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Date: 22 April 2024 at 8:28:45 AM GMT+9:30
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Apr 22
Post of the Day
Regulating plastics is essential for protecting children’s brains, scientists say
A new briefing paper from Project TENDR highlights the threat plastic poses to children’s neurological development and the need for a strong global plastics treaty to address that harm.
On This Day
Passover (Pesach) – Judaism
Ecological Observance
Earth Day and International Mother Earth Day
Climate Change
Sunak has ‘set Britain back’ on net zero, says UK’s climate adviser
Chris Stark, head of the Climate Change Committee, says Tories’ decision to dilute key green policies has had huge diplomatic impact
Concern grows over climate change impact; skepticism remains about Biden’s policy effectiveness
A recent poll indicates growing American concern for climate change, though skepticism persists about the efficacy of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
A heedless dash for net zero will waste cash and, later, votes
Phillip Inman
Keir Starmer must learn from the Tories’ failures and ensure green projects are well planned and resourced
Victimise people who raise a voice in Britain? Then destroy their families? Not in my name
George Monbiot
Marcus Decker dared to protest on climate and was punished. Now he could be deported. Is that a humane democracy?
National
Could native bees be driven to extinction while scientists’ eyes are elsewhere?
While there is no shortage of research o
n European honey bees and the various threats to their survival, experts fear a paucity of data on native species means they are quietly dying out.
For decades a backer of so-called cost reflective power pricing, the Australian Energy Regulator has acknowledged major problems with the roll-out of complex tariffs.
More clean energy projects than ever are being assessed under federal environmental laws and it’s slowing down the pace of development, according to investors.
‘Meltdown’: Dutton lashed for nuclear delay
A furious minister has lashed out at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton over his long-awaited nuclear energy plan.
‘Kangaroo in headlights’: Coalition rift emerges over Dutton’s nuclear plans
Concerns over political risk have slowed the opposition energy plan, casting doubt on the previous aim of announcing six possible nuclear sites before the May budget.
Business backing for climate disclosures [$]
An alliance of 15 business and investor organisations has backed Labor’s changes aimed at bringing climate risk disclosure requirements into line with international standards.
The green energy ‘big bets’ Australia needs to go after: Sun Cable cofounder
When Fraser Thompson and his business partners asked software mogul Mike Cannon-Brookes for money to build Australia’s biggest solar farm and the world’s longest underwater power line to link it to Singapore, Cannon-Brookes, understandably, said their idea sounded absurd.
Some say ‘we’re going to mine our way out of the climate crisis’. What do they mean?
We need mineral sands for a number of products, including electric cars and even sunscreen. So how do we mine for them in Australia? And why are farmers worried about the process?
‘Why not walk?’ Google Maps to roll out green features
Google Maps will politely pester Australian travellers to take public transport or walk to their destination in one of several of green changes introduced to the service to celebrate Earth Day.
Aussie scientists taking down the international illegal parrot trade
A colourful scarlet macaw may sell for a few dollars in Mexico, but smuggle it across the US border and the bird could sell for $8,000.
Our climate is influenced not just by Pacific weather patterns but by the Indian and Southern oceans, as well as global heating trends
Labor’s broken promise on environment protection laws [$]
Kylea Tink
Scathing independent assessments of the Environment Protection Biodiversity and Conservation (EPBC) Act, amid mounting evidence of biodiversity loss and habitat destruction, have presented the Albanese government with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen Australia’s environmental framework.
Intense rain and flash floods have increased in inland Australia. Here’s why
Milton Speer, Lance M. Leslie
Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range.
Victoria
‘Forest gardening’: Stoush over Aboriginal corporation’s land management
It sounds peaceful and calm, but the concept of “forest gardening” has sparked a new chapter in Victoria’s forest wars, pitting an Aboriginal corporation against a prominent ecologist and his publisher, Allen and Unwin.
Will Victoria’s container deposit scheme follow Queensland’s lead on wine, spirit bottles?
Calls for Victoria’s container deposit scheme to follow Queensland’s lead and include wine and spirit bottles has been labelled a potential “nightmare” by the wine industry.
Melbourne council patrols suburban streets to tackle illegal rubbish
In a council area in Melbourne’s north, patrols aren’t just targeting piles of illegally dumped rubbish on nature strips — they’re also helping educate residents about their waste disposal options.
Mineral sands mine sparks land use battle in northern Victoria
Farmers raise concerns about consultation practices, radiation and the contamination of their crops at a hearing into VHM’s proposed Goschen mineral sands and rare earths mine.
Backing new renewable energy technology
Minister for Economic Growth Tim Pallas today announced a $20 million investment in RayGen Resources which has developed photovoltaic solar modules that generate nearly 2,000 times more power than traditional solar systems under a concentrated beam of sunlight.
Victorians know it as Port Phillip Bay — but is that really the right name for it?
Why Melbourne’s Port Phillip, known to many simply as “the bay”, may not actually be a bay at all.
Ban on non-Aborigines is the new apartheid [$]
Andrew Bolt
If our biggest lake can be declared a sacred site, off limits to non-Aborigines, how long before activists declare the whole continent sacred, too?
New South Wales
Brumby re-homing program under investigation after mass horse carcass find on farm
Wagga’s council says it found 500 slaughtered horses on a property this week. Now the NSW government has launched a multi-agency investigation into the National Parks and Wildlife brumby re-homing program.
Conservationists and traditional owners are again trying to re-establish a colony of captivity-bred eastern quolls in a NSW national park. The last attempt didn’t end well.
Stink over funding threatens pollution tests at Sydney beaches
Swimmers may no longer be able to find out whether a swim site has faecal contamination because of a funding row between local councils and the NSW government.
Queensland
Tanya Plibersek rejects windfarm proposed for biodiverse Queensland forest
Plan for 42-turbine Wooroora project withdrawn after minister signals refusal because of threat to spectacled flying-fox habitat
This 8-year-old is learning to hunt dugong. He’s also trying to save them
The battle over a proposed development on Toondah Harbour may have been won, but the fight to protect the dugong and Quandamooka traditions continues at Moreton Bay.
The massive Toondah redevelopment is off the cards. But it doesn’t mean other wetlands are safe
A proposed $1.4 billion redevelopment of internationally protected wetlands in Queensland has been scrapped for now. But it’s unlikely developers will stop trying to build in similar sites.
Restrictions posed on this $30 million fishery could push a remote coastal town to breaking point
Residents of an isolated fishing community in the Gulf of Carpentaria say the town’s survival is at the mercy of a pending Queensland government decision to restrict the use of gillnets to protect threatened, endangered, or protected species.
Federal and state governments strike deal to add 6GW of renewable energy projects
Clean energy resources will be boosted under a Commonwealth scheme with the states to provide more electricity.
SEQ western suburbs rail hits the brakes despite population growth
Improved train services are the No.1 priority for Ipswich City Council in their 2024 state and federal budget submissions.
There are no plans for new trains on a major rail line even after the number of passenger trips doubled in the past decade and jumped 39 per cent in the past 12 months.
Queensland’s new renewable energy target was described as historic — but has mountain to climb
Alex Brewster
Queensland wants to cut emissions by 75 per cent over the next decade. But it has a long way to go — given the Sunshine State had the lowest renewables contribution to the National Electricity Market last year.
South Australia
Proposed plan to ban recreational access to Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre without cultural permission
An Arabana representative has welcomed the proposed plan, which would prevent people from driving, walking or boating on Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre without permission, saying previous misuse of the culturally significant site had hurt her elders.
Eyre Peninsula water sources critically low, with restrictions likely
With the region still without a desalination plant and groundwater levels in its basins running dangerously low, South Australian industries and homes could be forced to cut water considerably.
Tasmania
More than 3,000km south of the Great Barrier Reef lies a wonderland of sponges, fish and coral
Below a treacherous group of rocks off the Tasman Peninsula is a colourful deep water reef full of thousands of fish, but it’s in an area so rugged, diving it is not for the faint-hearted.
Experts celebrate discovery of secretive and endangered Australasian bittern in recently restored wetlands
Tasmanians feeling the pinch to benefit with power bill discounts [$]
Power price relief promised on the campaign trail is set to flow, with households and small businesses set to receive hundreds of dollars off their upcoming electricity bills.
Western Australia
Dead and dying shrubs and trees – some of which are found nowhere else on Earth – line more than 1,000km across the state’s south-west
90% of WA’s gas exported by foreign owned companies who get most of the gas for free
Australia Institute
The ad, which reads “90% of WA’s gas is exported, mostly royalty free”, is being published just days ahead of the annual general meeting of Woodside, one of Australia’s largest gas producers and greenhouse polluters.
Sustainability
Earth Day reclaimed: activists fight corporate takeover of the movement
Climate activists advocate for a return to Earth Day’s protest roots, opposing the commercial exploitation of the event
Environmental balance: It’s possible with the gift of AI
Keith Presnell
Judging by the extent of environmental destabilisation over the last century, Earth’s productivity needs to be ‘rebalanced’. Keith Presnell believes AI is the gift that might get us there.
What does China’s electric vehicle rise mean for the global market?
Jiang Jiang and REN Ke
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi recently unveiled its first electric vehicle (EV), the SU7, igniting a spark of excitement. At the launch event, Xiaomi’s founder and CEO Lei Jun, whose vision includes creating “a dream car on a par with Porsche and Tesla,” said that from design to batteries, intelligent driving to cockpit controls, the SU7
Environment: Expert calls Australia’s carbon offset scheme a scam
Peter Sainsbury
Australia’s carbon offset scheme costs a lot and captures almost no carbon but provides a fig leaf for continuing emissions. Technology-based Carbon Dioxide Removal is still a distant dream. Distributed energy resources can be the Swiss Army knife of the electricity system.
Nature Conservation
Scientists’ experiment is ‘beacon of hope’ for coral reefs on brink of global collapse
Recordings of healthy fish are being transmitted to attract heat-tolerant larvae back to degraded reefs in the Maldives
The lasting impact of the Deepwater Horizon spill on marine life
A recent expedition to the Gulf of Mexico has revealed ongoing environmental damage from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, showing little signs of recovery for the marine ecosystem.
A radical British politics rooted in nature is spreading – and the establishment doesn’t like it
John Harris
From right to roam to anger over polluted rivers, a new breed of activists is pushing back against environmental destruction
Michael Sievers et al
Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, most of it has gone.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
1800 223 669
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