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Gina Rinehart’s latest grab-bag of opinions is more proof billionaires are no smarter than the rest of us | John Quiggin

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-08-24 10:00

The mining magnate does away with the constraints of arithmetic, simultaneously demanding lower taxes and more public spending

A striking feature of the age of billionaires in which we now live is that billionaires are more and more inclined to give us the benefit of their opinions. In the past year alone, we’ve had Marc Andreessen’s retro-futurist “Techno-optimist manifesto”, Mark Zuckerberg’s pronouncements on the future of media, and, most recently, a cosy chat between Elon Musk and Donald Trump (whose billionaire status is often touted but remains questionable). In most cases, the main effect has been to demonstrate that, however good they are at making money, billionaires are no smarter than the rest of us when it comes to politics or the ordinary business of life.

Australia’s richest billionaire by far is Gina Rinehart, who has massively multiplied the already substantial fortune she inherited from her father, the late Lang Hancock (Rinehart claims she inherited more debts than assets). Like Hancock, who spent decades on the rightwing fringe of Australian politics, Rinehart has never been shy about expressing her opinions.

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Categories: Around The Web

Speculator migration to 2025 extends in CCAs, compliance keeps building RGGI net length

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-08-24 08:35
Financial players continued to migrate to V25 California Carbon Allowance (CCA) holdings over another week, while compliance demand for RGGI Allowances (RGAs) extended as prices surged to new record highs, according to weekly data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
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Melbourne zoo welcomes rare southern white rhino calf to the world

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-08-24 01:00

New male baby of near-threatened species born at Werribee open range zoo to be named in public competition in coming weeks

A very large bundle of joy was quietly delivered to a Melbourne zoo last Sunday as a southern white rhino gave birth to a male calf.

Mother Kipenzi, 11, and father Kifaru, 15, welcomed their 60kg baby into the world in the early hours of 18 August, Werribee open range zoo announced.

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European banks penalise polluting companies with higher interest rates -report

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-08-24 00:52
European banks charge a higher interest rate to firms with elevated carbon emissions and a lower rate to those that commit to reducing their climate impact in the future, finds a new report.
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India should consider ban on microbeads in personal care products, researchers say

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-08-24 00:31

Type of microplastics used in skin exfoliators and banned in UK and US found in 45% of Indian products studied

India should consider a ban on microbeads in personal care products, in line with many other countries in the world, say researchers.

Microbeads are a type of microplastic used in cosmetic products to exfoliate the skin. After a public uproar when the plastics were highlighted in Europe a decade ago, they were banned in the Netherlands in 2014, with many other countries following, including the US in 2015 and the UK in 2018.

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Labour is right about LTNs – the Tories need to learn the same lesson

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-08-24 00:00

For all the initial noise against low-traffic neighbourhoods, most people like them and they can benefit the public purse

Here are four words you might not expect from me, as a former Conservative aide, so make the most of them: Louise Haigh is right. Half right, anyway. Labour’s new transport secretary has taken some flak – though not, interestingly, a vast amount - for interviews this week stating that councils that create low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), 20mph zones and bike lanes on their roads “will have my full support”.

“An abdication of responsibility,” huffed the Sun. “Labour declares war on drivers,” announced GB News, though no one was actually quoted to this effect – the shadow transport spokesperson, Helen Whately, said only that Labour “seems unable to take a common sense approach”.

Andrew Gilligan was transport adviser to Boris Johnson in Downing Street, and cycling commissioner for London 2013-16.

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Zimbabwe evaluates voluntary carbon credit potential in industrial hemp farming

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 23:30
Government stakeholders and private sector representatives met in Harare, Zimbabwe this week to discuss strategies to generate carbon credits from hemp production, according to local media.
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Plastic credits can support rollout of extended producer responsibility schemes, says Verra

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 21:44
Plastic credits can support the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), according to a new report by carbon standard Verra.
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DRC confirms withdrawal plans for oil exploration in key peatland, forest carbon areas

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 21:40
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has stepped back from plans to auction oil concessions on protected areas in the Congo Basin with carbon project potential, according to a press release.
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China opens window for CCER project registration

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 21:27
China has begun accepting applications for carbon projects under the national offset programme, with participants expecting new credits to be issued by the end of the year.
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Euro Markets: Midday Update

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 21:14
European carbon allowance prices headed for their fourth decline in a row on Friday morning as selling interest continued to out-muscle buyers with the market continuing to shadow movements in natural gas.
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Two states become first in US to ban use of PFAS in firefighters’ protective gear

The Guardian - Fri, 2024-08-23 21:00

Turnout gear sold in Massachusetts and Connecticut must be free of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ by 2027 and 2028

Massachusetts and Connecticut are the first two states in the US to ban the use of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in protective gear worn by firefighters.

Turnout gear, including jackets, pants, boots, gloves and other protective equipment that firefighters wear is treated heavily with PFAS that makes it resistant to water and heat, and helps the textiles breathe.

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Sweden launches BECCS auction with $3.4 bln grants available

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 20:53
Sweden has launched its bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) auction, allocating 36 billion SEK ($3.4 bln) in grants over 15 years of storage.
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Mexican non-profit plans to earn biodiversity, carbon credits for spider monkey reintroduction

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 20:50
A Mexican non-profit has partnered with a France-based environmental company to launch a biodiversity and carbon credit project aimed at reintroducing spider monkeys on a 600-hectare area in Mexico, Carbon Pulse has learned.
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CN Markets: CEAs drop to one-month low, weekly trading volume picks up

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 20:33
Permits in China’s national emissions trading scheme (ETS) fell below the 90 yuan ($12.61) mark over the past week, hitting their lowest level in a month, though trading activity picked up significantly to end the week with more than 2 million units changing hands.
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Australia offers another A$200 mln to aid Great Barrier Reef

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 20:15
The Australian government will spend an additional A$192 million ($129 mln) to improve and protect the Great Barrier Reef’s water quality in order to prevent bleaching events and aid recovery when they do occur.
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INTERVIEW: Developers unclear on how to source Biodiversity Net Gain units

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 19:41
The rules for buying offsite units to comply with England’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements aren’t clear enough for developers currently, with some local authorities better equipped to advise on the market than others, according to a sustainability consultancy working with large building clients.
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Carbon pricing among key policy levers needed for climate success, finds report

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 19:34
Carbon pricing is a key policy tool to ensure climate success, especially when combined with subsidies for clean energy and effective regulation such as state-induced coal phaseout, according to an international report published this week.
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Aerial shots show lava and smoke erupting from volcano in Iceland – video

The Guardian - Fri, 2024-08-23 19:21

A volcano in south-west Iceland has erupted for the sixth time since December, spraying red-hot lava and smoke. The eruptions show the challenge faced by the island country of nearly 400,000 people, as scientists warn that the Reykjanes peninsula could face repeated events for decades or even centuries

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UPDATE – China suspends steel capacity replacement plans

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2024-08-23 18:30
China's industry ministry has instructed all regions to cease issuing new steel capacity replacement plans, a move that could change the dynamics in the oversupplied and ETS-destined market.
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