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Official event praising coal, oil and gas met with laughter and chants of ‘shame on you’

A Trump administration presentation extolling the virtues of fossil fuels at the UN climate talks in Poland has been met with guffaws of laughter and chants of “Shame on you”.

Monday’s protest came during a panel discussion by the official US delegation, which used its only public appearance to promote the “unapologetic utilisation” of coal, oil and gas. Although these industries are the main source of the carbon emissions that are causing global warming, the speakers boasted the US would expand production for the sake of global energy security and planned a new fleet of coal plants with technology it hoped to export to other countries.

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The COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland has shifted into high gear this week with the arrival of ministers, taking over from government officials who last week made limited progress on the Paris Agreement rulebook.

Researchers discover urban male túngara frogs call more, and with more complex vocalisations, than rural peers

Living in a forest might sound romantic, but city life makes males more attractive to the opposite sex – at least if you are a túngara frog.

Researchers have discovered that urban males of the species have more attractive calls than their rural peers.

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The ice streams that flow down the flanks of Asia's high mountains are moving slower as they thin.

‘Ecological memory’ shows cumulative impact of climate change, say scientists

Great Barrier Reef corals that survived bleaching in 2016 were more resistant to a second marine heatwave the following year, “astonished” scientists have observed.

A study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, outlines how a process called “ecological memory” emerged in the northernmost reefs during back-to-back heatwaves in 2016 and 2017.

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Having dug and drilled into the Earth, scientists can now estimate how much life exists at depth.

Earth would be a frozen lump of rock without the energy created from our nearest star.

Voyager 2, a space probe launched in 1977, becomes only the second human-made object to enter the space between the stars.

The UK claims to be a leader in climate change - but is it?

Hitachi’s £16bn Wylfa station on Anglesey is next proposed project after Hinkley Point C

Fresh doubts have been raised over prospects for the UK’s new nuclear power programme after a report that Hitachi is considering axing plans for a plant in Wales.

The Japanese conglomerate’s mooted 2.9GW nuclear power station on Anglesey is next in line in the UK’s nuclear plans after EDF Energy’s 3.2GW Hinkley Point C scheme in Somerset.

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Snack maker will install collection points across UK as well as free courier service

Walkers has said a scheme to recycle its plastic crisp packets is not a publicity stunt but a genuine attempt to address environmental concerns.

The company launched the initiative after a social media campaign titled #PacketInWalkers urged the company to make its packaging recyclable. Consumers published pictures of themselves online posting empty crisp packets addressed to Walkers, forcing Royal Mail to urge protesters to put the packets in an envelope before posting them.

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White House efforts to promote fossil fuels are set to be upstaged by investors moving away from coal.

The New Zealand government will announce a first set of decisions on reforming its emissions trading scheme on Dec. 12, it said Monday.

We asked readers for their thoughts on ‘non‑capitalist living’ and were deluged with replies. Here are their ideas for everyday ways to buck the system

As the new Amazon advert goes, can you feel it? Amid the encroaching dark and increasingly foul weather, December is synonymous with stampedes to the supermarket, endless online clicks and the massed roar of delivery lorries – or, to be reductive about it, capitalism at its most joyful and triumphant.

Clearly, though, such things are only part of who we are, even at this time of year. As the American activist Rebecca Solnit puts it in her short but brilliant book Hope in the Dark: “Vast amounts of how we live our everyday lives – our interactions with and commitments to family lives, friendships, avocations, membership in social, spiritual and political organisations – are in essence non-capitalist or even anti-capitalist, full of things we do for free, out of love and on principle.”

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Tony Abbott, my opponent for the seat of Warringah at the next federal election, thinks building new coal fired power stations will reduce power prices. He is sadly mistaken.

The post Forget “Big Sticks”, more competition will lower electricity prices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Study shows contribution to grid from Australia's rooftop solar systems up 33% over 2018. At this rate, it could supply 14% of NEM demand within 5 years.

The post Rooftop solar could supply 15% of Australian demand by 2023 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Steel magnate unveils more sensational details of Whyalla's renewable powered industrial revolution, including plans for an additional steel plant – "one of world's biggest."

The post Gupta doubles down on green industrial plans for Whyalla, powered by cheap renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In a deadly diplomatic strike, big oil and gas nations took a key scientific report out of the Katowice text, replacing it with an ambiguous formulation that merely notes its existence.

The post Fossil nations sideline science at Katowice, even as emissions rise and warming accelerates appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Nexif reaches financial close on stage two of 212MW Lincoln Gap Wind Farm, near Port August in SA. The renewables hub will host the state’s third big battery, and possibly solar, too.

The post Nexif hits go on final 86MW of Lincoln Gap Wind Farm, with close of CEFC debt deal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A scaled up ALP baseline-and-credit scheme for industry is modelled to be short from day one, with domestic offsets the marginal source of emissions reductions.

The post Labor “safeguard mechanism 2.0” likely to be short, but cheaper than EU ETS appeared first on RenewEconomy.