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Why is Joe Biden considering this man to help fight the climate crisis?
The Biden transition team is facing pressure not to hire people with fossil fuel ties, like Obama’s energy secretary Ernest Moniz
It was a deceptively low-key occasion on Capitol Hill: an older man in a dark suit, talking into a TV camera about an energy report.
According to his firm’s 362-page analysis, the fastest path to California’s climate goals included continuing to rely on fossil fuels. The analysis was funded by gas companies and groups related to them, but he wasn’t a lobbyist or industry consultant. Quite the opposite, he was the Obama administration’s well-respected energy secretary, Ernest Moniz.
Continue reading...Covid-19: Oxford University vaccine shows 70% protection
Changes to Australia's environment laws would risk return to 'confusion', inquiry told
Former senior official warns of going back to the community unrest of the 70s and 80s over conservation issues
Changes to environment law planned by the Morrison government would spark a return to the “environmental confusion” of the 1970s and 1980s, when there was sustained community unrest over conservation issues, according to a former senior bureaucrat responsible for the legislation.
Gerard Early, now a director with Birdlife Australia, told a Senate inquiry that history suggested a plan to change environment laws to hand greater responsibility for development assessments to the states would just increase risk and uncertainty over proposals, not reduce them as intended.
Continue reading...EU and US block plans to protect endangered shortfin mako sharks
The species, mainly caught as bycatch but also prized by sports fishermen, is facing an alarming decline in numbers
Conservationists accused the EU and the US at negotiations of Atlantic fishing nations this week of blocking urgently needed plans to protect the world’s fastest shark species.
The strength and speed of the shortfin mako, which can swim up to 43mph, makes it a target for sports fishermen, particularly in the US, while its highly prized meat and fins have led to the shark being overfished globally – and dangerously so in the north Atlantic.
Continue reading...Zibelman: We can’t just keep whinging about the state of energy policy
Outgoing AEMO CEO Audrey Zibelman delivers a parting message to policymakers: We can't afford to just keep whinging about the state of energy policy.
The post Zibelman: We can’t just keep whinging about the state of energy policy appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Matt Kean takes on Angus Taylor: “I’m not on the side of vested interests”
NSW energy minister Matt Kean tells summit he is focused on delivering cheaper electricity to households. Angus Taylor says he wants to export the most gas.
The post Matt Kean takes on Angus Taylor: “I’m not on the side of vested interests” appeared first on RenewEconomy.
General Manager, Sector Analysis, NZ Climate Change Commission – Wellington
Energy & Carbon Market Analyst, Green Energy Markets – Melbourne
New Victoria to NSW “electric highway” gets kick-along from federal and state funds
In a bilateral agreement, the federal and Victorian governments will provide up to $200m in underwriting support for the Victoria to NSW Interconnector (VNI) West project.
The post New Victoria to NSW “electric highway” gets kick-along from federal and state funds appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Trading in China ETS now tipped to begin early 2021
Fur industry faces uncertain future due to Covid
Ineos signs hydrogen fuel cell deal for its off-road vehicle
UK chemical company will use Hyundai’s cells in its new Grenadier
Ineos and Korean carmaker Hyundai have agreed to work together on hydrogen fuel cells that will eventually power the British chemical company’s new off-road vehicles.
They will collaborate on developing a reliable supply of hydrogen in Europe, as well as using Hyundai’s fuel cells in Ineos’s vehicle, called the Grenadier.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison tells G20 'practical pathways' will achieve cuts in emissions
Australian PM says government’s technology roadmap meets the commitment of Paris agreement signatories on long-term emissions
Scott Morrison has told participants at the virtual G20 summit that safeguarding the planet is an “ongoing, long-term and collective responsibility” and nations “must pursue economic models that support growth and sustainability”.
With the G20 communique released after the weekend talks noting signatories to the Paris agreement had agreed to communicate their long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies by 2020, Morrison set up the government’s technology roadmap as fulfilling that criterion.
Continue reading...Humans are changing fire patterns, and it's threatening 4,403 species with extinction
Australia's platypus habitat has shrunk 22% in 30 years, report says
Scientists and conservationists say mammal should be officially listed as nationally threatened species
The amount of platypus habitat in Australia has shrunk by 22% in 30 years and the animal should now be listed as a nationally threatened species, according to new research.
Scientists from the University of New South Wales, along with three of Australia’s largest environmental organisations – the Australian Conservation Foundation, WWF-Australia and Humane Society International Australia – have jointly nominated the platypus for an official listing as vulnerable under national environmental laws.
Continue reading...AGL to add 200MW big battery with four hours storage at Loy Yang coal plant
Agl flags another big battery with up to four hours storage, this time in Victoria at the Loy Yang A brown coal generator.
The post AGL to add 200MW big battery with four hours storage at Loy Yang coal plant appeared first on RenewEconomy.
“Tipping point”: Queensland zinc refinery commits to 100 pct renewables
Queensland zinc refinery Sun Metals commits to 100 per cent renewables, and will reach 80 per cent by 2030 in what is considered a turning point for Australia.
The post “Tipping point”: Queensland zinc refinery commits to 100 pct renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
China seeks to retrieve first Moon rocks since 1970s
Move over, millennials. Boomers are UK’s greenest generation
Parents and grandparents are the most likely to try to minimise their environmental footprint
Young people are often dubbed “Generation Green” – millennials and teenagers championing climate action and environmental values, often with a well-aimed dig at older generations who have failed to prevent a climate catastrophe.
Yet it is their baby boomer parents and grandparents who are most likely to act in support of green issues, according to a national survey.
Continue reading...Australia’s carbon twist: Taxing consumers who refuse to burn fossil fuels
Welcome to Australia, the land Down Under where the policies are Arse-End Up. We don't tax the burning of fossil fuels, we tax those trying not to.
The post Australia’s carbon twist: Taxing consumers who refuse to burn fossil fuels appeared first on RenewEconomy.