Around The Web

Pruitt’s actions at the EPA have left a demoralized agency where staff fear their ability to protect public health is diminished

Scott Pruitt, who has finally stepped down as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency after a long-rumbling corruption scandal, rose to public prominence on the back of a series of increasingly outlandish ethical controversies.

Related: Scott Pruitt resigns: Trump's scandal-ridden EPA chief steps down

Continue reading...

Donald Trump announces Pruitt’s departure on Twitter and praises him for doing an ‘outstanding job’

• The biggest Trump resignations and firings – so far

Scott Pruitt, the hugely controversial administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has resigned.

Related: A scandal for all seasons: Scott Pruitt's ethics violations in full

Continue reading...

The EPA administrator has been embroiled in allegations of ethics violations for months.

On the golden jubilee of the discovery of Mungo Lady's 40,000-year-old remains, we can reflect on Aboriginal Australia's vast history, which predates the arrival of Homo sapiens in both Europe and America. Richard 'Bert' Roberts, Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), University of Wollongong Lynette Russell, Professor, Indigenous Studies and History, Monash University Michael Bird, ARC Laureate Fellow, JCU Distinguished Professor and Landscapes Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Remains of two or three people found near pride with an axe – commonly used to remove horn

At least two rhino poachers were eaten by lions on a South African game farm, according to the reserve’s owner.

A ranger taking guests on a safari drive at the Sibuya game reserve in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday afternoon discovered human remains near a pride of lions.

Continue reading...

The number of RGGI allowances held for compliance purposes declined in the first quarter of 2018 as the northeast US carbon market’s latest true-up deadline arrived March, according to a report by market monitor Potomac Economics.

The recycling industry is in crisis, yet for most Australians it’s out of mind beyond the rattle of the recycling bin pickups each week. So what does this crisis really look like? Guardian Australia visited three processing sites to find out what happens to bins once they leave the kerb

The recycling industry has been in crisis mode in Australia since January when China, which previously bought 50% of the recycling we collect, implemented a ban that cut out 99% of what we used to sell.

Recycling companies had relied on this export revenue stream to stay afloat – the amount of waste recycling we create exceeds the demand we have to buy and use within Australia. Without an outlet, some companies began stockpiling recycling or sending it straight to landfill.

Continue reading...

Researchers say sea levels could also rise by six metres or more even if 2 degree target of Paris accord met

Temperature rises as a result of global warming could eventually be double what has been projected by climate models, according to an international team of researchers from 17 countries.

Sea levels could also rise by six metres or more even if the world does meet the 2 degree target of the Paris accord.

Continue reading...

EU carbon prices will retest last month’s seven-year high by the end of the year before hitting €20 in 2020, according to a poll of analysts conducted by Carbon Pulse.

European carbon prices reached their highest level in a month on Thursday as continued rises in power spurred buying in anticipation of increased demand from utilities for the rest of the summer.

Alicia Hull on tidal energy being more efficient than nuclear, Liam O’Keeffe underlines its benefits, and Sue Roaf shines a light on solar

In his letter, Jim Waterton (30 June) protests too much. If tidal energy cannot be allowed without the possibility and costs of storage being certain, how is it that nuclear has been allowed when the costs and feasibility of storing the used fuel for countless lifetimes is equally unknown and likely to be much higher?

He describes tidal energy as intermittent, when it is regular and very suitable as a base power source. In contrast, he describes nuclear power as consistent when this is far from the truth. Quite apart from their hopeless record on delivery dates, rising costs and concern that they will work, they’re also offline from time to time. The station at Sizewell is offline for maintenance for five to six weeks every 18 months. By November last year there had been 16 planned outages. But there had also been unplanned outages when dangerous faults have been identified.

Continue reading...

Colombia will spend at least three years studying ways to impose an ETS in the country, a government official told Carbon Pulse on Thursday, dimming prospects of a rapid launch of emissions trading following lawmaker clearance last week.

The former head of environmental products trading at oil major BP has left to set up a US-based firm specialising in biofuels and forest carbon assets.

IUCN fears planet is entering sixth wave of extinctions with research from Australia revealing more risks to reptiles

More than 26,000 of the world’s species are now threatened, according to the latest red list assessment of the natural world, adding to fears the planet is entering a sixth wave of extinctions.

New research, particularly in Australia, has widened the scope of the annual stocktake, which is compiled by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and revealed the growing range of risks to flora and fauna.

Continue reading...

Controversial survey suggests oil platforms can act like offshore reefs and encourage wildlife.

A pied crow's hearty greeting at Knaresborough Castle in North Yorkshire has been captured on film by two visitors. Lisa and Mark Brooks heard the bird chattering inside the castle grounds and started filming.

'I found it absolutely hilarious. It must be a local, it has a proper Yorkshire accent. We were there for 15 minutes and it switched between saying ‘darling’ and ‘love’. Other people started coming over and were just in shock,' says Lisa Brooks. 

Crows are from the corvid family of birds, which are known for the ability to mimic human voices 

Continue reading...

To make a concession to the coal lobby would flout the technology-neutral foundation of the NEG and have much more serious implications than throwing in some money to boost the GST pool. Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Nutrient run-off from agriculture and urban sewage are likely to be to blame, scientists say

The coastal waters of the Baltic have been starved of oxygen to a level unseen in at least 1,500 years largely as a result of modern human activity, scientists say. Nutrient run-off from agriculture and urban sewage are thought to be to blame.

“Dead zones” – areas of sea, typically near the bottom, with a dearth of oxygen – are caused by a rise in nutrients in the water that boosts the growth of algae. When these organisms die and sink to the seafloor, bacteria set to work decomposing them, using up oxygen in the process.

Continue reading...

The wild banana that might save the world's banana crop may itself go extinct, scientists have revealed.

As unions warn of serious injuries, plans to take speed limits off the lines at pig plants are causing anxiety

Amputations, fractured fingers, second-degree burns and head trauma are just some of the serious injuries suffered by US meat plant workers every week, according to data seen by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

US meat workers are already three times more likely to suffer serious injury than the average American worker, and pork and beef workers nearly seven times more likely to suffer repetitive strain injuries. And some fear that plans to remove speed restrictions on pig processing lines – currently being debated by the government – will only make the work more difficult.

Continue reading...