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Queensland, Victoria and the ACT were quite right to reject the proposed National Energy Guarantee in its present form. To do so now would have been undeserved reward for the destructive actions of former prime minister Tony Abbott.

Several state ministers on Friday refused to back the federal government’s proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG), choosing instead to await the outcome of next week’s Coalition party room meeting in the hope that some of their major concerns about the scheme might be addressed there.

Global and Australian car and truck manufacturers call for government support to nurture low and zero emissions vehicles and infrastructure.

State energy minister says Victoria and "other jurisdictions" have held off on approval of the NEG prior to its "uncertain passage" through the Coalition party room.

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

Activity in the California carbon market picked up this week as market participants looked ahead to next week’s quarterly auction, while RGGI prices fell as key member states advanced clean energy policies.

Primate brain study reveals a "wiring" key to our ability to talk.

As energy ministers head into a crucial meeting with their federal counterpart Josh Frydenberg, our state-by-state guide compares their various stances on the future of the National Energy Guarantee. Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A federal court said the agency must prohibit the use of chlorpyrifos after seven states and DC backed the case against it

A federal court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban a widely used pesticide linked to learning disabilities in children.

The decision said the EPA must prohibit the use of the pesticide, known as chlorpyrifos, within 60 days.

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Cheap, flexible solar panels could become a reality as organics achieve the same power efficiency as silicon.

Ordinary Australians are making a difference for teams that rely on raw data such as the University of Adelaide’s recent project on the monotremes

Not everyone would be delighted to receive 150 echidna poo samples in the post but Tahlia Perry was thrilled.

The PhD researcher is part of the University of Adelaide’s Grutzner Lab team studying the molecular biology of echidnas and the best way to collect the monotremes’ hormones is by testing their scats. In February, Guardian Australia put a call out for citizen scientists to participate in the project by downloading the echidna CSI free app and sending through their scat samples – and the team has been inundated. Perry says around 4,000 people have downloaded the app and there have been approximately 2,400 echidna sightings across the country.

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A mother whale is still carrying her baby's body more than two weeks after it died.

European carbon prices nudged back above €17.50 on Thursday, rising after a stronger auction to buck a three-day slide and push prices back towards their recent seven-year high.

Scientists show innate ability is not the explanation for men navigating better than women.

Danish utility Orsted reported an 11% dip in its bioenergy and thermal power generation over H1, though any EUA demand decrease is likely to be limited as the company’s move away from fossil fuels continues.

Germany has launched a tender to procure nearly 300,000 offsets as part of its commitment to neutralise the GHG emissions generated from the business trips of federal government officials.

A pair have been spotted breeding at the Bedfordshire site for the first time in 45 years.

More than 1,000 firefighters are battling blazes for a seventh day in the popular tourist area in Portugal. Extremely high temperatures have been blamed for sparking the wildfires

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The world’s largest fish roams less than previously thought, new research has found. Using a ‘biological passport’, results show that whale sharks in the western Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf rarely swim more than a few hundred kilometres from their feeding grounds, making local action vital to their conservation

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Spot NZU prices lifted on Thursday to set a fresh record high, the twelfth over the past two months, as available supply remained scarce and some emitters bet on impending clarity on government plans to amend the ETS.