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These squirrels are not native. So what?

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-02-01 15:30

Wenlock Edge This sycamore isn’t native either, and neither are the people who planted them, or who look at them now

The squirrels look as though they make everyday life into a game; they have the kind of mischievous intelligence once attributed by folklore to hidden, supernatural creatures such as fairies, elves, goblins and the like. These grey and ginger squirrels are tricky. To some people they are a delight to watch; to others they are an anathema, interlopers blamed for the demise of the native red squirrel.

A group of half a dozen – I imagine them as a family or tribal gatherers – are foraging for seeds under a big old sycamore. It’s a bit parky, the frost only just going off will soon return with the breath of darkness when the sun, all syrupy gold at the moment, slides behind trees.

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Categories: Around The Web

Trading in trash: Nairobi's e-waste entrepreneurs – in pictures

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-02-01 15:00

From small-scale traders to a company processing hundreds of tonnes of e-waste, we explore Nairobi’s relationship with a burgeoning waste stream and visit the people turning it into a resource

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Categories: Around The Web

Dakota pipeline: US Army to allow work on final section

BBC - Wed, 2017-02-01 14:40
Native Americans vow legal action as the go-ahead is given to complete the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
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Eight reasons why Dr Finkel is great news for Australia’s energy future

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 14:14
Australia's electricity grid looks likely to progress more systematically to a cleaner more secure future thanks to Australia’s Chief Scientist Alan Finkel. Here's why...
Categories: Around The Web

Eight areas of electricity innovation to watch in 2017

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 14:01
It’s 2017 and we have a lot to look forward to in the electricity sector this year. Eight key issues require our attention.
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CEFC tips $150m into big solar projects in NSW

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 13:59
NSW set to double its solar capacity after CEFC stumps up $150m to fast-track financial close of 110MW of solar projects.
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Three signs that the Great Energy Disruption is already here

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 13:49
Three recent news items tell the story that a game-changing decline in the cost of grid storage is happening much faster than anticipated.
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Energy a “defining debate” of this parliament: Turnbull’s key NPC comments

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 13:12
PM tells National Press Club energy is "a key debate" in 2017 parliament. Here are Malcolm Turnbull's key comments on the subject.
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Australian scientists use soybean oil to create graphene

BBC - Wed, 2017-02-01 12:30
Australian researchers say their discovery could significantly lower the material's cost to produce.
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Australia sharks: Campaigners call for end to nets

BBC - Wed, 2017-02-01 12:28
Conservationists say the nets are killing too many dolphins and turtles.
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Ergon Energy signs 12-year PPA for 100MW Qld solar farm

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 11:31
Queensland government-owned Ergon Energy Retail inks another solar PPA, this time for 12 years with FRV's 100MW Liliyvale Solar Farm.
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'Tuberculosis-resistant' cattle developed in China

BBC - Wed, 2017-02-01 11:05
Scientists in China say they have produced cloned cattle with increased resistance to bovine tuberculosis.
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Investors back 1000s of MW of new solar projects in Australia – just don’t mention the RET

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 10:33
As renewables are used as a political football, investors and energy companies are getting on with the job, with major Asian investor group Equis announcing 200MW of 'battery ready' solar projects in Australia, with plans for another 1000MW in the near future.
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Eos Energy Storage Partners with Environment One to Manufacture Grid-Scale Battery Systems in Upstate New York

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-02-01 08:23
E/One sets new standard in safe and environmentally sound production of utility energy storage.
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Volunteers receive award for work removing invasive species

ABC Environment - Wed, 2017-02-01 07:14
When keen bushwalker Jon Marsden-Smedley first started telling people of his plan to rid southwest Tasmania's coast of sea spurge—an invasive weed—he was told he was dreaming.
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New EPA chief 'a real product of the Exxon machine': Earth Justice

ABC Environment - Wed, 2017-02-01 05:49
The coal, oil and gas industries have raised 'lots of dark money' for Scott Pruitt, President Trump's pick as head of the US EPA, says Earth Justice.
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Indigenous federation sues Peru over new national park

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-02-01 04:51

Oil and gas concession overlaps 1.3m hectare “protected area” inhabited by indigenous peoples in “isolation”

One of the almost 100 resolutions adopted by the World Conservation Congress (WCC) held in Hawai’i in September 2016 was that “protected areas” such as national parks should be “no go” for mining, oil and gas operations, agriculture, dams, roads and pipelines. Another resolution was that indigenous peoples’ territories overlapped by “protected areas” should be recognised and respected, calling upon International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) members, non-member States and others to do so.

While it might not seem particularly significant or startling to demand that “protected areas” should be, er, protected from such damaging activities as oil operations, and while WCC resolutions aren’t legally-binding on anyone, such calls do urgently need to be made. Take as an example Peru, the country that, according to the IUCN, established more “protected areas” than any other in 2016. Undoubtedly its most important conservation achievement in recent years has been the creation of the 1.3m hectare Sierra del Divisor National Park, although approximately 40% is included in an oil and gas concession ultimately controlled by a Canadian-headquartered company, Pacific Exploration and Production.

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Air pollution crisis ‘plagues’ UK, finds UN human rights expert

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-02-01 03:23

‘Silent pandemic’ of air pollution affects UK children and there is no indication protection against toxic waste will be retained after Brexit

Air pollution is a crisis that “plagues” the UK, particularly children, according to the UN’s special rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes.

Baskut Tuncak, who was appointed by the UN human rights council and completed a 15-day mission to the UK on Tuesday, said there was an “urgent need for political will by the UK government to make timely, measurable and meaningful interventions”.

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Meet the ex-policeman who saves seahorses

BBC - Wed, 2017-02-01 03:14
Paul Ferber, an ex-British policeman who lives on Koh Seh in the Gulf of Thailand, tells World Service how he catches illegal fishermen plundering Cambodia's ecosystem.
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'Startling' dinosaur protein discovery

BBC - Wed, 2017-02-01 02:00
Ancient proteins dating back 195 million years have been found inside a dinosaur bone.
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