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NZ changes ETS rules to give oil refinery millions of dollars worth of free CO2 permits
We can't let Trump roll back 50 years of environmental progress | Elizabeth Southerland
I worked for the EPA for 33 years. We can’t let this administration obliterate half a century of environmental progress
On the first Earth Day in 1970, millions of Americans took to the streets to demand clean air, water and land, and advocate for a healthier and more sustainable environment. By the end of the year, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded.
Related: EPA faces court over backing of Monsanto's controversial crop system
Continue reading...GHG removal credits clear above €30 in Finnish platform’s latest auction
This Earth Day, we must stop the fossil fuel money pipeline | Bill McKibben
Taking down the fossil fuel industry requires taking on the institutions that finance it. Even during a pandemic, this movement is gaining steam
1970 was a simpler time. (February was a simpler time too, but for a moment let’s think outside the pandemic bubble.)
Simpler because our environmental troubles could be easily seen. The air above our cities was filthy, and the water in our lakes and streams was gross. There was nothing subtle about it. In New York City, the environmental lawyer Albert Butzel described a permanently yellow horizon: “I not only saw the pollution, I wiped it off my windowsills.” Or consider the testimony of a city medical examiner: “The person who spent his life in the Adirondacks has nice pink lungs. The city dweller’s are black as coal.” You’ve probably heard of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River catching fire, but here’s how the former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller described the Hudson south of Albany: “One great septic tank that has been rendered nearly useless for water supply, for swimming, or to support the rich fish life that once abounded there.” Everything that people say about the air and water in China and India right now was said of America’s cities then.
Continue reading...Mystery bird illness investigated after German blue tit deaths
More than 11,000 cases of dead and sick birds reported in past fortnight
Thousands of blue tits have been found sick or dead in Germany, prompting an investigation by conservation groups and scientists.
More than 11,000 cases of dead and sick birds, mostly blue tits, have been reported to the German conservation group NABU in the past fortnight. Most of these are reported from the west of Germany.
The blue tit is found across Europe and is one of the most common visitors to UK gardens. They eat insects, caterpillars, seeds and nuts and can be spotted all year round in the UK, with the exception of some Scottish islands.
According to NABU, symptoms of the diseased birds include breathing problems, no longer taking food and making no attempt to escape when approached by people. The group is advising people to stop feeding or providing drinking troughs for birds to reduce the risk of transmission between them.
The first laboratory test results on the dead birds have found a bacterial infection (Suttonella ornithocola) that has been known in the UK since the 1990s and which affects birds similarly. The infection was reported in Germany in 2018. Further test results on birds are expected over the next few days.
The infection discovered causes pneumonia in tits – predominantly blue tits – and they become lethargic with fluffed-up plumage and breathing difficulties. There are no reports of this affecting any other animals apart from birds.
The urban wild: animals take to the streets amid lockdown – in pictures
Animals have started taking advantage of cities as they enter lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. From New Delhi, India to Buenos Aires, Argentina, groups of animals including deer and lemurs have started to come out to explore – in search of food or just to play
Continue reading...Climate change: 2019 was Europe's warmest year on record
Pandemic side-effects offer glimpse of alternative future on Earth Day 2020
Coronavirus has led to reduced pollution, re-emerging wildlife and plunging oil prices and shown the size of the task facing humanity
The skies are clearing of pollution, wildlife is returning to newly clear waters, a host of flights have been scrapped and crude oil is so worthless that the industry would have to pay you to take it off their hands – a few months ago, environmentalists could only dream of such a scenario as the 50th anniversary of Earth Day hove into view.
But this disorientingly green new reality is causing little cheer given the cause is the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged much of the world.
Continue reading...Climate strikes continue online: 'We want to keep the momentum going'
Activists hold mass video calls and share hashtags, and three-day livestream planned for Earth Day
The large crowds and brightly coloured placards of the school climate strikes became some of the defining images of 2019.
“There would be lots of chanting and the energy was always amazing,” says Dominique Palmer, a 20-year-old climate activist from London who has been involved with the strikes for more than a year. “Being there with everyone in that moment is truly an electrifying feeling. It’s very different now.”
Continue reading...Taylor to loosen Australia’s lax fuel standards to support oil sector
Angus Taylor announces plans to loosen Australia's already lax fuel standards in bid to help out oil industry hit by tumbling prices.
The post Taylor to loosen Australia’s lax fuel standards to support oil sector appeared first on RenewEconomy.
NSW amends planning laws to pave way for stand alone big battery projects
NSW legislative change paves way for big batteries to be built as stand alone systems, rather than as part of a wind or solar project.
The post NSW amends planning laws to pave way for stand alone big battery projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Risen Energy achieves strong results for 2019 with revenue increasing over 47%
Chinese PV leader Risen Energy Co., Ltd. (300118.SZ) disclosed its financial results for 2019 on the evening of April 17, 2020.
The post Risen Energy achieves strong results for 2019 with revenue increasing over 47% appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Turnbull says his biggest leadership failure was on climate change
Former PM says his biggest regret was a failure to secure meaningful climate policy, but that the Snowy 2.0 expansion is core to his legacy.
The post Turnbull says his biggest leadership failure was on climate change appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Solar Insiders Podcast: What drives Australians to install battery storage?
Sunwiz director Warwick Johnston on the uptake of battery storage by Australian homes. And we ask the question: Has Covid-19 killed crap solar?
The post Solar Insiders Podcast: What drives Australians to install battery storage? appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Renewables could add $A160 trillion to post Covid-19 economic recovery
Clean energy stimulus could help meet net zero emissions goals of Paris Agreement and generate more than $A159 trillion in benefits to global GDP above business-as-usual.
The post Renewables could add $A160 trillion to post Covid-19 economic recovery appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Lockdown is nothing new. We’ve been kept off the land for centuries | George Monbiot
When the coronavirus crisis ends, let’s demand a right to roam in cities, the countryside and on golf courses
In the name of freedom, we have been exposed, to a greater extent than any other European nation, to a deadly pandemic. In his speech in Greenwich on 3 February, Boris Johnson lambasted governments that had “panicked” about the coronavirus, inflicting “unnecessary economic damage”. His government, by contrast, would champion our right to “buy and sell freely among each other”.
But as always, the professed love of freedom among those who represent the interests of the rich in politics is highly selective. If the government valued freedom as much as it says it does, it would do everything in its power to maximise the liberties we can safely exercise, while protecting us from harm.
Continue reading...State of the climate: First quarter of 2020 is second warmest on record
Past 12 months were nearly tied for the warmest 12-month period on record, and near-record sea surface temperatures have driven extensive coral bleaching in southern hemisphere.
The post State of the climate: First quarter of 2020 is second warmest on record appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Australian rooftop solar continues to weather Covid-19 storm – at “very healthy levels”
Australia's rooftop solar market maintains "very healthy levels" of growth despite the uncertain start to 2020, with just the usual Easter lull over the past fortnight.
The post Australian rooftop solar continues to weather Covid-19 storm – at “very healthy levels” appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Nano-particle battery research could give EVs longer range and life
Team of Japanese researchers from Yokohama University develop new electrode for lithium-ion batteries that could see them cost less, deliver longer driving range for EVs, and even last longer.
The post Nano-particle battery research could give EVs longer range and life appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Will anyone ever find Shackleton's lost ship?
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