Benjamin Clark
Sales of US-style mega-trucks are booming in Australia despite being ‘more likely to be hauling a huge ego than a large load’.
Nuclear waste too hot to handle [$]
Australian editorial
Federal government must look to the future in search for solution.
We need protection from the pain of green transition [$]
Australian editorial
Australia is not alone in what is a global arms race for subsidies.
EV batteries spark rift over productivity [$]
Jennifer Hewett
There is a widening rift between the Productivity Commission’s views and the Albanese government’s promise to boost local manufacturing – with industry in the middle.
Victoria
Calls for greater transparency as Andrews government’s project cost blowouts stack up
From tearing up the East West Link contract at a cost of more than a billion dollars, to cancelling the Commonwealth Games this week, the Andrews government is no stranger to budget blowouts. Analysts say the scale of projects and underestimating costs may be part of the problem.
New South Wales
Eraring power plant’s 2025 closure ‘very unlikely’ amid delays to renewable projects, experts say
There are new questions over the viability of closing Australia’s biggest coal-fired power plant, Eraring, after the energy market regulator said a lack of cheap coal energy had impacted electricity prices.
Queensland
Euthanised dingo underlines visitor behaviour challenge
Motivated by a cute social media post, the behaviour of some visitors to Queensland’s K’gari is under scrutiny after the dingo involved in a recent attack was euthanised.
Power in Qld hands – but we’re not allowed to use it [$]
Matt Canavan
Queensland is a great state built on the back of great industries. Instead of demonising our coal industry, stalling investment and driving up our power bills, we must return to producing things in the best way we can.
South Australia
Is it a brown? Is it a taipan? No, it’s a new venomous snake [$]
A new species of venomous snake which uses its speed to chase down prey has been discovered in the outback by a team of Adelaide researchers.
Tasmania
Bob Brown to fight anti-logging protest criminal charge
Veteran environmentalist Bob Brown will fight a criminal charge stemming from a protest against the logging of land claimed to be home to a critically endangered parrot.
Plibersek urged to reconsider Hawkes Creek mine extension
Conservationists are calling on Federal Environment Minister Plibersek to refuse a mine extension in a northwest Tasmanian forest that includes threatened species.
Northern Territory
Bulldozers on hold at Binybara/Lee Point
Further development is on hold at Binybara/Lee Point, north of Darwin, after an emergency application was filed by lawyers on behalf of Traditional Owners of the area.
Western Australia
Rio Tinto won’t be held responsible for loss of tiny radioactive capsule, authorities confirm
An investigation into the loss of a radioactive capsule, which sparked a frantic search and unprecedented public health warning earlier this year, clears Rio Tinto of wrongdoing.
WA council rejects offer to have EV charging stations installed in town
The proponent says regional WA needs a reliable EV charging network to help facilitate the uptake of electric vehicles.
Fears camel, horse and donkey numbers could spike without government aerial shooters in WA
Biosecurity groups in Western Australia are concerned a halt to government-run aerial culling operations will allow feral animal numbers to get out of control in pastoral areas.
Protesters facing more charges over Woodside evacuation
Two activists accused of forcing the evacuation of Woodside’s Perth headquarters with stench gas are facing tougher charges as police claim more employees suffered ill effects.
Green deal: Fortescue sinks $35m into US hydrogen hub
An energy company backed by mining magnate Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest that focuses on large-scale renewable hydrogen projects has made its first investment in America, sinking $35 million into a proposed green hydrogen project near Phoenix in Arizona.
Sustainability
Wind farm profits blow out royals’ public cash formula
The British government will cut the proportion of funds going to the royal family from the Crown Estate after King Charles said he wanted bumper wind farm profits to go to the “wider public good”.
Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage, study shows
Detailed analysis finds plant diets lead to 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than meat-rich ones
Zambia: Clean up toxic lead waste at mine site
The Zambian government should make comprehensive efforts to clean up the contaminated former lead mine in Kabwe, the capital of Zambia’s Central province, Environment Africa and Human Rights Watch said today.
How Chile’s progressive new plan to mine lithium faces Indigenous hurdles
Chile’s millennial president, Gabriel Boric, promised to mine differently. He would turn the world’s largest copper producer and second largest lithium miner into a country that focused on environmental and social responsibility.
AAP Fact Check: Water quality experiment offers murky evidence
A viral video is claiming that a common electronic device can reveal hidden impurities in drinking water.
An inconvenient truth: you can’t sell the green revolution to people who can’t afford it
Gaby Hinsliff
In a cost of living crisis, heat pumps and electric cars are out of reach for most. Britain needs to fund a genuinely fair transition – and fast
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