There is too much talk of the similarity of US and Australia. But our paths diverge on many issues, the pervasiveness of religious fundamentalists, gun control and an independent judiciary among them. We accept science and base policy on evidence, we have preferential voting based on close to equivalent electorates and we don’t have the nonsense peddled by Fox News. Long may we remain different.
From: Maelor Himbury <M.Himbury@acfonline.org.au>
Date: 9 September 2025 at 8:50:13 am GMT+10
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Sep 9
Date: 9 September 2025 at 8:50:13 am GMT+10
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Sep 9
Post of the Day
John Hawkins
This month, the Australian government will release its emissions-reduction target for 2035, likely to be between 65% and 75%. A 70% cut would mean reducing Australia’s emissions from about 440 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent down to 132 million tonnes.
On This Day
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Renewables are thriving, with Africa breaking solar energy records – but action is needed to plug financing gap
National
BHP has dumped plans for major renewable energy projects in the Pilbara, prompting concern the miner is backing away from emissions reduction goals.
“No-go” zones where development will “simply not be allowed” will be created in the overhaul of Australia’s environment laws, minister Murray Watt says. And to speed up the development process, areas will also be created where individual assessments and approvals will not be required.
The Australian Conservation Foundation’s Board has appointed former Greens leader Adam Bandt as the next CEO of the national environment group.
Shark nets were installed last week along the Northern Beaches, including at a nearby beach where a Sydney surfer was killed in an attack.
Australian solar glass manufacturer demonstrates a 66% increase in energy generation and significant reductions in production costs and complexity through testing of next-gen prototype.
He has the chic of a Silicon Valley tech bro and a clean energy pitch for investors, but will Gerard Barron’s deep-sea mining dream do more harm than good?
Australia’s comprehensive outline of the climate threat is overdue, but the outlook is already diabolical.
The former prime minister labelled himself a “climate agnostic” and urged his party to put aside the public tensions and infighting.
Unthinkable a decade ago, mass timber is one of Australia’s biggest opportunities to slash emissions
Michael Barnard
Mass timber is a proven path to decarbonise construction while speeding delivery and supporting regional manufacturing – and Australia has the ingredients to lead.
Victoria
A media squall engulfed the 677 megawatt (MW) Navarre wind project last week over the issue of land clearing, and the impact on the work of a long-established Landcare group, but the company behind the proposal says it’s already cut turbines from the design to mitigate the damage.
Northern and western suburbs locals will be asked to share the burden of increased aircraft noise.
New South Wales
Trees were planted almost 100 years ago at the entrance to a tiny New South Wales town to recognise locals who served in WWI, but residents say a proposed wind farm could “butcher” the living memorial.
The timber industry says, despite years of consultation, it has been ignored after 176,000 hectares of NSW state forest was ruled off-limits to loggers.
Premier Chris Minns has ruled out enshrining a “right to hunt” in controversial legislation, as the Herald shows the 23 sites across NSW where hunting will be permitted.
Ken Henry
Native forest logging is a sunset industry that has cost the NSW taxpayer about $200m over the past four years. But a national park could be worth $100m a year – and save koalas.
Caitlin Fitzsimmons
The state government has revealed its thinking behind declaring a 176,000-hectare reserve on the state’s North Coast, as local industry and unions express their fury.
SMH editorial
There are solid economic arguments behind the state government’s move to declare a new national park – provided the federal government also gets on board.
Queensland
Reef Traditional Owners are driving a major shift in how the Great Barrier Reef is governed, through a grassroots initiative known as ReefTO.
Concerns abandoned coal boreholes in Queensland and NSW could be emitting ‘equivalent of 65m cars’ worth of methane
Noel D. Preece
In Far North Queensland, one special winged mammal helps keep rainforests alive. The spectacled flying fox travels vast distances each night, pollinating flowers and spreading seeds far and wide.
Australian editorial
The triumphant return of the giant potato cod to a renowned Great Barrier Reef site tells a bigger story about nature’s resilience.
South Australia
They’re called ‘”forever chemicals” because of their extreme durability, but Adelaide researchers say they have developed a new method to combat PFAS.
South Australia’s Limestone Coast is home to lush terrain in Australia’s driest state, but its groundwater supplies are slowly in decline.
A 500-strong South Australian business has put a figure on its growing algal bloom losses in its submission to a federal inquiry, as a wave of job losses continues to hit the seafood industry.
Tasmania
Data shows in the first six months of this year, four dolphins died from becoming entangled in salmon farm enclosures in Tasmania’s southern waters.
Western Australia
The Australian government is facing international criticism for its refusal to accept a ruling by the UN Human Rights Committee in relation to a Native Title case.
New legislation aimed at fast-tracking priority energy and defence projects in Western Australia could put the environment at risk and lead to less transparent government, experts say.
As more Perth councils bring in a third bin for food and organic waste, some of the early adopters of the system in WA’s South West are just months away from potentially scrapping the system.
New legislation aimed at fast-tracking priority energy and defence projects in Western Australia could put the environment at risk and lead to less transparent government, experts say.
Sustainability
Plunging costs of battery storage are being achieved globally, with record-low contracts in Saudi Arabia for massive battery projects.
Scientists searching for fresh water have tapped massive reservoirs hiding in the last place on Earth people look for drinking water – under the sea off Cape Cod.
Shaban Sulejman
Plastic pollution is everywhere: in rivers and oceans, in the air and the mountains, even in our blood and vital organs. Most of the public attention has focused on the dangers of microplastics. These are fragments smaller than 5 millimetres.
Andrew Irvin
Space programs are launching more orbital objects every year – and some must come down. It’s time for legal regulation to manage our increasingly perilous Near Space zone and beyond
Michael Mann and Peter Hotez
From Covid misinformation to climate denialism, understanding the divergent paths of Australia and the US can help us fight the powerful forces that threaten our world
Maelor Himbury | Library Volunteer
Australian Conservation Foundation | www.acf.org.au
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