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All we wanted was to protect the River Wye from pollution. Now we’re stuck in a catch-22 | Oliver Bullough

The Guardian - Wed, 2024-05-01 19:00

To protect our local river we had to prove it was being used for swimming. But that, bizarrely, is the reason we were rejected

The state of Britain’s rivers is incredibly depressing: the water companies dump too much sewage, the farmers dump too much muck, and the regulators are too cowed and underfunded to do their job and stop them.

It wasn’t always this way. As a child I used to swim in the River Wye and I remember the clouds of mayflies in the summer, as well as huge leaping salmon. It was thanks to this wealth of wildlife that the Wye was classified as a special area of conservation along its whole length. Sadly, however, thanks to the failure of the Welsh and British governments to protect the river, much of this abundance is gone, and the Wye’s official status is now “unfavourable – declining”, thanks to pollution from manure and sewage.

Oliver Bullough is the author of Butler to the World: How Britain Became the Servant of Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats and Criminals

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Australian industries divided over the need of a CBAM, consultation submissions show

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 18:02
Major Australian companies and industry groups are at odds over whether the government should pursue a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to address carbon leakage, according to submissions under a government consultation.
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Japanese startup raises $1.5 mln in seed funding for completing DAC prototype, business expansion

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 17:22
A Tokyo-based direct air capture (DAC) startup has raised 250 million yen ($1.5 mln) in seed funding to complete the prototype of its DAC system and business expansion, the firm announced.
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INTERVIEW: Corporate alliance forms to explore potential of biodiversity credit market

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 17:00
The World Economic Forum (WEF) and consultants McKinsey & Co have taken the lead in initiating a Frontrunners Coalition seeking to contribute to shaping the development of and building confidence in the emerging voluntary biodiversity credit market.
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Project developer, financial advisory launch facility to fund NBS in Amazon, Africa

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 15:39
A carbon project developer and international financial advisory have teamed up to launch an early-stage funding facility to invest in nature-based solutions in the Amazon and Africa, they announced Tuesday.
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Is bioenergy ever truly green? It depends on 5 key questions

The Conversation - Wed, 2024-05-01 15:15
Producing energy from harvested trees and other plants – bioenergy – might sound like a greener option, but it’s not a simple issue. Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Rapidly rising levels of TFA ‘forever chemical’ alarm experts

The Guardian - Wed, 2024-05-01 14:00

Trifluoroacetic acid found in drinking water and rain is thought to damage fertility and child development

Rapidly rising levels of TFA, a class of “forever chemical” thought to damage fertility and child development, are being found in drinking water, blood and rain, causing alarm among experts.

TFA, or trifluoroacetic acid, is a type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS), a group of human-made chemicals used widely in consumer products that do not break down for thousands of years. Many of the substances have been linked to negative effects on human health.

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US federal court denies petition from green groups against California Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s license renewal exemption

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 11:33
A panel of judges from a US federal court denied a petition on Monday from a network of green groups against the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) decision to grant an exemption to review California Diablo Canyon’s federal license renewal.
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Clean Energy Regulator’s oversight of ACCU Scheme “largely effective”, audit finds

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 10:38
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has found the Clean Energy Regulator’s (CER) supervision of the country’s carbon market to be “largely effective”, but noted opportunities to address weaknesses in its information systems used to administer the scheme.
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Mexican community stakeholders in voluntary carbon market accuse regulators of overreach

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 10:13
Over two dozen local Mexican communities involved in the forestry voluntary carbon market (VCM) sent a letter Wednesday decrying a government proposal that would regulate VCM activities in the latest episode of a regulatory saga begun early this year.
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LCFS net credit surplus rises to new records in Q4

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 09:50
California Low Carbon Fuel Standard's (LCFS) cumulative surplus bank once again soared to new heights as net credits for the last quarter of 2023 rose to record levels, according to state data published Tuesday.
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Scientists work to make healthier white bread

BBC - Wed, 2024-05-01 09:25
The research aimed at lovers of white bread has been funded by the government to improve the health benefits of UK food.
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Major carbon removals buyer calls for reconciliation between corporate claims and national goals

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2024-05-01 09:25
A major carbon dioxide removals (CDR) buyer has outlined how private sector CDR claims can coexist with national emissions accounting, as the firm continues its efforts to scale the nascent market.
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