Category Archives: Environment

‘Spectacular’ spiny crayfish samples rec amid Lismore floods key to mapping species

Posted on by

Australia Museum says 20-year-old collection will help understand and conserve threatened animals, which are sensitive to climate change

As floods devastated Lismore, a group of ecologists waited anxiously for a break in the weather so they could move an important scientific collection of “spectacular” spiny crayfish to a new home at the Australian Museum.

The samples of the crayfish were collected more than 20 years ago from deep within the rainforests of north-eastern NSW and southern Queensland by Dr Jason Coughran, a freshwater ecologist.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Germany faces EU backlash over U-turn on phasing out combustion engine

Posted on by

Row a further signal of tensions over the green deal landmark proposals to tackle climate crisis

Germany is facing a growing backlash inside the EU over its U-turn on a law to phase out the combustion engine in new cars by 2035, despite signs of an end to the standoff with Brussels.

The row comes amid growing concerns over France’s push to include nuclear across a swathe of laws on green technologies, a further signal of tensions over the EU green deal, landmark proposals to tackle the climate crisis.

Continue reading...

Plan to test for dioxins near Ohio train derailment site is flawed, experts say

Posted on by

Test relies on visual inspection of ash to then check soil for toxins, which is ‘unlikely to give a complete picture’ of contamination

A plan to test for toxic dioxins near the site of a February train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, is flawed and unlikely to find the dangerous substances, independent chemical pollution researchers in the US who reviewed the testing protocol told the Guardian.

Initial soil testing already revealed dioxin levels hundreds of times above the threshold that Environmental Protection Agency scientists have found poses a cancer risk, but that sampling was limited in scope.

Arcadis will largely rely on visual inspections of the ground to find evidence of dioxins, instead of systematically testing soil samples that may contain the compounds, which is standard protocol.

The plan does not say how low the levels of dioxin the company will check for will be.

Testing will only be conducted up to two miles from the accident site when ash has been found up to 20 miles away.

The testing is limited to soil and does not include food or water.

Continue reading...

The Greens face one of the biggest decisions of their political lives as Labor’s climate policy hangs in the balance

Posted on by

Some Greens want to pass the safeguard mechanism changes and keep fighting on fossil fuels while others want to attack it as a Coalition creation that can’t be redeemed

The future of one of Labor’s signature climate policies – updating the safeguard mechanism to deal with industrial greenhouse gas emissions – hangs in the balance. The government held off pushing it through parliament this week while negotiations continued with the Greens and key independent senator David Pocock over a potential deal to strengthen it.

The design of the policy is not the Greens’ responsibility, but what happens next is largely up to its party room – with the Coalition opposed, the government can’t get its legislation through without their support. The minor party is divided. Its 15 members will meet through the weekend ahead of a potential decision by Monday. It could go either way. Given the party operates on a consensus model that allows time to find common ground, it could also remain unresolved into next week.

Continue reading...

‘We are losing debates’: combustion engine row divides Germany’s coalition

Posted on by

Green party accuses FDP of gambling away country’s reputation after last-minute blocking of phase-out from 2035

A clash over climate protection measures is threatening to unravel Germany’s three-party governing alliance, after the Green party accused its liberal coalition partners of gambling away the country’s reputation by blocking a EU-wide phase-out of internal combustion engines in cars.

“You can’t have a coalition of progress where only one party is in charge of progress and the others try to stop the progress,” the country’s vice-chancellor and economy minister, Robert Habeck, said at a meeting of the Green party’s parliamentary group in Weimar on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Lidia Thorpe knocked to ground in struggle with police at anti-trans rights speaker’s Canberra event

Posted on by

Independent senator attempts to step up to podium after Pauline Hanson speaks in support of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull. Follow the day’s news

Mark Butler says part of the issue is that vaping was allowed to “explode” so it’s a case of putting the genie back in the bottle – but he says the government is determined to do it, so the tobacco industry doesn’t win.

A parent told us last week that they found in their very young child’s pencil case, not a 16/17-year-old but a very young child’s pencil case, a vape that was deliberately designed to look like a highlighter pen. I mean, these things are insidious.

They are causing very real damage not just to the health of very young children but to behavioural issues at schools as well.

This is now the biggest behavioural issue in primary schools. I mean, this is this is an industry shamelessly marketing, not just to teenagers but to young children. When you look at these things, with pink unicorns on them and bubblegum flavors, these aren’t marketed to adults.

This is an industry that is trying to create a new generation of nicotine addicts so they get around all of the hard work. Our country and other countries have done over recent decades to stamp out smoking.

Continue reading...

Labor and Greens could agree to compromise on non-fossil fuel industries in safeguard mechanism

Posted on by

Greens in internal negotiations over backing down on demand for ban on new coal and gas projects in Labor’s climate policy

Labor could agree to treat existing non-fossil fuel industries – such as cement, aluminium and steel – differently to new coal and gas developments in a bid to reach agreement with the Greens on a signature climate policy.

But it is unclear whether the possible compromise on the design of the safeguard mechanism would be enough to win support for the Albanese government’s plan, which requires major industrial polluting sites to reduce emissions intensity onsite cuts or buy carbon offsets.

Continue reading...

Canada scientists create new method to break down toxic ‘forever chemicals’

Posted on by

University of British Columbia researchers develop silica-based material with ability to absorb wider range of harmful chemicals

Researchers at a Canadian university have made a breakthrough they hope will dramatically shorten the lifespan of the thousands of toxic “forever chemicals” that persist in clothing, household items and the environment.

Scientists at the University of British Columbia announced on Wednesday that they had developed a new silica-based material with ability to absorb a wider range of the harmful chemicals, and new tools to break them apart them.

Continue reading...

Dieselgate: millions of ‘extremely’ polluting cars still on Europe’s roads, says report

Posted on by

The research group that first exposed the scandal say ‘it’s not over’ and that governments must act

Thirteen million diesel cars producing “extreme” levels of toxic air pollution are still on the roads in Europe and the UK, according to a report, seven years after the Dieselgate scandal first exploded.

The non-profit research group, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), revealed in 2015 that many diesel cars were highly polluting, emitting far more nitrogen oxides on the road than in official testing. The scandal led to a more rigorous test being introduced in the EU in 2019.

Continue reading...

Eight dolphins die in New Jersey stranding

Posted on by

Rescuers unable to save cetaceans after mass stranding event at Sea Isle City

Eight dolphins have died after being stranded on a beach in New Jersey, a rehabilitation center said.

According to the New Jersey-based Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC), the pod of eight dolphins were caught in a “mass stranding event” in the state’s southernmost city, Sea Isle City, on Tuesday morning.

Continue reading...

Etihad accused of misleading customers with greenwashing in ‘net zero’ ads

Posted on by

Complaint made to ACCC says airline’s claims of net zero by 2050 are not feasible and company intends to increase absolute CO2 emissions

Etihad has been accused of misleading customers through advertising that spruiked its emissions reductions plans, with Australia’s consumer watchdog now considering action against the airline amid its crackdown on greenwashing.

Aviation emissions advocacy group Flight Free Australia alleged in the complaint that two Etihad advertisements that appeared on digital advertising banners during an A-League football match between Melbourne City and Adelaide United at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on 15 February last year were false or misleading.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Burrowing badgers halt train services in the Netherlands

Posted on by

Dutch authorities try to tempt out animals, which dig setts under quiet and raised train embankments

Leaves on the tracks, signal failures and strikes can all cause train delay headaches, but commuters in the Netherlands are facing railway havoc caused by badgers burrowing under the lines, with authorities struggling to tempt the protected animals out.

In the densely populated country, there is limited natural space for the country’s 7,000 badgers. They often dig out their homes, or setts, under relatively “quiet” train embankments, which are ideally situated away from people and also slightly raised, which prevents the sett from flooding.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: government and opposition strike agreement over voice referendum machinery changes

Posted on by

Bipartisan approach likely as Senate addresses changes to the rules governing referendums. Follow the day’s news live

Voice negotiations

The referendum machinery legislation will set up how the voice referendum will run – the machinery surruounding the vote, if you will.

We’re negotiating in good faith in the Senate that’s being led by Jane Hume who is doing an outstanding job. What we said to the government in the beginning is what we’re saying to them now and that is that we are not prepared to trash decades of referendum precedent, and not do this in a way that Australians expect us to, in their interests, for their information.

We’re asking for a pamphlet to outline the yes and no case, and we’ve talked about that. We’re asking for equal funding of the yes or no case, not the millions of dollars that may go into a public campaign on either side of this debate, but just the administration funding.

Fifty-seven per cent of the population does not want to open new coal and gas mines and I think there’s a very clear message coming through there. Secondly, no, I have got a lot of time for Jacqui Lambie, but we had an emissions trading scheme in this country and she was part of a party that voted to repeal it so let’s let’s not get too carried away with the spin here.

We’re in a climate crisis, as the UN secretary general has made clear. The decisions that we make now will reverberate for generations to come and the big decisions that we’ve got to make, do we open new coal and gas mines or not?

Continue reading...

Residents of Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ announce lawsuit against local officials

Posted on by

Residents accuse St James parish officials of civil rights and religious liberty violations by approving petrochemical plants

Residents of St James parish, Louisiana, have unveiled a federal lawsuit accusing local government officials of civil rights and religious liberty violations by repeatedly approving the construction of petrochemical plants in two majority Black districts.

The lawsuit, part of a wave of litigation in the heavily industrialised corridor known as “Cancer Alley”, also calls for a moratorium on the construction of new plants and the extension of existing facilities in St James parish.

Continue reading...

Bras fit for burying: Australia to set a world-first standard for composting textiles

Posted on by

Australia has a 227,000 tonne a year fashion waste problem, but thanks to a lingerie designer’s campaign, some of it could soon rot productively

Australians could be the first people in the world to confidently compost their worn out clothing, thanks to a campaign led by a lingerie entrepreneur.

For the last 18 months, Stephanie Devine of the Very Good Bra has worked with sustainability experts, academics and industry to create a proposal for Standards Australia: a technical specification for compostable textiles.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Continue reading...

Older Americans protest against ‘dirty banks’ funding oil and gas projects

Posted on by

Protesters cut up credit cards and march to Washington branches of JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo

Hundreds of older Americans gathered in Washington on Tuesday to protest against four of the country’s largest financial institutions, cutting up their credit cards in an act of defiance meant to condemn the banks’ funding of oil and gas projects.

The protesters marched to the downtown DC branches of the four targeted “dirty banks” – JPMorgan Chase, CitiBank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo – before staging a “die-in” to symbolize the global threat posed by fossil fuels. In a nod to the age of the protest’s participants, demonstrators sat in painted rocking chairs as they chanted “Cut it up!” to those slashing their credit cards outside the banks’ branches.

Continue reading...

World’s biggest single eradication operation aims to remove mice from island

Posted on by

Invasive house mice threaten endangered seabirds and wildlife on Marion Island in Indian Ocean

Non-native house mice are to be removed from Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean to protect the wandering albatross and other endangered seabirds, in the world’s largest eradication programme of its kind.

Mice accidentally introduced on to the remote island by 19th-century seal hunters have thrived in warmer and drier conditions over the past 30 years, devastating the island’s invertebrates and plants, and then devouring the chicks and even adults of ground- and burrow-nesting seabirds.

Continue reading...

Watchdog to block shareholder payouts if UK water companies miss targets

Posted on by

Ofwat says new powers will be used if firms fail to reach performance and environmental goals

The UK water regulator is to use new powers to block companies from shareholder payouts if they fail to hit performance and environmental targets.

Ofwat, which in December heavily criticised some of the country’s biggest suppliers over the size of dividend payments relative to their financial performance, said the new rules would also mean water companies would “maintain a higher level of overall financial health”.

Continue reading...

Voters in city seats support ban on new coal and gas projects, poll shows

Posted on by

Majority in teal seats of Mackellar and Goldstein – and Labor’s Moreton and Bennelong – also say industry should not use offsets for emissions

The majority of voters in several metropolitan areas support stopping new coal and gas projects and believe industrial polluters should not be able to use carbon offsets for all their greenhouse gas emissions, according to new polling.

The progressive thinktank the Australia Institute commissioned uComms to poll more than 800 residents in each of two “teal” electorates – Mackellar and Goldstein – and the Labor-held seats of Moreton Bennelong and Sydney.

Continue reading...

Samoa PM urges world to save Pacific people from climate crisis obliteration

Posted on by

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa pleads for action before landmark IPCC report is expected to issue ‘final warning’

The world must step back from the brink of climate disaster to save the people of the Pacific from obliteration, the prime minister of Samoa has urged.

On the eve of a landmark report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is expected to deliver a scientific “final warning” on the climate emergency, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Samoa’s prime minister, issued a desperate plea for action.

Continue reading...