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Deep-pocketed miners don’t like it when those with different views wield clout | Lenore Taylor

The Guardian - Sat, 2017-02-18 09:00

The Minerals Council seems mostly intent on using its submission to electoral donations committee to kneecap environmental groups opposed to new mines

In 2010 the mining industry’s $22m campaign against Kevin Rudd’s resources tax helped bring down a prime minister. For years it has spent huge sums on donations and advertising and lobbying to exert enormous political influence. But the deep-pocketed miners really don’t like it when those with different views find the cash and the smarts to wield some clout.

The latest squeal came this week in an appearance by the Minerals Council of Australia before the joint standing committee on electoral donations, which seems likely to reach a bipartisan consensus on banning foreign donations to political parties and other organisations that might influence the outcome of elections – including associated entities (like unions or fundraising foundations) and activist groups like GetUp.

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Northern Territory gas

ABC Environment - Sat, 2017-02-18 07:05
A very large, and potentially very lucrative, shale gas field has been identified in the Northern Territory, 500 kilometres southeast of Darwin. But the NT Government has a moratorium on fracking. We hear about this latest development in the territory at a time when the nation is debating our energy security and some are saying the gas option has to be revived.
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Country Breakfast Features

ABC Environment - Sat, 2017-02-18 05:45
What are governments doing around the world to try to beat one of the most costly diseases in wheat; and a leading global scientist warns 'anti-science' is leading to poor decisions.
Categories: Around The Web

Scott Pruitt confirmed as EPA head despite failure to release emails

The Guardian - Sat, 2017-02-18 05:05
  • Senate approves former Oklahoma attorney general 52-46
  • Court ordered new environmental head to release emails to fossil fuel industry

Oklahoma’s attorney general, Scott Pruitt, has won Senate confirmation to head the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal agency he repeatedly sued to rein in its reach during the Obama administration.

The vote on Friday was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party’s narrow Senate majority to push Pruitt’s confirmation despite calls from Democrats to delay the vote until requested emails are released next week.

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GM hens help build 'frozen aviary' in Edinburgh

BBC - Sat, 2017-02-18 04:24
Genetically-modified hens that can lay eggs from different poultry breeds are helping scientists set up a "frozen aviary" to conserve rare birds.
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The week in wildlife – in pictures

The Guardian - Sat, 2017-02-18 03:47

Sea turtles laying eggs, buffalo and a swan lake are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Wildlife ranger killed in Zambia leaves behind seven children

The Guardian - Sat, 2017-02-18 01:16

Rodrick Ngulube was shot by poachers in West Petauke game management area, after rangers discovered carcasses of a warthog and zebra

At 7am on 12 February, 37-year-old wildlife ranger Rodrick Ngulube was gunned down by poachers in Zambia’s West Petauke game management area. Ngulube and fellow rangers had been tracking seven poachers since the night before when the incident occurred. The slain ranger is survived by his wife and seven children.

The sound of a gunshot the day before had set off the team of six rangers, including Ngulube, to track down its source. Forced to give up the search when it got dark, the team picked up the poachers’ trail again the next morning until they discovered the carcasses of a warthog and zebra.

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

The Guardian - Sat, 2017-02-18 00:00

Scientists have discovered the river reef is far bigger, and more important, than first thought – a biodiversity hotspot on a par with the Great Barrier Reef. Now they face a race to protect it from big oil

There is a flickering, bright glimmer of sky as the two-person submarine descends beneath the muddy equatorial waters to a place no human has ever seen – a vast, complex coral reef at the mouth of the world’s greatest river.

Thirty metres under the murky plume of the sediment-heavy Amazon, the sub enters a darker, richer world. A school of curious remora fish approaches the two-tonne machine. Crabs and starfish loom in its eerie lights. A metre-long amberjack swims past, then a two-metre ray.

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Ocean mapping XPRIZE cuts teams to 21

BBC - Fri, 2017-02-17 22:55
The international competition to drive innovation in seafloor mapping announces the teams that will take part in its semi-final stage.
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Plastic 'nurdles' found littering UK beaches

BBC - Fri, 2017-02-17 21:27
Billions of tiny plastic lentil-sized pellets can be spotted on UK shores - but how do 'nurdles' get there?
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London to introduce £10 vehicle pollution charge, says Sadiq Khan

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-02-17 20:43

Owners of more polluting cars will have to pay extra levy from October to drive within congestion charge zone

Older, more polluting cars will have to pay a £10 charge to drive in central London from 23 Octoberthe city’s mayor, has said.

Confirming he would press ahead with the fee, known as the T-charge, Sadiq Khan said: “It’s staggering that we live in a city where the air is so toxic that many of our children are growing up with lung problems. If we don’t make drastic changes now we won’t be protecting the health of our families in the future.

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Call for brain donors

BBC - Fri, 2017-02-17 16:32
Scientists are calling for more people to donate their brains to research to help find cures for mental and psychological disorders.
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Cardiff Uni's new way of making compounds for drugs

BBC - Fri, 2017-02-17 16:28
Researchers in Cardiff develop a new "highly-efficient" method of extracting disease-fighting compounds.
Categories: Around The Web

Zealandia: Is there an eighth continent under New Zealand?

BBC - Fri, 2017-02-17 16:25
Almost entirely submerged, Zealandia meets all the criteria to be considered a continent, say researchers.
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Omens turn to charm in Ted Hughes' badlands

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-02-17 15:30

Mexborough, South Yorkshire No longer ‘more or less solid chemicals’, the gunmetal waters of the Don are clean enough for salmon

There were wisps of snow in the liverish sky over Main Street, Mexborough. I passed a shop offering cash for clothes, 40p a kilo, across the road from a tattoo parlour, and then stopped outside its shuttered neighbour. This was, from 1938, the family home of Ted Hughes. The poet’s parents ran it as a newsagent’s.

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Scientists appeal for more people to donate their brains

BBC - Fri, 2017-02-17 14:13
They say they are lacking the brains of people with disorders such as depression and PTSD.
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Labor’s policy dance likely means more gas, not renewables

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-02-17 13:51
The designers of the scheme Labor has embraced to meet climate targets admit it is designed to promote gas, not wind or solar – even with a 50% emission reduction target.
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Victoria seeks to build country’s biggest grid-scale battery storage

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-02-17 13:36
Victoria's Labor government calling for expressions of interest to build 20MW battery storage array, to improve grid stability.
Categories: Around The Web

UK scientists seek closer relationship with US after Brexit

BBC - Fri, 2017-02-17 13:32
Research institutions want to make it easier for scientists to collaborate and share facilities.
Categories: Around The Web

US battery maker sees “tremendous opportunity” with Australian utilities

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2017-02-17 13:26
SimpliPhi Power CEO in talks on battery storage with Australia's "progressive" utilities and transmission companies.
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