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Climate action wreckers who used to rant about real things – carbon pricing, a national energy guarantee – are spouting about policies that don’t even exist

Given Australian politics has transited back to climate change, stupid isn’t really a shock. Stupid is the default.

But even though stupid is to be expected – and stupid always gets supercharged when the Coalition fuses its climate change “debates” with internal leadership tension – I’m still gobsmacked that somehow, over the past 72 hours, we have managed to move to somewhere even dumber. Let me explain what I mean by this.

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Oil projects over the next decade would destroy hopes of meeting Paris climate goals, thinktank warns

The world’s state-owned fossil fuel companies are poised to invest about $1.9tn (£1.4tn) in the next decade in projects that would destroy any prospect of meeting the Paris agreement climate goals.

A large proportion of these investments are likely to become stranded assets, with at least $400bn unlikely to be profitable if the world sticks to its promises to hold global heating to less than 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels, according to a report from the Natural Resource Governance Institute thinktank.

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Boris Johnson told exploding wartime ordinance to clear way for windfarms can harm marine life

Joanna Lumley has urged Boris Johnson to stop the “needless” detonation of wartime bombs at sea because it can cause deafness and even death in vulnerable whales and dolphins.

In a letter to the prime minister and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, who is a conservationist and animal welfare campaigner, the actor describes underwater explosions used to clear ordinance ahead of windfarm construction in the UK as “truly shocking in scale”, with a “devastating impact” on marine mammals.

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A 200MW Victorian solar farm and battery storage proposal engaged in a landmark battle over land use lodges a revised planning application.

The post Solar and battery project embroiled in land use battle submits revised proposal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Media billionaire Kerry Stokes reportedly floats idea of repurposing Muja coal mine for a pumped hydro storage project - a solution to rehabilitation costs?

The post Could pumped hydro come to the rescue of failing coal mines? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Increasingly severe and unpredictable extreme weather events have knocked an extra $86m off Suncorp's half year accounts, prompting calls for more action on climate change.

The post From fire to ice: Suncorp gets the weather wrong again appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tesla sold a quarter of all EVs worldwide in 2020, and will likely hold the upper hand for 2021.

The post Tesla sold quarter of all global electric vehicle market in 2020 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Blue whales may be at a bigger risk than previously thought of getting entangled in fishing nets.

Mercury is a nasty toxin that harms humans and ecosystems. The gold and sugar-cane industries have tackled the problem, and it's time for coal to follow suit. Jenny Fisher, Associate Professor in Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong Peter Nelson, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

National party backbenchers set to sideline farmers in federal climate policies - a move key farming groups say is a huge mistake.

The post Nationals ready to sell out farmers for coal in push for zero carbon carve out appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia’s first dedicated solar panel recycling company has locked in plans to develop its first processing facility in South Australia.

The post Australia’s first solar panel recycling facility to be established in Adelaide appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Elon Musk offers $US100 million to fund innovation in technology that draws carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and stores it for at least 100 years.

The post Elon Musk pledges $100m for carbon removal competition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

UK's Crown Estate awards leases to six new offshore wind projects, with just under 8GW going to the likes of BP and Total, and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group.

The post Oil majors BP and Total, and Australia’s Macquarie win big in UK offshore wind appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Pipeline of battery storage projects across UK reaches 16.1GW.

The post Pipeline of UK battery storage projects soars past 16GW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

California regulator ARB should provide greater guidance and streamline its compliance offset issuance process, while also adopting new protocols, reducing the default invalidation period, and allowing for tradeable compliance limits, an expert group wrote Monday.

Voluntary emissions reduction (VER) values soared this week as more participants expressed interest in CORSIA-eligible credits following private sector efforts to scale up and standardise the voluntary carbon market (VCM).

Two additional participants opened RGGI CO2 Allowance Tracking System (COATS) accounts on Monday, aligning with a growing trend of existing regulated entities opening new accounts in the power sector carbon market, programme data showed.

A new report shows that COVID19 kicked coal in the gut. What will it take to truly bring it down?

The post Covid caused a coal-killing carbon crunch, and it could be permanent appeared first on RenewEconomy.

It isn't easy to make a strategy look bad. We're discovering just how far Australia's government had to go to do just that.

The post Angus Taylor’s own projections confirmed EVs were the best choice two months ago appeared first on RenewEconomy.