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Labor needs to move the debate beyond slogans and shouting by arguing that despite its environmental downsides, coal has a place

Having reached the self-evident conclusion that one can’t win government without the support of at least a handful of regional communities, Labor is now coming to terms with its use of the C-word.

With their opponents to their left and their right taking up the crude chant of “coal, coal, coal” – as shorthand for economic betrayal on the one side and environmental betrayal on the other – watching Labor field questions on climate is like watching a tightrope walker attempt to cross Niagara Falls.

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OSMI Australia cuts turbine numbers a second time for its proposed Delburn wind farm – a massive project that would overlook Victoria's now-defunct Hazelwood coal plant.

The post Wind farm planned for Victorian coal centre trims turbine numbers appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The head of the Environment Agency says new buildings should be made more resilient to flooding.

Oz Minerals reveals why it chose wind, solar and batteries over gas for its new $1 billion mining project.

The post Why an Australian mining giant chose wind and solar over gas for $1 billion project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Norwegian resources giant quits plans to drill for oil offshore from South Australia, after "holistic review" found the project “not commercially competitive” for the company.

The post Equinor ditches plan to drill for oil in Great Australian Bight appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Taylor claims Paris Agreement doesnt require Australia to decarbonise, as Morrison governments increasingly isolated in opposing net zero goals.

The post Australia already has a net zero emissions target, only the Morrison government denies it appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Spark Infrastructure says 100MW Bomen solar farm to begin exports soon, but cautious about new investments due to curtailment and grid congestion issues.

The post Bomen solar farm ready to go, but Spark cautious about new deals due to curtailment appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

The Alberta Court of Appeal sided with the province’s challenge of the federal carbon pricing policy on Monday, arguing that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government does not have the constitutional authority to implement its ‘backstop’ CO2 levy or large emitter programme on subnational jurisdictions.

Norwegian oil company announces it has scrapped its $200m plan to deepwater drill in Great Australian Bight Marine Park

Norwegian oil giant Equinor has abandoned plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight, declaring the controversial project did not make commercial sense.

The company said on Tuesday it had told federal, South Australian and local authorities it had decided to scrap the $200m project to deepwater drill in the Great Australian Bight Marine Park.

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From animals to humans, how did the deadly coronavirus make the leap? We look at the scientific evidence.

3D printing is meeting some of the ambitions touted when the technology emerged 20 years ago.

Rapid climate change forced urgent upgrade of ‘failsafe’ doomsday storage facility

The Arctic global seed vault has reached the milestone of having 1m varieties stored in its deep freeze. The new deposits are being made after unexpected flooding of its entrance tunnel in 2017 prompted an upgrade.

Seeds from 60,000 crop varieties from across the world are being placed in the vault to back up those held in other seed banks.

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Calls for food standards to be enshrined in law to avoid post-Brexit ‘betrayal’ of consumers

Farmers have hit back at suggestions the government will allow imports of chlorinated chicken and other low-standard farm produce in trade talks with the US, escalating the row over post-Brexit food standards.

Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, will call for rules on minimum standards for imports to be enshrined in law, and insist that other countries must trade with the UK “on our terms”, rather than seek to water down food rules.

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Britain contributed only 3% of continent’s 2019 green spending, report says

British companies are lagging far behind their European neighbours in low-carbon investment after contributing only 3% of the continent’s €124bn (£104.2bn) green spending last year.

A report has revealed that German-listed companies invested 11 times more in low-carbon investments such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and smart energy grids than UK firms.

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Germany has purchased more than 1 million carbon credits between 2014 and 2018 to offset the federal government’s emissions from business trips, according to a new report, with virtually all of the units coming from Africa or Asia and almost half from a single project type.

Fourteen US states asked a US District Court to reject a Department of Justice (DOJ) motion that seeks to declare the California-Quebec cap-and-trade linkage as unconstitutional.

The European Commission approved on Monday Romania’s plans to grant a €251 million emergency loan to state-owned utility CE Oltenia to help the struggling firm meet its EU ETS obligations.

Let’s imagine what it would be like if we all had electric cars now and some people were proposing a transition to petrol cars.

The post What if we proposed a transition from electric to petrol cars? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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