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I do not think it is a leap to see our exploitive relationship with Earth as part of a centuries-long war against the environment

Standing on the edge of Utah’s terminal Great Salt Lake is to witness the religion of over-water consumption in the desert. Our thirst is greater than this inland sea can bare as it is disappearing in the shadows of climate chaos, extreme heat and a megadrought not seen in 2,500 years. Twelve million migrating birds depend on this water body for food, rest and breeding. Flocks of Wilson’s phalaropes, small and handsome shorebirds, spin in saline waters creating water columns alive with brine shrimp and flies and resulting in a feeding frenzy. American avocets and black-necked stilts stand stoically in the shallows. Thousands of ducks are sprinkled on the lake like pepper. Water and sky merge as one. There is no horizon. All appears well in this serene landscape of pastel blues animated by birds. It is not.

The health of the Great Salt Lake is only as strong as the health of the human community that surrounds it. And vice versa. If the 2 million people living within the Great Salt Lake watershed with Salt Lake City at its center do not mobilize to put more water in the lake, the death of the Great Salt Lake will be their own. This will also be the demise of millions of migrating birds.

Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, naturalist and activist

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I do not think it is a leap to see our exploitive relationship with Earth as part of a centuries-long war against the environment

Standing on the edge of Utah’s terminal Great Salt Lake is to witness the religion of over water-consumption in the desert. Our inland sea is disappearing in climate chaos evidenced by extreme heat and a megadrought not seen in 2,500 years. Ten million migrating birds depend on this water body for food, rest and breeding. Flocks of Wilson’s phalaropes, small and handsome shorebirds, spin in saline waters creating water columns alive with brine shrimp and flies and resulting in a feeding frenzy. American avocets and black-necked stilts stand stoically in the shallows. Thousands of ducks are sprinkled on the lake like pepper. Water and sky merge as one. There is no horizon. All appears well in this serene landscape of pastel blues animated by birds. It is not.

The health of the Great Salt Lake is only as strong as the health of the human community that surrounds it. And vice versa. If the 2 million people living within the Great Salt Lake watershed with Salt Lake City at its center do not mobilize to put more water in the lake, the death of the Great Salt Lake will be their own. This will also be the demise of millions of migrating birds.

Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, naturalist and activist

Continue reading...

Carbon pricing is gaining momentum in developing nations despite political and economic risks, according to a report published by the World Bank Wednesday.

Global trading house CME Group has provided details of its Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) futures contract, adding to the sole such offering currently available in the market, from the Australian Securities Exchange.

Chinese regulators have announced rules that can clarify the boundaries of the country's green electricity and national carbon offset markets, a move designed to help avoid double counting of environmental attributes.

The Australian government has ringfenced over A$215 million ($143 mln) to ramp up efforts in nature restoration and native species protection, it announced Wednesday.

A Paris-headquartered carbon crediting platform has opened a new modular biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) methodology for public consultation, the company announced on Wednesday.

The rapid shift to renewables carries significant risks to already stressed ecosystems. Our research finds ways to minimise this risk, ranging from strategic planning to smart technology.

The post Six ways to improve ecosystem outcomes of renewable energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australian start-up partners with German technology giant on a plan to build the first battery materials manufacturing plant outside of China.

The post Next-Gen and Siemens partner to make battery materials in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A top refiner in Japan has decided to support the country's first carbon credit generating project featuring collaboration with domestic pig farmers.

Western Australia and New South Wales have announced initiatives to support projects that will earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), with a focus on forestry and Indigenous environmental plantings (EP) projects.

In the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forests have been cleared for mines and the roads that service them. Large companies take what they can and move on, leaving abandoned ponds, toxic rivers and scraps of precious metal left in the ground

• Words and photographs by Guerchom Ndebo in Moku with support from the National Geographic Society

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Leading thinkers call for Australia to stop relying on selling emissions-laden resources for prosperity and turn the focus to renewables, hydrogen and science-backed action.

The post “We’re going to have to innovate the shit out of this:” Forum urges fresh thinking on climate appeared first on RenewEconomy.

European Energy Australia is buying up two solar projects from Swede OX2, as the ex-Shell assets continue to move through the market.

The post European Energy extends its reach in Australia with purchase of two shovel-ready solar farms appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Energy storage really is the special sauce that makes renewables work anytime, anywhere – and everywhere. This makes the most of the existing electricity network, including transmission lines. Scott Hamilton, Adjunct associate professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Monash University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A Victorian farm hosting 13 wind turbines from the Mortlake South wind farm is up for sale – and the turbines are a key selling point.

The post Prime farmland goes up for sale, with option to reap the harvest from 13 wind turbines appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Seeds buried in the soil tell of fire in the landscape. I sampled soil from 57 sites that experienced different patterns of fire. Over 15 months, I watched 39,701 plants grow to learn their secrets. Ella Plumanns Pouton, Researcher in Ecology, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A massive solar farm proposed for Victorian coal country has been given the green light by the state planning department, with provisions for an equally massive four-hour battery.

The post Victoria’s biggest solar farm cleared for construction in “heart of the Latrobe Valley,” huge battery included appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Achieving billions of tonnes of CO2 removals needed to slow climate change will require substantial policy support across geographies and government levels, a new report has warned.

Conservationists and botanists express concern over plans for Qatari-funded upscale resort on Assomption Island

The habitat of the largest giant tortoise population in the world is threatened by a Qatari-funded hotel development that aims to bring luxury yachts, private jets and well-heeled tourists to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, conservationists have warned.

Plans for an upscale resort on Assomption, which is part of the Aldabra island group, are currently under discussion by the Seychelles authorities, and construction is already finished on an airport expansion that would allow bigger aircraft to land on the 11.6-sq-km (4.5-sq-mile) coral island.

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