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Canada declares fish fraud crackdown but leaves out restaurants
New study released after Guardian Seascape investigation shows drop in seafood mislabelling, but campaigners argue it uses less strict methodology
Canada’s food safety authority has announced improved monitoring to tackle seafood fraud, after a recent Guardian Seascape analysis found fish mislabelling to be widespread. However,environmental campaigners are concerned samples taken for a key report behind the announcement did not include restaurants and food services and used a less accurate methodology.
In its latest report, released on 24 March, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said only 8% of the seafood it had sampled in the past two years was mislabelled, after new investments in food fraud reduction. It looked at 352 samples collected from domestic processors, importers and packaged fish at supermarkets in 2019 and 2020.
Continue reading...What is that weird, tingling feeling? Could it possibly be ... hope? | Joel Golby
The arrival of spring and the easing of lockdown has brought new optimism. Please don’t batter it into submission again
I went off spring for a while. When you’re a kid, spring is a time as thick and ripe with ritual as Halloween or Christmas – pancake day, then daffodils, becoming very obsessed with lambs being born for some reason, then Easter itself, where your school takes a brief trip to a local church (“That guy got murdered, look! That guy got murdered in the gothest way possible. Anyway, here’s some chocolate – ”), and then sunlight ripples through the cold and you forage in the garden for Easter eggs. But in adulthood my springtime has basically just been “finding out what wacky flavour of hot cross bun Aldi has invented this year” and “arguing with my housemates about why the fluted special edition mug they got with their Yorkie Easter egg does not deserve pride of place in a carefully curated mug cupboard that features many, many stouter and superior mugs”. The dazzle, it’s safe to say, was gone.
Related: Foreign holidays are out for Britons this year. But is that such a bad thing? | Gaby Hinsliff
Continue reading...California relocates mountain lions making a meal of endangered sheep
Drastic steps taken to protect the Sierra Nevada’s 600 bighorn sheep after another charismatic species developed a taste for them
In order to save one endangered species, California scientists are having to relocate another iconic creature that is, regrettably, eating it.
The California department of fish and wildlife is in the process of moving mountain lions over 100 miles away from struggling populations of bighorn sheep, which are unique to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The herbivores were first listed as endangered in 1999, when their population was estimated at only 125 individuals, according to researchers.
Continue reading...UK criticised for ignoring Paris climate goals in infrastructure decisions
Exclusive: scientists write to ministers and supreme court over recent ruling in Heathrow case
Prominent scientists and lawyers have said the UK government’s decision to ignore the Paris climate agreement when deciding on major infrastructure projects undermines its presidency of UN climate talks this year.
The experts – including the former Nasa scientist Jim Hansen, the former UK government chief scientist Sir David King and the economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs – have written to ministers and the supreme court about a recent ruling that the government need not take the UK’s obligations under the treaty into account when setting policy, made in a case concerning the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport.
Continue reading...We all learned to love nature in lockdown. Now let's turn that into practical action | Bella Lack
It’s time to come out of our bubbles and challenge the way the government is approaching the environmental crisis
I became an adult during the pandemic. Because of that, it was a pretty pitiful affair compared with the intoxication of what an 18th birthday is meant to be. Turning 18 is always going to be scary, but it is especially in a society that renders adulthood as something repellently formal.
To be an adult is to be civilised. Or so I’ve been taught. Wilderness is an antonym for civilisation. Since we see “civilised” as being a desirable trait, where does that put “wild”? We look at a soppy dog by a fireplace or a flock of compliant sheep and brand them domesticated, smug in our role as domesticator, not realising that humans are perhaps the most domesticated species of all, with 75% of young people spending more time indoors than prison inmates.
Continue reading...Bitcoin is a mouth hungry for fossil fuels
As Elon Musk demonstrates, the story of Bitcoin isn’t a sideshow to climate; it’s a central force that could drag down the accelerating pace of positive change.
The post Bitcoin is a mouth hungry for fossil fuels appeared first on RenewEconomy.
China prepares to give emissions trading scheme a legislative foundation
Calm skies: the healing power of birdsong – in pictures
Photographer Gary Calton’s pandemic wanderings around the North York Moors taught him how to be alone – and in harmony with the soothing music of nature
Continue reading...Request for expressions of interest
Rooftop solar export charge is more palatable than more solar curtailment
Blunt reality is that without the sort of export charges mooted by AEMC, we will end up with more zero export limits and more solar curtailment.
The post Rooftop solar export charge is more palatable than more solar curtailment appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Indonesia launches trial ETS for coal-fired power plants
Biden announces massive offshore wind plan as pressure mounts on Morrison
Biden administration announced huge boost into offshore wind power as it extends climate ambition summit invitations to 40 world leaders, including Morrison.
The post Biden announces massive offshore wind plan as pressure mounts on Morrison appeared first on RenewEconomy.
After the deluge: NSW's flood disaster victims begin clean-up – in pictures
More than a week after torrential rain hit New South Wales, communities are working to clean up what is left behind
Continue reading...US government announces plan to cut cost of solar by another 60 pct by 2030
US Department of Energy aims to lower the average cost of unsubsidised solar to 2 US cents per kilowatt-hour by 2030.
The post US government announces plan to cut cost of solar by another 60 pct by 2030 appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Neoen’s ambitious $636m solar and battery project in NSW gets planning green light
Massive $636 million solar and big battery project overcomes council objections to get green light from NSW planning authorities.
The post Neoen’s ambitious $636m solar and battery project in NSW gets planning green light appeared first on RenewEconomy.
“Unacceptable impacts:” AGL’s Crib Point gas import terminal rejected
AGL Energy's plan to build gas import terminal and reprocessing plant in Victoria's Western Port rejected due to "clear" and "unacceptable" environmental impacts.
The post “Unacceptable impacts:” AGL’s Crib Point gas import terminal rejected appeared first on RenewEconomy.
AGL mulls floating solar farm at Loy Yang, and electrothermal solar storage pilot
AGL flags a potential floating solar plant at Loy Yang and an electrothermal solar storage pilot at Liddell.
The post AGL mulls floating solar farm at Loy Yang, and electrothermal solar storage pilot appeared first on RenewEconomy.
CP Daily: Monday March 29, 2021
Video: Why don’t Coalition ministers visit wind and solar farms?
The Federal Coalition likes to boast that Australia leads the world in wind and solar. Curious then, that no ministers have attended an opening of these facilities. Must have been busy.
The post Video: Why don’t Coalition ministers visit wind and solar farms? appeared first on RenewEconomy.
AGL may mothball some remaining coal units to manage solar duck curve
Australia's biggest coal generator may mothball or "cycle" some remaining coal units to deal with solar duck curve and changing market conditions.
The post AGL may mothball some remaining coal units to manage solar duck curve appeared first on RenewEconomy.