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Stream of consciousness in a marshy wonderland

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 14:30

Buxton, Derbyshire One summer we dammed the brook by the bridge where the dippers bred and swam with the tiddler trout

Hogshaw Brook, which runs below my late mother’s house, is part of the very first landscape in my story as a naturalist. Every night when I went to bed, I’d hear its ceaseless journey to join the river Wye. I remember one year how we dammed it by the bridge where the dippers bred, and its four-inch flow rose eventually up to the heaving chest of my nine-year-old self. We swam in it that summer, along with its tiddler brown trout and the caddis fly larvae that we loved to uncover beneath the cold stones.

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New back-up rule means end of cheap wind power in South Australia

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-07-04 14:07
The ability of wind power to deliver significant price falls in South Australia has been eroded by new rules that require more expensive gas generators to operate at times of high wind output. The days of "negative pricing" may be over.
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Clean energy target 'best deal that coal will get', says NSW energy minister

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 13:49

Don Harwin tells Committee for Economic Development of Australia the ‘self-indulgent climate culture war’ should end

The Liberal New South Wales energy minister has delivered a speech marking a sharp departure from his federal colleagues saying the coal-fired power industry should accept the clean energy target that will see the industry close in the coming decades as “the best deal that coal will get”.

He also ridiculed claims that expanding gas exploration in NSW was the key to fixing Australia’s gas crisis, saying such an idea was “curious”, and pointedly called for an end to the “self-indulgent climate culture war”.

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Photon Energy plans 316MW solar farm for southern NSW

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-07-04 13:20
Netherlands-based solar developer reveals plans to build largest solar farm in NSW – and one of biggest in Australia – a 316MW project near Gunning.
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What will incumbents do next? “I expect them to go broke”

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-07-04 12:41
Garth Heron, who is now the head of Wind Power Development at Neon Australia, shares his blunt assessment of what incumbents will do next in their war against renewables in Adelaide.
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Solkiss to build world’s largest rotating solar plant in South Korea

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-07-04 11:46
The South Korean solar developer will install a 2.67 MW floating solar farm on the Deoku Reservoir that will rotate to track the sun’s rays throughout the day, delivering a 22% increase in harvest, the company claims.
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Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder renews local engagement commitment

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2017-07-04 11:08
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder today announced a renewed commitment to local engagement with a decision to appoint six permanent local engagement officers across the Basin.
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Changes to Green Star set the scene for carbon zero buildings

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-07-04 10:05
After a lengthy industry consultation period, the GBCA has released new versions of the Green Star Interiors rating tools which promise to drive the uptake of low-carbon buildings, incentivise new industries and challenge the market leaders to innovate.
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Renewable Energy Market Report – steady as she goes

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2017-07-04 10:01
The market for renewable energy certificates steadied in June as traders absorbed the implications of the Finkel Review for the current RET.
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Chris Packham: learning to love slugs will help garden wildlife bloom

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 09:01

BBC Springwatch host urges gardeners to manage molluscs without killing them or risk losing hedgehogs and song thrushes

The naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has advised the nation to encourage the ecosystem of their gardens by ceasing to kill slugs.

Extolling the virtues of tolerance, Packham said “draconian choices” like “I don’t want slugs and snails to eat my plants” puts the gardener at risk of losing other wildlife such as hedgehogs, slowworms and song thrushes.

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Australia failing on biodiversity protection: report

ABC Environment - Tue, 2017-07-04 08:16
Despite massive growth in reserve lands, more than one quarter of Australia's ecosystems and biodiversity remain unprotected, according to a new report.
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Is Australia prepared for climate change?

ABC Environment - Tue, 2017-07-04 07:43
Mark Butler argues Australia remains disconnected from the dawning gravity of the social, economic and environmental threats of climate change.
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Frog evolution linked to dinosaur asteroid strike

BBC - Tue, 2017-07-04 06:48
The huge diversity of frogs we see today is mainly a consequence of the asteroid strike that killed off the dinosaurs, a study suggests.
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Court rejects EPA's attempt to halt Obama-era methane rule

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 05:51

Environmental Protection Agency had announced stay in rule that would require oil and gas companies to fix methane leaks in equipment

The Environmental Protection Agency cannot freeze the implementation of a rule requiring oil and gas companies to fix methane leaks in their equipment, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday in a setback for Donald Trump’s push to cut environmental regulations.

Related: Trump's planned EPA cuts will hit America's most vulnerable | Mustafa Santiago Ali

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The most detailed scan of the wiring of the human brain

BBC - Tue, 2017-07-04 05:04
The brain's wiring as never seen before.
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Admiral calls Britain's plan to control fishing waters ‘amazingly complacent’

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 03:07

Lord Alan West says vessels involved in fisheries enforcement are ‘very, very few’, with one recently diverted on long Caribbean tour

Britain’s plan to enforce its new control of fishing waters is “amazingly complacent”, according to a former first sea lord and Royal Navy admiral, who said the three vessels used were far too few.

The government announced on Sunday that it was “taking back control” of the waters between six and 12 nautical miles from the British coast, by leaving a treaty called the London Convention. But Admiral Lord Alan West said on Monday that Britain would be a “laughing stock” if it was unable to enforce the new rules.

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Hamming it up? Supermarket label changes colour to help cure food waste

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 01:16

Sainsbury’s launches packaging that shows how long its own-brand ham has been open to stop slices being thrown away

A major UK supermarket is launching a new “smart” label on packets of its own-brand ham in a bid to reduce waste by telling consumers how fresh it is.

Ham is Sainsbury’s top-selling cooked meat product, but many buyers find it difficult to remember how long it has been open. Figures from Wrap, the government’s waste advisory body, reveal that British households throw away 1.9 million slices of ham a day – equivalent to 32,500kg – at a cost of more than £170m a year.

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Wildlife on your doorstep: share your July photos

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 01:06

Whether basking in sunshine in the northern hemisphere or fighting cooler temperatures in the south, we’d like to see the wildlife you discover

After the June heatwaves in the northern hemisphere, July has got off to a slightly more uneven start, but there will still be plenty of sun rays around. As winter takes hold of the southern hemisphere, the temperatures will get even cooler. So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d love to see your photos of the July wildlife near you.

You can share your July wildlife photos, videos and stories with us by clicking on the blue ‘Contribute’ buttons. Or if you’re out and about you can look for our assignments in the new Guardian app.

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Elephant 2.0. - nature's invisible information architecture

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 00:13

What do you see when you look at an elephant? The world’s biggest land mammal – or a giant data store, sharing information in a living, breathing network?

Elephants have such sad expressive faces that is hard to imagine how anyone could harm them. They have drawn lips and sagging shoulders; a long, drooping demeanour; sad, knowing eyes capable of laying on the guilt. Yet, it would appear that guilt is not enough to save them. Eighty years ago there were perhaps 6 to 9 million African and Asian elephants. Today there are roughly half a million left. Day by day, they are getting closer to extinction.

Perhaps we need some new ideas. Perhaps it is time for a different perspective on why elephants need saving. Rather than their bodies, maybe it is their shared memories and experience that we might one day come to value. This is the argument that I’d like to put forward in this piece.

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Local councillors and protesters blockade Lancashire fracking site

The Guardian - Mon, 2017-07-03 21:28

Group of 13 people lock themselves to objects to stop vehicles entering Cuadrilla site at Fylde, as part of month of action

Protesters have blockaded the entrance to a fracking site as part of a month of action to resist the controversial drilling process.

The group of 13 protesters, including three local councillors, arrived at the site on Preston New Road in Fylde, Lancashire, in the early hours of Monday morning and locked themselves to objects in an attempt to prevent vehicles entering the site.

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