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Washington senators hold firm on transportation package link, legislative reauthorisation for LCFS bill
France’s ban on short flights should be a wake-up call for Britain | Leo Murray
Instead of stopping unnecessary air travel, the UK is considering measures that would make it cheaper
This week the French national assembly voted to ban domestic flights on routes that could be travelled via train in under two and a half hours. The new rule, which is the result of a French citizens’ climate convention established by Emmanuel Macron in response to the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement, will capture 12% of French domestic flights. Though it’s more moderate than the convention’s initial proposal, which sought to ban all domestic flights on routes with rail alternatives of less than four hours, this is the first time any major economy has prohibited domestic air travel for environmental reasons. It’s also far more drastic than anything the UK has done to curb flight emissions.
The huge blow the pandemic has dealt to the aviation industry could be an opportune moment to rethink the future of flights. Before Covid, air travellers rated around half of all flights as unnecessary. Apart from a few exceptions in particularly remote regions, domestic flights in small countries must be among the least necessary of all. Just over half a million flights were taken every year between London and Manchester before the pandemic, a journey that takes around two hours by train. Because so much of the pollution from any given flight takes place during take-off and landing cycles, the emissions produced per kilometre for each passenger on a domestic route are 70% higher than long haul flights – and six times higher than if the same journey was made by rail.
Continue reading...Rising US inflation pushes California cap-and-trade floor price expectations close to $19.00
Australia Market Roundup: Regulator issues 230k ACCUs as biodiversity pilot kicks off
Nasa scientists find unlikely tool as rising temperatures bleach corals: a phone app
Without the app, mapping reefs usually involves high amounts of data and low-quality photos, which leads to slow analysis
Less than 1% of the ocean floor consists of coral reefs. But more than one-quarter of marine animals live in them. With rising temperatures bleaching corals across oceans, Nasa scientists turn to an unlikely tool: a smartphone app.
A team of Nasa scientists in Silicon Valley has developed NeMO-Net, a game to classify corals, into a tool for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).
Continue reading...Sea levels are going to rise by at least 2ft. We can do something about it | Harold R Wanless
To avoid the grimmest outlook posed by warming oceans, we need to extract heat-trapping gases from the atmosphere
The climate emergency is bigger than many experts, elected officials, and activists realize. Humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions have overheated the Earth’s atmosphere, unleashing punishing heat waves, hurricanes, and other extreme weather – that much is widely understood.
The larger problem is that the overheated atmosphere has in turn overheated the oceans, assuring a catastrophic amount of future sea level rise.
Continue reading...Carbon tax can put dent in Asia-Pacific emissions, IMF says
Climate Check, from BBC Weather
Tighter ETS settings could make huge difference for China’s power emissions -IEA
Mammal Photographer of the Year award 2021 – in pictures
The shortlist, runner-up and overall winners from the Mammal Society’s 2021 photography competition, the theme of which was mammals during lockdown
Continue reading...Fukushima: Japan approves releasing wastewater into ocean
'A vigorous cold front': why it's been so cold this week, with more on the way
Can you drink milk and stay ethical? I’m desperate to work out how | Emma Beddington
Should we go for oat milk? Seaweed-fed cows? But then there’s the packaging to worry about … Every choice seems bad
I have a problem with milk. Well, multiple problems. Let me elaborate. (Are you excited?) Cow’s milk is, of course, bad news for the planet: three times worse in greenhouse emission terms than any plant milk. I have known for ages, but pretended not to, because tea is horrible with oat milk.
I do, however, seek out the least bad dairy. I get my milk from cows fed on seaweed, which reduces bovine belching: research has recently found this can cut methane emissions by up to 82%. So, great? Well. First, it comes in a plastic bottle, not a glass one. Worse, as a household we finish our two pints of seaweed milk precisely six days after our weekly delivery. If I ordered another two-pint bottle, most of it would end up down the sink. I have tried holding out, but I feel bad imposing my eco-guilt on my younger son, who has the smallest carbon footprint of any of us, and just wants milk on his cereal, so I end up buying a pint of Bad Milk from the corner shop. The household vegan is disgusted by dairy, but drinks a litre of oat milk a day delivered in packaging the council does not recycle.
Continue reading...New Zealand to force banks and insurers to disclose climate risks in world-first
NZ to introduce new mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements for financial services sector.
The post New Zealand to force banks and insurers to disclose climate risks in world-first appeared first on RenewEconomy.
AGL and Wärtsilä offer onsite solar and battery solutions to big energy users
AGL to offer onsite renewables and storage to its biggest energy users, signing deal with energy services provider Wärtsilä.
The post AGL and Wärtsilä offer onsite solar and battery solutions to big energy users appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Solar “switch-off” rule to extend to EV chargers, pool pumps and air con
Remote control: Network ability to switch off rooftop solar is to be extended to EV chargers, air conditioners, hot water and pool pumps.
The post Solar “switch-off” rule to extend to EV chargers, pool pumps and air con appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Taylor reportedly put pressure on Schott and Zibelman over gas plans
ABC Four Corners program says Taylor's office pressured Scott and Zibelman over their failure to embrace his pro-gas policy.
The post Taylor reportedly put pressure on Schott and Zibelman over gas plans appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Legumes research gets flexitarian pulses racing with farming guidance
Plant more bean-like crops in Europe and consider ‘healthy diet transition’ to beat climate crisis, say scientists
Adding the likes of peas, lentils, beans, and chickpeas to your diet, and farming more of them, could result in more nutritious and effective food production with large environmental benefits, scientists have found.
Researchers calculated a “nutritional density” unit for different types of crops. They found that swapping cereals for leguminous plants in European crop rotations provided more nutrient-rich produce for both animal and human consumption. Thanks to the way that legumes grow, it also reduced synthetic fertiliser use and pollution.
Continue reading...Endangered US rivers at grave risk from dams, mining and global heating
New report lays out dire situation facing the most imperiled rivers but environmental activists say situation is salvable
Dams, mining, factory farms and global heating are among the gravest threats facing America’s endangered rivers, according to a new report.
The Snake River in the Pacific north-west is ranked the most endangered US river of 2021, where salmon runs are on the brink of extinction because of four federal dams obstructing the free flow of water, according to American Rivers’ annual report.
Continue reading...Transmission should be generators’ business, if only market bodies allowed it
Rules and regulations that are relics of last century’s energy grid are getting in the way of infrastructure that could deliver new renewable generation into the system.
The post Transmission should be generators’ business, if only market bodies allowed it appeared first on RenewEconomy.