PM wants to prevent panels on 58% of farmland but business secretary says renewables need to be boosted
Liz Truss is facing a rebellion from Jacob Rees-Mogg’s business department over plans to ban solar power from most of England’s farmland.
The prime minister and her environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, want to ban solar from about 41% of the land area of England, or about 58% of agricultural land, the Guardian revealed earlier this week.
Continue reading...Study finds chemical companies dodging federal law designed to track how many PFAS plants are pumping into environment
Chemical companies are dodging a federal law designed to track how many PFAS “forever chemicals” their plants are discharging into the environment by exploiting a loophole created in the Trump administration’s final months, a new analysis of federal records has found.
The Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act put in place requirements that companies discharging over 100lb annually of the dangerous chemicals report the releases to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But during the implementation process, Trump’s EPA created an unusual loophole that at least five chemical companies have exploited.
Continue reading...People rush to stockpile bottled water amid emergency measures at reservoirs after record drought
A wave of panic buying has swept Shanghai in recent days, as rumours swirled of drinking water shortages despite assurances from local authorities that supplies remained normal.
Record-breaking droughts in China dried up parts of the Yangtze River, and prompted saltwater intrusions into the estuary and depleted reservoirs feeding Shanghai, which sits at the mouth of the crucial river. Caixin media reported on Tuesday that Shanghai authorities had taken emergency measures to secure water supply after the intrusions contaminated two of Shanghai’s four primary reservoirs and forced their temporary closure.
Continue reading...Unions accuse resource minister Madeline King of signing ‘dud deal’ with multinational gas companies
Labor is ratcheting up pressure on the gas industry as it contemplates a workable policy mechanism to lower prices.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, on Tuesday night ruled out intervening in the market with price caps after the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, confirmed the government was revisiting the problem of gas prices given soaring energy costs are driving domestic inflation and punching a hole in household budgets.
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Continue reading...Prime minister accused of ‘another screeching U-turn’ having previously rejected calls to impose levy
Renewable power companies will have their revenues capped in England and Wales, after the government bowed to pressure to clamp down on runaway profits.
The announcement late on Tuesday night provoked immediate accusations that Downing Street had performed “another screeching U-turn” – having previously rejected calls to impose a windfall tax on power giants.
Continue reading...Death of 46-year-old south of Bathurst comes as New South Wales and Victoria brace for heavy rain and severe weather
Police have urged motorists not to drive into flooded roads after the body of a missing man was found in his submerged vehicle in New South Wales’ central west.
The death of the 46-year-old comes as much of NSW braces for further deluges, with more than 100 flood warnings in place.
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Continue reading...Brian Eno, Ahdaf Soueif and Miriam Margolyes sign open letter about exhibition opening shortly before Cop27
Campaigners including the musician Brian Eno, the author Ahdaf Soueif and the actor Miriam Margolyes have criticised BP’s sponsorship of an exhibition of Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum.
The exhibition opens shortly before the critical Cop27 climate summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh this November.
Continue reading...Queensland police say officers had been called to Edmonstone Street in South Brisbane around 3pm. This blog is now closed
Treasurer says surging electricity costs will make inflation ‘hang around longer’
We brought you the grim news on the blog yesterday that the head of Alinta energy has predicated a 35% increase to retail electricity bills next year, as energy providers juggle phasing out fossil fuels alongside investment in renewables.
I think one of the reasons this inflation will hang around longer than we want it to is because there are expectations around these electricity price rises being more problematic for longer.
You’ve said the government would put the economy above politics, can you really say that’s what you doing if you leave the stage-three tax cuts in place as they are?
I can say that, and I think what people will see in the budget in two weeks’ time is some difficult decisions in difficult times.
Our job is to make sure that our budgets are perfectly calibrated to the economic conditions as we confront them.
Continue reading...Britain is no longer the key humanitarian player and ‘great ally’ it once was, says envoy trying to get support for Somalia’s drought
The UK has lost its leadership role in the world and is letting down its allies, a senior official in the Somali government has said.
Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, the presidential envoy for Somalia’s drought response, said Britain used to be second only to the US as a key player in international forums and advocacy, but has since slipped, saying that countries such as Somalia were being left without support to face “the new climate reality”.
Continue reading...At least 52 missing as military and rescue personnel searched for survivors
At least 25 people died and 52 were missing after five small rivers in central Venezuela flooded due to heavy rains, the government said.
The downpour on Saturday night swept large tree trunks and debris from surrounding mountains into the town of Tejerias, 67km south-west of the capital, Caracas, damaging businesses and farmland, according to the vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez.
Continue reading...Dozens of rivers still flooding and evacuation orders in place across state as reprieve from rain set to be short-lived
Rain has eased over much of New South Wales but dozens of rivers are still flooding and evacuation orders are in place as authorities forecast another rain system to arrive midweek.
People across the state were forced to flee their homes over the weekend amid rising flood waters and thousands of others are poised to leave if ordered as dams spill and river peaks move downstream.
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Continue reading...Citizen scientists find high phosphorous levels in the soil could be polluting the river in Herefordshire
Campaigners have revealed the results of farmland testing which provides new evidence of the potential link between intensive poultry units and the decline of the River Wye.
Citizen scientists sampled farmland along public footpaths near a tributary to the river in Herefordshire. They discovered the soil with the highest levels of phosphorus, which can blight a river, were close to intensive poultry units.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Dutton on his answer to filling the gap should stage-three tax cuts go through
Dutton:
If you look at even post lockdowns on a month by month basis, you can see months where we’ve gone back into surplus, so the settings we have in government, our instinct as Liberals, as a Coalition when it comes to budget management are vindicated.
When you look at where we are with a 50-year low unemployment, when you look at the strength of the underlying indicators here in Australia, that is a very significant contrast to where the UK or US budget is, and this government inherited a very strong position after nine years of Coalition management.
David, we went to the last election with a promise and I’m not in the business of breaking promises. The prime minister can contemplate it. He looked the Australian public in the eye and it seems he wasn’t so genuine and that he was prepared to make that statement.
I want to see the prime minister honour his commitment and not lie to the Australian people.
Continue reading...NSW SES commissioner Carlene York says it is ‘very dangerous out there’ and the rivers are still rising
Communities across large parts of New South Wales were on flood alert on Sunday afternoon, with a saturated landscape and swollen rivers in line for a further drenching on Wednesday.
By 1pm on Sunday, the NSW State Emergency Service had received more than 340 requests for help and carried out 28 flood rescues over the previous 24 hours – many were rescued from vehicles as they tried to drive through flood water.
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Continue reading...An assessment released Friday shows the population is down 38% from its peak in 2015 and 2016
US researchers say the number of gray whales off western North America has continued to dwindle during the last two years, a decline that resembles previous population swings over the past several decades but is still generating worry.
According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries assessment released Friday, the most recent count put the population at 16,650 whales – down 38% from its peak during the 2015-16 period. The whales also produced the fewest calves since scientists began counting the births in 1994.
Continue reading...Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s new standards put pressure on the UK to extend its animal welfare laws to fisheries
One of the world’s leading organisations for farmed seafood is to introduce new welfare rules after accepting fish can feel “pain, stress and anxiety”.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which oversees a global certification scheme for farmed fish, is consulting on new draft welfare standards, including more humane slaughter practices. The ASC provides certification labelling for British supermarket fish, from sea bass to smoked salmon.
Continue reading...With 22 days hitting 110F or higher, suspected heat deaths in the Arizona capital topped 450
Extreme heat contributed to as many as 450 deaths in the Phoenix area this summer, in what could be the deadliest year on record for the desert city in Arizona.
The medical examiner for Maricopa county, which includes Phoenix, has so far confirmed 284 heat-related deaths, while investigations into 169 more suspected heat fatalities are ongoing. The highest number of deaths – and emergency hospital visits – coincided with the hottest days and nights.
Continue reading...Decision described as a compromise by several European countries who wanted a more ambitious target
A United Nations body has agreed to a long-term aspirational goal for aviation of net-zero emissions by 2050, despite challenges from China and Russia, as countries aligned overwhelmingly with airlines amid pressure to curb pollution from flights.
Nevertheless, environmentalists criticised the non-binding nature of the agreement as toothless.
Continue reading...New Yorker accused of hiding large Burmese pythons in trousers while crossing from Canada in July could face 20-year sentence
A New York City man faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly attempting to smuggle three large snakes across the US-Canada border – in his pants.
Queens resident Calvin Bautista, 36, is accused of hiding three Burmese pythons while on a bus crossing into the US at the Champlain port of entry in New York state on 15 July 2018, the Associated Press reported.
Continue reading...Large area destroyed in September, as environmental criminals raced to wreck the region before possible change of president
Amazon deforestation has soared ahead of Brazil’s environmentally vital presidential election, with an area almost the size of Greater London lost last month alone.
Government satellites show a 1,455-sq km area of rainforest was destroyed in September, as environmental criminals raced to wreck the region before a possible change of president could bring Jair Bolsonaro’s era of destruction to an end.
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