Latest green news
Bring out the champagne! Wait, not so fast: The Spectator Australia jumps the gun with cover
ROSE POWELL 5:40pm The Palmer United Party's last-minute manoeuvring to delay the passage of the carbon tax repeal bill through the senate this week didn't just take the Coalition by surprise.
BHP's Caroona coal mine fails Gateway tests
PETER HANNAM A major coal mine planned by BHP Billiton for north-west NSW would have "direct and significant impacts" on the productivity of rich local farmland, an independent panel has found.
Clearing the way for conflict over farm land use
NICOLE HASHAM The irony might escape the uninitiated, but Bronwyn Petrie says thick clumps of eucalypts thriving on her Tenterfield farm do not mean the land is in rude health.
Pacific warming doesn't meet El Nino threshold yet, US says
A weather-changing El Nino has yet to develop in the Pacific Ocean, according to government forecasters are who maintaining a "watch" initiated in March.
Coastal flooding has surged along US east coast: Reuters study
Coastal flooding along the densely populated Eastern Seaboard of the United States has surged in recent years, a Reuters analysis finds.
Sheep 'abuse' prompts RSPCA inquiry
Wool producers are "shocked and appalled" by graphic footage allegedly showing Australian shearers beating, kicking and stomping on sheep.
Devil in the detail sees Palmer party rule the day
Lisa Cox and Tom Arup Protection for business and a last minute push to toughen penalties for companies who do not pass on savings from axing the carbon tax were central to an extraordinarily day in Canberra that saw the Abbott government’s repeal plans once again frustrated.
As climate changes, world weather agency calls for new baseline
PETER HANNAM The World Meteorological Organisation says it’s time to shift climate baselines because global warming is increasingly setting a new “normal” for weather conditions.
Wintry blast headed for Sydney
PETER HANNAM A vigorous cold front will bringing a wintry blast to Sydney this afternoon and extend snow showers further across the state.
Carbon debate won't die with Senate vote
PETER HANNAM Prime Minister Tony Abbott will be hoping Thursday’s expected repeal of the carbon tax will leave the issue “dead, buried and cremated” much like a previous contested policy, WorkChoices.
Global warming requires more frequent rethink of 'normal' weather, WMO says
The baseline for "normal" weather used by everyone from farmers to governments to plan ahead needs to be updated more frequently to account for the big shifts caused by global warming, the UN's World Meteorological Organisation said on Wednesday.
Thredbo and Perisher planning for best weekend in years
HENRY BELOT Fresh snowfall on the Snowy Mountains overnight has led meteorologists and excited resort managers at Thredbo and Perisher to declare this weekend for skiing in many years.
Who wins, who loses if the carbon tax goes?
PETER HANNAM Assuming the government can get the key parts of its changes through, who stands to win and who stands to lose?
Australia can cut carbon emissions to zero and still grow, says report
TOM ARUP The carbon tax may be all but dead, but a global plan for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change has found Australia could overhaul its fossil fuel dependent energy supply and cut emissions to zero by 2050 without trashing its economy.
Climate-driven migration of tropical fish linked to underwater deforestation
LUCY CORMACK Tropical fish are the glimmering jewels in the depths of our oceans, but climate change is forcing their migration and threatening the forests of the sea.
Baby elephants captured, mistreated, to supply Thailand's tourism industry
LINDSAY MURDOCH Baby elephants are being illegally captured in horrific conditions to supply Thailand’s lucrative tourism industry, prompting calls for Thai authorities to tighten animal trafficking laws.
Deutsche Bank lends $US1 billion in Japan's solar gold rush
Chisaki Watanabe and Finbarr Flynn Deutsche Bank plans to lend about $US1 billion for Japanese solar projects, joining Goldman Sachs in funding cleaner energy as the government struggles to restart nuclear power plants after the Fukushima disaster.
UN climate proposal paves way for rich-poor discord
Alex Morales The United Nations left open the option for rich and poor nations to remain divided in their obligations on climate change, setting up a conflict over exactly who should cut greenhouse gases.
US, China ink coal, clean energy deals in climate accord
The United States and China sign eight partnership agreements to cut greenhouse gases, bringing the world's two biggest carbon emitters closer together on climate policy.
Half a million told to evacuate as typhoon Neoguri approaches Japan
Japan is bracing for one of its worst storms in years as typhoon Neoguri heads towards the southern Okinawa island chain, with the national weather agency issuing its highest alert and nearly half-a-million people urged to take shelter.
PM's solar song: stick it when the sun don't shine
Jock Cheetham Renewable energy costs money and the 'sun doesn't shine' at night. Abbott's renewable mantra needs a tune-up.
4000 launch class action over Queensland flood
LOUISE HALL More than 4000 residents and businesses affected by the devastating floods in Brisbane and Ipswich in January 2011 have launched legal action claiming engineers failed to properly operate the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.
Tony Abbott's government is 'recklessly endangering' the future on climate, says UK chief
PETER HANNAM Tony Abbott’s plan to axe the carbon price this week has come in for some withering criticism from his own side of politics, with a former head of the UK’s Conservative Party declaring it to be an “appalling” move that “recklessly” endangers the future.
How environmentalists drafted blueprint for Obama carbon emissions rule
In November 2010, three combatants gathered in a sleek office here to build a carbon emissions policy that they hoped to sell to the Obama administration.
Wild, chill winds set to lash Melbourne
CAROLINE ZIELINSKI Strong winds will batter most parts of Victoria before a cold front sets in at midnight, bringing with it rain and potential gusts of up to 100km/h.
Super typhoon Neoguri bears down on Japan
Super typhoon Neoguri is barrelling toward Japan's Okinawa islands, packing violent winds and torrential rains as officials warn residents to stay indoors.
Chill winds set to hit Melbourne
Caroline Zielinski Victorians are being told to brace for damaging winds on Tuesday, with a severe weather warning issued in central and western parts of the state.
Bad news about rising sea levels as quickening Antarctic winds lead to faster ice melt
PETER HANNAM Global sea levels may rise much faster than currently predicted because climate models have failed to account for the disruptive effects of strengthening westerly winds, Australian-led research has found.
Legal tweak may fast-track AGL Gloucester fracking
PETER HANNAM The Baird government has proposed opening a loophole that would allow energy giant AGL to frack coal seam gas wells within a few hundred metres of homes without requiring a full environment probe into the possible effects
Canberra limps through coldest morning of the year
HENRY BELOT Canberra has limped through the coldest morning of the year with temperatures dropping to -3.9 degrees around 5.40am.
No need for umbrellas as Sydney's sunny days roll on
PETER HANNAM Sydney’s long spell of crisp mornings, mild days and a lack of rain is set to run another week with the city now in the midst of its driest run since September.
Drones
China deploys drones to combat illegal polluters
Kari Paul Equipped with infrared cameras, the drones can detect illegal pollution from factories at night, allowing for round-the-clock inspection.
Coastal winds intensifying with climate change, study says
Tony Barboza Summer winds are intensifying along the west coasts of North and South America and southern Africa and climate change is a likely cause, a new study says.
Prominent US environmentalist Tom Steyer helped fund Maules Creek, other coal mines
To environmentalists across Australia, it is a baffling anachronism in an era of climate change: the construction of a Whitehaven's 1600-hectare mine at Maules Creek in New South Wales that will churn out carbon-laden coal for the next 30 years.
Sydney weather: Indian summer stretches into winter
AMY MCNEILAGE Don’t be deceived if you take a peek out the window at Sydney this week.
The 'death spiral' scaring electricity providers
PETER MARTIN Energy specialist Lucy Carter of the Grattan Institute outlined the horror scenario for suppliers.
Industry groups in 'conflict of interest' over consumer grants
PETER HANNAM Funds set aside to promote the interests of energy consumers are going to one of Australia’s largest business groups to campaign against renewable energy, a solar industry group says.
Government quiet on whaling ahead of Abe visit
ANDREW DARBY Labor says it will raise Antarctic whaling with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week, as the Abbott Government withholds any plan to broach the thorny issue.
Power bills: just putting the wind up them
TOM ARUP The federal government has launched a review of Australia’s renewable energy target and the Prime Minister said last week the scheme is causing electricity costs to soar. What impact is the target really having? Tom Arup takes a look.
Ross Garnaut calls on major parties to consider alternative emissions trading scheme
Gareth Hutchens, Lisa Cox Economist Ross Garnaut has asked the Abbott government to consider an alternative policy for emissions trading in a bid to save the country's climate change infrastructure.
ARENA board empties as axe looms
PETER HANNAM The Greens have accused the Abbott government of “destroying by stealth” the $3.2 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) by failing to renew the contracts of board members.
Respect climate science: Anglicans urge Tony Abbott to change tack on climate change policies
TOM ARUP The Anglican Church has told the Abbott government to change its approach to climate change, urging it to respect and base its policy on scientific evidence.
NSW logging review a farce, green groups say
NICOLE HASHAM A coalition of environment groups has quit a state government logging review in disgust, saying the process is “deeply flawed” and threatened species and streams are imperilled.
ACT will pay less to become green energy beacon
JOHN THISTLETON Funding the ACT's ambitious 90 per cent renewable energy target by 2020 will be lower as a result of repealing carbon price.
Cousteau's grandson spends a month under water
Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, has emerged from the deep after 31 days in an undersea laboratory.
Hit by slime, Caribbean corals could vanish even before climate change hits
Most coral reefs in the Caribbean could vanish in the next two decades, hit by the loss of fish and sea urchins that eat a slime of coral-smothering algae, a U.N.-backed study said.
Tech
Electronic devices waste $US80 billion of power a year, energy agency says
Mathew Carr The world's 14 billion television set-top boxes, printers, game consoles and other electronic devices waste $US80 billion of power a year due to inefficient technology, according to the International Energy Agency.
NASA's carbon dioxide-hunting telescope reaches orbit
An unmanned Delta 2 rocket blasted off from California on Wednesday, carrying a NASA science satellite to survey where carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas tied to climate change, is moving into and out of Earth's atmosphere, a NASA Television broadcast showe
Slow down, whales crossing
ANDREW DARBY These are the whales we'd rather not see. Their bodies are graphically scarred, even sliced apart - not by whalers but by ships in Australian waters.
Big savings from renewable energy target but consumers miss out
PETER HANNAM Wind energy forced down wholesale power prices by more than $3.2 billion between 2007 and 2012 but consumers enjoyed little of the savings, according to researchers at the University of Queensland.
Perth 'gas smell' saga: APA Group given warning
ALEISHA ORR The company responsible for an odorant leak earlier this year that produced a gas-like smell across much of Perth has been given a warning over the incident.
'Curiosity': the cat-killing bait to protect native species
Tom Arup and Nicky Phillips A lethal bait called "curiosity" designed to kill feral cats will be the initial focus of a new national commissioner to save threatened species.
Warm and wet weather makes for Canberra's hottest June since 2009
BEN WESTCOTT Canberra had a warm and wet start to winter this year, with rainy days and mild nights making it the ACT's hottest June since 2009.
El Nino-like conditions kick with annual temperature record smashed
PETER HANNAM Eastern Australia posted a record warm start to the year as more signs appear that an El Nino will form in the Pacific this year.
Late arrival of winter sets temperature records
PETER HANNAM The late arrival of winter has seen much of south-eastern Australia record an exceptionally mild June.
Do you discriminate against black dogs?
Katy Waldman Just when you were hoping there were no new ways to be racist, it turns out people may be racist against dogs. Black Dog Syndrome is the name shelter workers have given to the tendency of dark-furred pups to languish in kennels while their lighter-furred brethren get adopted.
Carbon has best quarter in six years amid EU permit-supply curbs
Mathew Carr European Union carbon permits had the biggest quarterly gain in six years as lawmakers consider permanent measures to curb a surplus that helped push prices to a record low.
Carbon price two years on: not a wrecking ball
Tom Arup and Lisa Cox Opinion Two years after the carbon tax came into force and market economists say the scheme has not been the ‘‘wrecking ball’’ once predicted by Prime Minister Tony Abbott. But what role it has had to date in cutting emissions is cloudy.
Clive Palmer denies division in Palmer United Party over renewable energy target
LISA COX Clive Palmer has scotched claims of division in his party over ongoing support for Australia's renewable energy target, as a group of Coalition backbenchers also lobby ministers for a change in the scheme.
Record warm start to year for Sydney, driest in a decade
PETER HANNAM Two powerful cold fronts in the past week have not been enough to halt Sydney’s exceptionally warm and dry start to 2014.
