Around The Web

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

California carbon allowances (CCAs) began to recover this week after last week’s Progressive Conservative victory in Ontario sent prices downward, while on the east coast some atypical trading activity took place in the short interim between Wednesday’s RGGI auction and Friday’s result publication.

The prospect of a quick Ontario exit from the tripartite WCI cap-and-trade market could prove a headache for participants and stakeholders on both the primary and secondary markets, according to analysts speaking at a webinar on Thursday.

A £150 million ($199 mln) lawsuit against UK bank RBS brought by creditors over its alleged 2009 role in EU carbon trading tax fraud opened in London on Thursday.

In this Background Briefing investigation reporter Bronwyn Adcock speaks to community leaders in the city of Dubbo who are fed up with drug addicts having no other option than to be sent to jail.

A weak NEG will let the electricity sector off lightly, and put pressure on emissions reductions on to truckers, farmers and factories. Here's what needs to be done.

Consumers now trust energy retailers less than they do banks and insurers, thanks to soaring prices and confusing bills, so they are taking matters into their own hands, and looking to solar and storage.

AEMO and networks lobby release paper arguing for "orchestration" of rooftop solar and battery storage as Australia leads the world on distributed generation. But who gets to hold the baton?

A government proposal for weather radars to share frequencies with telecommunications providers has prompted fears for the accuracy of the Bureau of Meteorology's weather radar. Andrew Dowse, Director, Defence Research and Engagement, Edith Cowan University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Australian Environment Foundation has secured a former prime minister to speak. But what does it actually do?

Securing a former prime minister to speak at your organisation is no doubt a coup for many groups.

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy recently got Kevin Rudd. Australia’s Nelson Mandela Day committee has snaffled Julia Gillard for their next annual lecture.

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Burdekin, Fitzroy, Tully and Daintree rivers in Queensland pose greatest risk, researchers find

Four rivers are most responsible for polluting the Great Barrier Reef, according to research that scientists hope will help governments better target efforts to reduce damage to the reef from land use.

The Burdekin, Fitzroy, Tully and Daintree rivers in Queensland posed the greatest risk to the reef, the study led by The Nature Conservancy and the University of Queensland found.

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Research involving 62 species found mammals spent relatively less time being active during the day when humans were nearby

Human disturbance is turning mammals into night owls, with species becoming more nocturnal when people are around, research has revealed.

The study, encompassing 62 species from around the globe, found that when humans were nearby, mammals spent relatively less time being active during the day and were more active at night - even among those already classed as nocturnal.

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Late selling on Thursday prompted European carbon prices to close below €15 for the first time in two weeks, despite a bullish auction result.

Readers respond to Chris Packham’s recent observations on environmental destruction, and to the suggestion that one positive step would be for us to give up our pets

If we’ve normalised the ecological damage we are doing to our country, as Chris Packham suggests, it’s only because as individuals we feel helpless (Packham: ‘We are presiding over ecological apocalypse’, 11 June). As it is, the signs are extraordinary, and not just the absence of iconic species like butterflies, bees, frogs and hedgehogs. I have noticed a decline in the number (and size) of ticks, for example, and houseflies and greenflies – even dung flies – are actually rare this summer.

If we do not mourn their decline we are foolish – no flies means no maggots, which means no cleaning up of the dead badgers Packham mentions; no greenflies and ticks means less food for some species up the food chain, which is presumably why there are no birds on our feeders these days. It really does feel like an apocalypse, and yet the government still drags its feet over the poisons which have almost certainly caused it.
Jeremy Cushing
Exeter

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Experts say the findings could be life-changing for millions of patients.

Frogs trapped in amber for 99 million years give clues to lost world. The four fossils were found in Myanmar.

The words of the renowned physicist have been set to music by composer Vangelis.

Enbridge wants to build a new tar sands pipeline

Tar sands are the dirtiest fossil fuels. These are low-quality heavy tar-like oils that are mined from sand or rock. Much of the mining occurs in Alberta Canada, but it is also mined elsewhere, in lesser quantities.

Tar sands are the worst. Not only are they really hard to get out of the ground, requiring enormous amounts of energy; not only are they difficult to transport and to refine; not only are they more polluting than regular oils; they even have a by-product called ”petcoke” that’s used in power plants, but is dirtier than regular coal.

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EU lawmakers struck a provisional deal on a 2030 target of 32% renewables early Thursday but failed to reach agreement on an energy efficiency bill.

Circular economy could recycle more plastic and meet industry demand for raw materials, finds Green Alliance research

Plastic recycled in the UK could supply nearly three-quarters of domestic demand for products and packaging if the government took action to build the industry, a new report said on Thursday.

The UK consumes 3.3m tonnes of plastic annually, the report says, but exports two-thirds to be recycled. It is only able to recycle 9% domestically.

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