Daily Links June 10

After all of the Big Sebago’s nuclear nonsense, he follows up with scrapping emissions targets and leaving the Paris Agreement. Can you believe it? If Monique Ryan and other Teals were only elected through an anti-Morrison ticket, they could well be elected next election on a pro-future ticket. 

From: Maelor Himbury <M.Himbury@acfonline.org.au&gt;
Date: 10 June 2024 at 9:10:08 AM GMT+10
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links June 10

Post of the Day
Samantha Ellen Andres et al
More than 52 million hectares of land across Australia is degraded. Degraded land lacks biodiversity and the natural balance of healthy ecosystems, making it unfit for wildlife or cultivation. This means we are losing the benefits that healthy ecosystems provide for nature and people.
 
On This Day
 
Climate Change
Farmers and researchers tell of the impact of a rapidly changing climate, and the measures being taken to adapt
People are sharing an article claiming the World Economic Forum is advocating jail time for people who disbelieve climate science, but that’s not what happened.
 
The US atmospheric chemist on why she doesn’t share the pessimism of most climate scientists, fixing the ozone layer, and why Jacques Cousteau is her hero
 
Chirag Dhara
As with any environmental disaster, the impact of heat stress hits the poorer harder than the privileged.
Brendan Wintle et al
Earth is facing a human-driven climate crisis, which demands a rapid transition to low-carbon energy sources such as wind and solar power. But we’re also living through a mass extinction event. Never before in human history have there been such high such rates of species loss and ecosystem collapse.
 
Nick Cater
Angela Merkel said transitioning to clean energy while phasing out both coal and nuclear power would be ‘ambitious and challenging’. She was right.
 
National
Speaking to business leaders, the Prime Minister hit out at the Coalition’s ­nuclear energy plan that he said delayed “real action” on climate change.
 
The rest of the world has already fallen in love with the ‘magic’ technology, but Australians are only just starting to catch on
 
The federal Coalition confirms it will dump Australia’s commitment to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, arguing the target is unachievable.
 A Coalition pledge to remain committed to the Paris Agreement while indicating it will scrap Australia’s legally binding climate targets has been slammed as a “rolling disaster”.
 
Federal government says opposition is saying ‘white is black’ following Peter Dutton’s comments to News Corp on Paris climate agreement
 
Dutton’s energy policy will blow Australia’s greenhouse gas budget, reignite climate wars.
 
James Massola
Dutton’s promise to bring nuclear power to Australia could make or break his quest for the Lodge. Albanese’s counting on it.
 
The deal has sparked claims of hypocrisy as the PM and Chris Bowen have rejected nuclear power as being too expensive and not part of Labor’s plan.
 
Australian editorial
As Labor fails to deliver, voters will listen to what Dutton has to offer.
John Hewson
One of the most concerning elements that has remained unresolved by governments of both persuasions over the past decade has been the taxation of the mining industry, especially given the multibillion-dollar profits companies have made.
 
David Penberthy
Teslas are being shipped to Australia faster than anyone can buy them – or more accurately, faster than anyone wants to buy them.
 
Rex Patrick
Peter Dutton’s Coalition is abandoning Australia’s climate targets while new FOI data show Labor’s fossil fuel commitments are spin.
 
Charlie Lewis
Australia needs to annually reduce emissions by 17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent to meet its 2030 goal. In 2022-23, we increased emissions by 4 million tonnes.
 
Giles Parkinson
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has confirmed that his Coalition’s push for nuclear energy is inextricably linked with his party’s implacable denial of climate science.
 
Kane Thornton
It appears some people have learned absolutely nothing from 20 years of climate wars.
 
Victoria
The Victorian government’s announcement of the first new gas extraction project approved in a decade has been met with mixed reactions, with some saying gas is still necessary while others believe “enough damage has been done”.
 
The Allan government has begun consultation on a program to have power companies pay landowners for a “loss of visual amenity”.
 
With Facebook Marketplace and Airtasker offering easy solutions to waste management, authorities are urging due diligence to ensure rubbish is being disposed of the right way.
 
Green schemes designed to reduce emissions and encourage transition to renewables are quietly costing Victorians hard-earned dollars — and bills could blowout even further soon.
 
The state government has revived hopes for mass-transit links to Fishermans Bend by confirming a preferred route for a proposed new cross-city rail line.
 
New South Wales
People living in parts of Mullumbimby in the Byron Shire hinterland are being warned to avoid using groundwater or harvesting homegrown fruit and veggies after PFAS chemicals were detected near their fire station.
 
The Australian Turf Club will begin work on progressing a housing proposal for Rosehill, although plans for a new racecourse at Homebush have hit an environmental hurdle.
 
A group of intrepid UNSW students are hard at work on a project that could solve the world’s energy problems, but, as a joke among scientists goes, the technology always seems to be 30 years away.
 
ACT
A cut-and-cover tunnel would connect the light rail line between Commonwealth Avenue and State Circle in the latest plan to overcome the challenges of the preferred route.
 
The Environment Minister says she is “sick to death” of a false dichotomy being presented by Labor that pitched housing against environmental protection, hitting out at the government’s response to recommendations to protect the environment.
 
The Canberra Liberals have conceded a key part of their public transport alternative to a Woden light rail extension would be near impossible to build.
 
Queensland
This one-time Greens candidate, who is waging war on wind turbines, has found an unlikely ally – and a receptive audience – in Queensland’s coal country.
Marine scientists are encouraging us to recognise the major role the oceans play in our lives – even if we don’t live by the sea. But Australia’s most famous maritime asset, the Great Barrier Reef, is under threat like never before. But one strategy to help save the reef is an education project which aims to turn tourists into reef advocates.
 
South Australia
From a more efficient furnace to increased recycling, a South Australian glass plant is moving to cut its energy use to provide savings for itself and potential benefits to other users. And it’s qualified for a new efficiency scheme.
The Adelaide City Council is preparing to move its climate strategy to a “net zero ready” model with a vote next week to consider discontinuing carbon offset payments.
Tasmania
Even though we might be able to bring the thylacine back from extinction this science exhibition asks whether we should.
 
“Did we let it go extinct twice?” New Tasmanian tiger documentary explores the most credible eyewitness accounts. 
 
Western Australia
Dry paddocks, dead and dying trees, and empty water tanks — that’s the grim situation gripping Toodyay in Western Australia as regional towns pay the price of a long, dry summer.
 
New research has revealed the devastating impact Tropical Cyclone Ilsa had on bird populations on Bedout Island off WA’s Pilbara.
 
With the WA Liberals facing an uphill battle to regain relevance ahead of the state election next March, will their newly announced policy of tackling a backlog in the state’s environmental approvals process get them on their way?  
 
Sustainability
Giving a regular cash payment to the entire world population has the potential to increase global gross domestic product (GDP) by 130%, according to a new analysis. Researchers suggest that charging carbon emitters with an emission tax could help fund such basic income program while reducing environmental degradation.
 
Microplastics, pervasive in our daily lives, can now be found in nearly every part of the human body, raising concerns about potential health risks.
 
New research reveals that toxic air is accelerating puberty in girls, starting their periods at younger ages.
 
The Biden administration is determined to revive nuclear energy to meet climate goals, despite the industry’s history of cost overruns and delays.
 
Steve Hanley 
Okay, are you sitting down? If you happen to live in China, the base price for the BYD Qin L and Seal 06 is 99,800 yuan (USD$13,775). Holy EV disruption, Batman! If these cars ever came to the US, BYD would never be able to keep up with demand. Of course, they are not coming
 
Jeremy Rose
In an era of out of control climate change, the case for leaving gold in the ground is even stronger than that for coal.
 
Peter Sainsbury
Both the WHO and UN may be starting to take seriously the effects of climate change on health. A global plan to save 1,000 freshwater fish from extinction. Covid reverses life expectancy at birth.
 
Nature Conservation
The 2024 edition of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, a comprehensive analysis issued every two years, reveals a significant turning point. For the first time ever, aquaculture production has surpassed capture fisheries as the main source of aquatic animal products. This achievement offers a promising path towards tackling global hunger while safeguarding our oceans.
 
First Max Planck Center in Africa will study how interactions between species lead to coevolution and influence biodiversity
 
In a powerful collaboration led by over 160 NGOs, think tanks, and scientists across six continents, a global call is being made to the United Nations to remove farmed Atlantic salmon and other carnivorous fish from the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) list of “sustainable” aquaculture.
 
Scientists studying unregulated contaminants are calling for coordinated action from Ontario and federal governments to protect water and health in the Great Lakes region.
 
Aron L. Crowell and Judith Dax̱ootsú Ramos
Five hundred years ago, in a mountain-rimmed ocean fjord in southeast Alaska, Tlingit hunters armed with bone-tipped harpoons eased their canoes through chunks of floating ice, stalking seals near Sít Tlein (Hubbard) glacier. They must have glanced nervously up at the glacier’s looming, fractured face, aware that cascades of ice could thunder down and imperil the boats – and their lives. As they drew near, they would have asked the seals to give themselves as food for the people and talked to the spirit of Sít Tlein to release the animals from his care.
 
Congratulations to the following for King’s Birthday Honours for services to the environment and/or conservation. Apologies to any I may have missed
Ms Samantha Joy Mostyn
Emeritus Professor Suzanne Joan Hand, NSW
Dr Gillian Anne Hirth, VIC
Emeritus Professor Michael Walter Buxton, Macclesfield VIC
Ms Brianna Casey, Ryde NSW
Mr Philip Gregory Harrison, Cairns QLD
Mr Tim Low, QLD
Mrs Catherine Anne Money, Hawthorn VIC
Dr William James Pigott, Berry NSW
Dr Winston Frank Ponder, Chatswood NSW
Mr Cameron Guy Arnold, Northern Rivers NSW
Ms Mary Holt, Mount Wilson NSW
Ms Carolyn Elizabeth Ingvarson, Canterbury VIC
Mr Peter George Millington, NSW
Dr Mark Kevin O’Connor, O’Connor ACT
Dr Kathryn Minette Rodden, VIC
Dr William Robert Ryall, Birchgrove NSW
Ms Rona Evelyn Sakko, Bellevue Heights SA
Ms Kay Anne Taranto, Narre Warren VIC
Mr Cameron Guy Arnold, Northern Rivers NSW
Mrs Patrice Loretta O’Shea, Coomoora VIC

Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer

Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
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