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Origin supports ACCC call to wind up the federal rooftop solar subsidy early, citing savings to consumers.

The post Origin CEO backs push to cut short rooftop solar rebate appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The photographer has been documenting life at the poles for years. He is determined to safeguard these fragile habitats

When he was four years old, Paul Nicklen’s family moved to Kimmirut on Baffin Island, northern Canada; a village so remote that supplies are delivered once a year, by boat. The Nicklens were one of only two non-Inuit families in the tiny community, and with no telephone, radio or TV, Paul’s childhood was spent on the ice, in the company of native fishermen and in awe of the visual majesty of the region. “I learned how to freeze,” he says. It is a skill that has helped him to become one of the world’s foremost photographers of polar wildlife.

“If you want to shoot the best photography of a particular ecosystem, you have to be comfortable wherever you are,” says Nicklen. “If that’s 150ft deep under the ice, you can’t be sitting there fighting for survival. You need to free up your mind.” Wearing a rebreather to avoid producing bubbles, he stays submerged for up to six hours, submitting himself to the same conditions inhabited by his favourite species. To Nicklen, the Arctic is not a forbidding, alien landscape, but a spiritual home: “I’m far more comfortable around bears than, say, on the streets of New York.”

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Who should be responsible for our nuclear waste?

Palm oil plantations continue to threaten this endangered species. Global standards for minimising consumption of palm oil varies wildly from country to country. Australian conservation groups have been pushing for legislation to mandate the labelling of palm oil on food ingredient lists for almost a decade. Currently, generic terms such as ‘vegetable oil’ or 'vegetable fats’ can be used instead. The EU enforced palm oil labelling in 2014 and is now trying to pass a ban on using palm oil in EU biofuels – a move the UK is seeking to block

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Victoria Labor government proposes rebates and zero interest loans to encourage another 650,000 homes to install another 2.6GW of rooftop solar.

The post Victoria Labor pledges $1.2 billion in rebates, loans for rooftop solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Sixty councils across Queensland and NSW to be handed $1m each and amount farmers can borrow in low-interest loans to double

The federal government will announce a $1.8bn funding boost to help farmers battling the worst drought in more than 50 years.

Sixty drought-affected councils across western Queensland and New South Wales will be handed $1m each to spend on anything from trucking in drinking water to building new community facilities.

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The future of our oceans depends on it.

RSPB boss warns of a devastating loss of wildlife if three new parliamentary bills do not rein in UK farming practices

Ministers may have only 12 months to rescue Britain’s degraded environment and to save its endangered birds and animals. That is the stark conclusion of Michael Clarke, chief executive of the RSPB, who has warned that parliamentary bills – to be published over the next year – will have to make crucial changes to the way our farms and fisheries are run if the wildlife and landscape of the nation are to be rescued from their dangerously depleted condition.

“We are on a cusp, and if we fail to act decisively we will pay the price in coming years,” Clarke told the Observer last week.

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Coffee cup levy could be brought in after thousands support action to reduce single-use plastic waste.

Government’s claims that it did extensive due diligence for funding to foundation don’t add up, says opposition

The Labor party says the government’s claims that it conducted extensive due diligence for a $443.8 m grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation are “clearly wrong”, following revelations the department of environment and energy warned there were “significant” risks the grant would delay on-the ground projects.

Documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws showed no mention by the environment and energy department of the record grant until 12 April, three days after a meeting between the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, and the foundation’s chairman, John Schubert.

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Life Matters gets weather obsessed and tours the Bureau of Meteorology, sleep deprivation impeding our decision making, how space weather affects us all, fly fishing and reflections on a life in Tasmania’s wilderness.

These curious coral reef inhabitants have evolved some remarkable adaptations to thrive in the underwater realm.

Survey shows 87% of residents object to coal seam gas.

Animal expert Dr Tim Cockerill talks us through the truth about spiders.

Size of consultation response could lead to ‘latte levy’ and other fiscal measures in budget

An unprecedented number of people have backed tough action against plastic waste in a government consultation that could pave the way for a series of fiscal measures in the autumn budget.

The government will say response is evidence that there is broad public support for reducing single-use plastic waste through measure such as a “latte levy” on coffee cups, similar to the plastic bag charge, and tax incentives for recycling.

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

Average prices in California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in July gained almost 10% to extend the previous month's record high, while regulator ARB published the latest formal rulemaking documents on programme amendments this week.

The critically endangered regent honey eater flies into the Hunter; we go trackside with 90-year-old Alf McLeod; meet Clyde the kelpie; and visit a vintage caravan rally.

Exclusive: Giving $444m dollars to small foundation could delay on-ground work, documents reveal

The government was warned that there was a “significant” risk that on-the-ground projects for the Great Barrier Reef could be delayed because of a $443.8m grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, documents reveal.

The documents, obtained by the Guardian under freedom of information laws, also show the environment department and the office of the environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, discussing a $5m “reef islands” grant, but do not contain any mention of the much larger grant until after the 9 April meeting where it was offered.

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Living on Mars time, landing nightmares and sometimes spreadsheets... a day in the life of a Nasa engineer.