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Wildfires are ravaging California and Australia – and local fire departments are alarmingly underfunded and underprepared

In the wake of the devastating Australian bushfires, Jeff Bezos announced last month that he will donate $10bn to fight the climate crisis. As a resident of California and the former president of The Sierra Club Foundation, I welcome any contribution toward the struggle against our changing climate. That said, my home state, like all communities with Amazon facilities, would be far better off if Bezos simply paid his taxes.

If Amazon’s properties in California were taxed at their current value, the added tax could help bolster our underfunded firefighters and fix our crumbling fire access roads. Contributing vast sums to the global effort is wonderful, but climate change is a local issue too. Our communities need to be well-funded if we’re going to face this threat head-on.

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New Zealand carbon allowances fell into the NZ$25s for the first time this year as arbitrage opportunities from the fixed price option and forestry export losses maintained downward pressure.

Global emissions down by 2% amid mild winter and reduced use of coal-fired power plants

Carbon emissions from the global electricity system fell by 2% last year, the biggest drop in almost 30 years, as countries began to turn their backs on coal-fired power plants.

A new report on the world’s electricity generation revealed the steepest cut in carbon emissions since 1990 as the US and the EU turned to cleaner energy sources.

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Federal government tips in $68.5 million into "RACE to 2030" CRC, accelerating research into "sensible, practical solutions that reduce emissions."

The post Coalition tips $68.5m into ‘Reliable Affordable’ clean energy research centre appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tesla's success will not be about how many cars it can produce, but how soon can it master the science, the art, of autonomous driving technology.

The post What is driving Tesla’s stratospheric rise? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Brazil-based renewables consultancy says Victorian Andrews government’s support “instrumental” in decision to locate Australia and NZ headquarters in Melbourne.

The post Brazil’s Grupo Energia sets up Australian renewables office in Melbourne appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Latest National Energy Emissions Audits show large-scale renewables generation – increasingly big solar – still driving steady fall in electricity sector emissions, while a thriving rooftop PV market cancels out any increase in grid power consumption. But will the dearth in federal policy take a toll?

The post Renewables keep crunching Australia’s electricity emissions – no thanks to federal policy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Morrison government's commitment to energy 'technology roadmap' undermined as DFAT reneges on funding for research hub for clean energy transition.

The post Morrison government cuts funds to Australian-German Energy Transition Hub appeared first on RenewEconomy.

European carbon prices are poised to tumble below €23 to their lowest in at least six months on Monday, traders said, as crude oil crashed and wider financial markets plummeted Sunday night.

Expanded carbon pricing could ensure the UK meets its net zero 2050 emission target while leaving poorer households better off, according to two linked reports published Monday.

Global power sector emissions and coal-fired power generation saw the biggest falls in 2019 since 1990, though maintaining such a trend to limit global warming to 1.5C will be "extremely difficult, a report found on Monday.

Tesla's dominant position in the Australian electric car market continues to grow, as it claims 80% of new EV sales to date in 2020 and Australian EV market climbs to around 17,600 vehicles.

The post Tesla claims 80% of Australian market as EVs near 18,000 mark appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The drought has pushed many trees to the brink, and whole stands are now dying. The ecological consequences are huge. Rachael Helene Nolan, Postdoctoral research fellow, Western Sydney University Belinda Medlyn, Professor, Western Sydney University Brendan Choat, Associate Professor, Western Sydney University Rhiannon Smith, Research Fellow, University of New England Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

By using public money to protect California homes from climate change, the state is transferring wealth from working-class people of color to white property owners

Even by the standards of overpriced San Francisco, the Sea Cliff neighborhood is astronomically expensive. Nestled between two gorgeous parks and with what a realtor might describe as commanding views of the Golden Gate, it could hardly be different. Homes in the area routinely go for more than $10m. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and the payment service Square, recently bought a place here for $21.5m – next door to his $18m present home. The 0.62 acre compound is recessed from the street and perched on a cliff overlooking the beach.

Related: The Clean Water Act was a staggering bipartisan achievement. Now Trump is gutting it | Blan Holman

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President of preservation society says councils are failing in duty to protect heritage as craze for exploring derelict buildings grows

Griff Rhys Jones, the president of the Victorian Society, has urged councils to protect derelict buildings that are of huge importance to Britain’s industrial heritage. His intervention followed a surge in vandalism at such sites, triggered in part by the new-found popularity of exploring abandoned buildings.

Last month it emerged that Shotton steelworks in north Wales – one of the society’s 10 most endangered buildings in 2018 – had been badly damaged. According to reports, vandals had knocked down partition walls, destroyed ornate panelling, and kicked in walls. Several fires had been lit and tiles thrown off the roof.

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Report challenges justification for government underwriting of up to five new gas-fired generators

Australia’s existing gas power plants are running well below capacity, challenging the justification for a Morrison government program that may support up to five new gas-fired generators, according to a new report.

Energy analyst Hugh Saddler, from Australian National University’s Crawford school of public policy, found the combined-cycle gas plants in the national grid – those expected to be available near constantly, sometimes described as “baseload” – ran at just 30% capacity across the past 18 months.

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Pre-eminent Australian wildlife photographer Doug Gimesy has dedicated his career to the protection and conservation of some of the country’s most vulnerable species. He gets up close and personal with exquisite native animals to reveal them in perfect detail. All these species have suffered big losses during the recent drought, bushfires and floods. All captive animals were photographed under close supervision from wildlife experts.

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Feelings of powerlessness and despair for the future are evident in letters written for a six-year ‘passion project’

In 2014, Joe Duggan started reaching out to climate scientists to ask them a question: how did climate change make them feel?

“I was just blown away when I started getting the letters back,” he says.

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Environmental groups fear link between huge ships and spikes in dolphin deaths

Brexit offers the perfect opportunity to ban industrial supertrawler fishing boats from UK waters, according to campaigners.

The factory-sized ships can be hundreds of feet long and have been criticised for indiscriminate fishing as they catch hundreds of thousands of fish in short periods. Environmentalists fear their presence correlates with spikes in numbers of dolphins washing up dead.

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