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Whale watching season starts early as humpback population bounces back
Not long ago, the humpback was almost wiped out, now its numbers are booming in what conservationists say is a ‘wonderful success story’
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People across Australia’s east coast are catching an earlier than expected first glimpse of breaching humpback whales as they migrate north, and scientists say the reason why is a conservation success story.
Whale watchers were treated to a spectacular show in Sydney on Monday as two humpback whales surged from the water metres from their boat. Dr Wally Franklin, director of the Oceania Project, said sightings have also been reported off the coast of Merimbula, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads, the Gold Coast and Hervey Bay, as the whales journey north from the Antarctic to the Great Barrier Reef.
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Continue reading...Environment to-do list: five ministerial priorities for Tanya Plibersek
Australia’s new minister faces difficult challenges fixing laws, creating an EPA and curbing an extinction crisis
There was surprise last week when Tanya Plibersek was announced as Australia’s new environment and water minister. The portfolio, which had been held by Terri Butler in opposition before she lost her seat, comes with a long list of unaddressed challenges.
Here are five that Plibersek will face as she gets up to speed in her new role.
Continue reading...As we unite for the jubilee, let’s believe Britain’s best days are ahead, not behind
Our values of decency and tolerance, and confidence in a secure green future, make Labour the party of patriotism now
As we come together as a nation to celebrate the Queen’s remarkable platinum jubilee, we also unite around our bunting and flags in a moment of pure British patriotism. Being patriotic isn’t something that Labour has always looked comfortable with, but progressive politics has been at its most successful and transformational when it captures the best of British values, nurtures our world-famous institutions and instils a belief that our best days lie ahead of us, not just in the past.
A quick survey across British politics today tells us that it’s not the Conservatives that enshrine these patriotic principles but Labour.
Continue reading...Why your ability to repair a tractor could also be a matter of life and death | John Naughton
US farmers’ struggles for the right to fix their own, now highly computer-controlled equipment, have implications for us all
It was one of the few pieces of cheery news to emerge from the war in Ukraine. Russian looters, no doubt with the assistance of Russian troops, stole 27 pieces of John Deere farm equipment, worth about $5m, from a dealership in Melitopol. The kit was shipped to Chechnya, where a nasty surprise awaited the crooks. Their shiny new vehicles had, overnight, become the world’s heaviest paperweights: the dealership from which they had been stolen had “bricked” them remotely, using an inbuilt “kill-switch”.
This news item no doubt warmed the cockles of many a western heart. But it would have raised only hollow laughs from farmers in US states who are customers of John Deere and are mightily pissed off, because although they have paid small fortunes (up to $800,000 apparently) for the firm’s machinery, they are unable to service or repair them when they go wrong. These gigantic vehicles are no longer purely mechanical devices, but depend on lots of electronic control units (ECUs) to operate everything from the air conditioning to the driver’s seat to the engine. The ICUs run software that is essential to the operation, maintenance and repair of the machine. But only John Deere has access to that computer code and without employing a company technician the tractor’s software won’t even recognise (let alone allow) replacement parts from another manufacturer.
Continue reading...Don’t let wasps spoil your jubilee picnic – be like an Argentinian, not like a badger | Seirian Sumner
Wasps are ecologically and economically important – and they don’t want to sting you, they just want your sugar and sausages
Every summer, with the predictability of hay fever and impromptu barbecues, I am asked by friends, family, strangers and the media: “What’s the point of wasps?”
Although some people will be starting to worry about wasps as they set out their jubilee picnics this bank holiday weekend, wasp complaint season usually kicks off in mid-August in the UK. It’s my summer holiday calibrator, and generally peaks just about the time when I’ve started to unwind from the busy chaos of my life as an academic. I’m not grumbling (my family does that for me); I never turn down the chance to evangelise about wasps. But I am beginning to sound like a stuck record.
Continue reading...How ministers squashed proposals to expand right to roam in England
Last year the government asked for ‘big ideas’ on access to green space. Now it is refusing to publish the responses
When countryside campaigners were invited to meet government ministers and share “big, creative ideas” for “structural and systemic changes” around access to green spaces, they thought it could be too good to be true. Was the government listening, and were England’s archaic laws on countryside access about to change?
Last summer, groups representing more than 20 million people who are active outdoors, including ramblers, canoeists and mountaineers, were asked to speak to officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Treasury to explain how people are shut off from accessing green space because of trespass laws and other barriers.
Continue reading...CP Daily: Friday June 3, 2022
Lawmakers float tighter controls on EU carbon market prices, access ahead of key vote
US EPA finalises largely intact Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes, denies outstanding waivers
WCI and RGGI speculators build allowance length, while emitters in both markets trim holdings
PREVIEW: EU lawmakers likely to downsize ETS ambition in key votes
RGGI auction clears at sixth straight record high in Q2, barely misses additional volume
UPDATE – European nations line up Paris carbon credit deals
Car tyres produce vastly more particle pollution than exhausts, tests show
Toxic particles from tyre wear almost 2,000 times worse than from exhausts as weight of cars increases
Almost 2,000 times more particle pollution is produced by tyre wear than is pumped out of the exhausts of modern cars, tests have shown.
The tyre particles pollute air, water and soil and contain a wide range of toxic organic compounds, including known carcinogens, the analysts say, suggesting tyre pollution could rapidly become a major issue for regulators.
Continue reading...Another Progressive Conservative win in Ontario means status quo for province’s carbon pricing
The ultra-polluting Scarborough-Pluto gas project could blow through Labor’s climate target – and it just got the green light
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator, AgriProve hit back at damning soil carbon study
The regenerative farm working to improve soil without fertilisers
As the Ukraine war and climate crisis act as a wake-up call for the industry, one UK farm is leading the way
Lettuces are sprouting, the wildflowers are in bloom and a buzzard is circling above the meadow on a sunny spring day at Huxhams Cross Farm near the village of Dartington in Devon. From the top of a hill, Marina O’Connell can survey most of the 15 hectares (37 acres) she has dedicated the past six years to transforming.
When she took over running the farm in 2015, she recalls, the farm contractor called this a “miserable bit of land”. Now the fields and hedgerows buzz with wildlife, and young farm workers chat as they sow carrot seeds and plant out early spinach. Further downhill, chickens peck about near polytunnels full of vegetables and soft fruit.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a rock goby, a fox-chasing crow and a frolicking Icelandic horse
Continue reading...Trina Solar ranks ‘AAA’ in latest PV Tech Bankability Report
Trina Solar has been ranked ‘AAA’, the highest category in the latest PV ModuleTech Bankability report published by PV-Tech.
The post Trina Solar ranks ‘AAA’ in latest PV Tech Bankability Report appeared first on RenewEconomy.