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What Russia's green snow reveals about the rise of pollution
Incidents of snow turning green and black are causing increasing alarm. So just how worried should we be about the world’s increasingly colourful snow?
Don’t eat yellow snow has always been good advice. To that we can now add warnings against green, pink, orange and black snow, as new evidence of our trashing of the planet is now being etched out on the most pristine of environments – our dwindling snow caps.
A spate of incidents in Russia has grabbed internet attention. Residents of Siberian towns watched with dismay as the snow around them turned green and black, with toxic emissions forcing some to wear masks. These seem to be connected to local factories, with a chrome plant in particular behind the green snow, and, as protests gather pace, the Putin government has come under pressure.
Continue reading...Virgin Galactic: Scots-born pilot rockets into space
Green Climate Fund fills key positions ahead of crucial year
Hayabusa 2: Asteroid image shows touchdown marks
Portfolio Management Specialist, Green Climate Fund – Songdo
Labor given new legal advice that it could revoke Adani approvals
MPs also shown polling that claims stopping the controversial coalmine will not necessarily cost Queensland seats
Federal Labor MPs have been given new legal advice arguing there is a valid pathway to revoke the environmental approvals for the controversial Adani coal project, and a summary of polling showing stopping the project would not necessarily cost seats in central Queensland.
Guardian Australia has seen a brief for Labor MPs prepared by the Stop Adani campaign, which quotes legal advice from Neil Williams SC, a specialist in environmental and planning law, arguing “there is evidence to support revocation of Adani’s approval under section 145 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, including significant impacts on water resources that were not assessed when the mine was approved”.
Continue reading...Political Panel: Wayne Swan & Nick Greiner
China Climate Lead, World Resources Institute – Beijing
Associate Director, Global Resilience Practice North America, 100 Resilient Cities – New York
Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation plan only makes sense when coal retires
Scott Morrison should be careful what he prays for: fast-tracking the Tasmania battery of the nation project only makes sense if Australia fast-tracks the exit of coal generation and lifts emission cuts to 50% by 2030.
The post Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation plan only makes sense when coal retires appeared first on RenewEconomy.
The plastic problem
Botswana elephant poaching 'no hoax'
Morrison puts lipstick on Tony Abbott’s pig of a climate policy
Scott Morrison re-badges Tony Abbott's Direct Action policy and calls it something which it is not: A Climate Solutions package.
The post Morrison puts lipstick on Tony Abbott’s pig of a climate policy appeared first on RenewEconomy.
If the Coalition has had a climate epiphany, I'm Beyoncé | Katharine Murphy
Call the emissions reduction fund a ‘climate solutions’ fund if you like, but it doesn’t mean it is
Let’s start with the good news. Scott Morrison is talking constructively about climate change because he is intelligent enough to understand that failing to do that renders the Coalition unelectable in parts of the country, and with parts of its own base.
Compared with where we’ve been, a Liberal prime minister standing up at a podium, accepting the science of climate change and making the case for action, is progress.
Continue reading...The Driven Podcast: Robert Llewellyn’s electric transition from Red Dwarf to Fully Charged
Robert Llewellyn is a comedian an actor who was best known for his role as the “mechanoid” Kryten in the iconic series Red Dwarf, but is now telling millions about the transition to electric vehicles.
The post The Driven Podcast: Robert Llewellyn’s electric transition from Red Dwarf to Fully Charged appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Alinta commits to 212MW wind farm, biggest in Western Australia
Alinta commits to building Yandin wind farm, which will be the biggest in W.A., and have a "capacity factor" of around 50 per cent.
The post Alinta commits to 212MW wind farm, biggest in Western Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Life after coal: Lincoln Gap wind farm powers up, battery to be installed soon
Former coal town of Port Augusta continues transformation into a major renewable energy hub with "powering up" of the 212MW Lincoln Gap wind farm, and its associated battery.
The post Life after coal: Lincoln Gap wind farm powers up, battery to be installed soon appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Australia pledges A$200m annual boost to carbon offset fund
Emissions reduction fund to pay for fossil fuel plant that would be built anyway
Exclusive: miner Gold Fields to get $1m from Coalition fund for gas power plant for its Western Australian mine
The Morrison government’s emissions reduction fund – rebadged as a “climate solutions” policy and to be boosted with an extra $2bn – is being used to help one of the world’s biggest gold miners pay for a fossil fuel power plant the company concedes it would have built anyway.
Fund opponents say it is the latest evidence that design flaws in the scheme are leading to taxpayers’ money being wasted on projects that are commercially viable even without public support. In some cases, the climate funding is going to new fossil fuel projects on the grounds that they are cleaner than the dirty projects they replace.
Continue reading...China is killing the world using imported coal
China's insatiable demand for property development and to add floor space is causing it to turn to imported coal that it - and the world - can barely afford.
The post China is killing the world using imported coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.