Category Archives: Environment

Origin Energy offered to sell Eraring power station to NSW government for $544m

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Exclusive: Documents reveal offer was made three years before Origin and government reached deal to keep Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station open

Origin Energy offered to sell its Eraring power station to the New South Wales government for more than half a billion dollars before announcing it would close the plant in August 2025, a document now made public reveals.

The energy company, which last week announced a pact with the government to keep the nation’s biggest coal-fired power station open for at least another two years, had offered to sell back the privatised facility for $544m during negotiations in 2021.

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Heatwaves increase risk of early births and poorer health in babies, study finds

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Research that looked at 53 million births says Black and Hispanic mothers and those in lower socioeconomic groups most at risk

Heatwaves increase rates of preterm births, which can lead to poorer health outcomes for babies and impact their long-term health, a new study found.

Black and Hispanic mothers, as well as those in lower socioeconomic groups, are particularly at risk of delivering early following heat waves.

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Orange-juice makers consider using other fruits after prices go ‘bananas’

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Global industry ‘in crisis’ as fears about Brazilian harvest help push wholesale prices to record highs

Orange-juice makers are considering turning to alternative fruits such as mandarins as wholesale prices have “gone bananas” amid fears of poor harvests in Brazil.

Prices of the citrus drink reached a new high of $4.95 (£3.88) a lb on commodity markets this week after growers in the main orange producing areas of Brazil said they were expecting the harvest to be 24% down on last year at 232m 40.8-kg boxes – worse than the 15% fall previously predicted.

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Alarming levels of ‘forever chemicals’ found in water near Bangladesh garment factories

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Study confirms huge concentrations of potentially dangerous PFAS in rivers, lakes and taps in Dhaka

Rivers, lakes and tap water in areas of Bangladesh that host garment factories are swarming with dangerous levels of toxic “forever chemicals”, some with links to serious health issues, according to new research.

In the first study of its kind conducted in Bangladesh, a global fashion hub supplying international brands, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as forever chemicals, were found in 27 water samples collected close to textile factories in the capital, Dhaka.

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‘Crippling’ drought in Zambia threatens hunger for millions, says minister

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Collins Nzovu says country’s plight is foretaste of disasters that will increasingly afflict region as climate breakdown takes hold

Severe drought in Zambia is threatening hunger for millions of people, cutting off electricity for long periods and destroying the country’s social fabric and economy, the environment minister has warned, in a harbinger of what is in store for the region as the climate crisis worsens.

Collins Nzovu said the “crippling drought” his country was experiencing hammered home the message that developing countries were facing catastrophe from the climate crisis, even as richer countries failed to muster financial help for the most afflicted.

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Threatened species and chips? Other fish frequently sold as flake, Australian study finds

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Scalloped hammerhead and greeneye spurdog among at-risk shark discovered in genetic testing of fillets

One in 10 fillets of shark meat bought by Australians at fish and chip shops and markets – often labelled as flake – is from a threatened species, according to a study that has uncovered widespread mislabelling of shark sold to the public.

Nine of 91 fillets were found to be either scalloped hammerhead, greeneye spurdog or school shark – all considered threatened in Australia – after scientists at Macquarie University used DNA analysis to check what they were sold.

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Weather tracker: Cyclone Remal lashes coast of Bangladesh and India

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Hundreds of thousands of people evacuated while red alerts issued for unrelenting heat across north-western India and Pakistan

During the early hours of Saturday morning, an area of low pressure over the east-central Bay of Bengal intensified, and has been named Cyclone Remal.

Cyclone Remal made landfall between Sagar Island in West Bengal, India, and Bangladesh’s Khepupara region late on Sunday as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued warnings for heavy rain, strong winds, storm surges, and rough seas. Cumulative rainfall totals through the first half of this week could reach 200-300mm across the majority of Bangladesh, north-eastern states of India, and West Bengal. More than 150mm is also possible across southern parts of Bhutan and western Myanmar.

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Lemur pups Nova and Evie born at Scottish safari park

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Female pair are third litter born at Blair Drummond under endangered species breeding programme

A Scottish safari park has announced the birth of two female lemur pups native to Madagascar.

Nova and Evie, who are living at Blair Drummond safari and adventure park, near Stirling, were born on 14 April, and the park has now publicly announced their birth.

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‘Enormously exciting’ fossils found in NSW opal field suggest Australia had ‘age of monotremes’

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Discovery of ‘echidnapus’ and two more species show the furry egg-layers predated marsupials

Some time about 100m years ago in what is now an Australian opal field, a weird, furry, egg-laying, rabbit-sized mammal was gliding through a waterhole across a massive polar floodplain.

This mammal – Opalius splendens but which scientists have thankfully blessed with the nickname “echidnapus” – was among the ancient descendants of one of the planet’s most unique orders of animals, the monotremes.

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We tested landscaping supplies on sale in Sydney stores for asbestos – it came back positive

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Exclusive: Independent testing of recycled soil fill for sale finds two of four samples would not meet legislated thresholds, and one contained asbestos

Asbestos has been found in recycled soil fill for sale in New South Wales landscape and garden stores, more than a decade after investigators first raised concerns about contamination.

Guardian Australia bought four products at Sydney landscape supply shops and had samples analysed by accredited private laboratories.

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Coalition’s brave nuke world a much harder sell after new CSIRO report

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The agency’s GenCost analysis says a first nuclear plant for Australia would deliver power ‘no sooner than 2040’ and could cost more than $17bn

The Coalition’s pitch on nuclear energy for Australia has had two recurring themes: the electricity will be cheap and it could be deployed within a decade.

CSIRO’s latest GenCost report – a document that analyses the costs of a range of electricity generation technologies – contradicts both of these points. It makes the Coalition’s job of selling nuclear power plants to Australians ever more challenging.

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‘Knight in spiny armor’: could lobsters help save Florida’s dying corals?

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A three-year study found that the spiny lobsters’ urine scared off predatory worms and snails who snack on the delicate organisms

An unexpected champion has emerged in the increasingly grave battle to save Florida’s imperiled coral reefs: spiny lobsters that urinate in the water and scare off predatory worms and snails seeking to feast on the delicate organisms.

The finding is one of the more bizarre conclusions of a three-year study by scientists from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC), who are also warning it may already be too late for some species of coral to survive without significant human assistance.

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More than 5,000 feral horses culled in Kosciuszko national park since aerial shooting resumed

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Conservationist says for first time number of animals removed exceeds annual population growth

More than 5,000 feral horses have been culled since the recommencement of aerial shooting in the Kosciuszko national park, with the NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe, describing the number as proof of the need to control the threat the animals pose to the alpine wilderness.

Conservationists said for the first time the number of horses removed from the park would exceed the annual growth in horse populations, giving hope that a major threat for under-pressure ecosystems was starting to be addressed.

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Weather tracker: Pakistan heatwave continues wild changes in weather patterns

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Dangerously high temperatures follow wettest April since 1961 as country swings between extremes

Pakistan is in the midst of an intense heatwave, with hundreds of heatstroke victims being treated in hospitals across the country.

Temperatures soared to 49C (120F) on Wednesday in Mohenjo-daro, in the southern Sindh province. These temperatures are more than 8C above May’s average daytime temperature. Authorities in Punjab have been forced to close schools for a week and are advising people to remain indoors. Many labourers have, however, continued to work out of financial necessity.

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UK ministers to be challenged in human rights court over protest injunctions

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Friends of the Earth will argue private companies are allowed to create their own public order laws that stifle demonstrations

The government is to be challenged at the European court of human rights over its use of “confusing and opaque” anti-protest injunctions.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth (FoE) is to argue such injunctions allow private companies to create bespoke public order laws that stifle peaceful protest.

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UK’s Environment Agency chief admits regulator buries freedom of information requests

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Speaking at the UK River Summit, Philip Duffy said officials do not want to reveal the true ‘embarrassing’ environmental picture

The head of the Environment Agency has admitted that freedom of information requests have been buried by the regulator because the truth about the environment in England is “embarrassing”.

Philip Duffy, the body’s chief executive, told an audience at the UK River Summit in Morden, south London, this week that his officials were “worried about revealing the true state of what is going on” with regards to the state of the environment.

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Senate Democrats to investigate Trump’s reported big oil ‘deal’

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Two committees inquiring after reports of ex-president’s offer to roll back dozens of regulations for $1bn campaign donations

Powerful Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into an alleged quid pro quo offer from Donald Trump to fossil fuel executives.

At a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago home and club last month, the former president reportedly told oil bosses he would immediately roll back dozens of environmental regulations if elected, and requested $1bn in contributions to his presidential campaign. It would be a “deal” for the executives because of the costs they would avoid under him, he reportedly said.

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Norfolk Southern agrees to $310m settlement over 2023 East Palestine derailment

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Settlement for disaster that resulted in plumes of toxic chemicals in Ohio town includes funds for cleanup costs

The freight train company involved in a disastrous, pollution-spewing derailment in Ohio last year has agreed to a $310m settlement with the US government over the incident.

Norfolk Southern will pay a $15m civil penalty for violating clean water laws and pay hundreds of millions more in cleanup costs in the wake of the derailment, which occurred near the town of East Palestine in February last year.

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Almost a third of household smart meters not working properly, says Citizens Advice

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Charity says tech problems and poor customer service mean millions in Great Britain missing out on promised benefits

The number of gas and electricity smart meters that are not working properly is likely to be higher than government figures suggest – possibly 20% to 30% of the total – according to research from Citizens Advice.

The charity said millions of households were missing out on the promised benefits from smart meters due to “problems with technology” and poor supplier customer service.

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NSW government extends life of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station by two years to 2027

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Deal struck with Origin Energy, owner of 2.88-gigawatt Eraring plant near Lake Macquarie, to limit risk of electricity shortages as renewables come online

Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station will remain operational for at least two more years after the New South Wales government signed a deal with its owner, Origin Energy, in an attempt to limit the risk of electricity shortages until more renewables are built.

The agreement, announced on Thursday, involves NSW taxpayers underwriting the 2.88-gigawatt Eraring plant near Lake Macquarie to keep generating power beyond the scheduled closure date of August 2025 Origin set two years ago.

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