Date: 20 December 2023 at 8:55:19 am AEDT
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Dec 20
This is the last edition for this year. All the best for Christmas and the New Year.
Post of the Day
What building cathedrals can teach us about fighting climate change
Cathedrals once inspired society’s greatest efforts toward a common goal. Climate change desperately needs “cathedral projects.”
On This Day
Climate Change
‘Not conducive to our survival’: Pacific islands on the climate frontline respond to Cop28 deal
The agreement was hailed as a win for climate action, but Pacific campaigners say it is too little too late in a rapidly warming world
‘I thought we had more time’: how motherhood spurred a New Yorker’s fight against fossil fuels
Marlena Fontes co-founded Climate Families NYC with six other mothers to create a space for families to take action
Frustrated by inaction on climate change? The problem may be too much scientific evidence
Liam Mannix
More, better evidence should bring us together on the big problems like climate change. But often, more data just pushes us further apart and makes solutions harder to find.
Is this the end of fossil fuels’ age? [$]
Ryan Neelam, Michelle Lyons
For the first time in more than 30 years, world leaders have agreed to call out and “transition away” from the main driver of climate change – fossil fuels.
Viv Forbes
Earth is living in the latter days of the Holocene Warm Era. This is the latest short, fertile, warm interlude within the long, barren, Pleistocene Ice Age.
National
Final grants awarded under National Soil Carbon Innovation Challenge
The National Soil Carbon Innovation Challenge has awarded $9.8 million in funding to another 5 research projects, in its second and final round.
Toyota hybrid SUV recalled over fuel consumption rules
More than 200 Toyota hybrid vehicles are being recalled in Australia over concerns they use more petrol than promised.
Australia’s net energy supply decreased by 4% in 2021-22 to 22,914 PJ.
You can’t make a net-zero Australia on a gas cooktop
Tristan Edis
There must be trade-offs if we are to get serious about cutting emissions – and phasing out gas appliances is one of the easiest
Misleading slogan is a 22-year con trick that voters have sucked up [$]
Crispin Hull
In the brouhaha over immigration in the past fortnight, we must ask ourselves how did Australia allow 512,000 people to enter as immigrants in the past year? It is a critical question to this nation’s future.
Philip Laird
Until the 1960s, railways dominated freight across every distance bar the shortest. Much freight went by sea, and some by truck.
Climate Change Authority loves carbon sequestration. Now there’s a surprise [$]
Bernard Keane
The CCA thinks our carbon offset trading system is great — and should be expanded to include discredited carbon sequestration.
Victoria
The push to keep Melbourne’s last ‘dark park’ unlit
Melbourne’s largest public park is not lit at night. A council is considering changing that, but experts have warned of the effects on residents and wildlife.
Kelpie con: ‘Unlawful dingo ownership’ probed in Victoria [$]
The Victorian Conservation Regulator is investigating “several dingo-related allegations, including unlawful possession”, as claims are made about the protected species being sold as kelpies.
Queries on gas switch ‘ignored’ [$]
Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action has been accused of ignoring key questions about the impact of the Allan government’s gas policy – including how many jobs will be lost.
New South Wales
Rain brings relief from NSW bushfires, but risk remains
Rain has brought relief for those battling a major bushfire in north-west New South Wales, which has already burned through more than 112,000 hectares.
Opposition call for Minns to appeal protest law decision [$]
A Supreme Court judgment struck out certain anti-protest laws last week, finding they are inconsistent with the “implied freedom of political communication” in the constitution.
‘Our only option’: Shock plan to stop fire ants in NSW [$]
Environmental authorities are taking extreme measures to curb a ferocious fire ant invasion in northern NSW. This time – the whole community will be impacted.
Beginning of the end: Nation’s dirtiest power station to give way for green plan
A 500-megawatt bank of energy storage on the site of the defunct Liddell coal-fired power plant has been given the green light.
From dirty diesel to nearly 70pct solar powered, Lord Howe goes electric
Lord Howe has a solar farm and battery storage that is performing beyond expectations, and incorporating a growing fleet of EVs.
Consumers have been sold a pup on Snowy 2.0’s exorbitant ‘plug’ [$]
Ted Woodley
If Snowy 2.0 had been required to pay for its incredibly long and expensive plug, it would’ve been even more obvious that its business case was untenable.
ACT
Thousands lose power after severe storm lashes Canberra
A severe thunderstorm left some parts of Canberra without power as hail and winds battered the national capital over the late afternoon.
Queensland
Cane toads blanket roads and backyards during breeding frenzy in coastal paradise
Wet and humid conditions lead to an explosion in cane toad populations with invasive species experts concerned for pets and native wildlife.
Scientists brace for possibility of ‘severe’ damage to Great Barrier Reef from ex-Cyclone Jasper
Modelling produced by Institute of Marine Science shows ‘huge area’ in which waves and flood waters could have destroyed coral colonies
Coal seam gas law changes would ‘weaken’ farmland protections, green groups say
The Environmental Defenders Office says proposed legal changes will ‘water down’ protections against subsidence caused by gas wells
Public transport hits rough road, with users down and projects ‘in slow motion’
One of Brisbane’s leading public transport advocates has told the state’s new transport minister to get things moving.
Creek reopens as council probe cause of sewage saga [$]
An urgent investigation into a sewage spill at a popular swimming spot is examining a number of possible causes, as locals and visitors are given the all clear to return.
John Quiggin
A striking development in recent years has been the increasing role of state governments in responding to global crises.
Yes, it’s time for us to have a serious talk about coal – and how we plan to live without it
John McCarthy
It’s been the state’s bridge to financial security for decades, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t due for a serious talk about coal.
South Australia
Commercial hydrogen play on the cards from SA drilling campaign [$]
Gold Hydrogen says high purity results from hydrogen drilling on the Yorke Peninsula are “globally significant”, and have it convinced it has a commercial play on its hands.
Western Australia
Latest round of Community Rivercare grants announced
Community volunteer groups have been granted $255,055 in funding to assist with the improvement of waterway health in the Swan Canning Catchment.
Metronet cost jumps $2 billion in 12 months
Metronet is like a cheeky dog at Christmas dinner, nabbing bits of ham when you’re not looking until it is nothing more than bone and the dog needs to be taken to the vet to have its stomach pumped.
Frontier beefs up solar and green hydrogen plans, as it joins renewables race in wild West
The race to harness Western Australia’s huge renewables potential has a new contender, following Frontier Energy’s acquisition of Waroona Energy.
Kiwirrkurra rangers have recorded the song of the elusive night parrot
Indigenous rangers in a remote Western Australia area have successfully recorded the call of the elusive night parrot, an achievement considered the “holy grail” in ornithology (the study of birds).
Sustainability
‘Nanoplastics’ could be worse than microplastics and we know almost nothing about them
“From the public point of view, this could be the next asbestos.”
Finding a fix: Nigerian women lead drive to upcycle plastics
In Nigeria, where plastic pollution is still a huge problem, there is a rise of women-led schemes focused on fixes.
Oh good, hurricanes are now made of microplastics
When Hurricane Larry made landfall two years ago, it dropped over 100,000 microplastics per square meter of land per day. It’s another ominous sign of how plasticized the environment has become.
AAP FactCheck: EV critics stuck in slow lane with battery bashing
False claims about the levels of carbon emissions from electric vehicle manufacturing are spreading on social media.
Is the US going to approve the single biggest fossil-fuel expansion on earth?
Roishetta Ozane and Bill McKibben
Biden has a chance to show that the world’s biggest exporter of oil and gas is actually going to change its ways. It’s not clear if he’ll take it
I was a corporate greenwasher. Sorry for making you think metal straws would fix climate change
Wendy Syfret
This wasn’t the creative life I pictured when I set out to become a writer. But it was a line of work I excelled at. I helped businesses rebrand it as a matter of lifestyle, solved by reusable cups and composting.
Nature Conservation
A pristine island is under threat in Indonesia but locals are fighting back
A pristine island in Indonesia is under threat from Indonesia’s nickel rush, with some women now having to walk for kilometres just to access clean water. But locals are fighting back.
Scientists collect elusive aardvarks’ poop to reveal climate change effect
Scientists from Oregon State University have found the study of aardvark poop to be very useful in discovering how the species is being impacted by incredibly dry landscapes.
Poisonous harvest : Pesticide overuse threatens bird species
Excessive use of toxic agricultural drugs has significantly reduced varieties of native bird populations.
How reindeer help fight climate change
Reindeer in Lapland have a number of important jobs this time of year – including helping the climate. By gobbling up shrubs, they help increase the reflectivity of snow and ice.
At least 100 elephants die in drought-stricken Zimbabwe park, a grim sign of El Nino, climate change
At least 100 elephants have died in Zimbabwe’s largest national park in recent weeks because of drought, their carcasses a grisly sign of what wildlife authorities and conservation groups say is the impact of climate change and the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Nature is profoundly broken. Do we love anyone beyond ourselves enough to listen?
Esau McCaulley
The world has been trying to tell us something for a while. In 2023 it became impossible not to hear.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
p | 1800 223 669 t | @AusConservation
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