From: Maelor Himbury <M.Himbury@acfonline.org.au>
Sent: Monday, April 8, 2024 9:02 AM
Subject: Daily Links Apr 8
Eliminating fossil fuels would save millions of lives, study finds
A recent study published in BMJ found that fossil fuels are responsible for more deaths worldwide than previously thought, highlighting the significant health benefits of transitioning to clean energy.
On This Day
Climate Change
Climate activist Greta Thunberg detained twice by police in the Netherlands
Greta Thunberg was one of dozens of protesters detained during the demonstration against Dutch subsidies and tax breaks to companies linked to fossil fuel industries.
‘How long before it totally disappears?’: Tuvalu’s king tides raise bleak question for island nation
King tides are not new in Tuvalu, but February’s reached areas that had not been flooded before, forcing some Tuvaluans to question how much time they had left in their home country.
Scientists confirm record highs for three most important heat-trapping gases
Global concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide climbed to unseen levels in 2023, underlining climate crisis
World Bank’s funding of ‘hog hotel’ factory farms under fire over climate effect
Environmental and animal welfare groups call on lender to phase out support for ‘industrial’ livestock operations
National
Shower power: Australian bathrooms are wasting energy and increasing your costs
Experts say ‘bare minimum’ building codes and a lack of interest from builders are making Australian bathrooms less energy-efficient
PM goes nuclear over Coalition’s energy strategy [$]
Peter Dutton has pledged to deliver small modular nuclear reactors by the mid-2030s, but Anthony Albanese says it can’t be done.
Cheap power bills in nuclear backyard: Dutton [$]
The Coalition will roll out a nuclear precinct plan for coal communities that want them as Peter Dutton claims that SA Labor premier Peter Malinauskas will be the first to sign up.
Regions hostile to Dutton’s plan to go nuclear [$]
Locals who live in areas earmarked for nuclear reactors have delivered a blow to Peter Dutton’s energy plan.
Second Indigenous group slams Bowen over wind zone [$]
The Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation has expressed concern about damage to marine ecosystems, and warned that the federal government could be setting energy companies ‘up for failure’.
Stop ‘random renewables rush’, says energy Tsar [$]
The renewables transition is underway but recently retired energy and infrastructure commissioner Andrew Dyer says there are still big questions over which projects are to be built, and where.
Could planned burns be making our forests more flammable? [$]
Hazard-reduction burns are designed to clear undergrowth and reduce the risk of large-scale bushfires. But the science is far from settled.
New phase of carbon markets to focus on emission cuts rather than offsets
Investors are holding back on climate and nature repair investment in Australia as uncertainty continues for the carbon markets and prices fall because of questions about integrity.
That buzz you get from EVs isn’t from excitement [$]
John Connolly
Welcome to our summary of electric dreams-turned-nightmares and sudden unintended acceleration.
Take stock as renewables trajectory risks lights out [$]
Australian editorial
The nation’s energy transition needs a shot of rational economics.
This program gives solar a brighter future [$]
Richard Petterson
Australia has a big economic opportunity in the manufacturing of renewable energy technology.
Dutton makes his (nuclear) power play [$]
Courier Mail editorial
Peter Dutton is showing polticial courage to push on with his nuclear power plans despite facing strong headwinds – but whether it will pay off remains to be seen.
Why is Australia’s east coast copping all this rain right now? An atmospheric scientist explains
Kimberley Reid
Headlines declaring a “Black Nor’easter” appeared this week as New South Wales and Queensland copped heavy rain – and residents have been warned to brace for more.
The guiding criminal lie in economics
John Coulter
A criminal is one who seriously breaks the law. By that measure Albanese, Dutton and most pollies across Australia are criminals together with their supporters.
David Lindenmayer and Chris Taylor
It might seem like forest thinning is a good way to reduce the risk of bushfires. Empirical evidence shows otherwise.
What is Macquarie’s secretive green investment arm even worth? [$]
Jemima Whyte
Valuations of renewable assets are volatile, and exits remain hard. At least one investor thinks the banking giant should get itself out of the business.
Labor’s nature positive reforms will force renewable developers to change their thinking
Kylie Galway
Proposed amendments to EPBC Act to address biodiversity loss will require renewable developers to think differently about the way they use the environment.
Victoria
EPA slaps council with remedial notices over asbestos mulch fears
The environmental regulator has slapped a local council with two remedial notices after worries over asbestos-contaminated mulch in parks.
This Victorian beach will stop using mechanical rakes — could others follow?
You may have seen machines driving along beaches, making the sand look clean and smooth — but could they be doing more harm than good?
Investigation under way after gas pipeline off Victorian coast ruptures
Gas platforms in the area are among the oldest offshore oil and gas operations in the country
They pooled their money to buy an ‘ugly’ hill. Twenty years later, they’re calling it ‘paradise’
A group of friends, dismayed about climate change, bought the most degraded piece of farmland they could find. Not to live on, or to make money from, but to transform into the bushland it once was.
No need for asbestos taskforce, says Premier [$]
Premier Jacinta Allan has shut down suggestions that Victoria needs an asbestos taskforce after the mineral was discovered near several playgrounds in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Ditch the timetable: Metro Tunnel trains on track to run every three minutes [$]
The state government initially promised a “turn up and go” service but didn’t specify precisely how often trains would run.
Parks are not just for recreation [$]
Age letters
Readers respond to reports that Victoria’s garden state status may be under threat as urban expansion and land clearing eat Melbourne green spaces to accommodate the growing population.
Bloated, backward and banal, Vic Market rebuild is the opposite of good planning [$]
Norman Day
Melbourne’s beloved city market is sensual, lively, and bustling with energy but is set to be overshadowed by a series of banal towers that look like they were produced by an AI robot.
New South Wales
Scientists hope these captive-bred, curious little birds can help halt their own ‘extinction spiral’
Early success for a program to boost numbers of the eastern bristlebird in north-eastern NSW, with signs birds bred by researchers are “bonding” with their wild counterparts.
Warragamba Dam is spilling after more than 100mm of rain overnight. What happens now?
Warragamba Dam has hit capacity and is spilling following more heavy rain in Sydney. It’s a reversal of fortunes from a year ago when Sydneysiders were being warned to conserve water.
Artists hope an exhibition of their work at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney will help highlight the plight of endangered rainforest plants threatened by climate change, habitat loss and deadly pathogens.
Residents allowed to return home as flooding threat eases [$]
Road closures and diversions are still in place for much of the region north-west of Sydney, causing a headache for people attempting to return.
ACT
A future tunnel or a butterfly sanctuary? So much love for City Hill [$]
Public baths, a running track, an obstacle course, an amphitheatre, an Indigenous garden, a butterfly sanctuary, a “future tunnel” – these are just some of the inspired ideas proposed for City Hill.
ACT urges Commonwealth to get deal done on CSIRO development land [$]
The ACT is eager to finalise a deal to unlock a large former research farm in Canberra’s north-west for new housing, calling on the federal government to wrap up negotiations for the 701-hectare site.
In the battle for ACT best-seller, it’s hybrid against electric [$]
Tesla’s tenacious sales grip on the ACT new car market in 2023 slipped in the first quarter of this year as more EV competitors and a well-credentialled hybrid began to chisel away at its dominance.
Fyshwick fuel station sale flags expanded ACT plan for hydrogen transport [$]
One lonely hydrogen refuelling station will grow to three and possibly four as the ACT becomes a testing ground for building an urban network of future fuel dispensers.
Queensland
‘Platypus killer’ yabby traps ‘in garden sheds everywhere’ face ban
The use and sale of a popular style of yabby net that a conservationist says regularly traps other wildlife could be banned, which would bring Queensland into line with other states.
A study led by the University of Queensland has revealed how some lizards have evolved to avoid the deadly neurotoxins of Australia’s most venomous snakes.
South Australia
Park lands police barracks options revealed after FOI fight
The state government secretly considered five Adelaide park lands sites for a relocated police barracks before a sixth park was chosen and then abandoned after a public backlash, according to documents released after a Freedom of Information battle set to cost taxpayers more than $100,000.
Tasmania
Economic value of key fisheries and aquaculture sectors drop, report says
Tasmania’s key fisheries and aquatic sectors contributed just over $800 million towards the state’s economy in 2020-21, according to a new report from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).
‘How long will it last?’ Premier urged to do deal with Greens [$]
A Tasmanian academic says everyone is asking how long the government will last. He’s got some advice for the Premier in the wake of the shock election results.
Northern Territory
‘Needle in a haystack’: Once thought extinct, rare rock rat found on remote desert cattle station
The habitat of the critically endangered central rock rat was thought to have shrunk to “a speck on the map” but now it’s been found at two new Northern Territory sites — and researchers say there may be more populations out there.
Santos’s carbon capture commitment looking dubious [$]
Royce Kurmelovs
As the environment minister faces criticism for delayed notification of a pipeline approval for Santos’s multibillion-dollar Barossa project, doubts are gathering about the company’s plans to address its emissions.
Western Australia
The WA government’s signature project is facing cost blowouts, delays and a slow uptake in train patronage. While the transport minister believes new trains are a beneficial investment, an economist says it’s risky.
‘No April Fools joke!’ Rare pic of blind mole captured in outback
Most Australians will never have heard of the kakarratul, an elusive silky mole that burrows in the desert and has no eyes. Now a growing threat is shrinking its habitat.
‘Terrified’: Wind farm plan shocks [$]
The federal government has proposed developing an offshore wind farm in the middle of a whale migration route that is also a massively popular tourist destination.
Sustainability
Why has the 100-year-old Hills Hoist emerged as a symbol of 21st century solarpunk design?
It started out as a sci-fi genre, but some believe solarpunk holds the key to solving some of humanity’s most pressing problems.
Air pollution linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease
A largest-of-its-kind study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life.
Plastic recycling’s new era faces hurdles
Despite big brands’ pledges for a greener future, advanced recycling technology lags in effectiveness.
Debate over the Anthropocene reflects deep divides in scientific opinion
In a recent vote, the International Union of Geological Sciences declined to recognize the Anthropocene as a new geological epoch, despite strong evidence that human activity has fundamentally altered Earth.
China’s quiet energy revolution: the switch from nuclear to renewable energy
Derek Woolner and David Glynne Jones
There is now a policy dispute about the roles of nuclear and renewable energy in future Australian low emission energy systems. The experience of China over more than a decade provides compelling evidence on how this debate will be resolved. In December 2011 China’s National Energy Administration announced that China would make nuclear energy the
Environment: Australia publishes its first climate risk assessment
Peter Sainsbury
Australia is conducting its first climate risk assessment and developing an adaptation plan. Not only humans experience heat stress, so do other animals and plants. If you must feed wild birds, listen to the experts’ tips.
Nature Conservation
Rio Tinto plots ‘nature targets’ to curb impact of huge mine in Africa
Mining giant Rio Tinto is planning to set new targets to address its impacts on the natural environment, as the industry comes under intensifying scrutiny for the scars it leaves on ecosystems and its contribution to biodiversity loss.
Rainforests might survive after all, says new study
A new study shows that while rainforests continue to face threats, certain areas are seeing a decline in deforestation, offering a glimmer of hope for their future.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
1800 223 669
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