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The Biden transition team is facing pressure not to hire people with fossil fuel ties, like Obama’s energy secretary Ernest Moniz

It was a deceptively low-key occasion on Capitol Hill: an older man in a dark suit, talking into a TV camera about an energy report.

According to his firm’s 362-page analysis, the fastest path to California’s climate goals included continuing to rely on fossil fuels. The analysis was funded by gas companies and groups related to them, but he wasn’t a lobbyist or industry consultant. Quite the opposite, he was the Obama administration’s well-respected energy secretary, Ernest Moniz.

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Other groups have reported higher protection, but the results are still seen as a triumph.

Former senior official warns of going back to the community unrest of the 70s and 80s over conservation issues

Changes to environment law planned by the Morrison government would spark a return to the “environmental confusion” of the 1970s and 1980s, when there was sustained community unrest over conservation issues, according to a former senior bureaucrat responsible for the legislation.

Gerard Early, now a director with Birdlife Australia, told a Senate inquiry that history suggested a plan to change environment laws to hand greater responsibility for development assessments to the states would just increase risk and uncertainty over proposals, not reduce them as intended.

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The species, mainly caught as bycatch but also prized by sports fishermen, is facing an alarming decline in numbers

Conservationists accused the EU and the US at negotiations of Atlantic fishing nations this week of blocking urgently needed plans to protect the world’s fastest shark species.

The strength and speed of the shortfin mako, which can swim up to 43mph, makes it a target for sports fishermen, particularly in the US, while its highly prized meat and fins have led to the shark being overfished globally – and dangerously so in the north Atlantic.

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Outgoing AEMO CEO Audrey Zibelman delivers a parting message to policymakers: We can't afford to just keep whinging about the state of energy policy.

The post Zibelman: We can’t just keep whinging about the state of energy policy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NSW energy minister Matt Kean tells summit he is focused on delivering cheaper electricity to households. Angus Taylor says he wants to export the most gas.

The post Matt Kean takes on Angus Taylor: “I’m not on the side of vested interests” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

This role leads a high-quality team of modellers, economists and expert policy analysts whose work is central to the reputation of the Commission.

Green Energy Markets is looking for someone to help with building and maintaining its databases and models which track and forecast large-scale renewable energy projects such as wind and solar farms, the rooftop solar market, the broader electricity market and energy efficiency.

In a bilateral agreement, the federal and Victorian governments will provide up to $200m in underwriting support for the Victoria to NSW Interconnector (VNI) West project.

The post New Victoria to NSW “electric highway” gets kick-along from federal and state funds appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The first trades in China’s national emissions trading scheme are likely to take place early next year, an advisor to the government said over the weekend, meaning the country is likely to miss its 2020 target start date for the market, though compliance obligations are still set to be backdated to 2019.

Denmark's mass mink cull after a coronavirus outbreak at farms leaves the industry in the spotlight.

UK chemical company will use Hyundai’s cells in its new Grenadier

Ineos and Korean carmaker Hyundai have agreed to work together on hydrogen fuel cells that will eventually power the British chemical company’s new off-road vehicles.

They will collaborate on developing a reliable supply of hydrogen in Europe, as well as using Hyundai’s fuel cells in Ineos’s vehicle, called the Grenadier.

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Australian PM says government’s technology roadmap meets the commitment of Paris agreement signatories on long-term emissions

Scott Morrison has told participants at the virtual G20 summit that safeguarding the planet is an “ongoing, long-term and collective responsibility” and nations “must pursue economic models that support growth and sustainability”.

With the G20 communique released after the weekend talks noting signatories to the Paris agreement had agreed to communicate their long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies by 2020, Morrison set up the government’s technology roadmap as fulfilling that criterion.

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A major new research paper reveals which species are most at risk from changing fire regimes around the world. Luke Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Centenary Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Annabel Smith, Lecturer in Wildlife Management, The University of Queensland Katherine Giljohann, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Melbourne Michael Clarke, Professor of Zoology, La Trobe University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Scientists and conservationists say mammal should be officially listed as nationally threatened species

The amount of platypus habitat in Australia has shrunk by 22% in 30 years and the animal should now be listed as a nationally threatened species, according to new research.

Scientists from the University of New South Wales, along with three of Australia’s largest environmental organisations – the Australian Conservation Foundation, WWF-Australia and Humane Society International Australia – have jointly nominated the platypus for an official listing as vulnerable under national environmental laws.

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Agl flags another big battery with up to four hours storage, this time in Victoria at the Loy Yang A brown coal generator.

The post AGL to add 200MW big battery with four hours storage at Loy Yang coal plant appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Queensland zinc refinery Sun Metals commits to 100 per cent renewables, and will reach 80 per cent by 2030 in what is considered a turning point for Australia.

The post “Tipping point”: Queensland zinc refinery commits to 100 pct renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Chang'e-5 probe is hoping to assist in better understanding the Moon's origin and formation.

Parents and grandparents are the most likely to try to minimise their environmental footprint

Young people are often dubbed “Generation Green” – millennials and teenagers championing climate action and environmental values, often with a well-aimed dig at older generations who have failed to prevent a climate catastrophe.

Yet it is their baby boomer parents and grandparents who are most likely to act in support of green issues, according to a national survey.

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Welcome to Australia, the land Down Under where the policies are Arse-End Up. We don't tax the burning of fossil fuels, we tax those trying not to.

The post Australia’s carbon twist: Taxing consumers who refuse to burn fossil fuels appeared first on RenewEconomy.