Around The Web

Not everyone cares about climate change, but reproach won't change their minds

The Conversation - Wed, 2019-06-12 06:12
In the end, climate policy didn't swing the federal election, and for those on the losing side it can be tempting to play the blame game. But listening and respect are much better ways to move forward. Chloe Lucas, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Tasmania Adam Corner, Research Director, Climate Outreach & Honorary Research Fellow, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff University Aidan Davison, Associate Professor, University of Tasmania Peat Leith, Research Fellow, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
Categories: Around The Web

Exelon forced to buy Massachusetts GWSA allowances to cover obligations, report shows

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2019-06-12 03:15
Exelon was the only company to purchase Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) allowances last year to comply with Massachusetts’ in-state cap-and-trade programme, as the power utility's emissions outstripped its annual allocation from the scheme, according to a new report.
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Manitoba sets out five-year GHG target for provincial climate policies

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2019-06-12 03:13
The Manitoba government announced its 2018-2022 GHG reduction target on Tuesday for its provincially-administered carbon reduction policies, coming as a separate measurement from the projected climate impacts of the Canadian federal government’s ‘backstop’ CO2 pricing plan on the jurisdiction.
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Problem in the bagging area: the plastic-shaming scheme that went very, very wrong

The Guardian - Wed, 2019-06-12 02:41

Tired of people failing to bring in their own carrier bags, a Canadian store brought in a set with ‘embarrassing’ logos. There was just one problem

Name: Plastic shaming.

Age: Brand new in its current form.

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Who’s to blame for the plight of hen harriers? | Letters

The Guardian - Wed, 2019-06-12 02:20
Jonathan Wallace blames grouse moor managers, but Andrew Gilruth disagrees

The “brood management” scheme that is to be trialled on hen harriers nesting on grouse moors is not a serious conservation action but a measure to appease the people responsible for the hen harriers’ plight (Trial to take hen harrier chicks from nests splits bird experts, 7 June). The parlous state of the hen harrier population in England is entirely due to illegal persecution by grouse moor managers, and changing the species’ fortunes simply requires this persecution to stop.

I would take serious issue with the suggestion that what is being proposed is in any way equivalent to the captive rearing of curlew chicks from nests established next to runways on Ministry of Defence airfields. While the curlew chicks are at risk from lawful activities of the MoD, the only threat the hen harrier chicks are being protected from is criminal acts by gamekeepers.
Jonathan Wallace
Newcastle upon Tyne

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Atmospheric carbon levels are leaping. We can't afford more years like this

The Guardian - Wed, 2019-06-12 02:11

Each year of high emissions adds to the stock of carbon in the air, bringing us closer to catastrophe

One of the many ironies of the climate crisis is that as temperatures change and extreme weather becomes more common, we need more energy to maintain comfort. Hotter summers have driven an increase in power-hungry air conditioning and cooler temperatures in some places – which may be driven by the melting Arctic – raise demand for heating.

BP’s report that carbon emissions from energy use have risen at the fastest rate in nearly a decade reflects those forces, as well as continuing demand from a rising global population and expanding industries.

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Chester Zoo elephant calf's EEHV survival 'momentous'

BBC - Wed, 2019-06-12 02:11
The survival of a calf which had a "lethal" virus will help the global fight against it, a zoo says.
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The solar-power charged electric cars making money

BBC - Tue, 2019-06-11 22:53
The new cars being tried out in Porto Santo can sell solar power electricity back to the island grid.
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Guangdong first province to list China national ETS participants

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2019-06-11 22:20
The Guangdong department of ecology and environment has published a preliminary list of 90 power companies that qualify to participate in China’s nationwide cap-and-trade programme.
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How to design a superfast car... in the real world

BBC - Tue, 2019-06-11 21:36
Land Speed Record holder Andy Green explains why the design of a superfast car can't just be done in a computer.
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Secret slaughterhouse video reveals brutal treatment of pigs in Cambodia

The Guardian - Tue, 2019-06-11 21:08

Undercover footage shows workers among hundreds of pigs, clubbing animals before slitting their throats

Campaigners are calling for animal welfare reform in Cambodia after exclusive footage of an open-air slaughterhouse revealed the brutal treatment of pigs.

In the undercover video, taken by British animal rights campaigners Moving Animals, hundreds of the animals can be seen huddling together watching others being killed in close proximity.

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Greenpeace continues anti-drilling protest on BP oil rig in North Sea

The Guardian - Tue, 2019-06-11 21:02

Oil firm accused of hypocrisy by claiming it accepts Paris agreement while still drilling

Two more Greenpeace climate protesters have climbed onboard a North Sea oil rig the environmental campaign group has occupied since Sunday in a protest against increased drilling by BP.

The two activists climbed on to the rig in the Cromarty Firth, north of Inverness, at about 9pm on Monday, replacing the two campaigners who first boarded the rig on Sunday night.

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Australia issues 222k carbon credits, revokes two projects

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2019-06-11 20:53
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator on Tuesday issued almost 222,000 carbon credits, while two previously registered projects were revoked as they had failed to generate any offsets.
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Death by clubbing: the brutality of Thailand's pig slaughterhouses

The Guardian - Tue, 2019-06-11 20:47

Humane killing practices are virtually unknown in the majority of Thailand’s abattoirs, say campaigners, with millions of pigs dying in pain

All photographs by Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

Warning: this article includes some graphic images that some readers may find distressing

Photos of shirtless workers clubbing pigs with bats in a Thai slaughterhouse have prompted campaigners to call for wider training and monitoring of humane welfare practices.

Undercover images taken in the central Thailand abattoir and shared with the Guardian also shows workers stunning the animals on their eyes with what appear to be homemade stunning machines, contrary to equipment recommendations.

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Japan adopts climate strategy ahead of G20 meeting

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2019-06-11 20:30
Japan’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved the nation’s long-term climate strategy including a goal to go carbon neutral in the second half of the century, which it will present as it hosts the G20 this weekend.
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Yorkshire village faces petrochemical giant in anti-fracking fight

The Guardian - Tue, 2019-06-11 18:40

Ineos, owned by UK’s richest man, wants to overturn ban on well next to sheltered housing

A petrochemical company owned by Britain’s richest man is attempting to overrule a Yorkshire council to drill a shale gas well next to a sheltered housing development.

Residents in Woodsetts, Rotherham, have crowdfunded £10,000 to pay a lawyer to help them oppose the application by Ineos to carry out test core drilling on a field just outside the village.

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Nationals MP Keith Pitt backs expanded "big stick"

ABC Environment - Tue, 2019-06-11 18:35
The controversial bill would allow the Government to forcibly separate energy companies that refuse to lower their prices.
Categories: Around The Web

India outlines options for small-scale industry carbon market

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2019-06-11 17:55
India has decided to proceed with a voluntary carbon market for its small-scale industrial sector and has outlined options for what the programme might look like, while pausing plans to include the waste sector.
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Could the Cycle to Work scheme start an ebike revolution?

The Guardian - Tue, 2019-06-11 16:00

New guidance on £1,000 ‘cap’ means more expensive ebikes are available as part of scheme

Over the weekend, new guidance on the Cycle to Work scheme was announced by the Department for Transport (DfT), making it clear that ebikes are eligible for it. This clarification could encourage a new demographic on to two wheels, and provide huge benefits to disabled and elderly people.

The scheme is a complicated but well-used salary sacrifice scheme in which employees can get bikes, tax-free, via their employers. It starts with a year-long loan, which most people extend until the bike is worth so little they can “buy” it for a nominal sum or extend the hire for a percentage of the bike’s value. (After five or six years, HMRC considers a bike to have a negligible value).

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Sweet reward: Yunnan honey hunters – in pictures

The Guardian - Tue, 2019-06-11 16:00

Gathering wild cliff honey in China’s Yunnan province is not for the faint-hearted – honey hunters face swarms of bees and are stung repeatedly while suspended from rope ladders. Photographer Kevin Frayer joined them on their daredevil expedition

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