Daily Links Oct 26

Post of the Day 

National road-user charges are needed – and most people are open to it, our research shows 

Hussein Dia et al 

The High Court ruled last week that Victoria’s road-user charge for electric vehicle (EV) drivers is unconstitutional. Because the court decided it’s an excise, only the Commonwealth can now impose such a tax. 

On This Day 

October 26 

Ecological Observance 

National Mule Day – USA 

Climate Change 

Green Climate Fund confirms FAO’s role in supporting countries’ access to climate action resources 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed the renewal of its accreditation by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a decision announced this Wednesday during the 37th meeting of the GCF Board. The reaccreditation reaffirms FAO’s unwavering dedication to advancing climate action through agrifood system transformations and supporting countries in addressing the challenges posed by climate change. 

Eighty percent of French worried about climate change: Report 

Published Wednesday, the “2023 report on the state of France” shows that all age groups share concern about climate change, with no major difference between people aged under 35 years and older people. 

Climate change is finally solved! We can just let nature take its course – cartoon 

First Dog on the Moon 

It seems if you experience climate disaster you are much more likely to believe in climate disaster 

National 

Industry calls for renewable energy certificates to be stamped with emissions data 

Clean Energy Investor Group calls for emissions data to be stamped on renewable energy certificates – to boost demand for new solar, wind and storage. 

The green energy multimillionaires taking over the Young Rich List [$] 

US-based investor and Young Rich List debutant Gregory Green made an estimated $100 million after selling his share of a landfill gas developer. 

Tech billionaire Cannon-Brookes backs climate jobs platform 

Terra.do was founded in 2020 and launched in Australia this week, with about 4500 clean energy jobs available across the country. 

Beyond Juukan Gorge: how First Nations people are taking charge of clean energy projects on their land 

Lily O’Neill et al 

Many of the big wind and solar farms planned to help Australia achieve net zero emissions by 2050 will be built on the lands and waters of First Nations peoples. More than half of the projects that will extract critical minerals to drive the global clean energy transition overlap with Indigenous-held lands. 

Governments choking EV use by putting cars first, services later 

Duncan Graham 

The High Court striking down Victoria’s electric vehicle levy shows policies around the technology are a dog’s breakfast. 

The Murray Darling basin plan nonsense: trouble across political waters 

David Leyonhjelm 

Of the 2,750 GL a year, SA is guaranteed a minimum of 1,850. This is a lot more than it needs: according to the SA EPA, SA’s total water consumption is just 1,000 GL per year. 

Snowy ‘reset’ can’t hide profligate waste of taxpayer money [$] 

Ted Woodley  

The all-up cost for Snowy 2.0 and its transmission connections is now approaching $25bn – an absurd amount for a 2200MW water battery. 

Snowy 2.0 a gold standard for stuff ups 

Canberra Times editorial 

Although SnowyHydro chief Dennis Barnes seemed genuinely sincere when he told Senate estimates this week SnowyHydro 2.0 would be operating by 2028 at a total cost of $12 billion few punters would put money on that. 

Critical minerals plan less work in progress than idea in germination [$] 

Jennifer Hewett 

The Albanese government is keen to promote critical minerals and US cooperation as key to the energy transition and green manufacturing jobs. 

Child’s play: how we can boost our young people’s happiness 

Helen Connolly  

The importance of free play and gathering spaces on the mental and physical health of tweens and teens can’t be overstated and the community and government should rethink attitudes and policy to encourage them. 

Victoria 

Premier to reveal 10-year strategic plan for revived SEC 

Victorian manufacturers and schools will be able to buy renewable energy directly from the resurrected State Electricity Commission. 

Manufacturers and schools to buy energy directly from revived SEC 

Victorian manufacturers and schools will be able to buy renewable energy directly from the resurrected State Electricity Commission. 

The Melbourne regions set to grow up to 141 per cent as population booms 

Three fast-growing areas of outer Melbourne will have to take in more than 840,000 new residents while middle-ring suburb populations stall, new projections show. 

Airport Rail Link review months overdue [$] 

A review of federally-funded projects, including the mothballed Melbourne Airport Rail Link, is yet to be released, raising concerns the rail project could be stalled for years. 

Will drivers who paid Victoria’s electric vehicle tax be able to get their money back? 

Eu-Jin Teo 

Electric vehicle owners in Victoria couldn’t be blamed for wondering if they might get their money back after the High Court found the state’s zero and low-emission vehicle road-user charge to be unconstitutional. 

New South Wales 

Contamination from a RAAF base was supposed to reach this city’s water supply in the 2070s. It’s already almost there 

Chemical run-off from the Forest Hill RAAF base has been found just 650 metres from Wagga Wagga’s water supply, despite recent studies by Defence claiming it would take at least 50 years to reach the bores. 

Minns blasts through red tape to get Sydney going sky high [$] 

A strip of tired shopfronts in North Parramatta is set to make way for 30-storey apartment blocks and hundreds of new homes, with the Minns government seizing control of local planning rules to increase density limits near Sydney’s second CBD. 

Sydney should follow NYC’s lead in bus network overhaul 

Sydney’s bus network should follow the lead of cities like New York to support higher-density housing and a growing population. 

Often blamed for allergies, Sydney’s maligned plane trees are on the way out — but for another reason 

A Sydney arborist says London plane trees make for a great urban tree, but a warming climate has forced planners to find a more resilient species. 

The $5b ‘repair job’ that is reviving Circular Quay [$] 

Robert Harley 

A suite of projects – including an office tower, luxury apartments and the new Waldorf Astoria – is breathing new life into Sydney’s city waterfront hub. 

Hell hath no fury like my cancelled bus. Time for Minns to get on board 

Alexandra Smith  

Labor won by convincing enough voters that the Coalition had left NSW with a host of headaches. But as Sarah Mitchell pointedly reminded Prue Car – and Labor – this week: “It’s your turn now.” 

ACT 

Right to a healthy environment to be enshrined in human rights act [$] 

The ACT’s Human Rights Commission will be able to take complaints about environmental related concerns under new laws proposed in the territory. 

Queensland 

Battle to control ‘wild beast’ bushfire continues 

Firefighters in southern Queensland continue to battle a blaze described as a “wild beast” that has claimed one life and destroyed at least five homes. 

Queensland coal mines at the centre of corporate showdown 

John McCarthy 

Whitehaven has dragged the takeovers panel into a dispute with an activist investor claiming it had misled shareholders about its stake in the company. 

Tasmania 

Consultation over controversial fire reforms extended following backlash [$] 

The state government has extended by a month the consultation period over its draft fire reform bill, in order to give the community more time for feedback. 

Decision to investigate future of salmon ‘delayed’ [$] 

The Federal Government is reviewing whether they will open an investigation to change a decision that allowed the expansion of salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour – and they’re making the industry and interested groups wait for the result. 

Northern Territory  

NT Chief Minister challenged on claims that Middle Arm is ‘clean energy investment’ 

Northern Territory Labor wants to build a 1500 hectare gas processing facility which scientists and climate activists say will substantially increase the NT’s greenhouse gas emissions.  

Santos says independent research shows no underwater cultural sites along Barossa pipe route [$] 

Oil and gas giant Santos has hit back at claims its Barossa gas pipeline would interfere with underwater Indigenous heritage sites with independent research it says shows there are no cultural heritage sites along its proposed pipeline route, that a group of Tiwi Islanders applied to the Federal Government to halt this week. 

Western Australia 

Firefighters probe yet another fire in Kings Park as bushland devastation revealed in stark images 

Authorities work to establish whether any valuable flora in Perth’s Kings Park has been lost after a number of blazes ripped through it yesterday, which police believe were deliberately lit. 

Critical minerals projects ‘at risk from Labor environment plan’ [$] 

Investment and jobs in Western Australia’s resources sector are at risk from the Albanese government’s environmental protection laws, industry warns. 

Spread too thin: What we’re losing as Perth sprawls 

Mark Naglazs 

The house-and-land package is still at the heart of the Australian dream, but what are we missing out on in this mind-boggling suburban expansion? 

Sustainability 

EPA promised to address environmental racism. Then states pushed back 

Communities of color bear the brunt of U.S. pollution, write Yvette Cabrera, Jamie Smith Hopkins and Grey Moran for The Center for Public Integrity. Conservatives are targeting the civil-rights law that could change that. 

The surprising ecological benefits of sheep grazing for lawn care 

Lamb Mowers, billed as the country’s only sheep-led lawn care service, is munching its way to success. 

Carbon footprints for drugs are hard to calculate 

Pinpointing the sources of carbon emissions for drugs is tough, presenting a challenge as companies seek to reduce their footprints. 

Why native women’s voices are crucial to saving Brazil’s forests 

Cristiane Julião — a member of the Pankararu Indigenous group and co-founder of the National Articulation of Ancestral Warriors Women — challenges the deeply rooted sexism that hinders environmental protection in Brazil. “The state needs to listen to women,” she insists. 

Nature Conservation 

Hope endangered corncrake can be saved as numbers increase in Scotland 

Conservationists optimistic turning point reached in effort to prevent red-listed bird from extinction in Britain 

Scientists discover why dozens of endangered elephants dropped dead 

In 2020, 350 elephants mysteriously died in Botswana, with a further 35 dying in similar circumstances in Zimbabwe. Now scientists think they may have found the reason why 

Can we save the redwoods by helping them move? 

The largest trees on the planet can’t easily ‘migrate’ — but in a warming world, some humans are helping them try to find new homes. 

Life on Our Planet: evolution experts review this ‘hugely entertaining’ Netflix docuseries 

Tim Rock and Matthew Wills 

Netflix’s beautifully realised historical biography of life certainly has ambition. Perhaps 4 billion species have existed in as many years of Earth’s history: an embarrassment of riches for eight 50-minute episodes.