Latest environment news
Coalition MPs eye green groups' tax breaks
Tom Arup 3:40 PM Donations to major environment groups such as Greenpeace, the Wilderness Society and Friends of the Earth could be stripped of their tax deductible status under sweeping changes put forward by members of the Turnbull government.
Greens reveal their bargaining chip
![The Clean Energy Finance Corporation says there is a growing appetite from investors for renewable projects.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/l/i/g/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goly1j.11u395.png/1462404033770.jpg)
Peter Hannam 12:00 AM The Greens have ambitious plans around energy storage and will use budget negotiations to advance the latest breakthroughs in renewables.
'It's definitely unusually warm for this time of year'
![A surfer rides a wave at Manly Beach, seen from a blimp.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/l/u/l/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gom4dy.11u395.png/1462344477229.jpg)
Peter Hannam 4:47 PM There's no early sign of an end to what's beginning to feel like an endless summer for Sydney.
Government pledges $171m for the Great Barrier Reef
![The federal government will spend $171 million on ensuring water quality at the Great Barrier Reef.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/1/3/4/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gok7dm.11u395.png/1462280789511.jpg)
Nicole Hasham Budget confirms the independent Climate Change Authority established by Labor is not funded to operate beyond 2017.
'Hasty and ill-advised' CSIRO cuts: Senate report
![All at sea?: Australia's marine science flagship, RV Investigator.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/u/u/6/v/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.golbl1.11u395.png/1462287666851.jpg)
Peter Hannam CSIRO should halt the implementation of deep job cuts including to climate science programs until a "thorough review" of the process, a Senate committee investigating the agency found.
La Nina can't come fast enough
![Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad, India: temperatures have been scorching ahead of the monsoon.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/c/a/x/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gokkg2.11u395.png/1462271401308.jpg)
Peter Hannam It's the sort of anniversary you don't want to celebrate - a full year in which each month has set a new high mark for global temperatures.
Land clearing: 'This is not Queensland'
![Mark Speakman has promised "a wider range of checks and balances".](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/l/3/3/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gokuuw.11u395.png/1462287298304.jpg)
Sean Nicholls, Peter Hannam The NSW government has defended land-clearing laws that will give greater flexibility to farmers.
It's the next emancipation movement, says Party for the Animals leader
![Rights for animals: Marianne Thieme.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/g/v/f/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gogv5s.png/1462333594573.jpg)
Steve Jacobs 1:46 PM Public awareness of the legalised abuse of animals has resulted in the development of a fierce global movement to represent the interests of animals in politics.
The biggest threat of climate change in the water, or lack of it
![A girl carries drinking water on her head as she walks back to her village after collecting it from an almost dried up ...](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/l/q/m/q/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.golptd.png/1462374407346.jpg)
Chris Mooney A lack of water will knock down food production and economic growth in China, India, the Middle East, Africa and large population areas, a new report says.
'Massive' eagle snatched Australian police officer's adopted joey
![Constable Scott Mason with Cuejoe, a rescued joey.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/l/i/p/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goli6r.png/1462330144340.jpg)
Ben Guarino A young kangaroo named Cuejoe was hopping around under the watchful eye of police officer Scott Mason when the predator struck.
'Bombshell' finding that most land-clearing goes undetected
![Tough work: Environment Minister Mark Speakman says the burden of biodiversity protection is increasingly falling to farmers.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/6/g/i/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gojvkw.png/1462233361281.jpg)
Peter Hannam Farmers are clearing land six times faster than detected by the NSW government, and most offsets used to compensate for vegetation destruction merely preserve existing conservation areas, according to unpublished research by Philip Gibbons, a leading biodiversity expert.
'It will definitely feel more like autumn'
![It's going to feel a lot more like autumn - during the nights at least.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/h/z/f/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gojn62.png/1462191740948.jpg)
Peter Hannam Western Sydney had its coldest night since September as autumn-like conditions finally arrive in parts of the city.
Ringling circus elephants take final bows
![Elephant trainer Edward Healy makes one of the animals perform tricks during the opening of the Ringling Bros and Barnum ...](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/4/0/7/f/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gojyha.png/1462169424525.jpg)
Eleven Asian elephants from one of the United States' largest circus companies, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey, have performed for the last time before going into retirement two years ahead of schedule.
33 lions rescued from South American circuses arrive in South Africa
![A former circus lion peers from inside a cage during their arrival at OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg, ...](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/k/1/2/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gok15s.png/1462164388110.jpg)
Thirty-three lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia are heading to South Africa to live out the rest of their lives in a private sanctuary.
SUPER & FUNDS
How green is your super?
![Local Government Super in 2014 said it would exclude companies with a material exposure to ''high carbon-sensitive'' ...](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/j/g/c/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gohxfo.png/1462160696790.jpg)
John Collett Some of Australia's largest superannuation funds rank among the best in the world in protecting their members from the adverse effects of climate change.
Anger at NSW plans to cull 5000 brumbies in Snowy Mountains
![Pest or icon: Brumbies run free in the Snowy Mountains.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/y/6/p/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gojqkp.png/1462154449666.jpg)
Jonathan Pearlman The NSW government is planning a controversial cull of more than 5000 wild horses to effectively wipe out the Snowy Mountains brumbies, a breed descended from animals brought over by the British colonists.
Canberra lashed with gale force winds
![The National Capital Authority will remain responsible for detailed planning in designated areas, which include Lake ...](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/j/9/2/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goj8rf.png/1462366886119.jpg)
Clare Colley A severe storm warning for the ACT has been cancelled as high winds, caused by a cold front moving through southeastern NSW, ease.
Labor's missing renewables billion
![The outlook for Australia's support for renewable energy remains unclear.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/h/s/g/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goj775.png/1462120081362.jpg)
Peter Hannam Labor faces 'a litmus test' of its support of renewable energy after it emerged that a Shorten government would book $1 billion of the savings cut from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency by the Coalition.
Cash for cans: NSW MPs make video appeal
![Litter-reduction target: Polls show broad support for a container deposit scheme.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/x/u/k/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goix47.png/1462026892028.jpg)
Kirsty Needham With a decision due on Monday, two NSW government MPs have appeared in a video urging their cabinet colleagues to vote for a 10 cent "cash for containers" scheme.
Qld scientists make good ants go bad
![An ant shows an aggressive display.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/i/o/0/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goio7q.png/1462001275566.jpg)
Megan Dennis JCU scientists change ant brains to make aggressive ants more calm, and chilled-out ants cranky.
Australia's 'perilous' water future
![Weathering BoM: Rob Vertessy steps down as chief executive of the Bureau of Meteorology.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/x/7/s/q/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gohwu6.png/1462030963882.jpg)
Peter Hannam Drought and climate change have already had an impact, and worse is to come. ​​
Anglers worried about national park 4WD use
![Four-wheel-drive tracks near the banks of the Eucumbene River at a popular trout fishing spot.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/i/8/j/8/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goek8l.png/1461910978823.jpg)
Stephen Jeffery Erosion along the banks of the Eucumbene River caused by off-road vehicles could have a detrimental impact on trout numbers, according to anglers.
Cold fronts to break Sydney's warm spell
![Joggers on the move at Queens Park in Sydney on Friday.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/h/t/8/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goi0ke.png/1461911661212.jpg)
Peter Hannam Sydney is in for a relatively damp and dull weekend, briefly snapping the city's spell of sunny and dry mid-autumn days.
The thin blue line that is scaring scientists
![Water lies on part of the glacial ice sheet that covers about 80 per cent of Greenland.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/z/n/v/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gohx1z.png/1461914118050.jpg)
Peter Hannam In a year of startling data pointing to a warming world, a thin blue line in one closely watched chart was initially dismissed as just too abnormal to be accurate.
Baby echidna finds new mother as it recovers from chicken attack
![Hi mum: Taronga Wildlife Hospital supervisor Annabelle Sehlmeier with Bonsai, the baby echidna.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/h/t/n/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gohwg5.png/1461895085628.jpg)
A baby echidna is recovering after an encounter with a flock of chickens in a Newcastle backyard.
Canberra weather: what's ahead for winter
![Glenn Pure snapped this Nankeen Kestrel gazing out over Urambi Hill Reserve and Black Mountain Tower. He said: "The late ...](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/h/1/z/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.goh271.png/1461833408266.jpg)
Katie Burgess A warmer winter and more of the wet stuff is on the way.
Scare campaign over climate policy kicks off
![Cutting emissions is already an election issue before the formal hostilities have begun.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/d/c/w/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gofr6m.png/1461823689676.jpg)
Peter Hannam Bill Shorten is sending a clear signal he's willing to make climate a centrepiece of the 2016 election campaign.
The new threat to world's oceans
![Scientist Maria del Mar Palacios from James Cook University has discovered the vital role large predators play in ocean ...](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/f/5/d/q/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gogqd3.png/1461827485540.jpg)
Peter Hannam Scientists had been expecting this for decades. Now the evidence is emerging.
'A big thumping electricity tax'
![Tony Abbott has told his local constituents he still has a "fire in the belly".](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/y/f/v/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gogw9z.png/1462077956226.jpg)
Michael Koziol The battlelines have been drawn on climate change ahead of an imminent election campaign, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull labelling Labor's emissions trading scheme "effectively another tax" that would push up power prices.
33 lions rescued from circuses to be flown to new home in Africa
![One of the rescued circus lions looks from inside his cage on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/g/b/e/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gogzz4.png/1461818528747.jpg)
Thirty-three lions rescued from circuses in Peru and Colombia are heading to South Africa to live out the rest of their lives in a private sanctuary.
'Coal is going down': Greens target fossil fuel to save reef
![Coral bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/1/3/2/b/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gogxu5.png/1461818665624.jpg)
Peter Hannam The Greens would block new or expanded coal mines or coal seam gasfields, tax coal exports and channel funds back into efforts to restore health to the Great Barrier Reef.
'Not very good at politics': CSIRO chief
![CSIRO's climate programs in the spotlight.](/web/20160505023435im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/p/0/0/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gofx6y.png/1461798151056.jpg)
Peter Hannam CSIRO's embattled chief Larry Marshall stumbled through another Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.