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Trump's alarming environmental rollback: what's been scrapped so far

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 20:00

Since January, the White House, Congress and EPA have engineered a dizzying reversal of regulations designed to protect the environment and public health

Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate deal may have followed months of anguished division amongst his closest advisers, but his administration has proceeded with quiet efficiency in its dismantling of other major environmental policies.

The White House, Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency have dovetailed to engineer a dizzying reversal of clean air and water regulations implemented by Barack Obama’s administration.

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Extreme ice on Canada's east coast – in pictures

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 16:11

Warming temperatures caused perilous ice up to eight metres thick to drift south from the Arctic to clog the coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec. It trapped boats and ferries as late as June, with Canadian scientists blaming climate change. These dramatic photos capture the rare event.

All photographs by Louis Helbig unless otherwise credited

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Amazon coral reef at risk of damage if oil spills near Amazon river

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 16:00

Oil companies planning to drill near mouth of the river have calculated that the unique ecosystem has a 30% chance of being affected in the event of a spill

Oil companies planning to drill near a vast coral reef at the mouth of the Amazon river have calculated that the unique ecosystem has a 30% chance of being affected in the event of an oil spill.

Related: 'We are rewriting the textbooks': first dives to Amazon coral reef stun scientists

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UK research chief 'will not direct science'

BBC - Tue, 2017-07-04 15:07
The new head of UK research has said that he won't centrally direct scientific research.
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Tackle UK's plastic bottle problem with money-back scheme, ministers told

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-07-04 15:00

Opposition parties increase pressure for deposit return initiative to boost recycling and keep litter off streets and beaches

The UK government is under growing pressure to introduce a money-back return scheme for plastic bottles, in order to tackle huge volumes of waste in a country where 400 bottles are sold every second.

Opposition parties have called on ministers to introduce a deposit return scheme that experts say would drastically reduce the number of plastic bottles littering streets and seas around the UK. Similar schemes have been successfully introduced in at least a dozen countries.

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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.
Categories: Around The Web

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.
Categories: Around The Web

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