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Call for pollution tax on sales of new diesel cars in Britain

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-11 17:00

An £800 tax would fund old diesel scrappage, encourage move to low-emission vehicles and reduce air pollution, according to Policy Exchange thinktank

An £800 pollution tax should be put on sales of new diesel cars, with the proceeds used for a scrappage scheme for older diesels, according to the thinktank Policy Exchange.

The move, proposed ahead of George Osborne’s budget on 16 March, would encourage motorists to move towards lower emission vehicles and significantly reduce air pollution, according to the thinktank, which is close to Osborne. The idea is also backed by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and an influential committee of MPs.

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Rare wildlife discovered in biggest nature survey along Britain's coast

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-11 16:01

Wildlife ‘firsts’ include Norfolk’s only sighting of a Balearic shearwater and a beetle not seen in Northern Ireland for more than 100 years

The biggest survey to date of nature along Britain’s coastline has uncovered a host of “wildlife firsts”.

More than 3,400 species were recorded at 25 National Trust locations along the coastline of England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the charity’s largest ever wildlife survey. A handful have either been seen in a new habitat for the first time or “rediscovered” after going unseen for many years.

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Five years on, cleanup of Fukushima's reactors remains a distant goal

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-11 10:00

Removal of nuclear fuel from power plant that suffered triple meltdown following 2011 tsunami could take 40 years or more

In the chaotic two years after its name became forever associated with nuclear disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant “resembled a field hospital”, according to the man who is now in charge of the most daunting task the nuclear industry has ever faced: removing hundreds of tons of melted fuel from the plant’s stricken reactors.

“Now it really does feel like the situation is settling down and we can look ahead,” said Naohiro Masuda, head of decommissioning at the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).

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Draft ERF method: Community Buildings

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2016-03-11 09:53
Draft Emissions Reduction Fund methods on Community Buildings released for public consultation. Consultation period closes 5 April 2016
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Draft ERF method: Community Buildings

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2016-03-11 09:53
Draft Emissions Reduction Fund methods on Community Buildings released for public consultation. Consultation period closes 5 April 2016
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Newly discovered plastic-eating bacterium can break down PET

ABC Science - Fri, 2016-03-11 08:59
POLLUTION SOLUTION?: A newly discovered plastic-eating bacterium may hold the key to safely degrading millions of tonnes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics dumped each year.

Fat under the collarbone may protect against diabetes

ABC Science - Fri, 2016-03-11 08:53
BROWN FAT: A special type of fat that probably evolved to help keep our ancestors warm on cold hunting mornings may also be important in protecting against diabetes, say researchers.

Could a new plastic-eating bacteria help combat this pollution scourge?

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-03-11 05:00

Scientists have discovered a species of bacteria capable of breaking down commonly used PET plastic but remain unsure of its potential applications

Nature has begun to fight back against the vast piles of filth dumped into its soils, rivers and oceans by evolving a plastic-eating bacteria – the first known to science.

In a report published in the journal Science, a team of Japanese researchers described a species of bacteria that can break the molecular bonds of one of the world’s most-used plastics - polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or polyester.

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After Fukushima: faces from Japan's tsunami tragedy, five years on

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-03-10 16:40

On the anniversary of the 2011 disaster that killed 19,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more, life and hope continue a steady resurgence, writes Justin McCurry

On 11 March 2011 a powerful earthquake and tsunami struck the north-east coast of Japan and triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Related: Five years after Japan's tsunami, orphan victims lament their lost parents

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SENG Vic - Environmental Risk Assessment

Newsletters VIC - Thu, 2016-03-10 12:15
SENG Vic - Environmental Risk Assessment
Categories: Newsletters VIC

SENG Vic - Environmental Risk Assessment

Newsletters VIC - Thu, 2016-03-10 11:00
SENG Vic - Environmental Risk Assessment
Categories: Newsletters VIC

Skulls indicate dingoes 'probably aren't going to disappear' through cross-breeding

ABC Science - Thu, 2016-03-10 08:43
DINGOES RULE: Hybridising with dogs is unlikely to lead to dingoes changing their skull shape or losing their status as the top predator in the Australian ecology, researchers say.

Activists urge Justin Trudeau to phase out Canada's failing seal industry

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-03-10 07:46

The government claims the seal-fur industry is lucrative, but protesters argue it costs more to monitor the practice than the hunts generate in revenue

Justin Trudeau’s government has come under renewed pressure to ban seal hunting after it emerged that Canada is spending far more on monitoring seal hunts than it receives in the export value of seal products.

Documents obtained under freedom of access laws show that Canada spends around $2.5m a year to monitor seal hunts that occur in the remote north-east. By comparison, the 2014 export figure for seal products was just $500,000.

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Swallowtail butterfly holds record for number of vision cells in its eyes

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-03-09 16:35
INSECT VISION: An Australasian species of swallowtail butterfly holds the record for having the largest number of different vision cells in its eyes for any insect, scientists say.

Queensland Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery - Application 2016

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2016-03-09 16:09
Application on ecological sustainability - call for public comments open from 10 March 2016 until 12 April 2016.
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Queensland Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery - Application 2016

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2016-03-09 16:09
Application on ecological sustainability - call for public comments open from 10 March 2016 until 12 April 2016.
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Public consultation: Draft EPBC Act referral guidelines for the vulnerable Murray Cod

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2016-03-09 12:42
The Department is seeking public comment on the Draft EPBC Act referral guidelines for the vulnerable Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii). Comment period closes on 6 May 2016.
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Ancient ichthyosaurs may have been wiped out by climate change

ABC Science - Wed, 2016-03-09 02:57
EXTINCTION EVENT: Climate change sealed the fate of ichthyosaurs, marine reptiles that ruled the oceans for 157 million years, suggests an analysis of fossils.

Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau to join forces on climate change

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-03-09 00:52

US and Canadian leaders expected to announce a series of common measures including methane emissions cuts and protections for rapidly warming Arctic

Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau will commit to work together to fight climate change and protect an Arctic experiencing the mildest winter ever recorded, sources familiar with the initiatives said.

The two leaders were expected to announce a number of common climate measures at a meeting at the White House this week, from a 45% cut in methane emissions from the oil and gas industry to protections for a rapidly warming Arctic.

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France's oldest nuclear plant to close this year

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-03-08 20:31

Work will begin this year to shut down Fessenheim, which is at the centre of a row with Germany and Switzerland

The French environment minister, Ségolène Royal, said on Monday that work will begin this year to shut down the country’s oldest nuclear power plant, at the centre of a row with neighbouring Germany and Switzerland.

In doing so she implicitly contradicted a Green party minister who had said on Sunday that the process to close the Fessenheim plant in Alsace would be completed, rather than merely started, by the end of the year.

The two ministers spoke to the French media after a row sparked on Friday when Germany demanded that France close down Fessenheim following reports that a 2014 incident was worse than earlier portrayed.

Royal said on the TF1 television channel that shutting down a nuclear reactor “is not just turning off a tap” and involved not only time-consuming official paperwork but careful decommissioning under strict safety conditions, along with collateral issues such as the question of job losses.

“A nuclear plant like Fessenheim employs 2,000 people,” she explained, saying the site could eventually be converted for renewable energy, or maybe a car factory.

On Sunday France’s housing minister, Green party member Emmanuelle Cosse, had said that closing Fessenheim this year was “the timeline ... the president [François Hollande] has repeated to me several times”.

“The process of stopping a reactor is simple enough,” she added.

France’s Nuclear Safety Agency has said that safety at the plant was “overall satisfactory” but that the government’s energy policy “could lead to different choices” regarding the facility, which is near the German and Swiss borders.

It said there was “no need” to shut the plant from a nuclear safety point of view.

France has promised to cut reliance on nuclear energy from more than 75% to 50% by shutting 24 reactors by 2025, while stepping up reliance on renewable energy.

Fessenheim, located on a seismic fault line, has worried French, German and Swiss environmentalists for years.

In September, Hollande said the plant, in operation since 1977, would not be shut this year, contrary to a 2012 campaign promise, because of delays in completion of a new plant in northern Flamanville.

On Sunday, Cosse said that to reach its target, the government would have “to close other nuclear plants, other reactors, obviously, over several years.”

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