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Small whale gets stuck at lock on Thames in south-west London
Rescuers are working to free what is believed to be a 3-4 metre-long minke whale trapped in Richmond lock
A small whale has been stranded along the River Thames in south-west London.
Hundreds gathered at Richmond lock and weir on Sunday evening after the creature, believed to be a minke whale, became stuck.
Continue reading...A great start, but still not enough: why Victoria's new climate target isn't as ambitious as it sounds
Investing in coal power would be an expensive mistake | Trent Zimmerman and Philip Dunne
The UK has enormous capacity to increase its energy supply from offshore wind. Australia too has vast potential for wind and solar power
Wherever you are on the planet, the last 12 months have been very difficult.
In seeking the strongest economic recovery from the pandemic, it is understandable that many on the centre-right in particular want to focus on boosting existing industries. But when it comes to the energy sources of the future, investing in coal power would be an expensive mistake, not just for the environment but for the economy too.
Continue reading...Coalition government spent just 16 cents on climate crisis out of every $100, analysis shows
Australian Conservation Foundation calls for reform to tackle Australia’s declining environment funding ahead of this year’s budget
The proportion of federal budget spending on environment and climate programs has fallen by nearly a third since the Coalition was elected eight years ago, according to a new conservation group analysis.
The Australian Conservation Foundation found that for every $100 spent in last year’s budget just 37 cents was spent protecting the environment and 16 cents on addressing the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Carbon Analyst & Project Specialist, XPRIZE Foundation – Los Angeles
Manager, Economic and Social Markets Innovations, Rainforest Alliance – Various Locations
Policy Associate, We Mean Business coalition – Europe or East Coast US/Canada
Researcher in Environmental Economics and Policy, FEEM – Milan
Corporate Sales Trader (Romania), Vertis – Warsaw/Budapest
Business Development Manager for Carbon Compliance Market (UK), Redshaw Advisors – London
The US restaurant industry is lacking in wages, not workers | Saru Jayaraman and Mark Bittman
The industry bemoans benefits, but workers don’t want jobs where pay is low and risks high, say Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, and author Mark Bittman
Among the things Americans say they’re looking forward to most when pandemic-related restrictions ends is “having dinner in a restaurant with friends”. But if the restaurant industry doesn’t support higher wages, there will be fewer restaurants for customers to return to.
There is an unprecedented shortage of job applicants for restaurant jobs. In a new survey this week by One Fair Wage of more than 2,800 workers, more than half (53%) reported that they are thinking about leaving restaurants. More than three-quarters of workers surveyed (76%) said they are leaving restaurants because of low wages and tips – by far the most important reason for leaving – and a slightly higher percentage (78%) said that the factor that would make them stay in restaurants is a “full, stable, livable wage”.
Continue reading...Chinese rocket debris crashes into Indian Ocean - state media
Parched Taiwan prays for rain as Sun Moon Lake is hit by drought
Taps are now shut off two days a week, and worse is to come unless action is taken on climate crisis
Taiwan’s Sun Moon Lake is so low that parts of it have dried and turned to grass. Jetties that normally float are sprawled awkwardly on dry land, and tour boats are crowded at the tail ends of pontoons still in the water.
Usually one of the island’s most famous tourist destinations, the lake has recently become a star of a different kind. Following the worst drought in 56 years, it is now famous for all the wrong reasons. These days, Instagram influencers photograph themselves posing in a dust-coloured, dinghy half-buried in a cracked and cratered lakebed.
Continue reading...Rise up, Cornwall, against London’s SUV drivers lusting for a second home | Catherine Bennett
As the longer-term psychological and social impacts of Covid begin to reveal themselves, one substantial group is already displaying a mental shift that could inflict lasting damage if only, mercifully, on other people. The pandemic did not merely change this demographic, it inspired in its members an identical quest: they must own property in Cornwall.
With infections subsiding, the fixation has only intensified: searches for property in Cornwall, at 5m in a month, have overtaken those for London. Estate agents struggle with the demand, maybe 60 inquiries per house, with places bought unseen, rival bids, the rental market also soaring beyond local means and ostensibly unalluring properties sold in hours or less. A local headline announces: “Port Isaac bungalow sells in just five minutes as Cornwall housing madness continues.” A bigger, £4.5m house in Polzeath, no matter that its beach is indelibly associated with a glistening David Cameron, secured an offer from buyers who’d only seen it online.
Continue reading...Ashes to ashes: Pentecostalism, the PM and the climate crisis
Scott Morrison’s recent speech to a Christian conference draws fresh attention to Pentecostal churches’ lack of climate evangelism
“We are called, all of us, for a time and for a season and God would have us use it wisely.”
Scott Morrison, Australia’s prime minister and a Pentecostal Christian, flew in on a taxpayer-funded plane to deliver those words to a church on the Gold Coast.
Continue reading...Putting Extinction Rebellion activists on trial isn’t in the public interest, so let’s stop | Peter Hain
After the recent acquittal of climate activists by a crown court jury, it’s clear public sentiment is on their side
In the face of resistance by juries, surely there is a strong case to halt all the pending trials of Extinction Rebellion activists? With nearly a thousand trials still waiting to be heard in the courts, six members of the group were recently acquitted at Southwark crown court in XR’s second trial by a jury.
They had been charged with criminal damage against the oil giant Shell, yet the jury decided that all six were not guilty, despite the judge ruling that only one had any kind of defence in law.
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