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My mother, Pat Callaghan, was a champion of urban wildlife who was dedicated to making sure people in towns and cities had access to green spaces. With the help of many others she ran “urban safaris” to demonstrate that the environment is not just a matter for rural areas. As chair of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (1995-2007) she also helped to promote and shape new ideas about conservation.

Pat, who has died aged 86, had a background in radio broadcasting – she worked on the Countrywise programme for BBC Radio Stoke – and her communication skills allowed her to forge many partnerships. She worked tirelessly to foster links between environmental projects, agricultural organisations and grassroots community groups. She also helped to establish the National Forest, a project to plant trees across 200 square miles of central England.

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Investigation uncovers about a dozen intensive beef units, despite assurances that US-style practices would not happen here

Thousands of British cattle reared for supermarket beef are being fattened in industrial-scale units where livestock have little or no access to pasture.

Research by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has established that the UK is now home to a number of industrial-scale fattening units with herds of up to 3,000 cattle at a time being held in grassless pens for extended periods rather than being grazed or barn-reared.

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Japan’s plans to add 40% to its coal-fired power generation capacity will push the nation off track to meet its already inadequate Paris target unless it considers a raft of new energy policies such as carbon pricing, a report said Tuesday.

Even though smart climate policies could save tens of trillions of dollars

Last week, the Washington Post obtained a White House internal memo that debated how the Trump administration should handle federal climate science reports.

The memo presented three options without endorsing any of them: conducting a “red team/blue team” exercise to “highlight uncertainties in climate science”; more formally reviewing the science under the Administrative Procedure Act; or deciding to just “ignore, and not seek to characterize or question, the science being conducted by Federal agencies and outside entities.”

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Sophisticated developers might achieve as much as 20% above the average price in next week’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) auction, even as the Clean Energy Regulator has announced it will spend less than in previous sales.

South Korea will auction off 5.5 million carbon permits from its market stability reserve on June 1, the government announced Tuesday, only 40% of the total volume available in the reserve.

The whale was found entangled in netting off the Sydney beach on Tuesday afternoon. Passengers on a whale-watching cruise  spent several hours trying to help, and succeeded in cutting some of the netting before the operation had to be abandoned at nightfall

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Strong winds from Storm Alberto have caused a small waterspout in a swimming pool in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Strong winds from Storm Alberto have caused a small waterspout in a swimming pool in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Queensland's new land-clearing laws are a huge missed opportunity. Philippa England, Senior Lecturer, Griffith Law School, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Barton-le-Willows, North Yorkshire: Just weeks ago we were sledging on these hills. Now the branches are laden again, this time with floral snow

The wedding invitation says no gifts. After so long together they wish for nothing but our company. But in 17 years of friendship with this couple, we’ve shared adventures and foolery, elation and loss; we’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve raised children. So the occasion merits a token, at least. I decide to forage for something.

Our local hedgerows are peaking. As I select primroses, forget-me-nots, stitchwort and sprigs of blossom to adorn the wedding cake, the earworm I’ve hosted for days starts up again: Andy Williams singing It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Christmas bells and all. It’s weirdly apt in a year when the weather has played merry hell with seasonal succession. Just weeks ago we were sledging on these hills. Birdsong greeted blizzards, the first cuckoo called in icy drizzle, and our swallows bowled in over another boreal blast. Now the branches are laden again, this time with floral snow.

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The two five-year transactions will protect the new solar projects' revenues from the financial risks associated with uncertain production volume, timing of energy generation and future energy prices. 

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has acted for the sponsors on all aspects of the development, construction and financing of the 170MW Crudine Ridge Wind Farm near Mudgee, NSW.

Eco Energy World wins council approval for 350MW solar farm in Raglan – another major PV project for Queensland's Gladstone Region.

Tesla reveals plans to build thousands of new electric vehicle supercharger stations globally in 2018/19, including another 18 for Australia.

Lyon Infrastructure teams with two major international energy and storage groups to pursue its portfolio of solar and battery projects in Australia, and others overseas.

130 years ago one woman went on the first road trip and made history. Is it time for another change in transportation?

Out-of-place Queensland groper seen off New Zealand coast after water temperatures soared

Rare tropical fish from Australia have been spotted in New Zealand waters after a record-breaking hot summer and warm ocean temperatures lured the creatures across the Tasman sea.

The Queensland groper, also known as the giant grouper, is the aquatic emblem of the state and was spotted swimming around the wreck of the HMNZ Canterbury in the Bay of Islands on Sunday, more than 3,000 kilometres away from its usual cruising spots on the coral reefs and estuaries off the Queensland coast.

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A quick wrap of what the Turnbull government has been doing for Australia's energy sector – "Authorised by the Department of Transitioning to the Dark Ages."

Jon Tyler is an Antarctic guide, showing scientists how to survive the extreme environment.