Get used to it folks. I wonder if concern might be greater when it’s not just citizens of developing nations that suffer. Meanwhile, let’s faff on about an energy source with millennia of danger that won’t come on stream for a decade or two.
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From: Maelor Himbury <M.Himbury@acfonline.org.au>
Date: 24 June 2024 at 9:03:41 AM GMT+10
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jun 24
Date: 24 June 2024 at 9:03:41 AM GMT+10
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jun 24
Post of the Day
Victor Gambarini
Marine plastic pollution is a massive environmental issue, with a plastic smog of an estimated 170 trillion particles afloat in the world’s oceans. This highlights how urgently we need to develop strategies to mitigate this environmental crisis.
On This Day
Nativity of St John the Baptist – Christianity
Climate Change
The University of Chicago has launched a Climate Systems Engineering initiative, aiming to explore solar geoengineering, despite the controversial nature and potential risks of the field.
Interactive app shows how climate change will make places around the world feel like they are closer to the equator
The carbon stored globally by plants is shorter-lived and more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought, according to a new study.
Exclusion and repression of activists at Bonn climate talks highlight justice issues, undermining climate progress and human rights.
Record temperatures in recent days are causing hundreds of deaths across Asia, Europe and America, as scientists warn climate change is fuelling more extreme temperature peaks.
Bjorn Lomborg
The impact of climate change is typically enormously exaggerated, while the costs of the calls to ‘just stop’ oil, gas and coal are downplayed. A radical ‘cure’ could be worse than the disease.
National
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has claimed his nuclear energy plan will cost a fraction of Labor’s pursuit of renewable energy.
Energy sector leaders and economists say renewable energy will ultimately generate the vast share of Australia’s energy mix, but nuclear could play a small role.
The government knows it can’t compete with China to make cheaper solar panels. But it’s placing a billion-dollar bet that it can outcompete the manufacturing giant on technology to transform Australia’s tiny solar industry.
Australia currently produces a relatively small amount of radioactive waste due to its limited nuclear industry, so what would happen to the waste generated by seven nuclear reactors if they were built under a Coalition government?
The cost of building seven reactors under Peter Dutton’s nuclear proposal could be up to $600 billion and deliver just 3.7 per cent of Australia’s energy mix in 2050
State department official urges politicians to do ‘the right thing’, citing ‘collective responsibility’
The Coalition wants nuclear to be the Yin to rooftop solar’s Yang. But some experts say the technologies make terrible bedfellows.
Coalition energy spokesperson Ted O’Brien, who designed the plan, says the amount of energy generated would depend on the type and number of reactors built at each site.
Australia currently produces a relatively small amount of radioactive waste due to its limited nuclear industry, so what would happen to the waste generated by seven nuclear reactors if they were built under a Coalition government?
Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien has flagged an evolution in the Coalition’s nuclear power policy, revealing that each of the seven sites could host multiple reactors.
Nuclear power is being forced on Australians regardless of their wishes, a cabinet minister says, as state leaders continue to reject the opposition’s plan.
French survey of 26 countries finds fewer Australians than global average agree that climate change is the greatest health threat facing humanity
Experts say there is a whole workforce with transferable skills ready for the proposed nuclear industry.
A survey has found 60 per cent of Australians back the plan for nuclear energy – but there are mixed views on whether people want the reactors in their backyard.
Many Australians are willing to consider nuclear power even if they are not sure, raising the stakes in the election fight on energy.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is spruiking the benefits of nuclear energy, but one of his claims has left a bad taste in experts’ mouths.
Australia has more than enough gas to meet winter demands — so, why are we hearing warnings about shortages?
Australia’s Fisheries Minister Murray Watt has met with his Papua New Guinea counterpart Jelta Wong this week
Karen Middleton
The Peter Dutton-led opposition is seeking a mandate to pursue nuclear energy, but details are in short supply
Tony Wood
Of all the debates unleashed by the Coalition’s nuclear energy announcement this week, energy prices is among the hottest. As Australians struggle with the skyrocketing cost of living, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan gives little assurance he can bring power bills down – neither soon nor into the future.
Michelle Grattan
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has entered the nuclear debate, with a vitriolic attack describing Peter Dutton as “a charlatan”, “wicked and cynical” and “an inveterate climate change denialist”.
Belinda Jones
Having reignited the “climate wars” with pie-in-the-sky nuclear energy plans, if the plans fail, Dutton and Littleproud will face the wrath of a climate-war-weary Australian people at the ballot box.
Michael Lester and Chris Barrie
Former Australian defence force chief and admiral retired, Chris Barrie frankly discusses with Michael Lester his deep concerns that Australia is complacent in its unwillingness to face up to the threat to our national security posed by global climate change.
Michael Bradley
I felt conflicted about treating Peter Dutton’s nuclear “policy” as serious enough to warrant any response at all.
Anton Nilsson
Peter Dutton’s nuclear gambit has raised more questions than it answers.
Karen Barlow
The opposition leader has seized on disillusionment over the government’s lack of support for households to transition to renewables in the hope of making his uncosted nuclear policy a cost-of-living issue.
Greg Mullins
Picture this. It has been almost five years since Black Summer. Fires and floods, supercharged by climate pollution, have claimed hundreds of Australian lives and thousands of Australian homes. An election is on the horizon and the leader of the opposition declares that, if he wins, he will dump Australia’s 2030 climate targets, the very targets developed to secure a safer future for our kids and grandkids.
Sean Kelly
The opposition leader called it “bold” and “visionary”, but his policy seems born of cowardice – namely his refusal to confront divisions on climate in the Coalition.
Laura Tingle
A surge in the polls helped spur the Coalition to announce its nuclear policy. Whether it holds on to that lead will come down to which side can persuade voters that such complex issues can magic up any short-term betterment in their lives.
Giles Parkinson
The Coalition’s nuclear plan is more about the destruction of an existing industry – wind and solar – than the creation of a new one. Here’s why
Ben Rose
By changing their consumption habits, average Australians can reduce their carbon footprints by 75%. And if they do, net zero by 2050 might not be a dream.
Karen Middleton
From the nuclear submarine pact to community vetoes, Peter Dutton has abandoned pledges the Coalition made in government with his latest announcement
Mark Gorter
Peter Dutton and the Coalition should be commended for putting a bold idea before the Australian people, with conviction.
Saul Kavonic
Australia’s energy market is one hiccup away from a major crisis, again, and there are no easy levers left to pull to keep the lights on.
Patricia Karvelas
While many in the political debate are focused on Mr Burns, the hapless Homer and three-eyed fish, I’m wondering what Lisa Simpson would make of the nuclear debate. And judging by data on gender from the last election, both major parties may want to consider this too.
Mark Kenny
With a federal election due by May 2025, few doubt it will be fought over the high cost of living, with emphasis on energy policy and the punishing effects of electricity prices. But the underlying condition of the economy will determine the salience of these arguments with voters.
Nick Cater
Peter Dutton has delivered a credible threat of competition to a featherbedded industry that has grown lazy on government largesse.
Australian editorial
Details about nuclear power and renewables options are emerging.
Simon Benson
More people than not support replacing coal with nuclear power but the challenge for Peter Dutton is trying to convince people that it is ever likely to happen.
Vikki Campion
There has always been silence about the risks of renewables and the damage it does in regional communities but the media suddenly found a heart for the bush after Peter Dutton’s nuclear proposal.
Alison Howe
Nuclear has become a dirty word. It’s always been an emotive subject.
Ebony Bennett
The Coalition’s nuclear announcement is an absolute farce and no one should pretend otherwise.
David Crowe
Australians are still paying a price for the energy policy disputes of the past. The nuclear proposal is unlikely to end the argument.
Paul Keating
Peter Dutton is a charlatan – an inveterate climate change denialist.
Tony Webb
Nuclear industry workers face significant, inevitable and largely unavoidable radiation health risks which have so far not been addressed in the debate about Australia possibly buying into this industry.
Daisy Turnbull
The Coalition’s embrace of nuclear power may be a sign of surrender in teal-town. Pity the moderate candidates suffering the progressive fallout.
‘Rampaging’ Roy Slaven
The old Lithgow Shamrocks rugby league players are prepared, pro bono, to get involved. One has already googled “how to build a nuclear power plant”.
Peter Hartcher
Peter Dutton’s newly unveiled nuclear manifesto is a peculiar fit for the party of free enterprise, private investment and entrepreneurialism. But what will the political fallout be?
‘I’m not anti-nuclear, I’m anti-bulls—’: Why this energy expert says Dutton’s plan ignores reality [$]
Peter FitzSimons
One of Australia’s foremost voices on energy futures says doing anything other than pursuing renewables with enthusiasm right now is not paying attention to what’s going on.
Steven Hamilton and Luke Heeney
Even if all that mattered was the cheapest possible energy that meets minimum levels of reliability and emissions, the Coalition’s plan fails.
Chris Bowen
The first auction of the Capacity Investment Scheme has received more than 40 gigawatts of project registrations, showing there is a strong pipeline of renewables ready to go with the right policy settings.
Victoria
Elwood residents are calling for litter traps to be installed at the end of their local creek, but Melbourne Water has shot down the idea.
The volunteer environment network says lack of money is stifling the growth of local groups despite an increase in interest on the ground
The valley that provides most of Victoria’s electricity also has unemployment above the state average – and the Coalition’s plan for the region has split opinion
While the Victorian government’s contentious and expensive Suburban Rail Loop continues to spark fierce political debate, the project seeking to connect the city’s major rail lines is becoming a reality on the ground.
Reservoir residents say the government has ignored their concerns about noise and loss of privacy as trains, commuters now metres from their bedroom windows.
The nation is facing a deepening energy crisis on two fronts, with Victoria’s main gas storage plant set to run out by the end of winter as wind farm output slumps to a five-year low
Councils across Melbourne warn of fundamental changes to their suburbs after the state government ordered them to find space for millions of new homes.
Melbourne spent millions in a failed attempt to green its grey laneways. A successful scheme shows the better way to beautify the city comes from empowering residents.
Eric Johnston
With warnings of crippling shortages, the state needs to get moving on encouraging new exploration, not revisiting old legends.
David Hayward
The Victorian government this week gave the state’s local councils a gargantuan task: solve the housing crisis by accelerating new housing.
New South Wales
Using drones, aerial imagery, and 3D modelling to map and identify stingray feeding pits on the estuary floor, a study has found they play a significant role in health of estuarine ecosystems.
Scientists at UNSW Sydney are developing catalysts able to break down PFAS chemicals that contaminate water.
Residents of the Hunter Valley town of Muswellbrook could one day have a nuclear reactor on their doorstop. More than a third would be happy with the arrangement. See what the locals are saying.
NSW could be on track for its own gas crisis like our neighbours in Victoria if the future of the Narrabri gas project remains in limbo, experts warn.
Premier Chris Minns has conceded the NSW government may not have the power to stop Peter Dutton’s nuclear proposal from going ahead if the he wins the next Federal election.
They turn heads on the road but these classic cars are made for the future.
ACT
When plans were announced to halve the garbage collections of Canberrans and introduce a new food and organic waste bin instead, there were fears of streets full of stinking bins overflowing with nappies.
Canberra Times editorial
There’s plenty on the distant horizon for progressive Canberra, but the gas ban is one that now seems to be looming larger than ever before.
Queensland
Nuclear reactors, if they are built, will be in the backyards of farmers such as Darren Jensen. He’s thrilled by the prospect, but not everyone in town is.
David Crisafulli insists he won’t budge on his opposition to nuclear power — a position that’s not sitting well with some of his federal colleagues.
Brisbane City Council is urging the state government to commit half a billion dollars to Brisbane’s bus system or risk “disaster” in August when people rush for cheap fares
Traditional owners of a former tourist mecca in Queensland that has fallen into disrepair over the past 15 years have lodged a fresh native title claim for exclusive use of the island.
An Aboriginal tourist attraction, Indigenous language programs and traditional land practices such as fish trapping and back burning could be some of the early changes seen after the landmark Sunshine Coast native title ruling.
Felicity Caldwell
Brisbane needs 50¢ public transport fares to work, and we can learn something from CityCat commuters to set the trial up for success.
South Australia
Indigenous Elders say they are once again being threatened by nuclear technology on their lands.
SA councils are spending millions of dollars to investigate hoarding and squalor complaints, a new report has found, with staff put at risk during some investigations.
Rory McClaren
Potential home buyers, builders, property developers, the state government and SA Water are bonded together by a common problem; the water and sewage networks in Adelaide’s northern suburbs are maxed out
Tasmania
Three people have been arrested amid a five-week protest in the Tarkine rainforest – but activists say they won’t bow to pressure to call it quits.
Western Australia
With nearly half of Australia’s mining tyre waste generated in WA’s Pilbara region, the focus is turning to how they can be recycled locally.
Sustainability
Green hydrogen often, but certainly not always, leads to CO2 gains
Solar power to set new landmark of 20 per cent of global electricity output in northern summer solstice, and remains fastest growing energy source.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) this week helped 28 countries to unlock $70 million
Peter Sainsbury
As solar panels get cheaper, companies and governments commit to increasing oil and gas production. Community opposition…
Sue Wareham
One’s immediate thought on looking at any of the multitude of photos of the devastation of Gaza is a profound sense of sorrow and grief at the capacity of humans to wreak such destruction and suffering.
Nature Conservation
Whether it’s a dome, cup or pendant, new research shows bird nest designs match specific climatic conditions, giving hope that some can adjust nesting behaviours for changing weather conditions
Natural hazards can speed up the extinction process of land animals that have limited distribution and/or small populations. But there is hope to turn the negative development around, says researchers behind new study.
It is often said AI will take the jobs humans should be doing — but in this case, the human researchers are happy enough to pass on the job of scanning thousands of hours of recordings made deep in the Southern Ocean, freeing them up for the pursuit of scientific breakthroughs.
Inland seas around the world are drying up due to increasing human water use and accelerating climate change, and their desiccation is releasing harmful dust that pollutes the surrounding areas during acute dust storms.
Native species cannot move fast enough on their own to avoid climate-driven chaos
A new study reveals that the majority of the world’s largest marine protected areas (MPAs) fail to implement effective conservation measures, allowing destructive activities to persist.
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
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